Build Quality:4.9 out of 5 stars
Hardware:4.8 out of 5 stars
Electronics:4.8 out of 5 stars
Sound:4.8 out of 5 stars
Value:4.9 out of 5 stars
Average:4.8 out of 5 stars

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DV Mark Little Jazz Guitar Combo Amp

Pros:

  • Quite affordable compared to other available options
  • Spectacular sound quality
  • Built to last
  • Made specifically for jazz guitars

Cons:

  • Not the most versatile amplifier out there

When I was taking my first steps and had just started playing guitar, I considered jazz as something unattainable. I thought it was the genre that required the most craftsmanship and I would never be able to get closer to it. Years of practice and dedication proved me wrong to a certain degree, however, they showed me even more vividly how difficult it is to truly master this genre. Once you take on the quest to enter the world of such wonderful and magical music, you have to be ready, both mentally and equipment-wise. Yeah, I get it, you got yourself that fancy jazz guitar and think that you are the ruler of the universe. However, good jazz guitar requires a complementary amplifier, that will show off your sound in the best way possible. For this reason, today we are going to talk about one of the best jazz guitar amps – a DV Mark Little Jazz combo.

Features

The best things are born from simplicity, am I right? This statement has never been truer than with amplifiers. When you spend so much time mastering different techniques and developing your skills, the last thing you need is an additional headache. That is why simplicity is something most musicians look for as they scavenge for the best possible option. DV Mark Little Jazz knows this perfectly and delivers its easy-to-grasp features through a durable, yet fancy-looking chassis.

This little portable combo is housed in a sturdy shell with numerous holes poked through the front. Let’s not forget that this is a solid-state amplifier that has a single 8” DV Mark Custom Speaker and can bark up some 45 watts of power. Weighing only 6.9 kilos, it can pack a decent punch. This bad boy will erase the memory of heavy valve amplifiers that are extremely inconvenient to carry around. It is small enough to be by your side anywhere you go, but the brand has not sacrificed the quality when creating such a tiny package.

What is more, DV Mark Little Jazz has onboard Reverb, in case you want to take your sound somewhere else. It has a single input for your instrument, an output for an external cabinet, allowing you to get even louder, an output for your headphones giving you the option to practice in silence, auxiliary input for external audio sources, as well as a balanced XLR output that enables you to connect the amp with a mixing console or use it in the studio.

Controls

Let me get one thing out of the way before I move to the individual knobs and their functionalities. The control section on DV Mark Little Jazz looks a bit weird and odd to me. It is clenched in the middle of the top part of the amplifier and takes up a rather small space (which is okay but, if I am being honest, I cannot deny that). Oh, and the labels will be hard to read unless you look at the unit with your head tilted in a queer manner (but, once again, nobody reads them anyway after the first usage). Chances are you will not even care about this, since the knobs on this fella do their job perfectly, and, to be fair, nothing else matters.

What we have here is a set of five encoders. Master is typical volume control, adjusting and varying the level of the output; Reverb modifies the level of this effect; Bass alters lower frequencies; Mid shapes the mid-range; and High balances out the amount of treble in your signal.

DV Mark Little Jazz Sound

As I have underlined at the beginning of this article, sound is one of the most important components of jazz amplifiers. You definitely need something that does not add any weird color to your tone or has too much character of its own. DV Mark Little Jazz undoubtedly succeeds at that. It produced organic and natural sound and maintains the nature of your instrument perfectly. It has wonderful cleans that do not get distorted even at higher volumes. They are rich, powerful, and saturated, with a lot of depth and dimension. The EQ is very handy, with present bass and smooth treble, as well as balanced mid-range.

But it does not have the settings at which these frequencies would not be audible at all. This is not a drawback, since jazz needs that punchy low-end. DV Mark Little Jazz has a sound that surrounds you and makes your jaw drop since such capabilities are not exactly expected from such tiny units. Somehow the brand got away with a smaller size without compromising the tone. There is not much that could be added to this amp, since it can satisfy all your little jazzy desires and requirements.

Conclusion

For me, jazz was always rainy music. I would listen to famous songs as I walked down the drenched streets, feeling the atmosphere of breezy nights and following the heartbeat of my swollen city. This simplified version of the universe jazz created for me depicts my attitude towards this genre to a certain degree. And that universe got even bigger and more versatile as I plummeted fully in learning how to play it myself. I have experienced numerous devices on the way and trust me, DV Mark Little Jazz is tailored for such music. It was created for jazz guitars, which means it treats them properly. Even though you could easily dial in any kind of music, jazz is where things are taken to a whole new level. Just try it out and let it take you to the places unimaginable.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Nice review! I’ve owned the DV Mark Little Jazz for almost 2 years. I’ve been playing jazz for about 30 years. This amp is the best thing I’ve ever bought bar none. I’ve teamed it up with a Hughes & Kettner ext cab with a 12″ speaker for the larger gigs – Awesome!

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