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Topic: DV MARK Little GH 250 - 250 watt amp review |
Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 29 Aug 2022 12:16 am |
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PUBIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT ! 
5.5 lbs, 250 watts @ 4 ohms- 150 watts @ 8 ohm , excellent EQ, tons of clean gain ,dual channel and Reverb .
Its no secret that I am a fan of DV amps, I've been using them for several years. One was the 50 watt Little Jazz 12 Combo and and another being the Micro 50 head. I have a few shows booked where I am back on Steel and wanted something with a tad more juice than 50 watts. So I acquired the DV Little GH 250 head from a "professional performing " Forum member and used it last week.
I ran it thru 2 - 1x12 cabs ( 4 ohms total) on a large outdoor stage. So how was it ? Geeze -- way more than expected. More clean power than I could have imagined and very easy to dial in "TONE" . The DV amps front ends , Bass, Mids and Treble, have an incredible amount of range, especially the mids, No HONK - all the way from none to too much . The DV Micro 50 may have cut the gig but for certain the GH250 exceeded all expectations that I had. I even used it with my Tele as this was a double duty adventure. No issues. More than acceptable results for a very anal Tele guy. This amp will also cover any Bass gigs that pop up every now and then. I would use it with a 4 ohm GK 2x10 Bass cab.
The DV Little GH 250, rated @ 250 watts 4 ohms, VERY clean, tons of gain , excellent TONE control with on board digital reverb. It weighs just over 5 lbs. I only plan to use it for Steel / Double Duty now and then but it can easily be an ALL gig amp if need be. It also has a channel switch for the Over Drive channel, which surprisingly is pretty good. I don’t use this feature as I prefer my small pedal board for the Tele, but tone can be dialed in if necessary. Being a big fan of the DV Micro 50 head , I found the GH250 to be very much the same , just with much more clean power. Also, as mentioned above, I used the DV Little Jazz 12 on a small room show , twice a month , for over 2 years , Steel and Guitar. That was a great 50 watt combo amp weighing about 20 lbs. I have also used the GK MB 200 Bass head which is very clean with good results although I wasn't overly pleased with Tele tones for me. The DV GH250 speaker outs are both, 1/4 and Neutrik.
What is the DV Little GH 250 missing ? A few things which may be important. No AUX IN , No Phones Out and no XLR out , but it does have a ¼ “ pre amp out . I don't really need AUX IN or Phones out. I do need a HI POWER –VERY CLEAN light weight head for Steel gigs, especially for OUTDOOR stages. I no longer own a PV amp or a Fender Twin Reverb but I still own a Fender Hot Rod Deville (2x12) but I don’t feel like carrying it around @ 65 lbs. I happen to have a few cabs sitting around so bringing 1 or 2 cabs to a gig is not a big deal.
There’s a lot of small light weight amp heads on the market these days, ranging from 25 watts and up. Many packed with all sorts of features. But not many are rated at 250 CLEAN watts , excellent EQ and with on board reverb . Sure, there are always better , or preferred reverbs , but having it on board is a plus. While I am anal about many things, reverb is not one of them. Now add that it weighs 5.5 lbs.
I have mine sitting on a small stand next to the Steel so it makes for easy knob turning. I also use a Morley AB Pedal for switching from Steel to Guitar. It's an easy life.
Anyway - check it out if you are searching for a lightweight amp head or another amp head for Steel duty or double duty which only weighs 5.5 lbs and packs plenty of juice. We all do know that clean power is a requirement for our Steel guitars, regardless of which gig we may be on.
Oh yeah, it also fits in a small Camera Carry case ! 
Peace !
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website
Last edited by Tony Prior on 31 Aug 2022 12:10 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Ken Morgan
From:
Midland, Texas, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2022 4:19 am
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Good review, thanks. Curious as to which channel you chose for steel, lead or clean.
_________________
67 Shobud Blue Darling III, scads of pedals and such, more 6 strings than I got room for
Ken Morgan
Midland, TX |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 29 Aug 2022 4:31 am
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| Ken Morgan wrote: |
| Good review, thanks. Curious as to which channel you chose for steel, lead or clean. |
Clean all the way, for both Steel and Tele.
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
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Ken Morgan
From:
Midland, Texas, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2022 4:45 am
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Bueno. Looks like a contender
_________________
67 Shobud Blue Darling III, scads of pedals and such, more 6 strings than I got room for
Ken Morgan
Midland, TX |
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Larry Dering
From:
Missouri, USA
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Posted 29 Aug 2022 7:32 am
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| Thanks Tony, that's a terrific help from a real live user perspective. I considered one of these when 1st introduced but I backed off when Quilter became the big deal. Now that the Tonemaster Twin is in my stable and a Quilter Micropro plus a Telonics TCA 500 I am in good shape. However the small size and double channel is a game changer. That's the reason I got the Tonemaster Twin. I like the idea of a 5 pound amp with 250 watts. |
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Kevin Mincke
From:
Farmington, MN (Twin Cities-South Metro) USA
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Posted 30 Aug 2022 12:33 pm
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Our lead player (tele) uses one of these on occasion. Its the DV Mark250 little and not the Greg Howe model. It really sounds good and Im thinking of getting one for steel as I have plenty of speakers.Plenty of clean headroom!
Last edited by Kevin Mincke on 2 Sep 2022 6:08 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 30 Aug 2022 11:53 pm
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| Kevin Mincke wrote: |
| Our lead player (tele) uses one of these on occasion. Its the DV Mark250 little and not the Greg Howe model. It really sounds good and Im thinking of getting one for steel as they have plenty of speakers. Plenty of clean headroom! |
Kevin, my bad- the GH 250's formal title is indeed "DV Little GH 250" the GH stands for Greg Howe. I should have made that clear and corrected it. There are two versions of this amp, one with the GH tag and one without. The DV site states that the one with the BLACK panel is geared toward METAL players while the GH model ( Blue panel) is geared towards clean with overdrive ! ??? .
Who can say what the differences are, if any. The specs are identical. Maybe they are trying to sell a few amps and not pay a royalty to GH !
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
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Kevin Mincke
From:
Farmington, MN (Twin Cities-South Metro) USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2022 7:12 am
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| Thanks for the info Tony. Looking at a couple reviews (couldn’t find an online manual to compare both) they appear to be the same unit Re watts and panel function. There’s a push button on the DV 250 Little M for clean or dirty (top row EQ) but the bottom is full clean and really sounds good. Great to know both these sound great for steel. I’ll be looking for one as a backup! |
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 31 Aug 2022 9:53 am
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Kevin, the Little 250 GH also has the push button and foot switch option for the top row OD. To me they look like the same amps other than the front panel color !
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
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Kevin Mincke
From:
Farmington, MN (Twin Cities-South Metro) USA
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Posted 31 Aug 2022 3:05 pm
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| I suspect the two units are pretty close other than the drive in the the two channels on each. I may look at the specs on the 250 GH tube model and check it out. |
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Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
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Tony Prior
From:
Charlotte NC
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Posted 31 Aug 2022 11:56 pm
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| Jim Cohen wrote: |
That looks an awful lot like the one I used to have.  Thought it was a dynamite amp. Enjoy it; I did! |
LOL ! YEP Jim , it indeed looks like the one you had - and parted with - which I now have !
As I said way at the top, I'm a big fan of the DV amps and this one does not disappoint !
tp
_________________
Emmons L-II , Fender Telecasters, B-Benders , Eastman Mandolin ,
Pro Tools 12 on WIN 7 !
jobless- but not homeless- now retired 9 years
CURRENT MUSIC TRACKS AT > https://tprior2241.wixsite.com/website |
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