Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

[Ascension]

Since several of us got these amps on that MF blowout all within just a few days of each other thought I would throw up a thread on these.
Post things like issues, likes, dislikes, settings and also tube swap impressions. Lets give others an overview on these amps and then our findings on the tube swaps and other tweaks to work with.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

First impressions on mine.
I owned an early JCA22H in the dark blue with the old logo so this one was my 2nd Jet City JCA22H.
This one cosmetically is MUCH more attractive! Cab is finished in black tolex with white piping and is just flawless. Logo is MUCH better than that goofy honkin huge 333 logo from before and the head just looks like a classy quality product.
Now to the tones.
My 1st one was not bad but lacked some meat in the OD side and the Crunch side had absolutely no ability to clean up at all. This one is voiced much differently than the 1st one and it also includes the bright switch and the Low boost/Mid boost switches giving the amp more tone shaping ability.
The Crunch side is now lower gain and much more versatile than the original version. Will do a nice warm clean to a vintage Marshall tone crunch now with a lot of nice tones in between. Very dynamic and touch sensitive even at the highest gain settings making it a much more usable channel and less a one trick pony like the crunch side on the 1st gen was.
The Overdrive side is where the biggest changes are from the 1st gen on the Custom version from the original.
First off the amp has a LOT of gain on tap and in some ways it's a little to much IMO. You can't back it down and open the amp up at lower levels like you could on the 1st gen as it all comes in at once wish it had more taper and control from the gain knob. That said the amp is a beast at gain. It's thick, smooth and fluid in it's tones in particular solo tones. Much thicker and smother than the 1st one i owned with less fizzy high end but still is punchy and expressive.
Really good head for producing a EVH style brown sounding big open tone at less than ear bleed levels. In fact IMO it's at the lower levels where this amp really really shines. It has the ability to generate really solid big fat round tones that are usable at bedroom levels- a rare thing to find in a high gain tube head! That alone makes this amp a winner IMO for a bedroom player or as a practice /recording amp. This amp is a sold tone machine at those lower levels where most tube amps sound really thin and fizzy but also packs a real wallop once you open it up. At first I had thought the amp was lacking in volume but the pot taper is such that the amp really doesn't respond to changes that much until you roll it over 5. Not a bad thing at all but is much different in the taper than you see in most amps I have owned and will fool you. When I really got a chance to open it up believe me t's LOUD!
Downsides so far is this amp is a bit noisy out of the box in particular at higher gain settings on the OD side but haven't got to tube swaps and such yet so that may be solvable.
One huge positive is the stellar pedal friendly effects loop this head has. The best loop in fact of any amp I have ever owned.
Plan on taking some time today while the wife is at work to really get the amp dialed in with some tube experimentation and also to get a chance to really crank her a bit and let it sing. Stay tuned!

 

[Ascension]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Spent some time earlier with the amp and pre amp tube swaps had some surprises.
I only worked with V1 and V2 as that is 1st gan stage on V-1 and V-2 is the OD channel gain.
Wound up in the end leaving the Shunghang in V-1 that came in the amp as it really was giving me what i wanted there.
V-2 however was where I saw some surprising things. Never was able to get the noise floor down like I really wanted on he OD side so have to believe at this point it's just a noisy design. Usable live but won't be an amp to use in the studio and may be a problem for your sound-man in some miced live situations.
Here is where things got interesting. Amp performed well at gain but with a shared EQ it needed some tonal balance for what I need. The top 3 tubes surprised me as a result.
First off normally really hate a JJ in the early stages of a pre amp but here it actually worked well was the #4 tube I tried IMO tone wise. # 3 was the biggest surprise. Amp has a ton of gain on tap and a slightly lower gain Kodak labeled real UK Mullard 4024 was a real consideration in that slot. Tamed some of that gain and added some harmonic complexity to the drive channel that was nice and was not expecting it to sound so good in that slot. Now to the top 2 in this amp for my needs and both are new sensor tubes with very similar designs made in the same plant. #2 was a EH it added a mid quality that helped balance the OD tone some with the Crunch side + had a really nice fluid feel in single note play. What I went with in the end though in V-2 was a reissue Toug Sol. A little more sparkle in the top and less dramatic mid than the EH but still nice and smooth + pulled the EQ over closer to the crunch side so helped balance the amp.
Couple surprises in gong through this with this amp.
First off this thing really reacts dramatically differently to what guitar and pickups it sees. Some amps just sound the same pretty much no matter what you plug into them but not this one!! Seems to really like lower gain pickups and single coils a LOT overall and is a very dynamic amp to work with.
Giving her some time to cool down and me some time to let my ears rest before going back and doing some head to head power tube comparisons. Have the stock Shunghans, Sovetecs, TAD big bottles, JJ's and the RI Mullards all on hand so--.

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

I have done some tube swapping yesterday and some today,only preamp tubes because I already swapped in a pair of matched JJ's el84 power tubes as soon as I got it..I have determined that for me this amp is different when swapping preamp tubes,at first I had it hooked to my 2-12" with Celestion Anniversary g12H-30's and the amp sounds much better through them,but I decided to try my home made 1-12" I made out of rough plywood,now this isn't premium wood and just a basic 1-12" cab but I took the specs off the Blackstar HT112 I used to have and made this one up,I have used it with a Celestion V-type and also several other speakers and its been a real sleeper,actually sounded good,but I put in this like new Celestion A-type I have boxed up and the amp sounds kinda blaaah so I started with 2 EHX 12ax7's in V! & V2 because these seem like a brighter tube and I needed to get some of the darkness out.at first it sounded ok with the EHX and the stock Shuguang 12ax7B's in V4 & V5,I didn't use my reverb pedal and this combination seemed to bring out some high's and a little sparkle,,still not right so tried a Tungsol reissue 12ax7 in V2 with the rest as described,helped a little but still not right..took the EHX"s out and put 2 JJ's ECC83's in there and this seemed to help,the amp has sustain and opened it up a little more,but still not what I am looking for,tried some Groove Tube 12ax7 in V! & V2 and nothing so for now back to the stock Shuguang 12ax7b's in V1,V2 & V3 with a JJ's ECC83S in V4 and a Sovtek LPS in V5 phase inverter spot..this actually sounds pretty good,now if I add a little reverb it helps a lot but I believe the A-type speaker isn't working for this Custom 22 so back to the 2-12"..I don't have anymore different power tubes but might try something brighter next time,maybe Tungsol or even Mullard EL84's,but I am hoping some other members here will eventually chime in..I will say this,my Custom 22 loves my EHX Holy Grail Neo reverb pedal,it sounds perfect,and I tried for the heck of it 2 of my clean boost pedals in loop and not happening,sounded real hifi and really didn't do any boosting,so they won't be tried again..also I tried my BBE G Screamer OD pedal in the front end on channel 2 distortion and with the gain turned down to 9 o'clock and level dimed with tone to suit taste it added a lot of sustain and boost with very little noise,if any..dialing up the gain and tweaking the 3 controls this pedal did ok in the front end of this amp...Now I have gone into a different direction with this amp coming up next week towards hopefully by Friday I ordered some mods for a Custom 22..I didn't even know this amp has been out for a little while now and was surprised to see mods..I originally intended to not have this Custom 22 sound like my EVH 5150-3 50 watt head but I am leaning towards changing things up a bit..I ordered an Uber gain mod..a mod to help with Fizz & flub and also a Mod to as described-helps change the overall tone and feel from a vintage feel to very tight and modern..I got a great deal on this amp so I am not worried about trying some mods on it,not really costing me too much and we'll see and hopefully hear what happens ! The company I ordered mods from spent a lot of time communicating with me yesterday and didn't push these mods on me,we discussed what and how each one willact and effect each other + what my amp has stock,so I am happy and waiting now for the mods to come in,I will take my time + they come with very detailed instructions..so hopefully I chose what I feel is right,if not I will take mods out and put back to stock or different mods..Final here I was at just a little over bedroom volume level and yes the amp sounds much better louder,but I also have to find the right speaker/cab setup..I want the amp head to have its own speaker(s) and not run my EVH 2-12" with it..anyone else with any info please let us know here. One more thing,all my guitars have High Output pickups except for my Partscaster which had Seymour Duncan SSL single coils in it,now these sounded excellent on the crunch channel with gain at 2-3..9-10 am..the notch 2nd & 4th positions with the SD single coils really have the sparkle and bite too as I dialed up the gain slowly,really nice SRV tones here all day and night long..I am hoping to somehow not kill this sound with the mods I will be doing nest week.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

You hit on some thing i also saw. These amps really respond differently with different speakers more so than the norm. With my Blackstar 1/12 and the WGS Retro it's HUGE sounding dark punchy and round on the OD side but is a little to dark on the OD side. Hook up to my old Fender 2/12 with the 70/Eightys and instantly the crunch channel is crazy good for sparkling warm cleans at lower gain setting but with the gain at around 12 o-clock flat KILLS for that SRV style blues tone. The OD side brightens up and gets suddenly brighter and more aggressive but is still very very nice with that cab. Best tone overall so far for using both sides seems to be running the WGS ET 90 that is in my Zinky Velvet with the head. Most sensitive amp to speakers I have owned I think and magic with the right combo!
Wound up for now leaving the Stock Shunghangs in the power side for now. Didn't see much difference between them and the JJ's I have but did see some pretty noticeable difference with he TAD's and the Mullard RI's. The Mullards really have a different feel rounder bigger and less harsh + have a softer attack. I will order a set of those soon for his amp. The TAD STR's were also bigger sounding and NICE but these have really been run hard for a few years in the Zinky and show heat discoloration on the plates so I'm reluctant to use them long term in the amp. I only keep them as backups to the Mullards that are in the Zinky now. TAD's would be tighter cleaner and have more headroom but the Mullards are more musical with an earlier break up.

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

I just got 30 minutes w/o anyone home so I plugged Custom 22 into my EVH 2-12" with the stock Celestion 70 anniversary speakers,G12H-30's,these speakers only have maybe 10 hours on them so still needs some breaking in..Celestion says the G12H30 speakers are said to have a strong aggresive low end & powerful low-mids.. The G12H30 penetrates any mix with an attacking upper mid-range & an ice cool top end..I couldn't say it any better ! I am glad I plugged back into my 2-12" cab,my single home made 12" cab with the Celestion A-type is not the right combo at all..with my settings at..
Overdrive chnl Gain..8 Volume..3.5 Treble..6 Middle..4 Bass..4.5 Presence..6
Preamp tubes V1,V2,& V3 stock Shuguangs V4..JJ's ECC83S V5/Phase Inverter..Sovtek 12ax7LPS
What Ascension says above about the speaker makes a HUGE difference here..The G12H30 Celestions pumped out some serious tight low end that never got flubby,even with the Mid Boost/Low Fat switch down on the Low Fat setting..My guitar I have been using the last few days is an Ibanez Iron Label RGAIR6 with stock Dimarzio Fusion Edge pickups on and Mahogany body w/Maple top..this guitar is primarily for the Metal type player with these stout Dimarzio pickups..together with the EVH 2-12" and a little reverb in the loop my god this is just an awesome combination..I primarily bought the Custom 22 because I wanted a backup for my EVH 5150-3 head and I have to recommend it now,yesterday playing it with my home made 1-12" cab I just couldn't get it dialed in but today I am amazed how it sounds..it sounds huge,lead/solos are stout with a lot of growl and sustain that cuts through..for me I like the thick oozing with tone low end and the perfect mid-range mix, I was bummed out how this rig sounded yesterday and ordered 3 mods for it that will be here mid to late next week,but I will hold off possibly for now..My Custom 22 sounds more than worth the price I paid and then some..I am very picky about my high gain sound and after a little more tweaking and speaker change it sounds amazing ! I am not good at reviews etc,but if you are looking for a nice loud small amplifier head and money is tight buy one of these and give it a little time,do a few speaker swaps and preamp tubes if possible and you should be good to go,the quality seems way better than it was 4-5 years ago..back with more later !

 

[Lake Placid Blues]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

How are these amps at cleaning up with guitar volume adjustments? How touch sensitive is the crunch channel to picking dynamics?

 

[Ascension]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Cleans up very well on the Crunch side and yes it is very dynamic. The OD side is expressive but is also pretty hot gain wise so it's a little more compressed.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Neither of you have mentioned power tube bias. The power section at least shares a lot of DANA with my JCA20H, and biasing it slightly warm really seemed to bring it to life more than the brand of tube in the power section.

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Neither of you have mentioned power tube bias. The power section at least shares a lot of DANA with my JCA20H, and biasing it slightly warm really seemed to bring it to life more than the brand of tube in the power section.

Real quick I checked my plate voltage,it was at 377 and did the formula and it came out to be 22.28 mA..when I checked the tube bias with my probes one tube was 24.66mA & the other was 24.22mA so mine is ok where its at..Doug sent me an email saying they don't recommend changing the bias,tubes are pull and replace only,but I like to keep and eye on my amps bias,as a matter of fact I am going to be installing test points on the back panel when my Mods come in the mail,I know really don't need it but it doesn't cost a lot.

 

[BloodRose]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Im watching this outta curiousity. I bought one of the little combos awhile back. It sounded good, but I rolled it. It sounded good, but there wasnt anything about it that my splawn or the JCM 800 I had at the time didnt cover. Id love to have another Jet City one of these days as I always wanted an SLO, but obviously dont have the funds and cant play it loud enough to deliver the goods. So, watching this thread to see how to get the most outta the next one I get.. Carry on.......

 

[Ascension]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Im watching this outta curiousity. I bought one of the little combos awhile back. It sounded good, but I rolled it. It sounded good, but there wasnt anything about it that my splawn or the JCM 800 I had at the time didnt cover. Id love to have another Jet City one of these days as I always wanted an SLO, but obviously dont have the funds and cant play it loud enough to deliver the goods. So, watching this thread to see how to get the most outta the next one I get.. Carry on.......

What I'm looking to do with this one is set it up at a Church and leave it. Inexpensive but great sounding quiet and reliable small tube rig is my need. Have a pair Boogies and the Zinky to work with. This one would replace the 1st gen non verb Rocket at Church then allow me to sell the newest one and buy a real 50 to 100 watt flamethrower so for me it was a means to an end. The little head sounds great is small compact and was inexpensive so it fit my need. So far the only issue is the noisy OD side but some of that seems to be in the loop so may have a bad cable or one of the pedals is noisy. If I get that right the head is a winner.
The new one is a MUCH better looking and sounding amp than the 1st one I had I will tell you that! The Crunch side in particular sounds like a really good old Champ or some thing. Clean if you use a light touch at anything below 12 o-clock on the gain but has a really nice compression and break up when you dig in. In particular REALLY nice for some blues tones with a set of singles!

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

I just received my Amp Mod parts in the mail 30 minutes ago,I will contact the Mod Man who got these parts ordered and sent to me so he can email me the mod diagrams,so for now I will just be watching this thread,looks like I will probably be taking this Custom 22's PC board out to do these mods..my amp has been and stayed very quiet,so I hope I'm not adding lots of noise like a lot of higher gain amps have..I was originally going to buy a 22H head so I could mod it but opted for this 22 because #1-the price #2-just wanted a smaller amp head to be able to grab and go,but my EVH 5150-3 isn't very heavy but also wanted to mod an amp so this is the one..more later and I will take pics of my amp as its being modded,by me..could get ugly ! This amp should sound fantastic after I finish with it,all the parts i received are of the finest quality,so more to come.

 

[Esseff]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

I have done some tube swapping yesterday and some today,only preamp tubes because I already swapped in a pair of matched JJ's el84 power tubes as soon as I got it..I have determined that for me this amp is different when swapping preamp tubes,at first I had it hooked to my 2-12" with Celestion Anniversary g12H-30's and the amp sounds much better through them,but I decided to try my home made 1-12" I made out of rough plywood,now this isn't premium wood and just a basic 1-12" cab but I took the specs off the Blackstar HT112 I used to have and made this one up,I have used it with a Celestion V-type and also several other speakers and its been a real sleeper,actually sounded good,but I put in this like new Celestion A-type I have boxed up and the amp sounds kinda blaaah so I started with 2 EHX 12ax7's in V! & V2 because these seem like a brighter tube and I needed to get some of the darkness out.at first it sounded ok with the EHX and the stock Shuguang 12ax7B's in V4 & V5,I didn't use my reverb pedal and this combination seemed to bring out some high's and a little sparkle,,still not right so tried a Tungsol reissue 12ax7 in V2 with the rest as described,helped a little but still not right..took the EHX"s out and put 2 JJ's ECC83's in there and this seemed to help,the amp has sustain and opened it up a little more,but still not what I am looking for,tried some Groove Tube 12ax7 in V! & V2 and nothing so for now back to the stock Shuguang 12ax7b's in V1,V2 & V3 with a JJ's ECC83S in V4 and a Sovtek LPS in V5 phase inverter spot..this actually sounds pretty good,now if I add a little reverb it helps a lot but I believe the A-type speaker isn't working for this Custom 22 so back to the 2-12"..I don't have anymore different power tubes but might try something brighter next time,maybe Tungsol or even Mullard EL84's,but I am hoping some other members here will eventually chime in..I will say this,my Custom 22 loves my EHX Holy Grail Neo reverb pedal,it sounds perfect,and I tried for the heck of it 2 of my clean boost pedals in loop and not happening,sounded real hifi and really didn't do any boosting,so they won't be tried again..also I tried my BBE G Screamer OD pedal in the front end on channel 2 distortion and with the gain turned down to 9 o'clock and level dimed with tone to suit taste it added a lot of sustain and boost with very little noise,if any..dialing up the gain and tweaking the 3 controls this pedal did ok in the front end of this amp...Now I have gone into a different direction with this amp coming up next week towards hopefully by Friday I ordered some mods for a Custom 22..I didn't even know this amp has been out for a little while now and was surprised to see mods..I originally intended to not have this Custom 22 sound like my EVH 5150-3 50 watt head but I am leaning towards changing things up a bit..I ordered an Uber gain mod..a mod to help with Fizz & flub and also a Mod to as described-helps change the overall tone and feel from a vintage feel to very tight and modern..I got a great deal on this amp so I am not worried about trying some mods on it,not really costing me too much and we'll see and hopefully hear what happens ! The company I ordered mods from spent a lot of time communicating with me yesterday and didn't push these mods on me,we discussed what and how each one willact and effect each other + what my amp has stock,so I am happy and waiting now for the mods to come in,I will take my time + they come with very detailed instructions..so hopefully I chose what I feel is right,if not I will take mods out and put back to stock or different mods..Final here I was at just a little over bedroom volume level and yes the amp sounds much better louder,but I also have to find the right speaker/cab setup..I want the amp head to have its own speaker(s) and not run my EVH 2-12" with it..anyone else with any info please let us know here. One more thing,all my guitars have High Output pickups except for my Partscaster which had Seymour Duncan SSL single coils in it,now these sounded excellent on the crunch channel with gain at 2-3..9-10 am..the notch 2nd & 4th positions with the SD single coils really have the sparkle and bite too as I dialed up the gain slowly,really nice SRV tones here all day and night long..I am hoping to somehow not kill this sound with the mods I will be doing nest week.

Don't you just love some Jack Kerouac, stream of consciousness stuff.... no punctuation, no sentences, no paragraphs.... can't be bothered to even read it. Gives me a headache just to look at it

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Don't you just love some Jack Kerouac, stream of consciousness stuff.... no punctuation, no sentences, no paragraphs.... can't be bothered to even read it. Gives me a headache just to look at it

I am glad you like..fix it for me how you would like it.I wrote it with you in mind.........................
For your viewing pleasure only !:17: Next time I will consult with you first and make sure its okay to add to this post here.
Thanks for straightening me out !

 

[moshpit817]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Don't you just love some Jack Kerouac, stream of consciousness stuff.... no punctuation, no sentences, no paragraphs.... can't be bothered to even read it. Gives me a headache just to look at it

I have done some tube swapping yesterday and some today,only preamp tubes because I already swapped in a pair of matched JJ's EL-84 power tubes as soon as I got it.
I first hooked it up to my 2-12" with Celestion G12H_30's,and the amp sounds much better through them.
I decided to plug into my home-made plywood cabinet that I built to a Blackstar HT-112 specs with a Celestion A-type speaker,and the amp sounds horrible through this combination.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Got a couple things resolved with mine over the last couple of weeks. First the amp absolutely LOVES the WGS Retro 30's. I have tried a few different cabs and speakers but kept coming back to the Blackstar I have with a WGs Retro with this particular amp. Finally surrendered and grabbed a pair of Retros to drop in my old Fender closed back oversized staggered 2/12 from the late 80's. Just sounds HUGE with this head and so far this is by FAR the best sounding combo I have found with amp and speaker.
Dropped a par of the reissue Mullard power tubes in the amp and it really opened the amp up at higher volumes. Just the right amount of breakup and compression to really bring the amp to life and let her sing.
Still at this point running the stock pre amp tubes as haven't found any thing I like better so far.
The only time I have recorded with the amp so far is this one. Un miced outdoors and running the Blackstar 1/12 cab with the MGS Retro. We had absolutely NO monitors and only acoustic guitar keys and vocals were in the system. On stage i thought it sounded awful untill I heard the tone out front recorded with my camera. This is what finally sold me on the pair of Retros.

 

[Nightburst]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread




Did the choke mod, tightens things up and improves bass response. The difference is subtle though noticeable. I can turn up the bass all the way without getting mud.
I prefer JJ EL84 power tubes and a tung sol in V1, the rest I could hardly tell if there was a difference. Sounds pretty good so I keep it like this. What cabinet you hook it up to makes a LOT of difference, I use a 2x12 Vintage 30 cab at home but through a 4x12 it really breathes fire and can easily keep up with the loud drummer.
I wanted to do a lot of other mods to it but to be fair it sounds good as it is and I cannot find a good mod schematic that makes it sound more american rather than british. I'll just scoop the mids and use an EQ pedal to fine tweak it, works for me too.
Now the clean channel needs a tweak to turn it into an actual clean channel. You can dial it in now too but the sweet spot is with master wayy up and preamp between 0 and 1 on the dial rofl, this could be improved to make this cahnnel more usable because the crunch on this channel is cold and harsh.

 

[Ascension]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

Was thinking abut selling my 22h CUSTOM HEAD but have been playing with tube combos and now have this thing dialed in really well. Had been fighting with a lot of noise and just couldn't get it where I wanted tone wise so gave it one more chance and pulled the chassis out so i could easily swap some tubes in and out. Found a combo that is surprising and has this thing KILLING tone wise!! I absolutely HATE JJ pre amp tubes normally but here they were magic in V1 and 2. With the pair of JJ's in v1 and 2 and a set of regular generic Sovetec WXT's in the rest of the pre slots this amp came ALIVE quieted down nicely and now sounds FANTASTIC!! Just HUGE warm round and big on the high gain side and very warm and sweet on the cleans GREAT sounding little amp now so may keep her!

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Jet City JCA22H Custom tweak thread

I find the JJ are a bit darker and smoother.
Chinese have more gain and harmonic content.
EH are very bright. Too bright for my tastes. Same with Tung-Sol.
I like the Sovtek LPS for the phase inverter but they are too harsh for gain stages imo.