Allen Class Act 110 Combo

3-7 watts, Class A. Volume, User (mid), Bass, Treble, and Master knobs. High and low speaker inputs, as well as high and low guitar inputs. I've heard of some people complaining about this amp not having enough features, but isn't a 1X10 Class A combo supposed to be stupid-simple? This amp doesn't need anything more than it has. Plus, the best part, no re-biasing is necessary when changing power tubes (don't you just love class A?).

I play this amp with either my 93 Gibson Les Paul with a SD 59 [neck] and a SD Custom, or my 99 PRS Custom 22 with stock PRS pickups. Personally, I don't care much for the high output mode -- even though I do love rocking out. I just put it in the low input, plug in a tubescreamer and a wah-wah, and crank the volume. I get a great, sweet sound, especially when using the neck humbuckers. The amp also sounds good clean. I *did* build this amp from the kit, so maybe I still need to tweak it a little bit.

Seeing as how I had never done anything with complex electronics before, I am surprised that the amp has no problems. Super high quality components, and durable construction. Now if I could only figure out how to ground everything...

David Allen is absolutely amazing in terms of customer support. I must have e-mailed him about 10 times during the construction of my amp, and he always had a quick, in-depth response for me. Also, although I never took advantage of this offer, Mr. Allen offers the first hour of repair free; only afterwards does he start charging. Just terrific, that's all I can say.

I've only been playing for 5 years, and I start college in August '02. So I decided to find a Class A amplifier that was low enough wattage for dorm room use, but that still had a good sound. Also, if I ever wanted to, I could hook the speaker into my MESA/Boogie head and use it as a 1X10 cabinet only.
Overall, a great amplifier that sounds *that* good. This is an amplifier that sounds good with just your guitar plugged straight in (or with a TS9 and a wah, like I use). If it got stolen, I would think twice about buying another one again; it's a little pricey to buy in non-kit form and takes forever to build when in kit form. Luckily, it won't get stolen, so I think I'll be keeping this one for a good long while.

Two Channel (Low/High Gain) 7 Watts/4Watts depending on power tube, Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume (Gain), Marshall Plexi circuitry, Master Volume, Power/Standby switches, 8 ohm speaker out (shorts when no speaker plugged in), two preamp tubes (12AX7/ECC83), one octal type power tube (EL34, 6L6, 6V6, 5881, 6550, KT88, etc.), self biasing, class A, Celestion 10" Vintage 10 speaker (60 watts), cloth solid core wiring, solid pine construction cabinet (as vintage Fender amps), Fender style hardware (black tolex, metal corners, etc.), excellent quality hardware (pots, transformers, etc.).
Bought as a kit (excellent instructions, full color diagram) to save money and experience building my own point-to-point amplifier (about 15-20 hours to make). Used mainly as a practice amp and for low volume apartment/dorm jams. I subtracted a couple of points due to the lack of reverb and channel switching (can't use an A/B box), but also added some points for the ability to swap power tube types and not having to bias tubes.

Used with a homemade Strat (one-piece tung-oiled swamp ash body, Japanese 60's reissue flamed maple Fender neck (better than a lot of American made necks I've played), Seymour Duncan Vintage Rails in all positions, and sometimes with a Mesa Boogie Rectifier 2x12" birch ply closed back cabinet (better construction than a Marshall) with two Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. The Class Act sounds great using both channels, and with an EL34 and ECC83's, this amp IS the "baby plexi" that everyone keeps talking about. A/B'd with my Marshall head (JTM600) and using the same type of preamp tubes(Groove Tubes ECC83's) with the Mesa cabinet and at the same volume levels, I could get both amps to sound exactly alike on both channels! I have been looking for a small portable amp that sounds like my EL34 Marshall for years, and finally I have found it. Very quiet; no noticable hiss/pops. The Vintage 10 speaker has a very good sound to it; like a Vintage 30 but missing some of the low end. I still have to try out other power tube types (6L6, 6V6, etc.), and will probably get a Little Lanalei Spring Reverb Pedal (check out Songworks) to add some nice spring reverb to this amp.

Very reliable construction (I made it!) Easy to modify the circuit (point to point), and solid cabinet materials (not pressboard like on many newer small amps!). Would definitely use it for small jams by itself, but would use my Marshall if I am playing with a drummer(the Class Act should be able to hold up with a jazz drummer using brushes).

David was very helpful during my phone/e-mail conversations. Don't really know about a warranty since I built it myself, but David seems to stand behind his components.

I have been playing for about ten years and the only other gear I own besides the Class Act, and previously mentioned Strat, Marshall, and Mesa cabinet is a Vox wah wah reissue (plan on modifying it for true bypass). I used to suffer from guitar/amp acquisition syndrome, but now have become a minimalist and no longer need back up guitars (haven't broken a string in about 6 years; always carry extra tubes, strings, screwdrivers, and a soldering iron with me to jams). If stolen/lost, I would definitely make another Class Act amp. Compared it to THD's Univalve amp (looks to be very similar), but I wanted to build an amp myself and especially one that was wired point to point (THD univalve is pcboard, too loud at 15 watts, and two expensive; about twice the price of this kit). I even tried using THD's yellow jackets in my Marshall to lower the volume (from 60 to about 20 watts), but they hissed too much and did not have the EL34 tone that I love so much. Anyone looking for a baby Marshall should check out David Allen's amps at www.allenamps.com.!

I built this all tube amp from a kit about two months ago. I bought the speaker upgrade to a Celestion Vintage 10, but honestly wish I'd taken the stock speaker, somehow the Vintage 10 seems to hold the amp back. It only has one channel, no channel switching, no effects loop, or headphone jack, which didn't bother me because all I wanted was something that I couldn't find - the harmonic richness of power tube distortion at a volume level that wouldn't make the guy in the next apartment pound on the wall when I played.
I guess its best feature is the ability to accept different power tubes without having to worry about biasing becuse it's self-biasing.
Its second best feature is it high and low inputs. One is cleaner (think Fender)and the other is an Honest-to-God plexi Marshall!
If I think of all the features offered on all of the amps I've ever known, I would have to give this amp a 5, but this amp is not about bells and whistles, but then again neither are Fender Champs or Marshall Plexis.

I play a PRS McCarty, I like to play SRV's meaty blues from the neck pup in the single-coil mode and Duane Allman's singing blues in the humbucking mode. I like that majestic corroded distortion, like Neil Young, that I can get out of the bridge humbucker. The Class Act's low input is very quite and the high gain input is quieter than any I have ever heard, but then again this is only a 7 watt amp. I love the tone controls on this amp, they really work like they should - take your time - lots of tones are hiding in this little jewel. With a 6V6 power tube, this little amp can do the best 10" Fender Champ you never heard - clean or overdriven. With a 6L6, it gets into Fender Bassman or Marshall Bluesbreaker territory (but I wouldn't buy it for this sound). With an EL34 it IS a 7watt Marshall SLP! I recently bought a 2x12 extension cabinet just because the amp "knew" what to do with it. In my local music store, two other guys were trying out Marshalls with 4x12s and I could match any tone they dial up. They keep looking over at me, trying to see what the hell I was playing. If you want a Fender Champ with the added benefit of a 10" speaker, buy this amp. If you want a bedroom Marshall Plexi buy this amp - grind, crunch, girth, butt, sustain, harmonic complexity to die for- it has it all, but buy it a 12" speaker to party with. Ok, so I haven't gotten it to do that Mesa Boogie Santana tone yet and I don't think it ever will, but maybe I'll just buy it a V-twin pedal. For its ability to totally deliver the twang, blues, rock, and metal (yes even death metal) goods through my 2x12 extension speaker at a volume I can carry on a conversation over (loud yes, but not shouting)I have to give it a 10!

I have only had it for two months, so I really don't know yet, but I know every part in it is new and it has point-to-point construction in a finger-jointed pine cabinet, like the classic amps that sell for the big bucks now cause they still put out the tones, I expect it to hold up real well.
I dig that when a power tube goes I can just stick in another one without having to rebias.

Whe I was building the kit I must have called David Allen ten times and every time he had the answer and even sent an extra tube. like the other posts say David is all about customer support - buy now before he has to raise his prices. If you are considering the kit version, go for it, the color layout diagram and well written instructions are probably the best you will ever see.

I have been playing for over fourty years. My other amp is a customized Fender Custom Vibrolux Reverb, which I push with a Matchless Hot Box. I went for another amp because although I love my Vibrolux, even with the Hot Box, it could not do the Marshall thing. I know that I am going to insult some people, but IMHO distortion and overdrive stomp boxes are toys (sorry ladies and gentlemen, somebody had to tell the kidz) and even the finest preamp just doesn't produce touch-sensitive power tube distortion, so, living in an apartment and disliking power attenuators, I went looking for a low wattage amp that I could crank up. Fender Pro Jr - a one trick pony. Fender Blues Jr - too loud and no actual meat. Trust me 15 tube watts is too loud when you open it up. I looked at other boutique manufacturer's little amps and bought the Allen because frankly I could afford the kit. If it were stolen or lost I would be on the phone to David that day. If I had it to do over again I would purchase the 12" cabinet and speaker option just because a 12" speaker unleases this little beast!

I bought the kit and built it myself. This is a 7 Watt (EL34 or 6L6) or 4 Watt (6V6), single ended all tube amplifier operating in class A. It uses one power tube. The preamp section uses two 12AX7's.

The front panel consists of a pilot lamp, on/off switch, master volume, mid, treble, bass, volume, and a high gain and low gain input jacks. When you plug into the high gain jack, the amp is operating with four gain stages (both triodes in each 12AX7). The low gain input uses three gain stages.

The rear panel contains a standby switch and an 8 ohm speaker output jack.

The speaker is a 10" Jensen reissue C10R. I like clean, simple amps. I do not like multiple channels, line out, etc. etc. etc., so this is my type of amp.

I use either a Les Paul Standard with Tom Holmes pickups, or a PRS Custom with this amp. I have tried the three mentioned power tubes and I have settled on using an EL34.

For my taste, the high gain jack had too much gain, and the low gain jack did not have enough. I started experimenting with other tubes, and I have found two combinations that I prefer to using two 12AX7's.

Make no mistake, if you want balls to the wall, blistering distortion, go with two 12AX7's. But, I prefer a little less mayhem, so I am running this amp with a 12AU7 as the second preamp tube, and using the high gain input jack. With the 12AU7, the amp still has more gain than most other amps, but the lower gain of the 12AU7 tames it down more to my personal taste. I have also tried a 12AT7 as the first preamp tube with the 12AU7. This cuts the gain a little too much, although it does sound excellent, with more note definition. The bottom line is, you can really tweak the tone of this amp from being a little beast to being a tame, yet ready to run portable shit kicker just by trying different tube combinations. David Allen also sent me some suggestions for circuit modifications, but I haven't tried any of those yet.

This amp also sounds great driving 4x12 cabinets. I have a Mesa 4x12 cabinet loaded with Black Shadow 90's that really sounds good with this amp. I have never really liked the Mesa cabinet until now. I also have a 1x12 cabinet loaded with a Celestion blue bulldog re-issue that sounds great with this amp. I am currently debating whether or not to upgrade the Jensen with a Celestion Vintage 10 because of how good it sounds through this speaker.

I put this amp together, so I am more familiar with it than with some of my other amps. It worked the first time I turned it on. The instructions and color diagram that came with the kit were easy to follow.

Let me first say that I live near enough to David that I was able to pick up my kit personally, and see David's shop. Obviously, me being a novice, the quality of my workmanship is mediocre at best. While I was visiting David, I saw a few chassis that he had wired. If you order the amp built by him, you will be buying an amp that is constructed as well as any that I have seen. I own a few other boutique amps, and David's workmanship stands up to any of them. The cabinet, graphics, and finished appearance are top quality. I have not had this amp long enough to rate the reliability, but I am sure that this area will not be a problem.

David Allen is a first class guy. He has been very helpfull both during the construction process, and after I finished the amp. He has been interested in how things are going, and obviously takes a lot of pride in his products. He will help you to voice the amp to your personal taste, and he responds very quickly to your inquiries.

I really like this amp. It delivers a powerfull sound in a small, portable package. In fact, I have also ordered the cabinet for the head version of this amp, so that I can use it with bigger speaker cabinets for gigs. You really don't need the head cabinet to do this, but it will look more professional. If you want a great sounding amp that is portable and will not shake the house down, the Class Act combo certainly delivers. The price is very reasonable for a cool little amp.

This amp was made in December 1999 or early January 2000. David Allen built it, although it is also available as a kit. I wasn't about to build anything (no skill or talent for electronics), so I didn't think twice about having Mr. Allen work his magic on it. This is a new offering from Allen Amplification. It is point-to-point hand-wired (has solid-core cloth-covered wiring) and uses oversized power and output transformers. It is a Class A amp that uses one power tube (your choice of either a 6L6, 6V6, or EL34) and is self-biasing. It has a "Plexi style" preamp that utilizes two preamp tubes (I prefer the stock 12AX7). The amp has two inputs, one is high gain and the other is low gain. It has output power of 7 watts using a 6L6 or EL34, or 4 watts using a 6V6 power tube. The speaker is a Jensen C10R (obviously a 10" speaker) that is stock on this amp. The chassis is heavey aluminum (won't rust) and the cabinet is finger-jointed pine covered in a beautiful black Tolex. It weighs 24 lbs. All the small details are excellent (knobs, handle, grill cloth, purple jewel lamp, etc. In short, there is nothing cheap on the amp.

The amp has a master volume, gain knob (called "Volume" on the amp face), and treble, bass, and mid knobs.

The amp does not have a standby switch, line out, speaker out, headphone jack, reverb (absolutely does not need reverb IMHO), effects loop, or footswitch capability (changing channels requires the user to physically move the guitar cord from one input to the other). Don't be put off by the lack of features. I don't miss these features on this amp because, as I will explain later, it has excellent tone.

My two primary guitars are a Fender U.S. Fat Telecaster and a Peavey Wolfgang Special. Both of these guitars are my children, so I won't buy an amp if doesn't sound good with both of them. The Class Act sounds superb with both guitars and it doesn't favor one kind of pickup over another.

I play a variety of music, but my band and I play more hard rock, classic rock, and metal than anything else. When I play/practice alone, I work on being a better blues player and I try to cop as much as possible from the great jazz players. I would recommend this amp for a variety of styles, but especially rock in all its varieties and blues. This is not an amp that I would use for folksy stuff, bluegrass, Celtic, or anything like that.

Describing sounds is so difficult, but I love what I hear out of this amp. When running my guitar through the low gain input, I get more of a Fender Tweed type tone. With a 6V6 and the low gain input, you get a classic Fender Champ tone. With a 6L6 and the low gain, you get a Champ on steroids. Then with an EL34, you get a much more aggressive sound that I can't quite equate to any particular amp--an aggressive tweed of some sort that gets meaner as you turn the volume and gain up. I also use the low gain input when playing clean. With the Master Volume on 10 and the gain very low, the amp stays clean with single coils. With a powerful humbucker like a JB or like those on the Wolfgang Special, there is just a hint of breakup at the highest clean volume settings. Given the low power of this amp, you will need to mike it, especially when playing clean.

Using the high gain input, you get an entirely different voice out of the amp. Using an EL34 and the high gain input I get an awesome "Van Halen in a box" tone. With my Fat Tele, I can get a great "Drop Dead Legs" tone that still amazes me even one month after powering up the amp for the first time. Using the high gain input, but at lower gain settings I find that I get a violin-like tone that reminds me of Eric Johnson's sound.

The gain structure on the amp is such that it can get out of control if you are not careful. In fact, when I "dime" all the knobs on the amp and keep the amp idle it begins to make a helicopter or motorboating type of pulsating sound due to the fact that the gain is out of control. When actually playing the guitar with the amp dimed, the motorboating disappears and out comes an incredible Metallica-type loud crunch that has the flavor of the song "Of Wolf and Man" or something along those lines. I have learned that if you want that "out of control" sound, then you have to be willing to accept some out of control responses from the amp.

The beauty of this amp, however, is the fact that you get excellent crunch and sustain at low volumes. When I play this amp, I can get THAT tone without losing my hearing, frightening my cats, or bothering my wife. You do not need a headphone jack because the tone is terrific at late night volumes, especially with a 6V6 tube.

I am subtracting two points for motorboating when idle with all controls on 10, but folks, I must confess that I wet myself when I first played through this amp. It truly was/is that good. Few other amps could match its versatility and tone, especially amps of similar wattage or size. It is absolutely...well, you just try one yourself and see!

This thing is as tough as nails. The only thing that will fail here will be the tubes and maybe we'll need a cap job in 20 years. I play the amp almost every night for a few hours each night and I have had no problems. It has no strange squawks, buzzes, or other noises and is dead quiet. I need to get down and put my ear next to it to hear any kind of hum from it and even then it is hard to hear it.

If you want to gig with this amp, you will need to mic it up. I have this Spinal Tap fantasy where I am playing a sold out stadium and all I have is this mic'd 7 watt, 24 lbs. amp and that's it. It would do fine in a club, in any event, provided that you mic it. I would not gig without a backup with any amp or guitar.

Everything inside the amp is neat and clean. The cabinet is solid and tight and there are no buzzes or rattles to be heard even at the highest volumes. I wanted an amp that would last a lifetime and I believe that I found it. It gets a 9 because tubes can and do fail, but that is not a reflection on the quality of this amp, I'm just trying to find reasons not to give out a 10 for each category!

OK, you want customer support? David Allen amazes me. First, experienced players will ask, "Why in the world did you buy an amp without playing it first? It's a sin to do something so stupid!" Well, the answer is, David built the amp for me, sent it to me, and gave me ten days to try it. If I didn't like it, all I had to do was return it to him with no questions asked.

I emailed David several times and I talked to him on the phone a few times. He answered email messages within hours. Our conversations on the phone were great. He was happy to talk to me and was not in the least put off by all of my questions (good questions and boneheaded questions alike). I put gobs of research into all of my purchases because I don't want to get burned or suffer later on and he spent a good deal of time talking with me and writing me when he could have been doing many other things.

Get a load of this! During one of our conversations, he asked me if I had some extra tubes to do some tube tasting. I told him that I didn't, so he sent some right out to me without any charge to me or any prompting by me. I called him about the motorboating that I spoke about above. I thought something was wrong, but he explained what was going on.

David is a very nice guy, knows his stuff, and genuinely cares about his customers (or is that client-I'm not sure). He made me feel as if I was his only customer--support such as his merits a 10. I know 10s are thrown about pretty regularly with these reviews, but I do not believe that you will find better customer support, especially with the large manufacturers.

By the way, the warranty on the amp is one year and there is the ten day return policy that I talked about earlier. I am not at all worried about this amp or Allen Amplification's customer support. If you are at all interested in the Class Act or any of the Allen amps, I recommend calling David yourself. Also read the other reviews on the other Allen amps to get a feeling for what you are getting into with a purchase of an Allen amp.

This amp is to die for. This time around money was no issue (sounds amazing, huh?). I wanted a low wattage amp, that would outlive me, and that did not need a lot of maintanence (especially biasing or anything requiring messing around with dangerous voltages). I wanted cranked tube tone at low volume levels with a 10" or 12" speaker, not an 8" speaker.

I compared this amp to a great many other amps. I considered Champ clones from Clark Amplification and Victoria Amps. I looked at and played a whole bunch of vintage Champs, Vibro-Champs, and a variety of small tweeds. I played new and old Marshalls, including the newer 20 watt Marshall (the 201). I played solid-state stuff (everything from the new Fender Dyna-Touch amps, a Peavey Bandit, Tech 21 Trademark 60, etc.). I even tried out things that I knew wouldn't really work out like a Peavey 5150 combo (way too loud to get THAT tone!), a new Fender Deluxe Reverb, a Fender Prosonic. I also tried out a couple of Dr. Z amps and other high ticket stuff. I tried the digital amps, including the Flextone, Spider, Crate DX series stuff, and the Peavey offerings. I even tried out a crappy little Crate VC508 and the Electar Tube 10. I went to music stores, pawn shops, and I even responded to classified ads looking for the right amp for me. In short, I tried and considered a buttload of amps, ruled out all those amps for one reason or another, and ultimately went with the Class Act. In all honesty, had there not been a ten day try-it-before-you-buy-it policy, I would not have purchased the Class Act. With that try-out period though, I had nothing to lose.

On tone alone, this amp gets a 9 or 10. In order to get a 10 for the rating, I think that the Class Act would need to have a standby switch, a line out, an effects loop, reverb, and footswitchable channels. Do I miss any of these things? Not at all. Besides, I think that some of those extra things just help to suck tone out of the amp and offer too many distractions. Someone else might want these things though.

Let me just say that when I strap on my beloved Tele and crank it through the Class Act, I feel like a guitar god despite the fact that I am far from god-like. It sounds so good and has enough features to get exactly the sound I need, when I need it.

I know some folks will be put off by the price tag for this amp, but I encourage you to save your money to get the best, even if the Class Act isn't exactly what you are looking for. I simply wanted the very best small amp out there and for me the Class Act was worth every penny.