Will The Lunchbox And Small Wattage Heads/Combos Ever Go Away?

Bogner

Bogner

Redwood Original - Pure Blood
Joined
Jun 20, 2016
Messages
3,917
I Am Not Much Of A Fan Of Them In All Truth. I Find Them To Be Gimmicky In A Way. If I Want To Play Quiet I Just Turn The Volume Down. Most Amps Now A Days Are Workable In That Regard IMO And IME. I See So Many Wanting To Consolidate Down With Watts, Cab Size, Attenuators, Etc And All They Do Is Try To Get The Sound They Would Have Gotten With The Regular Stuff. They Spend A Bunch Of Cash Chasing The Dragon Only To End Up Frustrated In Many Instances.

I Understand Price Point, Space, Etc. I Get All Of That But If You Really Want To Sound Like X, Get X. Don't Get Z Only To Try And Make It Sound Like X. Just Get X.

Thoughts?
 
I think that if the tone is what you are after, and it's easy to amplify or record, that's OK.
I gigged everything from Pod, various combo tube amps, and other devices.
Now I am on Kemper.
Back to subject, I guess "If it sounds good, it is good"?
Love my C50... gotta say it's a beauty...
 
Bogner said:
I Am Not Much Of A Fan Of Them In All Truth. I Find Them To Be Gimmicky In A Way. If I Want To Play Quiet I Just Turn The Volume Down. Most Amps Now A Days Are Workable In That Regard IMO And IME. I See So Many Wanting To Consolidate Down With Watts, Cab Size, Attenuators, Etc And All They Do Is Try To Get The Sound They Would Have Gotten With The Regular Stuff. They Spend A Bunch Of Cash Chasing The Dragon Only To End Up Frustrated In Many Instances.

I Understand Price Point, Space, Etc. I Get All Of That But If You Really Want To Sound Like X, Get X. Don't Get Z Only To Try And Make It Sound Like X. Just Get X.

Thoughts?
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I'm inclined to agree, because I like big iron and effortless headroom.

But some low power amps have a unique/desirable sound that's different from a higher-wattage amp. Something like a 50s Tweed Deluxe or Brown Panel Concert-Amp comes to mind. When you drive them hard, they break up in unique ways, especially in the lower frequencies, and often sound different from their larger brethren played clean.

So I there are credible reasons why amps like these are desirable.

Of course, these aren't lunch box amps, but they are relatively small and light.
 
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Wyzard said:
One day there will be a National Music Anthropology Museum, and folk will go there to marvel at all the shrunken heads.
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Speaking of which, the Mesa Mark VII is very small for the amount of front and back panel features, power, and parts packed into it.

It's kind of like a lunchbox filled with lead, however. Not exactly a lightweight. ;)
 
Hmmmm. My experience is super limited. What I want, is decent tube sound at say 75 db or under most of the time. And loud once in a while. My little Mkv25 does LAF really well, and quiet kinda poorly without help. A volume control in the loop or a PS2 both work ok. The Masters don’t work very well on the low end. So, if “big iron” with a better master volume works better than the little mark V, I’d sure consider it. Although a 22 lb or whatever combo sure is easy to manage.
 
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I think they are a fine thing to piss away a bit of money burning a hole in your pocket. I remember being quite enamoured with a few that Bogner did some time ago. But never felt any were worth forming a lifetime attachment to.

Maybe I’m just old fashioned and feel like a proper amp should be heavy enough to wish you had a roadie to move it for you.
 
Bogner said:
Me Too In Some Cases. I Am Just Not A Fan Of The Recent Lunchbox Craze.
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Lunchbox to me is the small, folded metal chassis 15-ish watts ala the PRS MT15, the orange terrors, the EVH thingie, etc. I’m ok with a small, quality built, lightweight good sounding head / combo like my mkv25, the Friedman offerings, etc, at least from an aesthetic standpoint. They seem to serve the purpose of smaller, lighter, earlier breakup, so “the same” sound at lower volume as compared to their adult parents. What I don’t have experience with, is do they really “sound the same” at lower volume, or at least close enough, as compared to their full sized, big transformer 50- ish to 100 watt parents? Conversely, do their parents with master volume sound as good, or better at lower volumes? Since I have to attenuate my mkv25 or put a volume control in the loop, that same “courtesy” should be afforded to the big amps, if needed when answering the question.

I ask all this, because I’d make the switch if biggerer wasn’t too big and heavy, and sounded as good or better at lowish volumes. Having to take steps and spend money to make the baby mark quiet, partially defeats its purpose for me.
 
aamefford said:
Lunchbox to me is the small, folded metal chassis 15-ish watts ala the PRS MT15, the orange terrors, the EVH thingie, etc. I’m ok with a small, quality built, lightweight good sounding head / combo like my mkv25, the Friedman offerings, etc, at least from an aesthetic standpoint. They seem to serve the purpose of smaller, lighter, earlier breakup, so “the same” sound at lower volume as compared to their adult parents. What I don’t have experience with, is do they really “sound the same” at lower volume, or at least close enough, as compared to their full sized, big transformer 50- ish to 100 watt parents? Conversely, do their parents with master volume sound as good, or better at lower volumes? Since I have to attenuate my mkv25 or put a volume control in the loop, that same “courtesy” should be afforded to the big amps, if needed when answering the question.

I ask all this, because I’d make the switch if biggerer wasn’t too big and heavy, and sounded as good or better at lowish volumes. Having to take steps and spend money to make the baby mark quiet, partially defeats its purpose for me.
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Our Definitions Are In Line.

I Have A Friedman BE 100. Great Amp, Love It For What It Does. It Has An Exceptional Master Volume And Sounds Wonderful At Volume As Well As Whisper Quiet And Anywhere In Between. When You Start Messing With Power Sections, Tubes, etc The Sound Is Not Going To Be The Same. The Response Is Not Going To Be The Same. People Buy These Little Amps Hoping They Will Be The Same Because They Are Smaller And More Convenient, etc But They Aren't The Same. I Can't Tell You How Many People I Know Who Have Went Down This Rabbit Hole Trying To Shrink Everything Down And Simplify While At The Same Time Wanting The Big Sound And Just Can't Get It. A 20 Watt Amp And 6 Inch Monitors Isn't Going To Provide what a 100 Or 50 Watt Amp And A 4x12 Will Deliver. (That Is Simply An Analogy)

This Too Loud, Too Big, Oh My Aching Back Trend We Are Living In Is Silly To Me Personally. So Many Big Amps Have Such Great Master Volumes And Other Options In The Amps Themselves To Utilize (Headphone Option, Etc) So I Don't Get It. I See So Many Buy And Then Quickly Sell Them. I Guess It Is A Way For Amp Companies To Introduce Their Product At Much Lower Price Points To People So There Is That.

I Have Yet To Play Any Small Amp That I Preferred At Low Volume Over It's Big Brother Counterpart. Heck, The Diezel Herbert Is Possibly The Best Bedroom Volume Amp I Have Ever Owned And It Is 150+ Watts Depending On Power Tubes.
 
I have tried several smaller amps , most I have not worked for me that even includes the DG30. tho I think I should try the DG again as I have learned more about single channel amps .
I know of 2 that I have really liked the sound
1) Friedmann JJ Jr
2) The HDRX 20
 
From a totally, non tested, presumptious bias: most of them seem cheaply built out of comprimises. However I really like my Mesa TA15. Built well, as far as I can tell, and sounds great. Vox channel is really something. The red channel (tweed/marshall/boogie) is not as good, but the marshall mode is passable seventies low wattage marshall.

Dont think they will go away, simply because rhey are cheap and small.
 
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