Epiphone Electar Tube 10

It has nice features for a little tube amp.
Gain, Volume, Treble, Middle, Base, along with a standby switch.
Wish it had been and 8 ohm speaker/output and a headphone jack
would be nice too.

Sound quality is pretty good but not great, the speaker
appears to be inefficient. Max Volume was not Max. But
bought this Amp because I wanted to tweak it out. I pretty
much did all the changes I could. Replaced the speaker with
a Jensen C8R, which just fits. Replaced the Tubes with Grove
tubes. Did the suggested wiring modes and replaced the burned
out Power Lamp. This amp is very easy to work on, comes apart
and reassembles nice. Now it sounds great. Even if this amp
isn't tweaked it just a practice amp and well worth the money.

It's Build like a brick

Only been playing for 4 years, still take lessons. I have a Custom
Stat, Washburn Nuno N4, Hamer semi-hollow body and a Samick Jumbo.
My amps are a Roland Cube 30, and this one. I've owned this for about
a year. If I see another one for sale locally at a good price, I'll buy
it. The features for the price point make this amp a standout. My only
complaints are no headphone jack and they don't make them anymore. The
only other small all tube amp I would consider for the money is the
Peavey Valve King Royal 8 everything else is over priced and over rated,
and I've tried them all.

For a small tube amp it has everything i could expect,the only thing that i wish it had was reverb,i would have gladly paid twice what i did for real spring reverb.
On an amp this small i was glad it at least had a gain knob,plus a mid knob.For the money i would have bought it without either

By itself it sounds good enough for practice and if blues is your thing you are set right out of the box.The speaker is lacking though but through a 4x12 it roars.Alot of people state they use a 1x12 or 2x12 or even a 10 inch,dont play around,just plug it into the same 4x12 as if it were a 50 or 100 marshal and it will push it.Analog effects make it really come to life and a tube screamer will really make you look twice at what you paid for it.I am giving it a 10 based on using a 4x12 an 8 for right out of the box

ive had this amp for 8 years and never a problem,the only thing i did to it was to put a new tubes in it,electroharmonics high gain pre and groove tube 6l6.I have had many tube amps melt down since i had this little beast and believe me i have pushed this one harder than all of the others.

This thing is now my main recording amp,on 10 it will rattle the walls but to get the tone i like a sure sm57 through a tube mic box with a tube screamer is it.You will swear the recorded sound came from a wall of stacks running at meltdown.For giging i have just got another tube 10 and use them in stereo with a 4x12 each,awesome.Any guitar i have plugged into it sounds great,turning the eq knobs really dials in the guitars tone.I guess the bottom line is this,anyone who wrote a bad review about this thing,email me at captnpolska@zoominternet.net,i will gladly take it off of your hands,i would fill a spare room with them if i could find enough and try different mods on them all.Every singl day of my life as i have my morning coffee i log onto e bay and type electar tube 10,you wont find many,in fact you will find more people trying to get out from under a princton.

Update!

You can use EL34 instead of 6L6.
No modification is needed.
Just replace 6L6 with EL34. Period.

Why do I replace it? It is because
the EQ circuit of Electar 10 is from
Marshall circuit. EL34 will make your amp
more Marshall-like sound. Moreover, it
will give more power. I think it is more
than 15W.

However, there are three minor problems.

The bias setting is not perfect. However, it is ok.
Don't worry. The amp will not explode.
You will forget 6L6.

(|It was measured 410V in the plate, and 30V
(470 ohms) in the cathode with EL34.|)

Another one is heater voltage. 6L6 needs
6.3V-0.9A, but EL34 needs 6.3V-1.5A.
it was measured 5.9V with EL34.(6.3V is normal.)The power
transformer does not support more than 1.5A, I guess.
5.9V is not bad. Some guitarists like to drop heater
voltage in order to make more dirty tone.

The third is hum. It seems to be resulted from lowered
heater voltage. However, I do not feel disturbed by the hum.
It is very small amount of hum.

Someday, I will add 6.3V transformer to Electar 10.
I can examine some space between power tube socket
and voltage selecter. (You may find it in Radioshack.)
And I will test 6550

I am the guy who posted in 08/21/2005 17:26.
Some people have asked more information.

@Larger speaker (10-inch): MOD 10 is used. However, don't do it. Do Mod 8. I carved cabinet in order to install it. Mod 10 is too tall for electar 10. (But, Now, I have much more bass.)

@Bigger transformer: Hammond 125CSE. (I did not use electric drill but nail and hammer to make hole for new bolts.)

@Better capacitors: Wima MKP10 grade. Tantalum Capacitor for bypass.

@Removing R5: You can see what it is if you open back panel. Numbers are marked on the pcb surface.

If you are afraid of hacking the amp. Do two things.

First, remove R5 (just cut the lead), then feel what's going on.

Second change speaker. After you remove R5, you will find original speaker cannot hold tone.

You will find Electar 10 becomes a cying little beast. It runs more versatile from clean to rock.

ps@When you replace speaker, remember it works in 4ohm.

Basic No frills class A amp, with 3band eq, gain, volume, pre-amp out.

Very sturdy build, with tube cage protection.

For a basic tube amp (class A!) the features are what you expect.

Sounds excellent. Depending upon the pickups you will want to dial in master and gain from 3 to 8, then turn down the volume on your guitar to get that nice class A compressed tone. For weaker pickups or for a nice overdrive tone, just add a pedal (of choice). A little boost to the front-end, provides a natural tube overdrive in excess of the nice overdrive tones available with the amp alone. Some may find the use of a boost pedal unnecessary, as I do. All the breakup I need can come from adjusting the gain and master controle.

The amp sounds GREAT (not good, but excellent) with an external cab (1x12, 4x12, or 2x12). And it is much louder with external high grade speaker cabs. This is where the amp tone controls (and guitar volume control) are really noticible (and necessary to get the sound you are looking for). Some cabs can have too much base or treble, and the 3 band eq helps with this.

I depend on this amp for stand-alone practice and for rehersal and gigging.

This amp is the most solid little combo / head I have seen on the market. Well, if you take care of any combo and don't throw it around it will be more reliable.

Never needed it.

I own a few amps, and I like to play and reherse with this one as it really brings out the tone of any guitar nicely.

No longer available new, you will find them used from several sources, for example, ebay and http://guitar-gear-for-sale.blogspot.com/

Just make sure you get one that isn't all beat up. These amps are built well, but why buy one that has been rusting away and might have corrosion problems due to basement or garage storage?

Master Vol, Pre-Volume, 3-EQs, STBY SW, Preamp-out, Speaker Extension (Original speaker off when extension works).....Well, this small amp has a lot of features!

Well, althoguht it uses 6L6GC in around 420V, its sound is neither hot nor loud. If you are going to use this amp for practice, it is ok. However, who the hack gonna use 10W tube just for practice? 1

I found that this amp has some problems in parts. The 8-inch Speaker is really sucks! The output transformer is as small as my thumbnail. It is not enough to push 10W power.

So, that's the reason why I modified it. I did five parts: larger speaker (10-inch), bigger transformer, better capacitors, removing R5 (for more gain), NOS tubes.

It is well built with strong cabinet. The wiring seems to be very firm. Man, this small amp is really built. I really want to thank to its manufacturer.

I have never contacted.......

Well, the modified Electar 10 sounds monsterous tone. It is easy to break up. I play it with small and cheap digitech multi-effector (RP80).

single-end 2-tube amp with 8" speaker. No effects, nothing but a line out for other speakers. I use this for recording...but it's a catch 22 amp...too loud for small sound, not loud enough for big sounds. I have repaced almost everything in this amp and now it sounds very good...and the replacement parts/work still come in under $150 bucks for everything!

Im running a strat clone with black velevet bridge and duckbucker neck position pickups...in trying to recapture my old princeton sounds, this has come closest. The Electar was taken apart and rebuilt with some orange drop cap.s, a new weber ceramic non-ribbed cone, a mullard and RCA old tube, and I built a 5ply birch cabinet (open) which basically led to a completely different amp in the end. BUT, all very easy (im no electrical expert) and inexpensive to do, and the end result is a very sweet and reliable amp! I now keep treble around 3, mid from nothing to 4 and bass almost all the way up! 11! It seems to truly sound like a baby bassman with a few princetoon trebly sounds at times. Good for almost all except heavy/distorted music styles (unless using a distortion pedal...then it's ...ok) My style is more sick bees than slick new stuff so this amp is perfect...a little champ on roids maybe!

Oh so very reliable. BUT MOST of the schematic pages for this MOD have been taken off the net, though there are still one or two...., get'em while you can! IF ANYONE has a MOD for this as a 2 speaker cabinet (what Im doing with next electar) please contact me martinomron@hotmail.com

Is there ever a good customer support for any non-custom music stuff? Let me know!

A great deal for reliablity, you could probably get a better sounding airline or old kay amp on ebay but how long would it last if it has not been tinkered correctly with? Get this, build it right and it should last for (ever?) more than 20 years or till the transformers blow/leak/disintegrate...a BONUS IS when the webers break in and come into their own, the sound just gets better.

Maybe 5 watts? (it's not as loud as my 1966 5-watt Silvertone tube amp though). Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Volume. Two tubes (couldn't tell what kind). Tubes were encaged in... well, a cage. Speaker out and preamp out. No reverb.

I play in a live band using Mesa Rectifiers and Les Pauls. I have Fender guitars that I like to kick back on jazz and blues with, so I tried this amp in the store. I tried a Fender '65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, and two Ampegs: a J12T 15-watter with a single tone control and tremolo, and a SJ12R which is a 50-watter with full tone controls and reverb. There was something I didn't like about the tone of each of those. My opinion is that, although this Electar is not necessarily a better amp, it has the most rounded tone out of the bunch. The other amps were either too bright, too dark, too big and heavy, etc. This little electar is a nice amp for home/porch practice. It doesn't have much headroom at all, and with the volume cranked and the gain on 2 or 3 you can hear it begin to distort, so I'd say it does blues more than jazz. For a tiny 5-watt tube amp @ around $249., you can't possibly go wrong.

The one I tried has a metal cage surrounding the tubes. The Output tube also has a metal plate on the end of it with two springs holding the tube in nice and tight. That's better quality than you'll see on Peavey's Classic 30, whose tubes all stick out in the open. However, on this amp the 2 springs vibrated sympathetically with the guitar and made a weird noise- the tube seemed to amplify the spring vibration. I moved the tube around and it seemed to stop. Other than that, they seem built ok. The knobs are a bit cheesey maybe.

The only things I didn't like were the lack of headroom (I'll check out the 30-watt version), and the fact that the Bass was as loud as it can go by the time the knob gets to 3. There's a very small window where it seems the bass is either all the way up or all the way down. They should really even that out across the entire range of the knob's turn. That kind of thing on any amplifier (and it's common) annoys me.

see other reviews

Belive it or not i swapped mine for my old Marshell JCM800 valve head and cab (ok I got a les Paul as well) and I'm actually very happy with it. I finally had to admit to myself that having a 100 watt valve amp just was'nt oractical and wanted a valve amp I could actually use, this seems to fit the bill perfectly. Apart from reverb it has all the knobs you would need and sounds like...well a small valve amp, what more can you want. I would say it has a tendency to muddy the low end, but the mids and highs are warm and rounded as only valves can make them. Played it with a le Paul, and a vintage strat and have to admit, the single coils seemed to react much better. Low ends with humbukcers can be smoothed with tweakage.

seems fine, oly had a few weeks though

never had to deal with them

If you're in a metal band and are intending to play Wembly statium, don't bother. After reading article after article about how to get the sweetest tone out of a valve amp I was persuaded that you really can't the sounds you want unless you push the valves. Valves at low volumes just don't distort enough and don't warm up enough and end up sounding not even as good as a ss amp. Enter the 10 or 30 watt models. If you want more volume for gigs, put it through the PA. This amp is bluesy and jazzy, its thats your thing buy it, if you want a heavier sound, buy something else. Simple.

Just an additon to my previous review... I ended my eperiement with this amp many months ago. I passed along my web page of mods to several interested parties. I believe that, if you look hard enough, you will find them hosted somewhere on the WWW.

Please understand that I neither have the space to host the mods page any longer nor the personal bandwidth to respond to email requests and questions about them.

I still think it's a "pretty good" amp overall and a great deal for the $$$. Take care.

Bought in June, 2000. Basic tube practice amp. Not at all loud.

Disapointing.

Didn't keep it long enough.

Music Yo is great to deal with as long as you're willing to do it online. I've bought a few other things from them and have been happy with their service.

I've been playing blues, classic rock and everything else as the needed, for about 35 years. I'd been looking for a low cost practice amp for the apartment. I bought this on a whim and after reading some of the other reviews. To put it bluntly, I was thoroughly disappointed. I never really found a sound I liked and if I would've, I couldn't hear it. It wasn't even loud enough for apartment life. I kept it for 5 days and sent it back and bought it's bigger brother, which I am quite pleased with. Especially since they lowered the price to $129 and gave me a $10 online coupon. For $119.00 plus shipping, this is the deal of the year. More about that under the electar 30 ratings.

For a cheap practice amp what do you expect? It has all the knobs it needs for the job and comes in an attractive package. Seems pretty damn sturdy. No reverb though.

Only five at first!!!!!!
Out of the box this thing sounded like a fart through a crappy P.A. I ordered it through musicyo and was very disapointed. However, I got onto Harmony Central and noticed some of the mods people suggested. Now I am happy.

No probs yet.

No contact

OK, I know I only gave it 5 for sound, but after replacing the speaker and the tubes, I have a little tone monster. My main amp is a Fender Deville 4-10". I use this in my bedroom for practice. I use it with a Zoom 507 for reverb and a Danelectro Fab tone for Distortion. The amp's distortion alone sounds like mud. You will need a good distortion pedal to get a great sound. Again, with the mods and a dist. pedal, this thing rocks, and at the price WOW! $89 for the amp/ $50 for dist/ $50 for used reverb and $18 for a weber 10" speaker. That's still under $250 for tube sound in your bedroom. I may even use it to record.

Look at one of the dozens of other reviews.

Several folks seem to like the "post-mods" sound of this unit.

What do you expect?

OK - Musicyo has a bunch more of these in stock, so I felt like putting my two cents worth in. The following are NOT complaints, just observations. The resistors are the cheap 10% jobs. Don't look for any sealed RV4 2W pots in here, either. Polypropylene film/foil capacitors? Not exactly... Check the small caps on the tone controls and they're not exactly silver mica, either. Rated power on the trany is not inspiring if a heavily clipped/nearly square sound is where you tend to play a lot of the time. Again, these are NOT complaints. Come on people, the whole thing is $100 delivered!! Use the factory tubes as emerency spares only, heft the "speaker" in the dust bin, do the mods and you're out $80US (if using a WeberVST Signature). BUT, you're still stuck with the limitations of an 8" speaker. You're still stuck with the "inexpensive" resistors, caps, pots, and trans. It sounds pretty good today, but it won't next year or so. Bottom line, if you are capable of modding this thing so it sounds good, and it does BTW, just spend the SAME money building your own amp with top quality parts - granted no speaker. Now you can justify using a Weber P10P or even P12B and you'll have a great rig for a LONG time.

10W Class A all-valve combo (12AX7/ECC83 and a 6L6). Basic three band EQ (chicken head knobs), gain and a master volume. Standby and power switch as well as a pilot light. Preamp out and an external speaker jack socket, as well as switching for UK/US voltage. All in a 50s style configuration - quite limited, but people shouldn't be expecting more switches than a mixer for a 10W Class A tube amp.

Waaaay too much bass end for such a small amp. After performing some amp surgery (following tonemonkey@yahoo.com 's webpage on Electar 10 mods), I have now got a very nice sounding replica of what should be a 50s amp. Admittedly, it doesn't have a very high gain and would appeal to britrock and blues players more than metallers but both the clean and overdriven tone (to me) sounds more expressive than most Marshalls and Laneys which I have heard.

This amp hasn't really been through any torture tests yet, but it has survived my soldering, so that HAS to be a good sign.

Epiphone no longer make these amps - bad luck. Still, anyone with basic knowledge of electronics should be able to replace anything that has blown as the internal circuitry itself is not all that complicated.

From experience, most amps sound best at 3/4 of it's max volume. I play everything from worship music at church to HM/vintage rock, and with the exception of extremely high gain sounds, this amp looks very promising. The clean sounds are full for humbuckers and slightly glassier for single coils, and overdriven this could be voiced to sound like both an AC30 or a Marshall.

Great little practice amp from Korea, made in '99 more than likely. Has a 12ax7a preamp tube and a single Sovtek 5881 power tube. Controls for gain, volume, treble, middle, and bass. Extension speaker jack for a 4 ohm cabinet. Standby switch is a nice feature. From what other reviewers have written, it seems as though there are quality control issues, but mine is a good unit. Well built, with nice retro styling.

Right out of the box, it sounded good. Surprisingly good. But I had some tubes from other amps in the tool chest, so I did a little mix and match. I found that an old Raytheon 6L6 power tube and a RCA 12ax7a gave me the best sound. This little thing isn't a powerhouse, but these tubes give it plenty of clean volume. And when I plugged into a 2x12 cabinet, it really sounded strong. Not made for playing out, but great for practice. Definitely better than the solid state practice combos on the market.

I've had this for 4 months now and never had a problem. Well built and sturdy.

I've played for several years - long enough to trust my ears when it comes to judging good vs bad tone. This has a very good tone for a small cab, low watt amp. Two things I wish it had are a headphone jack and reverb. If they're still available, the low price makes them a good buy.

The amp was probably made in 1999 (it was delivered to me Dec. 1999). I bought it at Musicyo.com. A single channel amp with a single 12AX7 tube in the preamp and a single 6L6 in the poweramp section. The control knobs are gain, master volume, bass, mid and treble. This is really a small practice amp and there is no reverb nor effects loop. It does have a standby switch, an external speaker jack and the AC voltage selector. I travel a lot so the AC voltage selector comes in really handy (the main reason of my buying this amp). I have not tried using this amp in a band situation but I am not sure if this amp can cut through the mix. This amp will remain as a practice amp.

When I first plugged in to the amp, it rattles like crazy. I think the speaker needs an upgrade to something better. My main gutar is equipped with humbuckers and I have to split the pickup coils to get a decent sound. Otherwise, I would use a stompbox to get a distortion sound. With the right tone control setup, the amp's clean sound is not too bad, although it does breakup very early. Overdriven tone is decent, too, providing you don't push the amp. All and all this amp is not designed to be played at high volume. The lack of reverb is cool sometimes but I would recommend using stompbox effects to deal with that if you do need some kind of reverb. For an amp this size, I think the sound is pretty good. I am sure with a good speaker, the amp probably will sound even better.

Just like Steve B, the C10 cathode bypass cap exploded in my amp a few days ago. I figure I have used the amp for about 40 hours in total since I got it. The shell of the cap and other loose stuff was all over the chassis. I have no idea how can this happen. But since I am not the only one who has this problem, perhaps the defective parts were from the same batch? I just hope the problem is not a design flaw and replacing the cap with a good one will solve it. As I have said before, this amp will remain as a practice amp and I will not take it out to a gig without a backup.

Since I am not in the States now, the 5-year warranty is useless unless I sent the amp back to the US for repair. I was aware of this when I ordered the amp that someday under Murphy's Law the amp will break while I am nowhere near the US and I'd be stuck. I have emailed Epiphone about this and their email support was quick (got an email back from someone at Epiphone 15 minutes after I sent mine!) but with no luck about the repair, just as I thought. However, they did offer to send me the schematic by snail mail so I will have to fix it on my own. I explained what happened to the amp and the customer support person who replied my email did not say much about it. I figure this is just the cap's problem.

I have a few other combo amps so I am not stranded without an amp for the time being. However, that explosion does not make me feel too comfy about this amp. I believe this is a case of you get what you paid for. At $89, I can accept the shoddy speaker and cheap assembly method but not the cap explosion. MusicYo no longer lists this amp so I am not sure where I can find one if the one I have is gone. I like the amp because of the voltage selector switch and I am not sure if there is anything out there with this feature. In a way, this is a unique feature of this amp. Otherwise, sizewise and powerwise, you are looking at a Fender Champ or a Pro Junior. IMOH, both Fender amps sound better than the Electar 10 but they do cost more. I still think it was a bargain, even though not much time was put in before the cap exploded. Time to refresh my soldering skill.....

Gain, volume, and three tone controls. Has a standby switch (nice touch). The price listed is based upon cost of the amp., shipping both ways, a spare speaker (Weber C8SS) and spare tubes.

This amp sounded like like crap with humbuckers but could produce a good tone with single coil guitars. If you ar looking for clean headroom forget it, this amp breaks up way too early.

The speaker had a rattle right out of the box (something rolling around under the speaker dust cap). After approximately three to four hours of operation, the amp literally exploded the C10 capacitor (cathode bypass cap). I mean there were pieces of this cap all over the inside. Since I had the amp for only a couple of weeks, I decided to return it (hence the shipping both ways). After repeated attempts to contact the vendor (MusicYo) they eventually replied to my several e-mails(8 days after my initial contact and 5 days after receiving the amp back). They claimed another (replacement) amp was damaged in shipment and they did not have any more. They offered to refund my credit card or send me an Electar 30. In order to minimize my losses I have requested the Electar 30 (I'll probably give it to my brother).

Good luck geting these (MusicYo) guys to respond in a reasonable time. Personally, this method of internet sales plain sucks. I won't be using these guys again once this issue is resolved. I give them a 4 since they did offer to replace it with a more expensive (but less useful) item.

I wanted this amp replaced but that is now not a possibility. I am now stuck with the spare tubes and Weber C8SS replacement speaker. How the heck does a cathode bypass cap explode? Considering it is parallel to the cathode resistor, it shouldn't see more than few milliamps. It must have been pinholed from the factory and finally broke down to a dead short (even then it should only see 10's of milliamps - not really an explosive current level).

This is a 10 watt all tube amp with an 8-inch speaker, made in 1998 in Korea. Controls include gain, volume, treble, middle, bass, stand-by, and power. The amp has an input jack, an external speaker jack, and a preamp out jack. An effects loop and reverb would be nice, but not really feesable on an amp that costs $100 delivered. I use this as a practice amp, so the 10 watts is adequate.

I am using a Route 101 Guitars Solimar Custom with coil-splittable Duncan Designed hotrail humbuckers in neck and bridge positions, and a Duncan Designed single coil pickup in the middle position. This amp really lets me experiment with the versitility allowed by the guitar: I can hear every minute difference between pickup positions and coil-splits. I play mostly blues with a little bit of jazz mixed in, and I can certaintly get the tone I'm looking for. Though the treble/mid/bass controls do not seem too sensitive to me, a little fiddling around and I can get a whole variety of sounds. I hate playing with distortion, so I haven't really tried to get any out of the amp; I imagine a pedal would be necessary though. Although a number of people reviewing this amp have suggested a whole bunch of modifications, I can get exactly the sounds I'm looking for, so I doubt I'll be making any changes. Obviously this amp can't be compared to expensive stacks, but its price-to-tone ratio is outstanding.

The amp is pretty new and I don't gig (yet!), but it seems pretty solid and heavy, so I am guessing that it will last.

Again, the amp is pretty new and seems solid, so I have not dealt with Epiphone. It has a 5 year warranty, but of course I'm hoping I won't need it. MusicYo shipped it to me in four days without any problems, so I am pretty happy with that.

I have not been playing too long, but I listen to a lot of music, and I know what I like to hear: The Electar Tube 10 delivers exactly the tones I was looking for. If stolen, I would log on to musicyo.com immediately, and order myself another one. I think the key thing people need to remember here is that this amp is a practice amp, and is not necessarily meant for gigging. With that in mind, its insanely inexpensive 10 watts of tube smoothness really get the job done!

Minimal Features: Treb., Mid, Bass, Gain, Master Vol., Line out, Ext. Speaker Jack. ALL TUBE: 10 Watts.
NO: effects loop or reverb.

This is an ALL TUBE mini-amp with Very Good classic rock tones/Blues. (I have also owned both the legendry Gibson Skylark and Fender Tube Champ, both of which I sold..like a moron.) The tones are reasonably clean with the gain up to about 2, then it starts to break up pretty rapidly, so I spend a lot of time search for the "sweet spot at about 2-4. Above that, the distortion is too muddy for my taste, but still gives a good rock sound. As with most of these tube amps, the tone controls seem knd of weak compared to modern active controls, but they do the job. I keep the treble on 10 the mid on 0-3 and the bass on 2-3. The bass gets muddy very quickly. A touch of reverb (from my ME-8) makes everything sound real good. Think "All right Now" by Free. No effects loop, so you have to put effects in front. I bought this as a low-power recording amp, so for that it is probably an 8. Very low power and limited range of tones makes it a 6 overall. I'm totally happy with it though. Don't interpret the 6 as dissatisfaction.

Looks very well built. Tube retainers and a protective cage. All hardware fits properly. FIVE YEAR WARRANTY ! But we will have to see !

Epiphone: 5 No support at all, but there is a 5-Year Warranty.
I bought this from Musicyo.com and was very impressed. I ordered it over the Net, the had a UPS tracking number available the next day, and I was able to track the shipment across the country from the Musicyo site each day. Took exactly 7 days from Nashville (Epiphone/Gibson) to Salt Lake City Utah, via Chicago (??).
Musicyo seems very reputable and the prices are great. But you can't really talk to a salesman with questions, so I will give them a "7", even though I am happy and would buy from them again !

I've been playing 35 years and have owned all the "holy grail" equipment. The Electar 10 is a good-sounding low-power practice or recording amp. I wish it had an effects loop, but I will probably actually use it completely dry, and add all the time-based effect via the recording console. The fact that it is all-tube gives it excellent bluesey tones with picking-attack dependent break-up and distortion. This is something I have noticed is lacking from the amp simulators, such as the POD. So for what I wanted, and how I will use it, it is a "9", but I rank it a little lower overall because of its limitations.

Before it arrived, I had already visited some of the websites that recommend Mods to the circuitry and speaker. I was prepared to try these immediately. Eventually I still may try the Mods, but after hearing the amp as built, I am satisfied enough that I am in no rush to modify anything. I tried the amp through a EV12L speaker that usually sound great (with a 100 W tube amp), and the Electar sounded very trebbley and tinney through it. So I think the Electar must be specially "voiced" for its 8" speaker and closed back-cabinet.
FOR THE PRICE IT IS A VERY GOOD DEAL !

Single channel super cheap-assed allegedly class a combo tube amp. Cool looking retro thang. Like everyone else says: gain, volume, trebele, middle, bass, standby and power switches. Has a 1/4" preamp out jack, as well as an ext. speaker jack (disables internal speaker). Easy access power fuse, power supply has a switch for 110 or 220 vac operation. Philips JAN 12AX7WA preamp tube, Sovtek 5881/6L6WGC power tube. Built like a little tank, but easy access to all parts. PCB construction, but tube sockets are chassis mounted. While some folks have said it has a "sealed enclosure" for the speaker, um, not exactly. The back is indeed closed, but there are two holes approx. 1" diameter in the front panel. Not exactly a scientific tuned port by a long shot. Sure, there's extra stuff I'd like, but it only cost $100 delivered to my door. I'm giving it a 9 because at this price, it has more features than some more expensive amps.

Using a Godin SD, S/S/H. I'm just l;earning how to play, but I do have extensive experience on the electronics/hardware side. Nice little practice amp out of the box. Not terribly loud, but could still get you in trouble in an apartment. Before doing anything, it sounded marginally okay, but kind of flat and flabby (artificially boomy resonance on the low end, muddy mids, very weak, somewhat raspy highs). By marginally okay, I mean what the hell, I haven't
heard any new $100 amps that sound any better than marginally okay. Did the basic circuit mods on http://members.home.net/mtatro/Electar10Mods.htm, i.e. replaced R3 & R7, removed R5 and replaced C2. Also did the NFB tweak R14/C11(not eliminated). Total time spent for assembly, mods and reassembly, half an hour. Total cost of parts, $1.00. Made a HUGE difference in high end response, but really brought out the nasty raspiness of the speaker. No problem, because I also just got my new Weber C8SS.
Replaced speaker, 15 minutes (do it when you've got it apart for the circuit mods and save 10 minutes). Old speaker has a MUCH lighter magnet and a GIANT dustcap. Now sounds VERY nice, with a total cost including shipping of less than $130. The speaker is a huge difference, as well as the bypass cap mod. Next played with a few tubes, currently using a Svetlana 6L6GC and JJ/Tesla 12AX7A, sounds very sweet. So another $20 of tubes, and I've got $150 into it with a full set of extra (original tubes) and speaker in reserve.

Clean channel now sounds fairly sweet, really nice at lower volumes and okay at higher ones. Cranking up the gain is nicely noisy, but gets a bit brutal after a while when maxed out.

So far, so good. One of the real great things about this amp is that it is perfect for the person who wants to become a junior amp tech.. Simple circuitry, easy access, low cost...perfect little lab amp that you can really use.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But so what, a blind monkey could reair this amp, or just buy a new one.

Buy one. Play with it. Open it up. Love it.

This is a single channel, 10 watt(?), class-A, tube amp. I question the 10 watt rating, because this thing is barely audable. It really lacks any sort of clean headroom. I believe that the reason for this is perhaps due to the use of a very inefficeint speaker. The controls are gain, bass, mid, treble, and master volume.

With humbuckers, this thing turns to mud immediately. I can't even get an adequate clean volume for late night practice. I returned the unit for a refund, less a loss of shipping expenses. Note: the cabinet is very tiny (just enough room for the slim 8" stock speaker), so you can't install an efficeint 10" or 12" speaker in this box. No useful sound here for me!

The unit was received damaged. The 6L6 tube was shattered.

Electar amps are no longer made - good luck getting support.

Save your money for a real amp with a real speaker.

This little tube amp is THE best buy in low-powered amplifiers. Great features such as standby switch and sealed back cabinet with a protective grille around the tubes. Three tone controls and a gian knob, in additon to volume.

As it came from the box, it sounded good. But I'm a tinkerer, so I couldn't leave well enough alone. First, I replaced the stock speaker with a Weber Signature model. Theni started on the tubes: tried a Svetlana 6L6GC and a NOS Sylvania, but ended up staying with the stock Sovtek 5881. I tested it with the following preamp tubes: NOS GE 12ax7, NOS RCA 12ax7a, ans Sovtek 12ax7wa, 12ax7wxt+ and 12ax7LPS. Of all of these, the Sovtek 12ax7LPS had the best tone (at least, to my ears. By making these changes, the volume seems to have increased noticeably and the controls are more responsive. Has a great bluesy sound and the gain control isn't overly sensitive, as on some amps.

I've only had this amp since late last year, but it's holding up well so far.

What's that?

What a bargain! Just a shade under ninety dollars for a great looking, great sounding tube combo. Don't let this one slip away from you.

10 watt combo Class A tube amp. Gain, Volume, Treble, Mid, Bass controls. Input, Pre-Amp Out, Ext Speaker jacks. Standby & Power toggle switches. Comes with a Philip JAN 12AX7WA preamp tube & a Sovtek 5881/6L6WGC power tube which are protected by a metal cage. It uses an Electar Labs 8" speaker which has a ceramic magnet.

Stock, this $89 amp sounds good for the money. Its clean sound is okay, but its distortion sounds very farty. Here's what I did to make this amp a gem.

1) Ditch the stock speaker and get a Weber C8SS speaker ($19). This dramatically increases the amp's volume and ability to reproduce a good overdriven sound.

2) Replace the Sovtek 5881 power tube with a Svetlana 6L6GC ($15). This will smooth out the overdrive nicely.

3) Replace the Philips 12AX7WA preamp tube! I tried a Sovtek 12AX7LPS, but after making the above mods, I starting getting breakup as soon as I brought the gain above 2. I then tried a GE JAN 5751 ($10). Much better! Breakup now starts at a 4 for humbuckers and 5 for single coil pickups.

After making the above "mods", the amp is great! Tone, tone, tone! It's still not loud enough to compete with a drummer (but maybe an external speaker cab with a couple of 12" speaker would fix that?) Clean: it's warm and the 5751 is bright enough to counter the amp's bassy-ness. Overdriven: great "brown sound" and nice growl when you turn the gain up. An 8" speaker will always sound a bit "boxy" when distorted, but the amp is so small (12"h x 14.5"w x 7"d) it's a small price to pay.
I rate the sound a 6 stock and a 10 after my substitutions.

The amp is well constructed (with the exception of the plastic jacks). Metal corners on 6 of the 8 corners and no exposed tolex seams means it travels well. No rattles when I turn it up (which was rather surprising). I've only had this amp a couple of weeks so I really can't comment on reliability yet.

As others have mentioned, the pidgeon-english manual is entertaining. Here's a quote: "STAND-BY -- After find its power s/w on, then amplifier can be worked with STAND-BY NO. If STAND-BY OFF, Its tube sound will be off."
This is a discontinued model and from what I've read, Gibson plays dumb when you call them about it. So basically, you're on your own.
(No schematics are provided with it, but I managed to find them at someone's web site.)

I bought the Electar Tube 10 because I wanted to tinker with a cheap, Class A tube amp. It was well worth the money. I now like it better than my Fender Blues Junior. If something happened to this "throw away" amp, I would immediately buy another one (assuming I could find another one)

Gain, Master Volume and three band EQ. Decent but not stellar feature set.

Guitars: PRS Standard w/Duncan Seth Lovers, Fender '57 RI Strat w/Duncan Antiquitys.

Even thought this is a super low volume amp, I prefer to dial in a low gain sem-clean tone and use my pedalboard. I think the low gain tones are by far the best. The higher gain quasi Boogie tones just don't get it for me. I prefer the sound of my Fulldrive.

I bought this amp for essentially one gig: playing in church.

Out of the box, this amp is a little on the polite side.

After Mods/Tweaks, the tones are Workmanlike but not stellar. However, it delivers them at the whisper-quiet stage levels I need. Hey, it was either this amp or I was gonna have to buy a POD. I was out of options. The sealed cab does not bleed into other musicians' monitor space. Sound guy loves it. Sounds big when mic'd.

Construction is much better than one has a right to expect in an $89 amp. Most low $$$ tube amps mount the tube sockets directly to the PCB. That gurantees that all the heat from the tubes will get coupled to the PCB. Bad, bad, bad.

This amp mounts the tube sockets on the chassis, then uses flying leads to connect the tubes to the PCB (ala Mesa Boogie). Switches are high quality; pots and jacks "not so much;" speaker sucks.

Hard to find better bang for the buck. After you add tax and shipping, this amp will cost you about $115 delivered to your door. I replaced the stock speaker with a Weber Signature ($27.50 shipped). So my total cost in this amp is around $150. Still, I can't imagine a better sounding amp for the money. Like I said, I got the church sound guy off my back. That alone is worth what I paid for it.

I made some mods to the circuitry that really improved the sound. If you're thinking of doing any mods, I have a web page where you can download a schematic and see what I've done: http://members.home.net/mtatro/Electar10Mods.htm

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. This is a great little "project amp."

Bottom line: I've played it, I've gigged it. It doesn't embarrass me and it cost next to nothing. If you need a super low volume amp, get one while you can.

Small tube practice amp. 10 watts, 8" speaker. Appears to be well made. Nothing out there beats the bang for buck. Cant believe these things are selling new for $90.

This little amp sounds great. I was leary of purchasing this amp sight unseen, but after playing through this amp with my Lonestar Strat & Teleacaster I am satisfied this is one great price value. My Line-6 AX-212 sounds better but at 9 times the price. My Blues Jr also has good sound but the Tube 10 can be cranked at bedroom levels to get a great blues distortion. Blues Jr is too loud for this.

Apears well built but too soon to rate this category.

No dealings with Epiphone or Gibson.

Sure you can buy a better sounding amp & I have, but for the price it is great. At this price get one. I'm a 40 year old hobby player. I play a Fender Lonestar & Telecaster. Amps are the Tube 10, Blues Jr & AX-212. Effects, Korg AX-1G. If you have some good suggestions for getting great tone with this gear & want to talk about it, E-mail.

An update of my review below. This amp gets better and better. A few small changes and it really comes to life. Now has a wider tonal range, and can work from very low vols, where it's clean unless either gain or volume is maxed. The new valves and speaker means you can go to around 8 on both dials before breakup occurrs and this gives increased headroom. WHen breakup does occurr it's a musical breakup, not a harsh one.

You will not find a nicer sounding overdriven tone than this, except maybe an original JMP, but that's only gonna give you that tone at the same time it blows your windows out!

1. Replace JAN Phillips 12AX7 with almost anything else. This is the cause of the dark woody tone commented on by a few. Even an old Sovtek white-box is a great imrpovement. $Aus12 for a Sovtek 12AX7LPS and I can actually use the tone control!
2. Stock speaker is, simply, crap! I used a NOS Magnavox 70's era speaker, but the new Weber 8" signature fits apparently, and was on special for $US15. This significantly increases volume and reduces fartiness to negligible. Mine is a plain cone speaker and still distorts a little, but it's nice distortion. Weber has a ribbed speaker which would improve volume yet again.

3. The stock 5881, while not bad, tends to mud. Replace with a Svetlana SV6L6GC (the new model) and you will be amazed at the clear overdriven tone you get. You could use a Sovtek 6L6GCWXT which also works well, but it's more overdriven, and the amp is dirty enough.

This little amp is now a real tone monster. The tubes and speaker just unlock the potential. It's not really a living room amp anymore although it does work better at low volumes now, but also not quite powerful enough to gig with a drummer. For coffee shop stuff, where you want a little screamer it'd be perfect. Despite the dinky size of the trannies, there appears to be no reliability hassles.

Mine is still buzz and rattle free after a year.

Six phillips head screws, two at the back rear and four on the back panel and the chassis and backplate lift out, giving easy access to the speaker. It's very easy to quickly swap components.

You'll get nothing else with tubes at this price. A Champ will be more collectible and ultimately worth more, but this is a little gem. Now that it appears to be discontinued everyone'll wake up to it!

This is a 1999 model that I picked up a couple of weeks ago. It has a LOT of useful features for a small, inexpensive practice amp which is what it truly is. Gain, volume, bass, mid, and treble controls. The standby switch is neat and unusual for such a small amp. And the retro styling is cool. This is a great little package.

Boys and girls, go out RIGHT NOW and get one of these while you still can. There isn't a whole lot of volume from this little ten watt wonder, but it's tone to the bone. I play a Fender Stratocaster and an Epiphone Les Paul standard through this amp and they both sound great. Solid low end from a little 8 inch speaker. Might be due to the closed back cabinet. But whatever the reason, this little thing has a lot of guts. With the gain control, you can dial in squeeky clean or a lot of distortion, if that's your thing. I got it to use in my living room and it works beautifully. I play classic rock and blues, mostly - Stones, early Led Zep, CCR, Doobie Bros, Cream, Hendrix (well, I try).

I've only had this a couple of weeks, but it seems to be pretty solid. The wire mesh cover over the tubes is well thought out. Time is the true test on reliability, but I feel confident that this is a good product.

Haven't had a need to contact Epiphone, so I'll just skip this one

This just HAS to be the best small tube amp value available anywhere. Sounds good like a tube amp should. Looks like a cross between a 30's Gibson amp and a 50's Fender tweed - really cool. You won't take this to your next gig, but you'll definitely find it's useful for sittin' back and strumming in the living room without upsetting the rest of the house. I've been playing for a number of years and I have several "professional" quality amps that I've used for awhile and I'm very pleased with. But at low volumes, they don't sound any better than this little guy. If you have a use for a low wattage amp, check this out.

Basically a SS-rectified Fender Champ clone, with a three-band tone stack in lieu of the Champ's single treble shunt. Also has a master volume.

Has a cool extension speaker jack (4-ohm) that disconnects the internal speaker, thereby eliminating OT loading issues.

Standby switch is a cool inclusion and pretty much unheard-of in this price range.

As-shipped, the amp has a NOS JAN Philips 12AX7 and a Sovtek 5881, running single-ended class A - not bad. At idle, mine was dissipating about 28W, right where you'd want an SE 6L6 amp to be.

The stock eight-inch speaker is, well, junk. Most of the cone area is obscured by dust cap, but for $89, you can't have everything.

I first fired it up with an early '80s Dean ML with DiMarzios. It doesn't have any clean headroom to speak of (at ~10W, that's not surprising), but it does develop a lot of dirt. My initial impression is that the speaker is very raspy, and the overall tone is a bit flat and one-dimensional.

So I got to tweaking a bit - this is a VERY well-built amp, and easy to tweak. I replaced the 5881 with an old Tesla EL34, and rebiased.

This made a huge tonal difference - harmonic content increased dramatically, and the overall soundscape became Marshall-in-a-little-box. Plugged into a Marshall 4x12 with Vintage 30s, the sound is fabulous.

I still thought the amp was a bit woofy, so I began tweaking the components a bit, until I got a sound that made me happy. Basically, the circuit passes too much low-end as stock.

The thing still needs a new speaker, but through an extension cab, it's very cool.

I think it's quite well-made, considering the price. It's a lot easier to service than, say, a Fender Pro Junior.

It's a five-year warranty, but of course I threw that out when I started tweaking. No comment on CS.

I'm an amp builder/repair guy, and I'm pretty impressed. For living-room amps, it's pretty good as-is, and with about $12 in parts and a little soldering, it becomes a KILLER practice rig.

A 10 watt dual tube amp single channel with 3 band EQ, gain control, 4 ohm speaker out, preamp out, 8 inch speaker, detachable power cord, made in 1998. Cabinet is particle board covered in black vinyl, has small chicken head knobs, carrying handle, corner protectors. At a class AB 10 watts it is almost perfect for practising at home without becoming annoying.

Play mostly blues and rock, using a strat style guitar with single coils and an LP style guitar with humbuckers. This amp has a single channel with a separate volume and gain controls. This amp sounds best when the volume is turned up to 10 and the gain control kept to between 3-6. Higher gain settings turn the sound into a farty, non harmonic sound. At the lower gain settings this amp sounds outstanding with a nice bite. This amp is amazingly quiet after a warmup period. I plugged into a a 2X12 extension cabinet and it sounded great.

This amp is used strictly for practising. The tubes are located at the rear of the amp and covered with a wire cage and have spring retainers. The controls seem solid and they work like they're supposed to.

Purchased from MusicYo which does a pretty good job of getting the goods out on time. Warranty is 30 days from them and five years from Epiphone. Never used either one.

From what I've gathered Gibson/Epiphone no longer makes these amps and they are unloading them through MusicYo.com for a cut rate price. This is a great bargain for a pretty well made little tube amp. I was expecting somewhat of a toy with a cheazy sound but I was stunned by the really good sound it puts out and the decent construction. The amp has a nice vintage look about it and is a steal for the money.

10 Watts RMS, one 12AX7 preamp tube and one 6L6 power tube, 3-Band EQ pots (Bass, Mid, Treble), preamp Gain and Volume pots, On/Off and Standby Switch, External Speaker Output, preamp out, 8" Electar Labs Speaker, Closed-Back Cabinet, Switchable 155/230 Voltage Selector, Detachable Power Cord with External Fuse Compartment. A solid, basic guitar/harp tube amp that has Tone.

The guitars: Custom Strat with 3 SD Vintage Rails, modified Kramer Focus Strat (yeah, the 69 buck wonder from MusicYo) modified with a set of Armstrong VS4 Strat single coils (amongst other mods), a Custom Tele Special with a pair of P90s. My playing is eclectic, ranging from ragtime fingerpicking to electric bluez. The E-10 is extremely quiet, even when driven by single coil p/u's. Nicely overdrives when the preamp gain is tweaked, fairly clean headroom with the volume dialed ahead of the preamp gain. With the EQ pots you can get from thickish Vox/Gibson tones to Fender tweedy squeels. This amp is in it's venue for bluez or jazz. Metal heads will need to resort to pedals.

Totally gig-worthy and dependable. I currently use two in parallel and had purchased two more as backups - NOT neeeded.

I queried Gibson/Epi for a schematic but after rapping with two different "customer relations reps", who told me they knew nothing about the amp and said I should look elswhere, I gave up the quest. Bad business on Gibson's part for such a neat little amp. Oh well, at 89 bucks a pop ($100 delivered to my door in 5 days), replacement is easy on the wallet...

This is yer basic tube amp, with some nice added features that're missing from those big name basic tube amps (and at a true fraction of their high dollar price tags). It works well for home jams, recording or small club venues (PA mic'd, of course). I've had *many* guitar amps over the last 4+ decades and my current stable includes a custom Holland, but for $89 (www.musicyo.com) this is the tube amp deal of the New Millennium. Cool tones, reliable, available, cheap. Don't be without one - I won't.

First of all, let me state that this is only a preliminary review, since I've only had the amp about a week. I ordered this online for only $89 dollars. See the other reviews of this amp to get the distributor information. The main reason for my review is to let others know that this is not one of those too good to be true deals and that you are not getting a hunk-o-junk for the money. This is indeed a small all tube amp for under 90 bucks that probably most compares to the old Fender Champs.

Features are: 10 watts through an 8" speaker supplied by a Phillips 12AX7 preamp tube and a Sovtek 6L6GC power tube. Obviously the rectifier is solid state. I don't know if power is Class A or Class AB although I'm tempted to think the latter. If anyone knows this for sure then drop me a line, please. These are imported from Korea so I'm sure the electronics are PCB at this price. Cabinet is done up nicely in black tolex with chrome corner protectors on six of the corners. Don't know what the cabinet is actually made of but I'm not expecting anything better that particle board.
Controls are top mounted, one input jack (plastic), gain, master volume, bass, mid, treble are small chicken head style knobs. NO REVERB. Tube sockets are ceramic with spring cages for the tubes. A removeable metal grill around the tube area provides additional protection. Cabinet is closed back. There is an external speaker out (4 ohms), and a preamp line out for connecting to another amp, mixer, or P.A. systems. External fuse and voltage selector for use in other countries. Almost forgot, the power and standby switches are metal toggles that seem pretty robust and really add to the "cool" factor. Power indicator is a small red light. I'd rate this guy pretty high on features. For the price I wouldn't necessarily expect the speaker/line out and standby switch.

Using a semi-hollow with P90's to learn/play blues and other melodic stuff. I tend more toward a fat sassy clean to slighty distorted sound like early Johnny Winter, Albert King, the jazzier SVR, you get the picture. So far I'm pretty impressed, but not blown away. I set the gain fairly low (3-5) and the master volume high (at least 7, if not all the way to 10). With this I get a nice thick tone from the saturated power tube and output transformer, and can control the preamp distortion with varied picking attack and the guitar's volume knob. I'm not very experienced but the amp sounds slightly dark with decent bass from the sealed enclosure. You can't expect that much from an 8 inch speaker in a Champ sized enclosure. The amp is not as loud as expected, but this is actually a good thing since it can be turned up all the way without hearing damage or angry neighbors (I live in a house, but it's too loud for an apartment). I hate comparing it's tone to other, better known amps, so I'll say the clean seems pretty fat and sweet, but not sparkley. The preamp distortion ranges from smooth thickening (gain at 3-5), crunchy overdrive (5-7), and gets pretty raunchy past that (not really my thing, baby). Just for grins I switched the tubes with the ones out of a '63 Tremolux that is a project amp. These tubes are at least twenty years old if not thirty. The sound seemed a little smoother with less gain in the preamp, but a little more in the power section, although the difference was not dramatic. This amp sounds sweeter after about 15 to 30 minutes of playing. I am expecting much better sound after I build or buy a two ten alnico speakered open back cabinet. The power sometimes gets away from the stock 8" speaker. Preamp out works but is on the hot side. Tone controls work but are not that dramatic.

Can't really comment here as I've had for such a short time. Seems very solid and heavy. No cabinet rattles, everything is tight, everything works.

Ordered from YoMusic or MusicYo (can't remember which, obviously I don't work for them) and they delivered in 3 days UPS. Very prompt and I would do business with them again. Amp is supposedly warranted for 5 years through Epiphone which is through Gibson. I wouldn't expect great shakes, but another one would be cheap enough. Bad thing is, I believe these are being discontinued. Owner's manual is pathetic, no info, already in the trash. Good marks to the distributor, no opinion on actual product support.

This is a good cheap way for impoverished musicians like myself to get into the world of tubes. For the price you can't beat it. I took a chance and was very pleasantly surprised. This was my second amp, my first being a solid state Fender Bronco. The Fender cost twice as much and isn't nearly as smooth or fat sounding. This amp does not at all seem cheap or chintzy and would hang in a club scene if you miked it up. I use an Alesis Nanoverb to add a touch of ambiance. Hey, plug it in, turn it up to ten and let it wail, baby.

My amp was made in 98. I use it for playing harp, mostly at open mike nights. We mike it on stage with a Sure 57 into the P.A. I use a Danecho pedal for a little slap back and use a Green Bullet or Astatic J.T.30 bullet mike.All the Harp players love it. I didnt have to change out tubes, just right out of the box. Its a Good guitar amp and will drive a 4 10 cabinet, Ive done it, but I dont recommemd it.

I love the sound of this little amp.This is one of the best small harp amps Ive heard. I had a Blues Jr. and also have the Electar 30 Watt version of this amp.Its not as good as this amp trust me.

I can only say that for the last year its been rock solid.

Called them and I sort of got the brush off. I think they wanted Les Paul questions.

I would buy this amp again in a minute. You can get them on the net for about $100 bucks now. I love the standby switch,and its built like a tank.Been playing guitar since the 60s, now mostly harp. I would not have bought this amp, but I had my bullet and some harps and when I heard it it was a done deal. Dollar for dollar, this is the best deal going.

Made in 98 or 99. The amp is very versatile, I go from U2 to Hendrix to AC/DC and back again. Amp has one channel, no effects loop but a standby switch. Wish it had a headphone output. The amp has plenty of power for my 12'x12' basement office (10 Watts). Purchased from MusicYo.Com

Using the amp with a Kramer Baretta (Gibson) with split humbuckers. The amp suits my style and can go from smooth U2 riff's to captain cruchy hard, before stompboxes even. Gain is very sensetive and gives many settings.

Haven't used it enought to give a good long term rating. Seems sturdy though.

5 Year Warranty

Hey! It was $89.00!! At 1/3 of a comprable small tube amp, how can you go wrong. And trust me these are just as good as the others.

The amp is a new one, probably made in '97 or '98. It is a single channel, one 12AX7, one 6L6, single 8" speaker 10 watt unit. The controls from L-R are gain, vol, bass, mid, treble. It has a standby and power switch. The box is enclosed (front-loading speaker)with the exposed rear valves covered by a formed steel mesh. The chassis is a C-section with the rear tolexed wood panel closing off the back. The pots are fixed to this panel and soldered to the small PC board, but the switches and valves are jumpered with wires. The valve sockets are ceramic. The entire cabinet visible to the eye - even inside is covered by tolex, and is very solid - no buzzes or rattles even dimed.
The detachable PC-type cord is good, but also a trap - don't lose it! There is a 4-ohm extension speaker plug which de-activates the internal speaker and a pre-amp line-out. General fit and finish is very good, and shows that Korea is the new Japan in terms of quality if they try.

I use 70's Ibanezes with Humbuckers and a Samick Valley Arts Pro Tele with single coils. The h-bs sounds more trebly due to the small speaker size. The Tele actually sounds bassy! The tone controls on this are quite effective, and the old Tele settings of 8 bass, 9 middle and 3 treble need to be re-evaluated! For mild AC-DC, wind up the gain past 7, and get a Marshally-sound. For overdriven blues, gain about mid and volume up to 8, and get a 6L6-type rumble. THis has to be put in context - the amp is not ear-bleeding loud, but gets the tone of a bigger amp at reasonable volumes. I used mine miked through the house PA to accompany a singer and was amazed at how it sounded on tape! I might get another to run in stereo. There is definitely different about small valve amps and natural sag and compression. This goes very creamy at high volume settings and harmonics start happening. Too loud for late night practice, but at lower settings a good clean sound. It's no Vox AC30, but for the price there's nothing else that comes close. No reverb, but I'm spoiled by my Pro Reverb - better no reverb than cheesy SS. Not a lot of clear headroom - still sounds good with my twelve string neck, but not Roger McGuinn or John Lennon Ricky-type. The fact the with high gain/low volume you get Marshall/Boogie, or vice versa for Fender, both at low volumes, must be a plus. This gives it an edge on the Pro, which does a very good Champ impersonation only. Both gain and vol at mid settings gives a nice valvey Fendery-clean, and both dimed gives dirty valve and speaker breakup and raunch. I'm sure a more efficient speaker like a Jensen or Weber ceramic would improve matters greatly.

Had it one month - seems very solid. Mover it around including when warm. Clamps on tubes (Fender-type alloy sleeve on 12AX7 and spring-loaded crown clamp on 6L6) seem to keep tubes seated. Solid construction and cage protection for tubes is a good feature. Speaker is probably best replaced. but I can live with it until it blows. Seems to be breaking in nicely and mellowing out. Standby, especially on an amp this size, is a good feature to help valves live.

Haven't done it yet.

Been playing for years. Had a variety of solid state amps, Roland 60w cube (good), Leem 6 watt ss (bad), Laney GC60A ss Acoustic/Electric (quite good for purpose). I also have a late 70's MV 70 watt Pro Reverb which I like a lot. I compared the Epiphone to Fender Pro and Blues Jnrs - two/three times as dear, cheaper-looking construction, cheesy reverb on the BJ. The Epiphone had a better vibe and sharper sound than both, but does break up almost as much higher up. I can live without reverb, unless it's a tube-driven one. An analog delay provides a close facsimile for me. I love it's size, portability and weight, yet solid construction and real valve tone including excellent string definition even when breaking up. I'd buy another in a flash - they don't seem to sell well, dearer than the similar-looking, cheaper ss Epiphones and too small for "serious" tube afficionados. I hope to pick up another cheap one for a spare. Not a real Fender or Marshal, but one tenth the price of either for half the tone of both - bargain! More people should buy one! I like it so much I put my Fender Sidekick Reverb up for sale - couldn't stomach it's sterile, inoffensive ss sound any more. The Epi is a real sleeper - some good valves, better speaker and maybe a bias mod and I reckon it's kick-ass for still less than half the price of a Pro or Blues Jnr. Even stock, it'll give you a strong taste of a real vintage valve amp - and it looks funky with the alloy thunderbolt to boot! All for about $US200!

Update to my comments of 10/5/98

Here's the trick: Put a Danelectro Daddy-O overdrive in front of this little thing. Plug in your Les Paul. This IS a 10 watt Marshall Plexi; detune and you can be Ace Frehley circa '75 with authority. The tone quality becomes tasty, with all the right responsive harmonics, etc. Your total cost is still about $300 and you can get terrific real valve distortion at apartment levels.
I've been playing through it with a Nashville Tele also, and the clean sounds are terrific as well (with or without chorus, with or without phasing, with or without flanging), ranging from acoustic clarity to a Rickenbacker-through-a-Twin jangle. Excellent, but still no reverb.

Several months in, all is well.

Major revision downward here. Apparently Gibson is interested in Gibson customers, not us lowly Epi clients. I asked several basic questions about the amp via email, and got exactly no response. I wondered about the specific tubes (12AX7 and 6L6, both Philips, I learned for myself). I asked about biasing; I asked about the warranty; I asked about suggestions for a 4 ohm extension cab. I didn't get a lame answer, I got no answer. "24 hour turnaround" is apparently on the Alaskan clock for Epiphone customers.

With the dual epiphany of putting the Dano drive in front of the thing -- thus unleasing Marshall-esque cascaded overdrive -- and playing with a Tele -- thus unleashing a ringing clean tone impossible with a Les Paul, even better. If you can find one, and need an apartment-sized real tube amp, buy it. Just don't expect a lot of help from Gibson if you have questions.

1998, Made in Korea. All tube, 10 watts, 1x8, black closed-back cabinet with tube (cage and spring socket) and fuse access, top-mounted chicken-head knobs: gain, volume, treble, middle, bass. On/off switch, standby switch, power light, detachable power cord, 4 ohm speaker out (in back) preamp out (also in back). Neo-retro style, Tolex cabinet with metal corners, black grille, and large silver lightning-E logo bolted on the face. Very cool looking. Since this is a practice/at-home/portable jamming amp, the absence of a headphone jack is the only questionable design choice, to me. Enough power for intended uses, gigging would probably require a PA or at least plugging in a 2x12 or 4x12 (which Epiphone claims this little unit can actually drive).

Playing mostly with a Les Paul. The overall tone quality is suprisingly good for such a small amp with such a small speaker and only one power amp tube. The knobs all have decent range, with the treble having the most pronounced impact (probably about 20db range). The gain dial is fairly sensitive above 3 and at 9-10 gives a nice classic rock crunch tone. For metal you'll need a stomp box though, since the natural distorion is more China Grove than Back in Black. I've been playing through it with my ($24) ProCo Brat, and the combination is extremely pleasing. Pantera it ain't -- but a very nice imitation of a Marshall it is. With the gain at 3-7 and the volume anywhere above 2 and below 8, you get a very warm clean tone. For what it is and what it cost, you couldn't ask for much more (except maybe reverb, but that would add fifty bucks and considerable size). With gain and volume around 8-10 a LOT louder than you'd expect.

Having had the thing a couple of days, can't say. It is however just about the sturdiest little tube amp I've ever seen. Between the closed back, very solid case design, protected knobs, and caged tubes, I wouldn't worry. You could easily stand on it, and could probably throw it through a sheetrock wall without hurting anything except possibly the tubes. The chicken-heads seem cheap, but that's no problem. The on/off and standby switches seem first-rate.

Epiphone are cool, though no experience relating to this unit. The amp comes with two documents -- a nice 5 year limited warranty brochure and a horrendous Chinese-menu style owner's guide replete with almost humorous typos and limited useful information. There is absolutely nothing about the tubes (how, when, why to change them) or why you would want to use the standby switch. This is all fine for someone who knows something about valve amps, or is willing to look elsewhere to find out, but is short-sighted given that the price/wattage/size of this thing means plenty of 11-year-olds might get this amp along with their Pacifica or Special II or whatever.

Designed (as the current ad campaign points out) to be better, more versatile and cheaper than the Fender and Crate 10w tube amps, the Electar succeeds. My other guitar amp right now is a Fender Princeton 112+ (see review) which has everything the Tube 10 doesn't, and vice versa. As an ONLY amp it would be lacking in terms of overall power, no reverb, and no headphone jack. As a secondary amp -- and the cheapest way to get into a new, warranteed, all-tube combo -- it's fantastic. The Epi branded solid-states don't thrill me, but with the Electar series they might just succeed in bringing first-quality valve amplification to people with ordinary budgets and volume requirements.