This is just what a guitar player needs — full-blooded, warm, bright and dandy tones from a pint size amp. Well, that was the dream. Until, of course, today. British amp producers Orange may have kick-started the “lunchbox amp” phenomenon. At the NAMM Show — the annual music gear lover’s orgasm where companies trot out their newest stuff — in Anaheim, California this year, the floor was just littered with all these tiny guitar boxes.

Orange started it out with the Tiny Terror — a 15-watt guitar amp that debuted 2 years ago. Now the phenomenon is spreading like a California wildfire.

Just what is a “lunchbox amp“? These small monsters are compact vacuum-tube amps, they usually have between two and six tubes inside. They run very well at low power, usually between 5 and 15 watts. Priced between $400 and $800, they are very inexpensive as compared to most tube amps. Just plug one into a speaker cabinet (or two, or four) and you’ve got a full guitar rig capable of producing a wide variety of sounds and tones.

 

The real beauty of these small things is that, even at low wattage, you are still able to get the warm, beefy tone of players like Hendrix, Slash or Clapton. Any self-respecting guitar player knows that  you can do this by pushing an amp to its limits. But playing big, fancy amps cranked all the way up is hardly a practical solution for your bedroom. Or to carry around from one gig to another.Low-powered amplifiers reach their limits at much lower volumes, and when they get loud (don’t be fooled by the size, these things can get really loud, enough to cause genuine pain) they maintain the rich and full sound, comparable to a much more powerful — and more expensive — amp.

 

Most mainstream manufacturers like Mesa, Blackheart, and Vox already have their own version of the “lunchbox amp“. And for good reason, too. Most guitar players agree that you don’t really need that much wattage on gigs that have proper mic-ing. All you really need is your guitar, your effects chain, and a 15-20watt amp. Heck, you can even carry them around from one venue to another.

 

 

The “lunchbox amp” also makes a case for a solid home recording amp. This fits your room and your equipment. Whip out your trusty old Telecaster, plug in, record, and save through your external optical burner, or save the data to your portable hard drive, and you’re good to go.

 

So are you buying one yet? We sure are thinking very hard right now, blowing our savings for that Taylor guitar and just get one of these babies. HotMusicGear out!