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TF200 - Laney
by elliotcarter70
I think this amp's sound may be something of an aquired taste however I personally love it. It features a solid state clean channel but incorporates a valve in the 2 drive channels (I believe). Overall it has incredible warmth and a really beautiful sound.
First off I can say it weighs a hell of a lot and to anyone without a roadie ... this it is kind of a pain to move around to be honest I'm not sure if any amp this size is any lighter.
Its rated at 100 watts and for that I'd say its on the quiet side. Don't let that fool you though this thing is super loud! I've only once been to full volume "just to see".
The most important thing is the sound. Like I said its warm. The clean channel is lovely and the reverb on all 3 channels sparkles. Some might miss the lack of Marshall style crunch, this is an amp more at home in muddy rock a la Queens Of The Stone Age. Which isn't to say its a one trick pony but its got its own particular vibe. Which reminds me; it has a little button marked "vibe" and I don't know what it does but with that pushed in is when this amp shines, it just gives everything that little bit extra.
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Vox AC4TV
by robertjb
I've heard quite a few times that there is no such thing as a good low-wattage valve amp but lately that seems to be changing with amps such as the Blackstar HT-5, Blackheart Little Giant, Orange Tiny Terror and now the Vox AC4 TV. It is based on the old AC4 amplifier but reduced to 5 watts and with some nifty modern features. ...
Here are the specs:
Controls: Tone, Volume, OP Level (4W, 1W, 1/4 W)
In/Out Jacks: Input, External Speaker Jack (1/4")
Output: 4 Watt RMS 16-Ohm
Speakers: AC4TV 1 x 10" 16-Ohm Celestion VX10 custom speaker;
Valve/Tube Complement: 1 x 12AX7 (pre) / 1 x EL84 (power)
AC4TV Dimensions: 13.78" (W) x 8.46" (D) x 14.76" (H);
AC4TV Weight: 19.84 lbs
As you can see from the spec it has a built in attenuator. So you can select from 4 to 1, to 0.25 watts. This is a great feature which allows you to get valve tones at low volumes. It only has one channel so if you want to get overdrive you need to turn up the volume with humbuckers it usually breaks up at around 5 o'clock. There is a tone control which allows you to choose how bright or dark it sounds. This is my first valve amp and I love it so much already. The clean sound just has so much more quality than my old cube 30X. The only way I can describe it is that it has more presence and just sounds more sparkly. When you crank it you get that unmistakable vox overdrive and it sounds like the amp is roaring when you play chords. This amp is pretty versatile and has enough gain for most things except metal.
I heartily recommend this to anyone looking for a valve amp for bedroom pratice. A lot of people seem to be recommending the Blackstar but I think this is better especially if you don't play metal and even if you do you can get this and a decent overdrive pedal or distortion pedal for cheaper than the Blackstar.A pure bargain
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Digitech Bad Monkey
by amnesiac
The Bad Monkey is a surprisingly cheap overdrive pedal, designed to replicate the sound of an overdriven tube amp. It can also be used as a clean boost.
The Bad Monkey has 4 controls/knobs. A level knob to control the pedal output or volume, a gain knob to control the amount of distortion/clipping, a low knob to control the ... amount of bass and a high knob for the amount of treble. These provide plenty of control over the sound from the pedal.
The pedal is built into a metal case, I really can't see this breaking on me. The pedal can be powered by a 9V power supply or by a 9V battery. It has 1 input and 2 outputs, one for amps or for plugging straight into a mixer.
With the gain knob turned right down the bad monkey can be used as a clean/volume boost. Used with a tube amp this will drive the tubes harder pushing it towards natural overdrive. If you want a straight up volume boost just keep the two tone knobs at halfway or you can use them to tweak the sound a bit, adding bass or treble. With the gain knob low you can get great breakup sounds. At high gain levels the pedal can get up to classic rock levels of overdrive, not really as suitable for modern music.
The pedal works best as a boost and with low gain stuff. It doesn't sound as good when the gain gets turned up but for the price this is an amazing pedal. If you're looking for an overdrive pedal without wanting to spend too much this should be it.
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