CALIFORNIA TONE RESEARCH SET5 Single End Tube Guitar Amplifier

The tone on this thing is fantastic. I plug my guitar straight in, put everything to 10, the guitar becomes "touch sensitive" with incredible feel and range. The clipping sounds fantastic with how rounded it is because of the tubes. It's small, light, simple, and worth every penny. Seriously the best value for my money. I have four other amplifiers, most costing 5 or 10 times more, some with effects, some I use with a pedal board. The thing is when I plug a guitar into them, the sound is so processed that all of them sound almost the same. A Les Paul, a Strat, a Jackson, a PRS, all have their signal so processed that they sound almost the same. Through this amp I'm able to appreciate each guitar for it's unique qualities. Ever since I got this amp I've been rotating through my guitars a lot more to get different sounds and feel. Like I said and I will say it again, It makes my guitar feel touch sensitive and the tone is legit. Reverb? No! I'm so glad for that also. I love the simplicity of this thing. The beauty of this amp is that it doesn't make you try and drown the "true" sound out with fluff and more fluff until the original tone is so far hidden that it's gone. Yes I would add a pedal (digital delay/reverb) if I was going to record the sound but I love the fact that it's not part of the amp's circuitry. Plug in and turn all the knobs to 10 (including on the guitar) and feel and hear how your guitar is supposed to sound. Sure it does clean but the reason I purchased it was for the clipped sound that is so well rounded off and preserved with the tubes in this thing. I would buy this thing again and again and again. The only amp I play at home and if I had a 25 watt one just like it, those two would be the only two amps that I use at home, for rehearsal, and for gigging.

l might just be the king of cheap along with lofty fantasies of gigging in coffee houses one day. My 2 best musical Cheaps, in 76 I bought the Ibanez Lawsuit Les Paul along with a Fender Vibro Champ . In 78 I lived with 2 guys one of whom had a Marshal tube half stack, in a rental house which had a huge attic where we would play every day, along with whom ever would be passing by that day, with whatever gear they wanted to show off. I ended up hating the Fender solid state Champ but everyone loved that Ibanez which I played through quite a number of top amps of the the times. I got married, raised a family sold my Ibanez when times were tight. I always regretted letting it go but you do what you have to. The point of this (insert Bragging here.)Last fathers day I got a 76 Ibanez Les Paul from my kids! I did something right. They paid over twice what I did for it. I remember now why I loved it so. Could I play it on a Peavy Rage or Behringer blue devil, not really. The best I could offer was a Roland Micro cube. Cheap doesn't die easy, even when you have money so 2 weeks ago I bought this amp. I love it! Its more than enough for my wife to want me to turn it down when she is in the next room and I really haven't had it past 1 o'clock, where you can just start to hear the beauty of the the tubes. It really sings at that point. I have to say it is everything I hoped it would be. I actually make this my number 2 cheap musical acquisition of all time.

I was very surprised. As I removed the amp from the packaging, the SET5 badge fell off. I thought to myself, this is going to be real fun. I've bought two low priced solid state amps from e-bay recently, and they were defective, so I had to return them. It was a real hassle. When I got this amp, I thought to myself is there anything you can buy now days that is not crap? I plugged in my telecaster guitar, and played Hey Joe, Wind Cries Mary, Eight Miles High, and Take Another Piece of My Heart. I was very impressed with the valve quality of such a cheap-o amp. The amp will probably stop working tomorrow, but I heard really bright warm tones today. This amp has some charisma! A cheeseburger has it, a head of cabbage doesn't. This is a decent sounding amp for the dough. I've played through more expensive valve amps that didn't sound as good to my ears as this one does, but I'm only sharing my opinion to those who will read it.

After reading all the great reviews I decided to purchase this as a practice amplifier in my studio. I own 2 other expensive (heavy) tube amps and just wanted something small and portable with no bells and whistles. The price is exceptional and the reviews are great but wanted to share my experience with it.The package showed up at my doorstep with no visible damage from shipping. As soon as I opened and pulled out the amp the logo dropped off the front and fell to the floor. I know, no big deal, if everything else worked I really didn't care. So I turned it on, plugged in and yes, there was sound, and a decent tube sound at that. But even louder than the sound of my guitar coming out of the speaker was this horrible vibrating buzzing sound coming from within the workings of the cabinet/amplifier. The buzzing sound was so loud it deemed the item unusable. I know I could've dismantled the cabinet and/or chassis to try and find the source of the Rattle/buzz, but in fear of not being able to return the item for a refund by voiding the warranty, I decided to send it back. I did not get a good quality "vibe" from this amplifier in any way.

I'm a beginner guitar player so I'm no amp expert. I decided I wanted a tube guitar amp but didn't want to spend too much for one to practice on. Most of the low end tube amps have a solid state front end so when I stumbled on this little 100% tube gem in the same price range I pulled the trigger. This amp is solidly built with great warm sound IMO. There was one tiny manufacturing flaw (excess glue wiped off the outer skin leaving a sheen next to the glued joint). It's only noticeable at an angle and such a minor issue that I didn't deduct for it.

Love this little amp. I have a Blues Jr and a blacks star hit40. I use the little guy more often than not. It loves pedals and drives a 2x12 cabinet or my 4x10 beautifully!!! Definitely a good purchase. I did swap the Chinese tubes out with the JJ’s that I already had lying around it’s a little warmer sounding now.