Jet city amp Problems

[frank57]

I can't believe it but this brand new jet city 20 watt amp combo is screwed up!

I'm getting a lot of noise with nothing plugged in as I turn up.
Turning up master and gain past 12 forget it. Noise forever.
Also presence control is farting out at 10.
Plugging in, same problem.
Almost like that stupid Hiwatt I have.

The amp sounds great but this is not useable past a certain point.
The cleans are actually very good. Built like a tank.
Good warm reverb.
I would go further in reviewing it but obviously I can't.

But like I said you cannot go up past a certain point.
Got to be defective.The unit I tested here was far quieter.
Some noise is to be expected but not this.
Otherwise they're all like this.
Hence the 299 price.

Any ideas?
If I can't get a replacement then I'll have to get a refund and to hell with it.
Very disappointing.
If I have to start paying shipping and etc.
I had a 6 months of stupidity and warranty crap with a crate v33.
The end result was a refund on an unfixable amp.(switching channels with footswitch causes a bang)

I don't think this is a tube problem.
But I can't be sure.

What the hell, can't anybody make an amp that works?
That's 4 stinkers in a row for me.

[Geezer]

Go for the refund, get a used Valve Jr for ~~$79 (or some other doner tube amp) & then use the info & help on this forum to build a real amp.
The satisfaction & tone rewards cannot be surpassed at any price.

$.02

Geezer

[frank57]

Yeah ,I'm leaning towards a refund too.
If you keep it it has to be modified and there is no way to know for sure how well that will work.
I'm even starting to think about the triwatt amp,
which has build instructions.
But the valve jr. might be a good project.

I will be out the shipping costs on jet city,but not much I can do about it.
I'll keep it for a few days and see what response I get,
 and so far I haven't heard back from the store I got it from which is not encouraging.

I checked out another jet city unit here,
and pretty much the same thing.Slightly better.
So great sounding rock amp, but noise pretty much across the jet city line
is my guess. And from what I've been told, that seems to be the case.

Even the fellow in the store here knew about the noise issue.
He's going to discuss it with the distributor and see what the story is.
But it seems it's either a lack of dc power issue, or it could be something else .
You can cover it to some extent when you play but still...

A traynor with dc power was much quieter but pretty lame overdrive.

Without dc power in that jet city amp, unless they would keep it under warranty if it was modded,
you're screwed. Unless it's also a design issue.
They have the reverb transformer right next to the first tube socket on the pcb.
Maybe part of the problem?


Very disappointed with Soldano. 
Could have had a truly great rock amp here.
Great sound, nice warm reverb,not bad with single coils too.
The presence was way too strong though.

Cheapskating dc power is dumb.

Yet another disappointment for me in the amp department.
I'm running out of amps !

[tommytornado]

The crummy tubes that come in it are probably some part of that issue.. BUT on the other hand, I think you're expectations aren't in line with the amps circuit design.  It was designed to be an EL84 grind machine and the gain and master volume are there to be used in conjunction with each other.  i.e.  the more you turn up the gain, the more you HAVE to turn down the master volume.  Period.  ESPECIALLY when you're using higher gain pickups/humbuckers...  Not to mention, name me a 2xEL84 amp that puts out loud clean sweet BF type tones.. that will also produce fairly high gain tones??  It's an EL84 amp, there's not going to be much headroom at all.   

Try some tube substituting.  5751 or a 12AY7 in V1.  PI & cathode follower=12AT7.  Use your guitars volume control to tame things down when playing rhythm.     

[frank57]

I don't know about these jet city 20 watt combos.
You end up under the gun timewise with these amps  or you are stuck with them.
Maybe for some they're ok, if the noise doesn't bother you then go for it.
They have their good points but...
I'm thinking If I have to eat the shipping costs and move on well so be it.
I don't think another unit will be any different, but I could be wrong and I don't want to discourage anyone from giving them a try.
You're right about the master and gain I figured that out pretty quick,it is limiting to some extent.
But the master is very noisy with the preamp low and master highish.

I think you're right to some extent about expectations, because I expected something cleaner
based on the first unit I played on.Maybe the store had the speaker in the wrong ohms socket.
They did ship some out that way believe it or not.
I certainly would not have bought it I  think based on the way it is now.

There doesn't seem to be anything there past high noon to some extent.
The lack of dc power is also a factor.A cheapskate move really.

You're right the tubes are crap.
In the end it's almost like a one trick pony.
You can use it only halfway and rock out.It's a good sound but...

I think in the end these are factors in why the combo didn't sell at its original price point.
If you have to buy tubes and so on it's not cheap anymore.That could run you a good 100 to 150 bucks.

Some of the Hiwatt higain series will certainly give you great clean tones.
Any Hiwatt can get into low metal territory I find,but of course, they ain't cheap.
You can just use a pedal with one of them and destroy any soldano amp I suppose.
I'm starting to look at the reeves custom 12 now more and more too.
Or even the triwatt or ceriatone Hiwatt clone.
I think like everybody here maybe I've reached the "had enough of made in China pcb amps" point.
I'll try some tubes like you said.
Why not?

[crashtm1]

  "Not to mention, name me a 2xEL84 amp that puts out loud clean sweet BF type tones.. that will also produce fairly high gain tones??  It's an EL84 amp, there's not going to be much headroom at all."

Dr. Z .. Maz 38 ....    

[tommytornado]

Maz 38 is a 4 x el84 and go listen to some youtube reviews of the JC 20.  It'll get way more saturated than a Maz.  Maybe better said, my point was/is..  The JC20 wasn't designed to be usable at every knob setting. And it's a $299 tube 1x12" combo amp with 5 preamp and two EL84 power tubes.  At that price point with tube technology, you can't expect any amp design to not have limitations.  Actually, from the youtube reviews I've watched, it's an outstanding value if it fits one's tonal niche.   

[Jack1962]

I have had a few of these come into my shop recently , I would get the refund , myself I didn't like the tone of the amp ,way to brittle for me , not much better tone than a solid state crate imho


                                                     Rock On

[frank57]

Well I waited and waited and was not offered a replacement.
Instead, go the warranty route. I decided to get the refund.
I've been down the warranty road twice,and it was a nightmare.Made no sense at all why they didn't replace it.
Didn't sound right to me and I've had my fill of screwy amps so I think I know a turkey when I have one.
Just nowhere near as quiet as the original demo I tried.
 It wasn't the tubes that's for sure.
It really was quite good for rock stuff. Depending on the guitar you used.
I used a Schecter tempest classic, Hagstrom Swede from 1974 and a new Hagstorm f20.
Pre on 7 and master on about 1 was great .Nice lead sound. Not too over the top .
Anything higher was making me deaf. Just didn't make sense.
Power problem maybe? That's what it was on a solid state Peavey I had one time.
Clean tones were ok with pre 2 master maybe 5. Anything higher I was getting a lot of hiss.
You could also try pre 4 master 4 for a bit of dirt.Reverb is ok low to mid settings but full blast not so great.
No surf city with this reverb that's for sure.

I have to agree about the tone to some extent.
At certain cleanish settings it was kind of cold. It really excels at rocking out.
A crate v22 I had had a better clean. Very warm. But don't get me started on the problems I had with that one.
Crate has fantastic support though.
Distortion tends to fizz on the jet city when you put it on 10 I noticed too. Presence control was also fizzing out at 10.
I would have kept it if a replacement was given that actually worked.
I just wonder what kind of quality control they have going on at jet city.


Here's a thought:
Can the atomic 16 actually be made into a handwired version that might fit that screwed up Hiwatt I have?

[dynaman1]

Probably. I've made many versions of the Soldano Atomic 16.

[frank57]

You wouldn't happen to have some kind of layout floating around by any chance?
So far I've been trying to draw something with a hiwatt style layout.
On the korean Hiwatt itself I've made some progress, and the giant output transformer is definitely something.
It went toe to toe with the jet city amp even though that amp has a 12 inch speaker.
The Korean Hiwatt has more depth to the sound and a better clean, but of course it's got bzzz.
Not as good an overdrive for solo stuff as compared to jet city.
They actually have a 2 channel 20 watt combo coming out with soldano slo lead as the overdrive.

Is the Atomic 16 basically a modified Marshall? A jcm?

[dynaman1]

Yes, it's like a modded 2203/4. The Jet City is purported to be extremely similar to the Atomic 16. No point in making it if you don't like the Jet City.

[frank57]

I did like it, but couldn't figure out if it was working properly though.
Clean was ok. They do have a 2 channel 20 watt one coming out with no reverb though.