The first GPX Deviation of 2023 sees me conceptualising a 50th Anniversary Roland Jazz Chorus Amp Tribute in the guise of a Boss JC-2W Waza Craft style Pedal
So I’m about to reveal my 16 most iconic Guitar Amps in the current and fairly recent Guitar Elements series which I’ve been sharing over the last few weeks. The Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 of course features in that selection, where I’m also listing recommended pedal equivalents for those 16 amps as a bonus round.
The only one of those 16 amps that doesn’t have a direct pedal equivalent is the Jazz Chorus JC-120. Now Canada’s Master Effects currently has a JC-Pre pedal which covers that amp’s celebrated Clean Channel only. They used to make a larger version which also had the reverb section, while neither of those has the significantly important Chorus / Modulation section. The JC-Pre though is the closest thing to that amp currently as far as I’m aware - at least in analog format.
Amp Controls - CHANNEL-1 } High Input, Low Input, Bright : On/Off, Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, CHANNEL-2 } High Input, Low Input, Bright : On/Off, Volume, Treble, Middle, Bass, Distortion, Reverb, MODULATION } Speed, Depth, Vibrato > Off > Chorus, Power On/Off.
Note that the Jazz Chorus is also an Amp Voicing on Boss's digital IR-200 pedal - where you have reverb on board also, but no modulation.
In any case we're still in the afterglow of Roland's 50th Anniversary celebrations - so I felt that having a full-coverage mostly analog Boss Waza Craft pedal equivalent of Roland's most famous amp would be another fitting tribute.
JC-2W Controls - Gain / Volume, Treble / Bass, Middle / Reverb, Speed / Depth, Modulation : Vibrato / Chorus.
For my above concept I've copied the styling and colour accents from the amp, and rounded up all the most important parts - including the Modulation and Reverb. I've essentially built up the design on top of an earlier RE-2 mockup - and I've transposed the styling and relevant controls across as overlays. I'm using the standard Boss dual-concentric knobs here.
Everything in the above mockup is pretty standard Boss - and so should be eminently doable in theory.
The Reverb voicing will obviously be Digital, while I would personally at the very least like the Chorus / Vibrato to be a version of the CE-1 / 2 Analog Circuit - actually ideally a take on Roland's Amp Space Chorus - and since the Jazz Chorus is Transistor Solid State - hopefully the Boss engineers can do a streamlined version of that within the standard compact pedal enclosure. The fact that this pedal concept is mostly analog means that it eminently qualifies for being part of the Waza Craft Line!
The Recent 50th Anniversary Jazz Chorus amp featured Cherry Wood Veneer panels - per the above image
My initial first standard deviations is all authentic Boss component-wise, while I've done a further more custom deviation version with a Cherry Wood Stomp Pad - as below :
So a relatively straightforward task on paper - but one no doubt fraught with engineering challenges. Using SMT parts will make the best use of the compact format - and it should just about be doable - if there is enough will in the world to produce such a pedal.
By all means show this project some support - and it might just become a reality!
Reference - 50th Anniversary Jazz Chorus
