Pros: Loud, versatile, and reasonably priced for what you get
Cons: Huh?
The Bottom Line: The JSX is a professional quality lamp that provides a wide variety of rock tones and a LOT of volume at a reasonable (over a grand that is) price.
buffoonery's Full Review: Peavey Jsx Joe Satriani Signature Head Guitar Ampl...
Yeah, I think so.
Shred-head wizard Joe Satriani approached Peavey a couple of years ago looking for a signature amp that would build off Peavey’s well known Triple XXX series. Happy to oblige, Peavey provided Joe with the services of its head techhead James Brown and, after spending some time together, Satriani went off to play on the G3 tour with his pals Steve and Yngwie and James buried himself with some of his digit-head buddies and came up with the Peavey JSX head (also available in a 2x12 combo, with a signature 4x12 cab also available.)
Given that Satriani is not going to put his name on a piece of junk AND that Peavey makes some very, very good amps, the JSX is a serious piece of amplification wizardry that deserves a serious look from serious guitar players who are looking to plunk down some serious dough on equipment. This 54.3-lb, ruggedly constructed monster delivers 120-watts (switch able into 4, 8 or 16 ohms) of crushing volume with plenty of tonal variety. I like this amp a lot and recommend it as an important alternative to offerings by Mesa and Marshall, among others.
The JSX is equipped with four EL34 output tubes driven by a 12AX7 for the power amp along with 12AX7 preamp tubes. (It is also convertible to 6L6’s.) The chrome-and-black head has three channels with a selector switch for Clean, Crunch and Ultra (lead). Clean has controls for treble, mid, bass and volume. Crunch and Ultra each have the same controls plus a “fat” switch for each as well as gain (to increase distortion and sustain). This effect is most noticeable when the guitar’s volume is turned down and controls the tightness of the attack, which is “sloppier” when the effect is turned on. A noise gate knob controls these channels as well and reduces noise but should not be used at lower levels as it will adversely affect sustain. There is a Master volume control for all three channels and Presence and Resonance controls for Crunch and Ultra that let you mess with the high-end and low-ends respectively. There are on/off and standby switches and a power lamp indicator.
The reverse of the head has effects send and return controls and send/return jacks. There is a plug for the included footswitch that permits you to switch between the three channels. Also hanging around back there are bias test terminals (when switching tubes), a cab impedance switch, speaker output jacks, a line out level control and jack, fuse, ground polarity switch and last but not least, a plug for the power cord.
The instruction manual is written in English, Spanish, French and German. At about eight pages per language, it is easy to understand but not nearly as informative as the manuals from Mesa that I have read, which are really outstanding.
As I said earlier, Peavey started with parts of the Triple XXX. Much work was put into the Clean channel, taking down the XXX’s midrange, messing with the brightness, and using an audio taper pot for a more vintage amp response on the treble (more gradual increases). This channel has a TON of headroom and you can push it hard without distortion. It has very nice articulation. It is suitable for a wide variety of playing, although I might suggest that there are better country and jazz amps out there than this one.
The Crunch channel is based more on a Peavey Classic 50, reducing the gain somewhat from that amp (Satriani thought it made that channel sound a little too compressed) but still possessing considerably more gain than the Clean channel. It’s nice and punchy and the Fat switch adds some low-end oomph, which Brown deliberately removed
As for Ultra, well, if you want to convey some lead work to your audience, you’ve come to the right place. This will grab your listener by the short hairs while offering tons of sustain and plenty of articulation. Not total metal madness here, admittedly, but Satriani is not a total metal head guy. If you’re not a death metal type, you’ll like what you hear.
Bottom line: I like this amp a lot. I don’t think it’s quite as versatile as some of the Mesa’s I played—I think I prefer the Road King and Lone Star just a tad—but on the other hand this is a cheaper and louder. Give it a careful listen if you’re in the market for a professional quality head. You will not be disappointed.
Helpful hint: if you’re looking to duplicate Satriani’s tone, Brown claims all you need to do is put every knob in all three channels at twelve o’clock and then turn up the bass. Somehow, I don’t think it’s that easy.
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