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Description
I have the 100 Watt one. It takes pedals amazing. It's Loud as heck.
Videos
Travis Whalley
Jet City JCA50H - Metalcore Test (Killswitch Engage - The End Of Heartache)
Jet City JCA50H - Metalcore Test (Killswitch Engage - The End Of Heartache)
Travis Whalley
The BEST High Gain, Low Cost Tube Amp On The Used Market - Jet City Soldano Designed JCA50H
Kyle Bull
Jet City JCA50H Demo
Leon Todd
A TRUE SLO You Can Afford?! - Jet City JCA50H SLO Mod vs The REAL Soldano SLO100! HEAD TO HEAD
Kyle Bull
Jet City JCA50H - Headfirst Mod DIY Guide
Headfirst Amps
Cheap Gear That Doesn't Suck! #1 - Jet City JCA50H
Kyle Bull
Soldano SLO 100 vs Jet City JCA50H
Kyle Bull
Jet City JCA50H Friedman HBI(HBE) Mod
ThePhilipp01
Reviews
PROS
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Designed by Soldano, ensuring high-quality sound
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Crunch channel versatile enough for clean to heavy tones
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Overdrive channel delivers iconic Soldano scream
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Takes pedals well, especially Fuzz and Rat
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Footswitchable channels with effective EQ
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Great value for the iconic SLO sound
CONS
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Cannot achieve a clean tone without lowering guitar volume
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Biased "cold" upon shipping, may sound lifeless without adjustment
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Clean tone not on par with Fender or Marshall
Owner Insights
We analyzed real musician discussions from forums and Reddit to find what players love, question, and tweak about Jet City JCA50H.
Features and functionality
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The JCA50H lacks a factory clean channel, emphasizing its high gain focus, though users appreciate its overdrive channel over similar amps like the Blackstar Series One 50W.
Source -
The amp can accommodate KT88s without modding the high-voltage power supply, but careful biasing is advisable to avoid excessive heat dissipation.
Source
Mods and upgrades
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Owners recommend modding the effects loop to improve pedal compatibility and adding switches/LEDs for channel switching to enhance usability without relying on a footswitch.
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KT88 power tubes can be used if screen resistors R52 and R54 are upgraded to 1K wire wound resistors for better current regulation.
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User experience
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It’s noted that the amp is "stupid loud," making a loadbox like the Two Notes Torpedo Live or Captor advisable for volume management in various settings.
Source
Comparisons
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The JCA50H is compared to the Soldano Hotrod rather than a true SLO100 clone, with potential for mods to approximate SLO specs, closely resembling the SLO sound when modded.
Source
Use cases and applications
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The JCA50H is praised as a reliable choice for high gain applications, with several owners citing its robustness and preference for rock and metal genres.
Source
4.5 out of 5
Based on 6 Reviews and 11 Ratings
796
Best High gainer -ish- for the budget. Sadly, discontinued.
Best High gain tones i had. Sounded loud and cut through the mix like hot knife on butter. Had to mod it though because i needed a more "800" one on steroids, and delivered in spades!. Also moded the fx loop to make it more pedal level friendly. Unfortunately had to sell it and haven't been able to recover it. A gem if you can find one.
Preferred Settings + Usage:
If you find the highs a bit shrill, just keep high lower and boost presence. Also, swapping the OEM tubes for JJ's are a very solid move, leaves it warmer and fatter (at least in my experience).
203
Absolute monster
One of the best amps I've ever played. The only negative point is that you cannot get a clean tone from it unless you lower your guitar volume (hence the 4 stars). Otherwise is pretty damn fine. The crunch tone is amazing (bit crunchy for my taste but I can tolerate that) and it takes pedals pretty well.
126
Amazing amp
Love this amp out of all the JCA's I have tried. The crunch channel can be backed of enough for a great clean tone (not Fender, Marshall) and the OD channel honestly screams. My favorite though is running a Fuzz or Rat into the crunch channel. Amazing amp.
40997
I keep thinking of buying one of these to scratch my soldano hotrod 50+ itch at a reasonable price... so its worth it?
126
This is the exact preamp as the HR series but a different Transformer. It will definitely help that itch. Also Jet City's other page AmpFactory.com has them on sale for $399 right now.
271
Surprisingly awesome. Soldano designed.
Designed by Soldano - made in China. Great amp - usable right out of the box. Uses the same lead channel as the SLO100 (apart from a few values). Footswitchable channels with a very usable EQ.
Can be known to be biased "cold" upon shipping, making it sound a little lifeless and harsh. Don't despair (or sell it) - if so simply re-bias and you can also add a depth mod (ala SLO100) and can get quite close to that iconic SLO sound.
Great value if you can find one, I'll be keeping mine.
40997
I was thinking of buying a used hot rod 50 plus, but man what an investment for an amp that I will only use once in a while. This little Chinese guy can do the business on stage?
271
The JC50H can sit very well in a band setting and is plenty loud. These amps are such good value. Check clips out on YouTube.
63
Really good tube head
Got it from a really sweet deal including the cabinet, 3-band eq, two preamps (clean/crunch and overdrive), has a great clean tone which can go to AC/DC kind of crunch with some smart knob tweaking, also the famous soldano overdrive tone, which is not exactly my cup of tea, but it's great nonetheless. 2 thumbs up!
132
Artist usage
Add artist
Rodrigo Grimness Poblete utilizes the Jet City JCA50H guitar amplifier head, renowned for its robust distortion and ideal suitability for metal genres, reflecting the influence of Soldano architecture. This information is supported by Quality Tube Guitar Amplifiers.
On Jet City's website it states Al plays through JCA 100 and 50 watt heads
Used live on the release show of "tierra" as seen here https://youtu.be/FVCu66xwBP4
Genre Usage
Based on how artists on Equipboard use this gear, it is most commonly found in the following genres.
Used With
Based on how musicians on Equipboard use Jet City JCA50H, it is most commonly used with the following gear.
Community setups
Show yoursSimilar
Add recommendation1 alternative for Jet City JCA50H, curated by the Equipboard community.
$600.00
While it doesn't sound similar, you can get very close in tone and a Similar gain range. BUT, the Marshall doesn't do that buttery lead sound on its own.
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