John Mayer Signature Amp - The J-MOD100

I'm not arguing your points, Les. Just validating Reptilian's experience. Mr. Smith can run his company any way he wants.

If Reptilian played the higher end PRS amps and didn't see them as truly high end, his perceptions would be based on hands-on experience. For me, hands on experience would be the most logical way to reach an opinion about whether PRS is a builder of very fine amplifiers. I'm sure you agree.

If he based his perceptions of the amps without first-hand familiarity with them, on vague notions of marketing issues, that's quite another thing, and I'm equally sure you'd agree it's not the ideal way to form an opinion about an amp builder.

If it's not ideal to form an opinion that way - and we don't know if he has experience with the amps or not, because he hasn't provided the answer - then why take the point further? There's no experience that needs validation, there's only opinion based on less reasonable criteria.
 
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If I could afford and justify would I have one "Hell Yeah" And good luck to them peeps.
As it is I'm in the Sonzera category and all indications are he's on to a winner.
I'm chomping at the bit for one of these.!!!
 
Did anyone else notice how the aesthetics are the very similar to the Sonzera line? I assume that was intentional. Les' comment that the price has got people talking, got me thinking...Maybe that was the point and the end game is to sell a bunch of Sonzeras.

This kind of stuff is fun to discuss and think about but it's all just academic in the end. I trust that PRS, as a company, knows what they are doing and I don't fault anyone for spending their money (as long as they have the money).
 
This kind of stuff is fun to discuss and think about but it's all just academic in the end. I trust that PRS, as a company, knows what they are doing and I don't fault anyone for spending their money (as long as they have the money).

Agreed that it is academic. But I really enjoy speculating and discussing and getting alternative opinions, as I run a business unit and am generally curious.
 
If I could afford and justify would I have one "Hell Yeah" And good luck to them peeps.
As it is I'm in the Sonzera category and all indications are he's on to a winner.
I'm chomping at the bit for one of these.!!!

You and me both!!! The Sonzera, while not being implicitly stated as such, seems like the logical extension of what they learned and came up with for the J-MOD.
Different enough in layout, power, and such to not draw a direct comparison - but with similar visual aesthetic and a common 'style' for the amp voicing, a friendly nod seems a legit interpretation!

Especially with how they both approach the idea of a common base 'amp' tone, with not just boost, but adjustable gain. Sort of like the two channels of the Sonzera are really like two of the same basic amp channel design, but with the dirt channel having a gain control.

These two descriptions say the same basic thing to me; I realize there is a world of different with the things like the custom J-MOD transformer, or that it's 100w instead of 50 - there are likely a whole host of other upgrades and higher quality parts involved.. But that being said - similar family:

J-MOD100: "single-channel design with switchable gain stage for lead tones"

Sonzera: "The lead channel is related to the clean channel circuit-wise, so that it can be set up to act as a boosted clean channel"

I talked to Musicians' Friend today; they expect to have the Sonzera amps in hand on Monday 2/13... They can't work deals until they are in stock; once they have them, they will be able to discount slightly...
 
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You and me both!!! The Sonzera, while not being implicitly stated as such, seems like the logical extension of what they learned and came up with for the J-MOD.
Different enough in layout, power, and such to not draw a direct comparison - but with similar visual aesthetic and a common 'style' for the amp voicing, a friendly nod seems a legit interpretation!

Especially with how they both approach the idea of a common base 'amp' tone, with not just boost, but adjustable gain. Sort of like the two channels of the Sonzera are really like two of the same basic amp channel design, but with the dirt channel having a gain control.

These two descriptions say the same basic thing to me; I realize there is a world of different with the things like the custom J-MOD transformer, or that it's 100w instead of 50 - there are likely a whole host of other upgrades and higher quality parts involved.. But that being said - similar family:

J-MOD100: "single-channel design with switchable gain stage for lead tones"

Sonzera: "The lead channel is related to the clean channel circuit-wise, so that it can be set up to act as a boosted clean channel"

I talked to Musicians' Friend today; they expect to have the Sonzera amps in hand on Monday 2/13... They can't work deals until they are in stock; once they have them, they will be able to discount slightly...

I saw Sonzera amps in the factory as far back as August 2015 (and didn't spill any beans!). Wasn't the J-Mod developed over the past year and change?
 
I saw Sonzera amps in the factory as far back as August 2015 (and didn't spill any beans!). Wasn't the J-Mod developed over the past year and change?

Good question! From what I can tell, I think the J-MOD was developed from the custom amps PRS made, that toured with the Dead & Co over the last year as John's main stage amps. My guesses are just guesses! I'm probably reading into something that isn't there. I do know, the tones Mayer was getting with Dead & Co using the custom PRS heads were stellar! If that's any road test indication of what the J-MOD brings to the table..

I haven't found any great closeups; but that red PRS head in the background is the J-MOD prototype near as I can tell...

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He does have a lot of overhead doesn't he? :rolleyes:

I just ran into him at the car wash, and he used the drive-through lane instead of the attended lane. I think he did that because it's cheaper.

As we were both vacuuming out the carpets on our minivans, he came over to say hi, and said he was trying to save money so he could get one of the new PRS amp models with his name on it.

I told him I was doing the same thing.

His minivan was loaded with gear because he didn't have anyone to help him unpack it from the Dead gig, and he didn't want to hurt his back.

So I followed him over to his studio, and helped him unload the heavy stuff. We both bemoaned how hard it is to make any money at all in music these days. I told him about the ad music biz, and suggested he consider getting his feet wet doing some session work for me.
 
I just ran into him at the car wash, and he used the drive-through lane instead of the attended lane. I think he did that because it's cheaper.

As we were both vacuuming out the carpets on our minivans, he came over to say hi, and said he was trying to save money so he could get one of the new PRS amp models with his name on it.

I told him I was doing the same thing.

His minivan was loaded with gear because he didn't have anyone to help him unpack it from the Dead gig, and he didn't want to hurt his back.

So I followed him over to his studio, and helped him unload the heavy stuff. We both bemoaned how hard it is to make any money at all in music these days. I told him about the ad music biz, and suggested he consider getting his feet wet doing some session work for me.

Les, you definitely hold all the cards in this negotiation. Sign him up ! When is the press conference?
 
I just ran into him at the car wash, and he used the drive-through lane instead of the attended lane. I think he did that because it's cheaper.

As we were both vacuuming out the carpets on our minivans, he came over to say hi, and said he was trying to save money so he could get one of the new PRS amp models with his name on it.

I told him I was doing the same thing.

His minivan was loaded with gear because he didn't have anyone to help him unpack it from the Dead gig, and he didn't want to hurt his back.

So I followed him over to his studio, and helped him unload the heavy stuff. We both bemoaned how hard it is to make any money at all in music these days. I told him about the ad music biz, and suggested he consider getting his feet wet doing some session work for me.

I'm calling BS on this! You hate to move your own gear around. No way you're helping someone else! :p
 
Les, you definitely hold all the cards in this negotiation. Sign him up ! When is the press conference?

Geez, there's no negotiation, it's straight session fees, double AFM scale stuff. No biggie.

I'm calling BS on this! You hate to move your own gear around. No way you're helping someone else! :p

You caught me.

OK, I found a guy with a "Will Roadie For Food" sign, and he did the heavy lifting while John and I had a couple of beers.

Then each of us ponied up 20 bucks, plus John gave him a six pack and a carton of Twinkies. It was a good day, except I forgot to ask if I could play one of his PRS guitars or amps. I don't know what I was thinking. Starstruck, probably. I could kick myself, because who knows when he and I will be at the car wash at the same time again?

I thought it was cool that Katie Perry and Renee Zellwiger were with their new boyfriends, but still dropped by to say hi. They're such nice folks.
 
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Sweetwater does terrible demos. Im surprised he didnt take the controls from Paul and try and make it sound like an old Marshall like they do in every amp demo.
 
Hm, I like the demos they did with Paul for the Sonzera and the J-MOD 100. Although they could've miced the cabs...

BTW, here's the Sonzera demo:

I think the clean channel sounds somewhat similar to the J-MOD - at least when Paul plays it.
 
Totally. Or turn it all the way up, flub it completely, and call it "singing tone".

In their defense, their customer support is incredible.
I have to strongly agree with you about their customer service. I have had nothing but great experiences with Sweetwater. They seem to really care.
 
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