My short jaunt into the lunchbox world

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

I decided to try a few of these little cheap guys out Simply for some new flavors and recording purposes.
Here are my short reviews fwiw.

The first 1 I bought was the Joyo Bantamp Firebrand.(Engl Fireball copy)
I was blown away by the tone and volume of this 20w firebreathing monster that's not much bigger than a typical distortion pedal. In fact I loved it so much I figured I would order a second flavor of the Bantamp.
This voicing is an absolute favorite of mine now.
It pairs very well with my Marshall amps. And it sounds great in a mix. It's tight, but not super tight. Sounds ok without a boost, but really shines with any of my 12 flavors of OD pedals. It's now my favorite small amp. I got this one new off reverb for $125



After I had ordered another, the VIVO (5150 copy)
I made the mistake of opening up my OfferUp app and found a 6505mh for sale locally! I Messaged the guy and he was literally driving it down to sell it to SamAsh. Said they were going to give him 75bucks for it. He was out of work and was starting a welding business, so he needed the cash.
Luckily I talked him out of it and met him to pick up the mini head. I gave $300 for it. MSRP is $699
The 6505mh is an absolutely amazing little amp! It is every bit the same amp/tone as the full sized 6505+ I used to own. It has more gain than any other amp I think I've ever played. Both channels sound good for metal. It doesn't care what od pedal I put in front of it, it still sounds like itself. I would say it doesn't play with pedals as well as the other 2
The tone and grit of this amp makes it sound like a full 100w head. It flat rips!



Today my Joyo Bantamp VIVO showed up on my doorstep. I plugged it in and was slightly under amazed by this one. The gain is a little lacking, and quite a bit flubby. Unlike the other 2, this one needs a boost to kick it in the face. It does have a 5150 "flavor," but sitting next to the 6505mh, it pales.
Now, the price was more than reasonable, I gave 112 bucks on ebay for it. I haven't recorded it yet, or even put it in a mix yet. It may be just fine for that. It has good time, it seems that it needs the tone turned high to bring out the characteristics of the amp, but that also makes it a bit hissy.


My opinion/ findings on these 3 little guys, just in case it helps anyone decide to get one or not.

YMMV

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

A picture of the tiny ones.

[Benjy_26]

Nice! I've been wondering about those Peavey mini heads.

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Here are some quick sound bytes.

The Firebrand:

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

The 6505mh

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

The VIVO:

[JamesPaul]

That is quite an honorable thing to do on the 6505MH. Around here I see used Peavey moving for around 50% of original MAP. You know SA would have put it up for $500.

[misterwhizzy]

I love that V. Classy guitar.

[GuitarStv]

The 6505 MH sounds miles better than either of those Joyos.

[Bogner]

Have you tried out the PRS MT-15?

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Have you tried out the PRS MT-15?

I've watched a dozen videos about it, and read many articles praising it. It sounds great! Bit too expensive for this boy. I mean if you find one for 3 bills just let me know.

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

I threw this together today. Just a snippet of the song to listen to the little amps.

6505mh left, Firebrand right.

[LowBudgetViking]

Had the 6505MH for awhile. It's a fun little amp but I found myself constantly fighting with it to get sounds that were "in between" the range of the channels. I'd want something with a little more grind than the Crunch but a lot less than the overdrive channel. Eventually I kind of had to concede that it was what it was and I sold it.
Also found that the 1 watt option was really lacking! I can't blame the amp seeing as how it was throttled so much. But it was never really usable even though it was an option!