anybody tried Lazy J amps

digitalkettle

Tbh, I've only gigged the J20 and that's pretty well attenuated (although gently mic'd through the PA for spread) to keep stage volume sensible.

hotpickups

I've been thinking of A/B/Y switch between them both for solos and stuff. I bet that wil sound awesome but another box to carry

digitalkettle;264309" said:

Tbh, I've only gigged the J20 and that's pretty well attenuated (although gently mic'd through the PA for spread) to keep stage volume sensible.

Setzer

Has anybody tried 6V6's in their J20? If so what differences were there compared to the 6L6's?

crunchman

Not quite as loud.

It sounded a bit warmer and looser.  I prefer 5881/6L6 type valves in there.

Jesse did tell me to use a 5Y3 rectifier with 6V6s.  It drops the voltage a bit.

hotpickups

My motto is if ain't broke don't fix it I think I'd trust jesse's judgement

hotpickups

Mind you though the new J35 looks an sounds mighty interesting

crunchman

hotpickups said:

My motto is if ain't broke don't fix it I think I'd trust jesse's judgement

When I got mine he supplied it with a 5Y3 and a pair of 6V6s as well so I had the option.  I prefer the 5881s that it came with in the stock configuration.  Mine was a very early one - it doesn't even have a logo.  I don't know if he still gives you the extra valves.

Setzer

Mine just arrived on Monday and unfortunately there weren't extra valves with it.

I would rather not spend £60 on valves and find that I don't like them hence the question.

steveh

Mine is a few weeks old; no extra valves.

Crazy good amp though; never heard better cleans.

digitalkettle

steveh said:

Mine is a few weeks old; no extra valves.

Crazy good amp though; never heard better cleans.

What did you get?

hotpickups

Recently emailed Jesse about his J35. Sounds about perfect for me as it's between an J20 and J40. J40 being a little too loud for my usage. Watch this space

crunchman

Setzer said:

Mine just arrived on Monday and unfortunately there weren't extra valves with it.

I would rather not spend £60 on valves and find that I don't like them hence the question.

Whereabouts are you.  I've got some lying around you could try if you are within reach of West London.

Setzer

Im in Northern Ireland so unfortunately not too handy! Thanks for the offer.

The reason I fancied trying the 6v6's was to get a bit of natural drive going at home volumes, would a set of 6v6's bring the volume down enough to get a good bit of drive going in the house?

crunchman

The 6V6s wouldn't drop the volume enough for amp drive at home volumes.  Especially with a Celestion Blue as a speaker.  It's a loud speaker.

Did you get it with the VAC option.  It sounds better using that to drop the volume than putting in 6V6s. 

digitalkettle

The VAC is essential...I've never had my J20 wide open!

menamestom

I would like to try a J20 and see how it compares to my PRRI, does anybody have one in the Manchester area?

Setzer

crunchman said:

The 6V6s wouldn't drop the volume enough for amp drive at home volumes.  Especially with a Celestion Blue as a speaker.  It's a loud speaker.

Did you get it with the VAC option.  It sounds better using that to drop the volume than putting in 6V6s. 

I got the fully loaded version which was a good decision because the reverb and trem are fantastic.

Thats good to know about the 6V6's, I didn't want to waste money on a set of valves that I wont end up using. 

Has anybody any recommendations for a drive pedal that works well through the J20? Something with a decent amount of gain for home so I would have every sound I need from one amp?

hotpickups

Errrr the cruiser deuce of course

Setzer

Oops I meant to say apart from the Cruiser as I have one!

steveh

digitalkettle said:

What did you get?

I got the bog standard J20 with attenuator; no other upgrades. Personally I'm not mad about reverb or trem but the pine box on these reverberates way more than birch ply (aka Marshalls), so there is quite a lot of "natural reverb" built in if you A/B the two.

In fact, I never intended to buy the amp. I went shopping with a mate whose Mesa 22 had died after several years of use. He was interested in a Kemper so we tried that and were very impressed. It had a Lazy J profile on it and we listened hard to that amongst other things. We then went to try a Lazy J20 and were both completely blown away; such a sweet 3D  sound and so responsive. No comparison with the profile. I didn't want another amp and I don't play clean that often but the next day I ordered one; had to have it. Funny thing is my mate bottled 'cos he didn't want to spend that much on a small combo; 6 months later he still hasn't bought anything...