Question about the Roland Jazz Chorus 120

I just inherited a 1986 Roland JC-120, two 12' speaker amp. The amp is in beautiful condition and has a great, clean sound when I plugged in. What would an honest appraisal be of this amplifier? I see that the new ones retail for $700 to $1000, but I've heard they're no longer made in the USA. Are the older models in good condition more valuable?

Thanks.

ZRO LA, CA

I don't know about the value but congrats on the amp. Those have one of the sweetest clean tones ever. Enjoy.

I have seen used ones go in vintage guitar shops for $350 to $450.

I think that the proper assessment would be: priceless. The Jazz Chorus models have one of the best clean tones out there for recording and live work, and you're getting stereo chorus off that. Adrian Belew swore by those amps in the 1980s with King Crimson, and Joe Satriani used a JC-120 with a BOSS DS-1 in front of it for a number of his early albums (the built-in distortion is rather spongy sounding, but it works real well with a distortion or fuzztone placed in front of it when clean- a friend of mine owned a JC and we found a BOSS HM-2 sounded great with it). In fact, they were often a secret weapon in many a producer's arsenal, especially hair metal bands, when they needed a good clean sound in the studio.

They never were made in the us. Roland is a japanese company. It is possible that they are no longer made in japan, since roland has moved much of its pedal production to other countries. As far as I know, used JC-120 go for around $400, regardless of age.

Cool for you! The JC-120 is a great amp. In fact, I don't know off-hand of any other solid-state amp I would ever recommend. General value of a used one around here is in the ballpark of $400, +/- $50 depending on cosmetics, etc.

When I play festival gigs where the sound company provides a backline, I'm always relieved when a JC-120 is available. They always sound good, they react well to pedals, and they are amazingly loud and clean and clear-sounding.

Older ones are not 'vintage' (e.g. 'valuable', at least not yet- not in the same way vintage tube amps can appreciate. It could happen that some famous guy will use one prominently, and then the value could skyrocket. It has happened with other stuff.

But for now; you got a great amp, enjoy it.

-dave

Check eBay completed auctions...
http://search-completed.ebay.com/Roland-JC- 120_Amplifiers_W0QQcatrefZ...

Looks like $350-$500 depending on condition.

'The road less traveled has 22 frets.' -Ted Nugent