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Jca50H / 100h/ 22h mod thread and owners club


Edge11

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I say the main difference is a the pots are 1m instead of 500k making the jca sounding a bit darker and a 100k plate resistor for one of the loops stages. I'm going to work on the warren haynes mod, the depth mod, the scoop mod and the clean/ crunch mod an a couple of others. I'm also going to fix the layout of the thread soon. and some cosmetic mods too, I want to retolex in white snakeskin and I want to do a metal grill.
The thread is a work in progress so check back often and don't be afraid to discuss and join in! What mods do you want to see?
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Mods
Basic SLO Mod
fIIzO.jpg
I'll add the crunch/clean switch, the bright switches and the scoop mod individually that way it doesn't overwhelm some one who just wants the basic aggressive stock s.l.o sound.
Numbering is for the 50H
The Predator mod
oUEgf.jpg
A high gain metal mod for both channels. changes up the lead channel a bit and adds the sucker punch to the crunch channel. The change in r36 is optional.
Numbering is for the 50h

The sucker punch mod:
r34= 680k
c23=250pf
This mod only affects the "crunch channel" not the lead channel
The resistor numbers for this are for the 50h

Simple clean channel:
This is the less involved simple way to do it, for the beginner. You can make it switchable. basically you add a 39k resistor to ground after r42 an before the gain pot. I think dues has 68k in his and say it sounds "punchier".
6V3jQ.jpg
The resistor numbering is for the 50h


Simple crunch channel:
So you want more gain huh? replace r42 with a 470k resistor (Or solder another 1m resistor in parallel with the stock r42) and replace c28 with a 470pf cap ( i recommend a silver mica cap). There you go gainiac.
eHR2q.jpg
The resistor numbering is for the 50H

S.l.o. clean/crunch switch:
Use a dpdt switch to put 470k resistor in series with another one making the total resistance close to 1m (aka the stock value) and adding a 39k resistor to ground. When the switch is activated the first 470k resistor is out of the circuit along with the 39k resistor to ground and you have a resistance of 470k aka the crunch mode. Same concept as the "simple" versions of this.
bI48j.jpg
The resistor numbering is for the 50h
Decadence Mod
Similar to the clean/crunch mod except this gives you a crunch AND a better clean channel.
Wo1Ab.jpg
The resistor numbering is for the 50H
Simple scoop mod
The simple scoop mod is a basically a t-filter. You replace r34 with 2 1m resistors in series with a .001uf cap soldered from the middle of the resistors to ground.My version has a standard 22uf fenderish cathode bypass cap on r 45 and is switchable.
0v4Q9.jpg

Depth
YKlZq.jpg
So basically Your looking at the pot exactly like this. the above just illustrates the resistor number for the nfb resistor and to what output jack you connect it to.
Resonance1.jpg

also in case you have a 20h and want to join the fun here's the 20h mod thread.
http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...nd-owners-club.
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Haven't used my JCA in a band situation in a few months - took it to a jam session this weekend and killed it. Got some really killer tones and more gain than I could want for the radio rock songs we played.

I am debating picking up one of the Peavey Vypyr 30 heads and a Sanpera for ease of use though - built in FX + modeling to use at home/leave at the practice space while the JCA I can save for when I need solid tone.

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I hadn't played my JCA50H in about a week, but when I went to the basement (My guitar room) I noticed that I had left my amp onfacepalm.gif
Everything seems fine, but was wondering if it had any effect on my tubes since they had been on for a week straight. I also want to soon replace all of the tubes to warm the tone up a bit, what are the best tubes (that you guys have found) to warm this head up?

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Quote Originally Posted by Blakkwater View Post
interesting...what exactly does this sucker punch mod do to the sound?
More gain on the crunch channel and it break up quicker.
Quote Originally Posted by cscbo1 View Post
I hadn't played my JCA50H in about a week, but when I went to the basement (My guitar room) I noticed that I had left my amp onfacepalm.gif
Everything seems fine, but was wondering if it had any effect on my tubes since they had been on for a week straight. I also want to soon replace all of the tubes to warm the tone up a bit, what are the best tubes (that you guys have found) to warm this head up?

I haven't had a chance to play around with tubes too much, just the stock chinese. I hear that a 12au7 in v1 make it sounds marshallish on the lead and super clean on the crunch channel.
Quote Originally Posted by FastRedPonyCar View Post
SLO preamp circuit mod and KT66's were the best decision for my 100H. Really helped the lead channel a lot.

clean channel right out of the box is really nice though.
How are the kt66s compared to 6l6s btw? Thats another change I'm interested in. Btw did zach change your pot values (for the gain controls) or did he keep them at 1m?
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Quote Originally Posted by OceansBetweenUs View Post
Haven't used my JCA in a band situation in a few months - took it to a jam session this weekend and killed it. Got some really killer tones and more gain than I could want for the radio rock songs we played.

I am debating picking up one of the Peavey Vypyr 30 heads and a Sanpera for ease of use though - built in FX + modeling to use at home/leave at the practice space while the JCA I can save for when I need solid tone.
I have both the JCA100H and Vypyr 30 head. I think you'll be surprised at how loud the Vypyr 30 can get, yet still sound as good as it does at lower volumes. thumb.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by jenksdrummer View Post
Easiest mod...
Change out the tubes and set the bias properly.

Outside of that, my JCA22H sounds fine stock. Even takes pedals well (Hardwire delay/chorus/reverb in the loop, overdrive / poly tuner in front)
Thats always a good modification.

Ok guys I digitalized most of my mod notes for the "slo" mod. The schematic is really misdrawn so I'm going to confirm 2/3 with my multimeter soon and release it.
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Quote Originally Posted by jenksdrummer View Post
Easiest mod...
Change out the tubes and set the bias properly.

Outside of that, my JCA22H sounds fine stock. Even takes pedals well (Hardwire delay/chorus/reverb in the loop, overdrive / poly tuner in front)
Do the hardwire pedals work with all of the Jet City heads' FX loops?
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Quote Originally Posted by OceansBetweenUs View Post
Do the hardwire pedals work with all of the Jet City heads' FX loops?
From what I've read...no.

The only one I can confirm is the JCA22H. I'm not sure if the 100H/100HDM/50H does or not. Seems there's a thread around here where someone from Jet City says the loop was done differently for the 22H due to complaints...which I don't know if that includes all previous models or not. Seems most Soldano and Soldano-designed amps have the same issue with loops that don't work quite right with pedals.
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Quote Originally Posted by jenksdrummer View Post
From what I've read...no.

The only one I can confirm is the JCA22H. I'm not sure if the 100H/100HDM/50H does or not. Seems there's a thread around here where someone from Jet City says the loop was done differently for the 22H due to complaints...which I don't know if that includes all previous models or not. Seems most Soldano and Soldano-designed amps have the same issue with loops that don't work quite right with pedals.
Bah - I like the hardwire stuff from playing with them briefly but don't own any. Don't feel like buying a bunch of pedals to run inthe loop, finding out they don't and going through the returns shenanigans.
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Quote Originally Posted by OceansBetweenUs

View Post

Bah - I like the hardwire stuff from playing with them briefly but don't own any. Don't feel like buying a bunch of pedals to run inthe loop, finding out they don't and going through the returns shenanigans.

 

That's not a problem limited to the Hardwire line...that's a problem (pretty much) limited to anything touched by Soldano. Most of his loops are designed to run with rack-levels, and not pedal levels.
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Quote Originally Posted by jenksdrummer View Post
That's not a problem limited to the Hardwire line...that's a problem (pretty much) limited to anything touched by Soldano. Most of his loops are designed to run with rack-levels, and not pedal levels.
Oh I know. I just went back and checked Billy's JCA pedal thread - the Hardwire Delay and Reverb work, but not the chorus frown.gif

I already have the EHX Nano Holy Grail that works great in the loop.


I have the G Major, but I hate fiddling with the patches and have decided I prefer the plug and playability of single pedals more.
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Quote Originally Posted by OceansBetweenUs View Post
Oh I know. I just went back and checked Billy's JCA pedal thread - the Hardwire Delay and Reverb work, but not the chorus frown.gif

I already have the EHX Nano Holy Grail that works great in the loop.


I have the G Major, but I hate fiddling with the patches and have decided I prefer the plug and playability of single pedals more.
I don't use the fx loop at all. In fact I don't even use the OD channel. I strictly use the clean channel and warm it up with pedals. I have a Holy Grail as well, use it 100% in my tone. When I rarely use the amps OD, the Holy Griail intensifies strongly. I wonder if I were to use the reverb in the loop, would it still continue to do that?
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Quote Originally Posted by OceansBetweenUs View Post
Oh I know. I just went back and checked Billy's JCA pedal thread - the Hardwire Delay and Reverb work, but not the chorus frown.gif

I already have the EHX Nano Holy Grail that works great in the loop.


I have the G Major, but I hate fiddling with the patches and have decided I prefer the plug and playability of single pedals more.
Chorus seems to work fine with the 22H
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Quote Originally Posted by primeholy View Post
My clean channel is way too bright when I dial in my dirty. Is there a preamp swap that might help?

Can try a ecc81 or 5751 in V2.

I am currently running a ecc81 in V2 and a 5751 in V3......I like it as it cleans up the crunch a bit...but you do loose some volume on the crunch channel.

I think I will try just a 5751 in V2 and go back to a 12ax7 in V3 next time I decide to F' with it.
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Got my 22h yesterday. So far I am very impressed. I'm still getting used to it and messing around with the eq, but mostly I'm just playing giant HoF style riffs since it pretty much nails that tone. Right now the plan is to aby it with my Blackstar HT-5 but the the only cabs I have are a Marshall 1966b 2x12 for the Blackstar and an old Sunn 4x10 that the Jet City is on. It works fine for now, but the JCA seems to sound better with the 12s and closed back of the Marshall.

So what kind of cabs and/or speakers tend to work well with them? I have been looking at Whitebox a bit for obvious reasons, but thought you guys might have some suggestions.

Also, what sort of preamp tubes work well with it? I have a Tungsol in my Blackstar that worked really well, so I may try those...but thought I would ask here first as well.

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