JazzKat Amplifiers are Here!

MichaelHorowitz

GYPSYKAT
AMPLIFIER

JAZZKAT
AMPLIFIER

PHATKAT
AMPLIFIER

TOMKAT
AMPLIFIER

TWINKAT
AMPLIFIER

BluesBop Harry

Hey Michael,
How do these compare with their AER and Schertler equivalents???
The price is attractive...
Particularly interesting is the Gypsy kat with twice the wattage of the AER Compact 60 and almost the same weight but a lot cheaper...How's the sound??

MichaelHorowitz

Hi Enrique,

I just got these so I haven't had a lot of time to totally evaluate them. I'll write a longer review at some point...but I did spend a little time comparing the GypsyKat with the AER.

My first impressions are:

1) When used with a magnetic pickup the GypsyKat beats the pants off the AER. I tried a Stimer and a archtop with a humbucker and they both sounded much clearer and pleasing through the GypsyKat. The AER sounded muddy, imprecise, and overworked by comparison.

2) I tried a bigtone through both, but it was a weird experimental bigtone so it wasn't the best test. When I get a guitar with a regular one here I'll try again. On this first test the AER sounded better with the bigtone....the GypsyKat sounded pretty good to. But the AER seemed to do a better job with it which usually seems to be the case. The AER is just really good with piezos.

The GypsyKat is a bit bigger in size, but only a few pounds heavier. However, the AER's small size and awesome gig bag make it easier to travel with.

Anyway, that's it for now. I'm going to try the GypsyKat on a few gigs this week and see how it goes.

'm

MichaelHorowitz

After using the GypsyKat on a few gigs, I have some more observations:

The Good:

1) Again, the GypsyKat is fantastic with a magnetic pu, be it a Stimer or an archtop with a humbucker. So much clearer and warmer then an AER.

2) Amazing lowend....the GypsyKat produces a very clear, defined, and balanced lowend. It's really great to have all those low end frequencies back...your guitar will sound HUGE if you can get that nice low end definition. Usually, I would only expect that from a much larger speaker. The Unico also has a nice low end, but I think the GypsyKat is a bit better if using a magnetic pickup. The AER's low end is a mess...same size speaker but it just can't handle those lower frequencies. I end up rolling off the bass on the AER just to get rid of all that sonic messiness.

3) Bigtone actually sounds great with the GypsyKat. I compared with the AER. The AER reproduced a lot of very high, weird sort of stuff that I'd rather not have (i.e. string buzz, strange overtones, etc.) The GypsyKat magically omitted all that stuff and made the bigtone sound fatter and warmer. And again, a much more defined low end. AER is still nice with a bigtone though, although I think the GypsyKat may be a better choice. I'll have to try it with some other bigtone equipped guitars. They're all a bit different....

The Bad:

1) The only real criticism I can come up with is the lack of power. The GypsyKat is rated at 120 watts, far greater then the AER's 60 watts. However, the AER is SOOOO much louder. You could actually use the AER at very high volume levels, like playing with drummer or a very large big band type of setting. The GypsyKat runs out of steam pretty fast...it's absolutely fine for just about everything I do: restaurants, small clubs, miked theaters, all with an acoustic string line up. But if I was in more volume challenged situations, the AER or some other louder amp would probably be needed.

My guess is that AER traded speaker efficiency for bass response. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe lower frequencies require much more power to reproduce. It seems like the Unico's 180 watts and the GypsyKat's 120 watts are mostly driving the lowend. Were as the AER can get a torrents of sound from just 60 watts, but at the expense of the tone, especially the lowend.

I also notice the second channel of the GypsyKat has really low gain. Unless you're plugging a very hot signal into it, it's not much use.

Anyway, overall it's a great amp and I'm getting the best tone out of it when using a Stimer or humucker.

'm