I talked in one of my earlier blogs about different class amps and how they sound. I want to touch on that a little, but more so on low wattage tube amps and why they really exist? We have so many new amps that have come out recently on the market and many of them are low wattage. So why low power? Why wouldn't you just get a 50Watt amp and turn it down? Well, these are all really good questions. One thing we know about tube amps is that when you play these amps at a higher volume they sound amazing. This is because we are hearing "amp" or output overdrive/distortion as opposed to preamp distortion. This overdrive or distortion is what is highly sought after by guitar players and when in a loud jam situation, 50w - 100w makes total sense. However, when you are at home, your condo or late night recording session and everyone is asleep upstairs, these loud amps are just too frickin loud. Enter low power amps. Even though these amps range from 1/4 watt to 5 watt and vary in class like the new Marshall Class 5 (5 watt class A), Vox Night Train 7.5W - 14W (class A/B) and the new Blackstar HT5 (5 watt) they all pack a big punch and give you that amp overdrive/distortion but at a much lower output volume. They all have different tones and flavours to them but one thing is certain, they all sound AMAZING!!! You have to check out some of these amps as they may just be the thing that you need to add to your setup of recording amps or even live amp situation.

Enjoy the "Low Class" of Power and embrace it! :)

Lou Roppoli
Tone Chaser