Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: Oli on September 24, 2007, 11:51:01 PM
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So over the last couple of weeks, i've tested out the Tiny Terror in a couple of the guitar shops in Denmark st, and thought that i'd report back with my findings.
Firstly, being a metal player myself, i was most concerned about the amount/quality of gain on tap, but also how the cleans are (i'm not gonna claim that i play some jazz and blues though :P). Guitars used were a Jackson 6 string, tuned to E, seymour duncan passive pups, and a Jackson 'cow' sig 7 string model, with an active EMG, probably the 81. Both guitars were plugged straight into the amp, and each time the amp drove a 4x12.
The 6 string sounded really nice and meaty, but not over the top. The settings were (roughly), 7watts/volume:9'o'clock/eq:12'o'clock/gain: 4'o'clock. If you turned the amp up more, you obviously got some more gain out of it, but for a moderate bedroom practise, 9 'o'clock on the volume was _plenty_ loud enough. With a clean boost infront, i have no doubt that it'd satisfy even the most gain-hungry of players :) The amp cleaned up really nicely to a glassy clean, but you could take the edge off it and more by tweaking the single eq control. The 15w setting seemed to be more useful for playing clean, not really much difference with the gain dialled in.
The 7 string was the 'acid test' for me, being a big fan of my 7 string, it had to handle the extra string well. Well, with the EMG pickup (not my pickup of choice, but it was the only 7 stringer they had in the shop), it had really balls and depth. Sounded great no matter where the controls were on the amp. Plenty of gain with it to achieve a nice doom tone, roll the EQ back to get a more 'old-school' sound to it. Cleaned up reasonably well, although the low B wasn't quite as crystal as it could have been, but i think with more tweaking (and perhaps the presence of a neck pickup!), it'd handle it superbly :)
To conclude:
Does it sound good? Yes
Enough gain for metal? Yes
Loud enough? Yes
Will I be buying one when I shift my Laney? Most certainly Yes :)
For the lions share of 300 quid, you can't really go wrong with this cracking little fella :)
Point to note: from my reasonably limited experience with the amp, I got the impression that it would be very good for more rock and roll styles. As you rolled the gain back, when you got to about 1.30 or 2 'o'clock, it seemed to drop down to 'classic rock' territory quite sharply- metal regions were only in the last quarter of a turn or so.
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I just bought one of these suckers a week ago with a 1x12 Orange cab. It's so good I can't play it coz my wife keeps stealing it :)
It does clean up quite well but it's not as good as the clean channel on my peavey valveking, but that isn't a surprise
However I didn't buy it for clean, I bought it for gain. This amp is amazing. If you don't already own an Orange, check it out. I think every player could find space in their home for one of these.
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Yep, totally agree. My Matamp Little Rock is now an expensive door stop.
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im selling one...
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:D Yep have to agree the TT is a great little amp. Takes pedals well in front as well.
:D 8)
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Yep, totally agree. My Matamp Little Rock is now an expensive door stop.
Really? Now that surprises me. So the TT completely smokes the Little Rock?
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from what twin fan has said the matamp has better cleans - personally i love it on the clean channel with a good booster pedal in front, still using that more than the drive channels.
Still havnt tried the TT properly
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... although i have just lent my LR to a friend because he loved the overdrive so much and wanted to record with it and i know he had the option of using a TT as well. be interested to know which one he ended up using to record with
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OK, now I want a TT - but with Power Scaling (to use another of this week's buzzwords - or buzz-two-words). 7 watts is still too loud for me.
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I agree with Wez - for cleans and low gain the Little Rock is great, and with a booster it has a great tone. My problem with it though is that is has quite a loose bass. There's just not enough definition for me. The Tiny Terror is much tighter sounding and rocks better. For indie-type stuff, the Little Rock is nicer sounding as it's a touch warmer.
The best comparison I can give is to compare the amps overall tone to Celestion speakers:
Little Rock = Greenback characteristics
Tiny Terror = G12H characteristcs
That's the best description I can give of the difference.
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mmmm makes me think should start looking at a TT...and 7watts too much makes me feel silly with my inhouse Prosonic
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...and 7watts too much makes me feel silly with my inhouse Prosonic
It's true though, isn't it? I have a 55 watt Rivera combo and the volume has never been above 1. Obviously it's totally different if you gig, but for home use all that power is unnecessary.
I want something that, cranked, is no louder than the TV or hifi - and it seems you only need 1/4 or 1/2 watt to achieve that. I've been reading about the Suhr Badger and Fargen MiniPlex, which sound fantastic, but they're big bucks. It'd be great to see Power Scaling in some more affordable amps.
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Dave, I'm quite surprised to hear that your Little Rock is now a doorstop, I know you loved it when you 1st got it!
You say the bass is too loose for you? How are you running the EQ/Gain/Volume controls?
As for an amp that when cranked is no louder than the TV etc, has anyone tried the ZVex Nano head?
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yup is unnecessary...but is such a sweet amp.....mmm powerscalling time *L*
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Dave, I'm quite surprised to hear that your Little Rock is now a doorstop, I know you loved it when you 1st got it!
You say the bass is too loose for you? How are you running the EQ/Gain/Volume controls?
I dabbled with loads of settings and couldn't quite get the "rock" tone I was after. Great for blues and indie, but I just couldn't get it right for heavier stuff.
As for an amp that when cranked is no louder than the TV etc, has anyone tried the ZVex Nano head?
Nope, but I feel the need to sometime. However, I'll end up buying one I know :roll:
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yeah keep looking at them..but then...I go back to prosonic have a play and then think no...by the way anyone used weber attenuators
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As for an amp that when cranked is no louder than the TV etc, has anyone tried the ZVex Nano head?
Nope, but I feel the need to sometime. However, I'll end up buying one I know :roll:
I bought one off ebay a while ago, I hated it and just sold it after a month. It was really boxy sounding and I found it impossible to get a good sustain without the help of an overdrive in front. Not at all juicy as advertised. When you turn it above 60-70% on the volume (just as it starts to overdrive a bit) with fat/sunny setting it would be above what you would consider a bedroom volume (a loud one at that, way louder than a TV). I tried it with a 4x12 with Seventy 80s, a Jensen C12N in the Fender HRD I had, and Genz Benz G Flex.
Dave, stick with your Laneys and Marshalls coz you'll end up using the Zvex as a book stand or something :wink:
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by the way anyone used weber attenuators
I have 1 of the older model 100w Weber Mass units.
It's the model with the line out and Full EQ Control (only for the line out). I used it on my bands 1st album so that I could get my OD/Crunch naturally from a 50w Plexi head.
I tend to use it mainly with my twin channel 100w JCM800 head when I wanna get a good sound at anything less than building destructing volume levels :roll:
I'm also considering starting to use it more live with my Carlsbro 50-Top 50w head.
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cool may have to try one to tame my amp...even with the switch to turn down to 15watts..will take out walls...but I love it
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As for an amp that when cranked is no louder than the TV etc, has anyone tried the ZVex Nano head?
I'd love one, but at £300+ I think it's really expensive for what it is. And I'd still need to buy a cab.
I was watching/listening to the Suhr Badger demos last night - sounds fantastic, but £1,200...
There's also the Cornell Plexi 7, a 10" combo with a 1/4-watt mode. That's my most likely option, but again it's not exactly cheap at £645.
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You need to have a chat with my amp guy Phil. You find the schematic (if he hasn't already got it) and he'll build you what you want. Anything Marshall-y is second nature to him...
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Hmm, I have to say that the above description dosn't really cover the nanohead that I have.
It's certainly got the plexy type tones with the right settings, and turned down can do fender/vox ish tones
Turned up full through a 1x10 or 1x12 it's louder than my 2 kids arguing.
There are a couple of settings that cause huge volume drops though.
At 210 (slightly used) it's the best money I have spent on any amp.
Dakine could shed a little more light (as could Blue) as they also have them but have spent a lot more time playing them.
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I spent a lot of time (and money) trying to get a 'marshall stack' tone at apartment levels. I had John McIntyre make me several low power amps, starting with a stereo 5 watt, and then 2 versions of stereo 3 watts (the prototype became the Lexicon Signature 284).
One thing that makes an incredible difference that I haven't seen mentioned here is the efficiency of the speaker that is being used. Going from the least efficient but commonly used 12" to the most efficient (and still common), there is a difference of almost 10dB. This is like going from a 5 watt amp to a 50 watt. If you want to drive a low power amp to get a good sound at lower volumes, get the least efficient speaker you can find. The caviat to this is that you do need to have some power to drive it! My Minimat sounds prettygood through the 20watt G12M heritage, which has only a 93dB efficiency, but using a Blue Tick Hound (99db efficiency), gives it more guts.
There is also the interaction of the guitar with the speaker, which only happens with sufficient volume to create a feedback loop (unless you are using a pedal).
I have started to think that it is cheaper to buy everyone else earplugs that to get a good low volume tone!!
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I have started to think that it is cheaper to buy everyone else earplugs that to get a good low volume tone!!
But it would be such a pain to go round knocking on doors or phoning to tell them every time they needed to put their earplugs in... maybe you could use a (fairly quiet) warning siren or a system of coloured lights.
It must be better to have a low-wattage amp running at full tilt than a high-wattage amp running at, basically, no tilt.
With apologies to Robert Fripp for the plagiarism, I'm going to start a League Of Very Quiet Guitarists.
(And seriously, thanks for the tip about speaker efficiency, Phil)
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It must be better to have a low-wattage amp running at full tilt than a high-wattage amp running at, basically, no tilt.
depends what you want to play, i'd have said. i know for hard rock and metal, i'd take my engl at no tilt over my epi valve junior cranked up (obviously that's an extreme though)... EDIT: plus to get to the level where my engl (and most modern high-ish gainers) starts sounding good, it's quieter than my valve junior cranked up full too...