Looking for a REALLY LOW watt high gain tube amp

[avdekan]

I tried the rebel at the store a few weeks past and immediately ordered one.
1 watt is still not very quiet, but the amp has a master volume so it's possible to play at bedroom volumes with it (but then you don't get the power tubes pushed).
the gain amount was enough for me (I play mostly technical / folk metal - with not that much gain) so I guess that its good for NWOBHM. it has a JCM-ish sound with maybe a bit more gain. 

[Roobubba]

Agreed with Philly, that "Green" Matamp looks absolutely stunning!

Roo

[Madiac]

I tried the rebel at the store a few weeks past and immediately ordered one.
1 watt is still not very quiet, but the amp has a master volume so it's possible to play at bedroom volumes with it (but then you don't get the power tubes pushed).
the gain amount was enough for me (I play mostly technical / folk metal - with not that much gain) so I guess that its good for NWOBHM. it has a JCM-ish sound with maybe a bit more gain. 

So how do i get an amp that CAN be cranked in an apartment then?

[avdekan]

I tried the rebel at the store a few weeks past and immediately ordered one.
1 watt is still not very quiet, but the amp has a master volume so it's possible to play at bedroom volumes with it (but then you don't get the power tubes pushed).
the gain amount was enough for me (I play mostly technical / folk metal - with not that much gain) so I guess that its good for NWOBHM. it has a JCM-ish sound with maybe a bit more gain. 

So how do i get an amp that CAN be cranked in an apartment then?

I use an attenuator (koch Load Box-120 II) and am pretty happy with it, although some tone freaks says attenuators "suck" tone.
In any case when you lower the volume the speakers behave differently, and more importantly your ears behave differently, and "cranked tone" is among else volume dependent (thats just my opinion).

on the bright side, there is a Canadian company called London Power (the guy who patented "power-scaling") that has an amp line with power-scaling that goes down to milliwatts. that should work for you (although a bit expensive).

http://www.londonpower.com/amps.htm

I never heard any of their amps but they look good on paper.

[Madiac]

Hehe, never heard an attenuator, but sounds like an issue, the problem i feel is that tone is sucked when the amp is not cranked and getting an attenuator to get a cranked sound at the cost of some tone sounds a bit backwards, and to bad those canadian amps were so expensive, probably what i needed:)

[martinw]

What about the Martamp Goldstar TT (high gain version) with Power Scaling at £540?

You can have it with an EL34 for 10W or a 6V6 for 5W, and it will scale right down to nothing, and still sound like a big amp.

Another alternative is the Roadstar TT Cub, at 1W at £420. This is a proper push-pull amp, so it has an amazingly massive sound.

Apologies for self-promotion!  :oops:

[sgmypod]

Damn forgot about them....yeah Martins amps are great..

[Roobubba]

It's kind of been mentioned above already, but you'll not get the speaker movement which really contributes to "cranked" tones at anything other than cranked, loud volumes. Of course, you can get the tube distortion on the power amp by the methods above (I really don't need an amp, but I am kind of GASing for a Martamp for home use!). Personally, I like the feel of the speakers really moving some air, but sadly this is just not possible at house-friendly volumes!!

Roo

[The Sorbz]

The Blackstar 5w head is awesome - check out the latest 'Guitarist' review (UK).  Sounds just like a cranked Plexi (and more) at bedroom levesl.

[Davey]

get a pod or similar modeller or a cube, use the headphones. it's the ONLY real option of playing in an apartment, without people going ape on your ass for being too loud. ANYTHING with a speaker attatched to it (unless it's a sealed cab.. which you cant hear anyway, cos it's well... sealed) is going to be too loud to be used effectivelly, especially if you got real anal neigbours or a small kid.

get a rehersal space, move somewhere where you can actually use a speaker cabinet or get something that will sound good through headphones .. or kill your neighbours

[Madiac]

get a pod or similar modeller or a cube, use the headphones. it's the ONLY real option of playing in an apartment, without people going ape on your ass for being too loud. ANYTHING with a speaker attatched to it (unless it's a sealed cab.. which you cant hear anyway, cos it's well... sealed) is going to be too loud to be used effectivelly, especially if you got real anal neigbours or a small kid.

get a rehersal space, move somewhere where you can actually use a speaker cabinet or get something that will sound good through headphones .. or kill your neighbours

Haha, well, i understand what you mean. I now realised even 1w would be a bit to much. Im probably getting a martamp with power scaling, but i dont have the money after buying the Warpig SG from Feline which im longing to get my hands on. I was thinking the Black heart Killer Ant at 1/4 watt as a cheap solution until then. It wont have the metal, but since the Warpig SG is loaded with Warpigs (duh) i might get satisfactory gain, besides, im most into older metal, not todays. The neighbours arent really to bad, when i played bass a year ago or so it was much worse, wasnt to uncommon that someone was banging their balls... er fist to the wall. Ill think about it a bit more, but i dont like headphones to much, uncomfortable for my strange ears after a while.

[Davey]

ooo, you ARE gonna be happy with that SG.. plays and sounds GREAT!


i know what you mean with uncomfortable headphones, but realistically, that's as close as you're gonna get. cos a cranked amp is .. well a cranked amp. cant get that at low volume

[Matt77]

Powerscaling is great but as mentioned, you need to get enough power to keep the speaker moving.
You could do what I did. For £100 and a bit of planning you can build a decent isolation box that fits a 1x12 in with room to adjust microphone positions.
I have the amp head, monitoring speakers and recording console on top like it's a table. I wouldn't do it unless you have good monitoring speakers.
It tames 18w at full tilt very nicely
With the powerscaling knocking of the final 30% I can play late at night really quietly without any disruption to anyone.

[Madiac]

So the movement of the cab is really that important? Hmph, ill think of it, maybe ill go the headphone way and at the same time get a recording set-up, that could be a sweet compromise since ive always wanted to start recording stuff and get some great riffs recorded :lol: And Davey, thats good to hear, i heard quiet a bunch here had played just that guitar and i only heard good stuff which is comforting! Im just waiting for Jonathan to receive the payment so that he can ship it here 8) On the other hand, im only about two years from moving into a house hopefully if everything goes as planned. I can just see myself cranking it in the middle of the forest!  8)

[Davey]

I can just see myself cranking it in the middle of the forest!  8)

just dont go around looking like these guys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VBdAY8eA9w