5w head gas

YJM_Rocks

New member
Im really jonesing for a little 5w head because even my Rev Jr is too loud for the house. Has anyone ever built the Weber Smokin Joe II? That thing sounds great!
 
Re: 5w head gas

What features are you looking for?

A basic treble/middle/bass/volume option is the blackheart little giant BH5H

Great amp. Love mine. Cheap too.
 
Re: 5w head gas

A tone stack would be cool but not necessary. Something voiced on the Marshall side of things, but I know that may be hard to acheive in such a small package.
 
Re: 5w head gas

The Marshall class5

Newer ones fixed the rattle that plagued the first wave of combos

Wish I'd've waited to get mine, cause id probably still have it.
 
Re: 5w head gas

I love my Vox Lil' Night Train. Maximum 2 watts. C19 cap mod (clip one leg of the cap to get rid of harshness) What intrigued me about this amp is that it only uses preamp tubes even in the output section. Very pedal friendly and I didn't purchase the speaker cab that was designed for it. I have my amp connected to a four 6 inch speakers in a cab (Quantum) with 3 Alnico and 1 Ceramic speaker.
 
Re: 5w head gas

My 4-5 watt Champ (clone) head in my avatar gets quite loud. I mean, REALLY, REALLY loud for 5 watts. It is gorgeous though.
 
Re: 5w head gas

My shiny penny would be more towards looking for an inefficient speaker you like. That or start looking into a reamp rig.

My EC VibroChamp and Princeton RI just aren't that loud and I run them both about 7 on the volume dial. I can make them loud with the addition of gain.
 
Re: 5w head gas

Dude I might part with the VHT Special 6 Ultra combo I just picked up. GREAT super low volume tones but I took her to practice on last Monday night and it was having trouble getting over the drummer and bass player. I play P/W and many times in black Pentecostal churches so stage levels are brutal ( much louder than you would play in most club situations) because you are competing with a loud drummer and many times a Hammond and Lesley. This one just may not have enough to punch through in that environment for me. With the 25 watt Zinky I already have great low volume tones + it's LOUD when you crank it!! If you are interested in the VHT hit me with a PM let's chat. The amp is small lightweight and pretty pristine, the stock chrome back 12 in it sounds surprisingly decent + she will run externals.
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Re: 5w head gas

I have Blackstar HT-5 for about year or two now. it's really good sounding amp.. i have mine opened half way the most of time. it's loud, but definately not too loud for home use. but as i said, with half volume opened, and slightly boosted it's more than enough for home use. if you want more vintage crunch, just let the gain control at 3 of 10. and volume control at 7 of 10. but if you want hi gain... volume on 5 of 10. gain on about 6 or 7. and some slightly od boost for more modern metal sounds.
amp itself has enough gain or early heavy metal sound. if you want more, add some od boost, and ns-2.

at first i was running the amp with one 10 inch 40 watt speaker. the sound was boxy and not enough bottom end. then through 1x12 Vintage 30 closed back cab. the sound was the way more opened and have enough bottom end. i also have good results mixing the V30 and H30.

if i had to buy another one.. i woud probably buy the same amp. the sound is really good and versatile.

if you are morn modern metal player, you should use high output pickups with MXR or Boss Equalizer pedal. and put in V1 12ax7 Tung Sol. if you are more into vintage classic stuff, just one good sounding OD pedal and put the EH 12ax7 in V1. and vintage output pickups of course.

but amp has enough gain to play heavy solos with classic Strat singlecoils.
 
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Re: 5w head gas

try a less efficient speaker. Something like a greenback will give you the marshally tones, but at only 96 db it will knock down your volume for any given amp setting considerably (depending on what you are currently using). A 3db decrease in speaker efficiency roughly equates to halving the wattage on your amp.
A second option would be to use an attenuator, so you can get close to the tones and feel you are used to, but squeezed down to bedroom levels.
 
Re: 5w head gas

I loved my Epiphone Valve Jr. stock. But with the Mercury Magnetics upgrade, it really sings. I run it through one of these 2x12s:

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Re: 5w head gas

I'd go Class 5 or HT5. The Class 5 is more vintage sounding and more responsive/touch sensitive than the HT5 but if you get a Class 5, make sure you have a decent dirt box. You can use the amp's gain, but it could be too loud, depending on your situation.
 
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