Guitar Forums

I think the small amps with low wattage are being advertised more these days. And they have really come along way from sounding tinny. I have no desire to own an amp over 30 watts these days but it would be nice to find one with 2 12's in it just to have a bit a fun (that is when the wife isn't around)

I have a 15w amp and it is still ridiculously loud. I had hoped that I would be able to crank it to get the valve sounds without being deafened but in fact you can't. It is very comparable to my 50w valve amp.

I used to be in talks with someone who was designing a <1w valve amp specifically for this purpose. I never heard if he was successful but I have heard there are such products on the market.

Even under 1w I believe it will still be very loud, but probably could get away with reasonable playing levels but have that little valve pushed!

Take a look at Blackheart Amps by Crate, they are doing a 1watt valve head,

alun wrote:Take a look at Blackheart Amps by Crate, they are doing a 1watt valve head

These look pretty good and a really good price as well! I would be interested in hearing some genuine reviews before I would consider buying though - have you ever tried on Alun?

Olly wrote:have you ever tried on Alun?

No not one of these, but Crate is a class make, Years ago we used to use old radiogram valve amps for guitar, they were low wattage and distorted easily,

i can help here
i'm a bit of a purist
the blackheart is a well built piece of kit, that does it 's thing ok, but it does buzz n humm a bit, and it gets too hot.
a guy called andy doken ( rat amps) does a modded version, obviously a little more dosh but well worth it.
I have one of his 5w harley benton mods, which has a power scaling feature, you get the sound you want
with the pre amp valve and power valve..then you can 'scale down the power' to achieve that sound at a very low level..with the valves still being fully driven.
no operating noises whatsoever..you dont know its on till you touch a string, even with everything on full
his blackheart ant 1w is actually about 1.5w and around 170 quid

the original blackheart output is about 0 .7w i believe.

Sounds exactly the sort of thing I had been looking for.

I heard that you will never really achieve that cranked sound fully at lower volumes as the way that the speakers react to quieter volumes is just not quite the same.

I have tried power attenuators in the past but never really got along with them. Maybe next time I have a bit of spare cash (unlikely) I will give this Rat Amps a go!


Wurzel - is this the main amp that you use at the moment?

[youtube]/watch?v=Dsilgygjinw[/youtube]

This is my 'in house' amp. as well as the hand wiring and other mods by 'rat' i have fitted a 15w jensen alnico speaker.
not a cheap option,(although in no way the most expensive) but it is pure quality!!
not a great deal of 'clean' headroom, up to about half volume, but thats not what it's designed for. I believe the output is actually 7-8w post mods..
looks lovely too!! (imo)
I would very much like one of andys 15w plexi clones, (when i get flush).
I should also add that if your pick ups aren't of a reasonable standard, the amp will certainly let you hear it!!
i have a 1992 samick, fine with my peavey, loves the fender princetown..(both electronic,pcb's etc)
sounds awfull through the rat.
My 1950's audition with a single, toaster style pick up sounded like a £1000 axe when plugged in, and the strats really get the best out of it.



I use an old 80's peavey special 130 1x12, for band practice.

wurzel wrote:

This is my 'in house' amp. as well as the hand wiring and other mods by 'rat' i have fitted a 15w jensen alnico speaker.
not a cheap option,(although in no way the most expensive) but it is pure quality!!
not a great deal of 'clean' headroom, up to about half volume, but thats not what it's designed for. I believe the output is actually 7-8w post mods..
looks lovely too!! (imo)
I would very much like one of andys 15w plexi clones, (when i get flush).
I should also add that if your pick ups aren't of a reasonable standard, the amp will certainly let you hear it!!
i have a 1992 samick, fine with my peavey, loves the fender princetown..(both electronic,pcb's etc)
sounds awfull through the rat.
My 1950's audition with a single, toaster style pick up sounded like a £1000 axe when plugged in, and the strats really get the best out of it.



I use an old 80's peavey special 130 1x12, for band practice.

that's a nice look'n amp

Yep looks great there!

how did you end up finding your amps that you use now - did you go through a load of amps before you settled with what you have now?

I seem to have gone through a fair few myself already and am still not really happy with my amp situation - especially for lower volume usage!

well, for a start i go to shops etc during the week (absence of other customers), good time to try anything you fancy.
It really depends on what you want from your amp. In the case of the 'rat' i wanted that valve crunch at low levels, but i didn't want to be listening to the buzz and humm of badly placed, cheap components.
a boutique amp was out of the question for home practice(££££)
I had heard of , and researched rat amps, my prob was hearing one, which eventually i did...sold!!
The peavey serves a different purpose, extremely loud, keeps up with the drummer, no fragile valves so its more suited to lugging around and bumping about. real spring reverb which sounds ok..the 'crunch' channel (like most electronic amps is a bit poo..but its not an issue it's just for practice and you can always stick a pedal on the clean channel..which is highly detailed and superb!
never seen an amp that does it all, and all cheap amps have 'issues' some can be easily sorted just by ripping out the (usually) crappy speaker and putting in something bettr...if i was gigging i'd be using a valve driven amp, and you can be sure i will want to know what its built like, what components are used, and which factory produced it.. before i even turn it on!!.
you cant rely on a brand name these days.

wurzel wrote:well, for a start i go to shops etc during the week (absence of other customers), good time to try anything you fancy.
It really depends on what you want from your amp. In the case of the 'rat' i wanted that valve crunch at low levels, but i didn't want to be listening to the buzz and humm of badly placed, cheap components.
a boutique amp was out of the question for home practice(££££)
I had heard of , and researched rat amps, my prob was hearing one, which eventually i did...sold!!
The peavey serves a different purpose, extremely loud, keeps up with the drummer, no fragile valves so its more suited to lugging around and bumping about. real spring reverb which sounds ok..the 'crunch' channel (like most electronic amps is a bit poo..but its not an issue it's just for practice and you can always stick a pedal on the clean channel..which is highly detailed and superb!
never seen an amp that does it all, and all cheap amps have 'issues' some can be easily sorted just by ripping out the (usually) crappy speaker and putting in something bettr...if i was gigging i'd be using a valve driven amp, and you can be sure i will want to know what its built like, what components are used, and which factory produced it.. before i even turn it on!!.
you cant rely on a brand name these days.

Can't rely on brand names these days

You are so right

I was looking at Celestions Vintage 30 speakers and guess what

They are fk'n made in China these days, no wonder why Marshalls are so cheap to buy, they are putting in Chinese made speakers

Looks like I may end up looking at JBL or Jensens when the time comes to buying speakers

I kind of liked the Orange Tiny Terror, but they seem a bit over priced.