recommendations for a battery powered micro-amp?

Dano · March 12th, 2004, 11:35 AM

My son is going off to camp for three weeks or so this summer, and he wants to take a guitar with him. He has a small 3/4-size cheap acoustic and an electric Fernandes LP (we're a mixed-faith family; I like single coils, he likes humbuckers). He's been getting into classic punk lately, so the Fernandes would be the better choice, but he'll need to plug it in to something light and portable for those Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys campfire singalongs, something smaller than a Pignose, Crate, or Fender's amp in a can. We noticed Jack Black's tiny Marshall in "School of Rock," and thought that one of those would be fine, but Fender makes a couple around that size, and there's also the Smoky, among others. Any recommendations?

Thanks for your help.

Twangster · March 12th, 2004, 11:43 AM

I bought a Fender Mini-Twin a few years back for the same reason (camping with my Tele). It costs about $30 and has Volume, Gain and Tone control so you can play it clean or with distortion.

I think it sounds amazing. It also has a headphone jack.
Its about 6X4X2".

stantheman · March 12th, 2004, 12:05 PM

I bought Fender's original MA-10 when it came out years and years ago (STILL WORKS). It has a belt/backpack
doodad for clipping on (also great for fences). Bought
it for playing at the "Hairpin Turn" at the Miller State Park
what a great view (Route 101A West in New Hampshire).
Nothin' like a couple of Strats at "ear poppin' elevation".
ALSO try pluggin' one of these into a Tube Amp for giggles.....RAW POWER.

eryque · March 12th, 2004, 02:45 PM

I don't think the Smokey has any controls at all, so you just control the level from the guitar.

I burned out one of those baby Marshalls when I was in college, but it was pretty cool to have a teeny weeny little stack like that.

FWIW, I thought the Smokey, Marshall, and Fender all sounded like garbage. With all the hoopla around the Smokey, I thought it would sound better, but it was just like the Marshall or Fender. Dano's got a little one too that sounded just a bit better, called a Honeytone or something.

biker joe · March 12th, 2004, 04:32 PM

I've had a baby marshall for 10 years and it is still going strong. It has a nice distortion sound and can be loud enough to way overpower accoustics. It can play clean too but for that it doesn't have the headroom to compete with an acoustic. I have been so happy with my marshall that I haven't even tried the fender. I would love to hear someone's comparison. I have tried the smokey. It is also very cool. Very very small. But only one sound... distorted. It sounded to me like a good zztop campfire amp...

JohnnyAtomic · March 12th, 2004, 06:14 PM

definitely smokey, all of 'em sound like poop through a little tiny speaker, with the smokey you can plug it into a cab and get some pretty dang good tones. i have a little harmony amp cab from the 50's w/ a little alnico jensen 10 that i rigged up for dedicated smokey use. great for small places and no need for electricity.
johnny atomic

Ron_Fouler · March 12th, 2004, 07:21 PM

If you're only looking for a hadphone amp, why not try a Zoom 505II multiFX?
I actually use one on the Fender Deluxe112+ SS amp I have here as a preamp. Sounds good thru phones, too. Impractical for a group, I guess....

Gord K. · March 12th, 2004, 09:22 PM

Have you ever considered building your own?

National Semiconductors makes an amplifier chip, the LM386, and in their data sheets they have a schematic for a simple amp. It is 325 to 750 mW depending on how you build it. I just sat here with my Digi-key catalog and all the parts (except for a printed circuit board) would cost about $25 CDN. Being in NY, you could probably find the parts easily and could reduce the cost even more.

This would be a no-frills, single knob ON-OFF switch with Volume control amp that would run off either a 9V battery or 4 AA batteries. I have built a couple of these and so have some of my high school students.

If you feel a little more ambitious, you could build a bigger brother to this amp that would have two controls; the ON-OFF switch and volume control in one knob, and a CLEAN-DIRTY blender on a second knob.

Or you can go all out and build the Practiceman amplifier that is designed to work of 4 AA batteries and has the ON-OFF-VOL, CLEAN-DIRTY, AND tone controls. (I haven't yet tried to build this one).

A student brought a Marshall MS-2 in for me to look at - the OFF-ON-OD switch is flakey on his. I was noodling around with it and then went and got my homemade amp with the CLEAN-DIRTY feature so that I could compare the two. Another student who was working on an assignment in the classroom at the time liked the sound of my amp better than the Marshall (so did I but that's just personal opinion).

It may not look as cool as the Fender, Marshall, or any other mini's, but I think it sounds okay. And imagine the "cool factor" of your son being able to say he built it himself, or that his dad built it for him.

If you think that you would be interested in giving this a try, let me know and I'll be glad to help you out.

Gord.

Wayne Alexander · March 12th, 2004, 09:29 PM

The little battery powered Marshall one sounds great, way better than you'd think. It eats batteries though, so if you get him one send several 9V batteries with it.

Doc · March 13th, 2004, 12:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gord K.

Have you ever considered building your own?

National Semiconductors makes an amplifier chip, the LM386, and in their data sheets they have a schematic for a simple amp. It is 325 to 750 mW depending on how you build it. I just sat here with my Digi-key catalog and all the parts (except for a printed circuit board) would cost about $25 CDN. Being in NY, you could probably find the parts easily and could reduce the cost even more.

This would be a no-frills, single knob ON-OFF switch with Volume control amp that would run off either a 9V battery or 4 AA batteries. I have built a couple of these and so have some of my high school students.

If you feel a little more ambitious, you could build a bigger brother to this amp that would have two controls; the ON-OFF switch and volume control in one knob, and a CLEAN-DIRTY blender on a second knob.

Or you can go all out and build the Practiceman amplifier that is designed to work of 4 AA batteries and has the ON-OFF-VOL, CLEAN-DIRTY, AND tone controls. (I haven't yet tried to build this one).

A student brought a Marshall MS-2 in for me to look at - the OFF-ON-OD switch is flakey on his. I was noodling around with it and then went and got my homemade amp with the CLEAN-DIRTY feature so that I could compare the two. Another student who was working on an assignment in the classroom at the time liked the sound of my amp better than the Marshall (so did I but that's just personal opinion).

It may not look as cool as the Fender, Marshall, or any other mini's, but I think it sounds okay. And imagine the "cool factor" of your son being able to say he built it himself, or that his dad built it for him.

If you think that you would be interested in giving this a try, let me know and I'll be glad to help you out.

Gord.

I have a raidio shack that is this very thing (or very close). It runs about $10-$15 from them (or did). It is buried around here someplace or I would give you the number. It was cleaner than a Smokey (I haveone of those here someplace as well).

kinolo · March 14th, 2004, 12:25 PM

not a belt type amp-but ya mite wanna give a Hiwatt Desktop Bulldog a look. http://www.aampselectricguitarstore....g_desktop.html
-or-
http://www.guitarsandaudio.com/custo...cat=342&page=1

Dano · March 15th, 2004, 03:30 PM

Thanks for all the comments and advice. The idea of building one sounds really cool; maybe as the summer looms I'll get some specifics.

March 12th, 2004, 11:35 AM	#1 (permalink)
Dano Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 101	recommendations for a battery powered micro-amp? My son is going off to camp for three weeks or so this summer, and he wants to take a guitar with him. He has a small 3/4-size cheap acoustic and an electric Fernandes LP (we're a mixed-faith family; I like single coils, he likes humbuckers). He's been getting into classic punk lately, so the Fernandes would be the better choice, but he'll need to plug it in to something light and portable for those Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys campfire singalongs, something smaller than a Pignose, Crate, or Fender's amp in a can. We noticed Jack Black's tiny Marshall in "School of Rock," and thought that one of those would be fine, but Fender makes a couple around that size, and there's also the Smoky, among others. Any recommendations? Thanks for your help.

March 12th, 2004, 11:43 AM	#2 (permalink)
Twangster Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 191	Fender Mini Twin I bought a Fender Mini-Twin a few years back for the same reason (camping with my Tele). It costs about $30 and has Volume, Gain and Tone control so you can play it clean or with distortion. I think it sounds amazing. It also has a headphone jack. Its about 6X4X2".

March 12th, 2004, 12:05 PM	#3 (permalink)
stantheman Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: White Mountains Posts: 5,071	I bought Fender's original MA-10 when it came out years and years ago (STILL WORKS). It has a belt/backpack doodad for clipping on (also great for fences). Bought it for playing at the "Hairpin Turn" at the Miller State Park what a great view (Route 101A West in New Hampshire). Nothin' like a couple of Strats at "ear poppin' elevation". ALSO try pluggin' one of these into a Tube Amp for giggles.....RAW POWER. __________________ Somebody Loan Me A Dime

March 12th, 2004, 06:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
JohnnyAtomic Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 1,352	definitely smokey, all of 'em sound like poop through a little tiny speaker, with the smokey you can plug it into a cab and get some pretty dang good tones. i have a little harmony amp cab from the 50's w/ a little alnico jensen 10 that i rigged up for dedicated smokey use. great for small places and no need for electricity. johnny atomic __________________ flaming hamper of rock! www.myspace.com/johnnyatomicmusic

March 12th, 2004, 07:21 PM	#7 (permalink)
Ron_Fouler TDPRI Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Hertfordshire, England Posts: 85	If you're only looking for a hadphone amp, why not try a Zoom 505II multiFX? I actually use one on the Fender Deluxe112+ SS amp I have here as a preamp. Sounds good thru phones, too. Impractical for a group, I guess.... __________________ "In the beginning, the Universe was created! This has made a lot of people very angry, and been widely regarded as a bad move...." Douglas Adams

March 12th, 2004, 02:45 PM	#4 (permalink)
eryque Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: albany, ny [not chicago] Posts: 7,241 44 Photos	I don't think the Smokey has any controls at all, so you just control the level from the guitar. I burned out one of those baby Marshalls when I was in college, but it was pretty cool to have a teeny weeny little stack like that. FWIW, I thought the Smokey, Marshall, and Fender all sounded like garbage. With all the hoopla around the Smokey, I thought it would sound better, but it was just like the Marshall or Fender. Dano's got a little one too that sounded just a bit better, called a Honeytone or something.

March 12th, 2004, 04:32 PM	#5 (permalink)
biker joe Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 298	I've had a baby marshall for 10 years and it is still going strong. It has a nice distortion sound and can be loud enough to way overpower accoustics. It can play clean too but for that it doesn't have the headroom to compete with an acoustic. I have been so happy with my marshall that I haven't even tried the fender. I would love to hear someone's comparison. I have tried the smokey. It is also very cool. Very very small. But only one sound... distorted. It sounded to me like a good zztop campfire amp...

March 12th, 2004, 09:22 PM	#8 (permalink)
Gord K. Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Winnipeg, MB Posts: 154	Another thought. Have you ever considered building your own? National Semiconductors makes an amplifier chip, the LM386, and in their data sheets they have a schematic for a simple amp. It is 325 to 750 mW depending on how you build it. I just sat here with my Digi-key catalog and all the parts (except for a printed circuit board) would cost about $25 CDN. Being in NY, you could probably find the parts easily and could reduce the cost even more. This would be a no-frills, single knob ON-OFF switch with Volume control amp that would run off either a 9V battery or 4 AA batteries. I have built a couple of these and so have some of my high school students. If you feel a little more ambitious, you could build a bigger brother to this amp that would have two controls; the ON-OFF switch and volume control in one knob, and a CLEAN-DIRTY blender on a second knob. Or you can go all out and build the Practiceman amplifier that is designed to work of 4 AA batteries and has the ON-OFF-VOL, CLEAN-DIRTY, AND tone controls. (I haven't yet tried to build this one). A student brought a Marshall MS-2 in for me to look at - the OFF-ON-OD switch is flakey on his. I was noodling around with it and then went and got my homemade amp with the CLEAN-DIRTY feature so that I could compare the two. Another student who was working on an assignment in the classroom at the time liked the sound of my amp better than the Marshall (so did I but that's just personal opinion). It may not look as cool as the Fender, Marshall, or any other mini's, but I think it sounds okay. And imagine the "cool factor" of your son being able to say he built it himself, or that his dad built it for him. If you think that you would be interested in giving this a try, let me know and I'll be glad to help you out. Gord.

March 12th, 2004, 09:29 PM	#9 (permalink)
Wayne Alexander Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA Posts: 1,083	The little battery powered Marshall one sounds great, way better than you'd think. It eats batteries though, so if you get him one send several 9V batteries with it.

March 14th, 2004, 12:25 PM	#11 (permalink)
kinolo TDPRI Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: NC-USA !!! Posts: 15	not a belt type amp-but ya mite wanna give a Hiwatt Desktop Bulldog a look. http://www.aampselectricguitarstore....g_desktop.html -or- http://www.guitarsandaudio.com/custo...cat=342&page=1 __________________ Smile--it makes people wonder.

March 15th, 2004, 03:30 PM	#12 (permalink)
Dano Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Long Island, NY Posts: 101	thanks for the comments Thanks for all the comments and advice. The idea of building one sounds really cool; maybe as the summer looms I'll get some specifics.