Author Topic: What low powered vavle amp (Read 13778 times)

wwwales · « **on:** May 27, 2006, 08:24:09 PM »

Hi All,
I'm looking for a low powered vavle amp - one that I can run flat out, get good screaming harmonic solo tones from but at a volume where my neighbours don't start banging on the door - any suggestions?

Thanks

screamingdaisy · « **Reply #1 on:** May 27, 2006, 08:30:33 PM »

Quote from: wwwales

Hi All,
I'm looking for a low powered vavle amp - one that I can run flat out, get good screaming harmonic solo tones from but at a volume where my neighbours don't start banging on the door - any suggestions?

Thanks

Valve, flat out, neighbours......these things should not be used in the same sentence together. Even the little Zvex 1/2watt amp is loud enough to p*ss people off if you run it flat out.

P.S. - Here's the link - http://zvexamps.com/amp_view.html

_tom_ · « **Reply #2 on:** May 27, 2006, 08:37:22 PM »

Theres always the Matamp Minimat.. but I hear its still pretty loud so you might have troubles still. That Zvex one does seem cool though.

dave_mc · « **Reply #3 on:** May 27, 2006, 08:45:51 PM »

out of interest, what kind of house are you in? if you're in a flat, or semi, then yeah, probably any valve amp, even a 5 watter is too loud to crank, without an attenuator. (and if you get an attenuator, you could spring for a louder amp that'd do gigs too, and probably have more features, if you're into features...)

on the other hand, if you live in a (nomatter how small, just as long as you don't share any walls) detatched house, and can persuade everyone else who lives with you to leave to go for a walk pretty frequently, you can pretty much crank any wattage of amp (well, 100 anyway). Assuming the other house aren't TOO close together.

Of course, the second one is by no means personal experience. And I haven't got any complaints yet... :lol:

DeanS · « **Reply #4 on:** May 27, 2006, 08:52:38 PM »

Yep, the Nano is very loud- don't be fooled by it being 1/2 watt! With a high sensitivity speaker (V30) its way too loud in the house (kids wife etc) and I live in a detached house :D

dave_mc · « **Reply #5 on:** May 27, 2006, 09:08:31 PM »

^ haha, yeah. I only get to crank mine (EDIT: not the nano amp) when i get everyone out, lol.

:drink:

_tom_ · « **Reply #6 on:** May 27, 2006, 09:13:58 PM »

Quote from: dave_mc

^ haha, yeah. I only get to crank mine (EDIT: not the nano amp) when i get everyone out, lol.

:drink:

haha same, I just love it when I have the house to myself and get to play loud for as long as I want (or until someone comes home). I've only had one complaint from someone down the street before (about 5-6 houses away!?), even my neighbours havent complained, and they live closer :lol: weird.

PhilKing · « **Reply #7 on:** May 27, 2006, 09:23:36 PM »

The MiniMat is the one for you, it has a built in attenuator so you can set the volume, even with the power tube cooking.

I love the tone but it is a classic rock/blues amp. They have an EL84 version too, but I actually didn't listen to that one - I have a couple of low power EL84 amps already.

froglord · « **Reply #8 on:** May 27, 2006, 10:46:22 PM »

Phil's right - the Minimat is absolutely the canine's spheroids. However, for the levels of drive you're after, the built-in booster might not be enough. You can fix this by putting a good pedal in front. I'd suggest a clean booster with masses of headroom rather than an overdrive or distortion pedal - you don't want to mess too much with the Minimat's glorious tone.

Underground_Player · « **Reply #9 on:** May 27, 2006, 11:27:58 PM »

Just out of interest Phil, I played the minimat a while back and the attenuator didn't seem to do much attenuating volume wise! Is this normal, or is there something else you have to do (I know Mats are pretty quirky sometimes!)......or was I just....y'know....not turning it enough! :lol:

hunter · « **Reply #10 on:** May 28, 2006, 05:33:48 AM »

I've been at Haarguitars on Friday and witnessed a guy testing the Carr Mercury. It's got different settings, amongst which is 1/10 Watt. On that setting you could have a real screaming sound just as loud as the electric guitar acoustically. This was very impressive!

But then again, it's a quite pricey amp.

http://www.carramps.com

froglord · « **Reply #11 on:** May 28, 2006, 10:10:45 AM »

Underground_player: I'm not sure what was going on there - my Minimat attenuates down to nothing (i.e. complete silence).

Hunter: the Mercury looks very classy (though, as you say, very expensive). There's a great review of it, including video clips, here:

http://www.steelbender.com/spotlightmercury.html

In fact, that Steelbender site does fantastic reviews full stop. He's only done a few products, but when he reviews something, he really goes for it.

PhilKing · « **Reply #12 on:** May 28, 2006, 12:49:58 PM »

There is a portion of the attenuator where it doesn't seem to do much, but it works well over the rest of the range.

dave_mc · « **Reply #13 on:** May 28, 2006, 04:12:56 PM »

Quote from: _tom_

haha same, I just love it when I have the house to myself and get to play loud for as long as I want (or until someone comes home). I've only had one complaint from someone down the street before (about 5-6 houses away!?), even my neighbours havent complained, and they live closer :lol: weird.

haha, i remember a woman across the road from my house looking out sneakily through her curtains with a look of pure horror when I had it cranked one day. I think she thought the apocalypse was approaching! But no-one's complained...

quick question to phil about the minimat: i think i read that the attenuator only works when you're using the 8 ohm speaker jack? any reason why this is? or is it even true?

and can it drive a 4x12 (vintage 30's)? I might half think about getting one if i didn't need new speakers, but if i needed a new 1x12, it's probably not worth it...

:drink:

DeanS · « **Reply #14 on:** May 28, 2006, 04:20:52 PM »

Minimat has no problem driving a 4X12 with V30's in. Probably sound louder than a 1X12.