Small valve amps roundup

Voodu Child

So, theres no real point in this thread, but there was a lot of threads asking for amp recommendations last year, so I just thought i'd post a bunch of small valve amps, so this might come in handy for guys with a bout of GAS. I might do another thread for mid-powered/priced amps if im bored.

Peavey Valve King Royal 8 - 5 watts, 8 inch speaker


Peavey Windsor Studio - 15 watt, 12 inch


Peavey JSX Mini Collosal - 5 Watts, 8 inch


Orange Tiny Terror - 15 watts (head)


Matamp Minimat - 2 watts (head)


Epiphone Valve Standard, Junior, Special (5-15watts)


Feel free to add more on, or soundclips, prices, links to reviews etc, but keep comments tight and concise, and dont go quoting pictures over and over

Johnny Storm

Ibanez Valbee - 5 watts - seems to be more home/bedroom oriented than the others.

I believe all thse amps are made in China which is why small, cheap valve amps are now possible.

punchdrunk

...hot off the press,new vox ac15 hand wired
(with a half power switch)

punchdrunk

Beecher

Fender Champion™ 600



American street price of $200 apparently.

Johnny Storm

Punchdrunk, that's a cool looking yoke but it costs almost €500 on Thomann :eek:

vengeance52

£85.99 on imuso

Dord

wtf theres an identical thread on harmony central about this... :eek:

Grolschevik

Laney VC 15. 10" speaker.

-=al=-

the new mini collossal is supposed to me great

Dord

damn yis all to hell!!

i'm GAS'n for a Minimat now! theyre so small and cute and cool looking. sound great too! :rolleyes:

mmmm minimat with custom faceplate.. :eek:

Voodu Child

Heres a few soundclips of the little 2 watt minimat.
http://www.customaudioboutique.co.nz/soundclipsmatampminimat.htm

Yakult

Has to be the valve junior. Brilliant little thing, specially the head. you can do a simple mod in which you add a gain control and and wattage cutter!

selephonic

Hey RHCP what's this mod you speak of and who's doing it?

Yakult

Well here is my mates website, He's in america so it wouldnt be worth your time (well if you really want it) sending it off, but it tells you everything! And if you want to ask anything just mail him and he will send you on schematics etc. Its a simple enough mod, and isnt expensive!
http://www.freewebs.com/affectronix/valvejuniorplus.htm

Bratach Bán

The Epi Combo can be made into a great amp by simply adding an equaliser pedal. It rocks, and is far more versatile than many amps I've seen with more "features" :rolleyes: , but less tone.

Having said that, I am going to buy a Fender Champion and a 'Y' lead, and finally make an unholy marriage of Epiphone and Fender.

Yakult

^Well most people will pick features over tone.
Like if you went up to someone with a Marshall Dsl50 head which has the one Eq and the simple 2 channel selection, and they go up to someone with the Marshall TSL100 they would pick the tsl, because it has 3 independant channels. But that takes away so much head room and tone from the amp which makes the Dsl superior over the tsl. Off topic sorta but you know what I mean!

TelePaul

R_H_C_P wrote:

^Well most people will pick features over tone.
Like if you went up to someone with a Marshall Dsl50 head which has the one Eq and the simple 2 channel selection, and they go up to someone with the Marshall TSL100 they would pick the tsl, because it has 3 independant channels. But that takes away so much head room and tone from the amp which makes the Dsl superior over the tsl. Off topic sorta but you know what I mean!

Yeah I getcha. I've the Valve Junior Combo in my home studio. I have a fair amount of options - parameteric and graphic EQs, and other line processors - and it's a cool amp to have around. Loud enough to practice with drums too!

Karl Hungus

http://www.thomann.de/ie/peavey_jsx_mini_colossal.htm

At that price, I don't think too many people would be considering that particular piece of kit.

Personally, I'd still love to give it a try, just to see how it measures up to the real thing.

Voodu Child

Well spotted Karl. Yeah, the price seems pretty steep for what is probably a cheap made in china job. Honestly, I wouldnt have high expectations for it, as much as I like Satch, I think he probably spreads his name around to much these days and isnt too picky about what he endorses.

That price is too close to some genuine boutique stuff like Matamps and 2nd hand THDs & Cornfords.

But I would like to give it a shot out of curiousity, hopefully Musicmaker will get one in, they do Peaveys now.

EDIT - Peavey Nano Valve. E150 on thomann. Going by the price, i'd say we're into really crappy territory, but i guess its aimed at the Epiphone territory, maybe with tweakers in mind. 5 watts and a 8" speaker

http://www.thomann.de/ie/peavey_nano_valve.htm

Honestly, I cant believe the number of cheap valve amps these days. I guess its easier for these companies to get chinese plants to knock together simple valve circuits than to try to compete with the modellers in terms of technology.

Yakult

Karl Hungus wrote:

http://www.thomann.de/ie/peavey_jsx_mini_colossal.htm

At that price, I don't think too many people would be considering that particular piece of kit.

Personally, I'd still love to give it a try, just to see how it measures up to the real thing.

You can get the marshall DSL401 for that ffs.. What a rip off the peavey imo.:mad: I would get the Zvex nano for that price if I was looking.

Karl Hungus

R_H_C_P wrote:

You can get the marshall DSL401 for that ffs.. What a rip off the peavey imo.:mad: I would get the Zvex nano for that price if I was looking.

Well you have to take into account that it's essentially the same preamp (I believe) as the full sized JSX, shrunk down to a small amp. Satch himself used the small one to record his more recent album. So what you could get for the same price doesn't really come into it, does it?

Voodu Child

Karl Hungus wrote:

So what you could get for the same price doesn't really come into it, does it?

Exactly.

If you were genuiney in the market for a 5watt valve combo, you wouldnt buy a 40watt marshall, or a 2 watt Zvex head, just because they were in the same price range..

I dont know if the JSX mini has the same preamp as the bigger ones - i might look it up.

Karl Hungus

voodoo_child wrote:

I dont know if the JSX mini has the same preamp as the bigger ones - i might look it up.

Well, seeing as it's only a 1 channel, the preamp is a bit stripped down, but I've read that it is pretty much the same as you'd find in the larger amps, just simplified.

It also has a built in attenuator and noisegate, so that alone is going to drive it up in price a little higher than other combos in it's size.

Voodu Child

Karl Hungus wrote:

Well, seeing as it's only a 1 channel, the preamp is a bit stripped down, but I've read that it is pretty much the same as you'd find in the larger amps, just simplified.

It also has a built in attenuator and noisegate, so that alone is going to drive it up in price a little higher than other combos in it's size.

Ive heard it described as "vintage voiced" - I havent played a JSX but i doubt anything but the clean channel could be described as that. Joe says:

The JSX Mini Colossal Combo is a Class A monster in a nice, little box. It has what I always wished a small vintage amp would
have; a pure, wide-open sound, classic tremolo, buffered effects loop, a unique power level attenuator, and a recording output
that actually sounds like the amp. Together with a specially voiced 8” speaker, the 5 watt Mini Colossal has a vintage tone that
really rocks. It can run clean, crunchy, or, down and dirty. Its unique design makes it easy to get a good tone fast, and its size
makes it very practical. Whether practicing, recording, or, even playing a small gig, this lively little amp really sounds great.

TBH, there isnt a lot about it out there - im not even sure theyve started shipping yet. Anyhow, if they get one in MM, i'll have a shot. I think the price makes more sense in the US. Although the amp itself is pretty simple, it actually does seem to have some decent features.

Yakult

Karl Hungus wrote:

me preamp (I believe) as the full sized JSX, shrunk down to a small amp. Satch himself used the small one to record his more recent album. So what you could get for the same price doesn't really come into it, does it?

Even more the reason I wouldnt buy it..

I guess so, I was just pointin out their is alot out their for that price big and small!:rolleyes:

Voodu Child

Honestly, I dont know anything about the brand, and havent looked it up yet, but I came across this little fella on evilbay:
http://musiciscool.com/FrenzelElectronics/LittleJOE.htm

Its a five watt EL84 amp

Seller is frenzeltubeamps on evilbay. Might provide a few minutes of browsing & reading if quirky/different handmade amps are youre thing.

Before anyone says 'you could buy a nice bike for that money', (or whatever) im including this just out of curiousity.

He's got a couple of other vintage-voiced amps in the $400 range on evilbay. I'd be seriously tempted to get one out of curiosity if I didnt have something a bit like them already.