MICRO VALVE HEADS

GROUP TEST
Words: Henry Yates Photography: Simon Lees / Adam Gasson
MICRO
GROUP TEST
VALVE HEADS
FROM
bra size to brake horsepower,
modern life is all about the
numbers. Trouble is, given that this Group Test is
a smackdown between four micro valve heads
with a power rating of two watts max, TG is
braced for a backlash. Two watts? Thats less
than a travel kettle! You could run them off a
hamsters wheel! Bring on the stacks!
The truth is, small heads have real benefits.
First off, wattage isnt the only tiny figure here,
with the Vox Lil Night Train (227), the Blackstar
HT-1RH (179), the Palmer Eins (200) and
Fenders Pawn Shop Special Greta (202) all
offering ultra-low prices and a maximum weight
of 4kg. Whether you pop them atop a suitable
speaker cabinet or run direct to a mixing desk,
theyre a flexible choice for the budget-conscious
muso on the move and wont cause the
curvature of the spine associated with a
JCM800, for example (typical weight: 20.5kg).
Also worth noting is that all four of these
heads contain serious weaponry, packing a
selection of real valves under the bonnet. With
real valves on tap, all three should offer a tone
that detonates venues and spews molten soul
all over your recording sessions. Relax your
big-is-best preconceptions, and these micro
machines could rock your world.
These weeny wattage micro heads
are so compact that you can re
your roadie. TG decides which
pocket rocket to get onboard
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GEAR GROUP TEST
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MICRO VALVE HEADS
GROUP TEST
FENDER PAWN
SHOP SPECIAL
GRETA
202
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LETS
take a look at
the weird one,
then. Despite coming on like
the sort of wireless radio your
grandparents would tune to The
Shipping Forecast, the Greta is
packing Fender know-how and a
formidable spec. Its got a similar
valve layout to the Vox (one
12AX7, one 12AT7), and all the
line outs youd hope for, but adds
flexibility with an onboard four-
inch speaker for blasting either
guitar or mp3s. Not exactly a head
or a combo, its a serious oddity.
We think the Greta looks
retro cool especially the VU
meter that pings from clean to
overload but its not without a
few practical sticking points. For
starters, its quite an awkward
shape to lug about. For another,
its volume/tone dials feel cheap
and plasticky, turning stiffly and
giving no visual indication as to
where your sound is actually at.
Third, theres no option of juggling
volume and gain levels, which
undermines this amps flexibility
in shared accommodation, unless
youre satisfied to rock out with
headphones some of the time.
The clean tone is decent, but
its the cranked output that really
scores, proving this amp is as retro
as it looks. If you crave old-school
rock tones, the Greta is your dream
ticket, and when that VU needle
hits overload, theres a gloriously
fuzzy low-end wallop that makes
vintage 60s blues-rock riffs roar
(just try Crossroads). That tone,
combined with the quirk factor,
makes the Greta worth a look
but overall, its not quite up there
on the podium.
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Micro valve head
VALVES: 1x 12AX7, 1x 12AT7
SPEAKER: 1x4
CONTROLS: Volume, tone
SOCKETS Guitar input, line out,
speaker out, aux input
WEIGHT 3.95kg
DIMENSIONS: [HxWxD] 171 x 254 x 184mm
CONTACT: Fender, GBI 01342 331700
www.fender.com
WEVE
played
the Night
Train in various sizes, but whats
impressive is how much spec has
filtered down from the big boys to
the Lil. Sure, weve lost the twin
channels and some EQ, but the
mirrored cheese grater chassis
remains cool-as, and the contents
cooler still, with twin 12AX7s
in the preamp and one 12AU7
punting out power. Theres also
a Bright/Thick preamp mode
selector, and a line out for phones
or a mixing desk (as with all four).
Throw in the Night Trains
separate gain and volume controls
(meaning you can get rocking
sounds at low decibels), and its an
undeniably convenient package
but it does have limits. Plug in and
youll be reminded that, while two
watts is punchy power, its hardly
stadium-sized, and youll want to
consider what application youre
planning before you buy.
Still, if were talking tone
quality, the amp is predictably
ace. Vox rules at clean, and on
the Bright setting, the Lil has
plenty of headroom, letting you
jangle at useful volumes before
the valves rip the sound up. When
hitting chords hard on a neck
single coil, the word is spanky: a
tight-bottomed quack that sounds
great, even before you link up your
pedalboard. Meanwhile, moving
to the Thick mode bypasses the EQ
while boosting the gain, and this
is a whole different ball game: its
thick, fat and ragged, but retains
that Vox sparkle.
Were travelling first-class with
the Lil Night Train. But stick
around: theres another head we
like even more
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Micro valve head
OUTPUT: 2 watts RMS into 16 ohms
(1.5 watts into 8 ohms)
VALVES: 2x 12AX7, 1x 12AU7
CONTROLS: Gain, treble, bass,
volume, Bright/Thick, power
SOCKETS: Input, line out, speaker out
WEIGHT: 2.2kg
DIMENSIONS: [HxWxD] 117 x 222 x 117mm
CONTACT: Korg UK, 01908 304600
www.voxamps.com
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VOX LIL
NIGHT TRAIN
227
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WINNER
GROUPTEST
YOU
can always tell the
world-class valve
amps: theyre the drab-looking
ones with no bells and whistles.
In light of that, the Palmer Eins
is very promising. Hand-built in
Germany by the 10-man team
that aficionados bang on about,
it has a real minimalist vibe, with
everything housed in an unshowy
metal brick, and only volume, tone
and a boost switch to wrap your
fingers around on the dash.
Its all terribly serious, but do
a little digging and youll realise
theres more flexibility to the
Eins than first appears. With the
Hi-Z socket, for instance, you can
connect direct to an existing amp
(using the Eins as a tone-fattening
preamp), while Palmer actively
encourages tweaking the valve
configuration beyond the ECC83
and ECC82 it ships with.
Thats great if youve got money
to burn, but how does the Eins
sound out of the box? Well, its
almost perfect. As ever, theres not
exactly Wembley welly through a
1x10 cabinet, and with no separate
volume and gain, theres limited
headroom before the tone morphs
from a bright jangle into overdrive.
Still, if its all-out rawk that youre
after, youll be well satisfied, with
Palmers reputation justified by
a Class A tone that stomps like
a woolly mammoth.
Theres a real character here
the Eins has an attitude-stuffed
old-school thump that leans
toward the low-end and rocks the
house when you select a bridge
pickup and hit the boost. It was
almost enough to swing the test.
Then the Blackstar landed
FIVE
years since the
firm launched from
a garden shed in Northampton,
Blackstar feels like part of the
furniture, and despite the lowliest
price tag, the HT-1RH comes
pre-loaded with high hopes. Its
got a luxurious vintage-modern
feel, with recessed dials and
leather binding, plus the same
ECC83 and ECC82 layout as the
Eins, and although its one of the
heavier heads on test, the carry
handle means its actually easier to
shunt. Good start.
In terms of inputs and sockets,
its business as usual, but when
you start rocking, you realise just
how many great valve tones can
be unlocked with just four dials.
The HT-1RH offers two distinct
channels (a footswitch would have
been nice here), onboard reverb
and Blackstars now familiar ISF
control that moves between US
and UK-inspired EQ shapes but
the critical point is that all these
trimmings deliver. Set the gain
high on the clean channel, and
youve got a jangle thats ready to
blow (think Oasis). Flip channels,
and youve got a warm, gravelly
distortion that breaks up under
hard picking. The British end
of the ISF is really warm and
woody sounding, but at the risk of
treason, its the mid-heavy aggro of
the US side that keeps you coming
back. Best of all, even when you
drop the decibels, it still roars and
responds like a valve amp.
Its never gonna beat a stack in
the icon stakes, but if youre after
a head thats got ticks in every box,
the HT-1RH delivers. Its a gold star
for Blackstar
PALMER
EINS
200
BLACKSTAR
HT-1RH
179
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Micro valve head
OUTPUT: 1 watt
VALVES: 1x ECC83, 1x ECC82
CONTROLS: Volume, tone, boost, power
SOCKETS: Input, simulated output,
Hi-Z output, 8/16-ohm speaker outs
WEIGHT: 2.2kg
DIMENSIONS: [HxWxD] 108 x 206 x 128mm
CONTACT: Adam Hall Distribution
01702 613922 www.palmer-germany.com
AT A GLANCE
TYPE: Micro valve head
OUTPUT: 1 watt
VALVES: 1x ECC83, 1x ECC82
CONTROLS: ISF, volume, gain,
channel select, reverb, power
SOCKETS: Guitar input, mp3 input,
phones/simulated output, speaker out
WEIGHT: 4kg
DIMENSIONS: [HxWxD] 185 x 308 x 172mm
CONTACT: Blackstar, 01604 652844
www.blackstaramps.com
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
S
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FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
USABILITY
OVERALL RATING
S
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M
M
A
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GEAR GROUP TEST
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