Tiny Amps

sholkham · Post by **sholkham** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 4:50 pm

Has anyone got a recommendation for those teeny battery powered amps that you get? I want something quiet to practice on late at night or when i'm just mucking around. I know Orange do one and Fender make a tiny Twin amp so I wanted to know if anyone knew if there were any ones that are any good, or any to avoid.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 5:14 pm

Â£22.99 from various places (GAK, DV24, Dolphin)
I use one like this but black. I got it second-hand for nothing because the battery clip is broken. Good enough for lunchtime practice, powered from the cigarette lighter socket of the car.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:10 pm

All those little amps are virtually the same, so just get the cheapest/coolest looking one. I have the Fender Mini Tonemaster, pretty good. It even has kickback legs as it's permanently piggyback (so you can easily project towards your head if you're sitting at a desk or have it on the floor), and the 2 speakers can get pretty loud. I've had the Marshall micro fullstack version (with gain control and extra speaker, like the tonemaster), not bad but a bit more farty than the tonemaster... you can get louder cleans from the Fender (awww, just like their big bros!)

Obvious suggestion in this day and age is also the vox amplug headphone amps, which are great sounding as they take tinny little speakers out of the equation. You could use headphones with the other small amps to get them sounding nicer and/or plug this into speakers too, it's just a bit more discrete.

I would actually stay away from the Fender Mini Twins. They're style over substance big-time. Shit, the tonemaster and mini Marshalls probably are too but they're cheaper 'cause they aren't TWEEDED and stuff.

paul_ · Post by **paul_** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 6:13 pm

NickS wrote:
I use one like this but black.

That is black.

Why I haven't built a wall of these on my desk for PC audio is well beyond me. I must be getting old.

Joey · Post by **Joey** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 9:10 pm

Has anyone made a bluetooth amp yet?

Billy3000 · Post by **Billy3000** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:15 pm

I've been wanting the orange for a while now. They actually sound pretty decent. I've seen a couple youtube videos and it actually gets some pretty cool tones for a little amp. Plus it looks awesome. I haven't heard the marshall or fender, but I own the danelectro like this:

and the smokey like this:

they both sound like garbage. The smokey was super cheap and I bought it for a camping trip, it worked out pretty well for that, and it's about the size of an ipod so it fits in your pocket, just plug your guitar in and use the volume on your guitar. The danelectro I got for like $5 and it sounds a little bit better than the smokey, not quite as farty, but still pretty farty.

Post by **Doog** » Sun Nov 13, 2011 11:26 pm

I used to have the "fullstack" Marshall, and recently got given the halfstack version by a friend.

The overdrive is pretty much just a volume boost to make the speaker clip harder, the clean is serviceable. One to use with a pedal, really.

The Tonemaster seems to sound pretty good in the demos I've just checked out, a lot more range than most.

NickS · Post by **NickS** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:53 am

paul_ wrote:
NickS wrote:I use one like this but black.
That is black.

lol
Yes, I had put up a pic of a red one, forgot to change the text wqhen I found a pic of a black one.

sholkham · Post by **sholkham** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:04 pm

cool, thanks for the replies, I'll look into the Tonemaster amp too

othomas2 · Post by **othomas2** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:18 pm

I've got the Orange....

Between that and the Marshall and Fender, its the best one I've heard.

izodiak · Post by **izodiak** » Mon Nov 14, 2011 8:51 pm

I have the VOX Ampplug VOX ac30 model, and I really like it, play from time to time.. If You have decent earphones, then the sounds are pretty much like any other transistor amp..

Im now thinking of getting VOX AC4tv mini amp.. I really wish I will be able to get that.. eh

moogmusic · Post by **moogmusic** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 6:00 pm

[quote="Billy3000"]I've been wanting the orange for a while now. They actually sound pretty decent. I've seen a couple youtube videos and it actually gets some pretty cool tones for a little amp. Plus it looks awesome. I haven't heard the marshall or fender, but I own the danelectro like this:

This was recorded just using the Honeytone (for guitar sounds): Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone

gaybear · Post by **gaybear** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 8:26 pm

moogmusic wrote:
Billy3000 wrote:I've been wanting the orange for a while now. They actually sound pretty decent. I've seen a couple youtube videos and it actually gets some pretty cool tones for a little amp. Plus it looks awesome. I haven't heard the marshall or fender, but I own the danelectro like this:

This was recorded just using the Honeytone (for guitar sounds): Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone

awesome song and sound!

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 9:45 pm

izodiak · Post by **izodiak** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:18 pm

► Show Spoiler

this is next level, should make that too !

hotrodperlmutter · Post by **hotrodperlmutter** » Sat Nov 19, 2011 11:58 pm

shit's real bro

h8mtv · Post by **h8mtv** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:35 pm

Build you a Ruby amp.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:53 pm

Get one of these and a variable voltage adapter, to get some dying battery sounds without having to wait for the battery to die.

orange micro crush

crackin little amp I've used mine on a couple of recordings.

dezb1 · Post by **dezb1** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 1:56 pm

moogmusic wrote:
This was recorded just using the Honeytone (for guitar sounds): Don't You Touch My Fucking Honeytone

Nice tune... and guitar sounds

Ps: The Backmasking tune I did for this yearâ€™s Doom noise comp used the orange crush for the guitar tones... about 32 minutes in on the serfx podcast http://serfxisdead.podomatic.com/entry/ ... 0_00-07_00

ekwatts · Post by **ekwatts** » Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:00 pm

My mini orange died just the other day. I've had it for three years I think, and it has served me well. It's been bashed around and pummelled to death. I even dropped it down the stairs (true test of any piece of musical equipment) and it still worked.