To start off let me apologize in advance for this lengthy thread... but I could sure use some help....!
I have been playing "classical" guitar since the early 70s.. But I am also a big Jazz fan too.. the classics, so a while back I decided to try my hand at learning to play some of the ol' classic jazz solos. I didn't want to play these pieces on my classical guitar so I decided to buy myself a good Jazz Box, an Epiphone Joe Pass Emperor II Pro. The reason for the purchase of the Epiphone was based on the Youtube vids I had watched and threads I had read regarding a good entry level jazz guitar that plays and sounds well. On these vids and demos that guitar sounded fantastic, the Epiphone sounded just rightÂ…nice warm, soft tone. Plus buying the Epiphone I wouldnÂ’t have to take out a second mortgage.
I also had a small “second hand” Fender "Frontman" amp from back in the early 90's. I had assumed that all I would need was a somewhat good guitar and a reliable small practice amp. I guess I made the mistake in thinking that with a well-made hollow body guitar and a little practice amp I could get that warm Jazz Tone. Well I am sure the more experienced here can see where this is going. Yes… it seems that the little Frontman just wasn’t gonna do it. So I did some more research and shopped around for a modestly priced AMP that would help me get that sound. That’s when sticker shock set in. Most the threads I read, and the YouTube discussions were saying I need a more robust amplifier to get the sound I wanted, and there were tons of suggestions on which to buy. Most implying that I would need to dish out at least three times more than what I plopped down on the Joe Pass to get me an AMP to produce that sound. So I searched some more and came across Fenders Mustang models. I saw that the SL25 had a Jazz preset , number 9 to be exact, so I bought it.
That preset works somewhat well with the Epiphone. That and the flat wounds it is strung with. But I believe the AMP needs more tweaking. As I stated I have been playing classical guitar (nylon strings) and am not familiar as to what settings I need to adjust on an AMP to get that sound.
I am hoping that someone here can maybe steer me in the right direction. With this amp, should I set all the actual physical nobs (vol, bass, treble and master) to 12 oÂ’clock and keep the gain knob down or off completely? Or should I turn the physical knobs completely off and just use the controls that are in the Jazz Preset?