What is the smallest amp you ever gigged with?

Dave O'Brien · From: Florida and New Jersey

Some of these "practice" amps are very loud and clean. what's your favorite (unmiked of course)?
_________________
Dave O'Brien
Emmons D-10, CMI D-10, Fender Deluxe Reverb, PV 112, Fender Pro Reverb
www.myspace.com/daveobrienband

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

I gigged with a Fender Harvard Reverb II last Thursday (20W-SS 1x10" early 80's Rivera design), but I ran it into a 12" JBL-E120 cab, which is way beefier than the internal 10".
It's about the size of a Fender Champ.

Marvin Born · From: Ohio, USA

Evans RE-200, 10" speaker and 100 watts. No external speaker.

James Holland · From: Alabama, USA

Crate 12W with a trio. Used it a whole season.

John Booth · From: Columbus Ohio, USA

A pignose (using a Strat)

(Mic'd with a 57 of course)
Ahh the days of rock-n-roll

For steel, a Peavey Bandit
_________________
Jb in Ohio
..................................
GFI S10 Ultra, Telecaster, a Hound Dog, and an Annoyed Wife
..................................

Jim Newberry · From: Seattle, Upper Left America

Gotta think a 5-watt Oahu counts as small...

The pedal player after on after me (Tom, Mr. D2F covers!) found his big ol' Peavey Nashville failed to power on. I offered him the Oahu, but he chose sit the set out instead...

_________________
"The Masher of Touch and Tone"

-1950 Fender Dual Pro 8
-1950's Fender Dual Pro 6
-Clinesmith D8
-Clinesmith 8-string Frypan
-Clinesmith Joaquin
-~1940 National New Yorker
-~1936 Rickenbacher B6
-Homebuilt Amps

Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

Milkman Mini; 40 watts into a single 15, un-mic'd. I played a gig with a western swing band that included a drummer and bass player. They don't play loud. The amp easily did the job.
_________________
It don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing.

Paul Smith · From: Ma

Ampeg Reverberocket 2 an astounding 18 Watts, pushing an Eminence commonwealth 12" speaker (very efficient, similar to a JBL) I play with 2 other guitarists one with a 100 watt marshall pushing 2 12" speakers, another playing through a 40 watt marshall, and a loud drummer, I can cut through no problems with both pedal/lap steel...

smitty

Tommy Shown · From: Denham Springs, La.

I had a Rickenbacker amp with a 12 inch speaker and now power, back in 1980. I played it with my Pro III Sho Bud. VERY, THIN AND TINNY sound. It was good enough to use around the house, but, for gigging I needed something with more power for my steel. I bought a Peavey Renown with a 15 inch Black Widow speaker. it was the same size of a Session 500, But I did not care for the Heavy Metal Settings in the EQ. After about six months, I graduated to the Nashville 400. I kept that amp for over 20 years. Then I bought a Walker Stereo Steel from Gerry Walker. Best amp I have ever owned. The Rickenbacker was light weight but I needed more for Steel. I am leery about the Nashville 112 having good sound.I watched George Strait on TV one night, and saw Mike Daily play his Zum through one . I have wondered how he got such great sound out of it, with just 80 watts.

Marvin Born · From: Ohio, USA

I have played bass thru a Phil Jones with two five inch speakers. Wotked well with no PA help.

We had two guitars, steel and drums.

Tiny Olson · From: Mohawk River Valley, Upstate NY

A PolyTone w/ 10" speaker that I got from Bob Wood @ Del City Music back around 1980. It was a foot square, had reverb and a really big sound for such a little amp. I used it alone w/ my D-10 Emmons Original on a few gigs, a few sessions too. I wish I still had it.

Chris "Tiny" O.

John Billings · From: Ohio, USA

I guess my 22 watt Princeton Reverb with a 12" Celestion. Brightman loved it too. Next biggest was a '56 Pro Amp. Sounded awesome!
_________________
Dr. Z Surgical Steel amp, amazing!
"74 Bud S-10 3&6
'73 Bud S-10 3&5(under construction)
'63 Fingertip S-10, at James awaiting 6 knees
'57 Strat, LP Blue
'91 Tele with 60's Maple neck
Dozen more guitars!
Dozens of amps, but SF Quad reverb, Rick Johnson cabs. JBL 15, '64 Vibroverb for at home.
'52 and '56 Pro Amps

Dave Grafe · From: Hudson River Valley NY

Stock Blues Junior. Mic'ed off and added to the stage monitors it sounded great!

Drew Pierce · From: Arkansas, USA

I currently gig with an Evans RE500, which is the smallest amp I've ever gigged with, size and weight-wise. I do use a mike, though. The OP has a caveat: "unmiked of course". My question would be, why gig unmiked? Without going thru the PA, you have no steel in the monitors, so nobody else in the band can hear it clearly, and your amp has to pretty much blow you off your seat in order to cover a large venue -- especially noisy clubs, like a lot of pedal steel gigs.

I played "unmiked" in clubs for years and now have significant high frequency hearing loss and hearing aids to thank for it.
_________________
Drew Pierce
Emmons D10 Fatback, S10 bolt-on, Zum D10, Evans RE500, Hilton volume and delay pedals.

Jerry Gleason · From: Eugene, Oregon, USA

I gig quite often with an AER compact 60, at least for non-pedal steel. It's always been loud enough, even outdoors. Smaller than a breadbox, sounds great, and weighs about 14 pounds. They're not cheap, but it's the most useful and versatile amp I've ever owned. I play six-string through the second channel. I do have a Quilter Micropro 200-8 on the way, so we'll see if the AER stays home after that. I should also be able to use the Quilter for pedal steel with an extension cabinet.

Jim Sliff · From: Lawndale California, USA

1958 Fender Princeton (tweed - a Champ in a bigger cabinet with a tone control) - another time a '64 Champ (tweed box covered with black tolex).

Both jobs were in small venues with a drummer that knew how to control himself. Everyone used comparable amps and it sounded great.

Edited to add - I know you said unmixed - but with a mic I've played live several times with a 1/8 watt (clean) ZVex Nano tube amp through a 4x12 Mashall cabinet loaded with 12" Greenbacks. Honestly, it was loud enough to play unmiked but the sound guy insisted.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional

Bruce Derr · From: Lee, New Hampshire, USA

This probably doesn't count, but last summer I played a gig with my little battery-powered Vox DA5, unmiked.

I was backing up a singer/guitarist who was using a Roland Cube Street. We weren't busking; it was a paid gig, on a boat with no AC power. (It's a replica old-time river cargo boat that does educational river cruises.) Volume was low but loud enough for the job. Both amps sounded good and worked well for the occasion. We're going to do it again in a couple of weeks.

Adam Tracksler · From: Maine, USA

I'm using a Yamaha THR10C. Sounds quite nice.

Larry Dering · From: Missouri, USA

Peavey Classic 30 tube amp. 30 watts. Not the best steel sound. Great for telecaster.

Karl Fehrenbach · From: Pennsylvania, USA

ZT Lunchbox. Small size, literally the size of a kid's lunchbox, but packs 200 SS watts. 6.5" diameter speaker. I use a Lunchbox extension cabinet, the same size. Sorta like a 13" equivalent. However I can fan the direction of the speakers and have a wide soundstage. Been using this set up for over 4 years and love it. I can be heard over any guitarist or drummer on the stage with me.

Robert Bunting · From: New York, USA

The Roland Cube 40 XL.
10" speaker, about 20lbs. Versatile. Loud.
It's predecessor the Cube 30 is very similar.
Probably more suited for E9.
For lap steel and guitar I've used a Blackstar HT-5 Combo.
It runs out of clean headroom, so it is more of a rock, blues amp.
The Roland can stay clean or get dirty.

Brad Bechtel · From: San Francisco, CA

I've played with a seven piece band using a Fender Pro Junior (15 watts, 10 inch speaker). Unfortunately all I could get was an overdriven sound at the volume I needed to play, which wasn't always appropriate for the songs. I switched to a Roland Cube 80X so I had some head room.
_________________
Brad’s Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars

Neri Bazzani · From: Italy

Alamo Amp 3 with original 10" speaker. But is better the Amp 5 with the 12" Jensen Alnico V that Inormally use

mike nolan · From: Forest Hills, NY USA

Pair of Blackface Vibro~Champs. 1965 and 1966.

Forum Index > Electronics		Next oldest topic :: Next newest topic