Let's see the tiny low wattage tube amps you love
- Thread starter jellodog
- Start date
jellodog
Rock Star
- Messages
- 4,450
You're twisting my arm!
Oh go on then! Yes, let's have it in the our lil' tiny amp museum for the good TGF people to enjoy.
Your amp is cute AF by the way. And that colour!
Do you use the 4w mode much?
jellodog
Rock Star
- Messages
- 4,450
Relatedly, I nearly bought the 5w Victoria Vicky Verb amp which sounds amazing in the following video.
This one in particular is apparently a very loud 5 watts:
I've watched that demo video many many times, and I've always wondered if Joel from CME is smaller than average, and if Mark from Victoria is very tall; because... well... you can see what's going on in that video
Dayum. Listening to that again, I may still have to make a purchase. And I used to think that I'm not even much of a Tweed guy!
Last edited:
Boudoir Guitar
Rock Star
- Messages
- 3,807
100% tye best amp in Helix, and one of the best digital amp models ever.
laxu
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,157
- Messages
- 3,610
Gonna have to eat my words at least a little bit here. It's been a while since I've turned it on or moved the knobs..The lead channel at 7w set to barely-cracked still sounds really good clocking in at 77-79dB from my chair maybe less than a meter away.
If I wanted to take the clean channel up to overdrive I'd need loud volumes though -- the lead channel backed off using a lower power input tube gives me a pretty good humbucker crunch, but I also have a pedal for that. I know with the kids in the house I can get it even louder before getting screamed at.
jellodog
Rock Star
- Messages
- 4,450
For bedroom playing 5 watts is more than plenty even too loud for the wife
Totally. I'd be surprised if I actually ever used more than 1 watt of power through the speaker at home (unattenuated). Perhaps a tiny bit above that with the 44w Bella (because it's a beast!), but definitely no more than that with the Princeton. Which is fine even with NMV, because I play cleanish, mostly.
MadAsAHatter
Roadie
- Messages
- 179
I submit my Ampmaker N5X kit that I finished building a few weeks ago. Variable power to go from 5 watts to less than 1 watt. TMB tone stack with bypass switch, bright/fat boost, Master Volume, Class A that can use EL84's, EL34's 6L6's or several other octal tubes.
I've put in an EL34 and been playing it wide open with gain & master maxed and tone stack bypassed. It sounds like a cranked Marshall at non ear bleeding volumes. Drop a tube screamer in front and it's pure saturation bliss.
I've put in an EL34 and been playing it wide open with gain & master maxed and tone stack bypassed. It sounds like a cranked Marshall at non ear bleeding volumes. Drop a tube screamer in front and it's pure saturation bliss.
jellodog
Rock Star
- Messages
- 4,450
Yes! This is the stuff!!!
Love that Cthulhu badge. And what is that... green alligator tolex?
Do you know how many hours it took you to build, total?
hemmelight
Roadie
- Messages
- 568
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!
Congrats on finishing, looks awesome!
laxu
Rock Star
- Messages
- 5,157
Found an old pic so I'm going to shoehorn this in despite it technically being a 15W amplifier. But it was power scalable down to something minuscule!
This is a Stephenson LJ-10 I once owned sometime around 2006. Apparently it was kind of like a mini Trainwreck Express that used London Power's Power Scaling tech. I kinda wish I hadn't sold it because it was a unique amp.
Part of the homemade looks is that it made it a whole lot cheaper than the fancier Stephenson models. Don't remember what I paid for it but it was very reasonable, even with shipping all the way to Finland. I don't know where I found this Canadian manufacturer.
It was a parallel single ended amp using 1x EL84 + 1x any octal tube. Could even pull one of the tubes if you wanted. The stock EL84+6V6 complement did sound best.
It was a great blues lead amp, but it was very, very saggy. Palm muting anything on it made a "flump" sound rather than "thunk". Yet it was also extremely dynamic, to the point that I really had to go to school on how to control my picking dynamics. Usually lower wattage amps are "easier" to play compared to high power amps with big dynamic range swings, but this little thing bucked that trend.
I feel like now with many years more experience I could get something much better out of it. Or mod it or something. It was really packed full for its tiny chassis, with a turret board construction even. On the back there were some switches for things like ultralinear mode.
The control positions in the pic are probably just so you can read the labels as the knobs would otherwise obscure them partially. Drive was basically a master volume and the Fat was a negative feedback control or something. Scale sets the power level.
MadAsAHatter
Roadie
- Messages
- 179
Thanks, I really love that I can get power tube saturation without blowing my ears out. That doesn't mean it's whisper quiet though, it can get loud enough. At full power/volume I measured it right at 105 dB from roughly 5 feet away. It pushed past 115 dB measured against the speaker grill.Yes! This is the stuff!!!
Love that Cthulhu badge. And what is that... green alligator tolex?
Do you know how many hours it took you to build, total?
Yeah, it's green/black alligator upholstery vinyl similar to what Mesa uses on some of their shells. The Cthulhu badge I found on etsy. This was my first amp build so I took my time. I put in 1-2 hours a day after work for a couple of weeks. All together I want to say it took around 25 hours or so into the build plus another day to make and cover the shell.
Overall it was a fairly straight forward build. Barry @ Ampmaker provides really detailed instructions and offers full support if you have any questions or issues. If you're interested here's the website. If you go under Media and How to Build Your Kit you can read the full instructions.
https://www.ampmaker.com/shop/n5x-british-overdrive-amplifier/
Byrdman
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,071
Great job! I have always wanted to build my own tube amp. Did you get the kit with tubes? On the website, it says there is only one option due to the Ukraine invasion. Also did you have to decide on speaker impedance when you build it or will it accommodate the 4/8/16 ohm as is?
Thanks!
MadAsAHatter
Roadie
- Messages
- 179
If you're thinking about building one I'd recommend it as a good place to start. I bought mine without tubes, but I have spares on hand. The transformer has 4, 8 &16 ohm taps so you'll have a jack for each.
Byrdman
Shredder
- Messages
- 1,071
What tubes did you use? I don't have any but may try to see what I can get here in the US.
- Messages
- 1,640
You mean like this:
Except those are 110 cabs. Started as an MG stack. Sold the MG head, swapped the trash MG speakers with Celestions and it's vastly improved.
Put the Joyo Rigel in front and the tone possibilities for high gain are "endless" for want of a better term.
Also surprised no one has mentioned the BanTamp line.
I had one of these ZoMBie IIs for awhile. Paid $80 for it. 20 watts of Rectifier goodness for under $100? Yes please. Took it to try out a Mesa OS 412 last year. Showed up at the guy's house with it (he had the cab in his garage). He laughed when he saw it. Hooked it up, turned it up to about 4 on the master and his entire neighborhood was filled with riffs.
He was stunned and said he was gonna go buy one. 
krankenstein
Groupie
- Messages
- 90
You mean like this:
Except those are 110 cabs. Started as an MG stack. Sold the MG head, swapped the trash MG speakers with Celestions and it's vastly improved.
Put the Joyo Rigel in front and the tone possibilities for high gain are "endless" for want of a better term.
Also surprised no one has mentioned the BanTamp line.
I had one of these ZoMBie IIs for awhile. Paid $80 for it. 20 watts of Rectifier goodness for under $100? Yes please. Took it to try out a Mesa OS 412 last year. Showed up at the guy's house with it (he had the cab in his garage). He laughed when he saw it. Hooked it up, turned it up to about 4 on the master and his entire neighborhood was filled with riffs.
I was about to mention joyo mjolnir and zombie but never tried them personally. Someone posted long ago that they are quite shitty, still would like to try
