Low Watt High Gain Amp??

[LooseCannon]

Hey all. I've seen some very low watt tube amps like the champ, the epi valve junior, meta amps, dr.z, etc. But I haven't heared of of a high gain low watt amp. This could be a great practice amp. I've heared a modded champ clip over at the Voodoo Amps site: http://www.voodooamps.com/sounds/vibrowitchdoctor.mp3
It sounds great to me. So does anyone know of such an amp or a way to mod one for high gain by myself? No pedals recommendations please.

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

DIY is only one step beyond modding it yourself. Look on AX84.com at their HO design.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

says high gain boogie tone at low volumes. have fun!

http://www.torresengineering.com/newintintons.html

their 8/15 version is at $750 right now. http://www.torresengineering.com/newnewhipboo.html
Doubt you'll find much cheaper than that.

then there's the doberman amps (do search).

I would think if you apply the logic for these amps on a champ, epi, etc. and understand the circuit flow, extra gain stages, etc. you'd be able to mod an existing amp. I mean, even Boogie's first amp was a modded Fender, right?

Carvin's triode amp (http://www.carvin.com/products/single.php?ItemNumber=VINTAGE16&CID=VINT) would also be pretty cool, given you could crank the sh!t out of it. It likely has AC/DC gain, but in some arenas that would be considered high gain. I don't think there'd be much shame in using a tube screamer with that to get into metallic territory.

 

[patch]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

How about this, only 1/2 watt but high gain

http://zvexamps.com/amp_view.html

 

[Reckless Abandon]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Voodoo does great work. I had a torres mod and it sounded bad.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

trace at voodoo is a great guy.

there is a company named peters that makes a little 10w high gain monster called the wolverine. cool amp but i think they may be discontinued

 

[some_dude]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

So does anyone know of such an amp

Is 15w of high gain too much?

The Boogie MarkIV runs 15w in Class A mode and 85w in Simul-Class mode.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Mark_Series/Mark_IV/mark_iv.html

 

[DankStar]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Is 15w of high gain too much?

The Boogie MarkIV runs 15w in Class A mode and 85w in Simul-Class mode.

http://www.mesaboogie.com/Product_Info/Mark_Series/Mark_IV/mark_iv.html

Gimmmmeee!

 

[LooseCannon]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Thanks for the suggestions all. The Nano head I already know, but it's not really high gain. And I'm looking for a more marshally high gain sound not mesa. Is there a website that shows how to mod such amps for high gain?

 

[Tesno]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Thanks for the suggestions all. The Nano head I already know, but it's not really high gain. And I'm looking for a more marshally high gain sound not mesa. Is there a website that shows how to mod such amps for high gain?

You can mess with plate resistors, add cathode caps, change voltage dividers, the list goes on and on. Every amp and guitar player like somthing different and it takes lots of trial and error!

Bed Room Level Clip

 

[Skoora]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

You might want to look into a HG-18 by Roccaforte.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

or, you could always buy a cheap low wattage tube PA off ebay and mod it like this article talks about (there's a section on adding gain stages):

http://www.netads.com/~meo/Guitar/Amps/PA2Guitar/pa2g-notes.html

Will any of the above ideas sound better than a solid state Marshall Lead 12 practice amp with a screamer or boss super overdrive in front of it? Hard to say, but that'd be hella cheaper!

 

[devastone]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

If you've got the $, how about a Cornford Harlequin?

 

[patch]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

This might be worth a look, plus they will voice it to your specs. I've heard only good things about the guys at Matamp

http://www.matamp.co.uk/minimat.htm

 

[Kommerzbassist]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

And I'm looking for a more marshally high gain sound not mesa.

Thing is much of the Marshall sound comes from the power tubes imo...

 

[LooseCannon]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Thing is much of the Marshall sound comes from the power tubes imo...

I don't think so, while it does affects the tone I think most of it is from the preamp\poweramp design. Listen to zakk wylde, he uses 6550 tubes but his tone is still marshall. Less brown and more aggresive but still marshall.

 

[Tesno]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Thing is much of the Marshall sound comes from the power tubes imo...

I agree too, nothing sounds better to Rock than a wide open Marshall tube amp moving those 4 12" cabs! But unless you play in huge places who can really do that?

I don't think so, while it does affects the tone I think most of it is from the preamp\poweramp design. Listen to zakk wylde, he uses 6550 tubes but his tone is still marshall. Less brown and more aggresive but still marshall.

I would say no matter what power tube you use, EL34, KT66, 6550 etc. when you are pushing them hard it does add a great tone and more sustain. But the old saying is tone is subjective. Slash may use diode cliping in his Marshall, but the amps are tubes and they are running hard! I also think EVH had a lightly to heavy modded Marshall running hard also, the key is they were loud and all tubes were being pushed, don't forget about the phase inverter tube!!

My mini-JCM with EL84 relies on a few tricks too! :fingersx:

 

[JfromHouston]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Not sure if this is what you would call "high gain" but they do rock and they are super affordable ($400) Check out all the clips on the intro page below.

http://www.sombrabella.com/bumbox/

1 watt of point to point marshally goodness :smokin:

When sent through a 2x12 or 4x12 and cranked its loud enough to make you happy and the mrs (or parents) not so happy. The volume is easily controlled though so you can still rock out with great tones and keep the peace. One caution though is that the cleans have hardly any volume. The amps built to be played dirty...

 

[aleclee]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

I don't think so, while it does affects the tone I think most of it is from the preamp\poweramp design. Listen to zakk wylde, he uses 6550 tubes but his tone is still marshall. Less brown and more aggresive but still marshall.

Do you think the dirt boxes he uses have a role in that?

 

[Mephis]

Re: Low Watt High Gain Amp??

Hey all. I've seen some very low watt tube amps like the champ, the epi valve junior, meta amps, dr.z, etc. But I haven't heared of of a high gain low watt amp. This could be a great practice amp. I've heared a modded champ clip over at the Voodoo Amps site: http://www.voodooamps.com/sounds/vibrowitchdoctor.mp3
It sounds great to me. So does anyone know of such an amp or a way to mod one for high gain by myself? No pedals recommendations please.

I want that champ.

Wow that thing sounds killer.