I received my little Smokey amp several days ago and thought I'd post a little review.
When they say this amp is small, they are not kidding. It is the same size as a pack of cigarettes or a normal deck of playing cards. You can put this little amp in your shirt pocket easy.
Not a whole lot to it. You can get the model shown that looks like an old juke box, or you can get the model in an actual cigarette pack, or the artist model. I ordered the little artist model. I wanted SpaceGirl but received Bunny instead. No problem, the ad advertised that you would receive what was in stock.
This little amp is pretty heavy for it's tiny size and seems pretty durable. The top opens to hold the 9V battery (you get one with the amp). It has two jacks and surprisingly they are made of metal and very durable. One is for the instrument input, the other is a Speaker Out. You get a little instruction sheet with it that says this amp's output is 1 watt. It will drive a 4, 8, or 16 ohm speaker or cab off the Speaker Out. It has a tiny maybe 2" plastic speaker. You also get a Smokey decal, I thought that was pretty cool. :D
This little amp has lots of distortion and even some pretty great low end for such a tiny speaker. It is pretty loud, but not so loud that it would disturb someone in another room. So this would be ideal for someone to practice in their bedroom or dorm and not disturb others. The tone does have a little "kazoo" type tone to it. I thought it sounded a little better with the speaker facing down, or with a blanket or pillow over it. Sounds pretty great like this.
I also tried this little amp with my 2 X 12 cab and was surprised how loud it was. It is almost too loud for a bedroom amp like this. It seemed to lose just a bit of it's gain, probably sound better through a single speaker than two.
I also tried this straight into my Epi Valve Junior head and was really amazed at the heavy distortion this little amp puts out. It has tons of low end. I think they do this so the amp will have some low end with the little speaker. But through an amp this amp sounds like a super distorted heavy metal pedal. This would really be good for someone who likes the modern super-low down-tuned tones. Amazingly HEAVY. And whenever you use the Speaker Out it disables the built in speaker.
I tried to think of an example of this amp's tone, the closest I could describe would be the guitar tone on Can't You Hear Me Knockin' by the Rolling Stones. It nailed that tone perfect with my LP Studio. It didn't get quite as heavy a distortion with my Tele's single coils.
It is hard to get the distortion out of this amp. You have to turn your guitar way down for it to clean up, and even still it is a little distorted. So, if you are into clean tones this is not the amp for you. You also control Tone with your guitar, this amp has no Volume or Tone controls at all.
That's about it, not a whole lot to it. But it is a pretty fun little amp. This amp would be very useful if you wanted to play outdoors, or play where you have to keep the volume low. It also makes an extremely heavy Metal pedal with lots of low end.
It's not for everybody, but a fun little amp with pretty amazing tone for such a tiny package.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Great review Wes! I've had a Smokey amp for a few months now, mine is built into a pack of Marlboro Mediums. I keep it in my desk in the office for those 'I'm going to put my foot through my computer's monitor if I don't distract myself for a bit' moments. It's a fun little toy that isn't so loud that it bothers people in adjoining offices (cinder block walls help too mind you). I got mine from a shop in Toronto (Paul's Boutique) where they had a pile so you could take your pick of whatever they had. I find that you can control the amount of distortion using the volume knob on the guitar reasonably well, though it (mine at least) ranges from minor distortion to extreme distortion but doesn't do a terribly clean sound no matter how low you set the volume (while still being able to hear something).
Thanks for the great review. I'd like to get one of these in the future sometime.
Wes, just out of curiosity, how did you manage to use this amp as a distortion box? How did you hook it up?
xg5a
You hook it up just like any pedal. It only has two jacks, an instrument input (guitar goes in here), and a speaker out (go out of here to your amp).
The only thing is you can't turn it off. The only way to get a clean tone is turn your guitar way down to almost nothing (1 or 2). So this little amp is not good for clean tones at all. But it gets a pretty awesome and very modern sounding distortion straight into your amp. When you use the speaker out it disables the built-in 2" speaker.
It emphasizes the lows a lot. So you can really get a great distortion for low-tuned guitar. Sounds like the tones Korn uses.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
Has anyone used these with headphones? I was reading that they can be used with headphones but don't have a volume control, do any of you believe they would work well with headphones?? Thanks a lot in advance.
AKFlyingV
They advertise that the Smokey amp can be used with headphones that have a volume control. This little amp might be too powerful for headphones without a volume control, probably way too loud.
But you really don't need headphones with this amp. Alone, it is just loud enough that someone in another room could hear it. But if you turn the speaker face downward or throw a blanket or pillow over it you can still hear it clearly but it wouldn't bother anyone.
The little 2" plastic speaker does sound a little kazoo like, but that is to be expected from such a small speaker. It actually has tons of low end, you will really hear this if you run it into an amp like a pedal or power a cab with it. It is amazingly loud powering a cab.
So, this little amp sounds a little better when you turn the speaker face down. Then it sounds pretty heavy, no kazoo like tones at all.
This is a great little amp for someone who wants to play in a dorm at college and not bother anyone, or take it outside and play anywhere you want.
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
One jack, one socket, a pot (250k, 500k, whatever you have) and something to put it all in (a macthbox would fit the theme quite well :)) and you can build yourself a volume control that could go between amp and headphones:
Hot In -------
/
/ <---- Hot Out
/
Ground In ---------- Ground Out
or with a bypass switch (always handy) :
Hot In --------------O
/ O------ Hot Out
/ <----O
/
Ground In -------------------- Ground Out