# Shrunken Heads



## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

I like compact rigs for some reason. It's weird, because I haven't gigged in years and I don't jam as often as I'd like. So, it's not like I have to pack efficiently for some reason.

I have nothing against big amps. I used to play a Traynor Mk3 head with a 2x12 and later a Ceriatone OTS. But my preferred amp heads started to shrink over time. My current tube heads can fit into large re-usable grocery bags. (Bogner Barcelona and VVT X-40)

My current favorite shrunken head is the DV Mark GH Little 250. I wish I had this years ago! For a less serious amp, the Orange Micro Dark is a blast.

What's your favourite small amp setup or compact rig?









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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Hard to go wrong with a quilter these days. My buddy accidentally replaced his modded hiwatt with one.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Grab n Go said:


> I like compact rigs for some reason. It's weird, because I haven't gigged in years and I don't jam as often as I'd like. So, it's not like I have to pack efficiently for some reason.
> 
> I have nothing against big amps. I used to play a Traynor Mk3 head with a 2x12 and later a Ceriatone OTS. But my preferred amp heads started to shrink over time. My current tube heads can fit into large re-usable grocery bags. (Bogner Barcelona and VVT X-40)
> 
> ...


I have the DV Mark. Outside of scratchy pots, which is quite common I hear, it is far and away the best micro amp I've owned. Just a terrific sounding little gem.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Wow now you've got me looking into these amps.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Not really a head...but close to it.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

@greco Do you have one of those?


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Gigging is not really on my radar at the moment, but as far as a small, "grab and go" rig, I'd say this one is my favourite.

(the head has a built in speaker that works brilliantly for practicing.)


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## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

Love using a compact, light weight head. I don't gig much, but when I do, the car is full of gear. Every bit of saved space counts.

On my gigging board, I have The Amp from Milkman:










I also have an ammo can head from KO Amps in North Bay, Ontario:


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Chito said:


> @greco Do you have one of those?


Yes...I have had it for about two years now. PM me if you have any specific questions about it.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Budda said:


> Hard to go wrong with a quilter these days. My buddy accidentally replaced his modded hiwatt with one.


Yeah, I was considering a Quilter too, but hearing demos of the lead channel on the DV Mark sold me.

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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Milkman said:


> Gigging is not really on my radar at the moment, but as far as a small, "grab and go" rig, I'd say this one is my favourite.


Katanas are great! The Katana head is another one I was considering. One of the best amp deals around.



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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

DaddyDog said:


> Love using a compact, light weight head. I don't gig much, but when I do, the car is full of gear. Every bit of saved space counts.
> 
> On my gigging board, I have The Amp from Milkman:
> View attachment 323348
> ...


I've heard about the Milkman Amp. How is it voiced? More like a Vox or Fender? Pedalboard amps are a great idea in general.

KO Amps! I've owned some of his pedals before. That amp looks sweet.

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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Grab n Go said:


> Katanas are great! The Katana head is another one I was considering. One of the best amp deals around.
> 
> 
> 
> Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk


Well it will do pretty much anything I need. Having said that, I may also buy a Spark at some point.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Grab n Go said:


> Yeah, I was considering a Quilter too, but hearing demos of the lead channel on the DV Mark sold me.
> 
> Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk


I agree, I've also had a Quilter, I don't miss it at all.


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## David Graves (Apr 5, 2017)

Eric Gales is currently using a DV Mark. Hard to argue with his choices when it comes to tone.lol


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## DaddyDog (Apr 21, 2017)

Grab n Go said:


> I've heard about the Milkman Amp. How is it voiced? More like a Vox or Fender? Pedalboard amps are a great idea in general.


Definitely more Fender. I love that it’s my built in backup plan. Normally I use it like a pedal to drive an amp. If the amp fails (has happened), I can drive a speaker, or DI to the PA. If the the Milkman fails, I can just use the amp.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

I've posted this before, but here's a different picture.
The Orange Micro Dark- 20 watt hybrid head--I love the way this overdrives on it's own as well as how it handles a distortion pedal.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

I've got a couple of smaller amps. This is one of them. Mack Gem 2G is a micro tube amp, 4 watts and hand wired in Toronto, Canada. It has a power-switching feature, which lowers output from 4 watts to 0.4 watts, It also has controls for Volume, Gain, and Tone, and footswitchable preamp gain stages/channels. I have this actually for sale.


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## MetalTele79 (Jul 20, 2020)

I haven't played a ton of lunchbox amps but I've never been disappointed by my Orange Tiny Terror!

Also, I've never see it mentioned but I have a Valeton Tar-20g mini ss head that has a great clean tone, nice reverb and takes pedals like a champ. Also comes with a headphone out, line in, and effects loop. I think I got mine online for around $80 a few years ago.

Here's a pic grabbed from the net to show how tiny it is...










You can also see it on top of the VHT in this shot of my basement quarantine setup


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

zontar said:


> I've posted this before, but here's a different picture.
> The Orange Micro Dark- 20 watt hybrid head--I love the way this overdrives on it's own as well as how it handles a distortion pedal.
> View attachment 323398


Totally, it's such a fun little amp. Surprisingly loud through my 1x12 cab.

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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

Chito said:


> I've got a couple of smaller amps. This is one of them. Mack Gem 2G is a micro tube amp, 4 watts and hand wired in Toronto, Canada. It has a power-switching feature, which lowers output from 4 watts to 0.4 watts, It also has controls for Volume, Gain, and Tone, and footswitchable preamp gain stages/channels. I have this actually for sale.


I remember hearing about Mack amps a few years back. There was also a 30w head that I was considering at the time.

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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

MetalTele79 said:


> I haven't played a ton of lunchbox amps but I've never been disappointed by my Orange Tiny Terror!
> 
> Also, I've never see it mentioned but I have a Valeton Tar-20g mini ss head that has a great clean tone, nice reverb and takes pedals like a champ. Also comes with a headphone out, line in, and effects loop. I think I got mine online for around $80 a few years ago.
> 
> ...


Nice quarantine setup! That Valeton looks cool.

I noticed the Blackheart. Great little amp. Years ago I used it occasionally at rehearsals for fun, but at 5W I was really pushing it.

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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

My top grab n go is the one on top. Mesa TA15.












Setup was a TA15 and a Vox NT15, switched through a Radial Switchbone, into the PS and then the Thiele cab. Played with this for a while and eventually sold the NT15. The TA15 is so good at what it does. All 5 modes are very usable and it's pretty loud for a 2 X EL84 amp. 

If I can tolerate the complication, or if I think the TA15 won't be loud enough, I can always take my Kemper powered head, but it's often way overkill.




MetalTele79 said:


> I haven't played a ton of lunchbox amps but I've never been disappointed by my Orange Tiny Terror!
> 
> Also, I've never see it mentioned but I have a Valeton Tar-20g mini ss head that has a great clean tone, nice reverb and takes pedals like a champ. Also comes with a headphone out, line in, and effects loop. I think I got mine online for around $80 a few years ago.
> 
> ...


Cool setup. How old is your Cadillac?


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

High/Deaf said:


> If I can tolerate the complication, or if I think the TA15 won't be loud enough, I can always take my Kemper powered head, but it's often way overkill.


I hear you about the Kemper. I love it as a recording tool at home, but when playing outside, sometimes less is more.


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## MetalTele79 (Jul 20, 2020)

Grab n Go said:


> Nice quarantine setup! That Valeton looks cool.
> 
> I noticed the Blackheart. Great little amp. Years ago I used it occasionally at rehearsals for fun, but at 5W I was really pushing it.
> 
> Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk


Yeah. The Valeton is great for lower volume or silent playing while my baby sleeps.

I've never tried the Blackheart in a band setting but it's a great piece of gear for the price. When they were first announced I think I pre-ordered mine from Steve's Music for under $200.



High/Deaf said:


> Cool setup. How old is your Cadillac?


Thanks. The Caddy is from around 2008. I keep it tuned to C and mostly use it for riffing along to stoner/doom records.


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## zontar (Oct 25, 2007)

Grab n Go said:


> Totally, it's such a fun little amp. Surprisingly loud through my 1x12 cab.
> 
> Sent from my moto g(7) power using Tapatalk


When I bought mine I demo'ed it through a 4 x12 cab--and it sounded great & massive.
I did also demo it through smaller cabs.


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## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

The Mesa Mark Five:25 Combo is so small! It is only 7” taller than the head and 24lbs total. For that you get an all tube 2 channel, 6 mode, graphic eq, fx loop, reverb, and a great little 10” Creamback. Re-donk-u-lous how grab and go this little guy is. Volume box in the loop helps fine tune the volume level.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

madhermit said:


> The Mesa Mark Five:25 Combo is so small! It is only 7” taller than the head and 24lbs total. For that you get an all tube 2 channel, 6 mode, graphic eq, fx loop, reverb, and a great little 10” Creamback. Re-donk-u-lous how grab and go this little guy is. Volume box in the loop helps fine tune the volume level.


Very cool. I didn't know it came in a 10" speaker model. That's a lot of amp in a small combo. Reminds me of the Subway Rocket from the 90's.


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## madhermit (Dec 31, 2017)

Grab n Go said:


> Very cool. I didn't know it came in a 10" speaker model. That's a lot of amp in a small combo. Reminds me of the Subway Rocket from the 90's.


This combo is even smaller and lighter than the Subway series! It is pretty much a Pro Junior in size and weight.


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## Ti-Ron (Mar 21, 2007)

Budda said:


> Hard to go wrong with a quilter these days. My buddy accidentally replaced his modded hiwatt with one.


Do you lnow wich model he chooses?


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Ti-Ron said:


> Do you lnow wich model he chooses?


Not off the top of my head. One of the 200w ones I think.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Not a head, but my grab and go is this Valvetrain Tallboy.
A Tweed Princeton circuit with a 12" speaker that weighs only 20 pounds.

In behind on the 4 x 10 is a MarkBass Little Mark 250 Black Line.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

sulphur said:


> View attachment 325152
> 
> 
> Not a head, but my grab and go is this Valvetrain Tallboy.
> ...


That's a great size & weight for a combo. That cabinet design must add a bit of girth to the sound.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Grab n Go said:


> That's a great size & weight for a combo. That cabinet design must add a bit of girth to the sound.


I assume that it would over a 10" speaker and the added size of the cabinet.
I had one small combo with a 10" speaker before and avoided them ever since. Not a fan.
This combo comes with the 12", or two 8" speakers.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Over the years I have downsized to weight friendly bass combos (Markbass Jeff Berlin 115, Traynor SB115).
Recently re-acquired a Traynor Ironhorse that I regrettably sold a few years back.
I also have a pair of pedal amps. Traynor 1/4 horse (my wife likes this because of the headphone jack. lol) and a Hotone Britwind.
They all take turns through a 112 cab (80's Celestion Sidewinder 150w speaker).


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

laristotle said:


> Over the years I have downsized to weight friendly bass combos (Markbass Jeff Berlin 115, Traynor SB115).
> Recently re-acquired a Traynor Ironhorse that I regrettably sold a few years back.
> I also have a pair of pedal amps. Traynor 1/4 horse (my wife likes this because of the headphone jack. lol) and a Hotone Britwind.
> They all take turns through a 112 cab (80's Celestion Sidewinder 150w speaker).


Compact bass rigs are what inspired me to do the same for guitar. Seeing these 250-500W mini bass heads got me thinking.

I've tried the Ironhorse. Cool amp. Love the design. I was considering a Quarterhorse at some point, too. Great little solidstate amp.

That Britwind is a great idea! I didn't know they started combining their nano amp pedals into pedal amps.

What's the Sidewinder like? I had no idea 150w Celestions even existed.


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## laristotle (Aug 29, 2019)

Grab n Go said:


> I was considering a Quarterhorse at some point, too. Great little solidstate amp.


It is. Switches for clean/dirty channels, reverb, delay/tremolo. I jammed with it a few times and it holds up well with a band, if they're not too loud.


> That Britwind is a great idea! I didn't know they started combining their nano amp pedals into pedal amps.


70w @ 4Ω, 40w @ 8Ω, 18w @ 16Ω. Clean channel is based on a Vox, dirty is based on Marshall. Adjustable reverb and boost.


Grab n Go said:


> What's the Sidewinder like?


I like it a lot. I have a mid 80's Marshall Reverb 75 112 combo with that in it that I bought new. Always kept my eyes open over the years for another sidewinder and acquired it last year.

1/4 horse


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