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Hands-on review: ZVEX Effects Fuzz Probe

Point-to-point hand-wired all-tube guitar amplifier head. Power: 5 to 7.5 watts. One 12AX7 preamp tube, one EL84 power tube. Tube rectified with one 6X4 tube. One volume, one tone control. Standby switch. 4,8,16 ohm speaker out. Switch to change primary imedance to the output transformer from 5K to 7K for more or less headroom. I am a gigging musician and songwriter and I've been playing both acoustic and electric guitar for over 25 years.

I recently decided that low-wattage amps are the way to go for a modern musician. As Tom, the maker of this amp put it, the difference between wattage and loudness is a factor of 10. So to get an amp that is twice as loud as a five-watt amp, you will need 50 watts. Many musicians don't realise this and think that a 10-watt amp will be twice as loud, when the difference will be barely noticeable. On top of that, as one veteran told me, in the old days you needed a high-powered amp because the PA systems were so bad nobody wanted to mic their amps. Not so today. You can mic any amp, and besides, this little amp will hold its own in a club with a decent cab and no mic at all. And even if you prefer that big amp for gigging, the Woodstock is ideal for practice and studio work. Price: $569 plus shipping

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In a word: responsiveness. The first thing I noticed about this amp was that it enhanced the differences in my pickups and volume/tone settings on my Strat. Going from positions 1 to 5 on my pickup selector resulted in five distinct tones that were not as clear with other amps. Not only that, but my tone pots seemed to have more 'throw' and the differences in pick attack and dynamics were enhanced as well. This amp also has a surprising amount of clean headroom, and if you don't think five to seven watts is loud, think again. The amp takes pedals extremely well. I tried a Keely-modded Blues Driver and the result was absolutely mind-bending.

What's not to like?

TT Amplification uses only top-of-the-line components, Mercury Magnetics transformers, and vintage and/or NOS tubes. And the relatively small size of the amp means it is less likely to get banged around and easy to transport.

If you are looking for a hand-wired all-tube head at a reasonable price, look no further.

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