As I have got into the habit of leaving my guitar amplifier in our
practice room, I thought that it would be a good idea to buy a small amp so that
I can practice at home and also get more acquainted with the various sounds
available on the Stagg Tele.
So I looked at various options available from Israeli music stores then I
looked at what is
available
on the Internet. In the end I plumped for the amplifier pictured on the left;
deliberately I have given no idea of the scale of this amp, but it occurs to
me that the input socket is standard so one can figure out how big the amp is
- 12.5 cm high, 12.2 cm wide and 6 cm in depth. In other words, it's
miniscule.
The amplifier arrived within 10-11 days of ordering which is very fast. In
fact, when I went to pick up the parcel, I had no idea of what I was
collecting (because I didn't expect anything yet), although had I been more on
the ball, I would have seen that the messages that I had been receiving via
Email and SMS originated from the person selling the amp (I almost never look
at the name). This cost all of about 85 NIS, plus another 20 NIS for the
battery.
In fact, I was a bit dubious about the battery: the standard 9 volt battery has
distinctive connectors whereas the amp had only two small sheets of metal. I
put the battery in one way and turned on the amp but no guide light came on. I
then turned the battery upside down - this way worked. It seems as if the
manufacturer saved a few pennies by not using the regular 9v connectors.
But what does the amp sound like? Very good, in fact. I discovered that the
neck pickup on the Stagg that I had previously ignored turned out to sound
better than the bridge pickup, at least through this amp. The amp even has an
overdrive setting which is basically increasing the gain in the pre-amp stage
so that the final sound is distorted. Not bad, but I can't see myself ever
using this option.
Those with a good memory may recall that I wrote several years ago about buying a small practice amp (Aroma AG-03M Rechargable Cube Guitar Amplifier). I looked for this a few weeks ago but couldn't find it which is why I ordered a new amplifier. I wasn't too enamoured of that amplifier because it automatically came up with overdrive and the controls were a bit fiddly. On the other hand, it didn't need a battery.
I am sorely tempted to take this amp with me for the next band practice,
saying that I've bought a new amplifier. It's worth it for the joke value.
Incidentally, whilst unpacking the guitar lead that came with the guitar in a
plastic bag, I discovered that the guitar did indeed come with two Allen keys,
should I need to straighten the neck. I originally wrote that this accessory
was missing, or at least was not supplied. Sorry.
Conclusion: a well spent 100 NIS.
This day in history:
| Title | Tags | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | Donwloading from YouTube | King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator, Youtube | |
| 513 | Watching the dark | DCI Banks, Peter Robinson | |
| 1262 | Many rivers to cross | DCI Banks | |
| 1340 | Birthday (song) | MIDI |
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