Good combo for warm Jazz.

[ottobahn]

Originally posted by Jim_Soloway Not insulting at all. They had some hreat music on that show. It's also not really surprising since I started playing right around the time that first came on the air. BTW, just an educated guess, but given who was doing most of the first call TV work in LA in those days, I would think that was probably either Barney Kessel or Howard Roberts playing that bit.

 

I recall the main melody is played on the guitar using chords and there is a keyboard accompanying the melody. It is a very elegent, refined piece -- rather urbane--and was perfect for the sexy, yet naive, Elly Mae.

[Lambros]

Jim, I enjoyed both clips very much and really didn't prefer one over the other and in that regard I liked the juxtaposition of tone I heard. I know how hard it is to get either tone to sound that good because it is such a marriage of technique with the sound one is going for.

Can a Fargen do the classic Johnny Smith sound? I had an opportunity to get a Farlen Jazz head, I believe it was a 2x12ax7, or 1 12at7 and 1 12ax7 and the power section was comprised of 2 x 6550. What can you tell me about that particular amp since you have a direct connection with the builder? It didn't have reverb and that is why I basically lost interest in it. For jazz I played a Guild Manhattan for about 2 years and for now I have a Yamaha AEX 1500 which I have been playing for 5 years now. It's got the deep, even yet billowy sound of a real good archtop.

[Jim_Soloway]

 

Originally posted by Lambros Jim, I enjoyed both clips very much and really didn't prefer one over the other and in that regard I liked the juxtaposition of tone I heard. I know how hard it is to get either tone to sound that good because it is such a marriage of technique with the sound one is going for. Can a Fargen do the classic Johnny Smith sound? I had an opportunity to get a Farlen Jazz head, I believe it was a 2x12ax7, or 1 12at7 and 1 12ax7 and the power section was comprised of 2 x 6550. What can you tell me about that particular amp since you have a direct connection with the builder? It didn't have reverb and that is why I basically lost interest in it. For jazz I played a Guild Manhattan for about 2 years and for now I have a Yamaha AEX 1500 which I have been playing for 5 years now. It's got the deep, even yet billowy sound of a real good archtop.

 

 

Ben and I did the Classic American Guitar Show on Long Island together in May. That's the ultimate show for jazz players. Glen Murchis (sp) cam by an dplayed it for a while and he played Johnny Smith's arrangement of Moonlight In Vermont. It sounded just amazing. (Glen is a killer player too).

 

This amp does have reverb. The standard model is the 1x10, but Ben can make it in pretty much any configuration (1x10, 1x12, 2x10, head). Here's a cut and paste of the specs.

 

50 watt power section

 

Front Panel Layout & Equalization - Volume, Reverb, Treble, Mid, Bass

 

Class - AB push-pull with adjustable fixed bias

 

Tube Complement -

(2) 12AX7 (ElectroHarmonix)

(2) 12AT7 (JJ)

(2) 6L6GC/5881 (JJ)

 

Solid State Rectifier

All tube driven reverb circuitry

1/4 line level output

Hand crafted pine cabinet

Cream tolex covering, wheat grill, white piping, chrome hardware

300 Watt, 8 ohm Eminence Delta Light (Neodymium) speaker

4 + 8 ohm speaker output

[Lambros]

All right Jim, thanks a ton!! The head I saw was definitely an older one off because it didn't have the specs of the current line Ben is making. It had a green tolex cab and I felt the dual 6550 power section was unique in itself. I would rather have a 12au7 driven reverb because I would prefer it to be a driver for current as opposed to the 12at7 type putting more gain into the signal.

 

Did Ben ever approach Jimmy Bruno or Howard Alden with any of his heads or combos? So that you know, I like the way a classic Ampeg Gemini does jazz and having said that I know and understand the 50-60 watt realm is better for overall performance.

Getting back to Jimmy and Howard, I know how attached they are to the Polytones, Jimmy in particular.

Anyway Jim, thanks again and continued success with your enterprise!

 

 

Originally posted by Jim_Soloway Ben and I did the Classic American Guitar Show on Long Island together in May. That's the ultimate show for jazz players. Glen Murchis (sp) cam by an dplayed it for a while and he played Johnny Smith's arrangement of Moonlight In Vermont. It sounded just amazing. (Glen is a killer player too). This amp does have reverb. The standard model is the 1x10, but Ben can make it in pretty much any configuration (1x10, 1x12, 2x10, head). Here's a cut and paste of the specs. 50 watt power section Front Panel Layout & Equalization - Volume, Reverb, Treble, Mid, Bass Class - AB push-pull with adjustable fixed bias Tube Complement - (2) 12AX7 (ElectroHarmonix) (2) 12AT7 (JJ) (2) 6L6GC/5881 (JJ) Solid State Rectifier All tube driven reverb circuitry 1/4 line level output Hand crafted pine cabinet Cream tolex covering, wheat grill, white piping, chrome hardware 300 Watt, 8 ohm Eminence Delta Light (Neodymium) speaker 4 + 8 ohm speaker output

 

[Jim_Soloway]

 

Originally posted by Lambros All right Jim, thanks a ton!! The head I saw was definitely an older one off because it didn't have the specs of the current line Ben is making. It had a green tolex cab and I felt the dual 6550 power section was unique in itself. I would rather have a 12au7 driven reverb because I would prefer it to be a driver for current as opposed to the 12at7 type putting more gain into the signal. Did Ben ever approach Jimmy Bruno or Howard Alden with any of his heads or combos? So that you know, I like the way a classic Ampeg Gemini does jazz and having said that I know and understand the 50-60 watt realm is better for overall performance. Getting back to Jimmy and Howard, I know how attached they are to the Polytones, Jimmy in particular. Anyway Jim, thanks again and continued success with your enterprise!

 

 

The jazz amp is very much a minor side line for Ben. I knew he had dabbled in that area and I like his amps so about a year ago I approached him with a more definite set of criteria (size, weight, output etc) and he designed this amp to my specs. But from a business standpoint, he's been much more focused on his rock amps. He has a new Dumble clone and an endorsement deal with Jim Weider and those are the things that take most of his energy. .

[Bluesaholick]

Maybe Ill just see what I can do with one of them Fender Jazz kings. They dont seem very popular so maybe their prices will drop soon.

My budget is around $1000, so nothing too expensive.

[Santuzzo]

check out marble amps !!!

 

I dunno if they are available all over the world, but go to

www.marble-amps.com for more information.

 

I once tried one marble combo in a store, it sounded awesome !!!Great jazz amp !!!

 

Lars

[Rich C]

In jazz the name of the game is clean headroom; that's why the Twin is the ultimate jazz amp. But if you need something smaller and lighter consider a Deluxe or even one of their newer "Hot Rod" series; they have pretty good traditional sounding clean tone.

 

I have a Polytone mini-brute II and I like it a lot but I wouldn't say that it's the best sounding amp in the world. It sounds OK, but not "awesome". The beauty of Polytone is that they sound OK while being much lighter and cheaper than tube combos.

[markmann]

If you were going to play jazz all the time I'd be inclined to agree with Rich because I LOVE the Twin for Jazz (and some blues).

 

That said, most of what I play is heavily jazz flavored. Some is staight jazz but most is a fusion of jazz, rock and blues. I happen to own an Mesa/Boogie F-50 because it gives me what I need. It has TONS of clean headroom for jazz and I can warm up the tone by tweaking the tone controls or adding just the right touch of distortion. Believe it or not, this amp can get so clean that it can be TOO clean, and with the tap of a footswitch you can also have a thick lead tone or just about anything in-between. Can't get that with a Twin or a JC-120. Most of the f-50 clips you will hear range from mildly distorted to very thick and distorted. I have yet to hear a super-clean jazz tone f-50 clip but believe me, the f-50 can do it.

[Lambros]

What amazes me is that guys like Jimmy Bruno will have these outrageously, beautiful sounding, and playing expensive custom hollowbodies and still play through the Polytones which sound very flat and lifeless compared to a tube amp.

The secret I found in good detailed jazz tone comes from the tubes themselves. Preamp Mullard tubes are simply the best for jazz and if you have a Fender or Ampeg style amp that uses 6L6GC tubes, nothing will be cleaner and tighter than jan/philips 7581A tubes which is the military version of the 6L6GC.

 

 

Originally posted by Rich C In jazz the name of the game is clean headroom; that's why the Twin is the ultimate jazz amp. But if you need something smaller and lighter consider a Deluxe or even one of their newer "Hot Rod" series; they have pretty good traditional sounding clean tone. I have a Polytone mini-brute II and I like it a lot but I wouldn't say that it's the best sounding amp in the world. It sounds OK, but not "awesome". The beauty of Polytone is that they sound OK while being much lighter and cheaper than tube combos.

 

[MagnumSSS]

I had an opportunity to get a Farlen Jazz head' date=' I believe it was a 2x12ax7, or 1 12at7 and 1 12ax7 and the power section was comprised of 2 x 6550. What can you tell me about that particular amp since you have a direct connection with the builder? It didn't have reverb and that is why I basically lost interest in it.[/quote']

 

 

 

I know this is an old thread, but do you happen to know where you saw this amp, who has it or where it is? I'm 99% sure you're talking about the custom head that I had Ben Fargen make for me in 2004. I sold it about 8-10 years ago and am trying to find it/buy it back! I sold it to Gravity Music Gear in Denver. Any clues/details would greatly help me in my search! Here's pics: http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/my-old-forest-green-fargen-head-kt88-6550.1640868/