Why you need a 5 watt amp (and some of my current favorites). 

I built a vacuum tube 5 watt amp 10 years go. I read a book called The Guitar Handbook by Dave hunter. I hand wired everything from scratch. It has only 3 vacuum tubes ( 5Y3 rectifier, 12ax7, and KT66 power tube for 10 watts or 6L6 for 6 watts. I built my enclosure with poplar hardwood and wrapped with tweed tolex. It also has a 8 inch and 10 inch speakers that can play together or separate. I just love my amp.

I love my Mesa Lone Star Special in 5 watts mode (single ended class A) for vintage tones with loads of power tube distortion... There's indeed something magical about 5 watts amps! Rock on!!!

Love it! I had a silverface Vibrochamp for years, and they're absolutely killer.

I really enjoy my Blackstar HT5R combo. 12" speaker, overdrive with footswitch and built-in reverb give it plenty of personality for home use.

Man I gotta get myself a hi-5 for pedal demos, that sounds fantastic

Great video! I used my ‘61 DeArmond R5T for years playing in church; close mic’d on stage.

Love the story about you and your dad discovering/rediscovering guitar!

I have a 74 Vibro Champ and one of the new reverb ones. Amazing little amps. The Vibro was my first tube amp way back in the 80s, sold it for a stupid price and always missed it.

I have a vintage 1979 Fender Silverface Vibro Champ that I just love. The tremolo is amazing and I replaced the stock speaker with an 8inch Warehouse 8c. I just recently got a foot switch for the tremolo.

I have a Blackstar HT5 head, and it's perfect for playing at home when I can't crank my other amps.

I have a '76 Vibro Champ with a WGC 8" speaker that I love playing and practicing with. the tremolo is like heaven and the control at low volumes is perfect. I want to check out the supro you mentioned as well.

I’ve had a Victoria 5012 tweed 5 watt 12” speaker for 19 years now. I installed a Weber Alnico speaker in it and it became even better, great amp.

Eyeing up a vibrio champ for some wet/dry at dual mono fun.

Garnet Gnome 7 watt with tremolo built in…8inch speaker…my go to recording amp for tight mid tones …love it

I got my hands on a 1963 Gibson GA-8T Discoverer last year that was a single owner amp (dad's bff) that hadnt been pushed hard through its life. Had the electrolytics replaced, grounded power cord installed and modded it so that when plugging in an external cab, the internal speaker is disabled. It's one of the best low watt (12ish) amps ive ever used... and i waited 35+yrs to get my hands on :) Got a few other far more modern era low watt amps but this one is 'special'.

I’ve been shopping between the Hi-5 and the EVH 15w combo (intending to use the 1/4 power attenuation). I like a 10” speaker for these little amps

My tube amps are BIG and LOUD. Pro tube Twin and Boogie S O B. Both 60/ 100 watts. But a friend gave me a H/ B Monoprice cabinet with the 12" 70/80 Celetion speaker still in it. Picked up a Hotone Mojo Diamond (Fender Tweed style) 5 watt S S head. Its instantly turned into my fav grab and go amp. Stick in little head inside and can basically run out the door with guitar in one hand and amp in other.

I only have 1 amp now. A Supro Delta King 12 combo. I love the 5 watt supro amps too though

I have a Silktone Micronaut. It’s a really outstanding two channel 4 watt tube amp head, and has the added advantage of a secondary output that allows you to use it as a standalone pre-amp pedal either into another power stage, into your recording interface, or as a very cool pedal into the front end of another amp. Plus you can control line output level with a knob on the back. Not a cheap amp, but really exceptional in sound, build quality and versatility.

I have a smally DIY 5 watter that I love to record with. Great breakup at not ridiculous volumes.

The Bad Cat Mini Cat is killer along with the Matchless SC Mini

I have a Montgomery Ward Airline 62-9012A. The circuit is similar to a Champ. Bought at a garage sale for $7. Speaker was from an old tv. I replaced it with a Weber 6V8A. I compared this amp with a Vibro Champ I had and I liked it more. Made by Danelectro.

I built a 'what if?' 5 watt marshall and love it. Knowing the Jtm45 was designed after the 59 bassman I started wondering what kind of 5 watt marshall would have come up with. I started with the tweed champ / princeton schematic and added a tmb tone stack with more marshall values, I added a raw switch and a negative feedback pot. It turned out amazingly. It can go from jtm tones to tweed territory depending on how you set it up. I put it in a blackheart little giant 1x12 cab, which looks a lot like a bluesbreaker cab. Measures up to 90+ dB with a greenback. And dials in nicely with an attenuator.

My fine watt amp is a Mesa express 5:50 combo. It’s an amazing amp goes from five watts to twenty five or fifty watts. It can cover all the bases. I used the five watt setting for home use and came in real handy when we had to live in a trailer for two years but the cool thing is it’s got a Mesa black shadow 12 speaker so it doesn’t sound boxy and it’s capable of handling anything you throw at it. So it’s not real light but it’s not a toy it’s a real versatile amp with plenty of bells and whistles . Where I live now I can crank it up pretty damn loud on end wattage I choose.

1972 Selmer (no model name) 5W tube combo with 1967 G12S (T1440). Awesome.

I love my vintage Orange AD5, great amp for recording!

I was looking for a single watt valve amp when I chanced on a Blackstar HT5th 2*10 combo. Getting a dual speaker combo I could (sort of) use at home in an apartment is very rare indeed. I installed a variable L-pad between the amp and the speaker so I can push it a bit harder without the neighbours knocking.

I have a harmony h605 which rules! Tons of features. Sounds great

Great video! 🙂 I was drawn to lower wattage amps back in the 90s, as a way to run my amps hotter, without ending up with bandmates up in arms because I was blowing them away with the volume from my amps, in the heavy rock bands I was in. Nowadays, at age 60 (been playing guitar since I was 15), other than acoustic guitar playing in a local church's band, my days of gigging in a band are pretty much over, but I still like to play electric, and do like my gainy sounding guitar. Unfortunately, living in an apartment (and learning the hard way a long time ago, that playing too loud can cause issues with your neighbors [and one time in the 80s when I was in college, led to a visit by the police]), I prefer to still have driven amp sounds but preferrably at low volumes. Unfortuately this means using a modeling amp (which are OK, but IMO can sound kind of generic, I currently have a Yamaha THR5), or ultra low watt (1 watt or less) amps. Unfortunately unless you want to cough up money for a speaker cab, you're stuck with only a few combos (Marshall DSL1, or Blackstar HT1) with IMO small, 8" speakers (I prefer at least a 10" speaker for some decent bass response. Oh well, I'll keep on looking.

Interesting stuff . . . Not a 5 watt, but loving my Yamaha THR 30II (black) = great Sounding (and feeling) little amp for a NYC apartment. It's Inspiring. Enjoyed your informative video.

when i was into small amps i had a marshall class 5 ,a vox ac4 tv red and a mooer little monster bm. i swapped tubes and speakers sold the marshall and the vox and turned the mooer to handwired class a with vintage mullard and brimar tubes.

I’ve got three - 1964 Vibro Champ, ‘60’s Selmer Futurama and a Matchless Bsby prototype built for NAMM years ago. They’re a blast to play at home, small jam gatherings and record great. Some guitarists and engineers prefer small maps in the studio, as the comparative size of a mic element to the speaker is closer with small speakers in those amps.

I have a Marshall SV20 that has a 5W mode which I typically run into a Marshall 4x10 cab. I also have an old Fender Bronco (basically a. Vibro Champ) which I believe is 6W and has an 8” speaker. Had fun recently running it into my old Twin’s speakers

‘79 Champ. Also bought a Dust Devil a year ago almost entirely based on your demo, plus the endorsement of a couple trusted friends.

57 Fender Champ - still not broken in but absolutely love the instant mojo. I’ve had the Marshall Class 5 for awhile now, built in A/B, and I get a wide variety of sounds with the amp alone. Takes pedals well. Definitely jonesing for a vintage drip edge Vibro Champ.

I used to work at Chicago Music Exchange. They have an incredible assortment of tube amps. Being an apartment living Chicagoan.. I’m always looking for low watt quality tube amps. I own a Fargen MiniPlex 5w head, it is a great loss ale Marshall style. But the best 5w amp I’ve played to date, is the Carstens Amification Bluesky. Not only was he an CME’s amp tech, but he’s a super great and knowledgeable guy. I’m also waiting till Steve Bartel releases his (either 3w or 5w) current prototype in the works 🤤

For appartment practice you can‘t go wrong with Yamaha THR ii. Normally 5 Watt Tube Amps have only one Volume knob and are pretty loud . 8 inch speakers are definetely too boxy . I own a Supro 5 Watt Delta King with additional mastervolume and 10 inch speaker , which solve this problems and it is really affordable. Great sound at bedroom levels!

I may have a few come to think of it. I went through a phase. Victoria 5112. Frenzel Super Champ. National 1210. English Electronics Tone master.

I've owned a few 5 watt amps over the years, and I currently own one now. I just bought used a 5 watt combo online just yesterday, haven't received it yet. It's a Blackheart Little Giant 5 watt combo with a 12" Eminence speaker. Great little amp, years ago I owned the same amp in a head and a 1-12 cab format, si I know what I'm getting. I stupidly sold it and have regretted ever since. One of the great things, and unusual about this 5 watt combo is it comes with a 12" speaker. 5 watt combos usually come with a 10" speaker, or even an 8".

Ive played acoustic for many years, but only in last 5 years picked up electric, and I've been using modelers (mostly Helix/HX Stomp) from the beginning. I missed the pedal/tube amp exploration and tone chase. I'd be really curious to get a small tube amp to run the modeler through as just a pedalboard. Looking forward to more videos on these! Any ideas on a 5 Watt that would sound like a Benson Chimera or Revv D25? Those are my two favorite amps I've experienced in modelers.

Big fan of my 5 Watt Supro Reverb reissue!

I paired a Vox AC4 with an Orange Micro Terror for a minute. The stereo spread was really fun, even at low volume.

Have a clone of a 57 champ absolutely love it. My father has the fender ec vibro champ honestly love them. Trying to find a good aby pedal (for a good price) to run them in stereo, so to speak.

i picked up a fender vibro champ reverb without hearing or trying it.. was kind of thrown off by the price but took the chance... by far the best amp i have for clean tones

Drinking my morning coffee and enjoying your tremolo washed tones. Maybe over 20 years ago I bought a Champ PTP kit from a guy named Pat Bunn who ran STF Electronics. I wired and soldered by hand using his fantastic instruction booklet. Built a pine cabinet and got a Weber speaker. I really enjoyed building that. A few years after I upped the transformer and a couple resistors and now run a single 6L6 or EL34. Love that thing.

Love my '78 Champ. I run it into a pair of G10N-40 Celestion parallel for 4ohm 80w. If you replace the 12ax7 with a 12at7 it gets louder and cleaner. Still snarls with a Les Paul.

I live in Australia and use a locally made Valvetone Impact 5w, which is incredibly good. It's got a killer master volume on it. Worth looking into.

My 57' Custom Champ Reissue is amazeballs

I’ve got a silver face champ, class5 head and combo, DSL5, ac10. Love them all

Swart 5 watt with 12” speaker….this is the one you want

I had a tweed champ clone with a 10” speaker for several years. It didn’t sound very good unless cranked so I regrettably traded it for something I ended up not liking. Later I replaced with a Marshall DSL5cr which I think is great. It would be perfect if it was 10 watts, to keep up with a drummer. A fantastic practice and jam by yourself amp!

Mine’s a 68 bronco amp drip edge that I made a baffle for Weber 10” ceramic .. got for $300.. they had modded it to run the tremolo tube as another gain stage or something wacky but I put it back with a switch for slow/ fast tremolo.. 16k or 10k mid resistor switch, both is like 6.3k, both off is tone stack lift. Nfb on/off switch .. the switches are under the chassis.. baffle board was some real hard dense particle board I found .. I enjoy it :) Jensen 8” Alnico and drip edge board packed away ;)

Yessir. Dig my Tungsten Mosaic.

I had a Fender Champion 600 . One knob for all and no reverb . Just perfect and ugly at the same time but I really enjoy playing it :)

Fender Tweed Princeton 5F2A and Fender Vibrochamp are my favourite 5 watt amps. Run them in stereo!

I have a 57 Custom Champ. Nothing else like it. 3 or 4 on Volume. VR1 ribbon and a 57. Done.

My gigging amp is a Fuchs Lucky 7 with a Celestion Gold 1x12 cab. Also have a '69 Silverface Vibro Champ (Bronco) and a homebrew head that is basically a 5w tweed Princeton with a tone control added.

I had a Morgan PR5, loved that thing, but was too loud for an apartment…. That was pre-ox box, now I run a Two Rock classic reverb with OX 😂

I have 2 Marshall dsl 1 hr , heads I use they both have Marshall 1960 a cabs to run thtough....some times I run them in stereo....but mostly I just run 1

I really need a 5 watt amp. My amps are too loud for an apartment. I really want the head version of the hi5. Really cool but I’m kind of digging going to the walrus acs1 into one of my old studio monitors. Sounds cool.

That baritone 🌄

Always like the sound of those Soyuz 1974s, on both spoken male voice, and guitar cab. My most used amps are a Victory V40, most often in the 7 watt mode. And a Marshall ST20H JTM head, usually in the 5 watt mode. Both into not such a small 1x12" Marshall JTM cab with a Creamback. The Victory V40 has two triode modes too, 1.5 watt and 0.5 watt. I'd like to buy a small tweed 1x10" or 1x8" with a Jensen, to maybe do some maxed out Champ type modes. Though I guess I do have a Vox Pathfinder 15, I could use as a cab for that. To my ears, the Victory V40 has a sound somewhere between a Fender Super & Hi-watt, it's a thicker, cleaner, smoother more high-headroom sound than a Fender Deluxe Reverb. I'd maybe consider selling my Vox AC30S1 to upgrade to a Matchless AC5, for recording (and keep my Vox AC15C1 for live).

Tuning in for the first time. I have my subscription. I have a nemesis, a flint, and a cloud burst. I can’t find the sweet spot. I’m trying to use volume and.exp pedals. But it either seems like it’s way too much. Or not enough at all? I’ve been messing with it, I am a TS - 10 into sSuper Reverb type. But I’ve invested in ambience. There’s got to be more than just” swelling in and swelling out really beautiful tones? All right thanks I’ll keep my eyes on your site. Best of luck

Love your way my friend :)

I love my Suhr 5w Corso, and if I had the coin I’d get a low-wattage amp from Swart Amps out of Wilmington NC. I think VVT Amps (Waldorf MD?) might have made a 5w, and they make great stuff as well, to name two lesser known builders.

The Morgan sounds nice

I love low wattage amps, and have had the pleasure of trying quite a few. Since you bought them up, I’ve played both the gremlin and the Raleigh (as well as most of the other amps in both the tone king and Carr lineups). I found the Gremlin to be pretty uninspiring unfortunately, just kinda bland, and that only when I got it dialed, a lot of unusable tones otherwise, it’s possible it needed a tube replacement. The Raleigh on the other hand was amazing, I almost bought it twice but it was probably for the best that someone else grabbed it as it wouldn’t have been the best financial decision for me at the time. Crank it up and it can sound like Brian May with a range master into an AC30 without the ear damage, great fun!

I just switched from a 120Watt half stack for distortion A/B’d with a fender 180 watt super twin reverb for cleans. To a 170 watt class D into a single 1x12. I tried a 45 watt class D and 15 watt tube amps. They just didnt give me enough speaker cone movement. At home ill turn the power amp down to where its barely louder than the unplugged guitar, or crank it thru the 4x12. I no longer have a practice amp. Or a stage amp, or a rehersal amp. Its just the same amp, into cabs at those locations. Sometimes less is more. Even when its alot, its many pounds less to transport and 95% of the tone ( still rockin tube preamp)

How about the Jeff Bober East Amplification Studio 2? Or the Mesa TA-5/15?

What a sound from that baritone and Hiwatt, oh my, thank you for that 🙏🙏 Are you tuned in B standard ?

Its 10 watts but I think it fits your description. 10 inch speaker. It is light weight, you can get get beautiful cleans. it has a really decent digital reverb. Most of all you can play it at home and still get a great sound. As for rehearsal, totally cranked it keeps up with a drummer but not a heavy drummer. Hard to get a bad sound of this amp, and it can do clean to pretty heavy.

I like the 4 watt tube Vox Amp

I would really like a vibrochamp, preferably a point to point rather than the 68 RI. I recently got a deal on the supro 64 reverb, which sounds really full and great, slightly pushed. Not as sparkly clean as a fender though, and I miss the tremelo. But the master volume is pretty neat. I also have a THR30ii and if I don’t put it right next to the tube amp, I’m actually totally fine with how that sounds, and it is way more versatile and practical at home…

15/30w I like Valvtrain but any switchable wattage will do. That can gig anywhere. They will mic it in a larger venue anyway. If you need a 5w.. Its probably at home, and you most likely have studio monitors and an interface so all you need is Amplitube or Tonex. You dont need an amp at home at all.

Have you tried the Laney L5? I heard a demo by Mike Garvey here on RU-vid and it’s amazing sounding (Gilmour-esque), but a big chunk of that is Mike and effects.

Have the same Hiwatt. Would like to buy a Matamp minimat at some point, but they're pretty rare..

Orange Rocker 15 Terror. Vintage Orange sound with a 15/7/1/.1 watt attenuator.

Ok I’m finally watching this video. King of 5 watt amps, let’s do it.

When you were playing the baritone through the Hiwatt, was that drive coming from the amp?? Very beautiful tone! 9:52

I've had quite a few amps, but the 7w mini katana makes things easy

Heck yea, I got a '74 champ, '65 kalamazoo model 2, gretsch '62 6150t and '66 6151, '62 silvertone 1471, crate v5 and bugera t5! And I'm a bass player! Lol

Epiphone Valve Jnr. Two of them in wet/dry. The Mrs likescthem as furniture pieces too. Win Win. My lounge sounds great.

64 and a 71 vibro champ !! Love will never sale

This is making me regret selling my Matchless SC-mini. 😢

The Valvetrain 205 Tallboy is the perfect 5 watt amp in every way… except for the comic sans font.

My favorite small amp, but it’s really expensive, is a Carr Raleigh.

The one you have, 70’s Fender vibro champ…. The one and only

Swart Atomic Jr.!

My favourite 5W-amp...? That's easy: I got a BLACKSTAR Studio KT88 which I love with all my heart! Lightweight 1x12" combo, all tube, clad in British Racing Green tolex. It''ll do anything from clean to ultra-mean PLUS it's 100% band- & gigworthy - even w/out a monitor if need be. Only thing it just doesn't want to do is this "lonely wolf" ambient stuff... it's a character: Secretly takes fun in having 10W... and seems to look down on anyone not able to play without FX-pedals 🤷‍♂ What I do not understand is: When looking at the amps/makers you recommend - how do they try to justify the humongous $$$? Cannot be parts: A 5W amp I'll build in a day for 100 quid (ok, 150 max.). Add a really nice speaker (and all 10" I know are relatively cheap, even if Vintage), and we're loooking at 500 quid MAXIMUM... but a small Carr for a thousand and MORE?! I once got a Carr for a few weeks (is there a model called "Rambler"/"Rumbler"?), as replacement while my Browny Vibroverb (the prices for which I understand - just go try find one!) was repaired, and I found it very dynamic - but then again, it didn't sound THAT special to me (Fender-ilk imho), and MANY tube amps become "alive" dynamic-wise when waking up their power-amp stages - which is the reason we still love'em, correct? I mean, everything BUT the sound of tube amps is a veritable pain in the behind compared to non-tube amps, let alone modelers! We cloned my Brownie's profile into a "Kemper" once, and in a blind test I was shocked by the "authenticity" - even the feeling was spot-on (weight, reliability, consistence, adaptability I won't even start with... just think e.g. VOX AC30: Had a '65 for a while (silver Bulldogs), and that thing nearly broke my back, PLUS it had a serious personality disorder, a few times thinking it was a smoke generator... and even with spare tubes at hand... did you ever try to exchange these at a gig? Not much fun, trust me! Last question (as I am honestly curious): When playing ambient music - do you do that in bands? Somehow, I imagine that hard to do (how would you get delays synched? Wouldn't the sound be in acute danger of becoming muddy (no insult ok?! We all know the simple equatiion: More FX = less projection, right)? In the end I peresonally think: Whatever floats your boat - is right for you. It's just all this ambient-stuff is still new to me; I never thought about the prcatical side of gigging with it before... Seriously looking forward to learning from you all, and if I sound sceptical or so... 1. honestly not meaning to be, and if I might've come across as such, I hereby apologise!🙈 2. Music -to me at least- is art. Art is highly individual. Individuality never asks for permission, does it?😉✌

Swart STR-Tweed

🤣 No. I tried a few low watt tube amps, 4W to 15W and was underwhelmed. I have 5 x 100W tube amps, 1 x dual 100W rack tube power amp and 1 x 180W tube amp. My smallest tube amp is 50W, but it has an attenuator switch, 5W, 10W, 50W; and I usually use the 50W setting. I can play loud at home and I do. I have earplugs. 😁

I prefer 1.

I use my amp as a clean platform, so 20 watts works great for me (Dr Z, JAZ20/40) since it has a master volume and I can add overdrive with a pedal. A smaller amp with some headroom and no master volume (like the Champ) would be great (and not weigh a ton), but most that I’ve tried start to break up pretty early so they probably work better for someone who likes more ‘edge of breakup’ like a country or blues player. I don’t really think ANY tube amp works well for home use if you want it to provide real overdrive unless it has a master volume. Even a 5-watt amp is really loud when you turn it up, definitely too loud for a home. You seem to have found several that fit the bill, hard to go wrong with any of them.

Mesa TC-100 does everything and goes down to 3w

How about the little Epiphone

Marshall DSL1CR, 400,00 with tax. Great apartment amp.

You only need one decent amp with an attenuator. Just get a fender tonemaster. Can dial it down to .2 watts. End of review.

Great vid. Perfect amount of talking.

I mostly play metal, so 5 watts is useless to me.

5 Watt is to much for home use. And to little for concert's.