Stacked 1984 Roland JC-120 & Vox AC15 - No Talking Demo

[@3riccarlson]

After making this video I’ve split the signal so that the only the JC-120 gets the delay and reverb. The result is much clearer, especially in stereo.

[@the_steezlord]

My ears are in heaven listening to that Tele with the phaser and delay

[@3riccarlson]

EHX Small Stone 👌🏼

[@the_steezlord]

@@3riccarlson Another thing to add to my ever-expanding reverb watch list

[@MoreThan_Bob1776]

The man knows his way around tones. He's definitely been around the block. 🚬🥃🎚📻🎵🧲🫀🤝

[@robbydouglas2]

Both have their respectful tone in its own time and space. Together, they compliment each other more than I would have thought.

[@TheNotoriousYJX]

These amps were made for each other. Seriously.

[@3riccarlson]

I had no idea until I just decided to try it one day.. best random decision ever

[@whssy]

@@3riccarlson I was inspired to try when I saw the guitarist in Slowdive was using an AC30 and JC120 together.

[@HereComeMrCee-Jay]

When I saw That Pedal Show get blows away by the JC-40, it occurred to me that JC paired with VOX might be the golden ticket. Awesome to hear it in action here. Beautiful playing and great sound, 3ric!

[@vesuviabatman]

@@whssy is there a video of this on KZbin?

[@FuukanaTV]

Vox just brings out those clarity out so much. Love them both.

[@3riccarlson]

Agreed!

[@EcoCentrist]

it's fun running a chorus through one amp but not the other. adds another level to the chorus goodness

[@3riccarlson]

Endless possibilities. Just got a vintage ADA Flanger I could run through one amp..

[@EcoCentrist]

@@3riccarlson do it, do it!sounded awesome when I didn't that with this knock off flanger and a bunch of diston to both amps haha

[@shootfromthehipband]

I’ve had a jc-120 for 30yrs and it’s still one of my faves and love running another amp for my dirty tones ..

[@3riccarlson]

Perfect!

[@Ky6Stringer]

Love the sound of the JC-120.

[@yellowmustard7482]

That set up is SOOOO LUSH! I love it m8!

[@3riccarlson]

“Lush” has become my favorite guitar word after buying the JC-120

[@douglasj53]

Great demo. I never thought about having chorus or tremolo on one amp but not the other. It makes a cool difference.

[@3riccarlson]

Totally. You can get some strange tones

[@mattgilbert7347]

The magic of wet/dry

[@Salang_7]

Grew up with JC-120 here in Japan but never thought it could be this good!

[@TR4Ajim]

The one bad thing with a JC-120 is it weighs a ton! I have a JC-77 that I gigged with for over 30 years! It never had any problems with it, even being bashed around. It takes pedals well, and isn’t too heavy. It also cut through the rest of the band, and I never set the volume above 3 (ok maybe once or twice😉).

[@3riccarlson]

It was definitely not fun bringing it up the stairs.. but i don’t gig so it never moves from my studio luckily!

[@simonsmith2642]

Yup thats how its done kids. Pay attention. He’s showing you the secret.

[@stfranckmusic]

am thinking getting my blues junior and a new amp as Roland Jazz chorus set up - thank you for the demo sounding bananas!!

[@carloscardona3924]

Excellent mild rock🎉

[@joanaparicio]

very nice, wonderful and tasty playing! Cheers!

[@3riccarlson]

Thanks!!

[@pythontok4192]

This sounds stellar

[@3riccarlson]

Thanks!

[@MrG3BassMan]

Man, thank you for this post. I have had the idea for this style rig, a ‘tone combo amp’ with a JC 120, for a while now. I’m an aspiring band leader/bass player and have been a big fan of wet/dry and W/D/W rigs for some time. My start into this was when I was going thru my fretless ‘Jaco phase’ and trying to mimic his (and Pat Metheny’s} wet/dry chorus sound - a digital delay between two amps/two speakers. I want my prospective guitar player to have this expanded sound. So when I found out the JC was a stereo amp, with controls on front - enabling combo to be put on top; the ‘light bulb’ switched on. A guitar player could have a decent W/D/W rig without taking too much stage real estate. So when I had the opportunity I bought a JC-120. I have an idea of how to connect a 3rd combo as sort of “tone center” (either clean or dirty) and utilizing the JC to augment that sound with its inherent stereo-ness - one side with modulation effects, etc. and the other side with dry signal for note articulation or something else. Perhaps an Acoustic Simulation for a Tom Scholz, Boston-like effect. I still have a few questions: 1. Have you tried utilizing ‘going direct’ from the JC’s line outs, in lieu of 2 mics for the JC? Maybe using one of the direct boxes from Radial perhaps getting the sound of the JC into the PA might be less cumbersome. 2. Would you be so kind to put a simple cable routing diagram in the comments? I wouldn’t care if it’s a jpg of hand sketch - to give us an idea of how your guitar/pedalboard is interfacing with or between each amp. Again, thank you for this post, it’s a great one!

[@MTBThrumyeyez]

Pretty cool. Looking at a JC120 for my cleans. I run 2 50watt boss katanas for my cleans with a 5150 for dry distortion. Great job demoing these.

[@19JayBro96]

Absolutely incredible man 🤯❤️ I dream of having this setup. So amazing, beautiful playing

[@whssy]

I have a 1964 AC30 and a 1978 JC120 - they sound great together. I recently started putting a Marshall Valvestate 8240 in the middle - with the effects loop inputs from by board diverted to the AC30 and JC120 - the Marshall clean in the middle. Sounds even better.

[@3riccarlson]

No way! I bet that is killer! I'd love to hear that combo.

[@helobubba1999]

Great video. I also have a JC-120 and AC-15, but I was today years old when I tried running them in parallel for the first time (*mind blown*)

[@mantashaft]

Sounds sublime

[@mattgilbert7347]

That's a big ass chorus pedal! JK mate sounds amazing. Those two are made for each other.

[@3riccarlson]

Definitely one of the heaviest chorus pedals!

[@triclone123]

Wow!!! My kind of sound! Love it! Thank you!

[@3riccarlson]

Glad you dig it!

[@chemmii]

I miss my old JC 120.!!

[@mikeoxlong4588]

the tone and riffage sound like something from discovery era daft punk also i hear a little bit of the smiths in there

[@iansnyder274]

Vox always adds some gristle and fatness. I love stacking amps. JC's are great amps especially paired with a tube amp like a Fender or Vox.

[@3riccarlson]

It just adds that little dirt / chimeyness that I’m obsessed with.

[@iansnyder274]

@@3riccarlson Yup, once you play with two amps stacked, you can't go back!

[@chrisarias8308]

Subscribed! Love this. 🔥

[@3riccarlson]

Thanks Chris!

[@yargnad]

Johnny Marr used the JC120 religiously back in The Smiths days.

[@elalamofilms8492]

I forgot to mention, I came here for the same reason! Soda stereo! I’m building my tones on my mx5 and I’m looking for a reference! Came across this !

[@aidandorrian3946]

Interesting concept ... usable sounds

[@3riccarlson]

Thanks! Agreed. Now I just need to actually record them into a song

[@Blackdwarf1989]

Amazing sound!!

[@3riccarlson]

Thanks!

[@simonsmith2642]

Coming back to this.. Im thinking, of making this rig smaller using the JC40 and a little Pro jr… I think it would be easier on your back, and you could gig with either amp, but combine them and that should still have that old school thing, in a smaller lighter tighter package.

[@3riccarlson]

Go for it! I don’t gig so I don’t worry about the lifting part haha

[@RiggsTaylor]

Sounds great man!

[@3riccarlson]

Thanks!

[@psychotogether5114]

That Fender is like:…..

[@3riccarlson]

Haha. The fender will get some exposure in my next video

[@psychotogether5114]

I just got the cubilux 5 way 1/4” splitter. Maybe I was hope I g to hear all three. Pretty cool little device.

[@3riccarlson]

@@psychotogether5114 interesting.. looking into that now

[@joeyschreiner]

Loved this!! 😎

[@3riccarlson]

Thank you!! 😁

[@alvaro7409]

awesome

[@3riccarlson]

Thank you!

[@Marc-kp4uc]

What a delightful, bright sound with depth! As a big fan of JCs, I wonder how you managed to keep the noise floor THAT low. Cannot hear any hiss... I am considering buying a JC but the high noise always kept me away. Thank you for a quick reply.

[@JP-pf1nj]

Why delay and distortion are you using....nice demo. I was hoping to find that " Flock of Seagulls" guitar sound in a pedal, but may have to buy a Roland 40 or something. Nice video!

[@3riccarlson]

Delay is a Strymon Volante, distortion is just from the Vox AC15. No drive pedals or anything here

[@jakehunt4144]

Wow!! Great tones 🔥💯👌🏼 is the vox a green or blue back? What mics are you using?

[@3riccarlson]

@@jakehunt4144 it’s a green back. All the mics used are SM57s

[@jakehunt4144]

@@3riccarlson Sweet good to know! They sound awesome! Well done!!!

[@matthewhaggard9734]

How does the jc120 take pedals in your opinion? Just like time based effects.

[@3riccarlson]

I think it really brings out the magic in delays and reverbs

[@eduardovelazquezestrada4696]

Woow, the sound is amazing man! I was looking for a set like this, I have a JC-40 and I couldn't decide on the best partner for it (Vox AC15C1 or Orange Rocker 32?), until I found this great video. What do you think? A couple of questions in your video: 1.- Are you running the chorus of the JC-120 in stereo output? 2.- How is your configuration, the Roland in stereo and the Vox in mono? 3.- Did you put a chorus pedal on the Vox? (recommend it?) 4.- From what I can hear, in one section of the video you use a Phaser, Did you put it only to the Vox correct? Do you recommend putting overdrive on both at the same time or sending the distortions to Vox and the Roland sounding dry without distortion? Thank you very much and you have one more subscriber now!

[@HereComeMrCee-Jay]

Thanks for asking this, as I'm maybe at a similar crossroads. I also have the JC-40... I was thinking of going with AC10 since I'm using it primarily to record and a) don't need the volume to play with a loud drummer outside, and b) would prefer the amp to get to break-up at lower volumes so I don't blow my ears out! Like the 3ric, my plan was wet/dry with modulation going to the Roland and drive to the VOX. The other option I was considering was doing wet/dry w/in the Roland. Modulation effects through one input, and overdrive through the other. I'll probably run this for a little while to try things out but of course I'm not expecting to get that VOX tone using that method.

[@3riccarlson]

Hey thanks! 1)As far as I know, the chorus can only be done in stereo, at least the version I have from the 80s. 2) Yes. JC120 - Stereo. Vox - Mono 3) In this video there is no chorus on the Vox, but I do have an 80s Arion chorus pedal on my pedalboard that I run to the Vox sometimes. 4) I actually had the phaser playing through both the JC120 & Vox. The distortion makes the phaser more noticeable on the Vox. I have 2 overdrive pedals but I hardly ever use them. I like the grit the Vox has on it's own. I'm sure the JC-120 takes distortion pedals nicely, but I really haven't tried it.

[@3riccarlson]

I've tried many different ways of splitting the pedal paths... it's really just whatever you prefer. None of my combinations had me like "OH that's the winner!".

[@mrkite89]

Nice, big clean tone! I have a question: does ALL the channels\speakers of the two amps are in phase with each other? For example my AC15 is in phase with the Vibrato channel of my 65 DRRi but not with the normal channel...thanks!

[@3riccarlson]

To be honest.. no idea. I also always struggle with keeping mics in phase. There’s probably many phase issues with this recording haha.

[@yargnad]

You could either flip the mic phase in the recording, or use a Phase 100 pedal live which will flip it 180°.

[@ted.the.human1]

the glass of water next to the gear is giving me anxiety

[@DJskit24]

Yes.

[@mattg1094]

What’s the signal chain? Is the vox sending out to your delay/reverb back to the Roland?

[@3riccarlson]

Guitar into pedal board and then out the Eventide Space's left output into the Vox AC15, and the right output of the Eventide Space goes to the JC-120.

[@danielperkins7311]

You've sold me on the JC 120, man! I'm selling off a Vox Handwired tube amp for it. Just a quick question: I'm a bedroom recorder...good preamps, mics, compressors to record this bad boy... but i don't want it to piss off anyone else that lives in my home! It's a big amp. Can I get it low enough (I hear people saying right around 1 at the volume knob) so it won't blow the ears off myself in a bedroom & family inside the house?

[@3riccarlson]

Sorry to make you sell something lol. But honestly for all these videos I’ve made the amp is super low. Not sure what the newer models are like.. but this one can get super quiet.

[@adamgoodell5805]

I recommend the JC-22 for bedroom recording. The 120 is probably way more than you need. The 22 is super loud itself, same amazing clean chorus and way lighter to move around.

[@bretonleo8740]

Do you have some phasing issues when playing with a transistor and tube amp at the same time ? I think I experience this but it can be the difference in size of the speakers too, I’m playing an 8 inch transistor amp and 2 12 tube amp

[@yargnad]

Very likely the size difference rather than phasing.

[@ronchorivera]

wow a chorus and vibrato video. next time you should check out the amps.

[@manuas1499]

0:30 is this any specific song?

[@3riccarlson]

Nope just a riff I've been messing around with lately. Most likely will become a song at some point

[@angel_7544]

Roland jc vs fender blues junior

[@avalanche9026]

Too much wawawa ondulation. But yea good country sound.

[@yargnad]

Looks like someone doesn't know musical genres too well.

[@3riccarlson]

loll

[@Deatg-ek8rf]

The Vox is the better amp. All JCs are overrated.

[@yargnad]

What an asinine statement. They're clearly for two different purposes. The Vox certainly cannot do what the JC does and vice versa. He's demoing the point that they sound great together. Go back to your Blues Clues videos and let the grown ups be.