Small amps < 5 watt

slugelise · August 2023

Doulin said:

I am interested in your opinions and general tid bits and info.

paid £150, budget up to £300.

this, awesome handwired marshall clone

https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/252498/mjw-5w-goldstar-head

Kittyfrisk · August 2023

Hi, just noticed that you are in Durham. If that's Durham UK not USA, I have Vox AC4TV8 & Blackstar HT1R-10 combos if you wanted to borrow them to try out?
Might help in finding what you don't actually like

No worries if this is of no interest, as I'm not that bothered about selling anything, so no pressure

JerkMoans · August 2023

My own two penn'orth: look for a Rat Electronics Hot Rod Valve Special. Basically an Epiphone Valve Junior, stripped and re-done by a wizard.

They pop up on the usual sites occasionally. Cheap, but fantastic.

Doulin · August 2023

Kittyfrisk said:

Hi, just noticed that you are in Durham. If that's Durham UK not USA, I have Vox AC4TV8 & Blackstar HT1R-10 combos if you wanted to borrow them to try out?
Might help in finding what you don't actually like
No worries if this is of no interest, as I'm not that bothered about selling anything, so no pressure

That is Durham UK. I would really like to try both those amps actually!
I have been thinking about an AC4 a lot but they are really hard to try out

Exorcist · August 2023

I know your not interested in over 5w but FWIW I've been through a ton of low wattage amps, from 1w palmer Eins (decent little amp) and up. Special 6/Special 6 ultra are great middle of the road amps, gain is a bit meh IMHO but they sound great clean/on the edge and take dirt pedals incredibly well. Ignore the voltage attenuator thing on the special though, it sounds pretty rubbish. The little tweaker 15 (small size head, I think the combo is pretty small) although not 5w has a great MV and very versatile if you don't want to be stuck with one sound. I had a fuch's 4 aces 2w job that was FAR too loud for home use. Others came and went including an MJW and mini marshal. What has stayed and ended my quest, was a Bogner Duende, it must be 20w or something but its the best home amp for me by a mile. Great master volume, great gain and great clean. Not that big in the 10" combo if you can find one. Bit niche and pricey I know - but holy moly they are awesome IMHO

Doulin · August 2023

I don't disagree with the large amp turned down thing. Our ac10 and blues jr are perfect examples of this. My ac10 is literally favourite thing, perfect for what I want and play. Its just even that is too big (not in watts but physical size) for my father in law to live around!

chrisj1602 · August 2023

I’ve got a Blackstar St James, 50w but with a 2w option. Also a master volume, and headphone out. Very versatile and sounds great.

Kittyfrisk · August 2023

Doulin said:

Kittyfrisk said:

Hi, just noticed that you are in Durham. If that's Durham UK not USA, I have Vox AC4TV8 & Blackstar HT1R-10 combos if you wanted to borrow them to try out?
Might help in finding what you don't actually like
No worries if this is of no interest, as I'm not that bothered about selling anything, so no pressure

That is Durham UK. I would really like to try both those amps actually!
I have been thinking about an AC4 a lot but they are really hard to try out

OK, no problem (well, only minor ones).
I'm currently looking after a rescue dog that has picked up an injury that needs care & vet treatment every two days. So I'm not currently as flexible as I'd like to be in terms of having free time to sort out amp stuff

How about you PM me & we'll see what we can arrange?

duotone · August 2023

JerkMoans said:

My own two penn'orth: look for a Rat Electronics Hot Rod Valve Special. Basically an Epiphone Valve Junior, stripped and re-done by a wizard.

They pop up on the usual sites occasionally. Cheap, but fantastic.

@JerkMoans ; Have never heard of them before, but having just looked at his website https://www.ratvalveamps.com/ it looks like he is

- Now Retired -

The Following pages are for information only.

Penn · August 2023

SteppedOut said:

Spark Amp Mini

I’ve got a Spark Go and 40.

The Go is really just a headphone amp/little Bluetooth speaker for the radio. It’s good if you just want something to chuck in a bag and take with you easily. It’s tiny! I’m not that impressed with how it sounds just used as an amp without headphones. It’s a bit too thin and tin canesque. But on a pair of headphones it sounds pretty good for such a little thing.

The 40 is a really good as a practice tool. Much like the Go the models don’t sound awful. It’s the same software. It covers a lot of different sounds. There’s just so many models you can do. The way you can customise and change sounds is brilliant. It’s made me realise there’s some amp sounds I really like and some I don’t. Having different pedals you can just change is ace.

Off the back of using the Spark I decided I like Fender sounding amps. So I did the obvious thing and bought a Palmer Fab 5.

I know, it’s not a Fender but it’s similar and I think it looks better. It sounds brilliant but I don’t use it a lot as it’s pretty loud in a terrace house. There is an attenuator which I use sometimes. To be honest not having reverb built-in is annoying. I just can’t be bothered getting my pedals out. Should have bought a Fender with reverb..,

or just do what I actually do and use the Sparks instead!

I had a Vox AC4 which I felt was bright and horrible. It had a greenback in it, I changed valves and had EHX then JJs in it but I just never really liked that sound. If I’d had the Spark before the Vox I’d have known that.

I had an orange micro terror and cab. That was ok for what it was but the small speaker wasn’t amazing. It was an amp that got me back into guitar a bit. I think I preferred it to the Vox tbh but neither really did it for me.

Anyway my point after my ramble? The Spark does loads of things well, is easy to transport and helps you work out what you like and don’t like.

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Small amps < 5 watt

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