Ideally the amp that makes you want the play the most. That might be just a pair of headphones and an ir, or it may take 100w full stacks and 5000 dollar boutique tube amps. Both are perfectly valid, as is everything in between. The only issue comes when financial priorities get compromised by gear purchases. I didn't play for a decade after a long bout of depression and it took a few purchases of decently nice gear to convince me to start being creative again. If i didn't get some loud amps and cool pedals i might never have felt inspired to play again.
I think something that gets a little overlooked is how well these desktop amps double as a media/music player I’ve used one for streaming music and as a soundbar. I think for a younger player it really checks multiple boxes and increases value
Lee hit on the real reason I was sold on the desktop amp - there is someone in my household who would be very offended by me having a guitar amp that looks like a guitar amp.
@utkarsh1874 I already have a tube amp. I want a small unit I can use as a practice amp that can double as a portable speaker. What's wrong with that?
I had a Boss Katana 100 which was amazing, but my dream amp was always the Fender Deluxe Reverb - downside - too loud for the house. The Tone Masters came out, so I saved and sold and saved and scraped and sold and finally bought one from Andertons last July. Unpacked it, plugged in and prayed not to be disappointed and it is 500% better than I ever imagined and everything I ever wanted in an amp. When I'm not playing it I just look at it! Very very happy.
you should get a power soak to really push it and keep it at low volumes. I have 2 valve heads (PRS and Egnater) and a katana, I love the katana, but once i got a burgera power soak, i play valves almost 100% of the time, since I can crank them up and keep the volume on "normal" levels. I'm using the katana now for my acoustics pretty much since then
It's all balance really. Much as I'd love to, I can't crank an all valve Deluxe in my house, but firstly I love Fender cleans (which is what this does - its a blackface amp) and secondly, I can crank it on the 0.5 watt setting at home. At band practice I do crank it on 22w and we all love it - it's plenty loud enough and it sounds trouser flappingly great! The beauty of it though for me is recording - it goes straight into logic and you can go nuts there and not have the police round! And also, with my Katana, I suffered from option paralysis. Too many things to tweak. To be fair I spent most of my time trying to make it sound like a blackface Fender (it doesn't and won't - or at least I had no luck!)
I’ve been using the Yamaha THR ii for years. Very solid kit. Perfect for living room use. Recently I wanted to take advantage of some new gear and am running the Tonex pedal into the THR and it’s awesome.
just bought THR II for testing and overything above crunch like more metal stuff is just terrible, amp sounds boxy, lacks depth, their app is outdated asf, overall its totally meh. bought at the same time positive grid spark and it sounds better in cleans and mid-heavy sound, but metal doesnt sound like i would like too, anyway app and overall sound its way better, also tons of presets in the cloud.
I've just purchased the Katana 50 Mk2 from Andertons yesterday to replace my Marshall MG30 DFX from 2004. It's not night and day difference - It's a whole different Universe man. After not playing for 15 years because of the limitations of The Marshall in my environment , I'm looking forward to the next few months of discovery playing with the settings !!
Been watching this channel for years and it's so much fun to see Lee demo'ing with confidence. His improv improved so much, clean chops Keep up the good work ✊
This was a size comparison, not one brand over the next, and they made mention of the yamaha and a few others, this was all about size comparison for how much sound you may need for your playing style etc
Mk 2 50 Seems all I need. Im tempted to buy the Posotive Grid Go but dont want to be disappointed I'm 52 I have been playing since the start of the Covid pandemic. There has not been a day since that I have not been playing I've advanced into the intermediate level Never to old to start I watch your videos every day from Canada 🍁 thanks for all the hard work and extending your efforts on your daily videos. I don't use pedals. I know you have to Peddle your petals 😂 However, sometimes I don't watch all the pedal videos I love the Blind Fold Challenges Andertons is the king of the Blind fold Challenges
A quick shout out for the valve driven Fender Pro Junior, also at 15W, but with a 10-inch speaker, an even smaller enclosure, and just volume and tone. It needs to be used with a pedal to get any kind of break-up at home volumes and has no reverb, but it has a nicer tone, to my ears at least. The guitar players in my band both use 40W Fender Hot Rod Deluxes, but one had to use my Pro Junior as a last-minute replacement at a bar gig the other day (mic’d bass drum, vocal PA) and it cut through surprisingly well and sounded great. In terms of cost, it’s not much less than the Blues Junior, so doesn’t seem to make much sense, but…
Since i live in a flat and love me neighbors and play@night: 🙉 - Spark is great but too loud 🔊 - don't like headphones (ear problem occurred lately) - FlyRig is a great option 4 me got it a couple of years ago - @today i would probably go with the Spark Micro
I am liking my Boss Katana MKII 100 watt head. It is a little wider than most desktop amps, but works on a desktop and the 5" speaker sounds pretty darn good at low volumes. Can also get pretty loud. Plug it into a cab and you got yourself a nice big amp you can gig with. In the US they are currently on sale for $299. The USB connection is an audio interface for your desktop computer, so you can watch and / or listen to music on your computer through the Katana. Great for headphone use jamming a long with songs etec...
The only downside with the Katana is that it is fundamentally a mono device - that includes the headphone output. You can have the stereo link, or the DI out, but not both.
@@valueofnothing2487 yep, lots of good options. None of these options are prefect and everyone's needs are a little bit different. There are literally dozens of things to consider when choosing one of these amps. Which few things out of that dozen are more important to you. I play my Katana head through a mesa cab with 1 x 12 Mesa Boogie Black Shadow (Celestion built) speaker. Sounds great going through the cab. I can also tone it down and just go through the 5", or even headphones. Suits me well. Again, everyone's wants / needs vary, and can vary over time. I just think this head/mini cab amp should get a shout out when discussing desktop / bedroom amps. I do not use many of the built in effects, rather I have a pedalboard for that. My Mesa Trans Atlantic head has no effects loop, and does not sound as good at low volumes. Also, no headphones for late at night. So many great options these days.
The part where you compare the katana to the tube amp was exactly what you do best here. A great way to hear gear in action. edited to add: Lee, it sounds like your playing is really improving!
My bedroom setup is Rumble 25 with a Boss GT-1. I bought the Rumble after I was given a bass and when my Fender Mustang 1 died I plugged into the Rumble and liked the way it sounded so I picked up the GT-1 to have some effects and the combination works surprisingly well for both guitar and bass.
I use a Rumble 40 and an ME-80 when I play with others. Lightweight and sounds good enough. XLR out if needed. And it means that I don't have a bass amp and a bigger guitar amp. Along with my Micro Cube for home use I'm sorted. I'm done with valve amps anyway - hobbyists should be more concerned with their chops than the nth degree of toan. If you play well even my setup sounds good.
The spark go just makes playing so easy. Clip the thing on my belt, plug a 3ft cable into it, and jam around the house. The headphone amp sounds AMAZING too. So many sounds. So cheap. So portable. I think regardless of which "bigger" amp you get (if you do get one), there is a place in everyone's arsenal for a spark go
I've bought a Fender Special Run Blues Junior with a solid Mahogany case from Andertons 9 years ago and absolutely love it - it looks sublime and sounds amazing too.
I love my Fender Tone master twin reverb! Because of the attenuator you can use it at home or at a big gig! Got a small Vox AC10 as well, great sounding.
As someone who mostly plays bass, one of the big selling points of the bass Katana was the 1 W option. It's not the same as the full power sound, but it's close enough that i can plug in at home and practice and test pedals to identify sensible settings (without upsetting the neighbours), then switch to full power when playing with others and setting levels to match a heavy-handed drummer.
First of all, I love your videos! I have tried a ton of these different small amps. From Nux, Yamaha, Laney, Positive Grid, etc. I own two Katana's, the head and the 100w combo. I used to have a Blues Jr but that is long gone. For home practice, I've settled on the Spark Mini. I like it much better than the others, even the Spark 40 which was just too bass heavy. I also have a Nux Mighty Air. It's ok but there is just something boxy about the sound that I just don't get along with. The Spark Mini is just brilliant. I would recommend this for home use over pretty much anything else I've tried. Cheers guys!
For a new guitarist, the Spark Go might be the way to go. That thing can grow with you, you can network it using the Headphone / line out to a power amp speaker and gig with it. Positive Grid now offers a 140 watt cab for it or you can use the HeadRush 108 / 112 powered cabs. Both have the ability to network into a PA system. One rig can do all, it can be just practice set up or it can be a gigging system up all in one. Your sound stays the same!!
Something you always see going between solid state and tube amps is… On the katana you were coming in at least 5 dB less than the blues, junior, at least. that almost always happens even to myself On my own gear, even when I’m conscious of trying to correct volume level. It is one of the reasons why tube amps always sound better.
Indeed! I'd say one of these setups: a modeler + Studio Monitors a modeler + FRFR cabinet a tube amp, loadbox, Audio interface + Studio Monitors a tube amp, attenuator + Speaker cabinet
@@MarkHarrop there are tons of them in the market, I have a nux mg30 and used hotone ampero too through 5" studio monitors and I use it way more than the yamaha thr10ii that's supposed to be the best desktop amp
Out of all of the amps I’ve owned over the years the only one I kept hold of was the Blues Junior. The clean sound on this amp is amazing and a perfect pedal platform. Sounds great at very low volumes and even better at high volumes
Ive been listening to Lee and andertons since the monkey lord days and i have to say, Lee ak the captain has definately evolved as a musician. Much respect to you. Happy Holidays to you all.
@@WRytmieBluesa Wrong. A modeler is head and shoulders above that old crappy tube stuff. I sold all my tube stuff once I heard the modelers doing the same thing for WAY less money.
I love the Fender, but ideally, I would prefer a smaller valve amp for this comparison. A Blackstar Ht1 or/and Ht5 for example, or something like that. I mean, a 15w valve amp might be quite loud for some people, even though it's a hell of an amp
@@geokar16 probably not at maximum volume, but it still may be more appropriate for quieter volumes, specially if it have a smaller speaker... They could have brought something like that Bugera V5, that may not be state of the art, but can have its wattage attenuated from 5w to 1w and 0,1w. If the idea was comparing volumes for home use only, that would be even more useful.
@@monabri7387 indeed it is. But the point of the video is to show options to play at home. Playing with as 4x12 may be a viable option for you, but for most guitar players a 1x8" is the way to go and more than enough.
I just got a Marshall DSL1, sounds amazing and I use it at 0.1 W for bedroom playing. Two channels, footswitch included and it cost less than 300 pounds. For that price nothing beats the Marshall. Also considering the size, it doesn't sound 'boxy' at all.
I used to have one for these, great little amp and does the Marshall ‘thing’ really well and perfect for home use. I’m using a Rocker 15 now and the ‘Bedroom’ settings are just as good. This feature needs to be more common, not had a complaint yet!
Hi Lee, I have the blues jr, the boss, thr5. They all sound good. The blues jr is by far the loudest and I think sound the best. But I use it the least. The Yamaha GHR5 sounds good. Small amp perfect for the house.
I've ended up with a few options (all purchased from Andertons, obviously!). I find the Yamaha THR 10C is useful for many situations - it can run on batteries and it's plenty loud enough to sing over, plus its headphone out is ideal for playing at home without disturbing the neighbours. You can play through headphones on the Boss Katana II 100 watt combo too - and it's a step up with ample power for local gigs. For a small and affordable valve amp, I really rate the Laney Cub Super 12 - there's no headphone out, but you can run it really quietly and still get a great sound for playing at home. It's "only" 15 watt, but it illustrates perfectly what Lee says about the difference between solid state and valve amp wattage - it's gloriously loud when you crank it up! And if you're playing somewhere that has a PA, taking the headphone out of a NUX MP-3 works brilliantly for the ultimate travelling light set-up. You can set up some genuinely decent sounds using its app, so I keep it in my gig-bag as an "if all else fails" backup.
This is the best kind of video on your channel. They are all good (and very different) products, but the Blues Junior is a little miracle, for the richness of sounds it can generate without any effect on it.
Owned a Katana 2x12 100 and Katana2 1x12 100. Excellent amps. But when I got my Fender Mustang GTX 100, I finally got what I wanted. What an amp! And superb for home use (and good for live situations too)
I live with my wife and 12yo son and we live in a duplex, so volume matters. My Yamaha THR30mk2 is perfect for my needs. I play electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass and sometimes an electric violin. My son also plays electric violin and my wife plays a keyboard. The Yamaha has a channel for all of them and can be carried all over the house without plugging in as it has a rechargeable battery. Only real problem is sometimes arguing over who's turn it is or figuring out who left it where. We probably need at least 2 more.
i have the more grown-up Positive Grid spark amp (desktop) for home playing and it's great at what it does - with amp modelling I use it to practise bass, acoustic and of course electric guitar. It CAN go loud enough to annoy the neighbours - but as a practice amp it has so much to offer!
The practice solid state amplifier (Orange 20RT) I have is perfect, but I have been wanting to get into the realm of cabs and amp heads, just for the sake of having something to take gigging. Eventually I want to settle on an Orange Dual Terror Tube amp, since the ability to go to 5 watts, while also outputting 30 on a tube amp for gigs, is plenty loud with a PPC112 cab rated at 60 watts, and works for both home and live setting. Although, I get nervous about 5 watts still being too loud for home usage given I like to play some heavier styles. Is the Dual Terror the well known side of Orange, no, but I'd like a reasonable setup I could take to play live without developing health issues after years of doing so. Portable heads that are viable for live gigging are where I am most interested, just because taking unreasonably large gear around isn't something I'd like to do. These amps really toe the line between a desktop amplifier and a guitar head, since you can just output a line out signal instead and go through studio monitors for far better volume control for home use if needed. It's a much more recent development in amplifier technology, but one that I feel is very valuable to players that want a best of both worlds combo of home use and live use. I don't think I'll ever reach the point of needing something stronger than a 30 watt tube amp, because there isn't a stage in which I want that on without significant hearing protection.
Personally, desktop wireless amps like the Yamaha THR have made me pick up and play the guitar more frequently than when I had a wired amplifier. The portable nature meant that it was so easy to plug and play anywhere with 0 effort in setting up.
I sold my Boss Katana 50 MK.I and replaced it with the Positive Grid Spark 40 and am extremely happy with that choice! I didn't need the higher volume 'cause I don't gig or play with others anymore and besides that, everything about the Spark is more user friendly (from the size to the UI to the bluetooth to the app).
The full size spark is great. Total control from your phone without having to get out of your seat is convenient. Endless presets galore. I'm in an apartment so I've never really cranked it all the way up but at lower volumes it does the job for me .
i love my spark 40 im on my second one first one i burnt up . i understand an EQ will fix that boxy sound im going to add a boost pedal treble boost and EQ on the front end also putting a sock into the bass hole and going to mod the speaker in the spring. wish me luck i pair it with my HB tele with blues engine pickups a coil split and out of phase switch for that old blues tones. im also going to order a positive grid cab as soon as they work the bugs out of the first run@@mikanunx
If you have say a decent pc speaker system, then the micro amps are still a great option for home/small apartment use. I run my Spark go through my pc speakers and it sounds arguable better than through the amp alone. With added volume if desired. Just another aspect to consider if you already have some sort of speaker setup, these amps can be great as a "digital amp modelling signal only" option. It makes me wonder if a headphone amp could do a similar function... I use my go as a clean amp model and run pedals into it, more than enough for home practice, with intentions to get something like a vibro champ for tube tones at a slightly higher volume output. (I'm in a small apartment, so volume levels are quite important to me/the neighbours....
Great video guys. I had a Katana 50, and I really didn't like it. I sounded great, but there are way too many settings, effects and then there's the software. I have the Blues Junior IV now. It's simple, sound awesome and I love it. I am waiting on a Duke of Tone.
That Chapman tho. £750 for that guitar is a steal. Semi-hollow Tele with Seymour Duncan Pickups, P90 in the neck, rosewood fingerboard, brass saddles, graphtech nut, hipshot locking tuners and that metalic candy red with cream binding is so nice. These are things you find in £2000+ guitars. Sadly I`m not in the market for a new guitar right now but if I were to buy a guitar this is the one I`d buy.
I used guitar proccessor and now I use Orange Jim Root model and 75T 12 inch cabinet. I feel like propper cabinet does wonders for sound. So now I always suggest to people to go with a normal setup, solid state power section or valve with an attunuator. You can even buy a small solid state amp to pair with a processor and a normal cab. It does more magic than just IR loaded into monitors.
The Psionic Audio channel has a good rundown of small amps and how poorly made many are. Most people don't know what the inside of amps look like and which ones are always going to be trouble.
If you don't know anything, then I would suggest the Positive Grid Spark 40 watt. It does clean, crunch and long sustain at low levels and fairly loud levels. You can jam and even play with a very quiet drummer. If you want more than that, then you can make that decision when you get there. You can get a bigger speaker, you can plug it into a flat response amplifier. Or you could just change direction and go to all the other alternatives out there.
Just got a Line 6 catalyst 100. As well as being solid state (environmentally friendly) and quite cheap, it has a built-in attenuator so the volume can be regulated for each environment. Brilliant!
Not in this test but very tempted by the Positive Grid Spark 2. I have a Peavey Vypyr and have to run it so quiet. Also the Spark 2 has looping and a raft of sounds so I dont have to mess with pedals or tweaking settings. Hopefully I am correct in my thinking.
My 2 cents: I've been using Peavey 6505+ combo at home for the last decade, it is 60w high gain valve amp. While it can be really loud, it also plays better at bedroom volume than most "practice bedroom 1w-5w-10w amps" I tried. I also played Engl Fireball 100 at low volume and it was perfectly managable. IMHO low wattage amps make sense in case of fender/vox/marshalls but with high gains it's a bit different, you don't need to crank power stage to sound good. But if you do, it sounds great also (unlike some modelling stuff). So don't be discouraged bcs of wattage, as said in the video, it often doesn't make sense. For example i found Fireball 100 watt more managable than PRS MT15w whose master volume is not really sensitive enough. For playing with headphones I use audio interface plugged into my pc with neural DSP plugin. For 100 € the plugin sounds way better than any emulated hp output of those practice amps. *Katana is very good but I like the valve amp/plugin combo, if I couldn't have both, I'd get Katana.
Gentlemen yet another excellent video with some fantastic perspectives offered. And once again I have to say that Chapman guitar is just stunning!!! The Revstar is also super cool.
I have both the fender blues junior and the boss katana 50. For reference i play a US strat on both of them. A summary below - Both amps are f*ing loud! If you are worried about volume on either for gigging or practicing with drums, dont. They’ll both take ur head off at full volume. The blues junior sounds better out of box. You have to dial a sound in more on the katana whereas the fender sounds great without a ton of tweaking. The fender responds really well to pedals but having said that, the katana comes with a ton of FX built in Katana is super light so you can loud it round for gigs easier. Fender is quite heavy for its size. You can use katana as an interface for recording Both great practice amps
For me all an amp needs for home use is a good volume taper. I've had small amps that were rubbish because the volume control was bad at being quiet, and massive valve amps that had superb volume controls..I've currently got one of the new Laney Dual Top head into a 212, and an Orange Super Crush 100. Both great for home volume. I've also got a little EHX 5mm pedal amp which is great at home for powering a pedal amp into a cab.
I've had them all and I've even done the whole plug to a computer and use headphones and a plug in but now I've sold them all and bought the katana go headphone amp its got all the same features as the katana combos with and added tuner feature that the combos dont have it features both bass and guitar modes and pluggs strait to the guitar or bass just like any wireless transmitter and you can directly plug a set of universal basn iems into the katana go wile being completely moble and have all the tones you will ever want or need for practice it's just great it fits in your pocket and you can take it anywhere and you arent restricted in any way you could even head out for a walk in the park while playing your rig if you want
I've got a Spark mini and Spark go at home for my personal pleasure. Fantastic little amps if you just need some great tones for personal use. The mini is loud enough to play with another guitarist.
My home setup is a River K-tre reverb and a Fender Princeton using a Rivera attenuator to drop the volume for home use. It let's me use the same gear in all situations. The K-tre has a master volume so it doesn't need an attenuator. Personally, I'd recommend folks look at getting a good attenuator that doesn't suck tone. There are several on the market these days and I think Andertons have already done some reviews in the past.
Every time I think about a desktop amplifier I go back to my Katana 50 and realize it's perfect. In fact, I have a 50 MkI and a 50 MkII connected ABY via Radial BigShot and it's glorious. With both on 0.5w I have this great practice sound that's really a sweet spot that doesn't bother anyone. But even with only one Katana 50 on, it's still great. Total value.
Plugging into a Marshall half stack after having a Roland cube (still a great little amp even for today) really ignited my passion. Even if your not "good" and just learning. There is something incredibly inspirational getting a half stack at some volume and moving to real air. You will start to understand why a lot of folks are keen on having a large amp/cab and able to play a some loud volumes. Try it next time you in the music store and have the okay to do it
I ordered the THR10II Yamaha, i think it's probably the best of the lot, it's a bit older, but from all I've heard of it it's much better sounding than a Katana.
Let’s not forget that the Mighty Space from NUX is also a guitar amp head; you can plug into a cabinet, like any other “head” - so, it’s not a “line out” situation, is an actual speaker output (it’s powered and you should use speaker cable for this application). No to mention, they sounds amazing on electric, acoustic or bass guitars.
The Laney Lionheart 5 Watt is absolutely amazing and you can get all the valve saturation tones at relatively low volumes. I’ve been watching your channel for years and don’t think I’ve ever seen you review one. Made in Britain and a bit more expensive then the Blues Junior but 100% worth every penny
Nothing compares to a real tube amp! Not only for sound quality, but it just “feels” differently too. I have a Fender Deluxe Reverb (22 Watts) and I’ll admit it’s a bit much for home and I rarely play above volume level 3 in addition to usually a chain of two overdrive and boost pedals to get 2-3 diff gain stage breakup levels. I’ll eventually get around to picking up a 5 watt or less tube amp which I’m sure will be better, but I’ll never get rid of my Deluxe Reverb, sounds so great with my Strats and Tele’s!
Just bought a Blackstar Debut 50, and I’d put that up against any of the many amps I’ve owned….including my tube amps! That thing is amazing! The bright switch, and the ISF features make it feel like it’s multiple amps all rolled into one e without being digital or too over complicated.
I have a Deluxe Reverb, AC15, DSL40, Epiphone Valve Jr, Helix/Powercab....... but its the Spark Go and Spark Mini I've been using the most these days, just to faff around at home
Have a Blues Jnr and never found mojo with it... my THR is great for that distorted low volume + home practice and my Origin 50 head with 1W / 20W / 50W great for home + gigs
Thanks for this! As a bassist, I do usually use a bass amp with a multi effects, but my wife is getting into guitar and wanted to get her a practice amp of her own, as a Roland cube owner around 10years ago (due to a video you and Chappers did) I think the Katana is perfect for us!
I recently bought the Engl Fireball 25, it's possible to play that at bedroom volume in my living room. Also it has plenty of headroom for rehearsals and gigs, and it does vintage-style low gain better than you'd expect from an Engl. I mean i have enough other amps but i like the Fireball because it's just one tube-driven lunchbox which can handle nearly all situations for me.
For tube amps, as far as the 2x12/4x12 comment goes, I would actually disagree here. The sealed, big closed cabs with speakers with a lot of low-end actually work really, really well at low volumes. What is perhaps the hardest to set up are the 1x12" open back combos, as they don't only have pretty much one volume level when they sound good, they are also very fragile to the room acoustics and just placing them badly can turn the sound horribly wrong. In contrast, a deep 212 such as the small Mesa/Boogie ones will still produce surprisingly good and consistent results even at low volumes. As someone who lives in a flat, i've tried numerous amp wattages and configurations, and ironically i feel that the low-powered combos aren't suitable for playing alone at home either. As evidenced in the recent Soldano Galaxy amp review, you do need a lot of low-end for convincing bedroom level playing for the heavy riffs to feal heavy and the funky twang to have a good base. A low-wattage amplifier usually will be focused on squeezing maximum amounts of power into the optimum midrange, which makes them great for gigging and brings out the best character in them (as evidenced by the Vox AC line), but is ultimately not what you want here. The sought-after power-amp distortion will completely wreck the hifi lowend necessary for home operation, so ironically a 20-50W amplifier operating at negligible preamp distortion can provide enough clean headroom to play such guitar tone (which will also necessitate extreme end of settings in a typical tube preamp, such as very scooped mids and boosted bass). In short, the quieter you play, the more hifi the whole setup needs to be come, with less speaker and power amp distortion to keep the bass, and more focused and optimized speaker enclosures. Incidentally, that's exactly the reason why the modern desktop amps are built that way.
I'd like the 50 watt head version of the Katana. to add to my beginning collection I have a a first issue Blackstar ID Core stereo 40 (V1) I bought used just before Covid hit... and the guitar i have and did an extreme mod/upgeades to... there will be many future guitar projects because I want to save money by litterally building my collection by hand as I want them to be.. some simpla and basic versins and some very special or even overboard like the Strat I started with to tesm myself and learn more in the process. cut I really dont have the room to large combo amps so Ill use a pair of 4X12 tower cabs I'm buildint and then collect head versions of various amps to save space a little, 50 watts is plenty for me right now and I can get a good basic P.A. power amp if I really want it loud. at 65 I'm child of the '60's and I really like loud and proud... lol ...
I own a Blues Junior and master higher than 2 is not possible without summoning annoyed neighbors. Still love it, it works great with all my pedals and also sounds good at low volume.
I’ve had many of these small amps, and then some, for home use. if you have to play quiet the Yamaha THR 5 is your best bet. If you can turn it up a bit then the Kat 50. But my favorite home set up is my pedal board through a Joyo American sound amplified by a Fishman mini loud box. With that last set up a looper with drum machine sounds great, and I can even lay down bass tracks. If someone can find used a decent price, FR speaker I think the best way to go for home use is that. Even if you were just getting started that Joyo AMS plus a tube screamer type pedal and the Joyo OMB cannot be beat for practice.
So the fishman loudbox works fine with an electric guitar? I've been wanting to try this so I could also use it with my acoustic. I like your recommendation with the Joyo american sound.
@@paul38501 Yes, the Fishman works well as a full range speaker just like any other PA speaker would work. Of course simply running the electric guitar through it is not the way to go. You need something like an amp in a pedal like the Joyo or a UA dream 65.
That's what Eric gales signature mark amp is based off of and he gigs it...but frequencies are tweaked ...what about hotone britwind or amp1 mercury even joyo Jackman ii are great for home
Im just using handmade JTM 45 clone 15W version with build in linear power reduction mod with bluesdriver and reverb pedal. That's it. Im set for life now :D
Check out the new Jamstack 2! It makes all the other practice amps on the market look and sound like cute little novelty toys. It also employs state of the art tech and features not used by any other company.
Ideally the amp that makes you want the play the most. That might be just a pair of headphones and an ir, or it may take 100w full stacks and 5000 dollar boutique tube amps. Both are perfectly valid, as is everything in between. The only issue comes when financial priorities get compromised by gear purchases. I didn't play for a decade after a long bout of depression and it took a few purchases of decently nice gear to convince me to start being creative again. If i didn't get some loud amps and cool pedals i might never have felt inspired to play again.
Guitar playing is the first to go in depression.
The Captain’s playing has gotten sooo good these last few years, it’s really inspiring
When you sit and do vids with Pete all day and jam you will get better
I think something that gets a little overlooked is how well these desktop amps double as a media/music player I’ve used one for streaming music and as a soundbar. I think for a younger player it really checks multiple boxes and increases value
Lee hit on the real reason I was sold on the desktop amp - there is someone in my household who would be very offended by me having a guitar amp that looks like a guitar amp.
depends if you really want to learn guitar or play taylor swift on your device
I was thinking about getting one and running it through my stereo or my sound bar 😂😂 also have a giant Bluetooth with 2x10s in it
Sounded like a mashup with I love rock n roll, no sleep to Brooklyn, and master of puppets, lol
@utkarsh1874 I already have a tube amp. I want a small unit I can use as a practice amp that can double as a portable speaker. What's wrong with that?
I had a Boss Katana 100 which was amazing, but my dream amp was always the Fender Deluxe Reverb - downside - too loud for the house. The Tone Masters came out, so I saved and sold and saved and scraped and sold and finally bought one from Andertons last July. Unpacked it, plugged in and prayed not to be disappointed and it is 500% better than I ever imagined and everything I ever wanted in an amp. When I'm not playing it I just look at it! Very very happy.
you should get a power soak to really push it and keep it at low volumes. I have 2 valve heads (PRS and Egnater) and a katana, I love the katana, but once i got a burgera power soak, i play valves almost 100% of the time, since I can crank them up and keep the volume on "normal" levels. I'm using the katana now for my acoustics pretty much since then
@@incubator2k3 But does it sound as good as a tube amp turned up? I've heard people say that a power attenuator kills tone.
It's all balance really. Much as I'd love to, I can't crank an all valve Deluxe in my house, but firstly I love Fender cleans (which is what this does - its a blackface amp) and secondly, I can crank it on the 0.5 watt setting at home. At band practice I do crank it on 22w and we all love it - it's plenty loud enough and it sounds trouser flappingly great! The beauty of it though for me is recording - it goes straight into logic and you can go nuts there and not have the police round! And also, with my Katana, I suffered from option paralysis. Too many things to tweak. To be fair I spent most of my time trying to make it sound like a blackface Fender (it doesn't and won't - or at least I had no luck!)
Why should he get a power soak to push a Tone Master? @@incubator2k3
I’ve been using the Yamaha THR ii for years. Very solid kit. Perfect for living room use. Recently I wanted to take advantage of some new gear and am running the Tonex pedal into the THR and it’s awesome.
just bought THR II for testing and overything above crunch like more metal stuff is just terrible, amp sounds boxy, lacks depth, their app is outdated asf, overall its totally meh. bought at the same time positive grid spark and it sounds better in cleans and mid-heavy sound, but metal doesnt sound like i would like too, anyway app and overall sound its way better, also tons of presets in the cloud.
I've just purchased the Katana 50 Mk2 from Andertons yesterday to replace my Marshall MG30 DFX from 2004. It's not night and day difference - It's a whole different Universe man. After not playing for 15 years because of the limitations of The Marshall in my environment , I'm looking forward to the next few months of discovery playing with the settings !!
Been watching this channel for years and it's so much fun to see Lee demo'ing with confidence. His improv improved so much, clean chops
Keep up the good work ✊
Looks like Danish Pete is being sidelined here, teach your employer your skills at your peril!
But why did they completely ignore the 'Desktop' version of the BOSS AMP?
@@StreetPreacherr no clue. My guess is they were focusing on one unit per category
@@StreetPreacherr Or Positive Grid and Yamaha?
This was a size comparison, not one brand over the next, and they made mention of the yamaha and a few others, this was all about size comparison for how much sound you may need for your playing style etc
Mk 2 50
Seems all I need.
Im tempted to buy the Posotive Grid Go but dont want to be disappointed
I'm 52 I have been playing since the start of the Covid pandemic.
There has not been a day since that I have not been playing
I've advanced into the intermediate level
Never to old to start
I watch your videos every day from Canada 🍁 thanks for all the hard work and extending your efforts on your daily videos.
I don't use pedals.
I know you have to Peddle your petals 😂
However, sometimes I don't watch all the pedal videos
I love the Blind Fold Challenges
Andertons is the king of the Blind fold Challenges
A quick shout out for the valve driven Fender Pro Junior, also at 15W, but with a 10-inch speaker, an even smaller enclosure, and just volume and tone. It needs to be used with a pedal to get any kind of break-up at home volumes and has no reverb, but it has a nicer tone, to my ears at least. The guitar players in my band both use 40W Fender Hot Rod Deluxes, but one had to use my Pro Junior as a last-minute replacement at a bar gig the other day (mic’d bass drum, vocal PA) and it cut through surprisingly well and sounded great. In terms of cost, it’s not much less than the Blues Junior, so doesn’t seem to make much sense, but…
I really like the fact that you can hear the amps in the room in this video.
Since i live in a flat and love me neighbors and play@night: 🙉
- Spark is great but too loud 🔊
- don't like headphones (ear problem occurred lately)
- FlyRig is a great option 4 me got it a couple of years ago
- @today i would probably go with the Spark Micro
I am liking my Boss Katana MKII 100 watt head. It is a little wider than most desktop amps, but works on a desktop and the 5" speaker sounds pretty darn good at low volumes. Can also get pretty loud. Plug it into a cab and you got yourself a nice big amp you can gig with. In the US they are currently on sale for $299. The USB connection is an audio interface for your desktop computer, so you can watch and / or listen to music on your computer through the Katana. Great for headphone use jamming a long with songs etec...
Check out the Boss Bass katana. It's amazing for guitar
Any idea if modelers like HX Stomp sound good through the power amp in on the Katana head?
The only downside with the Katana is that it is fundamentally a mono device - that includes the headphone output. You can have the stereo link, or the DI out, but not both.
I prefer the spark 40 watt - I have both. But clearly if you want to gig or something you want to get the Katana 100 watt.
@@valueofnothing2487 yep, lots of good options. None of these options are prefect and everyone's needs are a little bit different. There are literally dozens of things to consider when choosing one of these amps. Which few things out of that dozen are more important to you. I play my Katana head through a mesa cab with 1 x 12 Mesa Boogie Black Shadow (Celestion built) speaker. Sounds great going through the cab. I can also tone it down and just go through the 5", or even headphones. Suits me well. Again, everyone's wants / needs vary, and can vary over time. I just think this head/mini cab amp should get a shout out when discussing desktop / bedroom amps. I do not use many of the built in effects, rather I have a pedalboard for that. My Mesa Trans Atlantic head has no effects loop, and does not sound as good at low volumes. Also, no headphones for late at night. So many great options these days.
LOVE the opening jam through 0:36!
The part where you compare the katana to the tube amp was exactly what you do best here. A great way to hear gear in action. edited to add: Lee, it sounds like your playing is really improving!
My bedroom setup is Rumble 25 with a Boss GT-1. I bought the Rumble after I was given a bass and when my Fender Mustang 1 died I plugged into the Rumble and liked the way it sounded so I picked up the GT-1 to have some effects and the combination works surprisingly well for both guitar and bass.
I use a Rumble 40 and an ME-80 when I play with others. Lightweight and sounds good enough. XLR out if needed. And it means that I don't have a bass amp and a bigger guitar amp. Along with my Micro Cube for home use I'm sorted. I'm done with valve amps anyway - hobbyists should be more concerned with their chops than the nth degree of toan. If you play well even my setup sounds good.
Same with my rumble 25 and valeton gp200. Just using the contour button.
The spark go just makes playing so easy. Clip the thing on my belt, plug a 3ft cable into it, and jam around the house. The headphone amp sounds AMAZING too. So many sounds. So cheap. So portable. I think regardless of which "bigger" amp you get (if you do get one), there is a place in everyone's arsenal for a spark go
I've bought a Fender Special Run Blues Junior with a solid Mahogany case from Andertons 9 years ago and absolutely love it - it looks sublime and sounds amazing too.
I think a 100w super lead and a 4x12 is the perfect home setup , the neighbours will love you :D
I love my Fender Tone master twin reverb! Because of the attenuator you can use it at home or at a big gig! Got a small Vox AC10 as well, great sounding.
I've got a laney mini amp that I use when I'm camping and fed up with the acoustic, mini and micros perfect for caravan awnings.
I bought both the KATANA 100 2 and FENDER MUSTANG LT40S MODELLING AMP COMBO from you guys, love and recommend them both!
Is Katana 100 2 room-friendly? I mean can you adjust it so it's not too loud for home use?
Absolutely yes, I do all the time, sounds great!@@erolsengul8948
How is the Katana 100 on low volume? And is the sound much better then the LT40s? Am considering that very upgrade!
@@pieterswinkels1006 low volume great from my perspective, I mostly use low volume. The sound is better yes, but both really good! imo
As someone who mostly plays bass, one of the big selling points of the bass Katana was the 1 W option. It's not the same as the full power sound, but it's close enough that i can plug in at home and practice and test pedals to identify sensible settings (without upsetting the neighbours), then switch to full power when playing with others and setting levels to match a heavy-handed drummer.
First of all, I love your videos! I have tried a ton of these different small amps. From Nux, Yamaha, Laney, Positive Grid, etc. I own two Katana's, the head and the 100w combo. I used to have a Blues Jr but that is long gone. For home practice, I've settled on the Spark Mini. I like it much better than the others, even the Spark 40 which was just too bass heavy. I also have a Nux Mighty Air. It's ok but there is just something boxy about the sound that I just don't get along with. The Spark Mini is just brilliant. I would recommend this for home use over pretty much anything else I've tried. Cheers guys!
What about the Spark 2?
For a new guitarist, the Spark Go might be the way to go. That thing can grow with you, you can network it using the Headphone / line out to a power amp speaker and gig with it. Positive Grid now offers a 140 watt cab for it or you can use the HeadRush 108 / 112 powered cabs. Both have the ability to network into a PA system. One rig can do all, it can be just practice set up or it can be a gigging system up all in one. Your sound stays the same!!
Something you always see going between solid state and tube amps is… On the katana you were coming in at least 5 dB less than the blues, junior, at least. that almost always happens even to myself On my own gear, even when I’m conscious of trying to correct volume level. It is one of the reasons why tube amps always sound better.
love seeing the revstar on there!
A modeler plus studio monitors is probably the best choice for home use
What would use suggest model/make? Thanks
Indeed! I'd say one of these setups:
a modeler + Studio Monitors
a modeler + FRFR cabinet
a tube amp, loadbox, Audio interface + Studio Monitors
a tube amp, attenuator + Speaker cabinet
@@MarkHarrop there are tons of them in the market, I have a nux mg30 and used hotone ampero too through 5" studio monitors and I use it way more than the yamaha thr10ii that's supposed to be the best desktop amp
@@MarkHarrop but there's also stuff from Boss and line 6 and other companies too
@@mahmam3128 Hey thanks, I will take a look.
Out of all of the amps I’ve owned over the years the only one I kept hold of was the Blues Junior. The clean sound on this amp is amazing and a perfect pedal platform. Sounds great at very low volumes and even better at high volumes
I’m missing mine so much. Worst mistake I’ve ever made was to sell it
I have the 50 w katana and the Blues jr, the Fender simply blows the Boss into a box in my garage
Ive been listening to Lee and andertons since the monkey lord days and i have to say, Lee ak the captain has definately evolved as a musician. Much respect to you. Happy Holidays to you all.
I have 5 watt all the way to 100 watt tube amps in my house. Currently single living alone. No noise complaints. Pretty nice to be honest
I've owned most of the fender valve amps, Dr z and so on. Right now at home I'm using a katana 50 and it never fails to impress.
Comparing Dr.Z amp to Katana is funny dude :D Even cheap Bugera sounded a lot better than Katana.
@@WRytmieBluesa
Wrong. A modeler is head and shoulders above that old crappy tube stuff. I sold all my tube stuff once I heard the modelers doing the same thing for WAY less money.
I love the Fender, but ideally, I would prefer a smaller valve amp for this comparison. A Blackstar Ht1 or/and Ht5 for example, or something like that. I mean, a 15w valve amp might be quite loud for some people, even though it's a hell of an amp
If you turn a 15w amp up in a house you'll be deaf before the cops arrive
Believe it or not, a 5-watt amplifier wouldn’t be much quieter than the Blues Jr
@@geokar16 probably not at maximum volume, but it still may be more appropriate for quieter volumes, specially if it have a smaller speaker... They could have brought something like that Bugera V5, that may not be state of the art, but can have its wattage attenuated from 5w to 1w and 0,1w. If the idea was comparing volumes for home use only, that would be even more useful.
Blackstar HT1 1 watt plus 4x12 cab ...quite enough to disturb the neighbours!
@@monabri7387 indeed it is. But the point of the video is to show options to play at home. Playing with as 4x12 may be a viable option for you, but for most guitar players a 1x8" is the way to go and more than enough.
I just got a Marshall DSL1, sounds amazing and I use it at 0.1 W for bedroom playing. Two channels, footswitch included and it cost less than 300 pounds. For that price nothing beats the Marshall. Also considering the size, it doesn't sound 'boxy' at all.
I used to have one for these, great little amp and does the Marshall ‘thing’ really well and perfect for home use.
I’m using a Rocker 15 now and the ‘Bedroom’ settings are just as good. This feature needs to be more common, not had a complaint yet!
Change out the stock tubes for some better tubes and you'll like it even more.
Hi Lee, I have the blues jr, the boss, thr5. They all sound good. The blues jr is by far the loudest and I think sound the best. But I use it the least. The Yamaha GHR5 sounds good. Small amp perfect for the house.
The Spark has come right down in price. They're great. So much fun
They used to go for $190 CAD on Amazon
Last week, they came down to $145 CAD
Crazy affordable
They are super cheap and horrible quality dont buy.
@@jarijormanen9318
Wrong. So wrong.
I've ended up with a few options (all purchased from Andertons, obviously!). I find the Yamaha THR 10C is useful for many situations - it can run on batteries and it's plenty loud enough to sing over, plus its headphone out is ideal for playing at home without disturbing the neighbours.
You can play through headphones on the Boss Katana II 100 watt combo too - and it's a step up with ample power for local gigs.
For a small and affordable valve amp, I really rate the Laney Cub Super 12 - there's no headphone out, but you can run it really quietly and still get a great sound for playing at home. It's "only" 15 watt, but it illustrates perfectly what Lee says about the difference between solid state and valve amp wattage - it's gloriously loud when you crank it up!
And if you're playing somewhere that has a PA, taking the headphone out of a NUX MP-3 works brilliantly for the ultimate travelling light set-up. You can set up some genuinely decent sounds using its app, so I keep it in my gig-bag as an "if all else fails" backup.
This is the best kind of video on your channel. They are all good (and very different) products, but the Blues Junior is a little miracle, for the richness of sounds it can generate without any effect on it.
Owned a Katana 2x12 100 and Katana2 1x12 100. Excellent amps. But when I got my Fender Mustang GTX 100, I finally got what I wanted. What an amp! And superb for home use (and good for live situations too)
I live with my wife and 12yo son and we live in a duplex, so volume matters. My Yamaha THR30mk2 is perfect for my needs. I play electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass and sometimes an electric violin. My son also plays electric violin and my wife plays a keyboard. The Yamaha has a channel for all of them and can be carried all over the house without plugging in as it has a rechargeable battery. Only real problem is sometimes arguing over who's turn it is or figuring out who left it where. We probably need at least 2 more.
i have the more grown-up Positive Grid spark amp (desktop) for home playing and it's great at what it does - with amp modelling I use it to practise bass, acoustic and of course electric guitar. It CAN go loud enough to annoy the neighbours - but as a practice amp it has so much to offer!
The practice solid state amplifier (Orange 20RT) I have is perfect, but I have been wanting to get into the realm of cabs and amp heads, just for the sake of having something to take gigging. Eventually I want to settle on an Orange Dual Terror Tube amp, since the ability to go to 5 watts, while also outputting 30 on a tube amp for gigs, is plenty loud with a PPC112 cab rated at 60 watts, and works for both home and live setting. Although, I get nervous about 5 watts still being too loud for home usage given I like to play some heavier styles.
Is the Dual Terror the well known side of Orange, no, but I'd like a reasonable setup I could take to play live without developing health issues after years of doing so.
Portable heads that are viable for live gigging are where I am most interested, just because taking unreasonably large gear around isn't something I'd like to do. These amps really toe the line between a desktop amplifier and a guitar head, since you can just output a line out signal instead and go through studio monitors for far better volume control for home use if needed. It's a much more recent development in amplifier technology, but one that I feel is very valuable to players that want a best of both worlds combo of home use and live use. I don't think I'll ever reach the point of needing something stronger than a 30 watt tube amp, because there isn't a stage in which I want that on without significant hearing protection.
Personally, desktop wireless amps like the Yamaha THR have made me pick up and play the guitar more frequently than when I had a wired amplifier. The portable nature meant that it was so easy to plug and play anywhere with 0 effort in setting up.
Blackstar HT-5R is what I have and I love it.
I sold my Boss Katana 50 MK.I and replaced it with the Positive Grid Spark 40 and am extremely happy with that choice! I didn't need the higher volume 'cause I don't gig or play with others anymore and besides that, everything about the Spark is more user friendly (from the size to the UI to the bluetooth to the app).
What about the sound?
Isn't it too boxy, exp. in high gain? I wasn't too impressed, in the other video these guys did (desktop amp shootout).
The full size spark is great. Total control from your phone without having to get out of your seat is convenient. Endless presets galore. I'm in an apartment so I've never really cranked it all the way up but at lower volumes it does the job for me .
i love my spark 40 im on my second one first one i burnt up . i understand an EQ will fix that boxy sound im going to add a boost pedal treble boost and EQ on the front end also putting a sock into the bass hole and going to mod the speaker in the spring. wish me luck i pair it with my HB tele with blues engine pickups a coil split and out of phase switch for that old blues tones. im also going to order a positive grid cab as soon as they work the bugs out of the first run@@mikanunx
I happily use my 50W full tube amps at home with a little help of an attenuator. For on stage I have a 212 cabinet. For at home a 112 cabinet.
If you have say a decent pc speaker system, then the micro amps are still a great option for home/small apartment use. I run my Spark go through my pc speakers and it sounds arguable better than through the amp alone. With added volume if desired. Just another aspect to consider if you already have some sort of speaker setup, these amps can be great as a "digital amp modelling signal only" option. It makes me wonder if a headphone amp could do a similar function...
I use my go as a clean amp model and run pedals into it, more than enough for home practice, with intentions to get something like a vibro champ for tube tones at a slightly higher volume output. (I'm in a small apartment, so volume levels are quite important to me/the neighbours....
The Fender amp is amazing
Great video guys. I had a Katana 50, and I really didn't like it. I sounded great, but there are way too many settings, effects and then there's the software. I have the Blues Junior IV now. It's simple, sound awesome and I love it. I am waiting on a Duke of Tone.
That Chapman tho. £750 for that guitar is a steal. Semi-hollow Tele with Seymour Duncan Pickups, P90 in the neck, rosewood fingerboard, brass saddles, graphtech nut, hipshot locking tuners and that metalic candy red with cream binding is so nice. These are things you find in £2000+ guitars. Sadly I`m not in the market for a new guitar right now but if I were to buy a guitar this is the one I`d buy.
I was thinking exactly the same, and not only are the saddles brass, they seem to be compensated.
I used guitar proccessor and now I use Orange Jim Root model and 75T 12 inch cabinet. I feel like propper cabinet does wonders for sound. So now I always suggest to people to go with a normal setup, solid state power section or valve with an attunuator. You can even buy a small solid state amp to pair with a processor and a normal cab. It does more magic than just IR loaded into monitors.
The Psionic Audio channel has a good rundown of small amps and how poorly made many are. Most people don't know what the inside of amps look like and which ones are always going to be trouble.
If you don't know anything, then I would suggest the Positive Grid Spark 40 watt.
It does clean, crunch and long sustain at low levels and fairly loud levels.
You can jam and even play with a very quiet drummer.
If you want more than that, then you can make that decision when you get there. You can get a bigger speaker, you can plug it into a flat response amplifier.
Or you could just change direction and go to all the other alternatives out there.
That intro is the most prog I've heard from y'all. Thank you for the an amazing video.
Just got a Line 6 catalyst 100. As well as being solid state (environmentally friendly) and quite cheap, it has a built-in attenuator so the volume can be regulated for each environment. Brilliant!
Not in this test but very tempted by the Positive Grid Spark 2. I have a Peavey Vypyr and have to run it so quiet. Also the Spark 2 has looping and a raft of sounds so I dont have to mess with pedals or tweaking settings. Hopefully I am correct in my thinking.
My 2 cents: I've been using Peavey 6505+ combo at home for the last decade, it is 60w high gain valve amp. While it can be really loud, it also plays better at bedroom volume than most "practice bedroom 1w-5w-10w amps" I tried.
I also played Engl Fireball 100 at low volume and it was perfectly managable. IMHO low wattage amps make sense in case of fender/vox/marshalls but with high gains it's a bit different, you don't need to crank power stage to sound good. But if you do, it sounds great also (unlike some modelling stuff). So don't be discouraged bcs of wattage, as said in the video, it often doesn't make sense. For example i found Fireball 100 watt more managable than PRS MT15w whose master volume is not really sensitive enough.
For playing with headphones I use audio interface plugged into my pc with neural DSP plugin. For 100 € the plugin sounds way better than any emulated hp output of those practice amps.
*Katana is very good but I like the valve amp/plugin combo, if I couldn't have both, I'd get Katana.
My favorite couch amp is the Marshall Code 25.
Once dialed in, it sounds great and the nailed many of the Marshall amps.
Gentlemen yet another excellent video with some fantastic perspectives offered. And once again I have to say that Chapman guitar is just stunning!!! The Revstar is also super cool.
I have the Yamaha THR10 but since I have woodworking as my other hobby I am building a 1x12 cab and purchased a small tube amp head.
I have both the fender blues junior and the boss katana 50. For reference i play a US strat on both of them. A summary below -
Both amps are f*ing loud! If you are worried about volume on either for gigging or practicing with drums, dont. They’ll both take ur head off at full volume.
The blues junior sounds better out of box. You have to dial a sound in more on the katana whereas the fender sounds great without a ton of tweaking.
The fender responds really well to pedals but having said that, the katana comes with a ton of FX built in
Katana is super light so you can loud it round for gigs easier. Fender is quite heavy for its size.
You can use katana as an interface for recording
Both great practice amps
I love my Bugera 55w twined with a Boss ME90 for work and at home - nice clean valve sound even at low volumes
For me all an amp needs for home use is a good volume taper. I've had small amps that were rubbish because the volume control was bad at being quiet, and massive valve amps that had superb volume controls..I've currently got one of the new Laney Dual Top head into a 212, and an Orange Super Crush 100. Both great for home volume.
I've also got a little EHX 5mm pedal amp which is great at home for powering a pedal amp into a cab.
I've had them all and I've even done the whole plug to a computer and use headphones and a plug in but now I've sold them all and bought the katana go headphone amp its got all the same features as the katana combos with and added tuner feature that the combos dont have it features both bass and guitar modes and pluggs strait to the guitar or bass just like any wireless transmitter and you can directly plug a set of universal basn iems into the katana go wile being completely moble and have all the tones you will ever want or need for practice it's just great it fits in your pocket and you can take it anywhere and you arent restricted in any way you could even head out for a walk in the park while playing your rig if you want
I've got a Spark mini and Spark go at home for my personal pleasure. Fantastic little amps if you just need some great tones for personal use. The mini is loud enough to play with another guitarist.
My home setup is a River K-tre reverb and a Fender Princeton using a Rivera attenuator to drop the volume for home use. It let's me use the same gear in all situations. The K-tre has a master volume so it doesn't need an attenuator.
Personally, I'd recommend folks look at getting a good attenuator that doesn't suck tone. There are several on the market these days and I think Andertons have already done some reviews in the past.
Every time I think about a desktop amplifier I go back to my Katana 50 and realize it's perfect. In fact, I have a 50 MkI and a 50 MkII connected ABY via Radial BigShot and it's glorious. With both on 0.5w I have this great practice sound that's really a sweet spot that doesn't bother anyone. But even with only one Katana 50 on, it's still great. Total value.
I have a VICTORY COUNTESS & VICTORY 2X12 CAB & I'm More than Happy with them
Plugging into a Marshall half stack after having a Roland cube (still a great little amp even for today) really ignited my passion. Even if your not "good" and just learning. There is something incredibly inspirational getting a half stack at some volume and moving to real air. You will start to understand why a lot of folks are keen on having a large amp/cab and able to play a some loud volumes. Try it next time you in the music store and have the okay to do it
I can see owning them all. They all have a place for sure. That valve jr. sounded very good.
I ordered the THR10II Yamaha, i think it's probably the best of the lot, it's a bit older, but from all I've heard of it it's much better sounding than a Katana.
My luthier uses THR10 for guitar testing. He is a grandmaster jazz player too.
Let’s not forget that the Mighty Space from NUX is also a guitar amp head; you can plug into a cabinet, like any other “head” - so, it’s not a “line out” situation, is an actual speaker output (it’s powered and you should use speaker cable for this application). No to mention, they sounds amazing on electric, acoustic or bass guitars.
That blue hoodie is magnificent!
I play through a Revv Generator 120 at home. Got the Euna today. Awesome doesn't come close.
I’m still hung up on the Roland JC-40. Not as fancy as these new ones but that’s where the Boss Katana kicks in. Depends on what you want.
The Laney Lionheart 5 Watt is absolutely amazing and you can get all the valve saturation tones at relatively low volumes. I’ve been watching your channel for years and don’t think I’ve ever seen you review one. Made in Britain and a bit more expensive then the Blues Junior but 100% worth every penny
i´m very happy with the my Spark Mini, sounds nice and no problems with neighbors:)
Nothing compares to a real tube amp! Not only for sound quality, but it just “feels” differently too.
I have a Fender Deluxe Reverb (22 Watts) and I’ll admit it’s a bit much for home and I rarely play above volume level 3 in addition to usually a chain of two overdrive and boost pedals to get 2-3 diff gain stage breakup levels.
I’ll eventually get around to picking up a 5 watt or less tube amp which I’m sure will be better, but I’ll never get rid of my Deluxe Reverb, sounds so great with my Strats and Tele’s!
My smallest amplifier is the Orange Micro Terror what i consider it as my topdesk amplifier , i love it
Just bought a Blackstar Debut 50, and I’d put that up against any of the many amps I’ve owned….including my tube amps! That thing is amazing! The bright switch, and the ISF features make it feel like it’s multiple amps all rolled into one e without being digital or too over complicated.
Thanks For this Video. I was seeking the Last days for my one and deside me now after this beautiful Video for the Bass kantana 50
I have a Deluxe Reverb, AC15, DSL40, Epiphone Valve Jr, Helix/Powercab....... but its the Spark Go and Spark Mini I've been using the most these days, just to faff around at home
Have a Blues Jnr and never found mojo with it... my THR is great for that distorted low volume + home practice and my Origin 50 head with 1W / 20W / 50W great for home + gigs
Blues Jr. is the only one of that group that would make me want to plug in and play through it.
Thanks for this! As a bassist, I do usually use a bass amp with a multi effects, but my wife is getting into guitar and wanted to get her a practice amp of her own, as a Roland cube owner around 10years ago (due to a video you and Chappers did) I think the Katana is perfect for us!
I recently bought the Engl Fireball 25, it's possible to play that at bedroom volume in my living room.
Also it has plenty of headroom for rehearsals and gigs, and it does vintage-style low gain better than you'd expect from an Engl.
I mean i have enough other amps but i like the Fireball because it's just one tube-driven lunchbox which can handle nearly all situations for me.
For tube amps, as far as the 2x12/4x12 comment goes, I would actually disagree here. The sealed, big closed cabs with speakers with a lot of low-end actually work really, really well at low volumes. What is perhaps the hardest to set up are the 1x12" open back combos, as they don't only have pretty much one volume level when they sound good, they are also very fragile to the room acoustics and just placing them badly can turn the sound horribly wrong. In contrast, a deep 212 such as the small Mesa/Boogie ones will still produce surprisingly good and consistent results even at low volumes.
As someone who lives in a flat, i've tried numerous amp wattages and configurations, and ironically i feel that the low-powered combos aren't suitable for playing alone at home either. As evidenced in the recent Soldano Galaxy amp review, you do need a lot of low-end for convincing bedroom level playing for the heavy riffs to feal heavy and the funky twang to have a good base. A low-wattage amplifier usually will be focused on squeezing maximum amounts of power into the optimum midrange, which makes them great for gigging and brings out the best character in them (as evidenced by the Vox AC line), but is ultimately not what you want here. The sought-after power-amp distortion will completely wreck the hifi lowend necessary for home operation, so ironically a 20-50W amplifier operating at negligible preamp distortion can provide enough clean headroom to play such guitar tone (which will also necessitate extreme end of settings in a typical tube preamp, such as very scooped mids and boosted bass).
In short, the quieter you play, the more hifi the whole setup needs to be come, with less speaker and power amp distortion to keep the bass, and more focused and optimized speaker enclosures. Incidentally, that's exactly the reason why the modern desktop amps are built that way.
I own a BOSS Katana MkII, a Bugera V22 (the best affordable valve amp I‘ve ever seen) and a Positive Grid Spark 40.
For me that covers all you need…
I have all the Spark amps. The Mini is great for at home practice. I use it 90% of the time over the others.
I'd like the 50 watt head version of the Katana. to add to my beginning collection I have a a first issue Blackstar ID Core stereo 40 (V1) I bought used just before Covid hit... and the guitar i have and did an extreme mod/upgeades to... there will be many future guitar projects because I want to save money by litterally building my collection by hand as I want them to be.. some simpla and basic versins and some very special or even overboard like the Strat I started with to tesm myself and learn more in the process. cut I really dont have the room to large combo amps so Ill use a pair of 4X12 tower cabs I'm buildint and then collect head versions of various amps to save space a little, 50 watts is plenty for me right now and I can get a good basic P.A. power amp if I really want it loud. at 65 I'm child of the '60's and I really like loud and proud... lol ...
I have a Katana MKII 50 and a Boss LX Dual Cube - and they are both awesome - the dual cube is such a good desktop amp and loud as hell
This video was super helpful. Thank you guys so much
If you want too play with an tube amp at your apartment. Better buy 1w. Like the Marshall DSL1CR
I own a Blues Junior and master higher than 2 is not possible without summoning annoyed neighbors. Still love it, it works great with all my pedals and also sounds good at low volume.
Been loving the Laney Leadtop. I got a 2x12 and it's loud enough for both home use and practice!
As a husband/father living in a 3 bedroom flat. I don’t have space for an amp. With the spark mini, I am more than happy.
I’ve had many of these small amps, and then some, for home use. if you have to play quiet the Yamaha THR 5 is your best bet. If you can turn it up a bit then the Kat 50. But my favorite home set up is my pedal board through a Joyo American sound amplified by a Fishman mini loud box. With that last set up a looper with drum machine sounds great, and I can even lay down bass tracks. If someone can find used a decent price, FR speaker I think the best way to go for home use is that. Even if you were just getting started that Joyo AMS plus a tube screamer type pedal and the Joyo OMB cannot be beat for practice.
So the fishman loudbox works fine with an electric guitar? I've been wanting to try this so I could also use it with my acoustic. I like your recommendation with the Joyo american sound.
@@paul38501 Yes, the Fishman works well as a full range speaker just like any other PA speaker would work. Of course simply running the electric guitar through it is not the way to go. You need something like an amp in a pedal like the Joyo or a UA dream 65.
@mkrj2576 thanks for the info.
Guitar players are sleeping on solid state bass amps. They're amazing for electric guitar, especially at home.
That's a good shout, but only for very specific genres. A solid state bass amp likely isn't gonna help the country player much
Country should be fine. But people who want lots of distortion may not be happy.
That's what Eric gales signature mark amp is based off of and he gigs it...but frequencies are tweaked ...what about hotone britwind or amp1 mercury even joyo Jackman ii are great for home
But how will the Bass Amp be able detect the other two strings?!?!?
Like what I'm using now. 😅
Im just using handmade JTM 45 clone 15W version with build in linear power reduction mod with bluesdriver and reverb pedal. That's it. Im set for life now :D
i use a 1976 fender twin reverb, hard to beat its sound and a fender champ 20 to practice on sometimes when i dont want to disturb the neighbors
Check out the new Jamstack 2! It makes all the other practice amps on the market look and sound like cute little novelty toys. It also employs state of the art tech and features not used by any other company.