It is currently Tue Mar 17, 2020 2:52 am

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next
Author Message
Post subject: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 3:58 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
A while back I bought a Weber Z Matcher so I can run the little 5 watt amp I built through my two 112 Egnater cabs. The Z Matcher will match the impedance of just about any amp to any cabinet. That worked out great. So now I decided to make an adapter for my 76 Champ. It has a phono jack so I made an adapter that has a phono plug on one end and a 1/4 phone plug on the other. I run that into my Z Matcher and then two my two cabs. All I have to say is Wow that thing is sweet. I rune the Champ through open back cabs before, but these closed back Egnater cabs are really nice with the old Champ. My suggestion is anyone with a small amp, try it through some bigger boxes. Next up will be my friends Marshall 4x12 with the Champ. No pedals required. :lol:

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 5:28 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
63supro wrote:
No pedals required. :lol:


+1

And a Champ or Vibro Champ sounds absolutely MONSTROUS through a Dual Showman cab.

8)

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:00 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:36 pm
Posts: 412
Location: Southern California
This is becoming a very cool trend! I usually hate trends but, this one rocks! Small watts through bigger cab is happening all the way!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 6:46 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:37 pm
Posts: 8708
Location: Natural Bridge, Virginia
I've been running my 5F1 Champ 600 through a Raven cab with a 12" 8-ohm Fender/Celestion speaker for some time now and it sounds fantastic. I cut the back panel to make it an open back because closed it was too boomy. I also had to install smaller coupling caps in the amp to decrease the bass. I tried a 12" 4-ohm Fender/Eminence speaker and that was way too boomy and not even as loud as the 8-ohm Celestion. These little 5 watt amps definitely sound great through a bigger cab. :D

_________________
Bill

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 9:07 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
I've run most of my small amps through my 112 cabs, I was looking to not be so hard on my old Champ, but that idea went right out the window. My Egnater cabs are closed backed and ported. I've even ran this little cheesy 1 watt Radio Shack solid state amp that I built through it and it sounds pretty big. They even made my Guild Model Four porch weasel amp sound almost respectable. I wish I still had my Bandmaster 2x12 cab. :lol:
The Weber Z-Matcher comes highly recommended to add a lot of sonic versatility to some of these smaller amps with only one impedance output. I think I only paid $80 or $90 for it. It saved me from buying another cab or swapping out a speaker for the correct load.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 9:08 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
I don't think it's a trend, I just think we all got a little smarter. :lol:

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Fri May 18, 2012 9:34 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:36 pm
Posts: 412
Location: Southern California
Part of the reason is they are coming out with killer sounding low watt models the last few years. Big amp manufacturers are not going to pass up on money making ideas. For years now, the general public has been crying out for good tone at bedroom level SPLs. We all love big amps and cabs! Sure, but now we can get our tone without having earbleed sound levels. Another cool feature is some of smaller amps are coming out with headphone jacks! It does cost more to manufacture but, boy, it is a very cool handy extra feature that we do appreciate!


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 4:42 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
Small great sounding amps are nothing new. I've been a big fan since I was a kid and I'm 56 now. When I was young, some of my buddies used to laugh because my main gigging amp was a Vibrolux Reverb, then a Bandmaster both considered small at the time. The thing was, my sound was more natural because I could push those amps without going totally deaf. My Twin on the other hand was a different story. My recording amps were always either a Champ, or a Dano DM10, Silvertones etc. I was in the 5 to 15 watt realm. Now I just use a 20 watt Egnater Rebel and it does everything I want it to do. I play in smaller places now. I still see guys bringing half stacks to tiny clubs. Last weekend I played in a place that held around 150-175 people. It was packed and the Egnater did really well and cut the mix just fine.

The only thing I see now is some of the lunchbox amps are being really poorly made to hit a low price point. My Champ is a 74. I've had it for about 25 years and it has never seen a shop yet. The new amps are usually landfill in a few years. My HRDlx lasted three months.

I built my latest 5 watter from a kit from Mod DIY and it totally true point to point. No boards of any kind, just terminal strips. Totally old school.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Sat May 19, 2012 8:06 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:36 pm
Posts: 412
Location: Southern California
63supro wrote:
Small great sounding amps are nothing new. I've been a big fan since I was a kid and I'm 56 now. When I was young, some of my buddies used to laugh because my main gigging amp was a Vibrolux Reverb, then a Bandmaster both considered small at the time. The thing was, my sound was more natural because I could push those amps without going totally deaf. My Twin on the other hand was a different story. My recording amps were always either a Champ, or a Dano DM10, Silvertones etc. I was in the 5 to 15 watt realm. Now I just use a 20 watt Egnater Rebel and it does everything I want it to do. I play in smaller places now. I still see guys bringing half stacks to tiny clubs. Last weekend I played in a place that held around 150-175 people. It was packed and the Egnater did really well and cut the mix just fine.

The only thing I see now is some of the lunchbox amps are being really poorly made to hit a low price point. My Champ is a 74. I've had it for about 25 years and it has never seen a shop yet. The new amps are usually landfill in a few years. My HRDlx lasted three months.

I built my latest 5 watter from a kit from Mod DIY and it totally true point to point. No boards of any kind, just terminal strips. Totally old school.



I hear what you are saying but, now buddy they are going from 2 to 1/10 of a watt and, they still sound great through bigger cabs and speakers! I love it myself. Smaller is bigger these days! Alot easier to tranpost is major a plus. 20 watts can be loud enough depending on the venue setting and, bodies occupying the place.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 3:01 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
I can dial my Egnater down to 1 watt and it's still mighty loud. Marshall just came out with a couple of one watt amps. Looks really interesting. 20 watts through two 112 cabs can do anything I want to do. Our stage volume never changes. It just creates problems when the stage volume is too loud. I work with professional musicians who don't have huge egos. We let the PA system handles the bigger stuff.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Last edited by 63supro on Sun May 20, 2012 3:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 3:05 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:37 pm
Posts: 8708
Location: Natural Bridge, Virginia
63supro wrote:
I can dial my Egnater down to 1 watt and it's still mighty loud. Marshall just came out with a couple of one watt amps. Looks really interesting.


Yeah. For $800 each! :shock:

_________________
Bill

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 4:31 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 12:48 am
Posts: 26417
Location: Tombstone Territory
bluesky636 wrote:
Yeah. For $800 each! :shock:


You'll need two of course, Bill (one as a backup).

:mrgreen:

Arjay

_________________
"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:23 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star

Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:37 pm
Posts: 8708
Location: Natural Bridge, Virginia
Retroverbial wrote:
bluesky636 wrote:
Yeah. For $800 each! :shock:


You'll need two of course, Bill (one as a backup).

:mrgreen:

Arjay


Or stereo. :idea:

_________________
Bill

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 7:11 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Wed May 25, 2011 12:45 pm
Posts: 1169
63supro wrote:
I can dial my Egnater down to 1 watt and it's still mighty loud. Marshall just came out with a couple of one watt amps. Looks really interesting. 20 watts through two 112 cabs can do anything I want to do. Our stage volume never changes. It just creates problems when the stage volume is too loud. I work with professional musicians who don't have huge egos. We let the PA system handles the bigger stuff.

+1

For me to buy an amp much over 20 watts it would have to be a smokin deal - somethin I could immediately turn around for an obscene profit.

With a high sensitivity speaker even 20 watts can get painfully loud.

_________________
In my opinion Leo Fender had essentially perfected the guitar amplifier by 1964.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: Some Fun Small Amp Stuff
Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 5:43 am
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:19 pm
Posts: 8827
Yeah those little Marshalls are pricey. I won't buy one. I'll try one, buy I already have a few low wattage amps to record with. When I dial my Egnater down to one watt, the headroom goes in the dumper as well as the punch and presence. Still sounds okay, But I won't record with it under four or five watts. I figure if I want less than five watts, I'll just plug into my iMac and toss on some headphones. :lol:

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 23 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2  Next
Go to page 1, 2  Next

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: