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The perfect home practice amp
I really spent lots of time looking for a perfect home practice amp.
I was looking for real tube sound at manageable volumes.
I already had Yamaha THR & I tried all the Katanas etc. Somehow I was not satisfied - I felt cheated and the tone was not there.
On the other hand - real tube amps just play too loud to be used at home.
Not this one - built-in attenuator works wonders. The real Fender sound is with you at whatever volume you need. Overdriven tones are on par with the best as well. It even has line-out for recording purposes (the line out is not speaker-emulated which is not a problem for today's recording software).
The only down-side is the lack of the effect loop but this should not surprise you as it's stated in the specification.
I was looking for real tube sound at manageable volumes.
I already had Yamaha THR & I tried all the Katanas etc. Somehow I was not satisfied - I felt cheated and the tone was not there.
On the other hand - real tube amps just play too loud to be used at home.
Not this one - built-in attenuator works wonders. The real Fender sound is with you at whatever volume you need. Overdriven tones are on par with the best as well. It even has line-out for recording purposes (the line out is not speaker-emulated which is not a problem for today's recording software).
The only down-side is the lack of the effect loop but this should not surprise you as it's stated in the specification.
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Wish I considered this amp 5 years ago!
The Gremlin has been on the market for roughly 6 years at the time of this review and somehow flew under the radar for me. For years I was looking for a Fender amp which would give me blackface tones at apartment friendly levels. Having tried several (Twin Reverb, Princeton etc) with attenuators in stores I never felt 'right' as it seemed like a steep price to pay to neuter an amazing sounding amp and attenuated tones for these amps often sounded a bit flat.
Eventually fender released the Vibro Champ (another 5W option) but the amp loses character at lower volumes (which would be safe for apartment playing) and again spending money on an attenuator upped the price and the overall tone suffered. I also was not crazy about the digital reverb...
For years using mostly UAFX amp sims (Lion, Dream, Enigmatic), which all sound incredible, over the last few months I started considering the Tone King imperial preamp as I was craving true tube sound. Long story short, I began looking at the Gremlin as it seemed to check all the right boxes and was an actual amp, gave both black face and tweed style options (two channels), has the Iron Man II attenuator built in (one of the best on the market), offers the option to replace valves easily (important) and of course looks awesome!
I ended up ordering this amp from Thomann without ever having played it. Along with it I also ordered a 12AY7 tube (increases the headroom without sacrificing tone while also dropping the overall volume a bit). I could not be happier!
With the 12AY7 installed in V1 (very easy) I can play at conversation level at volume setting 3 without even engaging the iron man ii. Even with attenuation, the tone stays farily untouched for the first few clicks which is all I need to get it into driven tones. No video I watched does the sound which comes from this little amp justice.
With single coils at lower volumes you get extremely pristine, bell-like, and hi-fi clean tones on the Rhythm channel (black face channel), even getting close to super glassy SRV tones when playing with the volume and EQ. To nail the SRV tone I simply add a Fuzz pedal in front and lower the guitar volume (nails the 'Tin Pan Ally' tone). On the Lead (tweed) channel you get a nice bit of dirt and it is possible to straddle the line between tweed and marshal tones which is awesome. In Youtube videos all seem to show the lead channel sounding harsh and brittle which is not at all the case with mine.
With a Les Paul the tone is incredibly satisfying. With the 12AY7 in V1 the sound is full-bodied and smooth, but clean at lower volumes. With the stock 12AX7 at Volume 2, humbuckers can sometimes start to warm up or show faint hair on the pick attack. With the 12AY7, that hair disappears completely. The low end became noticeably tighter and less 'boomy' than usual which is a common perk of lower-gain V1 tubes in Tweed/5F1-style circuits.
For anyone who lives in an apartment and is looking for a real tube amp experience without upsetting someone next door, I can HIGHLY recommend this amp and would encourage you to order a 12AY7 as well. I do not think there is anything in this price point which comes near this setup.
In order to get the full package, my next order will be the Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale spring reverb. With this you get the full fender (real) spring reverb and tremolo and adds the only feature some might feel is missing.
Eventually fender released the Vibro Champ (another 5W option) but the amp loses character at lower volumes (which would be safe for apartment playing) and again spending money on an attenuator upped the price and the overall tone suffered. I also was not crazy about the digital reverb...
For years using mostly UAFX amp sims (Lion, Dream, Enigmatic), which all sound incredible, over the last few months I started considering the Tone King imperial preamp as I was craving true tube sound. Long story short, I began looking at the Gremlin as it seemed to check all the right boxes and was an actual amp, gave both black face and tweed style options (two channels), has the Iron Man II attenuator built in (one of the best on the market), offers the option to replace valves easily (important) and of course looks awesome!
I ended up ordering this amp from Thomann without ever having played it. Along with it I also ordered a 12AY7 tube (increases the headroom without sacrificing tone while also dropping the overall volume a bit). I could not be happier!
With the 12AY7 installed in V1 (very easy) I can play at conversation level at volume setting 3 without even engaging the iron man ii. Even with attenuation, the tone stays farily untouched for the first few clicks which is all I need to get it into driven tones. No video I watched does the sound which comes from this little amp justice.
With single coils at lower volumes you get extremely pristine, bell-like, and hi-fi clean tones on the Rhythm channel (black face channel), even getting close to super glassy SRV tones when playing with the volume and EQ. To nail the SRV tone I simply add a Fuzz pedal in front and lower the guitar volume (nails the 'Tin Pan Ally' tone). On the Lead (tweed) channel you get a nice bit of dirt and it is possible to straddle the line between tweed and marshal tones which is awesome. In Youtube videos all seem to show the lead channel sounding harsh and brittle which is not at all the case with mine.
With a Les Paul the tone is incredibly satisfying. With the 12AY7 in V1 the sound is full-bodied and smooth, but clean at lower volumes. With the stock 12AX7 at Volume 2, humbuckers can sometimes start to warm up or show faint hair on the pick attack. With the 12AY7, that hair disappears completely. The low end became noticeably tighter and less 'boomy' than usual which is a common perk of lower-gain V1 tubes in Tweed/5F1-style circuits.
For anyone who lives in an apartment and is looking for a real tube amp experience without upsetting someone next door, I can HIGHLY recommend this amp and would encourage you to order a 12AY7 as well. I do not think there is anything in this price point which comes near this setup.
In order to get the full package, my next order will be the Crazy Tube Circuits White Whale spring reverb. With this you get the full fender (real) spring reverb and tremolo and adds the only feature some might feel is missing.
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The best amp for recording
This is an amazing amp for recording. If you need a small amp for house or professional recording this is it... look no further. The cleans you can obtain with this amp are amazing. The attenuator is great for home playing or for obtaining overdrive sound at decent levels. The great thing about this amp is that it lets you hear what your guitar sounds. I played many amps that had a generic sound and leveled all the guitars played through them (the differences between an expensive and a cheap guitar are not that audible when you play such amps)... but the Tone King Gremlin lets the guitar breathe... and is simple - Volume, Tone, Attenuator. You also have a line output which is great. Buy it. You won't regret it. Thomann was great as usual.
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