Pignose

spauldingrules

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Anyone play through the Pignose little practice amp?  Opinions?  I'm still looking for a good low volume practice amp.
 
I used to have an original pignose and it really did have a great sound for what it was, a fairly cheap little practice amp.  However, going by what I read in your other thread about this, it may still be too loud.  It sounded best when it was cranked.  Try a Little Smokies, they are tiny and they have the unusual ability to drive a 4x12 when you want to get a little bigger sound from them.  Plus they are just plain fun!
 
Zappa's main studio amp. Of course he was playing super high output guitars through his.
 
Again, headphones may be in order for apartment practice.  Have you looked at the Hog 20?  Good amp too, not too much, plus it has headphones.  Also, peavey makes a tube amp for about two hundred that's good.  Has headphones.  (see the other thread for more info)

I gotta look into one of those smokies.  Never used one.  How do you like it?
 
GoDrex said:
Zappa's main studio amp. Of course he was playing super high output guitars through his.

I saw a video of Roxy Music on German TV, and Phil Manzanera had a Pignose running into a Hiwatt. Sounded good to me.
 
Decibels

Sound levels are measured in Decibels (db) In essence, our ears detect differences in volume level in a non-linear fashion. Our ears become less sensitive to sound as it increases.

Decibels are a logarithmic scale of relative loudness. A difference of approx. 1 db is the minimum perceptible change in volume, 3 db is a moderate change in volume, and about 10 db is an approximate doubling of volume.
To give you an idea of how this relates to real-world situations the following examples are listed:

0 db is the threshold of hearing
Whisper: 15-25 dB
Background noise: about 35 dB
Normal home or office background: 40-60 dB
Normal speaking voice: 65-70 dB
Orchestral climax: 105 dB
Live Rock music: 120 dB+
Pain Threshold: 130 dB
Jet aircraft: 140-180 dB


In order for one amplifier to reproduce sound twice as loud as another in Decibels you need 10 times more wattage output. An amplifier rated at 100 WPC is capable of twice the volume level of a 10 WPC amp, an amplifier rated at 100 watts per channel needs to be 1,000 watts per channel to be twice as loud. In other words, the relationship between volume and wattage output is logarithmic rather than linear. If a sound gets louder by 3 decibels or "slightly louder," it takes twice as much electrical power from your receiver or amp to produce that modest increase. Therefore, a 100-watt amplifier will produce sound only slightly louder than a 50-watt amplifier.



So remember the formula.
To double the volume you ten times the power (all things being equal)

So as you can see once you get above 2 watts, all things being equal for your bedroom amp, the perceived volume doesn't change much.

Stop torturing yourself.  Buy yourself, a nice practice amp with headphones out like the Hog 20 or a Fender G-Dec.  If you're going to busk then get the Pignose.  Yes, and the Pignoses have a nice sound.

 
I bought a fender G-DEC, the smaller one, it was fun for about 20 minutes, it's a piece o-crap,
 
Alfang,
Sorry to hear that the G-Dec is a piece of crap.  I played it for only half an hour, so I reckon I was still in the fun stage.

In any event, what would you recommend as a small practice amp?
 
Try to find a small Crate Palomino amp.. they are no longer made, but they are great value for the money!
I bought one a while ago (It was recommended to me on this fboard actually) and it sounds great, and works not too bad on low volumes too!

also, the smoky is just a novelty toy type of thing... I bought one, but only played it for 10 minutes if that.
 
Try to find a small Crate Palomino amp.. they are no longer made, but they are great value for the money!

the crate v series has a pretty good small practice amp. also, try the fender champion 600, epiphone valve junior, or bleackjherat little giant or killer ant --see other thread. they are all small, quiet tube amps for cheap.
 
If run through an efficient speaker, a 5W 12Ax7 - EL84 or 6V6 based amp is loud enough when dialed into crunch mode to get you in trouble in an apartment with thin walls, unless your neighbors like what you're playing and the hour in which you are playing it. Even the Blackheart in 3W triode mode is fairly loud.

As Spauldingrules in North KC, better plan might be to rent a house....
 
I'm in a house and crank my tubes in the basement,  no problem.  I just got 2 kids and a wife, and would like to play upstairs sometimes when the kids are in bed.
 
That's a tough one, unless you want to soundproof a room. Another idea might be to use some species of modeling gear like a Line6 POD unit or a V-amp and run the stereo outputs to your stereo/sound system. Not perfect, but you could get sound at a more managable level; the Pignose I have was bought when they first came out around 30 years ago; it sounds like mush unless you turn it up loud enough to wake up kids in the next room/across the hall.
 
The Roland Micro Cube is another one that doesn't suck entirely.  At the volume levels you are talking about there is not really going to be a fabulously toned amp out there, thats why we like them loud, so I would just find something that has the features you like and that looks like it won't break in two weeks.
 
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