Really REALLY great small amps for home use?

ThePrettyDamned

fastboy said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

Ooooooo

This was recorded with a single SM57 at 'bedroom' volume - and doesn't appear to have had much work done on the sound either.  I think it sounds really fabulous, and it's super cute to look at.  Has power scaling, too, and 18 watts means it's in the realms of gigging if you want good crunch. 

Why is it that every guitarist who demos an amp will EL84's feel that they have to throw a Queen riff in there for good measure?

Just an observation more than anything else (I've made an assumption it's EL84's as an 18 watter)

It's okay, when you own an el84 amp, you don't need to play queen riffs  

I know what you mean though.  But it does sound like a good amp and I know that getting decent tone at bedroom level through a mic is really hard. 

jonnyburgo

I love my Superchamp XD

Voxman

" Why is it that every guitarist who demos an amp with EL84's feel that they have to throw a Queen riff in there for good measure?"  

I wouldn't care if they were playing right! lol  ) 

That MJW Bantam sounds a smashing little amp!  Had a look on the MJW site and it comes in 1x10" and 1x12" combo flavours as well as the head.  But at £620 for the combo and £495 for the head, it aint cheap - and sometimes the recording can be too good; in person it might not be quite as refined as it sounds.    

 

  

Gassage

And pls, Cornell Plexi...

JayGee

As a fellow Express 5:25 owner can I speculate that the issue with that isn't so much one of being too loud (it is capable of going outrageously, hellaciously, ridiculously loud but that's another question...) as hair trigger volume control(s).

Considered an L-Pad or pot in the FX loop purely as a way of getting fine control at the bottom of the volume range? That's what I use for late night playing and it helps a lot - having got the volume under control you can then use the Contour control(s) as a "Loudness" control to fatten things up a bit at very low volume and then it works really, really well at levels which won't disturb an ordinary conversation in the same room.

strtdv

Laney Lionheart 5watt.
Lovely cleans, vintage sounding slightly gritty overdrive, sounds good at low volume, and very well built.
Second hand should cost around £350.

I had a similar dilemma although I wanted more modern high gain tones and already own a Lionheart 20 watt head and matching cab.
Ended up buying a Laney Ironheart Studio head and Marshall 1x12, it has a 1 watt setting, and a built in dummy load, headphone jack and USB output for silent direct recording.
Clean and low gain sounds aren't of the quality of the Lionheart but features and high gain tones are great

stickyfiddle

JayGee said:

As a fellow Express 5:25 owner can I speculate that the issue with that isn't so much one of being too loud (it is capable of going outrageously, hellaciously, ridiculously loud but that's another question...) as hair trigger volume control(s).

Considered an L-Pad or pot in the FX loop purely as a way of getting fine control at the bottom of the volume range? That's what I use for late night playing and it helps a lot - having got the volume under control you can then use the Contour control(s) as a "Loudness" control to fatten things up a bit at very low volume and then it works really, really well at levels which won't disturb an ordinary conversation in the same room.

That's not a bad call actually. Might try rigging  a pot-in-box type thing in the loop and see how that works. Anything that gets the fat clean sound it does when starting to get loud without getting loud would be excellent..!

musteatbrain

Voxman said:

" Why is it that every guitarist who demos an amp with EL84's feel that they have to throw a Queen riff in there for good measure?"  

I wouldn't care if they were playing right! lol  ) 

That MJW Bantam sounds a smashing little amp!  Had a look on the MJW site and it comes in 1x10" and 1x12" combo flavours as well as the head.  But at £620 for the combo and £495 for the head, it aint cheap - and sometimes the recording can be too good; in person it might not be quite as refined as it sounds.    

 

  

My friend has one. It sounds very good. Sorry if this adds to gas

spacecadet

Currently got my eye on a ZT Lunchbox. Not exactly what you would call versatile but I'm just looking for something to noodle with and that takes pedals well. I understand the tone is somewhere between a Blackface and a Tweed. Loud enough to use as a backup amp live too.

RaymondLin

I know !!!! Mesa TA15 !

dindude

Maybe one of these. A few pedals and your golden.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n505/dindude/34962c6cd3480ac2e651fdb4223ff016_zps6136593b.jpg

Here's the spiel 

http://www.the-valve.com/105_combo.html

Pyroman

 How about a Tone King Falcon?   It sounds absolutely fantastic, looks great, and is under 15 watts.

  Builder calls it a cross between a tweed Fender and an old Supro.  There's a voicing switch for 3 different tonal options, too.

  Comes with a built in attenuator- TK's Iron Man.

  All tube, if that's your thing.

Lots of demos on youtube to check out.

  However: it AIN'T cheap!

Jalapeno

spacecadet said:

Currently got my eye on a ZT Lunchbox. Not exactly what you would call versatile but I'm just looking for something to noodle with and that takes pedals well. I understand the tone is somewhere between a Blackface and a Tweed. Loud enough to use as a backup amp live too.

Stupidly loud enough - 200W !!!!!

martinw

 

Voxman said:

That MJW Bantam sounds a smashing little amp!  Had a look on the MJW site and it comes in 1x10" and 1x12" combo flavours as well as the head.  But at £620 for the combo and £495 for the head, it aint cheap -

Compared to what? The Bogner Atma at £1399 or the Suhr Corso at £790? I don't think under £500 is bad for a hand-made amp, true point-to-point, built in the UK to your own custom spec, with a proper warranty and excellent after-sales backup. You can even come and watch me build it, and if you don't think after seeing what goes into it that it's 'cheap', I will give you a discount

 ........and sometimes the recording can be too good; in person it might not be quite as refined as it sounds.    

Ok, I'm continually told that my Youtube clips aren't good enough and that they don't properly show the qualities of the amps. So when a friend does a 'proper' recording with a mic'd cab, the critique is now that it's too good! 

Voxman

Martin, I think you're being a little over-sensitive.  

First, by not cheap that's not to say its not a quality amp that is very well made, sounds great and for some will be considered good value.  But it depends on budget and what you want.  

£620 will give you a pretty fair choice from lots of mass produced amps that may be perceived as 'more bang for buck' (eg folk might want a built in reverb, tremolo, 2 channels etc) including Fender, Marshall, Vox, Orange etc.  I'm quite sure you're (rightly) proud of the quality and tone of your own gear but sometimes people feel more comfortable buying a more well known amp (even if its mass produced in China and not a touch on the quality of yours) whilst others like the idea of and would appreciate the tone and build quality of having a handmade boutique amp such as yours. 

Second-hand values and ease of selling on could be considerations for some.  Regardless of quality, a Vox AC15 might be easier to sell on than a hand-made boutique amp such as this, simply because of 'name' awareness and perceived 'street cred'.  My amp tech, who's a great guy and no mean blues guitarist himself, makes handmade amps.  I know the quality, tone & reliability of his gear is top-notch, and he will sometimes find customers willing to spend £1,000 on his amps - but discerning customers who appreciate and value the quality and are willing to buy his amps are not falling off trees, and selling the amp on at a reasonable price would be a challenge. Value is perceived, but often not correctly.  

With regards to a good recording, sometimes it can take on an almost 'hi-fi' quality.  I've heard many recordings of different amps that don't do an amp justice, but also some where the amp sounds a little 'rawer' and less 'refined' when you're in the room with it. Sometimes its due to mic type, mic positioning, recording process etc. That doesn't mean to say that its still not great sounding, but sometimes it will just sound different.  Just to clarify, I've been playing for well over 40 years and played a great many amps and watched a great many videos - I particularly like watching vids of gear that I've not heard of before (such as yours).  So I'm not without some experience here.  

As I said, the Bantam sounds a smashing little amp! For what its worth I've reached a stage that 'names' don't matter to me anymore, and I quite like the idea (once I have some spare cash available) of treating myself to something a little different that's top quality for home/small club use....so I might even be a potential future customer for you! 

  

martinw

Voxman said:

Martin, I think you're being a little over-sensitive.

Ok. I don't. I think I'm correcting the inappropriate use of a relative term that's being used absolutely. Just my opinion.

....so I might even be a potential future customer for you! 

You might want to hurry up. I'm giving serious consideration to packing it in.

Voxman

Voxman said:

Martin, I think you're being a little over-sensitive.

Ok. I don't. I think I'm correcting the inappropriate use of a relative term that's being used absolutely. Just my opinion.

Please read carefully what I wrote again in context with my praise for the amp.  I merely said it wasn't cheap which is fair comment - I think you've misinterpreted this to read 'over-priced' which is NOT what I said.  The average person looking for a bedroom amp that they might use occasionally at a small club,are usually not 'audiophiles', are on a budget, and want to buy locally with a manufacturers warranty (often now extended) there are cheaper mass produced options eg Vox AC4, Laney Cub 10/12 etc.  The typical price-range here (which you can see from where manufacturers set their pricing) is perhaps in the £200-300 region (Vox AC4 circa £240, Laney Cub 10 £170, Fender Champ X2 circa £300, Blackstar HT5 £299 or lower).    

For most people (which is why this is more of a niche amp) once you start hitting £5-600 this often equates with the cost of a more full blown gigging amp which is louder, has an FX loop, reverb, 2-channels, and other extra features etc. For example, the popular Marshall DSL40C at £579.   

However, within the more niche hand-wired boutique market and comparing more of a true like for like with quality as the yardstick, I think the Bantam represents very good value eg against something like a Vox AC4 Handwired which typically retail at about £600

....so I might even be a potential future customer for you!

You might want to hurry up. I'm giving serious consideration to packing it in.

I've had a look and listen on your website, and it looks like you're making some very fine amps -  

Martin, why are you thinking of packing it in?  

richardhomer

Voxman;342924" said:

Martin, why are you thinking of packing it in?  

Probably because it's bloody tough making a living at it!

I can see why you might have thought Martin was being over-sensitive - I get accused of the same thing - but I can fully understand his robust defence of his product and it's pricing.

I am not levelling this at you - so please don't take offence - but unless something has 'Apple', 'Audi' or 'BMW' written on it these days, most people seem to think it's too dear....

fretmeister

dindude said:

Maybe one of these. A few pedals and your golden.

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n505/dindude/34962c6cd3480ac2e651fdb4223ff016_zps6136593b.jpg

Here's the spiel 

http://www.the-valve.com/105_combo.html

I have no idea whether that sounds good, but I love the look of it!

ThePrettyDamned

Sadly, to get big money, you need advertisement - otherwise people seem uninterested... Think of most "boutique" brands that sell well - they've been endorsed or demo'd by someone famous. That costs money. Advertisement is another one that costs. Bare knuckle pickups are amazing, but they are a lot more expensive than regular hand wound pickup from oil city, mojo etc. Why? Is it because they're better? Nah, advertisement and endorsements would be my guess. It's a real shame that a uk hand wired amp, in a tolex colour of your choice, in a smart cab that's only 150 quid more expensive than an orange tiny terror is considered to be pretty expensive. I wonder how popular the same amp would be if it had bogner written on it. Sad times, Martin, that would be a real loss. however, I didn't know the bantam existed until the other day, I've since recommended it to a friend who wanted a small amp. So maybe you'll get another custom soon!