Roland JC-40 Jazz Chorus 2 x 10-inch 40-watt Stereo Combo Amp Reviews

This is exactly what I need and I was beyond thrilled with the condition of my "demo", it's flawless! Carmen was a pleasure to work with and certainly the first call for my next big purchase.
Thank you Sweetwater team!

I purchased the JC40 for the clean tones and the stereo chorus. A lot of people complain about the distortion, mine isn't to bad you if you don't take it past 5. I solved the problem with a Rat pedal out front and I'm getting a chunky distortion that would rival a tube amp.Im very happy with the sound of this amp, This amp works for all kinds of music and is plenty loud enough to gig with.

I grew to love the Roland JC series when I was rehearsing in hourly practice studios in New York City. The studios would often have various name-brand tube amps in various states of horrible-sounding disrepair along with a JC120 that sounded the same as it ever did. I've never been to a show and wished that the guitar player wasn't playing a Roland JC. They seem to sound great with a band. This amp definitely has what I'd consider to be the classic Roland clean sound. I've found mine to be a lot of fun. If you want that kind of responsive gain you get from the input of a cleanish tube amp, you're not going to get it without a pedal, but this amp takes pedals well.

I find the built-in distortion to be a lot of fun. It's certainly not boutique, but I fantasize about playing in a 70s glam rock-type band using nothing but JC-40 distortion all the time. It has a lot of character, but it's not elegant. One negative of the distortion is that the volume of the amp goes down slightly when you engage the distortion through the foot switch, making it difficult to use the amp distortion as switchable distortion.

The reverb gets a bit of a bad rap because it's not the classic spring reverb of the old JC-120s. I love the reverb. The decay time and profile seem just right for the kind of rock music I play.

Overall, this is the first amp I go to for practicing, jamming, shows, etc. It's compact, it's fun, you get used to it being a little strident, but I think that translates into good performance in a band mix.

All documented. All true.

If you're already aware and well-researched concerning exactly what you're looking to get from the JC-40, it's exactly what you're going to get. I've long been the proud owner of a 1972 Silverface Twin Reverb and its massive, tubey clean tone. The Roland world, however, is an entirely different dimension away from that brand of clean. This amp absolutely exceeded my expectations. It's a total powerhouse for its size and even the distortion is more tolerable than I'd expected. The reverb is amazingly superb. But these cleans and that dual speaker stereo chorus... there's just nothing quite like it. It's pretty incredible. I've had this thing a week and I'm still a bit stunned by it.

Guitarists are always stunned when they see my set up, and Then, look closer.Im basicaly getting almost a perfect 80s,BROWN sound, with a dash of The EVH 3000 Dual Delay and phaser.By running 2- Roland Jazz Chorus 120s each hooked to its own 4 by 12 cabinet with Celestion Greenbacks.(Two gutted 60s Marshall cabs stuffed with The Vintage Greenbacks. Both Amps, and cabs are hooked together, both with there very own peddal boards, and a switcher, to allow me to turn all 3 on at The same time, or just the left peddal board, or only The right peddal board. Or. Both peddal boards at once.I set it up in kinda of a ualf moon shape toeards The audience. With everything on at The same time, im getting, not just true summersive Stero sound from my guitar, but, quadraphonic Stero guitar blasting 80s Riffs!!! Ive only just now perffected this whole new rig set up.This gear replaced my Marshall
heads. Both peddal boards, plus 2 Stero Delays, and 2 Stero reverbs that are each hooked, to each Amps Stero effects loope in The rear of each amp. This reienforces, and reapeats stero connections that already naturaliy exsisted, in its overall peddal design. My live sound is now more dynamic than i could have ever even thought possible.Yep. I cant beilive it boys. But, its true.Ive officially cut ties to my beloved tube Amps!!!! Its happened !!!!! Ive gone digital !!!boys !!!!

My JC40 has been my go to amp for Fender Rhodes, rhythm guitar, and anything requiring a crisp clean sound. I love my JC40. I even have switched to myJC40 on my Emmons Pedal Steel. I can't say enough good about this amplifier.

I've had my JC40 for three years now and can honestly say that mine does not hiss. All controls are responsive from the bedroom to a big room. Maybe the electricity supply here in Australia is benificial? I don't know, but I'm definitely keeping mine until it or me dies. It is far too versatile, dependable, musical and strong, to ever let it go.

Without turning up the distortion, vibrato, and reverb, this amp is perfectly clean. I love that it is a stereo amp as well. I play my guitars through a multi effects pedal, and I love being able to hear the stereo effects. I wanted the JC-120, but the price was prohibitive. This is the next best thing. I assume it can get loud. I never put the volune above 1. I can adjust the volume through my guitar and pedal. Except for the guitar, which is on 10, the pedal is on 1 as well. In other words, there is a lot of room for more volume. Great amp!! Thanks for all your help, Kyle!!

First let me say that Nick Nevins has been a great help in updating my gear.Sweetwater is fortunate to have someone like him working there. Now on to the review. I am a BOSS/ROLAND fanboy. I own; a BOSS NexTone Artist Amp, a Boss Eband JS-10 guitar trainer, Boss ME-90 Multi Effects pedal and the Boss WL-20 wireless system. Now the JC-40. This amp is amazing, not only for the famous JC "clean" sound and chorus, but for being a platform for pedals or anything else. My PRS sounds amazing with this amp. You won't find a better chorus! With my ME-90 plugged in to the stereo inputs there is no guitar sound i can't achieve.
This is a great amp and i wish i would have found this amp before now, but hey, you live and you learn.

First let me say that Nick Nevens guided me to this amp and he was spot on!!
My amp was delivered about three hours ago and i have not stopped playing except to write this review. I had forgotten what a clean guitar with no pedals sounded like. This amp (OMG) showed me what my guitar sounded like and having a PRS I liked it.
Jazz Chorus is the name but this is the cleanest amp i have ever played. Clean is what this amp is all about. A perfect pedal platform. I will post another review after i spend some time with my Boss ME-90, but for now this is the cleanest amp i have ever played.

When I first plugged in my Jazz guitar, a Gibson ES175, I was shocked. As clean and clear a sound as I've ever gotten with this guitar. It has a PAF humbucker and it really shines with this amp, without some of the hiss I get from my old Ampeg. I like to play old school Jazz without a lot of sound effects and this has been the perfect amp for me. It also gets loud enough for any room you want to fill and cuts through the bass and drum in small spaces.

If you're reading this you're already thinking about purchasing this amp. And you should. You're obviously not hung up on the tubes vs. solid state thing if you've made it this far. You like getting loud, but you don't need a special precious kind of loud...you just need loud. You don't need lots of modulation, but you do like that the JC-40's onboard modulation is one of the most iconic and instantly recognizable duo of guitar effects ever created. You have a few pedals, so you like the effects loop. The thing is - you're not sure if the JC-40 is loud enough for you...because you REALLY like to get loud. You're not 100% sure if the JC-120 is more appropriate for you.

The JC-40 sounds amazing at any volume level. People love to complain about the distortion, which is not a bad distortion. It's just very generic, not unlike (but not a clone of) a Boss DS-1. Same with the reverb - it's not OMG ITS A DIGITAL SPRING TANK - it's just a really good tasty reverb. The vibrato and chorus though...the vibrato by itself can get really space-warbly or very plain/simple, the manual chorus/vibe setting offers numerous flavors depending on where your speed & depth knobs are, and the fixed chorus is just classic Roland chorus. Is it loud enough? I live in a house with no fear of neighbors banging on the wall and I haven't brought the volume above -5-. I'm not sure that I'd be able to push the JC-120 beyond -2-. I haven't had the opportunity to play with a drummer yet, but I have no doubts that the JC-40 can hold its own.

If you like clean guitar and you're wondering if the Jazz Chorus really is as good as everyone says it is...it is.

Copious thanks to Jake Davis for fielding my special requests and always making sure that I'm happy with my gear.

Let me start by saying that I actually bought two Jazz Chorus amps, this one and the smaller one, the JC-22. While the JC-22 had a VERY nice and balanced sound/features for its size. It was severely lacking in bigger volume and low end response, I literally had the volume knob on it maxed out in my bedroom and it was barely that loud to be honest. If money grew on trees I definitely would have kept both amps, but I did ultimately end up sending the JC-22 back and keeping the JC-40 instead.

Now as for the JC-40:

This is a REALLY good amp for the money. I have owned many solid-state and tube amps over my 18 years of playing and this is definitely in the Top 3 amps I've ever owned, and it's DEFINITELY the best solid-state amp I've ever owned specifically.

The tone knobs are responsive, the reverb is very good which surprised me because most built in reverbs on solid state amps are very underwhelming sounding. The modulation dials are also outstanding.

This amp is honestly very good if you are trying to play anything from indie rock to prog/psychedelic stuff. I would not use this as a traditional blues or hard rock amp unless you are going to use a good overdrive pedal, preferably something with a warm sound to counteract the fact that this is a very bright sounding amp by nature. Would this amp keep up with a drummer in general though? Definitely.

For what this amp is I would give it a 10/10. It's pretty incredible and fun to play for hours.

Yes, it can. Oh for sure JC-40 is well known for beautiful cleans and I agree that it does that in spades, I love it. But it's not a one trick pony.

I have run some nasty fuzz and heavy distortions into the front of this thing with great results. It can get chunky and deep. Now I'm sure you could eventually overwhelm these speaker's low end if you hit them hard enough with fat fuzz but I've not reached that threshold yet at the volumes I use. (Generally 4ish loud enough)

I love this amp, a practice and recording platform for real. Gigging I'm sure you could mic it up and be good to go if the place was huge, or line out.

Big fan, it sounds great. Effects nice sounding too. Extremely portable. I'll never part with it.

A 2x10 worth having. The cleans are WHY you buy this amp no question. They're fantastic. And MAN am I surprised by the distortion channel on this thing. Much improved over the models from the 80s/90s. You can legit play Rock/Metal on this thing. I'm blown away.

Just plugged in the JC-40 and played a little AC/DC - at Volume = 1. Nice! Very full, a tad more bass than I'm used to, but very nice.

Then, just for grins, I turned the Volume up to "3" and played one chord.

As a guy in the movie "Used Cars" said, "Jesus Palomino!!"

It nearly blew my glasses off my face.

Yeah, I think it's a keeper…

It's everything i hoped it would be! Right now I'm using it solely for studio work in conjunction with the I-Rig Stomp utilizing the Send/Return and Mic'd with 2 SmM-47's into the UA Apollo X4. Sounds awesome in the room and great once tracked. I plan to experiment with some room clean room sounds using different mic's. The stereo in's are a great feature and work great with my Yamaha keyboard! Sounds awesome with the Gibson Les Paul!

I'm very happy to have taken delivery of this amplifier. Nice sound; well built!

the jazz chorus is famous for a reason. incredibly clean tone.

I have now owned this amp for over a year and love it more than ever. There is nothing like an amp that is simple and reliable and sounds clear as a bell with perfect tones with any guitar plugged in without any pedals.

If Roland clears up the problem with the unusable distortion, which is inexcusable, since Boss makes some great overdrives, The JC 40 would be the perfect amp for small to medium gigs and recording.

I give the amp 5 stars anyway because even with the worthless distortion channel, it is still a superior amp, especially for real musicians who prefer clean tones.

Bought a few months ago. This is meant to be a clean JAZZ amp, those complaining about the mediocre distortion perhaps forget that fact. (Although I wholeheartedly agree the distortion SHOULD be entirely silent on a JAZZ amp, and it's not, 1 of 2 of my complaints.) It's not a metal amp. If you want metal, plan on using outboard effects. I first heard the Roland JC series in the 1908s, and was instantly in love. This 40W amp is an outstanding offering, big enough to get serious, small enough you don't need 6 hours a week at the gym to carry it. (and that's good, as this unit has no wheels like the JC-120.) One thing to keep in mind is a big part of the sound from the chorus is due to having 2 speakers to create a stereo effect.

These amps are clean, present, powerful, quality. I just love it, in it's lane.

My only other real complaint is the lack of pedals to control the unit, and the fact the pedals Roland does offer are mostly individual units that have to be individually cabled (FS5/FS6/FS7). But these offerings, at most, control only 2 of the 3 Latch-type functions the JC amp series utilize (Distortion/Chorus Or Flange/Reverb). So you have to buy multiple separate foot switches, or just never use the distortion. Extra expense (x3), extra setup (x3), extra nuisance. There are some great 3rd party single pedals with 3 switches available on ebay for about $90, but again Roland...why??? And why for over 30 years has this not been corrected??!!! Fortunately, I happened to have an old Rockman (SR&D) 3 Button Footswitch that works perfectly, but most user's aren't so luck. Roland needs to come out with a dedicated triple footswitch and include them with the JC series. Ridiculous that they don't.

As you can see, I'm not reviewing the JC-40, but the JC-55. The JC-55 is no longer made iirc. I bought mine new in 1986. I've had it ever since. Features beyond the JC-40 (other than watts), Has a Mid Control, has a better Chorus control (iirc.)

But when I saw Dennis Chandler's review saying that the JC-90 he has makes the JC-40 useless to him. Of course I agree with him :) I recently had my JC-55 into an amp tech (varmits in storage chewed off some wirs :((). It plays as well as ever, even with "only" (2) 8" Speakers. It was my very first amp in my foray into the magical electric guitar arena (I've since also had a Randall Tube Pro II [an AWEsome 50W 1x12] and now still have an Epi 10 1x10 Class A Amp).

In retrospect, I mad a very good choice that I will have until the day I die. My 1972 Martin D-18 sounded awesome through it... clear with no sound coloring I could detect. My current Guild D-240E sounds nearly as good iirc. ;) :) I play mostly Folk, Folk-Rock, CCR and so on. I like to also play around with traditional "Rock" and find only a tube amp works for me with those styles... and fills me with passion for the songs.

I bought this amp for my brother, played it for a couple days and loved it so much, I bought one for myself. Shortly after giving the amp to my brother, one of his friends, a key board player bought one for himself.

If I had one complaint, its that the distortion channel is useless, but who cares when the amp is otherwise near perfect.

I used to favor tube amps, as my favorite amps I had previously played were a British Made Marshall Major 200 watt head with 2-100 watt bottoms, which is complete overkill unless you're playing a stadium and the best amp I ever owned was a Fender Twin Reverb which is also deafening.

However I now prefer solid state amps because I prefer the cleans, where every note is clearly articulated and the JC 40 gives me just what I want.

Sounds clean, crisp, and full. Definitely recommend.

Loud clean tones. Beautiful chorus sound. Reverb is nice. I personally like a little blend of the distortion circuit. Very lightweight for a 40 watt amp with two 10 inch speakers.

There really is no comparable option in this class (true solid-state guitar combo amp with true stereo inputs, a few classic onboard effects, healthy volume output AND portability), I pretty much had no choice but to give the Roland JC-40 a try.
I sure am glad they decided to produce this amp!
When it arrived, upon picking it up I wondered if there actually WAS an amp inside the box, so light it is! Although I have owned JC-120s in the past, I don't think I'd consider it a fair trade-off that those amps put out three times the power @ only twice the weight. Whereas, a 70-pound combo amp would never be considered easy to transport, this 35-pounder certainly is!
But would it really be loud enough without all the mass...and would it have TONE to make up for it?
Indeed it does!
Now, I'm really getting my tone out of my pedalboard (running stereo signal out); so I just needed a loud and clear amp platform to translate it all. It turns out nothing is lost in the translation!
Here are a couple of observations that might also be useful to potential buyers:
1) I don't believe Roland breaks these units in on the bench, because I noticed a marked increase in speaker definition within the first couple hours of use. I wound up turning the amp DOWN over that period as things cleaned up and got more focused. It's still changing and improving, but less dramatically so. Patience required here. 2) Those that have complained about the "hiss" coming from the speakers @ "idle" might consider that this amp is voiced a bit on the bright side; and that, of course, translates to an increase in perceived "white noise". In the end, once the EQ controls are set for a balanced tone, the noise is no different than what you might hear out of any other combo amp (tube or otherwise) of similar output. That considered, I personally don't consider it a problem. I don't think I'm going to have much use for that "Bright" switch on the front panel, though...unless I get recruited for some happening "No Wave" gigs in the future.

Thanks again to the Sweetwater staff for answering my questions and helping make this happen!

First off, shoutout to my Sweetwater engineer Loui for being freaking awesome!

After over a decade of playing inexpensive budget amps with the occasional opportunity to play someone else's nicer rig here and there, this was my first serious purchase of an amplifier. I'm highly impressed with this thing, given the price and features; it's an amazing value. Like most people interested in Jazz Chorus amps I was chasing an uncompromising clean tone, and within 20 minutes of getting this thing out of the box and plugging my Strat with 57/62 pickups straight in, I found a pristine sound with the Dark channel EQ tweaked to taste, reverb at 1 o'clock, and that legendary stereo chorus in 'fixed' mode. You know how it sounds. You can't go wrong with it. I like to sit right of front of my amplifiers when I play, and hearing and feeling that stereo spread is rewarding and INSPIRING.

Another note on the stock features of this amp, and by that I mean the distortion channel. This is a bit of a divisive topic, but my verdict is that the JC-40's distortion is quite good if (big if!) you know how to use it. Like other Roland products such as the Boss DS-1 distortion, it's misunderstood and thus prone to misuse if you don't know how to dial it, and it gets a bad reputation that isn't necessarily warranted. The bad rap for distortion might be applicable to the JC-120, but they got it right with the 40. If you're playing single coils like me and you crank that distortion while running the Bright channel, it's gonna be a bad time and you'll have flashbacks to the cheap multi-fx units you played as a kid. Not so good. However, if applied sensibly depending on your EQ settings (since the distortion comes AFTER the EQ stack and FX loop) you can get some very respectable and pleasant sounds, good enough that I'd use it in a live setting if I had no drive pedals available. Using my neck pickup I find it quite useable from 9 o'clock to noon for bluesy lead type sounds. It sounds even better when I hit the Earthquaker Plumes to round everything out if I feel like going to my bridge pickup for a biting but full sound.

On the subject of pedals, this thing certainly lives up to its rep as a pedal platform. I tried my Boss DD-8 in stereo mode through the front as well as the effects loop and I've gotten wonderful results both ways. Drive pedals such as my Plumes and MXR FET Driver are wonderful through the front too. They required some tweaking and dialing back from my previous setup but this goes with the territory of having an amp with such a 'revealing' sound, as one Youtuber put it. Even my BC108 Fuzz Face sings through this thing. With the DD-8 after the Fuzz Face I found myself in Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii territory, and who doesn't want that? Listen close, be judicious with how you dial your pedals, and you'll get to where you want to be in pretty short order.

My criticisms of the JC-40 are sparse and mostly come down to my own personal taste, so it would foolish to dock points from it, but I will lay them out for the sake of readers interested in this amp who may be running setups similar to my own. First, the single-knob reverb; like the distortion, you can get into a bad territory if you aren't careful with how you set it. I'm a person who likes to max out reverb sometimes, and doing so on this amp isn't necessarily awful, but you may start to hear digital artifacts and muddy up your signal which is obviously less than ideal. This is doubly apparent if you have drive/distortion in the signal as opposed to fully clean. Set to a more sensible level though, I think the reverb does an amicable emulation of short-spring reverb units like those in the JC-120. If I had to give it a number, I'd say the reverb is about a 7/10 when clean, perhaps a 5/10 if you want it to be very useful for higher gain tones. If you don't have reverb pedals, this will get the job done in a utilitarian fashion if you're craving that spaciness in your signal. If you have reverb pedals though, you'll likely want to use those. My second very small criticism is of the manual settings for the modulation effect. The manual chorus mode is easy to dial, but can sound a little too square-wavey to me, which again is just a personal preference for me and others may find it desirable since it's such a definitive sound of 80's-era guitar music. The vibrato channel is again easy to dial, but I have a difficult time finding a legitimate use for its sound unless I keep the settings dialed way back since its parameters are different from the chorus, namely a much faster rate of oscillation on the 'speed' knob. So once again, it's not for my tastes but others may like it. It certainly does what you think it'll do, so I can't knock it for that.

In all, I don't see how anyone could go wrong with the JC-40. It's more than fairly priced for the quality of its wonderful sound, the onboard effects range from good to great, and it's LOUD. Like, really loud. If you're not attempting to gig and you have apartment neighbors to be considerate of, the JC-22 would likely be the safer bet, or you could use the headphone jack on the 40 since it sounds great from my experience through closed-back monitor headphones. But the 40 is a complete workhorse of an amplifier, light enough to carry without strain yet quite sturdy and rigidly constructed. I can see now why Jazz Chorus amps are preferred by artists like Mdou Moctar. If this amp gets the job done out in the middle of the Sahara, it'll certainly get the job done in your living room or at your next gig (when COVID ends!). If you're not rich and you're weary of tube amps becoming a money pit but want a pristine sound, I genuinely think this is the one.

I generally don't do reviews but I like this amp well enough to write one. I'm a stereo effects junkie so much so I have the Mk 2 Katana artist dual amp rig and love it but to my ears this is on a different level of awesome with the wet/dry chorus. I'm blown away. The amp alone is outstanding not to mention the option of running stereo effects in the loop series or parallel and direct in the front I'm able to do the 4 cable method with my pod go, running stereo lines out of the JC 40 to my Katanas and WOW and even 1 better with the flick of the series/parallel switch(having had the effects loop and the preamp on the pod go assigned to the same switch one off one on) I have all the helix preamps running wet dry wet it's insane the options this opens up!

Had mine a couple of years now. It sounds fantastic with single coil pickups straight up as it is. With humbuckers, I discovered lately since buying an Epi Les Paul, that a little boost actually takes you into organic territory. I use the level slide on my EQ for boost. It works just as well as a boost pedal IMHO and some pro's do this...try it and see!.
And lastly, this is a super reliable amp !

The amp was a great surprise. It is used daily and loved for sound! Sweetwater was very personable to deal with and item arrived quickly and well protected. would order from Sweetwater again without hesitation.

Superb cleans, and takes pedals fantastically. The built in stereo chorus is lush, full, and sounds 3D in the room. Plenty loud, I use it in practice regularly and have no problem being heard at 4-5 on the volume. The stereo inputs weren't something that really caught my interest at first, but having played around with them now, they really take some effects to another level and am super happy to have them.

Overall a great sounding amp and pedal platform, the on board distortion sounds pretty good, but my overdrives sound anazing through it. Perfect for me, and could not recommend enough.

I love this amp. It's light. It's surprisingly loud. The controls are laid outin a simple and easy to use layout.And the beautiful sound of course. Yes that clean sound that only gets better when you engage the chorus. I wasn't sure how dirty this amp would get. Well with a good pedal it gets plenty dirty. I run a JHS AT+ and a Boss Wazacraft delay and my Ibanez Rg550. I couldn't be happier.

The big brother to this amp is legendary and has been a studio staple for decades. This amp delivers the same vibe in a lighter, smaller package with plenty of power to gig. I use a Helix and run it in stereo into the front of this amp. It sounds epic! Even with IR's and Amp models on it sounds huge! I also really like playing through the amp on its own. A lot of people knock the built in distortion. I think the key with that is moderation. I keep it no more than quarter of the way up and it sounds great, add a Boss Blues driver in front with the amp distortion and it's warm overdrive bliss. The amp really works well with humbuckers. For single coils you need to back off the treble. This and it's big brother are in my opinion the best solid state amplifiers ever made. I love having great tone in a lightweight package that is maintenance free. I am a Roland/Boss fanboy. Boss is Boss!

I have used a lot of amps from solid states to tube amps to modelling amps, no need to name them because yes they are good. But this Roland JC40 just stands out amongst all the other solid state amps that i have used. Watch the demos in youtube or wherever and they sound really crisp and clean but those demo videos still won't do justice when you hear the sound it makes when it's actually right next to you or in front of you. I won't go into details but if you are still out there trying to look for that awesome clean, crisp sound of a SS amp, don't spend too much time looking around and just go get the Roland JC40. And last but not the least, my buying experience/s here at Sweetwater has always been great because of Rob Parker! He has handled all of my gear needs from day 1, and trust me I have purchased quite a few from you guys and Rob has always helped me out. This won't be my last purchase i can tell you that. So Rob, thanks so much and i will be talking to you again sometime soon!!!

I just got my JC-40. I am very pleased and can't wait to strut this baby in front of my band mates. They will be sooooo jealous! The clarity is pristine and even without the "Bright" button punched in the sound jumps out at you. I am playing Ovation 6 and 12 strings through mine. This is definitely some of the best money I have spent on musical equipment. I might buy another one. You can never have enough backup! Thanks Drew.

There's a definitive tone to a Roland that isn't met by Fender or Vox or others. It's powerful, round, clean (CLEAN), and just let's the instrument speak without a veil of color by the amp. And it doesn't cost much for the power. But a JC120 is HEAVY. Not metal, just is gonna kill your back trying to lift it. Oh, and it's so loud that anything above 1 is almost too much.

I love the sound of 10" speakers. I appreciate 12", but 10's have a punch to them that makes me happy. So when I saw the JC40 was coming out, I got excited. Legendary sound that I craved, much much much lighter weight, and still capable of playing very loud if needed.

I bought it without hesitation or review and it has been joy since. It is my go to amp for any occasion. I still love and play my Mesa, but my pedal board and my multi-effects unit are both designed around this amp and its sound. I've had several Mesas, a Laney, some Line6, a Marshall, a Vox, and this is my favorite.

Been looking for an amp that makes my PRS sound better. I found it. Not finished setting it up yet but with what I have I am very happy. I get those soft tones for Jazz and Blues. Not really interested in Distortion but maybe someday.

I'm going buy the Boss JC120 after I pay my recent gear off why you might ask because the Boss JC40 sounds so good.

This is it. Best cleans. Best reverb and chorus. Best pedal platform. Sounds huge in person. I sold my amps that start with F. You won’t find anything even close to this price range that can touch it.

A gift for our Jazz guitarist son. He absolutely loves the amplifier.

I purchased this amp because I was hoping for a great clean tone. I was absolutely blown away by how crystal clear my guitars sound through it. It is capable of hitting very high volumes, but still sounds great even when turned down. The stereo chorus is spacious. You really have to hear the chorus in person, because there is no demo that does the JC-40's chorus justice. The reverb is impressive as well.

My only gripe is that the distortion is "meh", but I didn't knock off any stars for that because you don't buy an amp like this for its distortion. I'll probably be picking up a distortion pedal to use with this amp for the rare occasions that I would want to use it.

I've always been skeptical about SS amps. My first amp was a Twin Reverb, so the bar has always been a bit high for me. I remember the first time I tried a JC-120, back in the 80's, and I was blown away by the chorus, but disappointed with the overall performance in a rock setting. My pedals mushed out. The amp distortion was un-usable. It didn't cut through the mix unless it was uncomfortably loud. Those days are over.

Over the years I've accumulated about 50 pedals and a GP-10 synth. My first priority in my search for a new amp was 'What will work with what I have so I don't need to shell out even more money for pedals?" I'm happy to report the JC-40 is as close to perfection as you can get for a pedal platform. I don't know what exactly has changed since I first heard the JC-120 but I imagine its quite a bit. Roland got it right with the 40. Don't let its smallish size fool you. This is a powerhouse. Plus, you can go line out to the PA or mic it in stereo if you're playing a larger venue.

After receiving the amp on Saturday, the first thing I tried was my GP-10 in stereo. The GP-10 is perfectly married to the JC-40 and even has an output setting for it (for the JC-120 actually, but it works flawlessly with the JC-40). Five hours later, I determined it was a perfect match. Synth sounds, alt-tunings, stereo effects and even some of the cabinet sims sounded incredible. Next, I ran some pedals straight to the amp. Another 3 hours later, I determined that all my pedals sound exactly as they should. I turned the amp treble down for heavier distortion and it sounded amazing. The Keeley Fuzz Bender sounded great, in particular. The clarity/granularity was kind of stunning.

Next, I connected a TC Flashback x4 and TC Hall of Fame Reverb to the stereo effects loop. Just pure ambient, stereo bliss. I have no idea how the stereo imaging works, but I'll just say its room-filling. I bought 3 FS-5L footswitches for the onboard effects (distortion, a passable reverb, and the famous chorus). Switching the chorus on, in the default setting, is like entering a portal to another dimension.

The next day, I worked on creating and modifying GP-10 patches and refining my effects loop. The JC-40 took everything I threw at it. I played for another 8 hours, until I couldn't physically play anymore.My fingers are still sore, but I can't wait to use it again.

I should mention, I never turned the volume past 20%, and it was actually too loud for the room. I tried it at 50% for a few minutes when I first plugged in and nearly blasted myself off my feet like Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future. Capital L LOUD.

Plug your guitar in and you hear your guitar, for better or worse. Its a perfect reference amp. I own 7 guitars and found electronics problems that I didn't even know existed with them...mostly glaring volume differences between pickups. A few adjustments, and everything sounded great..particularly my Ibanez AR-620.

I own a Michael Kelly hybrid acoustic/electric, so I gave the piezo a test run. I got crystal clear, meaty acoustic tones, no feedback at higher volume, and great 'feel'.

To summarize the plusses: crystal clear cleans, amazing chorus, more than enough volume and clarity to cut through a live mix, perfect as a pedal platform, works seamlessly with synths, huge sounding stereo effects (with stereo loop and stereo in), reference quality sound, light and small enough to haul around, 'Swiss army knife' of sound.

Now a few negatives: the volume takes a hit when you use the on-board chorus in the default setting. The stereo spread thins it out (though this does not happen with effects loop, just onboard chorus). Nothing a boost pedal (or boost using a little onboard distortion) can't resolve. There is a little hiss with high gain pedals and effects, but no more than any other amp.

Final word: This amp will make you forget the years and years of anti-SS propaganda from tube amp elitists. I like tube amps, don't get me wrong, but I don't like the weight, quirks, and additional expense for upkeep. The JC-40 is a blank canvas, and what better place to start for realizing your art?

Over the years, I have owned many different brands and models of amps but this may be the best amp I have ever played. I bought the JC 40 as a gift for my brother after doing alot of research, it is the amp I would have bought for myself. I also bought him an Art Studio V3 tube pre-amp which warms the tone of the solid state amp just enough to kick it over the top to make this amp into an epic tone monster.
I currently own several amps, including a Fishman Loud Box mini (just ok) and a Fender HotRod Deluxe I heavily modified, changing the crappy MIM capacitors, resistors, inputs, transforming it into a great amp, comparable to my old Twin Reverb which was my favorite amp I ever owned.
The JC 40 with the ART preamp is a better amp in most respects than my HotRod, which I love. While the HotRod has great tone for soloing, The string and note articulation of the JC 40 is superior, especially for fingerpicking and rhythm and this little amp screams, especially with the ART preamp.
I played a Fender JazzMaster, Strat, Ibanez Montage (Steel string acoustic-electric) and Cordoba Orchestra Fusion (Nylon string with Fishman electronics) through the JC 40, all with predictably stellar results. The onboard effects are excellent, as Roland owns Boss, which makes many of the best pedals and processors on the market.
I love this amp so much, I will probably buy one for myself.

Our guitar playing kid is very happy with this amplifier.

Clean tone is great!
Chorus is to die for.
Pretty easy to transport.
No tubes to replace.
Sturdy, with great fit and finish.
As stated by other users, the background hiss is unnerving, but once the music starts, you don't hear it.

But you knew those things. What worried me before buying this amp was, being used in a pretty big auditorium with a bunch of loud brass players, would the JC40 cut through and be heard? Many many reviews say it is loud, but these reviewers seem to be garage and bar players who mostly have trouble with loud drummers. I wasn't sure how to take those assurances, considering this amp was going to be used in a much larger larger venue, and would have to be heard over fifteen horns who are used to playing on the football field. So, does it have the volume to do the job at school? Yes. With no stress at all. This is a great choice for schools.

... and since this amp went to school, the band director has a big smile for my wife and me. And he's generally kind of a grouch.

One other thing that's good with this unit: It has all analog controls, and that keeps today's teenagers focused on the music, not distracted by multiple layers of digital menus.

I bought a JC in 1975 when they first came out.
It was a great amp but HEAVY!
The JC 40 has the same great cleans and that great chorus at half the weight and this amp has a reverb that is digital but will rival many spring reverbs.
Thanks to Aaron and Sweetwater for AAAA service,fast shipping and customer satisfaction.

I looked at the JC-120 many times in the past, but the size and weight were larger than the tube amps I had been using. I was really happy to see this get released. It's still plenty loud, but much more portable.

I wanted to get back to basics and start with a pure, clean sound. I have my overdrive and Deluxe Big Muff pedals, plus some other stuff. When I first unpacked it and plugged in my Gibson SG HP, I knew I made the right choice. It's got a warm, sweet, smooth tone that I always wanted to find. I've played a number of other guitars through it as well (Taylor T3, G&L Doheny, Parker Fly Deluxe, Ibanez AM93, American Strat) and I honestly haven't had to change settings much between them. The reverb is nice, though it would be cool to have various types available (spring, plate, hall). The chorus is so good I'm selling my chorus pedal. I've used the distortion a bit and it sounds good, though I haven't compared it to a pedal.

I also have a Boss GT-8 and a Tech21 Liverpool pedal that I have to play with a bit. There is some hum and noise when chaining pedals, but I'll just have to troubleshoot my setup. The amp on its own is clean and noise free.

The tones this amp gives me are irreplaceable. Every time I turn this thing on, I don't want to turn it off. It's THE clean sound.

All the controls work well -- the EQ is responsive and each knob is very usable with a good sweep. It's not touchy at all.

I detect no hiss what so ever; I was worried about it before ordering.

Paired with my boss GT1, I really can get so many great sounds with this thing.

The amp is surprisingly loud, but sounds good at low volumes if need be. The headphones out sounds fantastic with my ATH-M50x headphones.

If this were lost or stolen, I would definitely purchase it again.

I've been mainly a nylon string acoustic player for some time so haven't really kept up to date with gear. Recently I decided to get back into electric wiith an Elite Tele. Mainly I play jazz, pop and bossa standards, so my main priority was something clean and warm. I wanted something easily portable, with plenty of clean headroom, and a great tone at lower volumes for small clubs, restos, and home use, so I narrowed it down to a solid state amp. After doing a bunch of online research, reviews, youtube demos, I first decided on a Blues Cube Hot. I had nothing to compare it to. Brand new electric guitar and brand new amp. I was very impressed. It was small, light and pretty well defined notes bass to trebel - I play mostly fingerstyle. Yet, I just wasn't sure. The treble strings had a bit of an edge in the wrong direction for my style. The head room was probably enough, but still maybe on the verge of a little break up sound that I didn't want. I thought maybe the Blues Cube Stage with 60w would fix that, but maybe not the edge on the tone. So, I decided to return the Cube in exchange for a JC-40. I plugged it in with all dials at noon, and presto, the sound was an instant hit. I instantly knew it was exactly what I was looking for. Cleaner and more defined notes than the Cube, and on the neck pickup with the tone turned down about a third, heavier strings, a really nice, yet modern sounding jazz tone. One reason I didn't first go with the JC 40 was because some said that its mainly for those who want chorus. Well, I didn't really need chorus, but once I actually tried it, wow, chorus from the heavens, magical, just like all the other reviews say. That aside, I'm still not sure how much I'll use it, but the main thing, the amp gives me just the tone I want both with fingerstyle and a pick. After just a few minutes I knew it was a keeper and was really happy I made the exchange. Also, I'll give a shout out to my service rep, Anthony Longano, who was really informative and no pressure on my purchases..

I bought this amp for its legendary clean tone and modulation. In this realm, the JC-40 delivered exactly what I was looking for. After owning it for a year, I got around to putting my Fractal Audio AX8 in front on the JC-40 and the world changed. This is the only combo amp I've ever used which takes speaker cabinet modeling well. The inherent tone of the amp can be set so neutral that it will faithfully reproduce the sounds of Marshal, Fender and Vox cabinets...etc. with substantially reduced coloration, when compared to most combo amplifiers.

Honestly, I've never been a fan of cabinet models and IR's in a live setting. They are great for recording but just lack the punch of a true guitar cabinet, in the room. Hence, I've always used a Matrix power amp and real guitar cabinets to deliver the kick in the gut feeling most FRFR systems lack. Somehow, this Roland JC-40 makes cabinet models sound good AND delivers the true guitar cabinet kick, at the same time.

Roland really should scale this platform up to higher power ratings, with 12" speakers. If they did, I might sell my Matrix and just use a more powerful version of this amp for everything.

Thank U, Sweetwater from JC-40 Jazz Chorus Amp! I like the sound of this on Ur guitar playing on this amp... Before, I bought a used Roland 77 which is great, but the sound of the 40 sounds better. Anyway, thanks again.

Greg DiGiorgio

The Roland JC-40 is the perfect amp in so many ways. I can use it for live performances or my in-house studio. It's gutsy with power and crystal clear in sound too. The effects are perfect for my style of playing!
On top of all that Sweetwater gave me a great deal with easy payments too! I recommend this amp to everyone.

I have had many amps, orange,vox,mustang 3, fender gt 100,katana ( solid state) hotrod deluxe, blues jr.,65drri,dsl40c (tube amps) (fender vc xd,which I still have) and many pedals and effects, but always seemed that something in the tone was lacking and needed a amp that sounded good at low volume. I read a lot and watched a lot of reviews about the JC40 and took a chance,WOW!!!!!!!!!!
Completely blown away by the tones and sound from this amp,easy to dial in and go, just seems to have a certain charm that no other amp has so clean and crisp, the chorus is to die for the distortion is usable and does give the amp a bit of an edge one the tone, using a TS9 and a BD-2 does sound very good to.People talked about a hiss a little bit of white noise barely noticeable when idle. Is this a high gain amp? No.People are always trying to compare tube amps to SS amps, two completely different amps. I am in love with the JC-40 best sounding amp I have ever owned. I have a small practice room, 1 1/2 on the volume is good. Could you gig with it ? Yes,mic or through a pa would be no problem

Well first off I got my Roland JC-40 amp within 3 days and wow really fast delivery. The JC-40 is a great amp with so many options, well built and sounds REALLY Fantastic. It is exactly what I needed. At first I got a hum but I changed my input cable from 8 footer to a 3 footer and wala, no hum. Anybody that complains about hum should get new input cables. I can't say enough about the JC-40 and if you get another lap steel ( or pedal steel) player, they should love this amp. Great sustain, and beautiful reverb and the Chorus really sounds great too. Thanks to my sales engineer Zach Richards for being patient with me and guiding me to the JC-40. Also thanks to Sweetwater for a great financing option, and oh yea, thanks for the candy.... Bill McCormick

This amp is much more powerful than most 40 watt amps I have tried. I have used mine in several different situations that required higher volume and this thing was comfortably powerful. Seems more like 80 watts to me.

The clean sound is fabulous and the Reverb is top shelf. Once I figured out how to set the chorus (very sparingly), I didn't want to turn it off. There is a loss of bass with it turned on, though.

I use the stereo outs to send the signal to the PA and it is noise-free.

The distortion is far better than previous iterations (I actually use it a little bit).

A long time ago I had a JC120 and I loved it, but being young and poor and living in an expensive city, I was forced to sell it for rent money. Seeing this amp again, but in a smaller package, I knew what I was getting, so I bought it without even a test drive. It's the whisper quiet amp that I remember, with the chorus that I loved, but now in a smaller, lighter package, but still plenty of power. I have yet to put it past 3 on the volume knob. With all effects off, a telecaster sounds like a telecaster, a strat sounds like a strat...it's biggest strength is its ultra clean tone.

Phenomenal amp. Beautiful clean sound. Great pedal platform. And the built-in chorus is so lush with the two speakers. Best I've ever played.
Was nervous about how my dirt pedals (TS-808 clone and Dr Scientist The Elements) would pair with this amp. But was pleasantly surprised at how great they work with it!
I haven't even plugged into the true stereo capability of this amp with my DL4 yet. Can't wait to try it.
And what else is there to say about Sweetwater. Best customer service, fast shipping, and assorted candies to enjoy with your new toy!
Thanks to my Sales Engineer, Brad Thomsen!

great crystal clear sound amp. very loud too! also great for digital effects, stereo imput and stereo fx loop. light weight for carry (not like the 120) I'm very happy with my new jc40.

It sounds just like I remember when I'd claim the JC120 in the rehearsal space.

The chorus and vibrato are rich and subtle.

And it weighs half what a jc120 weighs.

I got the Roland JC-40 Jazz Chorus amp from Sweetwater, and I am totally pleased with both the amp, which sounds absolutely great and has a ton of volume, and the service I received from Sweetwater. I will do all my future music shopping at Sweetwater. Best amp I've ever used - great deal!!

Got this for my son, a serious jazz guitarist finishing high school in a top notch program. It was a big investment and he was unsure what he wanted, but knew he wanted something with a really clean sound, soary on the high tones. His jazz teacher bought the 120-watt version of this and he was blown away. We got him this 40-watt version and he is thrilled with it - says it is exactly what he was looking for. We had great help from Sweetwaters. Thank you!

I listened to countless video's, demo's, searching for the clear, clean sound of a guitar and it's quality, on an amplifier, didn't think it existed anymore ! I'm old school, not complaining about other's type of music, just thought mine was gone for good. That is till I plugged into this Roland Jazz 40. My Gretschs, nylons, never sounded as clear until this one. I own a number (too many) of very popular amps, volume, distortion, and all sorts of applications to augment my guitar's sound. I just wanted "clean" first, and for me, I found it. The reverb is the best I've ever experienced for me, I doubted the 10" speakers over 12", but my fears were dashed. It's what I looked hard and long for, and Sweetwater's desire to get what you need, is unbeatable.

I've had a Fender Twin (2x12) since the early 2000s. Its characteristically clean tone has always been the hallmark of that amplifier, and it remains with me to this day. The thing weighs a ton, though, and over the past year, I've been researching amps to find an additional amp under 40 pounds and with Clean tone to die for. I looked at Vox, Marshall, Fender, you name it.... I have always loved the clean sound that Johnny Marr (of the Smiths) gets on his records. I've also been impressed by the clean recordings of Joe Newman (of Alt-J). Both used Roland JC-120s. Luckily, Roland reissued the JC-120 in a smaller package (JC-40) with improved distortion, while retaining the quality clean tone and lush jazz chorus that made the amp emblematic. After researching, demoing, and listening to various samples, I bought the JC-40, and am blown away! The clean is better than any Fender I've come across, and JC-40 (at 2-10s) is at a price advantage to the quality Fenders. It takes pedals better than other amps I compared it to. Amazing amp!

The guitars I played through the JC40 are GandL Ascari HB3, ESP LTD EC-1000, Godin Solidac with replaced pickups, PRS S2 Standard 24, Ibanez JEM77WDP.

I got the JC40 last week and have run all my guitars through it. I am really pleased that every pickup selection on every guitar has its own voice. When using the five way blade switches, the traditional second and fourth positions, it makes me feel that much more invested in the guitars I’ve chosen due to the way the amp brings out their character.

First some brief history. An amp I gave up due to its weight that I miss the most was a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410 III 60W 4x10. I loved its immense amount of headroom, clarity and punch as well as the reverb. The headroom was a blessing and a curse though since it was too loud for my environment. After trading it in I went to a Blackstar ID 260 TVP and was, for the most part, impressed with it but on the Blackstar it was always close to breakup no matter how clean I tried to dial it in. Occasionally I just wanted crystal clean with zero breakup. To my ears, the JC40 is the most Fender like NON tube amp I have ever played through. When I describe the virtues of tube amps I like to say the difference between them and solid state is how the speakers push air into the room. The sound that comes from the JC40 makes me feel exactly the same as the Hot Rod Deville. It’s more of a punch than simply hearing the sound.

Let me get this out of the way before I continue. My one slight disappointment was when running the Godin Solidac’s Piezo saddles through it, it did not work as well as I wanted it to. It didn’t transfer the acoustic sound as well as an acoustic amp might or my KRK monitors through my POD HD. This is not a deal breaker for me since it was not advertised as an acoustic amp.

With respect to the power of the amp, I am only a weekend Hobbyist Rockstar wannabe. Thinking of the volume knob as a clock face, when I turn it to 9PM it is to the point where it’s too loud for my humble practice area. I did push it up to about 3PM and it was still crystal clear but deafening. If you want to play a club with this I am inclined to believe it will be enough.

The Bright switch on the front does exactly what I expected. It cuts the bass a bit and boosts the mid and treble. If you are a single coil player you may want to get comfy with the EQ controls if you plan on parking with the bright switch enabled.

The Treble Middle and Bass controls do not provide extreme sweeps but they work perfectly for me with controlled spectrum shifts that allow me to stop right where my ears tell me to.

With respect to the distortion control, I can see how some people might not like it but I am having fun with it. From the moment you turn it from zero position, you can hear it switch character a bit and steadily increase until turned all the way up. I find it pretty useable but will still want to buy a proper overdrive pedal to push the front of the amp with when I want some grit.

The Reverb is fantastic. Just great! I really love Reverb so when I’m playing clean I turn it all the way up and it doesn’t seem to get in the way at all. When I demoed the Distortion, I kept it at about 10PM and it worked well for me there.

I can’t say much about the Chorus feature that you probably don't already know. If you love chorus, and I do, this amp earns its name. I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed in it.

I don’t use Vibrato much so won’t comment on it other than to say I might actually start using it since the amp puts it within easy reach.

I probably won’t have reason to use the stereo input on the front so can’t comment on it.

The Power switch works well and without audible pop turning on or off.

The hiss others mentioned is only present on mine when a guitar is plugged in. When I unplug, the hiss goes away. Even with the hiss, the moment I start playing I do not notice it at all.

The things I plan to use very soon are all three of the foot switch jacks on back. I likely will not use the effects loop until I find a deal on a nice delay pedal.

I wanted to complain about the price of the amp but there are two power amps in there with one working for each speaker. It delivers many of the things I want right now in spades. The extra hardware helps makes this amp what it is and I would not be satisfied with less so to me the money is well spent.

In closing, I wanted an amp that does crystal cleans well that I will be able to run pedals in to when I want some dirt. I am convinced I got it and it seems durable enough that I expect to pass this amp along to someone else when it’s time.

I wanted and amp that would sound great with my acoustic and with my guitars using the Boss GT-100.
This amp does the trick- I test drove this at Sweetwater before I bought it and used the GT-100 through it along with my Gibson SG and my acoustic guitar. Works great - sounds awesome! I just use the onboard effects of the JC-40 when using my acoustic and then turn off all the JC-40 effects when using the GT-100 and it sounds great- this combo is what I've been looking for because I have a Line 6 Vetta II and it sounds great with twin 12" Celestions but it is heavy! The JC-40 is light enough that I can carry it with one hand - not happening with that Vetta!
This rig works for me - hope this review helps some people out - if not - Sweetwater has the best customer service- bar none!!!

I love this amp - totally satisfied.

I downsized from a big Fender tube amp that was too loud, heavy, and wild for me. At first, I was nervous about buying a solid-state amp - I thought tube is always be better. Wrong. I am playing a Strat with the EQ set flat and the bright switch on, and the clean tones are to die for. This is an awesome amp for funk/R&B/soul (Nile Rodgers) where clean is king. While the tone is clean and fairly un-modified, it also has great character that gives me just the kind of response that I am looking for.

To address others' comments and reviews around the web about volume and hiss, I have had no issues. I find that the mere 40 watts of solid-state power is plenty loud, even for performance with a drummer. There is no white noise from the amp when using humbuckers. Single coils get just a little bit noisy, but that's the nature of single coils. It's not the amp's fault.

It was recommended to me to bring my business to Sweetwater because of the good service. I didn't get my hopes up, but I was really surprised by the service at Sweetwater. They did a great job and get a good recommendation from me.

I got this amp to go with my new Line 6 Helix processor. What an amazing combo! The JD-40 amplifies totally clean and true. And when you kick in the chorus unit it takes it to another planet. LOVE THIS AMP!

Good evening. I RECENTLY MADE S PURCHASE ON THE ROLAND JC40. WAS AMAZED. GREAT SUPER CLEAN AMP. GLAD TO HAVE IT!!! ALSO GREAT WITH PEDALS. MUCH LIGHTER THAN THE120. CHORUS YES . OH MY!!!! BE WARNED, THIS AMP IS SUPER LOAD. I BELIEVE THAT ITS MUCH LOUDER THAN40. CLEAN AMP.

I have been looking for a solid state amp to replace tube amps in my studio. I wanted something that sounded great with pedals and could offer decent tone without mind bending volumes. This is the perfect amp. It seems transparent, has a great reverb and chorus unit on board, and is stereo. The recordings sound great with an SM57 each on the dry and wet speakers. Nice spatial effects.

This amp sounds great with or without pedals, is light weight, has more spl than you would ever want.
I am very glad I bought this little amp.

Never have I written an amp review... but man I had to for this amp.
I always loved the JC-120 but it has a bit of weight to it. Was happy to
hear Roland was coming out with a smaller version and It sounds fantastic.
I would normally play a tube amp at a rock band rehearsal but I carried this
in and after a few strange looks we all fell in love with the tone. It takes my
Way Huge Green Rhino overdrive really well.
When I play at home it's just me and that beautiful chorus...
Don't tell Leo but I haven't turned my Princeton on in a month...

Just received my JC-40 and plugged my Schecter PT, Strat, and Carvin AC-275 acoustic into it for a quick listen. Super nice sound especially running it in stereo with a stereo delay. :) Im surprised at how nice the distortion sounds too. Sure its not as warm and sensitive as a tube amp but it does have a nice break up that is usable. My band usually plays small acoustic-electric gigs and I know can use this one amp for both acoustic and electric. For the bigger gigs I'll probably still pullout the Mesa and Fenders....but you get my point: This is a simple, easy, light, and convenient little amp that sounds great. My pedalboard with this rig will be: Tuner, stereo delay, AMP! ...and a Boss FS6 foot pedal to turn the distortion on and off. Simple!

You will need to play with the eq some and the amp tends to be on the bright side (especially with the bright switch on when using distortion over 50%) but over all dialing in a great sound immediately is super easy. Im impressed!

Gripes: Wish it had come with a vinyl cover.
Get one you won't be disappointed!

Love this amp,I had been wondering why Roland hadn't built a smaller unit for like the 120. This thing is smooth as it gets, I can only say you need to try it.I have plenty of amps to compare it to ,fender Princeton, deluxe revered, and a mustang.the jc40 is just as good as any of them. The tone is top shelf, I like a good tube amp,but this amp is good.

I LOVE this amp! I play a lot of Reggae guitar so the clean setting CANNOT be beat in this thing. I can dial in some distortion if I need to get a a little dirty too! Thanks Derek! Always such great service from Sweetwater.

I'm using this amp with my Roland GR-55, and it sounds perfect. I feel guilty for not using this through a traditional guitar setup, though. My first test upon unboxing was with my Les Paul style LTD plugged straight in. I was floored by just how gorgeous it sounded! It lives up to the legend of its big brother. My Sweetwater rep, Alan Finkbeiner, recommended I check this amp out as a lower cost alternative to the JC-120, which I could not yet afford. I'm sure glad he did. It's relatively light, has a small footprint, and delivers legendary tone. I'm 100% satisfied.

This is a killer amp and I'm glad I saved up for it. The clean sound is wonderful, the stereo chorus is rich and sparkling, and the distortion even sounds good. This has the features that the JC-120 lacks (like stereo input for my stereo effects) yet still has that killer sound in a compact package. Seriously, I'm fussy about my sound, and this think rocks! I just wish they would scale this up with the exact same features to a 100 amp 2x12 combo, I would be the first in line!

Anyone who says this amp hisses or is noisy might be using a poor quality cable. With nothing plugged in you barely hear anything even in a small room with dead silence. Turn the distortion all the way up and yes, you will hear some hiss but you are cranking up distortion! If you are getting noise while plugged in it's probably your cable. Go get you a Death Valley or a Mogami Gold or Platinum and you will have no issues. These are expensive cables but if you want the full killer sound out of this amp, they're worth it.

This is a fabulous tone monster. The purest, transparent clean sound that has been the "Holy Grail" for the
guitar for 40 years. Spencer Kennedy at Sweetwater went the extra mile to make sure that I was being taken
care of every step of the way. Again, Roland did their due diligence in making sure that now, 40 years later
this model does the job like no other 40 watt amp in the world. The patented Jazz chorus clean sound is at
your finger-tips as soon as you plug in. The reverb is very usable and spacey in character, while the updated
chorus is very 3-Dimensional. When adding the Distortion in the mix, you get smooth, even order harmonics
like an old tube amp. I am very happy to add this amp to my Blues Cube with the EJ tone capsule.

Just tried one of these guys out, and was absolutely blown away. Plenty of volume, classic look, incredible vib/chorus, stereo, great EQ...I could go on. The cleans are the best I've ever heard, period. (The distortion is the only iffy thing, but who doesn't own an overdrive pedal?) Can't wait to buy one!

This amp sounds exactly how I wanted it to. It is a dead-on, super clean amp that translates pedals and the guitar's tone perfectly. Please be aware the demos for this amp do not do it justice. I generally do not like chorus effects, but once engaged it opens up the amp into fantastic ambient goodness. It definitely nails that Candlebox clean tone I was looking for. As always, thanks to Dennis Konicki for being the super salesman he is. Definitely worth the price.

The JC-40 sounds excellent in stereo but mainly in the near-field. Further away it sounds basically mono since the speakers are close. However, if you run stereo TS cables from its line outs to a Centerpoint Stereo Speacestation amp (which sounds stereo-ish in the far field but mono in the near field) then you have a match made in heaven! It takes a little adjustment of the Spacestation to get it right but it works. I put my JC40 on top of my Spacestation, moved their handles to the side, and put my effects on top for easy reach (because most "pedals" aren't really designed for your feet these days). Both amps compensate for one another's weaknesses.

Figured I'd write a review as my case is a bit peculiar. I am a clarinet player in an indie-rock band and had been looking for an amp for about a year and a half. I also play some guitar and picked up a 90s Dano, so was searching for an amp that could be used for both instruments. After initially ordering an acoustic Fishman Loudbox Artist and returning it, I mentally prepared to have to go through a long trial-and-error process. But nay, I got the JC-40 and it sounds awesome with the clarinet. The chorus effect is absolutely wild, I sound like a synth almost. And it's a match made in heaven with my Danelectro. I'm not a shredder, more of a strummer and it really adds a new color to my simple playing. The next challenge is learning to record it and really tighten in on the settings I like, but overall can't recommend it enough.

I love clean. The first amp I fell in love with was a Fender Twin my guitar teacher had back in the mid-80's, but I could never afford one. So to get that pristine clean that I loved so much I bought a Roland JC-55. I loved that amp and have used it for everything from gigging with a loud rock band to jazz noodling and ambient soundscapes. I still have that amp today—36 years and going strong as my primary amp, and as much as I love it, I have been looking for a newer amp for a few years now. They have to better now, right?

Wrong! I was sure tempted by features, features, features. I tried a Fender Tone Master Deluxe Reverb—very nice, but didn't have an effects loop (which I thought I'd need), and the coloration of the tone was something I wasn't expecting after so many years playing the Jazz Chorus. Also, I had been reading good things about the Boss Katana line, and happened to play one next to the Tone Master. Half the price and I actually liked it better—I could get the "JC Clean" sound (oh so close to the real thing) *and* a bunch of other nifty features, but did I actually need it? I have a pretty nice pedalboard, so not really…

Around this time my wife and daughter asked me, "isn't there an amp you can play with headphones? Why don't you get one for yourself for Father's Day?" I didn't have to be asked twice. I had gotten obsessed with the Roland Blues Cube demos on YouTube and the idea of the tone capsules. Luckily my local music shop had a used one. I ran to the store with my guitar and demo'ed it. It was also very nice, but not as nice as the JC-40 I played next to it. Now I was really excited when I heard these models were coming out a few years ago, but ultimately had decided that the new features were not enough to warrant me replacing the JC-55. However, after trying the other amps that interested me, it turns out I'm just a "JC guy." So, with the demand for silent practice in the evenings, I contacted Kurt at Sweetwater (who has helped me out immensely this year), who hooked me up with a good deal on the JC-40.

So, where's the review…?

The Jazz Chorus series is the cleanest of cleans, and the JC-40 is no exception. It delivers everything I expected as a 36-year veteran player of these amps. Super clean and punchy, excellent tone controls, and excellent on-board effects (which I use seldom, but more on that in a minute), and now with an excellent full stereo signal path, effects loop, and headphone out for silent play. The 10" speakers are slightly bass-ier than the 8' speakers on my JC-55, which fills the sound out nicely while still being punchier than a 2x12". There is still that annoying "JC hiss" with the JC-40—it's slightly more prominent at lower volumes than the JC-55, but a bit less intrusive at higher volumes. Since this is only 40 W compared to the 60 W JC-55 I'm used to, I can turn the volume knob up higher so I can be more precise in my volume setting at low levels. However, this thing is still quite loud—too loud for bedroom playing past about 11:00 on the knob.

For my uses, I can now play "without bothering anyone," using headphones and I get to enjoy my stereo pedalboard in all its glorious stereo, both through the headphones and through the speakers. My board has taken on a whole new life as before I was running everything in mono. As we all know, these amps are fantastic pedal platforms.
A note on the onboard effects: you could gig with just these. Heck, I used to gig with just the effects on the JC-55, and the JC-40 effects are much better. First, the previously-much-maligned distortion (rightly so) is actually very usable now, especially for light breakup type sounds. I actually like it quite a bit, and would use it if I didn't already have great drive pedals. Second, the reverb is good too. Some lament the change from a real spring tank to digital, but it is still very musical and fitting to the amp. I would have preferred a little more control over the reverb (maybe a stacked knob with mix and length), but again very usable. Lastly, the chorus, still lush and unique as ever it has been, is a selling point of this amp even after all these years and compact chorus pedals. I've been enjoying it even more on the JC-40 because the 55 didn't have the vibrato setting. So cool! While I keep touting my pedalboard, I have already plugged straight into the JC-40 multiple times—it really is enough in most cases.

So, as you can guess, I like the amp… a lot.

However, it is not perfect. In addition to the annoying hiss (disappointing: I thought they would have fixed this after 36 years, but I can live with it), the headphone out overly compresses the sound compared to the speakers. My drive pedals (run into the front of the amp) sound totally different through the headphones than the speakers. For the price, I would have expected Roland to use a higher fidelity/quality headphone amplifier. Still, it's usable. It would just take a lot of tweaking to get pedals to sound the same through the headphones as they do through the speakers. That's pretty much it for my criticisms of the amp, but...

I would have liked to see Roland add a few more things in the update, namely: XLR (or combo) line outs, with cabinet emulated outs, and/or a USB out interface to a PC (like the Katana and Blues Cube). Roland has included some digital processing on this amp in the reverb (at least), so there is no reason they couldn't include some other digital goodies to update the usability of this amp in a studio setting.

Overall, this is probably the last guitar amp I will ever need to buy, unless Roland updates these again as suggested above (then I'd *have* to but the updated update).

I've been very happy owner of a JC40 for over a year and have noticed two important things.
1. The speakers have mellowed nicely &
2. I also own an AC30 style amp and have noticed that when I play my full hollow Ibanez electric, the JC40 gives me far, far less feedback than the one twelve.

I've had my JC40 for about 6 months now and still very happy with it. I've read some reviews where people have complained of background hiss. I found hiss almost negligible and less than other amps I've owned. What I particularly like about this amp is that it's reliable, tough, relatively light, cheaper than a valve amp, and you can depend on the right sounds each time you turn it on. What's more, it's good looking! I cant think of any real negatives with this amp.

The amp delivers inspiring clean tones coupled with great reverb and chorus effects. I really cant imagine the need for going to an external pedal for reverb or chorus - these effects alone add a great value to the unit. The distortion is better than the reputation and rap that exist - however, I would restrict its use to less than 50% of its range. Turning the distortion past 1 o'clock really begins to raise the volume level and introduce harsh high end. I feel the distortion is best suited for lower setting (bluesy overtones) with the caveat that you reduce the treble on the amp. The amp is very bright and I am wondering a situation where anyone would choose to engage the bright switch? That being said, you can control the brightness from your guitar tone knob as well as from the treble control easily. The sustain of the cleans are really impressive - coupled with the reverb (which is quite useful in almost all of its entire range) makes for an enjoyable interaction. I am not big on vibrato, but it seems pretty good as long as the depth is low IMHO. the amp appears plenty loud at 40 watts - volume set past 9 is pretty loud for sure. I have tried the EP Booster, Maxon OD808, OCD, and Flat Iron fuzz with the amp. The amp handles overdrives fairly well in my opinion. I really like the maxon for bluesy overtones with tone rolled back. I think overdrives with tone control are probably best suited so you can roll off some high end harshness if needed as the amp can be bright. Overall, I believe the amp is a solid platform and gives you great cleans and the ability to leverage OD pedals to take you into rock territory.

The Roland JC 40 is an excellent amp, albeit somewhat sterile by itself which is the nature of solid-state. Overall this amp far more suitable for a clean sound which is what I was looking for. The chorus and reverb are very good and the only serious flaw I can determine is that the onboard distortion is utterly useless. Being that Roland owns Boss, they have absolutely no excuse for this oversight since Boss makes some of the best pedals on the market, including the DS-1 and should replace this atrocious distortion with an onboard Overdrive-Distortion or at least a distortion comparable with the Ibanez Tube Screamer or maybe a tube pre-amp.

I corrected the problems of the sterility of solid-state with a Mojo Diamond tube pre-amp which warms up the tone and provides just enough break-up to imp[rove the sound considerably. I sometimes use a boutique overdrive which works exceptionally well especially with my semi-hollow, acoustic-electrics and even my nylon string. I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and overall, I like the tone of the JC 40 with the Mojo Diamon more because the articulation is far better. This solution essentially raises the level of the sound quality to near or perhaps equal to a high-end boutique amp for a fraction of the price, 1/3rd or less depending upon the amp.
Initially, I bought this amp as a gift for my brother, but liked it so much after playing it for a couple days, I bought one for myself.

I have nothing new to add to the sound of the AMP itself. It is just Sweet. I am going to talk about my VG-99 and JC-40

I have a ROLAND VG -99 with which I have a love/hate relationship.

Firstly I believe connecting a guitar straight to the amp .. multi effects ( especially digital) KILLS the soul of the AMP/Guitar .. but the VG99 has loads of modelling guitars (and okayish set of AMPS). I use the GK3 pickup with VG-99 and although it has a pickup blending , I have hated what it does to the analog signal.

With the JC-40 I use 2 separate paths. One goes straight from my pickups to the left/Mono channel in the front. This gives me the unadulterated sound of my Guitar and Amp. Secondly, the STEREO out from my VG-99 goes into the rear effects in ( which gets fed to the left/right stereo power amps). ( MAKE SURE to leave the effects out unplugged as this will mix the left and right signal paths and convert everything to Mono) ..

The result is FANTASTIC !!

I can blend the lovely JC40 with VG-99 sounds.. Secondly I dont have the crazy situation where I am going to thru two preamps ( one simulated and one physical ). I control the blend using volume knob / pedal.

My only criticism is that I wish the Chorus and Reverb were part of the preamp rather than the power amp signal path ( atleast when the send effects are set to be in parallel) This way I could set the reverb/Chorus to my pick up independently of what I have set in VG-99. Right now these settings apply to both front and rear inputs. So I am taking away 1/2 star.

But after years of experimenting with various kind of amps ( including Portable PA systems -- YIKES !!) This really checks most of my boxes.

I love this amp but it definitely has a slight hum with he bright switch on which I refuse to turn off. The bright switch is just a huge presence boost and I noticed with my BE-OD pedal i had to turn the presence down on it all the way to make it work. I'm happy the pedal has this feature but be wary people trying to get high gain distortion with pedals through this amp. It's an awesome amp but it can be a little wonky with heavy drives.

Since reading the reviews helped me make my decision, I thought I'd give my impression. Maybe someone will find it useful.

Got the amp yesterday (delivered safe and on time). I got to play for about an hour before going to band rehearsal, then used it with the band (more on that below), then came home and played it for another hour.

First my impressions of the amp tone itself. I totally agree with other reviews and will say that the clean tone is about as clear and full as other people say.. Of course the chorus is fantastic and I really dig the reverb. My first impression of the distortion was that it is OK, but later in the evening played around with using to just add a little dirt to the tone and was really loving it. The amp is definitely on the bright side. My only criticism is that there is not a tone of warmth to it, even when pushing the bass EQ up, but it doesn't detract much from the quality of the sound this thing puts out. I was able to roll off my guitar tone a bit and get a very Brute Polytone like jazz sound going.

For my "real" use, I am running a Eleven Rack with an old ADA MP1 in the Eleven's effects loop. I played around with a large array of tones and was really happy with how the amp took the processed signal. I first tried running directly into the effects returns on the JC-40 to bypass the preamp, but ultimately found I liked the brightness and clarity the preamp added and just ran right into the front inputs. I used a line level input and was a little concerned about clipping these inputs, but this turned out to not be a problem.

One thing I would like to attest to is how loud this amp is. One of the reasons I pulled the trigger on buying it was that a few people mentioned it was a loud amp. It really is. I play a large variety of music, but recently have started playing lead guitar in a 80s-ish heavy metal band (going back to my roots) and they play extremely loud (I wear earplugs when we play). This amp had no problem keeping up and coming through the mix. I was really impressed.

Anyway, I intend to use this amp for everything from quite, ambient jazz to full bore heavy metal. I can see myself using this amp as a stand alone or with my full effect rig (I also use a VG-88 sometimes which I have no doubt will sound great also). So far I am really happy with what I've seen of this amp and would highly recommend it.

I purchased a Roland JC 40 about a month ago. Nice clean sound and the Chorus is beautiful. This is my first non tube amp and I must say I am very pleased with this baby.
However if you are interested in purchasing this you will be disappointed if you're thinking the so called NEW distortion is going to replace a distortion pedal on your pedalboard. I am old school and nothing beats a Rat Distortion. But to each his own.
The good news is it does handle pedals well.
Distortion, Overdrive, Boost Gain etc.
This is a great amp that I added to my collection. Great for the smaller gigs and it can be used on stage in mono or stereo when going through the house PA.
Good Job Roland.
P.S. I ordered this and 4 days later it was at my door here in NYC. Good fast shipping at Sweetwater. I wouldn't buy anywhere else.

I grew up playing many different amps - some good, some not so good, some tube, some solid-state, some combos, and some half stacks. Fender, Marshall, Peavey, Vox, Orange etc.. but I always struggled with achieving a tone I was satisfied with. Of course if I had thousands of dollars available I could end my search for tonal heaven by purchasing a Fryette head and cab - these are truly the best high-gain tube amps on the market. So much volume and saturation, but the selling point is the CLARITY of the amp. There is so much note definition..AND there is only 1 other amp line available with this characteristic CLARITY, and yep it's the Roland JC-120 and newer JC-40. I was about to purchase a used JC-77 when I happened upon a JC-40 in a local shop where I skeptically tried it out. I thought it would be more of a gimmicky toy than a professional guitar amplifier. Yep, wrong. I have no need for copious amounts of volume, so the 40 watts was fine for me. It even seems a bit louder than what I imagine 40 watts to be, but I have no proof of this truly being the case. This is literally a smaller JC-120. It sounds the same, just with a bit more focused tonality considering the 10" speakers vs the 12" of the JC-120. The on-board chorus is astounding. The digital spring reverb is quite good as well. I run a Boss SD-1, EHX Big Muff Pi Tone Wicker, DOD Phaser, Line 6 DL4, Red Panda Context, and TC Electronic Ditto into the front-end in mono and I have quite a good tone going on right now. I have a Gibson SG that I keep set-up for drop tunings (drop B, drop A) and the amp reacts positively to this. Very surprising. I also have a Fender Esquire and the JC-40 loves to play with it. The guitar sparkles through the amp. I'm not sure why there is a bright switch in all honesty. I have the EQ set to 2 for treble, 4.5 for mid, and 4 for bass and it still can be a bit shrill with the Esquire's full-tone single coil. Anyhow, I would certainly recommend this amp for the obvious shoegaze, alt-rock, ambient, post and math rock players. Believe it or not, but I think it actually seems a bit too hi-fi sounding to be a jazz amp. As far as gig-worthiness goes, I haven't tested it against a drummer or anyone for that matter. It seems like it could hold up, but I don't know. You could always get a slave if you need more volume.

The JC 40 really does surpass my expectations for clean volume, low end punch, warmth and a very good, almost tube-like tone. I have not had a solid state amp in over 10 years and have been pretty much a tube snob ... but this amp, wow, would be great for tele twanging country gigging or jazz (of course).

I shaved half a point because of the effects. I really do not like the chorus effect, but I don't really like ANY chorus effects, so who am I to say? The vibrato is good and the reverb is good. Distortion is above average for a solid state amp.

Where this amp shines (my opinion) is pure tone, volume, punch, in a smallish, relatively light-weight package!

I ordered and received this last week after returning a different amp to Sweetwater. I have a Fender DRRI but wanted something lighter and less fussy, something solid state in other words. This amp is exactly what I was looking for, with a wonderful sound that takes pedals great... but I find myself playing at length without any pedals, the amp sounds so great. I had owned a Fender Chorus 212 in the past, but this sounds a lot better, and is lighter to boot. Even without the chorus engaged I like the tone on this - I think a two speaker configuration really airs out an amp's tone, as does the open back design. As others have noted this amp is pretty loud - even if it is really 2 x 20 watt amps, not a true 40w. No one will have trouble hearing you.

Only complaint is the relatively high price for this compared to other SS amps, but it seems to be a quality unit. Regarding the hiss, I heard it at first as well. After playing around with different things, I found my culprit. My Boss ME-50 multi effects was sitting in front of this amp and once I disconnected it the hiss went away. With individual pedals the hiss (BD2, Cry Baby, Phase90) is not present. Problem solved. I have not tried the ME-50 in the effects loop of the JC-40, so can't speak to this.

Sweetwater service is great as always, demo videos and reviews here very helpful as well. Ultimately it was the review of this amp on Guitar Paradiso that sold me on this, and very happy with the purchase.

This amp is really loud. Very crisp clean tone. I love the chorus effects.
The looks is vintage which is very appealing to me. Thank you to Roland foe job well done.
This is now my go to gig amp. I have no regrets buying this. I love the feeling of going back in time when I used to use it's bigger brother JC100.

Lets start off by saying the chorus on this amp is top shelf. So lush and full, one of the best out there. As far as the rest of the effects are concerned, well I use my pedal board due to my preference of using my distortion pedal (tube screamer) which again is my preference of the overdrive sound verses what comes with the amp. There are occasions when I will use the amps distortion with the Boss FS-6 pedal when I do not feel like lugging the pedal board. The clean sound is wonderful a great base for any pedal board setup. Some may feel that a pedal board is not needed. I love the fact that this amp is relatively light and powerful enough for most gigs. The amp seems rock solid with quality workmanship. As always I receive top shelf service from A J my sales rep whom always makes things easy and is a pleasure dealing with. I may on some items may get things cheaper from other sites with their sales but it is worth it to purchase all my gear going forward from Sweetwater with the first rate service which is second to none. Thank you A J and Sweetwater!

A great amp: beautiful stereo sound with amazing clarity and detail. Nice set of features, particularly the stereo ins that give you so many options for making the most of stereo effects. The only real downsides are the hiss and the price--and I'd be perfectly happy with the price if Roland had included a foot-switch and a cover.

The 40 watt version of the Jazz Chorus combo is the culmination of 40 years of research and fine-tuning from the good folks at Roland and produces one of the single best clean guitar sounds ever to grace human ear drums. It's also an excellent pedal platform for players looking to find their own unique tone. It also surpasses its big brother (the venerable JC-120) with an upgraded distortion circuit that can handle rock, a new digital reverb, and a headphone jack for silent practice (essential, because in spite of this being a 40 watt solid state amp, it is LOUD. REALLY LOUD. As in loud enough to earn you the undying hatred of neighbors and stun small rodents at 50 paces.)

But, Ben- you may ask- if this amp is so great, why aren't you giving it five stars?? GOOD QUESTION! I only this amp four stars and subsequently returned it because of a single glaring design flaw. The Jazz Chorus family of amps is notorious for an ever-present white noise/hiss. You'll notice it as soon as the amp gets turned on (even with no instrument plugged in), and it gets worse as you turn up the volume or engage the bright switch. Even employing my trusty ISP Decimator ProRack G- which brings even the noisiest high gain amps to heel- couldn't eliminate the noise. Fortunately, the noise isn't a problem using headphones.

If you can cope with the noise, then you're going to love this amp.

For guitar, this is an excellent amp. The chorus is very adjustable and sounds great, 3-band EQ plus the bright switch give you a lot of tone shaping options, and the reverb isn't bad either. Volume-wise this amp can get really really loud. The bad news is that the volume range almost seems stepped rather than fluid, and on the quieter end there is very little movement before it's really loud...it isn't a gradual sweep if that makes sense. If you need to cut through a drummer this will do it. The distortion is usable but you have to be very careful with it and cut a lot of the highs...still nowhere near the best distortions IMO but on a gig it'd work alright.

As far as synths and keyboards go, I was curious how this amp would perform given it's full stereo with 10" speakers and more high freqs than most guitar amps. To an extent, it works, however you will lose some of the high end and some synth sounds really stick out in a bad way. The low end is surprisingly nice, not earthshaking but nice. The highs are the issue here, they are much less defined than a keyboard amp and get harsh very easily. Unless your primary use is for Rhodes or CP80 I would not recommend this amp for keys or synths. That being said, the distortion actually sounded pretty cool on some keys sounds especially compared to its usefulness on guitar.

Another thing I discovered is that the effects loop has no volume or eq controls at all. How it comes from Roland is how it will sound. This may or may not be a problem but it's worth noting.

Overall, for clean guitar tones it's hard to beat a Jazz Chorus. For keys and synths, or guitar synths for that matter, I feel a keyboard amp is far superior. Too bad there are very few stereo ones which are portable -- this amp can easily be carried in one hand.

I was just wanted a average amp but wow this little amp is great the price was write. Sweetwater staff was great.

Great unit with what was looking for in a mate for my GR55, It's easy to carry and can hold it's own with any amp in the 40/50 watt class. Inputs are clear and consise and zero line buzz with tone up.I've been playing guitar for 55 yeras and used every amp manufactured that makes sense i.e., Fender, Ampeg, and Marshall and having Mr. JC-40 around keeps the fun in plugging in as is different in so many ways without stealing your grandchildren's college fund !

I like just about everything about the amp. The only things I would suggest are including a footpedal or two with the amp and a cover . That would seem fair enough for $. Also the line out follows the volume of the master volume knob pretty closely . If you don't have the volume of the amp loud enough the line outs are too soft to work well with mixers. So if you're using the amp more or less for a personal monitor it has to be overly loud to get enough signal to send to the mixer. I guess a volume control on the line outs would fix that. However that's a fairly small negative for an amp that is overall very nice!

I wanted a clean, transparent solid state amp that took pedals like a champ – a tone the isn’t colored by the amp properties and that is exactly what I have with this amp. The stereo chorus and vibrato are rich and lush and fill a room with ambient tones. The distortion and reverb are more than adequate. I haven’t tried the effects loop nor stereo inputs. But what this beast does best is clean! Anyone looking for a clean solid state amp without any modeling or built in effects, just clean like a fresh snow – this is the amp.


Spencer Kennedy is my sales engineer and he always does an excellent job as does Sweetwater. Shipping is fast and free. How often do you get shipping that is fast AND free? Three days from Indiana to New Mexico and there was snowstorm in the Midwest! Can’t beat that.


Reason why this is NOT a 5-star rating:

I read reviews that mentioned a “hum” or “hiss”. And yes it does have a notable “hiss”. Not overbearing to the point the amp is useless – and when playing I don’t notice it. My amp is plugged into a power conditioner, my Strat is shielded and the pickups grounded – this reduced the volume of the “hiss” but did not eliminate it. I can live with it.


It is expensive for what it is. Roland and Boss I feel are overpriced on all their products – but they have a winner here and can get away with it – shoot, I paid $599 for it too and keeping it. Ha hah.


Footswitch or amp cover not included – must pay extra $$$ and being Roland/Boss – it’s not going to be cheap. For $599, they could have at least included a cover or one footswitch but the again - they have a winner here and can get away with it – shoot, I paid $599 for it too and keeping it. Ha hah.

Everything I expected and a little more. It runs very clean and true to specs. Have my FX in place and having fun exploring the different tones.

I bought this amp in 2015, excited to add a JC to the amp collection. As expected, great clean sound and chorus is wonderful. Takes pedals very well. Used it as main amp for a couple of years before moving to in-ear monitoring and other goodies like Fractal products. Decided to bring it back out recently to run through the PA via stereo outs to get a really wide stereo image. Heartbroken that the amp outs are useless. While stereo effects definitely function in the amp (ping pong delay between speakers), only the mono (left) channel would transmit to the PA. Even tried removing the effects loop and going amp only to the board, but got no sound at all. Then tried stereo in via a floor processor, which once again worked with the amp speakers, but got no sound from the PA. Obviously way out of warranty, but it's sad and absurd that something as simple as output jacks don't perform. Moral of the story is to check every function while under warranty even if you don't plan to use them currently.

The JC-40 takes pedals well and is great for live performance. One longstanding issue with the JC line, however, has been preventing me from using it as a studio amp — the hiss. In a live setting I don't think it matters but if you're in a quiet studio, there is a hiss the amp makes that can't be quieted down. It's there no matter what. I don't know if it's in the preamp, the power amp or the transformer but it's there. If you search forums, it's an issue that Roland hasn't addressed or remedied for decades now and it's pretty much for every Jazz Chorus model.

This amp is as good as advertised. Solid, sturdy, sounds great. I give it three (.5 if I could) because the amp is simply too loud to use comfortably in my house. Even with the amp at two and my guitar dialed back to three, it screamed. I am sorry to say it was a big paperweight that couldn't be enjoyed. If I could ask roland to adjust the taper, I would. If you are like me and purely a household player, 40 watts of this beast is just too much.

I was eagerly waiting for this amp to hit the streets. When I finally got one yesterday I spent about ten minutes with it before deciding to return it. It sounds absolutely fabulous and has a very good feature set that I'd love to explore in depth, but once you turn it on you are greeted with an unbearably loud hiss. It's like sitting in front of a waterfall. The white noise is so loud it is making the amp completely useless. At this price point I would expect a lot better than this. This is not at all a worthy way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a great family of amps in my opinion. My trusty old - and whisper quiet - JC-50 is not quite ready to be retired yet it seems. Too bad Roland.

I SO wanted to love this amp!

I did a bunch of reading and watching YouTube videos about this amp before buying one, but some things can be disguised on videos.. like this amp's total lack of any bass!

The clean tones are great! The built-in chorus with the one clean speaker and other speaker with the chorus effect to create an ambient richness is everything everyone says it is.. it sounds great!

The distortion isn't top notch, but pretty decent. I've used it primarily as a practice amp for slide guitar on my Fender Telecaster, and with the manual setting chorus, a little added distortion, and a hint of reverb, I could get some killer slide guitar sounds, except that it sounded like slide guitar through a hand-held transistor radio.

If this amp had any bottom end.. any at all, I would really dig it, but it doesn't. I can't even use it jamming with one other guitarist. The treble just sprays you in the face with no bass whatsoever for your ears to latch onto.

If this amp had any ballz at all it would be such a great little amp, but it doesn't. I think I'm going to call my rep and inquire about any chance of trading this back in on a new Marshall JVM series twin combo.

I have a Marshall Jubilee full stack, but I want a ballzy twin combo. Three trips from home to car, car to stage, then stage to car, and car to home for every gig gets old.. especially after the guy carrying the stack starts to get old!

This is an amp I just gave up on. I am a fan of solid state amps and I don't want to be bothered with the maintenance of tubes. The Jazz Chorus get pretty consistent favorable reviews and that is a bit of head scratcher to me. I got mine to record with and I couldn't be more disappointed. This amps, and I believe they have a well known reputation for this, hisses like a very angry snake. Unless you want to spend a ton of time trying to manage out a hiss when you record I would recommend a lot of other amps. For example, a Boss Katana 100, played clean, will be as quiet as the vacuum of space IMO. Then on top of the hissing, the speaker itself is a little weak/thin. Another shoutout to the Katana, their high end greenback speaker sounds 1000x better than the speaker of the JC. I had such high hopes and expectations for this amp, it fell way short and didn't come close to living up to any hype. I totally regret the purchase.

My original Roland rig was 2 JC 120's in 1975. Then I down sized to the JC90. I thought the JC 40 was an option to consider. It is lighter. It has a few more features. But price is heavier than the amp. Yes the JC 90 is a few more pounds and it has a few less on board features, however it has everything you need. I wanted to replace my rig consisting of 2 JC90's with 2 JC40's. Roland has joined less for more club.... more money, less amp. It is a high quality item. That is not disputed. It is simply not worth $600 times 2 to me. I'll continue with my JC 90's.If you love the original Roland sound in a smaller package look for a JC 70 or JC 55. If you want the features of the JC 40, pick up an MXR Stereo Chorus. It weighs 12 ounces! Maybe it's time to consult with players rather than ivory tower executives before manufacturing a product that duplicates previous models. The Roland sound is why you buy a Roland amp. The rest of the features can be obtained with inexpensive pedals. You don't buy a Strat if you want an LP sound. You buy a Strat if you want a Strat sound. The same is true with amplifiers. I wish Roland would have discussed this amp with me. I have been using Roland amps since their inception.

Under powered chinese junk. Cheap stock speakers. The amp has no power it cannot go over a drummer and gets drowned out in a band situation. Cannot gig with this amp, 40 watts of solid state power is about as loud as a 5 watt tube amp. Really dumb design, it should have been at least 60 or 80watts. No clean headroom, sounds awful when you turn up the volume. It is a toy not a professional amp. It is good only for recording, you will be laughed off the stage if you try to play with this thing in a bar with a band.