15watt roundup!
Posted: Sun May 13, 2007 4:20 am
so chico malo, mickie08, and i got together last night as part of a little amp face-off. some of what we discovered was expected while some caught everybody off guard. mickie's got a really nice avatar 2x12 cab with great speakers in there, so we jacked all three into that in addition to listening to the two combos through their own speakers. the two guitars we used were a fender jag-stang with a seymour duncan jb/texas special configuration and a taylor acoustic electric in order to challenge the amps with one heavily bassy and another very bright guitar. here's what i can remember (there WAS beer involved, after all).
mickie's orange tiny terror: hands down the most versatile of the three. they are pricey, and you do have to provide another speaker cab. . . but this thing is capable of some pretty wicked, full-range tones even at bedroom levels. one of its few weaknesses is in dialing a truly clean, bright tone with a lot of headroom. it takes quite a bit of give, take, and compromise on the dials to get something really sparkly. however, once exploring the higher-gain levels, you really see what this diminutive, white box can do. though it won't do heavy metal tones without a pedal by any means, the alt/indie rock kids will always love this throaty, almost palpable tone; make no mistake. . . that overdrive is really, really thick. perhaps breaking the tone knob into at least two separate bass/treble controls would've lent toward more tone shaping, though. the ability to drop down to 7watts makes this bad dog a puppy with a pretty strong bite. in the end, though it loses "true portability" points for it's deceptively substantial weight (i personally believe that pencil thin handle to be a joke, digs into my fucking hand) and having to add a cabinet, the tiny terror goes from your room, to your garage, to many stages without batting an eyelash and with a sound that's just unbelievable for it's wattage.
dots' fender pro junior:
yes, i'm kinda partial to this little guy and his 10" speaker, but i was pretty brutal in its assessment as well. through its own speaker, it definitely gets that "little amp sound." dialing in a good tone takes some getting used to as the volume knob is also a pretty sensitive gain. the amp already begins to break up at 2 - 3 on the dial. by 5 or 6, you're getting crunchy, and 8 or 9 is pure overdrive; it goes to 12 and is great for harmonic feedback at that level. i've used it just for that purpose on several songs. that speaker (though pretty capable) is only 10" after all, and doesn't really get a lot of low end. however, when jacked into mickie's cab, it was almost a totally different amp. the almost feathery highs became like melted butter and the bass hummed more than any of the three. the pro jr. wasn't as loud as the orange, but it was still plenty capable of doing small venue shows. plus, it's the easiest to transport with it's small size and open back configuration. the lack of a separate gain pretty much eliminates this amp from being a bedroom amp without plugging in pedals. more versatile tone controls (like the tiny terror) would be awesome.
chico malo's marshall studio 15:
i wish i had a photo of his actual amp as it's the most physically striking. the amp has been placed in a custom built, stained wood cabinet of several colors. very warm, very classy looking. as for tones, for some reason the studio 15 stood out as pretty unimpressive with its own speaker. none of us could figure out why, either, but it was just too glassy and brittle through the single 12" speaker. however, once plugged into the 2x12, GOD DAMN. this was a fucking MARSHALL! definitely the most bass-challenged of the three, but that's not what this company's known for anyway. the mid-rangey bawlz boasted by this amp is so totally in the tradition of its name. it was loud, full voiced, and responsive as all hell. it also had the most versatility in the control panel in that it's got bass, mid, and treble controls in addition to separate gain and volume knobs. it's pretty heavy for very little return on tone with its own speaker to be sure. this beautiful box will give the complete marshall amp experience, even at low volumes.
mickie's orange tiny terror: hands down the most versatile of the three. they are pricey, and you do have to provide another speaker cab. . . but this thing is capable of some pretty wicked, full-range tones even at bedroom levels. one of its few weaknesses is in dialing a truly clean, bright tone with a lot of headroom. it takes quite a bit of give, take, and compromise on the dials to get something really sparkly. however, once exploring the higher-gain levels, you really see what this diminutive, white box can do. though it won't do heavy metal tones without a pedal by any means, the alt/indie rock kids will always love this throaty, almost palpable tone; make no mistake. . . that overdrive is really, really thick. perhaps breaking the tone knob into at least two separate bass/treble controls would've lent toward more tone shaping, though. the ability to drop down to 7watts makes this bad dog a puppy with a pretty strong bite. in the end, though it loses "true portability" points for it's deceptively substantial weight (i personally believe that pencil thin handle to be a joke, digs into my fucking hand) and having to add a cabinet, the tiny terror goes from your room, to your garage, to many stages without batting an eyelash and with a sound that's just unbelievable for it's wattage.
dots' fender pro junior:
yes, i'm kinda partial to this little guy and his 10" speaker, but i was pretty brutal in its assessment as well. through its own speaker, it definitely gets that "little amp sound." dialing in a good tone takes some getting used to as the volume knob is also a pretty sensitive gain. the amp already begins to break up at 2 - 3 on the dial. by 5 or 6, you're getting crunchy, and 8 or 9 is pure overdrive; it goes to 12 and is great for harmonic feedback at that level. i've used it just for that purpose on several songs. that speaker (though pretty capable) is only 10" after all, and doesn't really get a lot of low end. however, when jacked into mickie's cab, it was almost a totally different amp. the almost feathery highs became like melted butter and the bass hummed more than any of the three. the pro jr. wasn't as loud as the orange, but it was still plenty capable of doing small venue shows. plus, it's the easiest to transport with it's small size and open back configuration. the lack of a separate gain pretty much eliminates this amp from being a bedroom amp without plugging in pedals. more versatile tone controls (like the tiny terror) would be awesome.
chico malo's marshall studio 15:
i wish i had a photo of his actual amp as it's the most physically striking. the amp has been placed in a custom built, stained wood cabinet of several colors. very warm, very classy looking. as for tones, for some reason the studio 15 stood out as pretty unimpressive with its own speaker. none of us could figure out why, either, but it was just too glassy and brittle through the single 12" speaker. however, once plugged into the 2x12, GOD DAMN. this was a fucking MARSHALL! definitely the most bass-challenged of the three, but that's not what this company's known for anyway. the mid-rangey bawlz boasted by this amp is so totally in the tradition of its name. it was loud, full voiced, and responsive as all hell. it also had the most versatility in the control panel in that it's got bass, mid, and treble controls in addition to separate gain and volume knobs. it's pretty heavy for very little return on tone with its own speaker to be sure. this beautiful box will give the complete marshall amp experience, even at low volumes.
