Best high gain lunchbox amp?

Jonathanthomas83

Hi all, Currently have a Laney Lionheart tiny 5w head and it sounds superb. I want to compliment it with a great little high gain amp. Wattage doesn't really matter as I'm using a Suhr reactive load into a Torpedo CAB. But I like the options I have on the Laney - DI, Headphones etc, would be nice to have matching features on the other amp too. Most of all though, I'm looking for a great tight heavy tube driven distortion that takes me from classic heavy rock to metal heaven. Amps I've considered are Mini Rec, Mark V:25, Engl Ironball (the stand out favourite so far, from videos I've seen) and the EVH lunchbox (close second)...out of those, which do people like and are there any I've not considered? Many thanks

Jonathanthomas83

Dunno why that's all grey! ha

dindude

How about adding the Victory Kraken to your list too?

octatonic

Kraken seems like the clear winner to me.

ThorpyFX

I've not tried the kraken so I can't compare to it, however the Orange #4 terror Jim root sig is a fantastic piece of equipment. I have one here and I think it sounds fantastic for rock/metal. Not your typical tiny terror, more shrunk rockerverb...

notonlybutalso

+1 to both of those suggestions. Both the Jim Root and the Kraken are fantastic, get either of those and you will not be disappointed

John_P

Is the 50w evh too big?       They are still pretty tiny imo and sound awesome. 

John_A

Really depends on what your definition of high gain is and what sort of sound you're after, A SLO, Dual Rec, Marshall JVM or 5150 are all high gain and all sound quite different, what sort of sounds are you after?

fretmeister

Not the Mini-Rec. sounds nothing like a proper one.

Fortheloveofguitar

I own an Engl Ironball and it's fantastic

Shits all over the Mini Rev, EVH and Kraken

Jonathanthomas83

Haha, in what way? Have you compared them all? I was really impressed by the Ironball, sounded like what I was after. But the Jim Root also sounds great in the demos. Thanks all for the great suggestions so far.

The price points of the EVH and Jim Root are really appealing. I don't particularly want to spend loads. That said, the Kraken and Ironball intrigue me!

Fortheloveofguitar

Jonathanthomas83;1107700" said:

Haha, in what way? Have you compared them all? I was really impressed by the Ironball, sounded like what I was after. But the Jim Root also sounds great in the demos. Thanks all for the great suggestions so far.

The price points of the EVH and Jim Root are really appealing. I don't particularly want to spend loads. That said, the Kraken and Ironball intrigue me!

The Ironball covers so much ground and does it all very well

Huge tight bottom end for an el84 based amp with so much gain on tap its unreal. Clean is also fantastic, has a lovely reverb and the attenuation features are a nice little bonus as they work well as well as a great boost function.

I honestly couldn't believe how good this amp was when I first plugged it in. It made all the other lunchbox heads sound tiny

I've owned the EVH lunchbox and its a shrill amp with a very harsh tone that is impossible to dial out. There's a thread of mine on here somewhere about it. Sold it on as was useless

Mini Rec lacked punch and sounded very little like its big brother

Jim root I found a little harsh sounding too

The victory kraken again no bottom end thud with that and very middy and slightly dark tone.

For me the worst by a mile was the EVH

The ironball is the way to go. Try one I'm sure it'll fit perfectly for what you're after

ThePrettyDamned

ThorpyFX;1107020" said:

I've not tried the kraken so I can't compare to it, however the Orange #4 terror Jim root sig is a fantastic piece of equipment. I have one here and I think it sounds fantastic for rock/metal. Not your typical tiny terror, more shrunk rockerverb...

All of this. I'd like to try a kraken.

The Jim Root is a great amp - I found that, even at quite high gain, it cleaned up well with the volume knob. Not exactly spanky funk, but clean and nice.

Op, have you considered a jet city custom 22 or jca22h?

Bucket

Mark V 25.

digitalscream

The Kraken is the clear winner for me. I've owned any number of Jet City amps and a Soldano Decatone, ADA MP-1 with a big-ass poweramp, Laney VH100R...and I've tried a Dual Rec, 5150 (both Peavey and EVH), something by Engl, couple of Bogners and a bunch of stuff I can't even remember.

The Kraken absolutely shits over all of them; best amp I've ever played through. Anybody who says it doesn't have that bottom-end thud (sorry, @Fortheloveofguitar) is using it wrong (or has a faulty one). If anything, it has too much - you have to tame it a little just so your bassist can be heard.

Beexter

I've got a Vox Night Train 50 Head in the classifieds at a bargain price. It's really compact for a 50 watt head and the Gain channel has way more gain than I'll ever need. Also has a tight switch for tightening up the low end at high gain levels. Clean channel stays clean pretty well all the way up. Footswitchable effects loop too...

Fortheloveofguitar

digitalscream;1108192" said:

The Kraken is the clear winner for me. I've owned any number of Jet City amps and a Soldano Decatone, ADA MP-1 with a big-ass poweramp, Laney VH100R...and I've tried a Dual Rec, 5150 (both Peavey and EVH), something by Engl, couple of Bogners and a bunch of stuff I can't even remember.

The Kraken absolutely shits over all of them; best amp I've ever played through. Anybody who says it doesn't have that bottom-end thud (sorry, @Fortheloveofguitar) is using it wrong (or has a faulty one). If anything, it has too much - you have to tame it a little just so your bassist can be heard.

Ironball trumps kraken!

You can go now

Jonathanthomas83

I have to say, been listening to clips all day and the Ironball nails the sound I've been looking for. Not sure the Kraken has that sound, I may need to try one just to be sure though.

Fortheloveofguitar

Jonathanthomas83;1109245" said:

I have to say, been listening to clips all day and the Ironball nails the sound I've been looking for. Not sure the Kraken has that sound, I may need to try one just to be sure though.

The iron ball sounds great in demos etc but wait until you're in the room with it. It's a beast

ennspek

I can't say I've ever thought the Kraken is lacking bottom end whenever I've heard one. That's the one I'd be most interested in trying.

Cabicular

Has anyone said Pink Taco yet?
Also I picked up one of the Peavey mini 6505 and it is respectable