Pignose G40V

This is the most basic tube amp you can buy. Bass, middle, treble, volume and master, and presence.

Honestly, maybe my ears just don't pick it up, but the presence doesn't seem to do all that much to the sound. I can tell it gets a little more "bite" to it when it's turned up, but I'm not a big fan of bite, so I leave it at about 5 and forget about it.

The bass/mid/teb controls work funny sometimes. You have to have the mid turned down to about 1 or 2 before you adjust the treb and bass. Otherwise, you can't tell much difference in the bass and treb output. After yuo get those set, you can dial in the mids. Strange.

No other effects, but that's essentially what I was looking for. I like footpedals as opposed to on-board effects anyway. More versatility.

I have used a '94(?) Japanese-made Fender Jazzmaster '62 reissue, and am currently using a '04 Mexican Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster. Both have single-coils. The Nashville Tele has Tex Mex Tele pickups and a Tex Mex Strat pickup slapped into the middle.

I bought the Pignose with the intention of doing a lot of things to it. I first built an open-back 2x12 cabinet which houses two Jensen speakers. One is a ceramic magnet C12Q, the other is an alnico magnet P12R. I've also upgraded the tubes to SED 6L6GC's and EH 12AX7's. I'm planning to put a 12AT7 in the V2 slot. One of the other reviews here, as well as GuitarNuts.com recommended this. However, I don't think I'll do that until I get the resistor mod done.

My style ranges from early rock 'n' roll to...well, recent rock 'n'roll. I play everything from the Stones to Hendrix to Pearl Jam to the Strokes. I'm sort of an old-school/indie guy. I like to get the best, most unique sound from low-cost instruments. I don't like a lot of high-tech stuff, hate digital effects, hate the multi-effects processors, all that crap. Solid state and trans-tube amplifiers have no business being in my house. I use a variety of effects - TS-9/808 mod tube screamer; Aramat effects Mojo Fuzz on occasion; Old wahs; Electro Harmonix analog Small Clone chorus; various analog delays - just depending on the day.

First of all, the Pignose by itself through the stock 10" speaker is average at best. It gets better the longer you let the tubes warm up (I'm talking at least an hour), but still is very thin. Very little bass response. For practicing at low levels, however, it's pretty damn decent. You can get a cranked sound without cranking it, which is good. This is a very loud amp, even through the 10" speaker. I actually question the 40 watt rating, I'm guessing it's more like 60. Still, you don't want to use this as your sound straight out of the box. Buy an extension (it easily drives up to a 4x12) or build one. I did and I'll base most of the rating on that.

Straight through the cab I built, this amp really sounds great to me. It's good old rock 'n' roll at it's best. I often play with my buddy who uses a Standard Strat through '72 Fender Twin. Not only does it keep up with his rig, he often says, "Man, why did I spend $900 buying and repairing this thing when I could have spent $400 for what you've got?" You can get dirty bluesy, sparkly clean tones, you can dial in that "speakers just starting to break up" sound...pretty much anything short of metal that you want you can get form this amp. The cleans do get somewhat dirty at higher volumes, but unless you've got a really high-wattage amp that will almost always happen anyway.

One thing for the metal guys out there: if your favorite band is Metallica, don't waste your money on this amp. You will NEVER get what you're looking for out of this. Not a chance. Buy something else or expect to be very disappointed if you buy this one.

A tube screamer sounds GREAT through it. I like to use it as a treble booster sometimes (gain at about 1 or 0.5, volume maxed, tone wherever you like). It really enhances the "just breaking up" sound.

The fuzz...if you liike fuzz and have one of those old fuzz boxes or one of the boutique ones with the actual germanium resistors in it, expect to do a lot of tinkering. I found the sound I wanted one day, then couldn't get back to it for a while. Now my dials are taped into the proper position after weeks of toying with it. I guess that's the nature of fuzz for the most part, but i didn't have as much trouble finding a good sound through the '72 Twin I mentioned above.

My other effects - I use almost exclusively analog stuff and they sound very warm through my rig. Even some of the digital effects that I hate sound pretty good. I mean, tube amps just sound better than non-tube amps. You get a fuller sound. This amp is no exception.

I don't

I've had the amp for about 18 months. So far I haven't had any major problems with it. Some days, especially when it's humid for some reason, one of the volume pots is a tiny bit scratchy. Barely noticeable, you have to have it turned up to hear it.

I have not gigged with it, since I don't really gig, but I have carted it back and forth hundreds of times to others' places, up and down stairs, into and out of the garage, etc. It's held up extremely well. The covering has started to peel off a little from the inside-bottom, where it wraps around the back. No biggie, that's why they make glue. Other than that, the amp is in tip-top condition. I take care of it, not throwing it around, not leaving it in the trunk of the car. It travels with me in the passenger seat for safety.

However, I probably wouldn't be so conscious of taking care of it if it didn't look so cheap. I treat it gently because it doesn't look like it would take much abuse. It's built solidly, but I just don't get the feeling from it that I could trust it.

Gig without a backup? I don't gig, but I take it everywhere I play without a backup. It's never given me trouble. I guess based on some of the horror stories I've heard about these I would be wary of relying on it. Never had a bad personal experience with it though.

It runs pretty hot, which makes me nervous for the long-term health of the internals. I try to remember to take a fan with me when I play, and that seems to help with the heat.

I'll give it an 8, just 'cause it "feels" like it could be problematic down the line.

Never dealt with the company. They don't seem to have their crap together though - the owner's manual that came with it was one page. Very little info on power rating, specs, etc. That's stuff I want to know and should be included with the amp.

Have not had to have it repaired. I have had a tech friend of mine look at it, and he said basically anyone with knowledge of how a tube amp works would be able to work on this one. So that's good.

I ordered it through Musician's Friend and got their warranty on it, which I'd recommend. Haven't had to use it yet, but you never know.

I'll give this a 6 for the ridiculous lack of info included with the amp.

Overall...

I've been playing for about ten years. This is the first tube amp I've actually owned but I've used many, mostly older Fender amps. For the price, you can't go wrong. If it were stolen, I would most likely buy a new one. It's so easy to carry around, especially if you've ever experienced a Mesa Boogie Nomad combo, or a Fender Twin. That's a big plus for me, I hate lugging gear.

It is mass produced, and there are some things that seem to be of lower quality. The thing is, if you think this amp is "more" mass produced than most other popular amps out there today you're fooling yourself. It's all the same, the difference is just the company producing it and some of the parts. Unless you've got some hand-built, hand-wired, boutique amp, your standard Fender or Marshall probably was put together in mostly the same way. There might be a difference in parts, or a slight downgrade in quality control or craftsmanship, but for less than $300 you can't go wrong. Any tech on the planet can upgrade it for $50 if you really want to, and another $50 for good tubes makes a huge difference as well.

I would prefer it to have a standby switch. That is the one glaring weakness of the amp. It might be nice to have an effects loop as well. Other than that it's a basic tube amp circuit that, if you take care of it, can be the perfect amp if you're willing to do a few minor upgrades.

It's a simple, single channel amp. That appeals to me. Features get in the way sometimes.

I'm using a PRS custum 22 with a Dimarzio PAF (DP-103) in the bridge and a PAF Joe in the neck with push-pull coil tapping. I use mostly bluesy or southern rock tones. Sometimes I use countrified cleans tones. I like the Kealy modded Ts9 with it. It handles all my styles just fine including some funk. I mic it up with a Shure Beta 57 and place the mic off to the side of the speaker but pointed at the center. The amp can be very bright so I turn the bass almost all the way up, the treble all the way down and the mids at about 1 or 2. I set the gain on about 6 or 7 and the volume on about 5. I like to roll back my volume sometimes for that come hither tone. I did put Groove tubes in it but I left the factory speaker in it. The guys in the band won't let me use anything else!

I've gigged with it in a professional band for about a year so far with no problems. When the master volume is set too high it can get a little noisy. It doesn't seem to offend anyone but I might get it looked at.

Haven't been there.

I've played over 30 years and most of it professionally. I'm in the process of buying another as a back up, better safe than sorry. I may or may not get one with reverb. I've played everything out there, believe me this is amazing. It's very light-weight and packs an amazing tone. I just plain love it.

2003 pignose amp, made in china. the problem is the tubes are cheap. get some sovtek replacements. jj's suck hard and deep, so don't listen to a moron who can't spell, like the last reviewer. the 3 way equalizer is not very useful. keep the mids down and the high and lows up, or you will get muddy quack. just the basics, and noisy stock tubes. that will cost them a few points

right now, all i have a double fat strat, a '76 with a single coil reverse-polarized in the middle. a severely modified guitar that was once a standard strat. the humbuckers are on 500k pots and the mid pickup has a 250k pot...coils tapped on the buckers with two toggles under the 5 way. in modified strat mode, i can play through all three pickups as single coils, on humbucker, i have the switch modified to play neck and bridge pu's, only for a lp sound. the amp sounds nice on all settings, so it is a versatile and inexpensive amp. -1, since the speaker magnet is a 16 oz'er

this thing is laid out fairly well and seems like it will hold up well. no problems in 7 months.

i have no experience to speak about on this category...

i felt this was a good deal. i would buy another one, period. tube is better than solid state and this thing was a steal. 40-60 watts, depending on the replacement tubes you use and screaming. i don't mind paying another 70 bucks and dropping a 34 oz. magnet speaker. probably going to be an emminance.

Bought the little piggy from Musicians Friend after reading the stunning reviews here at Harmony Central. I thought it could be a nice change from lugging around my silver face Super Reverb. And since my super won't fit in my car trunk it made sense. And I love modifying cheap crap that I buy so I thought "match made in heavan."

But I was disappointed right away. Compared to a little Crate Vintage Club that I have (which I bought for much less used) it just looked like it was built for an old Sears catalog or something. The grillcloth, the knobs, the switch, and oh my god the plug was a joke.

Let's just say I have never heard anything so unmusical in all my life (next to a friend's Tele Thinline through a Roland Jazz Chorus). I don't think I'll get out of my head the harsh, abrasive "clank" that this little squealer produced. I tried swapping tubes (including new JJ's) and not ever Bob could save me on this one. I play a semi hollow custom guitar with Bill Lawrence bridge Tele pickup and Les Paul Deluxe mini humbucker at the neck. I tried messing with the knobs and ran it through a 2x15 cab. It sounded better but to be happy I was gonna swap a bunch of parts out. And I need another project like I need a hole in the head.

Unfortunately, I think this amp will keep running. But I haven't had it very long.

Never tried to call em.

I've been playing for 31 years and okay - I admit it - I haven't gigged with that much stuff. But I know a clinker when I hear it. My advice is stick with the pro stuff and buy used if you want to save money. If you're thinking 6L6s and Fender sound for cheap... check the return policy before you give em your card.

It's brand new. I heard they're not making these after this year, which sucks.
It's a 40 watt amp, all tube. I had my Fender Blues Junior stolen and I was given this amp as a temporary replacement. I think it's going to be a permanent one - what a great amp. I guess it's true that big things come in small packages!

Anyway it's a typical 12AX7 / 6L6 amp - rich, bell-like tones inb the clean stages and sonorous distortion. It's not a gain tyrant, though - forgot about Mesa sounds out of this. It's strichtly a blues amp.

No reverb and no effects loop is pretty sucky, but it's tolerable given the cheap-ass price. Huge tone. One channel. It's very old-school. Supposedly the guy who designed it did some work for Ampeg. Well, he's good. Damned good. I love this beast. It's little in size only.

Huge monster SRV like tone. It's clear, it's bell clear, it's real nice. I really dig it. I play all blues in a blues trio and it really moves the air. I'm not going to get another Fender now. I don't use the distortion too much, but it's nice and smooth.

I've gigged on this thing for a while and it's held up hardcore. No joking. I've even dropped it once or twice. The tubes are still good. I'd trust it.

No need to called them.

If it was stolen, I'd actually buy one. It's fantastic. No joke - go try one and you'll be VERY pleasently surprised. Nothing like it in it's class. Nothing at all. Boutique amps be damned - only Alessandro compares to this little monster. It kicks.

The amp is a 2004 model, with the 10" pignose speaker, 2 6L6 tubes in the power stage and 3 12AX7 tubes in the preamp stage. 40 watts. It's a class A amp. I deduct two points because of the lack of reverb - annoying and nothing more. With the money you save buying this amp, you can easily buy a reverb/delay pedal, etc.
Single channel, master volume and "volume" (which is essentially a gain knob), bass, mid, treble, presence controls. It's damned loud at 40 watts, and can easily power a cab, so power is not a problem.

This amp faithfully reproduces that glassy, liquidy all-tube sound that Fender perfected in the early years. It's an amazing tone, actually, perfect for blues, jazz, classic rock. The distortion is never over-the-top - metalheads need not apply - but ends up creamy and rich in harmonics. I play lots of different guitars through it - it seems to like single-coils slightly better, giving them a nice "chime" that humbuckers don't get... humbuckers seem to get warm, and fat. It's not at all noisy - surprisingly quiet, actually.

Seems sturdy and pignose's other amps have good reputations among the music people I talk to. The stock tubes work perfectly.

A really excellent value, there's nothing like it in it's price range. For the wattage and the amazingly crystalline sound, it was a total steal. I expect to use it for years to come.

This is just a follow up on my 1/4/2004 review below.

This is where I want to focus.

I'm playing lots of power pop and classic rock, some punk, some Brit pop, etc. No country or metal. Understand that I have an emphatic, irrational bias against stomp boxes. I always try to get the best sound I can out of an amp's onboard overdrive. After reading lots of reviews and some of the mods suggested by various folks on the web, I played around with various tubes and have a few suggestions.

The stock Shuguang 12AX7 tubes sound very respectable in V1. Folks have been going nuts trying to get their hands on the "9th generation" chinese offerings. My understanding is that these are basically the same tubes, so that may explain the decent tone. I've also used JAN Philips 12AX7WA, JAN GE 12AX7WA, Mullard ECC 83, EH 12AX7, JJ ECC 83S, Ei 12AX7, etc. The stock Shuguang holds its own surprisingly well in V1.

"Guitar Nuts" recommends using a 12AT7 at V2 and making a resistor change at R17 to sweeten the overdrive. Their article on this amp is well worth reading. I went ahead and put a JAN Philips 12AT7 in V2, but have not modded the amp.

I tried a JAN Philips 12AT7 in V3, a JJ ECC 83S and others. There was an immediately noticeable improvement in tone when I stuck a GE NOS 5751 in V3. I don't know why, but the GE NOS 5751 in V3 does something for this amp no other tube did.

Power tubes: the stock Shuguangs aren't bad. Svetlana 6L6GCs sound good, but the clear winner to my ears are the JJ 6L6GCs. I got them in a 47 rating from Bob at Eurotubes and they really bring this amp to life.

Especially when you consider the inexpensive cost of this amp, both the cleans and the overdriven tones are very, very respectable.

The amp exudes an aura "cheap", but it has held up just fine for 8 months. I purchased it so cheap that I have gone ahead and purchased a second one to always have a back up. I took the speaker out and only use this amp as a head.

Minimal.

I did buy it again, so that speaks for itself. For the money, you can't beat it.

I've been displaying my mediocre musical talents for over 25 years, and have plenty of gear to show for it. The nice part about all of this is that I have been exposed to enough equipment to get a good ear for tone.

made in china, brand new from the 'friend. standard set of knobs, single channel. i have seen this amp in the shops a few times and didnt bother to try it out thinking it was solid state, due to the lack of a standby switch(strange!). but after trying one out i havent been able to get the tone out of my head. im mainly a bedroom player, i seek jams and startup bands around town. this thing has plenty of power. 40 watts tube is more than enough for just about any application! if need be you can hook it up to most standard cabs via the 4 and 8 ohm outputs. i would recommend this! it sounds fantastic through a 4x12.

sometimes i wish it had reverb. but for 200 dollars, i can deal. ill go out and get a holy grail(also highly recommended!)with the money i saved and be twice as happy as i would be with any built in reverb tank.

this amp is incredible. it seems to be slowly catching on in popularity. people are realizing that for 200 dollars you can have an amp that sounds as good as a small fender, but with a useable, adjustable, and quite amazing overdrive. i play rock and roll mainly. 60s stuff sort of like the rolling stones and the kinks, 70s stuff like led zeppelin and post punk, as well as some of that "new garage" music(which is pretty much just like the 60s stuff!). this amp does my style perfectly. right now i have a fender 72 tele custom reissue. i REALLY want a guitar with a bridge humbucker, because this amp eats up humbuckers and spits out the most amazing, singing, nasty overdrive. it sparkles and chimes with my telecasters bridge pickup as well. it would be my guess that on the 2nd position of a strat, the amp would sound a lot like early dire straits live tone.

it has that slightly compressed overdrive that people dish out tons of money for. ive played a matchless chieftain and no, its not as good, but for the price you will not find as much tone in another amp.

the review form asks, "How brutal is the distortion?"

...not very.

hmm, "made in china" is hard to top as far as words that strike doubt into my mind. im not a USA-only snob, but i just know that chinese stuff is usually hitting the low end. the amp seems pretty solid. standard construction, fairly good cone and magnet on the speaker.

the key to making this amp a LOT better is to get new tubes. the tubes that come with it are really really mediocre and in some cases just bad. one of the tubes that came with mine sends an audible rattling noise through the speaker when its cranked. i would suggest going to eurotubes.com, the best tubes and customer service ive found so far. with new tubes this amps sound takes a huge leap in the right direction.

the second thing is to get a new speaker. the speaker is alright but a new one, or better yet, an extension cab, will give it that extra kick and voice.

one thing that does worry me is this little amp runs extraordinarily hot. much hotter than my 5150 and my old ampeg. i think a fan or two mounted on the back grille could help the longevity of the amp.

pignose has a fairly unimpressive website if that counts for anything. ive never had to contact them, but i dont forsee any problem with communication.

ive been playing for about 6 years now. this is my main amp. if it were stolen i would definitely go out and get this same amp again. i love how it looks, i love how it sounds. i hate the tubes that it comes with. just for kicks i went to musicians friend and lined all the amps up by price. the other amps in the $200 price bracket are a joke. mostly DSP-powered solid state practice amps. this is 40 watts of all tube amplification for 200 dollars NEW. you can't beat that. tack on 45 bucks for new tubes and you will still be ahead of most comparable fender amps.

It has few features but it is effective enough.

The sound is very good until you really overdrive it.Clean almost fender-ish sparkle.

Pulled the amp out of the box and noticed the speaker was hanging by a thread.It had gotten hit in the front and the cheap pressboard was all broke,causing the speaker to all but fall out of the cabinet!Also it just does'nt strike me as well built

never tried

Good circuit-bad everything else.If you could take the circuit out,put it in a real cabinet with a real speaker you'd have something.And to be honest I think there are better sounding solid state amps out there

Go read AMS or MF,for details. I've used this with every combonation
of Settings, Effects, Guitars, Pickups, Cables, Speakers, & I don't need a challenge, call my bluff!

Sounds "HONKEY" very "WHITE-TRASH", but not "BIKER", just "TRAILER"
in a "TRASHY-TONE"! This thing sounds DIRTY, there is almost
NO-CLEAN, when I run PEDALS & PREAMPS into it, they loose their BASS, & their treble sounds like "CARD-BOARD" compared to a HIGH-END
SOLID-STATE amp with NO-CHIPS nor modern-components as well as any
HIGH-END TUBE-AMP(with-this you can't get a good clean) but's it's very LOUD!

Once it sparked, arked, & re-welded one of the Tubes, & it worked out fine, no problem! I don't know why this thing doesn't like
BASS-GUITAR, nor ACOUSTIC-ELECTRICS, I'm not saying that is is meant for those either!

I called them for a SCHEMATIC, it costs about less than $10.00, &
it's a CRAPPY-HAND-DRAWN-COPY, they said "That's the only one we have
& use" BULLLLLLLLLLL!
I asked them for a "QUOTE" on it's "T.H.D."(Total Harmonic Distorion)
rating, & they said, "We don't have that information, it's a LOW-END
AMP"

I would recommend that if you want a good-combo-amp, go with a nice
Solid-State modern-brand, but I had to be BRAVE & listen to my
TUBE-HEADED-AIRHEAD-FRIENDS & go with an "ALL-TUBE-AMP" & get this
DRY-CARDBOARD sounding amp, if you want "MOISTURE" in your TONE, spend more & get either a real "CLASS-AB-TUBE-HEAD" or get a real
vintage "TRANSISTOR-ONLY,SOLID-STATE-AMP--with-no-CHIPS,nor-modern-components" otherwise you will sound like a "LO-FI record", that's
up to you!