A decade ago musicians were often measured by the size of their stacks. If a guy had two 100watt Marshall heads and four cabinets, he had to be good, right? Right. So what’s the deal with these tiny amps that keep popping up behind musicians on video broadcasts, in recording studios and on live gigs? Why have a lot of players traded off their big rigs for these dinky little critters that are so small they can be carried in a VW?

The answers lie in the fact that everybody knows more about sound reinforcement than they did 10 years ago. Musicians today realize that with a good sound system thqy can use a smaller amp and still be heard* provided the amp is properly miked. So the majority of the money is spent on the sound system—power aynps, mikes, cabinets, speakers, horns, drivers, mixes, monitors, snakes, and so forth—and all the musician needs is an amp with sufficient wattage and a good ^speaker. (Of course, individual taste dictates what brand of amp, what features, what type speaker, etc.) The point is, music is growing up all the time. People don’t always measure the player by the size and volume of his equipment. Nowadays people seem to listen for a quality, a stone, and a balance (mix) between all the instruments being played.

So, all this adds Up to good news for the Rock Guitarist. No more working three jobs just to make the next note oh his amp! At last some measure of common sense has crept into the act. While the big stacks are fading, an army of pigmy amps marches on the concert stages of the world, ready to do battle with one lonesome speaker and a meager 60 watts or so of raw raging power. Onward, munchkins!

One such legion of small amps is called CRATE (St. Louis Music Supply Company, 1400 Ferguson Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63133). This particular brand has been around for a few years now, having started out with just one model, a 20-watter called the Crate I. Seven models are now included in the line, the latest two of which are the Crate II and the Crate HR.

The Crate II was introduced to the industry at the recent NAMM Convention in Atlanta. The design of this amp illustrates the trend toward a more portable, yet more sophisticated amp than was available a decade ago.

Crate H is a lead guitar amp: 60 watts RMS power, active tone controls, midrange frequency analyzer, master volume. The amp has a pair of inputs (Hi or Lo gain), an extension speaker outlet, an AC accessory outlet, and an effects loop. The natural-finished ponderosa pine cabinet houses one 12" speaker.

Compare this brief list of features with any amp over'five or six years old and you will begin to • see a difference. Take the active tone controls, for instance: Controls such as these enable the user to boost or cut the bass and/or treble response of the amp to achieve the desired tone. Older model amps could only cut frequency response: they couldn’t boost the signal.

The midrange frequency analyzer works in conjunction with the bass and treble controls. A midrange frequency can be isolated and boosted (or cut) to suit the taste of the user of Crate II. A quick glance backward at amps would reveal that there were no midrange controls at all on the older amps.

Master volume, of course, is a pretty common feature on a lot of amplifiers these days. This feature enables the guitarist to get a distorted sound at a low volume, which comes in handy in almost any situation.

The( effects ir\/out loop, however, is not so common a feature, but a very good one for one reason: Effects make noise. The more of them used, the more noise generated through the amp.

One way to eliminate this residual noise from external effects is to bypass the preamp stage of the amp with an effects loop. This makes the amp run quieter and does not alter the sound of any of the effects, so it just is a better design all the way around. It seems safe to assume that guitarists will continue to use external effects for a lcmg time to come, so any amp would benefit by having an effects loop such as the one found on the Crate II. The Crate HR is the same amp with the addition of Reverb.

There are a couple of other items in the Crate amp lin6 that are worth mentioning. The Crate Kicker is a 60-watt slave amp and speaker, housed in'the same style wood cabinet as the Crate II. The Crate Kicker is designed for those applications where 60 watts doesn’t quite do the job; this unit will double the power output of the Crate II and add another 12" speaker to the system.

Finally, there is the Crate Sidekick, an extension speaker cabinet which houses the same 12" speaker used in all Crate amps. The Sidekick is the ticketfor the guy or gal who has sufficient power, but wants to be heard on the other side of the stage (usually for the benefit of the other musicians more so than the audience).

Any discussion of small amplifiers would not ' be complete without some mention of the Pignose amp. Pignose was the first supercompact batter/AC-operated practice amp to hit the market, and their immediate popularity spawned a host of imitations and spinoff designs. The PEERLESS PIGNOSE, as it is called by the manufacturer (Pignose Industries, 9000 Sunset Blvd., #820, Los Angeles, CA 90069), is small enough to fit in a suitcase and packs enough punch to deliver a surprisingly loud and appropriately nasty sound anywhere— in the car, motel room, elevator, or lavatory of your choice.

After several years of success with the Pignose, the manufacturer has introduced a new, bigger model amp—the Pignose 30/60. The amp is so named because it is rated at 30 watts RMS power, with a peak of 60 watts (0.5% distortion). At 16x9x17 inches, the 30/60 is still small enough to use for practic^.at home, yet big enough to do small clubs and studio work with no problem/

The pre-amp stage of the 30/60 was designed with FET circuitry which substantially reduces the residual noise of the amp, thereby making it very desirable in a recording situation. Although the amp is solid state, careful attention was paid to the design of the overdrive circuit so that the classic “tube sound” distortion could be approximated.

Of course the amp has the master volume feature, which allows overdrive of the preamp stage (and thus distortion) without any increase in overall volume level. Two inputs (Hi and Lo gain) on the front panel are complimented by a Line Out jack and an Effects Send/Return loop. The Line Out can be used to run a direct signal from the amp to the house system or studio board. By doing so, the musician can set his volume and tone controls to suit himself, and allow the engineer at the board to alter the ■ direct signal to Suit the overall mix of whatever is happening. The Effects Send/Return loop. simply serves to eliminate the unwanted noise associated with multiple external effects. In addition to eliminating the noise problem, the Effects loop eliminates signal loss (especially high-end loss) due to excess cable that must be used to connect the various effects.

. The tone controls of the Pignose 30/60 are the shelving type: Treble, Midrange and Bass, with corresponding peaks at 10K, 4K and’ 500Hz. Bass and Midrange have a 20 db boost; Treble has a 25 db boost. The 30/60 is housed in the same brown “pigskin” cabinet as the smaller version and is fitted with heavy metal comers and handle.

The Pignose amp has long been established in the music industry; the standard question asked by most people when confronted with any small amp is, “Is it as good as a Pignose?” That should tell you something, right?

NEW PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE

EPIPHONE GENESIS (Norlin, Infc., 7373 No. Cicero, Lincolnwood, IL 60646): The Genesis is a new double-cutaway solid body electric guitar from the makers of Gibson. The Genesis has t\vo humbucking pickups, stud tailpiece, tunematic bridge, body, neck and headstock binding, sunburst finish, and high-ratio tuning gears. Guitar controls include two volume pots, one master tone control, three-way toggle switch for pickup selection, and a coil tap switch. The coil tap switch provides single-coil pickup operation for either or both pickups. The Genesis is easily the best Epiphone made in recent years.

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TAK AMINE ACOUSTIC/ELECTRIC ' (C. Bruno & Co.,\ P.O. Box 47966, Atlanta, GA 30362): Up until now, only one acoustic/electric guitar had a decent factory-installed pickup system; the rest were variations on the same theme—hang some kind of transducer over the sound hole or glue it to the bridge and hope for the best sound. Takamine guitars now come from the factory with pickups mounted under the bridge, volume and tone controls built into the body of the guitar, and output jacks at the end-pin. The distinguishing feature of these instruments is the palathetic crystal design used to make the pickup, which will not alter the natural tone of the acoustic instrument. Six steel-string and one classical model are now available.

DIMARZIO HARDWARE/GUITAR BODIES, NECKS (DiMarzio Musical Instrument Pickups, Inc., 1388 Richmond Terrace, Staten Island, NY 10310): DiMarzio, the leading manufacturer of replacement pickups, has expanded their line to include replacement hardware for Gibson and Fender style guitars, as well as exotic wood bodies and necks of various description. Brass truss rod covers, jackplates, and switch tips are available. Switchcraft toggle switches, pots, and microswitches; cream pickguard blanks and body binding .all are now available from DiMarzio. Among the custom bodies available are Telly bodies routed for two humbuckers, and an Explorer-style body routed for a Straf-style tremolo tailpiece!

YAMAHA CP-20 ELECTRONIC PIANO (Yamaha International, 6600 Orangethorpe, Buena Park, CA 90620): The CP-20 is a smaller version of the popular CP-30. The CP-20 has 61 keys. The big difference between the CP-20 and CP-30 is that the CP-2Q has mono output, whereas the CP-30 has stereo capabilities. Beyond that, and the reduced size, the two pianos are virtually the same.' A choice of four tone selections are available on the CP-20: Piano I and II, and Harpsichord I and II. Other controls include variable Pitch Control, Decay Control, Balance, Tone and Volume Control. Tremolo is controlled by a footswitch, as is the sustain of the CP-20. A headphone jack is also provided for quiet practice. The CP-20 is finished in a rosewood veneer with black leatherette upholstery.

MXR STEREO CHORUS (MXR Innovations, 247 N. Goodman St., Rochester, NY 14607): MXR has added another nifty item to their arsenal of signal processing equipment. The Stereo Chorus is an AC-powered variable time delay which is capable of chorus effects, stereo simulation, and pitch-shifting (vibrato) effects. Three front-panel controls'govern sweep width, sweep center, and sweep speed. By using two amplifiers, a stereo effect can be simulated. Chorus effects can be used to “fatten” the sound of acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards, and basses with very good results.