Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
....is that they sound like 5 watt amps.
I know the purists say that the best kind of drive is power tube saturation. Its true to a certain extent, but it really depends on what kind of power tubes you are driving, and how you are driving them.
5watts class A? An el34 running single ended? Sure it will get dirty, but that doesnt necessarilymean it sounds killer.
Also, there is this myth that 5watt amps give you amazing power tube saturation at low volumes. Nah. They are still loud little buggers. Remember you can easily get 100 db from a 1 watt amp, and the difference between a 100watt amp to a 50watt amp is only a few db.
Its true that a a 5 watt amp will be running on full power if you play in a band where the drummer uses sticks, but its a myth that just turning an amp up to 10 is the best sound. In reality, 5watts is really just a little undergunned for use with a band. Not cos its not loud, but because 5 watts just cannot give you the bottom end and fullness of sound. It ends up sounding like a buzzy mess.
You can use them for recording, sure. But you can use any amp for recording.
I dont mind the marshall class 5, the ulbrick (think its called a firebottle) and i have a blackheart thing here for a week or so, but for a gig...nah.
In fact, for practicing....id rather have something with more headroom.
I know that preamp compression is seen as the poor cousin of power tube saturation, but i have to say that one EL84 being beaten to death is not very exciting to my ears.
Id rather have a 100w marshall and a tubescreamer, or a twin, a deluxe reverb....even a blues junior at 15watts to practive with than any boutique 5 watt amp.
However, to be fair to 5 watt amps....if i run them lowish (mostly clean) and roll off the treble, then they can give a pleasant practice sound...but then again if i wanted clean at lowish volumes , an amp with maybe 20 watts sounds so much better to my ears.
I know the purists say that the best kind of drive is power tube saturation. Its true to a certain extent, but it really depends on what kind of power tubes you are driving, and how you are driving them.
5watts class A? An el34 running single ended? Sure it will get dirty, but that doesnt necessarilymean it sounds killer.
Also, there is this myth that 5watt amps give you amazing power tube saturation at low volumes. Nah. They are still loud little buggers. Remember you can easily get 100 db from a 1 watt amp, and the difference between a 100watt amp to a 50watt amp is only a few db.
Its true that a a 5 watt amp will be running on full power if you play in a band where the drummer uses sticks, but its a myth that just turning an amp up to 10 is the best sound. In reality, 5watts is really just a little undergunned for use with a band. Not cos its not loud, but because 5 watts just cannot give you the bottom end and fullness of sound. It ends up sounding like a buzzy mess.
You can use them for recording, sure. But you can use any amp for recording.
I dont mind the marshall class 5, the ulbrick (think its called a firebottle) and i have a blackheart thing here for a week or so, but for a gig...nah.
In fact, for practicing....id rather have something with more headroom.
I know that preamp compression is seen as the poor cousin of power tube saturation, but i have to say that one EL84 being beaten to death is not very exciting to my ears.
Id rather have a 100w marshall and a tubescreamer, or a twin, a deluxe reverb....even a blues junior at 15watts to practive with than any boutique 5 watt amp.
However, to be fair to 5 watt amps....if i run them lowish (mostly clean) and roll off the treble, then they can give a pleasant practice sound...but then again if i wanted clean at lowish volumes , an amp with maybe 20 watts sounds so much better to my ears.
