What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

J

Jeremiah

New member
Yeah, I know some joker is gonna say a 100 watt head into a 4x12…

Anyway, I'm looking for something small enough that I can sling it into a backpack and easily carry on buses and trains along with a guitar.

I don't need loads of headroom, just enough to play along with acoustic guitars and un-amplified vocals.

Something along the lines of the smaller Roland Cubes, or maybe the Yamaha THR-10?
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

Gigs, or just jam sessions?

I've been really happy with my Hayden L'il Mofo (2w of tube goodness), but have heard about the other critters you mentioned.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

With speaker or without? If you mean with a speaker, the Fender Mustang Mini is my preference. I think it looks way better than the Roland Cube, and I definitely prefer Fender's modeling to the Roland/Boss "COSM", at least for the cleaner tones.

But for what you're describing, check out the Fender Passport Mini http://www.fender.com/series/passport/passport-mini-120v/ , it's geared towards mobile musicians and accepts both a guitar and a mic, which might come in handy.
 
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Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

the trademark 10 was a great sounding little amp if you can find a used one
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

Yes, I meant a combo. Didn't know about the Fender Mini Mustang & Passport - I'll look into those.

I have thought about small tube amps like the Champion 600 or the Laney Cub 8, but my experience has been that very cheap valve amps generally sound worse than modelling.

I'm really thinking about jam sessions - I would assume a gig would have some kind of PA system and I could then use my Vox Tonelab through that.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

Jeremiah said:
but my experience has been that very cheap valve amps generally sound worse than modelling.
Click to expand...

For me, it's not even cheap tube amps, it's any tube amp that isn't cranked above hear-people-talking volume that doesn't sound as satisfying as the Fender Mustang series, but once the tube amps are cranked, then they surpass the Mustang, but not to the same dramatic extent.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

Zappa did amazing things with a Pignose battery powered amp.
Also, those battery powered Marshall amps are friggin great. Seriously. It depends on what you think "good" is, however.

Vox makes a little backpacker amp/radio. The Danelectro Honeytone and the little Hodad 2 speaker amps are neat. The Roland and the new Blackstar ones will be a little more rich in appointments like verb and stuff, so you may want to look in that direction more.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

Blackstar HT-1R

I picked one up from MF for 200...one of their deals of the day. Two tubes...one watt.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

A blues Jr. would be a pretty good sounding amp for a jam, but if you start playing too loud it will get muddy if cranked up too much its only 15 watts & Ive seen them used for $250 to $300. and they are decent sounding amps. If you choose to gig you may have to get something bigger.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

Jeremiah said:
I would assume a gig would have some kind of PA system and I could then use my Vox Tonelab through that.
Click to expand...

I'd not assume that personally, but I know some people get away with showing up with nothing but a modeling multi-effects somehow. One thing I'd be worried about is not hearing myself in the monitors. If you have your own amp behind you, at least you can be sure you will hear it a little.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

I'd get whatever Roland Cube seems to be the size you want. I have the 60 watt version, and I've played the Micro at a few stores, and I think they both sounded great. I wouldn't hesitate to gig with my Cube 60 in a pinch.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

I have a cube30
It's bigger than backpack size

The yamaha .tr something little amps are smallish and loud

The zvex is small heavy and loud

*(Sent from my durned phone!)*
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

I'd be more inclined to think that speaker-size has more to do with how good it sounds when dealing with mini/compact amps.
 
Re: What's the smallest amp that still sounds good?

the laney cub combo is really light at 20 pounds with a neodymium speaker, I want
 
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