What would be the response of low powered amps? (PLEASE READ AND RESPOND)

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by aryasridhar, Oct 10, 2012.

  1. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    I am working on a few things here, which are low powered amps, think 5watts upto 50 watts....

    These amps would be made with the best components and would be handwired....PCB's may be used depending on the need....

    These would mostly be EL84 or 6V6 based amps, ranging from 5 to 50 watts.......

    What do you think would be the response for such amps in India? In my effort i want to ensure that the amps are affordable and are made really well.....I am already making effects pedals which you can check out on my facebook page Arya Pedals | Facebook

    I have put in a lot of effort and energy into making pedals that both look good and sound good, and more importantly using parts which are high quality and are very reliable.....each pedal i make is tested out thoroughly and is not shipped out until and unless I am satisfied with the overall quality....

    Here your opinion counts in what you think would be the need of the hour, as in what kind of amps you are looking for and also a price point as well which would attract you....

    Please please respond and let me know your thoughts on this.....
     
  2. guitarplayer729

    guitarplayer729 New Member

    Well that is really a good next step.
    Building Amplifiers, the price should be affordable and cheap, about 10-15k for 5-10w amplifiers(having an 8" speaker).

    Edit:- If it is less than 10k and has a single tube and an 8" speaker, then its something different.

    Also if you wanted to know what I want, it would be a 5150 5w combo with an 8" speaker and under 15k.(Don't build it!)
     
  3. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Ok, Thanks for the feedback mate, but just so you know....and a BIG LOL to the 5150 5 watter, and moreover with that kind of gain, I bet you will hate the amp with an 8" speaker in it.......
     
  4. guitarplayer729

    guitarplayer729 New Member

    Haven't got any experience with tube amps
    Only used 4 amps in my life(all solid states)
     
  5. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    What amps do you own? - The reason i said an 8" speaker isn't good is due to the following reasons.
    1) Small Size of the cone would mean really less bass
    2) High frequencies may be harsh...
    3) Small speaker sounds boxy and doesn't sound open and BIG as does a 12" speaker....

    With a tube that is expressive, you need the speaker to be flexible and expressive too......these cost cutting measures are driving the companies to make 8 inch spkrs etc...e.g Cub 8 etc, but I hated the cub 8 with its speaker, and loved the amp with a Laney 412 :D
     
  6. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    Do one thing: make a 5W amps and label it as 50W.
    You know how humans are crazy about big numbers.
    ;)

    Most of the time, anyway, players don't use even 1 Watt of their amp power.

    Viable business venture?
    Perhaps it is - because there is this BE amps BE3 Amplifiers - INDIA which is running for long.
    I guess you would need to be "present" in the music scene - because your amps would be more sold on "word of mouth".

    Price point?
    It actually depends on which way you wish to sell. If its a word of mouth way. Then people will be willing to pay higher than the big brands - because they would feel/know that they can count on this product - and it can be tailor made.

    If its a mass marketing way - then you will have to price it less than the big brands. And people will, in most cases, not pay a premium for the higher specifications that you put in.


    If you want my choice about which kind of amps?
    Simple: Marshall JCM 800 at 5 watts ;-)
    And Mesa Mark III or IV at 5 Watts :-D

    But I guess most people these days prefer the ultra heavy white noise sounding amps (Metchul players) or the Plexi /Tweed sort of lower gain amps (blues/jazz players).
     
  7. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Hahahaha....I agree on the numbers point you made, 5w-50w thing......my amps are not going to be mass produced or anything, these are going to be built to order......The point is, not to make something that no one wants....but something that is practical.....I wonder why one would need a 100 watter to use in a bedroom....well honestly, i was contemplating getting one too :) but then soon realized, not worth it....A 20 watt amp at max is really more than enough, even for small gigs or home practice.....

    Its nice to know that someone has a similar opinion like i do, A JCM 800, 5 watt version :)
    A Mark III/IV 5 watter is a cool option too, however I guess it would be super complicated to achieve all the tones of a Mark V....in a unit with lower wattage and yet make it affordable......really.....Mark IV is my personal favourite in terms of versatility.....

    and yeah there are just 2 types of amps, if you broadly look at it, higher gain and fendery/british amps....I am not calling fender/british amps the same, but mean those fit the bill for blues/Jazz guys....here we are not talking about Boutique amps etc.....just the regular brands from the UK and the US.....except Mesa....

    I have not thought about how to promote these yet, as i am still at the initial stages.....I personally do not like the aesthetics of BE amps, however from what i have heard on youtube, they sound nice.....my idea is to give a good look and feel and ofcourse the top priority is a flexible amp with great tones.....

    I believe in trying to build something that is versatile and covers a lot of ground.....that's what i am working on at the moment.....however i strongly feel that a nephrologist should be left to deal with the kidneys and not the liver.....
     
  8. guitarplayer729

    guitarplayer729 New Member

    Ooooh. I own a Laney LX12 10w with a 6" speaker.
    But have played a 12" speaker on a Line6 IV Spider 30
    And a Roland 20XL(dont know the speaker)
    and on a stupid stranger
     
  9. guitarplayer729

    guitarplayer729 New Member

    The JCM 800 was my another choice. There was also an amp model I liked on my RP355 which had a nickname of 77Str(Master Volume '77) something like that. Also there is Soldano SLO-100 which you can do a 15w version of I guess if 5w is too less.
     
  10. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Blackstar HT copies would be great... They have awesome cleans and for 1 or 5 watters, do awesome for metal... Wonder how a 5 watt amp could be tweaked so much that they can do metal....
     
  11. guitarplayer729

    guitarplayer729 New Member

    Their ISF feature is also great.
     
  12. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Blackstar HT 1 and 5 are actually pedals really, the same circuit etc that they use in their HT series pedals, these HT pedals are really nice BTW......I have read and heard that these amps are great sounding and versatile etc.....but what's the point of cloning something that is already affordable.....HT1 head costs about 14k or so, and the HT5 is about 27k i think.....on saptaswara...HT5 is overpriced for sure :)

    But the idea here is to make some amps that are low watt, good specs and are made well, and ofcourse the tone, which is the most imp thing.....
     
  13. ayu135

    ayu135 New Member

    I would really like to have a good sounding(i am really picky when it comes to my tone) high gain amp under 20w, I am a big fan of the dual rectifier. That JCM 800 idea is good too. Yeah and a two(or more) channels, an effects loop, an attenuator would be nice too.

    Also many of the big name manufacturers started out small, so who knows you might make a name for yourself.

    PS: Also clear your inbox i wanted to ask you where you got the eminence speakers from for your cab.
     
  14. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Done, Cleared.....

    And thanks for the encouragement man, it is really important :)
     
  15. alpha1

    alpha1 I BLUES!

    Do you have a youtube or soundclick or soundcast (what is that name?) page?
    Put it in your sig - because I can access media sites only from home network.

    The reason why I asked for Mark III was because of inherent simplicity compared to later Marks, and also because of the searing levels of gain. Actually if you can deliver a Plexi modded to sound like VH1 and VH2 - that would also gather lot of ears.

    If I were you, I would also try to promote this internationally (using forums and youtube/facebook etc). You know a lot of foreigners visit India for "cheap vacations" and they may pick your gear up!

    PS, just to get you high check this: Guru amps (damn the site page no longer exists https://www.guruamplifiers.com/)
    Scroll down to the gear: https://www.guitarprasanna.com/EGL/
    https://www.auroville.org/society/faces/roy.html
     
  16. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Good point, i will update my SIG with the details, for now here are the details

    aryasridhar's sounds on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

    Arya Pedals | Facebook

    aryasridhar007's channel - YouTube

    The above links have the sound clips and videos of the pedals i have made so far....the amp stuff would come up soon.....
     
  17. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    @aryasridhar

    Do the Dual/Triple Rectifiers and the V twins actually have rectifier circuits in them or is it just a name?
     
  18. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    V twin is a preamp pedal, works on 2 Preamp tubes and that's about it, the tubes are not starved, in the sense they get the full 300v that a Preamp tube needs to operate at it optimum......most pedals with preamp tubes do NOT work at full voltages, they do sound warm but not warm enough....
    VTwin uses Solid State Rectification as it works on high voltages....but the preamp emulates some of the Mesa amps......
     

Share This Page