For the ultimate busking sound or for gigs in flowery meadows, AER Compact Mobile 60W offers high-end off-grid acoustic amplification. Jerry Uwins counts the pennies Battery-powered amps are usually budget buys, but AER’s Compact Mobile is aimed at the well-heeled player looking for high-quality, go-anywhere amplification. It’s based on the popular Compact 60 but adds […]
Vintage Amps
Ampeg BA300/210 Bass Combo
Designed for a pain-free trek from car boot to stage, this Ampeg BA300/210 Bass still offers 300W, two punchy 10″ speakers, a compressor and lots of adaptability. Review by Gareth Morgan Ampeg BA300/210 Bass combos were supposed to hit the streets a year ago, but in the intervening period Ampeg’s design boffins had a rethink […]
Phil Jones Bass Super Flightcase Combo
Modern technology and clever design can give tons of bass power with less size and weight than some 20W 1×12″ valve Phil Jones Bass Super Flightcase guitar combos. Review: Gareth Morgan. PJB’s original and rather excellent Flightcase combo garnered lots of praise, including some from ourselves (see the review in G&B, December 2008, Vol 18 […]
VVT Amps Lindy Fralin Model
Lindy Fralin is famous for fine pickups. And now he’s launched a combo that bucks the current trend for hairy-sounding valve amps with no clean headroom. Review: Huw Price Lindy Fralin isn’t the first pickup maker to try his hand at this game. Remember Seymour VVT Amps Lindy Fralin 1980s modular valve amps? But he’s […]
Line 6 Spider Valve 212 Combo
The Spider Valve’s amp models pay tribute to everything from a Hiwatt, a Bassman and a Plexi to a Dual Rectifierю As pioneers of all things modelling including the groundbreaking Pod and Vetta solid state amps, Line 6 Spider Valve 212 Combo have been long been aware that a favoured Pod set up is to […]
Line 6 Bogner Alchemist 2×12 Combo
When Bogner isn’t designing amps for Line 6 he also builds his own boutique amps, recently rebranded as ‘Custom Shop’ to make space in the product range for his first mass-produced line, the Alchemist. Aiming to deliver the flexibility, pure valve signal path and rich tone of his higher-priced kit at a reachable price level, […]
Peavey Windsor Studio Amp Review
Able to swamp output valves and with a built-in power soak, the Peavey Windsor Studio is one of the hottest affordable home/recording/small gig amps out there. Peavey introduced the Windsor range in 2006 with a name, as well as a look to the cabinet Peavey Windsor Studiodesign. That suggested a British amplifier influence. A trend […]
Mesa/Boogie M6 Carbine Combo bass amp review
The 600W M6 Carbine combo is hand-built in Petaluma, California from marine-grade birch plywood. It’s bulky – 761mm high, 546mm wide and 454mm deep – and hellish heavy at 43.6kg/96lbs, but it has two castors at the rear for tilt-and-roll operation. Phew. The M6 has not one but two 300W neodymium-magnet 12″ speakers and an […]
Fender Princeton Reverb
The sweet-toned, low-powered Fender Princeton Reverb always gets vintage Fender amp fans scrabbling for their wallets. Fender’s reissue of the legendary Princeton Reverb has been just as eagerly awaited as their ’57 Deluxe. Small valve amps are back in vogue, as most guitarists have twigged that they can’t really crank 50W or 100W amps at […]
TecAmp Puma 212 Bass Combo
Tall, simple and conservatively-dressed, TecAmp Puma 212 Bass Combo offer an efficient German take on the perfect bass sound, at a price. Review by Gareth Morgan TecAmp Puma 212 Bass Combo has been designing and building professional bass equipment for over 20 years. This unheralded German company was the first to use neodymium speaker technology […]