Milkman : The Amp (with review)

melod

Has anyone tried these hybrid heads? 

Keen on a clean fender little head. It’s pricey (650) , has nice features but, obviously, the important thing is whether it feels good.

https://milkmansound.com/collections/amplifiers/products/the-amp

DartmoorHedgehog

One person seemed to like it
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/122981/milkman-the-amp-this-thing-just-got-my-attention/p2

melod

Apparently this didn’t really take off ... still , interested if anyone has tried it.

Inguess I can always try and return if I don’t like it.

Sassafras

I prefer their full-fat versions.

guitargeek62

^^ Yup, they have a really creamy breakup!

darcym

the big milkman amps are superb, they really are, based on how good the big ones are, I think it's fair to assume the smaller model would be of the same quality/standard just with features in line with it's price point.

I've seen a few people rave about 'the amp' but never tried one myself, but do have the bigger milkman amps, and they are excellent.

Stuckfast

Do they play like butter?

ennspek

Some cheesy puns in here.

melod

So, I ordered one and played with it a bit.

Quick impressions: 

The fundamental tone and feel is great. I always like to run some basic melodies on the higher strings and feel whether the notes have any “weight” or whether they sound thin. This sounds just great at low volume. I can see how this will be appealing to jazzers. 

With the volume around 1 o clock , breakup occurs but I don’t care much for this breakup. Mind you though that with the master you can get plenty of headroom and certainly more than I would use.

 I connected my boost pedal and the results were very nice getting sweet overdrive in a black facey way.

what I did not like:

- Reverb is very musical, just great BUT I hate the decay soaked in and would only use it at one (Tremolo is also great but it’s more of a nice to have ).
- Headphones in is meh... sort of musical but I don’t think there is a cab sim there (?). For cleans it’s ok and not claustrophobic but that’s it.

Now milkman has the newer 100 watt version that has reverb decay and replaces tremolo with boost ....and takes the price to the rather high 799£.

 Now I see why they brought in that one. I did not order that because I had a boost pedal, did not need the headroom and I am usually not picky or enamoured with reverb so I thought it would do the trick ok.

Kind of thinking of getting that one but at that price other options kick in (tone master , henriksen blu).

Edit: took the plunge and ordered an exchange for the larger “brother”. More on Monday (good thing my wife works on weekends). 

grungebob

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts 

melod

grungebob said:

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts 

Actually , I am keeping the 50 watt because:

- My speaker is 60w rated and the 100 was a bit dangerously overpowered.
- I contacted milkman and they told me there is a decay knob and different reverb/tremolo modes inside the box ( I am yet to open it). That will surely resolve the surfy default decay.
- they also told me the cab sim on the headphone out is switchable 

As I said, I really like the tone and with these couple of clarifications I think it ll be just fine. I do have a lovely boost pedal and that helps a lot with overdriven sounds but I think I need to get a straight up simple drive. Generally speaking. Home level drive sounds suck big time so not sweating about it (heads to the Fx £ section).


Sundays are more about babysitting but I will have a run later today or tomorrow. 

Overall, I like it !

melod

A few more thoughts:

I actually liked the headphone out with the sim on. Very nice clean sound and the reverb adds a lot of space. I think it ll do just fine and certainly better than other things Inhave tried.

My little full tone boost really help as an always on thing to add a bit of extra sensitivity abs flavour.

Overall, I am pretty happy. It’s not cheap but I like the simplicity and how it sounds at low volume. Effects are really great (although I am sure people who have had 15 reverb pedals might disagree).

This amp also reaffirmed my recent suspicion that I really like guitars from the Gibson camp tone wise. I think it will sound great with a hollow body. 

I am yet to add dirt pedals but I suspect it ll be just fine. 

gatheredinsong

Have you tried any dirt pedals in front of The Amp yet @melod ;? Are you and @kjdowd still using and enjoying yours? 

merlin

melod said:

grungebob said:

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts 

Actually , I am keeping the 50 watt because:

Whey to go. 

melod

Erm... I actually returned it and got a THR30.

I still consider it a very nice amp but you have to consider the following use case: you are trying to play guitar and kids and wife are following you around and you have to constantly grab your amp and find another spot.

I think I may buy it again in the future.

btw I think drive pedals work fine with it. Probably the bigger one though is a bit better choice if you don’t want to bother with pedals (I don’t  really).

gatheredinsong

Hmmm, speaking of wife and kids, and neighbours I guess, did it sound decent at home volumes through a speaker cab? I bought a Bad Cat Paw but am having some noise issues and I'm thinking of exchanging it. The 100 version of The Amp is the same price so just considering my options really.

Thanks for the info BTW. 

melod

gatheredinsong said:

Hmmm, speaking of wife and kids, and neighbours I guess, did it sound decent at home volumes through a speaker cab? I bought a Bad Cat Paw but am having some noise issues and I'm thinking of exchanging it. The 100 version of The Amp is the same price so just considering my options really.

Thanks for the info BTW. 

I think it sounded fine in home volumes but at very low volumes the THR sounds better or at least it’s more versatile.

with headphones it actually sounded pretty good too (better than the Yamaha).

I think it is more about use cases than tone. How you are going to use it makes all the difference. If I gigged, the milkman is pretty great (plus pedals).

kjdowd

gatheredinsong said:

Have you tried any dirt pedals in front of The Amp yet @melod ;? Are you and @kjdowd still using and enjoying yours? 

it's my rehearsal amp so not seen much use recently! But works great with pedals 

Gassage

A pal of mine in the US, Jim Oblon (an immense Nashville style player/songwriter- who is better known as Paul Simon's drummer since 2011) uses these for virtually everything he does now and swears by them for ease of use and compactness. He likened it tonally to my 1963 Vibroverb.

gatheredinsong

Gassage said:

A pal of mine in the US, Jim Oblon (an immense Nashville style player/songwriter- who is better known as Paul Simon's drummer since 2011) uses these for virtually everything he does now and swears by them for ease of use and compactness. He likened it tonally to my 1963 Vibroverb.

Wow, that's a great recommendation. I enjoyed watching Jason Isbell noodling about with the 50 watt version: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CChSzCNp-7Y/?igshid=15ledp9aep1h2

gatheredinsong

kjdowd said:

gatheredinsong said:

Have you tried any dirt pedals in front of The Amp yet @melod ;? Are you and @kjdowd still using and enjoying yours? 

it's my rehearsal amp so not seen much use recently! But works great with pedals 

That's good to know. I am returning a Bad Cat Paw as it is a bit noisy at idle, the reverb knob adds hiss and although it sounds great clean and with time based effects, I have struggled with drive tones (tried a Barber Ltd., Bearfoot EGOD, Skreddy Screwdriver and a Twangophile) and I think I'm just finding the 6 inch speakers a bit buzzy. 

I might try one of these and a 1x12 instead.