Fender Mini-Deluxe

Im building my own mini-amp, but Im also looking to buy a manufactured one. From all Ive read, I have to tell you theres nothing less than a million contradictory opinions on them. Im looking for something dirt cheap because Im bound to break it, or scavenge parts from it in short order if my past runs true, so Im thinking of Fenders Mini-Deluxe.

Anyone here own one, or play through one? Or better yet, heard many or several mini-amps and have an opinion on what sounded the best? Volume is of no concern, I just want a little battery powered amp loud enough to hear. Im unwilling to support pignose, so thats out, plus its a tad more than what I want to spend as I dont think it will survive my eventual need to take it apart for very long.

Opinions? Thnx.

No, Ive no interest in headphones. But thanks. I cant imagine why Id want to run a headphone thing through an amp anyway. It kind of defeats the purpose of buying an amp thats easily transportable. Its just so I can have a small transportable source of sound, nothing for others to hear. Ive a Marshal and a Fender for that.

However, Ive heard some really rocking headphone amps. So thanks for your input.

The little Fenders are cool.

It's a toy, but it is fun to play with.

Get yourself a Smokey Amp : http://www.smokeyamps.com/

Roland Microcube. It's not a toy.

..................................... Marco Baldovin

I know. I want a toy. I have amps. Why one would buy one of those tiny things I dont know. But people do. If Pignose's ower wasnt a complete dumbass Id probably buy their mini-amp, but honestly, even that is more than I want to spend.

Luck in your search.

It's small, but it has astonishing sounds for the price/dimension. And above all it has a lot of dynamic, a strange thing for a SS-emulator small amp. Many of this amp has no sustain and evry note is the same, even if you play louder, and this is a bad thing to learn playing better. Microcube doesn't.

..................................... Marco Baldovin

Im a fine guitar player. I dont need to learn on anything, not to mention Ive played through one and I agree. Its a fine sounding itty-bitty amp. Still not sure why anyone would want one though, for that price. As I mentioned, I have amps. Im looking for a little inexpensive thing that Im not going to fret over if its stepped on, dropped and broken, tripped over, etc. I dont want something I have to treat delicately all the time. Plus, I know myself to well, Ill end up taking it apart. LOL

You obviously have an idea what youre talking about, as I think you addressed me in alt.guitar.amps offering help on how to build a mini amp. (If my memory serves me well.) As you may recall, I AM building my own mini-amp. But as I mentioned in another reply in this thread, I also want a toy amp. The reason? I cant build a good cab as I lack access to the proper tools. Everythings in storage. BIG GIANT PAIN IN THE BOTTOM, to get to. Whatever the case, the help and links youve offered is appriciated. For the moment, the worst plastic cabinet of a mini-amp is better than my best built one. Will finish my wood cab when opportunity permits. But Ive discovered half my stuff is behind a ten foot wall of crap in my storage unit and Ive no interest in digging into it at the moment.

Recall the debate about my little speaker? Ive found out its 5 watts, 4 ohms. Do you recommend installing a 4 ohm resister? Would there be any advantage to installing a variable resistor in line with the speaker? As you know, Im certainly not an electrician. I can follow instructions to a 'T', but I dont neccesarrily know 'how' things work, or 'why' they do. I can perform very delicate work and solder well. Do you think that the speaker being 5 watts 4 ohms is why it sounded so good when powered by the Yamaha AA5 and the Cube? In regard to quality of tone, I dont really care.

I dont have a clue how or why things work. I just know how to follow instructions and put things together properly. So thanks for the links.

(thats not exactly true, as I know why/how resistors, capacitors, and pots work, but not much more than that.)

Hi Rob,

Well, i just think that mini amps are not generally worth the money they cost. They are 'overpriced' and sort of one-trick-ponys since the only benefit they have is the small size. Granted, without tools it´s hard to build anything and meanwhile you might want to have something to plug your guitar into. Mini amps are cheap so you don´t loose that much money buying one. I would hate to spend even that much when i kow i can build something like that (or even better) by myself. If you have time you could also try to search for something that´s not originally intented for guitar and maybe get yourself a better deal.

Not really. With the speaker and the resistor in series you would get 8 ohms but that would just cause you to waste half of the power in the resistor. Also, that resistor would have to be fairly big to cope with the power the amp puts out. I think same thing goes on with varible resistors in speaker line. If you saw Little Gem schematic at runoffgroove.com you see that it uses a 25 ohm rheostat in the speaker line. Personally, i don´t think this is a very good design: Potentiometer like that is rare and will also cost more, it has to cope with the power amp puts out (lm386 doesn´t put out much though) and you loose power in it. Perhaps you can you find another 4 ohm speaker that would give you a fuller tone and more volume?

I´m not familiar with these amps or your speaker. AA5 seems to be five watts so your speaker is working at it´s max and probably also adding some cone distortion that colors the sound. Another guess is that your speaker might just be plainly more efficient, meaning louder, than the stock speakers in these amps. These are merely guesses since there are lot of factors that cause a speaker to sound like something in a system.

Well, maybe don´t know yet. It takes a little while like everything but soon you´ll notice that you start to get a hold of it. I´m no expert either.

Teemu K