Off Topic Low Wattage Amp

[mcvinyl]

Well, new year, new hunt for gear. You all know how it is.

I'm looking for some recommendations on a good quality low wattage amp for use at home. I live in an apartment in the city and I just don't get to crank my Trace Elliot Velocette up.

Any thoughts on some low wattage babies that I could push to break-up without getting on the neighbours nerves. I've been reading about the Egnater Rebel that can be dropped down as low as 1watt. I know our resident gear hound Fing has one that he loves.

BTW My style is along the blues & vintage lines, think Peter Green etc, but I also love the tones of guys like Larry Carlton & Robben Ford.

Any help much appreciated.

Simon

 

[robelinda2]

Love my Carvin Vintage 16, switches down to 5w. Great tone.

 

[guertzi]

Check out the Suhr Badger 18.
It's got the 'London Power Scaling' feature so you can turn down the amps power cinsumption down to about 1/2 a Watt but with all the power amp break up that you need for great tones in the area that you like.
Do a search on YouTube, you can find some great demo vids there! The one from Pete Thorn is really cool!

 

[D.K.]

Well, I stand here without fear and state herewith, that I totally dig the sound and looks of my ... Harley Benton GA5. It's a totally cheap (99 Euro) fully A-Class amp made in China (where else for that money), it's produced exclusively for one of Germany's top music stores called Thomann. (Thomann Cyberstore)

One volume, one tone - all You need. Essentially, it's an epiphone junior, but with an added tone control, and (to me) better sound and looks. It's rather dark sounding, and has a surprising amount of bass and headroom for a combo with an 8' speaker installed. It sounds absolutely killer, especially with the 20-ths, but that's no wonder, because virtually every amp sounds great with those masterpieces. Anayway, I do not only use it at home, but also plan to rehearse and gig wih it.

 

[universe777]

Danelectro

 

[candid_x]

The Bumpbox is 1 watt, point-to-point, if you like plexi and only plexi tone. I know where in the US there's a used one for sale for around $450.

I'm waiting on an inexpensive 15 watt Fender Super Champ XD, 6V6-powered with voicing and a few modeling features on ch 2, pure straight up Fender tube tone on ch 1.

 

[Ripper]

Low watter? You gotto get yourself an Ibanez 5w Valbee. One 12ax7, one 6L6GC. Just got mine changed with EH tubes. Really good small watt (tube) amp, to accompany the 25w Mesa.

 

[fsmith]

Simon,
I have one of the Rebels too and love it, it's a great amp for the money. I'm not sure that it's a fair comparison between that and the Badger 18 though. The Rebel is about 1/3 the cost. Mass produced vs. hand built.

You'll pay more for the Badger but I think you're getting better technology, the London Power Scaling is incredible. I believe there's more gain on tap with the Rebel from the clips I've heard of the Badger and my experience with the Rebel.

Don't be fooled by the 1 watt rating though, it's loud even at 1 watt. There are many great tones to be had with this amp and I have no doubt it would cover all your bases, but to be able to play at a comfortable level you have to find the sweet spot, and there is very little wiggle room between bedroom level and cranked.

It responds well to cleaning up the tone with your volume knob. And it does have the cool feature to blend tones from an EL84 and 6V6.

There are some great YouTube clips of both that are pretty representative of what you can get from them.

fred

 

[whitestrat]

BTW My style is along the blues & vintage lines, think Peter Green etc, but I also love the tones of guys like Larry Carlton & Robben Ford.

Trust me. Go try the Fender Princeton Reverb Reissue. 15w amp. You'll get what you want.

 

[agt]

Jule Amps Sweet Sue (5 Watts) or Brenda K combo (12 Watts). Gorgeous tone for anything except modern metal.

 

[Jonny Dubai]

Oh man!!! You just gotta check out the laney lionheart 5w. It is just up your street. Amazing break up tone. I was totaly blown away by the tone.

Also check cornford if you have the cash.

Good luck

J

 

[Volt]

I love small amps!
I use this amp 24/7, a Gretsch G5222 Electromatic tweed amp (same as a Fender Champion 600 reissue), 5 watts RMS. This amp has excellent fat tones and surprisingly good low-end for only having a 6" speaker.
I rewired it to my '70's Super-Reverb specs, which increases the overdrive. It rocks! Only minus is no built-in spring reverb. I have a reverb pedal that takes care of that shortcoming.

My secondary small amp which I also recommend is a Fender Blues Junior NOS. 15 watts RMS.

 

[GHWelles]

Marshall Studio 15

 

[beej]

Well I suppose a lot depends on what's available in your neck of the woods, and at what price.

I will say this- I've got a Badger 18 and it's a tremendous amp at low volumes (at any volume).

 

[candid_x]

Oh man!!! You just gotta check out the laney lionheart 5w. It is just up your street. Amazing break up tone. I was totaly blown away by the tone.

Almost snagged a used one for $550 over the holidays. Two things held me back, 1) I've never met an EL84 amp I could get it on with 2) I've read that the footswitch pops. Also, I've been a Laney fan for years, in spite of the lack of respect they receive, and just eyeballing the Lionheart, I fail to see why they're so much more expensive than the rest of their amps. $1400 retail and selling for a grand, for the 5 watt combo? Ok, a better reverb, fair enough, cuz there's nothing at all special about most Laney reverbs, but "gold-plated PCB's and jack sockets. Sealed gold contact relays are used in all signal paths for minimum sound coloration"? Gimme a break. What does that amount to, a $20 upgrade in parts? Something doesn't add up with those things.

 

[Jonny Dubai]

That's the exchange rate for you mate! Same for us over here with some US products.

J

 

[Sweat]

Simon,

So many choices and amps are such a personal item to me, we all have different likes and dislikes, always a tough chioce especially for you situation being in an apartment.

I do dig and recommend the Rebel 20 but i think fred nailed it with his post even 1 watt can be loud, but the thing is so versatile especially for the price range its in.

Rob is right about the Carvin Vintage 16, may just be what you are loking for and very reasonable in the cash area. It is what I had before I bought the Rebel, great amp, I just have this man crush thing with amp heads and cabs.

Also had a Fender Blues Junior but at 30 watts may be too much to get what you want.

Do stay away from the Mesa 5:25, just a poor sounding amp to me, had one and it did not last long.

Hope you find something you like.

 

[RobW]

The Egnater Tourmaster 4100 head and Tourmaster 4212 combo are pretty interesting.

Egnater Custom Amplification

MAIN FEATURES
* 100-Watt All-Tube Head
* Four Channels with Selectable voicing
* Power Grid: Set Wattage for Each Channel
from 10w up to 100w
* Tube-driven Assignable Effects Loop
* Tube Driven Reverb
* Rugged Six-Button Footswitch
* Powered by Groovetubes™
FRONT PANEL
* Four independent channels each with:
— Gain control
— Master control
— Treble, middle, bass
— Classic/modern voicing switch
* Tube driven reverb
* Master Presence/Density
REAR PANEL
* Assignable tube driven effects loop
— Assign to channels 1&2
— Assign to channels 3&4
— Assign to all four channels
— Assign to pedal only
— Send and return level controls
— Selectable series or parallel
* Cabinet voiced line/recording out
* Simple master bias adjust with test points
POWER GRID
* Six preset power output levels for
each channel from 10 to 100 watts
* Full or half power switch

 

[mcvinyl]

Thanks for all of the feedback guys. I've been doing some research on "Ye Olde Internet" this morning and I came across a few that peeked my interest.

The Victoria Amp Co 518. It's a Fender Champ clone that seems to get rave reviews. It's got a similar setup to my Velocette - 1 knob - ah simplicity, that's how I like it. I checked out the users page and who should be at the top of the list but one Stirling Biff Ball. BP if you're around just wondering if you have any thoughts on this amp, assuming that it's the one that you've used?

Also the Goodsell Super 7 - switchable to 2 watts, that should keep the neighbours off my case.

There's also a lot of buzz around the Blackstar HT5 amps, although they may be getting to complex for me - more than 2 knobs

Anyone had any experience with these three?

Thanks
Simon

 

[marantz1300]

I use this old Dallas /Arbiter Scaler. Built in the U.K. 6 watt ,point to point and sweet sound.Cheap too. Mine was £12 from a boot sale.