Pignose G40V

You know the features! Quite basic.

Quite good, see below!

See below!

There basically is no cust. service from Pignose. You're on your own!

I have now owned two G40V???s. The first one needed to have both the input and output transformers replaced and I got rid of it because I got tired of repairing it. I recently found one used at a great price, so I decided to give the amp another try. Turned out it also needed a new input tranny! I was off to a poor start with the thing.

With a new input tranny I have now played through the amp about 30 hrs. I am a vintage collector and tone pilgrim My other amps include: ???50 TV front Tweed Fender Pro, a 1959 narrow-panel tweed Deluxe, a 1960 brown 2-10 Super, a early ???65 blackface Deluxe Reverb, ???65 Blackface Fender Bassman, ???67 blackface Super Reverb, 1975 Fender silver face Vibrosonic, Original Marshal 45 stack, Mesa MK III (bluestripe), and a bunch of newer stuff, both tube and solid state. I???ve been playing about 30 years and have been a professional recording engineer and producer for about 23 years. I know tone!

My feelings? Well, the G40V sounds quite good. I think (hope) the ones made today have more reliable trannys than the earlier ones. However, I would still feel uneasy gigging one without a back-up. They are so cheap that most folks can afford to buy a spare. I recommend replacing the speaker right away. I have had good luck with Celestion 10???s as well as Eminence. However, if you REALLY want this amp to sound full and juicy, put a hemp-cone Tone Tubby in it, you will be amazed. The speaker will cost nearly as much as the amp, but the result will be guaranteed to drop jaws. At that point it???s in the same general category as an early 1-12 Mesa Boogie, for a lot less scratch! For reliability, I would also recommend replacing all the stock tubes.

Another recommendation would be to do a google search on this amp and research it a little before you buy. The tone-stack is a bit unique. Most tone coinsures will suggest you start with the midrange just barely up, the bass almost maxed and the treble at a bit less than 12:00. Presence to taste, I usually run it almost all the way down. I also run the input gain fairly low and the master as high as needed for volume. That makes it sound a lot like say for instance my blackface Fender Bassman. The distortion is not bad on this amp, but I greatly prefer to keep the amp clean and have my modded tube-screamers provide the grit.

Take all the reviews you read with a grain of salt. I read all of the reviews on the G40V here. Some made me laugh; as if they were written by 12 year olds. The G40 V is a great little tube amp with a good design that suffers from being produced in China using cheap Chinese components. With good tubes and a good replacement speaker it sounds like a great tube amp should. It loves pedals like any good tube amp does, and it really excels when given the chance to drive large speaker cabs. When driving a full stack of two Marshall 4-12 cabs, it stands up well compared to actual Marshall heads of a similar wattage and sounds phenomenal.

I purchased this amp used through ebay for $180 including delivery. According to my seller it had been originally purchased by someone to use in their church band, but it was too loud for that purpose (not an uncommon original purchase situation from watching ebay regarding this make and model), and was resold almost immediately. My seller's husband used it for practice at home periodically for about a year. When I got it, the only noticeable problem was that a couple of the knobs made a scratchy noise while turning (but not while playing).
It is not big on features: just a gain knob (called volume); master knob (which is really the volume); three band equalizer knobs which are not that effective, especially the bass knob which doesn't kick in until about 3 o'clock; and a presence knob, which brightens the sound a bit if you want that.
I took it to my amp tech. He put in the Eminence Ragin' Cajun speaker I purchased for it. He also added an extra resistor, and put in a potientiometer, so the the power tubes can be dialed in dead nuts. He told me it was probably running at less than 30 watts without the potientiometer. He also replaced the power cable with a beefy 8 footer to avoid shorting potiential, which he considered a real possibility over the life of the amp. He also eliminated the scratchy sound from the knobs.
I replaced the stock tubes with JJ 6L6's for the power tubes; a Tung Sol 12AX7 in the first preamp position; a relatively inexpensive ($27) Mullard NOS 12AT7 in the second preamp position; and a matched triode JJ 12AT7 in the third preamp position.
I put in the AT preamp tubes to quiet the noise down, and the Tung Sol for breakup/gain. I usually turn the equalizer knobs down to zero, because the Zoom has a better equalizer that is adjustable for every amp model.
Since it is only one channel, I have to decide which way I want to go before each song, but I am a ryhthm guitarist/vocalist, so I don't need to footswitch during a song.
I also periodically bring along my Hartke 4x10 guitar cabinent (when I'm feeling really energetic) to jam sessions, and the Piggie sounds great through it too.
This amp actually has some much power (especially with the potientiometer dialing in the full 40 watts), and the Ragin' Cajun is so string sensitive, at extremely high volume my knock off stratocastor sings without either hand doing anything.
With the mods and the Zoom and the Hartke, I am ready for gigging when our group gets more time under our belts. At jam sessions, I have run the Piggie for up to 5 hours without any problem. It also has survived riding in the back of my Explorer over lousy LA streets.
I give it an 8 for versatility because it can be used at very low volume in an apartment, and also kicks ass at high volume. I tried some expensive boutique amps that kick in the sound at a very high level and can't be used for practice in an apartment if needed.

I run a Zoom G1X in front of it for amp models and effects. It accepts the models and effects with ease and accurate reproduction at whatever volume I desire.
I have used it as a practice amp in my apartment at very low volume and gain (7:30 on the volume(gain) and master knobs, or it kicks ass at loud volume for jamming in a small studio (which I have been using it for next to a lead guitar player using a Marshall 50 watt head into two 12" speakers). While I can use it for practice at home, I decided to save tube life by using an Epiphone Valve Junior for practice in the apartment.
However, I also get off on just the amp's own sound with the Zoom off too. If I want just the amp's own breakup/gain, I turn up the volume/gain knob to about 2 o'clock and the master to whatever volume is needed. I haven't needed to go past 10 or 11 o'clock on the master in this configuration even with the lead guitarist playing incredibly loud through his Marshall setup. It is not overly noisy with the gain turned up.
If I want a clean sound, I keep the volume/gain knob at about 9 o'clock and turn the master up to 12 o'clock or higher. It runs incredibly clean with this setting.
If I wanted more breakup on the gain settings, I would put another Tung Sol AX in the second preamp position, and move the Mullard AT to the third preamp position. But, even with just one Tung Sol AX and two AT's in the preamp section, I still get nice gain when I want it.
Besides using all 5 switch positions on my knock off stratocastor (Korean made named Bronx), I also have a Washburn WI64 with humbuckers that sounds great through the Piggie too.
For blues songs, I like just the Piggie on its own with the breakup/gain settings. For classic rock, I usually turn on the Zoom, but the clean Piggie setting also works for classic rock very well too.

The amp has not broken down on me and I am the third owner (although I did get it modified and checked over by a superb amp tech). I wouldn't gig without a backup just for karmic reasons, but I expect the Piggie to perform as well as it has at long jam sessions, which is great. It doesn't run as hot as my little Epiphone, even after several hours at much higher volume than I run the Epi at home! I consider it very dependable.

Haven't dealt with the company. Since I got it used, no warranty. But, with the money I saved buying it used, I used the savings to upgrade it and modify it. I expect to use this amp for a very, very long time. I may get another amp down the line, but only to have tube driven tremelo and reverb in the amp (like a Gibson GA40RVT). Then I would have this excellent performing Piggie as my backup. Since it is so compact, relatively light and can be slaved out, it will make an ideal backup. For the moment it is an excellent primary tube amp.

I am 54. I have played on and off (mostly off) since I was a kid. About 3 years ago I started playing in earnest, and that's why I started buying tube amps (I sharpened up for about a year and a half with a Zoom Fire 15 combo).
I compared it with other tube amps on what I call guitar alley on Sunset Blvd here in LA, where there is the chain stores, great used stores and alot of pawnshops.
If it had tremelo and reverb built in, and a better equalizer section, it would be unbeatable. As it is, it is the best value and bang for the buck in tube amps.
I would definitely get another one if necessary.

Not laden with features. A simple bare bone amp, no fx loop, or verb.
One channel w/ master volume. I give it a 5 not as low mark but as per the features it sports.

This is the good stuff guys! I found the eq. function similiar to my Marshall plexi, they're very subtle, the bass being the most benign.
By tweaking the volume and master you can get VERY cool tones from spanky clean to mild overdrive and lots of in between with adequate eq adjustment. Out of the box mine sounded great, I feel lucky considering some of the other reviews I read!
Within minutes of firing it up I decided to run it through a custom
Bogner spec 112 cab I built loaded with a vintage 30. WOW, the other reviewers were'nt kidding! The amp through the 112 was way louder
I actually turned it down and was still louder than through the 10"
stock speaker. The stock speaker sounds pretty decent, but paled in comparison to the celestion, The G40 really shined through a better quality speaker, the tones became more lush and it sustained like an amp with a much higher tag. The stock speaker actually masks the amps'
true ability!
I already own very nice amps, twin, plexi, champ, deluxe, line6 (sorry vin dudes) and for the money this amp is totally worth it, I kept hearing about cool stuff from tube amp enthusiasts and bought it after coming out ahead on some other gear sales! It'll easily run a 412 and with some pedals in front of it you can take it into any style you need. I ran variuos pedals in front and beleive it or not just a tube screamer took it into metal, my 7 string actually liked it!! Right out of the box it would be greaqt for blues, jazz, rock, and with your effects take it wherever.
I downloaded mod specs for it already, I think I'll play it for a month or two and then look into better tubes and the like

Too soon to know, it seems solid, very compact.

brand new, no need as of now.

I've been playing since the mid 70's. Several surf and rock albums, toured and got my girl fertilized! I own a small studio and have more stuff than I need, but I want all and more, you guys know how it goes!
AS of now if it were lost I'd get another, It's just a great no frills 40 watt tube powerhouse thats little enough to carry and plenty loud to play gigs with, I may try to stuff a 12 in the case if possible,hehe. I compared it to peavey, crate and laney and they were all higher in price and for the most part to high wattage. 40 tube watts is loud enough!Unless you truly are playing big stage stuff!
I used to drag around a half stack and my father would laugh walking up with his deluxe in one hand and tele in the other, he got to turn up to 6 or 7, I never got above 2 or 3, hmmm. It's something you just have to grow through I guess.
IT COULD USE A SECOND CHANNEL AND MAYBE VERB, BUT IT'S SIMPLE AND COOL THE WAY IT SITS! A 40 watt all tube amp for $300 ! It's a great buy!

basic tube amp one channel with master, 40 watts rms three
ecc83 two 6l6. at the store
this amp looks like a 15 watt transistor amp as i doscovered it s
one of the portablest amp with 50w full tube i ve ever seen!!!
when i got it, the power transformer went very hot makin noises,
the diodes where broken, replaced them also some capacitors,then the big resistor r5? failed also.... these are chinese cheap parts and
have to be absolutely replaced! the rest like tube sockets, transformers and the cunstruction is very good. as it s simple
no ics!! no transistor, good for real pure tube sound.

the stock sound is just ok, but when i replaced the cheap electronic parts,new tubes,with
2 rsd nos 1 siemens nos and new 6l6 nos plus a new speaker eminence
12 alnico this amp rocks!!!! true tube power very portable!!!
sovtec and chinese tubes didn t sound very good, but the old ones,
what a difference,it s really worth to try.!
blues type sound very nice overdrive, a standby switch is also
easily installed, and...... a blue led.

after the replacement of some parts, the tubes and installing fuses
for the pwer and output transformer,new speaker, it s way more reliable.
i placed also a fan on the power transformer preventing heat, securing
tube live.

didn t deal with the company.

most portable 50 watt tube amp i ve ever seen, very nice sound ,
it was a fat experience to pimp this amp. it s not really comparable with an old fender, but u can tweak it, it sounds good, it has its own character, if broken or lost, absolutely trying gettin another one!

Don't know when the amp was made? I picked this up recently for $180, and it's worth every penny! One channel amp that is very pedal friendly. 1-10" speaker. A standby switch would have been a nice feature. I will be using this amp mostly for a practice amp, but I think you cound gig with it because it's 40watts, and pretty loud. A big plus is the compact size, and light weight, around 24lbs.

First thing I did was order a new speaker, the stock one is crap! I purchased an Eminence Delta Demon, and man what difference! Awesome sounding speaker! Great tone! I also replaced the crappy chinese tubes with NOS preamp(Mullard 12AX7, Sylvania JAN 12AX7, and Phillips JAN 5751), and SED winged C power tubes. This little amp does not have much bass, in fact, the bass control is pretty much non-existant. I have it 3/4 of the way up, and it basically just fills out the sound, don't get me wrong, it does help. The mids are too harsh sounding, so I keep them barely on, and the treble at about 9-10 o'clock, this amp if fairly bright anyway. The gain/distortion is the first knob, and your master volume is the 2nd. I run the gain anywhere from 9-12 o'clock depending on how much I want. The tones range from a great clean/semi-clean tone to a Robben Ford and almost a ZZ top type tone. Great for blues/rock which is what I play. I also use different pedals to enhance these tones which include, a Xotic RC Booster, Clark Gainster, Menatone Red Snapper, and a Klon.I does make a little noise when the volume is way up, but for most playing volumes, it's pretty quiet. I think the new tubes helped with that.

I have heard this amp runs hot and is a concern of mine, but for now it works great!! I would probably take some xtra tubes to practice or a gig.

Don't know?

I have been playing for a long time, and should be a lot better than I am!! I have 2 other Dr Z amps, and 6 quality guitars(2-Reverend, Guild Bluesbird, G&L ASAT Special, 2-Fender Strats), and I know great tone when I hear it! Great little amp for the price. If you put a little $$ into it, you will be very happy!

I have had mine for three years now. No reverb is fine with me. I do wish it had a stand-by switch (like most tube amps).

I like to play a lot of 60s and 70s covers and classics, Brit pop, some punk rock. No metal or country.

The 40 watts is fine. I've used it with several cabinets, but it most often gets played driving an Avatar G112 loaded with a Reverend Alltone 1250 or an Avatar open back 212H cabinet loaded with Jensen C12N reissues. This amp drives either without difficulty.

I use this mostly as a practice amp at home.

Uses two 6L6 power tubes and 3 12AX7 pre-amp tubes.

Lots of hum right out of the box. That drastically improved when I stuck good tubes in the pre-amp and after I replaced the stock Shuguang 6L6GC power tubes. The power tubes indivudually were fine, but the ones that came with the amp were not anywhere near matched.

I removed the stock speaker. It was useless. I use my Pignose G40 as a head, and the reduced weight just makes it that much easier to transport.

The clean is pretty good with any decent V1 tube. It does not nail the Fender tone, but I'd call it "Fender on a budget."

The overdrive is definitely not what you would call brutal, but there is plenty of it there running the standard 3 12AX7s in the pre-amp. Experimenting taught me that more usable overdrive and cleans could be attained by the right combination of tweaking the tone controls and playing with the tubes. Three years of experimenting brought me to sticking with an NOS JAN GE 6072A. That is a low noise version of the 12AY7. The 6072A in V1 gives less gain, but that is a good thing. With the 12AX7 in V1, you start to get pre-amp distortion way too early. The lower Mu of the 12AY7 gives you a broader, far more usable pre-amp range.

A lot is written about modifying this amp to improve the drive channel in particular. Many on-board overdrives in today's amps are actually built around 12AT7 circuits. I have not changed resistors or made any other mods. Instead, I opted to leave the amp stock and put a lower gain tube in V2 - an NOS JAN GE 5751. I am pretty happy with how this amp sounds with this set up: V1- NOS GE JAN 6072A (12AY7); V2: NOS JAN GE 5751 and V3: Shuguang 12AX7. Stick to the 12AX7 in V3, your phase inverter. Just my opinion, but I think the amp takes pretty well to this set up.

As mentioned earlier, the stock Shuguang 6L6GCs that came with the amp were not even close to being matched. That was one factor contributing to an excessive hum when I first turned this amp on. A later obtained matched pair of Shuguang 6L6GCs sounded very respectable, but they were definitely not the best match for this amp. Experiments with lots of different power tubes convinced my ears that either the SEDs or the JJs were best in this amp.

The G40 really does feel flimsy and its particle board cabinet exudes an aura of "cheap." I have used mine for three years, but it definitely has been light use. My Hot Rod Deluxe gets the nod when I need to play clean, and I turn to my Sunn T50C when I need great on-board overdrive. The Pignose definitely stays behind the scenes. I have used it to play in a band setting, but that was a rare occasion. It is more of my practice amp.

But the question posed here is reliability. I bought another Pignose G40 for my brother after I bought mine. I Ordered it through my local music store. It was dead on arrival, so another one had to be ordered. No, I would not gig with this amp without a back up. On the other hand, despite my concerns, mine has been reliable to date.

Never dealth with them.

This amp's purchase was an adventure into the unknown that was motivated by curiousity and a cheap purchase price. I enjoy this amp, but I would not buy it again.

Footswitch is really the only other thing I wish it had. AN effects loop would be nice, too, but not essential. I could do without all the other perks that are not there.

You get what you pay for, and this amp is no exception. It will never be the best amp you ever heard. Still, this amp is a bargain. It gives a guitar player needing a tube amp plenty of bang for the buck.

For the Price how many features do you want? I actually PREFER the fact that it has less features, and just plain old AMPAGE. Mine is a 2003 vintage, single channel, plain assed amp which I love!

The amp can go anywhere from clean jazz tones to dirty hard rock tones, you just have to spend more than 10 seconds trying to get them out of it. It get's messy like a tube amp with the Gain turned up and it's CRAZY loud, and for the price you just can't go wrong.

I've been playing it for 3 years now and haven't had a problem yet. The only thing that has gone wrong is that the input jack gets a little loose from time to time.

Never had to deal with customer support and if I did they would be a REAL problem :)

I've been playing for about 12 years, I have a Fender US Strat and a '61 Reissue Gibson SG and this is the cheap little amp I play!! It's awesome!! If someone took it on me I'd prolly claim that it was an Orange on my insurance but sure I'd get a new one!! A standby switch would be great but it's just more crap to go wrong!!

You've seen the reviews, not much to speak of. One channel, usual tone controls. Master volume control is where the real tone of the amp lies, people complain it has a high-mid voice but if you don't push the power amp a bit the low end won't start to thump. Used it at a gig last night, first time. Perfect power rating for what I use it for, compresses real nice and cleans up well enough for what I use it for. I play everything from country to classic to metal. This amp can do all with a few pedals and a simple twist to adjust the preamp drive. As far as wanting any other features on the amp, I don't need them. I have a fairly extensive pedal board that adds what I need to get what I want. This is a great value for what it does, a nice default tone that compresses real nice and sustains even at moderate levels. Bear in mind I got this off ebay for nothing, the guy threw in a bunch of new tubes with the deal that I sold and netted the amp for a profit! I'd be glad to take another off someone for a spare if you're inclined to sell it!! I don't have a say in the speaker end of the reviews as I just bought the chassis. LOVE THIS AMP!!

O.K. class, I am not going to get into a pissing match with the tonesnobs out there about this amps virtues. I will just tell you I have an extensive collection of amps THAT I ACTUALLY USE and it includes everything from Mesa to Marshall to handmade custom heads and many others. This is going to rattle a few cages out there but I actually prefer this amp!! I play in a cover band that does tunes from every genre, and with my pedal board I can cover most any sound I want with minor adjustment. This is critical, I don't like to spend days programming processors and presets just to get to a bar and have the sounds eq'd wrong for the room. I judge a good amp by just plugging in and getting a nice default tone to work with, and this amp does just that. It sounds a lot like my old Plexi head, it will clean up to a point but it really shines when it is pushed a bit. With minor tweaking it can get any sound you want, and will take pedals really well. The noise factor is much less than my Marshalls, really quiet and not a whisper of hiss. I STRONGLY SUGGEST PLUGGING THIS AMP INTO A CLOSED BACK CABINET, PREFERABLY A MARSHALL 4x12!! This really tightens the sound up and increases the bass response. Cuts through a mix without the Marshall 'Clang' fatigue you get from blasting all night to get that perfect compression setting. Notes come out in flurries and articulate well, I am a Blues and Rock kind of guy in my listening habits, this amp gets the sounds I want to hear. BUY THIS AMP!!

No clue here, looks to be built o.k. but really don't know. Change tubes when they start to fade, that's all I'll tell you.

Boxers, not briefs.

Like I said, I have a ton of amps. If you were to have a limited supply of funds, like to rock and want a very versatile yet simple amp I would strongly suggest this one! I say this with the stipulation that you have a cabinet to drive it with, I've heard other reviews state the stock speaker is pretty lame and that's to bad. Bean counters win in the end, but if you can score one used for under $150 don't hesitate, buy it!

Don't know the year it was made. I picked it up in a Pawn shop for a price I couldn't refuse. So I was familiar with the basic features
already discussed on previous reviews and had seen it in Musicain Friend. So it is just your basic tube amp with fender tone stack,
pre volume and master volume. I really like the way the two volumes work together on this amp. It allows you to set the sensitivity
for any normal size room. The tone stack tends to be bright and I have to turn the bass full up and the treble and middle at 9:00 or less to get my tone. Presence at about 10:00.

Even though it sounded OK with the stock MIC tubes and stock speaker,
I found the sound to be too flabby and and not pure enough for my taste. I removed the existing baffle and installed a 12" Special Design Fender Emenance out of a Fender hot Rod Deluxe. That was a vast improvement but not quite enough. I expermented with tubes until
I found the right combination for me. V1 is an EH 12AY7, V2 is EH 12AX7 and V3 is a Fender Red 12AX7(Sovtek) and the two Power tubes
are MIR (can't remember how to spell the name?). Anyway this accompolished the Fender type sound I was looking for. I have been using it reguar with my Hwy 1 Telecaster lately. I will rate it at it's original sound before modification.

Haven't used it enough to determine. I work on tube amps so if it breaks, I will fix it.

Will never try to use it being I got it from a pawn shop and I can work on this stuff myself.

I was attracted to this amp because it was a push/pull two 6L6 power
tubes in such a small package. This amp is actually smaller than
my DIY Champs I built that has 5 watts and the Pig has 40 watts.
The modifications I made on this amp made it sound like I was wanting to achive without moding the circuit. The amp is capable of producing some good tube amp sounds, the circuit design is good but the stock speaker and tube limit its ability to produce. The 12AX7 in the V1 position produces too much gain to get good clean head room. The EH 12AY7 in that position does wonders.

Mine is a 2005 model I believe.

I actually like the fact that it doesn't have reverb...I never use reverb anyways.

I also dig that it only has one channel. I use fuzz pedals for distortion.

This thing definitely has power...I can't wait to run it through a 4x12 and hear it at full potential.

Remember too that its compact size is a key feature.

I have used this amp with a Strat with single coils and a Fender Toronado with humbuckers.

The first day I owned it, I did not really enjoy the sounds of this amp. I really felt that it completely lacked bottom end, as others have also said. The amp also had much less headroom than I desired. I couldn't turn up the pre-gain past 9 o'clock without getting too crunchy. I generally like very clean sounds.

With these negative things being said, it took only about a day or so of tweaking and simple modifications to make it sound awesome, and for me to fall in love with the G40V.

First, I put in a 4 ohm Jensen Mod speaker. This improved the tone pretty well and gave it a little more bottom end. Next, I ran my guitar through an EQ and cranked the low frequencies all the way. This REALLY improved the sound. I was now getting a Fender-style sound out of it.

The last mod I made was to put in a EH 12AU7 tube in the first preamp slot. This gave the amp WAY more head room. Also, the natural preamp distortion of the amp sounded much fuller and rounder. This also made a big difference in the sound of my Big Muff and French Toast fuzz pedals. I strongly recommend this modification for users of this amp.

In the future I plan on building a 1x12 cabinet for the amp, and switching out the remaining two 12AX7 tubes.

No problems yet. Seems pretty well built to me.

I have played guitar for about 12 years now, but this is my first tube amp. I really love this amp for it's compact size, it loudness, and its great tone.

Don't be fooled by other reviews of this amp...it is not ONLY for blues and classic rock. I do not use it for blues rock. You can get other great tones from it...but maybe not metal.

I would buy it again if it was lost or stolen. I chose it because it was small and loud and inexpensive. Good luck finding another 40 Watt tube combo for $300. I guess I kinda wish it had an effects loop, but no big deal...simplicity is beautiful.