Travel amp, which is best, Pignose,Fender Can Amp, or Roldand microcube?

[gamut1]

Hi all, I'm about to go on a trip to Hawaii. I just ordered a Yamaha silent guitar to take with me. But I need a small amp to play also. It must be fairly light. I keep reading good things about the Roland microcube. But just today I saw the Fender Can amp and wondered if it might have a lil more power and volume. Plus the extra channel seems like a good idea. Has anyone used any of these lil amps? What are your thoughts? Thanks all.

 

[Yfoiler]

The Roland Cube Kills .... for a few reasons.

The Roland Cube absolutely kills... It does great double duty in the home studio too. It's dead quiet, no hiss, no noise at all. With a large diaphram condenser in front of it that's important! Also it gets a huge sound and for a small home studio amp has a ton of cool features. Also, for apartment dwellers, put your Cube inside some boxed in couch cushions and pillows with a condenser mic on it and crank it!! You won't believe your tracks. It sounds like a big rig with lots of air---and your neighbors won't know---Like I said, this thing kills.

ALSO for that Hawaii trip, it will run for about 20 hours on some AA batteries.
How can you beat that for a jam on the beach or at a luau?

The "Y"
PS - on the down side, some of the effects can't be mixed with it's other effects. Oh well, you can't have everything.

 

[Outlaws]

My friend had a small Squire Champ. I didn't care much for the OD channel, but the clean was very nice and the reverb worked well. Its not battery powered, but if you can skip that then its great.

I have a Marshall MS-2 (I think). I blew the speak a day or two after I got it. It still records AMAZING (imo) with the headphone out, but its a one trick poney all the way.

 

[Buck62]

Roland MicroCube... it's a no-brainer.

 

[gamut1]

Thanks all, I ordered a pignose because I didn't know about the microcube at the time. It should be in today. I think I'll give it a listen and will probably pack it up and send it back. I keep hearing great things about the microcube. Has anyone used the Fender "CAN". It looks kinda cool too, but seems a lil heavy? Thanks again for your thoughts , anyone else have a microcube out there?????

 

[traidma]

Microcube! My brother just got one and its just dead cool! You'll love it.

 

[gamut1]

Just ordered a microcube, I already have the pignose. I'm going to compare the two and will post. Thanks for the input all.

 

[DJL]

Also the Crate TX15 is a nice little battery powered amp... and it has lots of inputs.

Here's a link... check it out.
http://www.crateamps.com/html/product.cfm?pid=19

 

[hmarq]

Micro Cube! ... I got mine as my re-introduction to playing/recording amp and I absolutely love it ... great sounds, great tone, just terrific ... and YFoiler's comments about miking it inside your sofa cushions ring right on ... I haven't done that yet, but it really has a killer sound for a small box.

 

[punkin]

ZVEX !!! Way cool micro tube amp...it's pocket sized and sounds great.

Got it, love it! http://zvexamps.com/

 

[gamut1]

That zvex is a strange looking piece, how does it sound????

 

[DJL]

I'd like to know more about that Zvex amp too... like, is it always distroted or can it produce a clean sound also? Also, how much does it cost and etc? Thanks, Don

 

[punkin]

I picked mine up for close to $300 I think...It's been awhile. I does have a clean sound but you don't have a lot of controls. Clean, over drive and over-cliff. Check out their website...there's an on-line video which goes through a whole demo. I just think it kicks ass for the price and the sound. It's got a little built in speaker...nothing to rave about but for travel and practice it's the cat's meow. You can also plug it into a cabinet...it rocks! Just remember, it's not a mesa or a 5150 but it does pack a punch in a little package. I have no regrets...I bought it as a travel, practice and recording tube amp alternative because I can't alway crank up my Mesa and I travel lots.

 

[DJL]

Hey punkin, thanks for the insight... I'll have to look more into the Zvex amp.

Quote: "I have very big feet". PS... I wear size 14... lol.

 

[sile2001]

How could you have missed the Tech21 Trademark 10? It's one of the most amazing little amps ever!

 

[ibanezrocks]

try the vox brian may signature, only ten watts, but great sound. its not incredibly versatile, but if you're one of those people who would rather have one good sound than a bunch of unusable ones then thats worth looking at.

 

[gamut1]

Wow!... got the microcube last night and its great. Its loud, clean and then the different models get dirtier as you go up. I couldn't believe how much better it was then the pignose... I sent that puppy back this morning. I also ran a Zoom PS04 into the aux in on the cube, and jammed with the bass and drums. It was not super loud , but loud enough for a small audience. I can't wait to use this on our cruise. Should be a blast. Its a lil bigger and heavier than the pignose also, but has ten times the sound.