Portable, Potent Mini Combo Amps Deliver the Goods

"Gear Guy Chris" aka Chris Grova is a veteran collector of instruments, gear, and gizmos. He shares his knowledge about what to buy, or what to dream about buying.

Last summer, I booked a solo electric guitar gig for an outdoor wedding ceremony. I knew a few things: despite the lovely location, there wouldn’t be an electrical outlet nearby, and New Jersey in August was sure to be hot and humid. To remedy this problem, (not looking forward to lugging a 60-pound Rivera combo amp in my ‘heat absorbing’ tux), your humble scribe decided to set out and explore some ‘amp downsizing’ options. What I found was a fairly wide array of portable mini combo amps that are way big on tone and features.
 
The majority of these minis are made by the same manufacturers that produce the bigger boys you guitar players out there have either seen, heard, and possibly already own. Here are some standouts:
 
Marshall. The brand-new entry-level MG (Marshall Guitar) range of solid state amps include some ultra portable offerings that deliver the classic Marshall ‘analogue’ tone and feature cutting-edge digital technology.  The 2-watt MG2FX with its 6 ½-inch speaker packs a serious feature-laden punch of 10 Marshall voice modes to select from. Its digital effects include chorus, phaser, flanger, reverb, and delay, and to top it off — a built in tuner.  The MG2FX can also run on batteries as well.

Roland. The Cube Series of Roland’s compact guitar amps delivers versatility in a small package. Using its patented COSM (Composite Object Sound Modeling) amp modeling, the Micro Cube (2 watts/5-inch speaker) and its big brother, the Micro Cube RX (5 watts/4 x 4-inch speakers, true stereo) are able to mimic the sonic textures of leading amps including the JC-120, Roland’s legendary Jazz Chorus combo. Six DSP effects include chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo and delay/reverb, and both run on battery or AC power.

Orange. Orange amps are known for their distinct gain and overdrive, and the Micro Crush has that famous gain with a capital “G”!  While you can get a surprisingly decent clean sound out of this little dude (and we do mean little, it’s just 5- x 5-inches), you’re probably more interested in that classic Orange “crunch.” And it doesn’t disappoint. With 3 watts and a 4-inch speaker, the Micro Crush is light on the effects bells and whistles, but does come with a handy built-in tuner in addition to the volume, tone, and overdrive controls – all you need is a 9-volt battery.
 

Vox. The Vox DA (Digital Amp) Series combines the convenience and freedom of optional battery power, with a dizzying array of amp-type sounds and effects.  These babies go to 11…literally. While each model differs in wattage and speaker configuration, they all boast 11 distinct Vox tone styles from those classic chimey cleans, to blues, crunch, high gain, and overdrive.  There are also 11 digital effects settings to choose from — including delay with tap functionality, reverb, compression, and some cool combinations like chorus+delay, and tremolo+reverb. Full disclosure: the 10-watt, 2 x 6.5-inch speakered DA10 proved to be the perfect solution for my wedding gig dilemma.        

Now let’s keep reality in check – just like anything in life there will be trade-offs. Obviously the low-watt mini with all its ‘grab and go’ convenience will only throw so much sound, and some vacuum tube purists may be hard to win over regardless. But for practice, jams, or even the occasional backyard gig, you can’t go wrong with any of these little tone puppies.  So, if low-hassle amp portability is something you’ve been meaning to cross off your 2010 “to do” list, I recommend you go check ‘em out.

Tune in next time when we’ll highlight some funky cool ‘under the radar’ guitar companies and their wares….till then…

“Gear Guy Chris,” aka Chris Grova has been providing shelter, love, and a good home to wayward guitars, amps, effects pedals, and other assorted musical gizmos for over 30 years. Luckily, his wife and neighbors don’t seem to mind.