Pignose G40V

Not exactly sure what year it was made since I purchased it used this year and haven't bothered to figure it out. I do know that I have noticed that there seems to be two different types of grills. Mine has the pignose logo offset from the sides while others have the logo parallel/horizontal to the face plate.
I play mostly classic rock, alternative, and blues. I leave the jazz stuff to people who know what they are doing, cause i sure don't.
This is a single channel amp with a master, volume, treble, mids, bass, and presence knobs. Plugs into an 8ohm speaker but has an 8 and 4 ohm jack in the rear. Very simple, no effects loops, channel switching, headphone jack, etc. But thats part of the reason this amp appeals to me. K.I.S.S. About the only feature I wish it had would be a reverb tank. Other than that, I love it as is.
I mostly use this amp for practice as I have a twin reverb and a line 6 for gigging. Although I might start using this for gigging as well due to some upgrades I installed.
As fas as power is concerned, there are no concerns. Plenty loud, 40 Watt pure tubes. I'm always asked to turn it down and I play with a "lead drummer" if you know what I mean. It takes pedals very well too.

I play with a Fender Deluxe American Strat with noiseless pickups and the s-1 switch which allow the pickups to be configured in a humbecker type configuration. I also use a 92' Studio Les Paul with humbucker pickups.
Since I purchased it used the first thing I did was to purchase new tubes. SED Winged "C" 6L6GC's matching duet, JJ ECC83s w/matching triodes in V1, Sovtek 12ax7LPS in V2, and new production Tung-Sol 12ax7 w/matching triodes in V3/P.I and I upgraded the stock speaker with a Eminence 10" Rajin' Cajun. The sounds that eminate from this amp now are amazing. Depending on where I set the Master and Volume knobs I can get fender type clean tones with just enough breakup to make you soak your pants(Volume knob about 2/3 o'clock and Master at about noon), to Marshall type distortion with the Volume between 1-4 o'clock and Master between 9-12. And if you're lucky enough to own a 212 or 412 cab, watch out, the bottom end emerges like a rose pedal in spring. This amp went from below average to above average with these simple changes. I am in the process of building a 212 cab to allow me to use this as a giggin amp. Paired with my twin, it should be all good. I'm giving it an 9 due to the fact that I had to perform these upgrades in order to make it sound better.

I don't think I would ever use any tube amp without a backup, whether it be a seperate amp or a backup set of tubes. That would just be asking for trouble. You might get lucky and never have to experience a technical problem on stage, but why take a chance. Time is money, and I need all the money I can get to feed my tube amp addiction.
Reliability, I have practiced with this amp for several hours at a time and sure it gets hot, it's a tube amp. But no problems to date.
FYI, at one point I removed the chasis to check all the wiring, solder contacts and to install a bias pot. I also removed paint from all the grounding points to allow for better contact. This amp is prone to hum at higher volume levels, but I haven't had to run this amp at those levels yet.

Customer support, Sucks! I have sent several emails on basic questions and have not received a single response. Luckily, all the information i've needed i've found on line.

I've been playing off and on since I was 13. Actually started gigging about 2 years ago. Mostly b'day parties, graduations, charitable events, etc.
If it were stolen, I would buy another. Luckily, because of the mediocre cabinet and asthetics, it looks more like a solid state amp than a tube amp. Great for me cause there doesnt seem to be a high demand for solid state amps.

This is an update from my previous post.

A year on and that hum is just a 12AX7 on the way out - but is taking it's time! I am still using the amp without any problems or reduction in tone or enjoyment!

I have bought some new amps since owning this including the Cornford I mentioned earlier and a Super Champ XD, a 57 Tweed Deluxe and a Fender Super-Sonic. The Pig is as good as all these other expensive/branded amps. I run the Pig in stereo with the Tweed Deluxe and is 'so' Bassman!! I aslo run it with the Bassman setting on the SCXD and add a touch of Vibratone and again - another Bassman sound as good as the 59LTD I had... but in your room and not a field!

But it doesn't quite do Blackface Fender, so I got the SuperSonic and that does (wondeful Vibrolux) - but iat has a Bassman channel too... So I A/B'd them. The SuperSonic Bassman is a '66 version - not the Tweed. But, boy, the Pig is the better quality sound and not much quieter - it packs a massive wallop for 40W and through the bigger speaker is close to the output of the SuperSonic...

19 months on... has been to some jams and travelled with me, sits quietly in the gorner taking up no room, runs as nicely at low vol as does wound up... and all with a slowly failing tube!

As I had said - Pignose/Gorilla marketing always respond to tech Q's and advice... excellent

After losing out on my 59 Bassman LTD I hankered for another Tweed. Other amp deals came my way which have offered other dimmensons, but for ??150 plus some cariage, this has been a super little amp if you like those classic, Blues/Rock/Indie tones.

If you treat it kindly it will keep in shape and get some stunning compliments - everyone who has heard me says how nice I sound - and I am a ham fisted player who for the same vintage as a real Tweed bassman, should be better!

I should have believed someone I chatted to a couple of years back. He was an ex pro who had done the rounds and illness had curtailed his playing. All he had was a couple of guitars and TWO of these. He said forget all the hype over Tweed Twins, vintage Blackfaces etc, this amp can hold it's own... You know what? HE WAS RIGHT!

Features listed applenty here so I will just add another bunch of comments and observations and more importantly, some links to where you can find some meaningful demos to draw your own conclusions - so overlooked on HC in general!

However, re: features, all it lacks is a reverb ... but...(!)

One thing not made enough of here too - it is so easy to move about and work with!!

I have had mine (was a new/old stock) since late Nov '07 and waited until now to compile this as I now know the full extent of this beauty's capabilities! At the time I bought this I had just taken a gamble on an ex demo Fender 59 Bassman LTD. Sadly it was a duffer and went back to Fender via the dealer for repair... but just before, I was able to A/B them side by side... Well, both have 2x6L6 and 3x12AX7's and a 10" and 40W... the pig has an added gain and you know what - is the better amp! All those wonderful Brown Bassman tones are here but at lower controllable vols. BUT THIS CAN BE LOUD to - I link mine to an external 1x12 Celestion V30 cab and its like openning the patio doors and letting the warm breeze in on a summers' evening!

It won't do Marshall hi gain, this is in essence a Tweed voiced amp. Forget Blues Juniors and Hot Rod's - this is the daddy of those tones!

Was recently advised that the Bassman wasn't coming back after its 7 months away at Fender/Dealers as "was too uneconomic to continue to try and get perfect" and Fender don't replace ex demo with new... So I tokk my ??700 back and spent the money on a new Cornford Roadhouse 30 combo. This Pig though, is much more tuneful, articulate and characterful - I paid ??160 for this!!! The Cornford is more gainy and Marshall-esque and is EL34 powered, but not as clear. The G40V more rocking Neil Young, the Cornford more 60's/70's British Classi Blues Rock aka The Faces and Led Zep... But the Pig more versatile...

Mine has developed an dim earth-like hum... something maybe not as tight as it should be and I will investigate. Doesn't interfere with the sound/ pleasure at all. The afrementioned Fender Bassman??? Awful hiss piss hum dunk....! No contest!

I am UK and still able to get answers from Pignose in US via email/website... Basic componnts, hope will be servicable for years to come...

So just so you get an idea of the basis for my praise - I am 49 and played since '73 and have some nice guitars where the amp is AS IMPORTANT to achieving an enjoyable sound/tone. My '73 Fender Strat, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson 335, Hofner Archtop (featured in clip below) and a chinese cheapo Telecaster (??35 off ebay but Boy! amazing tones!!) sound at home with the Pig, I don't need anything better to hear more... The sound is there. I could rig up a different external cab and hear other textures if I wanted - I don't need to buy another amp... so versatile again. AND IT IS SMALL!! No roadie required! Forget 5W cut downs... this is everything and more for same money...

OK pics of mine and links to some sounds and a fabulous detailed review here:

My Pig/1x12 Celestion V30 cab and Hofner E457 Archtop - note dynamics in reaction to hard/soft picking. No pedals or editing and captured on a Canon Powershot A70 camera via the video function/onboard speaker!!
http://www.4shared.com/file/37308893/1f2a5a12/G40V_demo.html

Gearwire G40V with Humbucker review:
http://www.4shared.com/file/56991731/b10c9827/pignose-g40v-humbucker-amplab.html

Pretty as a Pig in SH1 !!!
http://www.4shared.com/file/56995220/56b9cc4c/Piggy_Back.html

How it stacks up to a 59 Bassman!!
http://www.4shared.com/file/56607383/62d20764/Amp_Stack.html

Feel free to email for any further info/advice gen chat and experiences...

Remember, it's not quantity, it's quality. You get vol, master, low, mid, treb, and presence. One input jack, no effects of any kind, not even reverb. Oh, it also has 40w OF TUBE POWER in the smallest package I've seen in a long time.

ok, let's face it. the G40V isn't an amp so much as it is a build-your-own tube amp kit. I'm not rating it here based on the stock equipment because nobody plays it that way for long. The original tubes are lifeless and muddy and the stock speaker is worse. The 10" that it ships with is papery, harsh, and lacks depth. If you play it that way, you just ask yourself if it's really a tube amp. However, a set of sovtek tubes and an eminence ragin cajun put me right where I wanted to be. With upgrades the amp is expressive, sensitive, complex and LOUD. Winding the gain up produces a silverface-style distotion (which not everyboy likes), but backing it off allows plenty of headroom and a nice brown sound.

Hasn't failed me so far! But, with that said, I can't imagine that some of these cheap Chinese parts won't go at some point. I don't think it makes much of a difference though, I dare you to find a sub $350 amp with American guts.

huh? not yet. besides, i've never had any luck in this category.

If you need portable tube power on a budget, this is a no-brainer. Think of it this way - you can buy this amp NEW, upgrade the speaker, and still come out cheaper than the Fender Pro Jr. If you manage to get a good USED one, you can throw in a set of tubes and a neodymium driver and come in at about the same price. Grab one of these before people wise up and the price hits the roof.

I bought this amp in England - new - in 2000. I gig infrequently and I used a Yamaha semi acoustic with it and it sounded great. Loved it. Only one input which was a problem for me. Lots of power for the rating.

Sound was good in all categories.

Within about 4 gigs this amp burnt out the main transformer. I took it back the dealer who sold it and although it was over a year he did a good deal on a replacement tranny. Approximately 3-4 gigs later this transformer burnt out.This was over a period of 3 years. I took it to a reliable repair man who works for local shops doing repairs and his opinion was that the transformer fitted was not big enough to cope with the load and he would recommend a bigger replacement. This was going to cost me nearly as much as the price of the amp. I said thanks, but no thanks, and wrote to Pignose in Las Vegas who were good enough not to reply. This is probably going to end up on the tip.

You are on your own with customer support - there is none.

I have been playing for 40 years and one amp that I have used consistantly for 15 years is a Laney pa head 300w. The only minor problems after 10 years of regular use was a new socket and volume pot. I am now looking at the Laney A1 as a replacement to the Pignose. If this is what Pignose are doing after being in the business for years, then I could not recommend anything of theirs.
If anyone wants this amp - free if collected - let me know. It seems a shame to chuck it.(Kent area, England)

Pignose G40V, a valve amp made in China, but supposedly designed by an gent called Kager. Cool. It is a 2004 model, 3 pre and two power tubes for a 40 watt mojo. This single channel amp is not shabby at all, especially for what I use it for, jamming and practice. No efectts loop, and the usual goodies, but I don't care for all that.

Right of the box, I hated the sound. But I was expecting too much. I used to own a Fender Super Champ which I foolishly sold to a friend with the promise that he will sell it back if he changes his mind. The dude traded the Champ for a stoopid made-in-Asia Dobro copy, because he wants to become a Blues player.
NOW THE MUSIC SHOP WANTS A SMALL RANSOME TO SELL MY OLD SUPER-CHAMP BACK TO ME.!!! I signed off of Fender amps permnently.

With only input, the only way to get good O/D is via pedals, and I got lots of those. The first course of action was to attach an external speaker cab and check it out. It sounded decent. Next, I start replacing the pre-amp tubes, with all the usual well-known brands. No luck. As fate would have it, I have an old, but broken down WEM (UK) tape echo. I pulled the pre-tubes (shield logo Mullards ecc-83), and plug them into the Pig.
Big surprise! The little guy came alive! The hum disappeared, and the tone controls became quite useful. Now this amp is a keeper. With my pedal-board #1(out of 4)..I punched in the Boss MT-2. Sweet. Next I tried the ML-2 Metal Core. It sounded so 'in-yer-face', that I immediately mic'd the little guy, and laid the rhythm tracks for my next song. The sound was nice, focussed, and present. Now if Pignose would put decent pres-tubes in this little mutha, it will be a killer recording amp.

It looks reliable, but I won't take it to a gig. It hasn't broken down yet, but I am looking replacing the power tubes with something better.

I have never dealt with the company, so I have no clue what they do with repairs and warranty and stuff.

I have been a permanent resident of the 'tone zone' for a few years, i.e, I own and run a nice 'home recording studio' (Malcolm Toft era Trident console and all the other cool audio tools). I have played thro' too many amps to recount, British, American, and Canadian. This one is just another 'lo-tech'(not so nasty) tube addition to the collection.

The Good: Great classic push-pull 6L6 tube sound, master volume, great early distortion, 1 channel i.e. less is more, small and light weight, inexpensive (when i bought it), tubes can be replaced without bias adjustment.
The Bad: 40 loud watts through a 10" speaker and small cab is a poor match (but it also makes some sense, see later comments), like other mass produced amps it doesn't come new with quality tubes or a great speaker, no reverb.
The Ugly: The middle tone control is voiced very high and can be very irritating until you learn how to use it. Tip: Keep the middle at 1 (not 1 oclock) and treble and bass around 3. If using lots of distortion turn middle up to compensate for mid dippy 6L6 tubes and achieve a more Marshall like sound.

I love the sound of this amp. I use it the way I think it was designed to be used i.e. as a practice amp with a strat or jazz type guitar played at clean or semi-clean settings. I keep the volume low and keep the (stock) speaker near ear level. I have replaced the tubes with JJs. The amp produces a warm and extreemly satisfying tube sound. At practice volume the output tubes do not get pushed and the preamp tubes can produce a great early distortion. The sound is warm and kind of dark, not as sparkly or complex as a Fender, but very beautiful in its own way. I also have the cleaner sounding Pignose G60VR Head but prefer the darker warmth of the G40V. The G40V could use more headroom which I believe can be achieved by using lower powered preamp tubes instead of the 12Ax7s as others have suggested. I have played this amp through a Marshall cabinet and it sounds huge that way, certainly loud enough for most bands. I do not care for this amp's high gain distortion which sounds very mushy to me. This amp gets gobs of distortion but its not really what you want if you are trying to totally nail a Marshall or modern distortion type sound.

I bought this amp used in June of 2000 for $150.00 and have never had a problem with it.

I have been playing for almost 30 years and been through numerous tube amps over the years. I now own the marvelous Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue, Peavey Classic 30, Pignose G60VR (which I plan to convert to a bass head), and a Marshall stack. I will never sell this amp because its perfect for practicing if you are into a clean or early breakup type of classic Fenderish 6L6 push-pull sound. The combination of 40 watts (unavoidable with the classic push-pull 6L6 tube arrangement) and only a 10" speaker is weird but it makes sense when combined with the master volume design because you end up with a versatile inexpensive practice amp that makes warm beautiful classic sounds in a small package. Nothing else like it.

Basic all tube, 40 watt screamer. Volume and master volume, treble, mid and bass EQ, and a presence adjustment. 1 input.

Tubes are 2 6L6's and 3 12 ax7's

Out of the box this amp sounds very Marshall and "brown". It has great "sweet spots" that you can dial in. Not a ton of clean headroom, but here is a hint for you small tube combo freaks:
I installed 3 Tung-Sol 12ax7's and 2 Svetlana 6L6's, then swapped the stock chinese speaker with and Eminence Rajin Cajun. OH Baby! Now this amp is alive. The bass response is huge. Now this things sounds like a cross between a Mesa Boogie and an Ampeg VT series. When I play smaller gigs, I shove a SM57 in front of my G40V and it produces the creamiest, sexiest, early Humble Pie, Mick Taylor kind of warmth. Folks walk up to me all the time and ask "what is that little amp?" My main amp is a 1967 Sears Silvertone Twin Twelve, which does not go to all gigs. If you cna find one of these lil G40's get it, do your tube research for the sound you want, and you will have an outstanding boutiqe amp that will amaze you.

I mainly play classic rock, brit invasion, rock-a-billy, Americana, using a 1952 telecaster reissue with some mods, and a Dearmond M75 stock. The described sounds are direct in, but i have great results using a Butler Real Tube overdrive and a Rocktron Austin Gold and the Pignose set clean with just a slight bite. (these lil amp have secret hidded sweet spots that you have to fiddle with to find).

Never had a problem in the 1 year I've had it.

N/A

Stock it will sound good. Add your favorite tubes and speaker...LOOK OUT..it sounds very pro.

Great little amp for the price. I agree with the guy below, you HAVE to get rid of the speaker. I put an Eminence Delta Demon in mine, and it is a perfect match for this little amp. Another thing you NEED to do is change out all the tube. It comes stock with all Chinese tubes which SUCK! I tried a bunch of different power and preamp tubes, and NOS tubes sounded the best. I ended up putting Mullard 12AX7's in all preamp positions, and RCA 6L6's for the power tubes. This made a HUGE difference in the tone. You can also experiment with 5751 tubes in the different preamp positions, they have slightly less gain, and will give the amp more clean headroom. For new production tubes you cannot beat JJ's!! Their 6L6's also sounded great in this amp. I also changed the grillcloth(DR Z black/brown weave), and knobs(Fender brown) giving it a great vintage look.

Amp sounds great, still could use some more low end, but it is WAY better with the new Delta Demon speaker!! Great practice amp, and only 24lbs!! Good clean tones, and nice overdriven bluesy tones. Amp works good with a variety of different guitars/pickups/effects pedals.

So far, so good, what do you want for $200!

Don't know...

Great little amp, especially if you can get it cheap. But you have to do some of the mods. Also check out http://blueguitar.org/articles.htm and http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-central-station/49578-me-my-hot-rodded-pignose-g40v.html and http://www.tdpri.com/forum/amp-central-station/57465-pignose-g40v-%22super-sized-%22.html and especially http://www.guitarnuts.com/amps/g40v/index.php.

I bought mine used off of eBay. It had been used and gigged pretty heavily. It smelled like a bar. Whereas it looked pretty rough, everything worked perfectly. I didn't see any QC issues at all. As far as features, basic 1 channel amp. If it had Reverb it would have everything I want. Two big plusses; the tube sockets are ceramic and not mounted on the circuit board to facilitate changing tubes without wearing out the sockets or stressing the board. And, the 4 and 8 ohm speaker out jacks. Stuff you don't see on all bedroom practice amps in this price range.

I'll keep this simple so my suggestions don't get lost in here. The secret to this amp is in the preamp tubes. I experimented with lots of different combinations and came up with this: Put a 12AU7 in V1, a good quality 5751 in V2 (mine is a NOS Jan GE), and leave the 12AX7 in V3. This takes out the hum, gives a good Fender clean with excellent headroom and still allows me to dial in a very nice warm crunch. For more distortion than that use a pedal. They did extend the lows making them a little fuller than with the stock tubes. For bedroom practice the stock speaker is fine. For a little more volume and depth I built a 4 ohm 2x12 cabinet. I play a MIM Strat and an Epiphone Sheraton II. I thought this amp was lacking in low end with the stock speaker and the Strat. With the Sheraton and the cabinet plugged in it has all the depth you could ever want.

I just have the one. It looks to have been gigged hard and I can't see any evidence of having been repaired.

Never dealt with them

This is a great little amp that really packs a punch. I can't see buying any of the 5-15 watt tube amps in this price range when you can get one of these for the same or less money. With the tube changes above I can get great tone at bedroom volumes and have the power to play a live gig.

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.

You already know. And no reverb!

The distortion has too much midrange, not versitile for metal, grunge, or agressive punk & hardchore. If you're into blues or a certain "Texas Tone" this might be your thing.

CLEAN CHANNEL::
I bought it to use my vintage FUZZ pedals with it, not good! It distorts anything with treble fed to it's input. The headroom is very low, there is no clean channel, just lower the volume, and there is little or NO BASS while doing so on clean setting.

VOLUME LOUDNESS::
It is somewhat loud enough to compete with drum volume, but that's because MIDRANGE is what the human ear is most sensitive towards. And I'm talking about when it's driven with it's natural distortion.

TONE::
There is a design flaw, the TONE-CIRCUIT are before the CLIPPING-STAGE, LAME! When seeing what the distortion looks like on an oscilloscope, it's not a smooth roundwave like what tubes should do, it's more jagged, I'd have to show you.

MODIFICATION::
I found a mofification online that is supposed to make the clean channel become cleaner & have actual BASS low frequencies produced. It improved it a little bit, not as much as I'd like it to, but it sure beats the stock design for certain!

It only SMOKED once, because I turned everything up all the way for a couple seconds, not even a full minute. I figure to turn the knobs up all the way, because they go up that much! I don't think anything was damaged, maybe some plastic or something inside was what was melting, but it still works!

The stock tubes die real fast & turn white! I tried playing an acoustic-electric with a standard fishman piezo-preamp, and somehow I caused the tubes to flash a bright light while stopping the sound when durring playing. It hummed/buzzed for a second, then the power-tubes arked/sparked & rewelded themselves an internal path-connection, then worked fine.

They are liars when it comes to the schematic-diagram. They sent me something hand-written and not readable. Luckily I found a better schematic online!

At least they tell you about the arking/welding of bad tubes.

Buy it as a collector's item. This amp is already being phased out. I shouldn't have modified mine. It's the cheapest tube amp for it's price.

I could have saved up for a Fender for a couple hundred more, or the 15Watt model comparable for $100 more, but it doesn't have as much output power, but then again this is just about as quiet. I sorta wished I didn't take the Fender back to the store for refund. Fender tubed amps seem to handle pedals a whole lot better!

Good luck with your descision.

I bought this amp in the Spring of 2005. The features are awesome from a tone-junkie's perspective. You get: overdrive, volume, and 4-band EQ. For those of you unfamiliar with Presence control, Presence = treble (which means treble = high mids, and mid = low mids). This amplifier also has both 4 and 8-ohm speaker output jacks, which is a hugely awesome feature. The overdrive control goes from almost perfectly clean to heavily distorted, and allows for great control from your guitar's volume and tone knobs once you've dialed in the tone you want. I can go from perfect, snappy cleans to heavy distortion with just a twist of my guitar's volume control if I set it up correctly.


But, compared to bazillion-channel amps, features are minimal. I would say this amp has incredible features relative to its design.

The sound of this amp is obviously "Marshall-based." The distortion is Marshally, the cleans are plexi-ish. This amp's true strength is a "barely overdriven" plexi-ish sound with the overdrive knob turned up about 1/4 of the way. Sounds absolutely BEAUTIFUL at that setting.


I, however, play mostly distorted rock. Frankly, this isn't a heavy metal amp. It is absolutely ideal for any OTHER purpose. Country, blues, hard rock, heavy rock, anything you want. If you know how to dial good tone, you will love this amp like a child.


I run this amp through a homemade 2x12 cabinet. It's definitely true that this amp shines when you plug it into a new speaker cabinet. On the other hand, the stock speaker is great for clean tones, and because it is a quiet speaker, it lends itself well to bedroom practicing. It's give-and-take. The stock speaker isn't good for everyone and every purpose, but it definitely has its place. For people who love distortion and loud volume and lots of low end, I would suggest using different speakers. For clean and vintage tones and for quieter volumes, use the stock 10" speaker. It doesn't sound bad at all. Lack of low end is due only to the fact that most people aren't used to using a 10" speaker.

I've almost had it for a year and I have no reliability concerns. I gig with it regularly and rehearse with it twice a week. It does get a little hot, but no hotter than other tube amps. The wires seem a little flimsy, but that's just nitpicking. I don't have any reliability concerns and I am confident that anyone with a cursory knowledge could home-repair this amp thanks to its simple schematic.

Warranty is short, I forget how long. 90 days or something. They sell this amp for $300 nowadays. At that price, don't be picky. If they increased the warranty, they would have to increase the price.

Most incredible amp I have ever played. If it dies, I will definitely buy another Pignose, either another G40V or their 60-watt amp head. I get TONS of compliments on my tone, I can dial in any tone I want. The distortion is rich and full, the cleans are the most beautiful vintage tones you can imagine. The hype surrounding this amp is SPOT-ON. This is one that will live up to all expectations. Do not hesitate to buy this amp. Great for beginners and seasoned professionals and tone junkies. The people who nitpick this amp are SERIOUS TONE JUNKIES who buy Pignose amps with the intention of modifying them. They are cheap and sound great, that's why they do it. Seriously, if you are considering this amp, then I strongly suggest buying it. Great price and unbelievable sound.

Email me if you wish to ask me specific questions about this amp. I would be happy to talk to you about it.

40 watt all tube amp. Pretty new, probably made this year. Basic controls (treble, mids, bass, presence, pregain(volume) post gain(master volume). No standby switch. No effects loop. One channel. 4 and 8 ohm output jacks. 3 preamp tubes, 4 6L6 output tubes. Read all the reviews, thought I'd give it a try - I wanted "the tone" in a small portable package. Wasn't expecting much, boy was I suprised. The biggest feature is the light weight (I'm not getting any younger). Gigged with it yesterday, more than enough power for the average sized honkey tonk/beer joint. It was really, really gainy with the stock preamp tubes, so I fiddled around with different combinations and came up with this setup: V1 (preamp tube closest to the input jack)=NOS Sylvania 7025. V2 (middle preamp tube) Ei 12AT7. V3 (preamp tube farthest from the input jack) the stock 12AX&A that came in the amp. The 10 inch stock speaker sucked (buzzy, sounds like the cone and voice coil were rubbing). Replaced it with a Jensen Mod 50 4 ohm speaker from an unused 4x10 bass cab I have, and holy crap! Loud, cuts through.

I used it with a Les Paul Classic and a Flying V. We played a little country (thank god for the little), some classic rock and some southern rock. The amp was not noisy in the live setting, there is a little hum at home (I think that's from the flourescent lights in my garage). With the pregain set at 9 o'clock, the post gain at 12 o'clock, treble zero'd, mids at 9 o'clock, bass 3 o'clock, presence at 3 o'clock, I got a clean that was almost ready to break up with the neck pickup, but when I switched to the bridge pickup, got a great overdrive sound. This thing has tons of gain, the more you turn up the pregain! Absoloutly amazing! After the above mentioned tube change, it still gets plenty of distortion, but it's the good kind. It seems tha a lot of the guys that try to mod/improve the amp are going for a fender clone. This was not meant to be that. Think Ampeg + Marshall + 59 Bassman all rolled into a toaster.

Used it all day yesterday (about 6 hours of intermittently playing at loud volumes). Had my heartbreaker head and 4x12 cab, but never needed them. This unit did not produce as much heat as my Mesa (it has 7 preamp tubes, 4 6L6 output tubes, and a rectifier tube). Haven't owned it but a week, so I really can't comment on reliability.

I have not contacted them.

Been playing since 1972. Have a multitude of gear that you really don't want to hear about (unless you're in the market for something...). If lost or stolen, would definitely get another one, just to see their faces when this thing rocks! I really hate the crappy speaker, but that was easily remedied - the Jensen Mod speakers can be had for less than $30.00 new. It will not get the range of sounds that my Mesa Heartbreaker and 4x12 cab can, but for an amp that I can tote along with my guitar and cord bag all at the same time without rupturing a disc I just feel tha I can't go wrong!

Its a nice little combo tube amp that i bought new about a year ago. It has one channel, and all the other EQ deals that are common (treble, middle, bass, presence). the only thing that bothers me about the features is that there are two volume knobs, one for cleaner volume and one for gain and i cant remember for the life of me which is which until i mess with them, so i kinda wish they were better labelled. it has plenty of power for fourty watts and thats why i bought it, for small clubbing gigs. i play bluesy, original folk rock and roll (i honestly dont think my music fits in any genres comfortably) and i can get all the tone and volume i need. beauty in simplicity.

Well, sir, let me tell you this thing has balls. i was just jamming on it actually, hammering out my chugging bastardization of blues in A, and i forgot my sister was asleep. She was screaming for 45 seconds before i noticed her. I play an epiphone wildkat which is a beautiful hollow body rocker with some chromed out, high output P-90's. believe me when i say this amp sings. when i let out the gain, it sparkles with buttery and bright sustain as high as it will go. when i turn both volume knobs up, it sounds like a bear with a cold is trying to sing "swing low" at full volume in my living room (in a good way). the distortion is not tight or metal-ly, but i like the ultra-warm way it growls and sings at the same time. butter all day long (i like to leave the treble and middle a little lower more often than not). It is perfect for me because i can get the folky sounds i need for some songs, and the ratty torn-up-inside-blues that i need for others. perfect for my style, and it has filled school gyms with sound.

I have used it at every gig i have done electrically. i am relatively careful because i love it, but it is sturdy and has taken some clunking quite well. i havent touched anything in the tube/speaker area and do not plan to unless it is nessecary (i can never remember how to spell nessecary...i dont even know if thats right...).

nope.

I have been playing for round about two years now. i started out writing poetry, but it was too dry so i (in the words of Lars Fredricksen) "picked up a guitar and never looked back." Another thing i forgot to mention is that i sometimes use it as an acoustic amp, and i serves that purpose just fine. All in all, i am very happy i got this. I am a big fan of simplicity, and thats why this is perfect for me. it has tone and character and strength, and i like that in anything i use to make something that is as important to me as music. so, if your lookin for a nice, cheap, powerful tube amp that has no fancy tricks but all the tone and personality you would care to find in an inanimate object (you have to supply the animation!), look no further. when your stuck, just remember your old pal stubby uses it! if you have a question or something, or if you like the way i write and you wanna hear my music (shameless advertising is one of my many talents, try and stop me harmony central!) drop me a lizine at my email.
Love,
Stubby

this I an update on my "MESA-PIGGY".


I HAVE REPLACED THE TUBES AND SUBSTITUTED THE FIRST 12AX7 FOR A 12AT7 TO CALM IT DOWN A BIT.
THE ONLY MAIN MOD WAS TO REPLACE THE STOCK SPEAKER W/ A "TONETUBBY 10" CERAMIC SPEAKER FROM A BRON SOUND. AFTER THE INITIAL BREAKIN PERIOD.....WOW
EVEN JADED OLD FARTS LIKE MYSELF LIKE THIS THING. IF YOU LIKE BLUES, AND OLD ROCK IT IS A SLEEPER.
SURPRISE YOUR DRUMMER TODAY!

WITH A GOOD GUITARIST IT IS EXCEPTIONAL...

2 YRS. NOT A PEEP! I STRAPPED IT ON MY HARLEY AND DROVE FROM GA. TO PEEN STATE AND DID A WEEK THERE NO PROB!!

DON'T NEED IT

189.00 PLUS 120.00 FOR A SPEAKER. TUBES ARE A MAINTENENCE THING.....
I GO TO JAMS WITH THIS AND ALWAYS GET COMMENTS ON ITS GOOD TONE....MAYBE ITS JUST MY FINGERS.......

This is my first review of any type, and I have been playing for 33 years. No sense repeating the features. Very basic tube amp that surprised the life out me! Mine came used with an EVM speaker and Sylvania tubes from the previous owner and I am very pleased with the tone and variety of sounds that can be dialed in. Plenty of power. I do studio work, and play in an 8 piece horn band. I can get any sound I choose. There is always a positive comment from sound personnel when they hear it for the first time.

I have a standard squier strat with Mighty Mite H S H configuration, one volume and one tone control. 5 position selector. This is my main guitar for live shows. I had this made to order about 5 years ago and now I see this configuration is getting popular. The volume and tone pots are upgrades also. Besides studio work with all styles of music, I play in an 8 piece horn band doing 60's & 70's covers. Usually we do concerts & shows at medium to large venues. I like Fender Musicman clean for most of this music, and the little Pignose with the EVM handles it easily. You have to experiment with the 2 volume controls, but now I just back off a little for clean, and turn the guitar to 10 for whatever amount of breakup I choose. Plenty of clean headroom. Distortion is warm and blues like. Amp is quiet, even with single coils.

Heavy duty. I have used it without backup.

Never needed them.

I'v been playing 33 years. I own some vintage strats that stay at home, the previous mentioned squier home-built strat, Musicman RD50 112, and have owned 13 Musicman amps and about 16 Fender amps during my lifetime. The Pignose is the smallest amp I found that can give me BIG full sound like the vintage amps I used to lug around. I will buy a spare shortly. I can live without reverb. Keeps you on your toes, plus the sound guys always add it. I agree with most of the positive reviews on this site. Go buy one. Don't forget when you hook up an extension cabinet it gets even better.

2005 brand new from sweetwater,
I always thought you had to pay lots and lots for good tone, I was wrong.
single channel , no loops, no jacks, no standby. 40 watts of lovely inexpensive tube power, more than enough power. Built like a little tank, perfect practice and small gig amp.

SHOCKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I read that it was a good bang for the buck, but I was not ready for the sound that came out of this little monster.
I play a 72 stock strat, 90s tele thinline and a L A Guitar Factory custom hollowbody, the last one has humbuckers. My style is mostly blues and a little classic rock, This amp suits me fine. I have a reissue AC 30 with anlicos and a 5150 on a 4x12 cab with greenbacks.All of them sound good but look at the price difference. I put the pignose on the 4x12 cab and was totally amazed, pure blues tone.
I also replaced the stock speaker (that sounded O K) with a Jensen anlico 10" P10Q 40 watt rms/80 watt peak. Beautiful Vintage sound. Absolute the best sound money I ever spent!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just got it, but its built like a tank and very very simple.
i dont expect any problems, but if I do Sweetwater will handel it as always.

no idea.???

Ive been playing for about 12 years, mostly in a studio type invironment with a small amount of gigging and jamming with freinds and other musicians. I have had plenty opportunities to try alot of different amps . For the price you cant go wrong if you are looking for vintage tone.
The only thing that I would change has nothing to do with the sound and that is the knobs. They look very solid state (blah).
Im also considering having a carpinder replicating the cabinet out of old pine and a mahogony back, then it would truely be a bargain vintage with awsome tone.

1 channel 2005 model. 4 and 8 ohm speaker output. five tube. I use this amp only now. I play country,rock,blues. plenty loud enough for small to med gigs. will power a 4x12 with ease...try it.

I play a tele and a strat and this amp rocks. rated at forty watts but i would put it up against any 100 watt amp. you can get about any sound you want you just have to play around with the tone controls abit. Distortion is good but not overbearing. Typical of a tube. This little fellow has a vintage sound to it. well rounded with the stock speaker of which may be the weakest link. I replaced it with a copperhead. You can get by without this. Just a matter of preference.

This will be my primary amp. have not had any troubles. I keep a spare set of tubes and thats it.

best value out there. If you want valve sound this is it. My playing/practice partner is in envy and ordered one also. plenty loud enough for small to med. sized gigs. if you need more mic it. will run a 4x12 with ease. I am very pleased with this amp and consider it one of the best purchases i've made. I'm 41 and have been playing since i was 15. bought and sold alot of guitars and amps. this is my keeper.

I just got it so I would assume it was made this year... '06.
It has basic controls. Volume, Treble/Mid/Bass, Master Volume, Presence.
I haven't had it long enough to use it in any variety of places, or to get a chance to really open it up, but it seems to have plenty of volume.

I actually don't use this amp with a guitar, but with a solid-body electric mandolin. Unfortunately the sound is difficult for me to judge, as the electronics on my mandolin create quite a bit of noise. When i'm playing, though, it really sounds nice. I can't say anything about the complaints here of the bass being bad, since i really never go below the middle, and, as with just about any amp, i go above the treble. The distortion is quite nice, making the sound nice and.. distortion-ey but still keeping the sound of chords intact, while giving it some punch.

couldn't say. only had for a couple weeks

no clue

obviously I got seriously ripped off by the store i got it from, but it's the only store anywhere near me that sells amps.
I honestly haven't been playing very long, and i've been using electrics for even less time. I own the earlier mentioned Cozart mandolin, and another mysterious mandolin, apparently made by "Florence", the latter being acoustic, and the former electric. I had a 20+ year old Venom practice amp before, that i was really quite happy to replace with something decent.
If it was lost, I would definitely replace it, but i would find somewhere to get it from that wouldn't charge me an extra 100 dollars.

Don't know the year. Good enough for SRV-type Texas blues and rock. All-tube 1x10" combo, 4 and 8 ohm speaker jacks. One channel, no FX loop, no jack for phones. Presence and bass controls really do nothing, but that's probably the speaker's fault. I'd like an FX loop. I've really only used it at home, though if I accidentally crank it, it sounds amazing.

Using a Kramer Focus (total crap), I can get a good variety of sounds. With the volume (gain) cranked, using the neck pickups, it sounds really smooth. I was impressed by the fact that you can't get unpleasant or unusable sounds from this thing, even on a $80 Strat copy. Haven't had an opportunity to play this very loud, but I'd imagine it could melt some faces. The cheap speaker limits it versatility, though. I'm looking to get a Jensen or Eminence.

Too soon to tell.

Never dealt with them.

Playing for almost a year. This is my second amp. my first came with the hunk of junk which is my current guitar. If it were stolen or lost, I couldn't afford to get anything else. I love that it sounds good on any setting. I hate that I can't get any bass out of the crappy speaker. Overall, though, I still like it. I bought this because it was pretty cheap, and I heard it was a good deal even with the cheap speaker. I agree.

This one is a 2004. It's a pretty basic amp that borrows heavily from the Fender tradition, but with the famous Pignose Nogahyde covering. It's a standard two 6L6 amp, bass, mid, treble and presence. It really cries for a reverb, but that's not to be.

I play mostly Jam Band, Southern Rock Blues, and this amp's wide open tube sound fits the bill perfectly through my SGs. It's really fairly quiet for a tube amp, and does an excellent job at my style of music. I don't channel switch, but use the guitar pickup switch like a foot switch, and this amp does a great job at breaking up gradually as volume is increased. It has a little extra gain, more like a Boogey or a cascaded Fender.

It needs modification to be reliable. First off, the 12AX7s in the second stage shorted after only 6 months of practice use. It seems like a mechanical issue inside the tube because the short (a real one, from plate to cathode, not just the common term for something broken)was sensitive to vibration. All of the tubes were some odd brand I hadn't heard of and were probably made by political prisoners in China.

Upon repairing I found that the transformers had no shields, and the circuit board was only secured by two plastic clips, thus allowing it to rock back and forth and short (a real one) 400VDC to the chassis. This was not the cause of the failure, but it was darn alarming. To remove the chasis you had to remove two wooden cleats that were nailed to the case, so get your claw hammer ready. I didn't see a UL approval on this thing and after looking at the construction and conductor clearances, I don't think it'd pass.

Remember, UL doesn't care if the amp doesn't work at your next gig, they only care if the amp bursts into flames or electrocutes you. So the way I figure it, the amp will die, you'll hit it with your fist which will cause it to burst into flames, and then you'll get electocuted when you try to put out the fire.

Somewhere in China?

Don't get me wrong, I love the Pignose name and even use a Legendary for recording:

http://music.download.com/railridersband

The amp sounds great, has a good design, but is just not built well.

I've had to beef up amps before, and this would be one of them. Mount the wooden chassis support cleats with screws, and add additional mounting spacers to the circuit board.

This is a small, all tube amp, with a circuit reminiscent of my beloved 1963 Silvertone Twin Twelve. I bought it new in 2005. It has a volume, master volume, bass, treble, mid and presence controls. The preamp circuit uses 3 12AX7s and the power amp has a pair of 6L6s; one channel, no effects loop, no reverb, no tremelo, no headphone or preamp out, only one input jack. The back of the chassis has an 8-ohm and a 4-ohm jack. It weighs 24 lb, but mine is a little heavier now, as I will explain. It is covered in an attractive brown vinyl that resembles the original Pignose battery-powered amp skin. It has a typical amp strap handle in the center of the top, and 4 solid feet.

I bought it because I'm getting older, and I'm not going to haul around my tube monsters any more. This, coupled with the venues I play (cafes, coffee houses) and my Toyota Matrix wagon (replacing an Aerostar) made it necessary for me to downsize. It has plenty of power for me, and for everybody who's not into the theatrics of a Marshall stack. Free tip: lose the big amps, mic up the little one through the PA, and your hearing will last years longer.

As far as useability, I would love to have a reverb, but I'll probably end up with a pedal. I plan to use it to play harp, and ya gotta have 'verb for that! Built-in 'verb would raise the price, and complicate things: the strength of this amp is that Pignose kept it simple and toneful instead of complicated, fussy and toneless (are you out there, Peavey?). Another nit to pick is the tone controls. As noted by others, if the mid is turned up over about 2, it overpowers the treble & bass. The solution is to not turn the mid up over about 2, obviously. The presence control I keep all the way off, and I wouldn't miss it if it were gone. The volume/master volume seem to work the opposite from the usual way, with the master controlling preamp level and the volume, overall level. I'll get used to it. I'll give it an 8 for features, since it has what it needs for what it is, without any bells or whistles (reverb would have made it a 9).

It's a one-trick pony, but it's a great trick. Pure, smooth bluesy tube tone...if you put a little effort into it. As noted below by others, it's no Brown Sound or Texas Tone clone. It is very similar, again, to my Twin Twelve, which, to me, is the gold standard for non-processed, pure tone. I play bottleneck slide, using a Les Paul Deluxe with Seymour Duncan mini-humbucker pickups, and the amp suits me fine. I play rock, folk, contemporary songwriter and blues material. I have found over the years that slide playing is very much dependent on a good amp for tone, and this one does the job...after a couple of modifications, which I'll describe in a minute.

Stock out of the box, it was quiet, not hissy (as long as the presence isn't turned up), and had immediate speaker rattles due to the cheapo 10" it came with. Having been forewarned, this was not a problem, and I unpacked the Eminence Patriot Ragin' Cajun I had ordered with the Pignose. Four screws hold the front baffle in; remove those, pull off the speaker wires, and push forward. The baffle and speaker will pop out. Remove the nuts and washers from the studs holding the speaker, remove it, put the new one in its place, replace the washers and nuts and button everything up, and you have just turned your Yugo into a...well, a Honda, at least. With this simple mod, the amp lost its rattles and gained a bunch of bass. And a few more pounds, since the Eminence has a 30-oz magnet. The original speaker went to the landfill, since I didn't have a Ford Pinto that needed one. I wouldn't own one of these without replacing the speaker.

The distortion is buttery, very useable, not heavy or raspy; almost what I was looking for. To complete the tone, I replaced the middle preamp tube with a 12AT7, and that was that. Lovely, smokin' sound. (This mod, and a number of others, can be found at GuitarNuts and The Blue Guitar, by the way.)

This is another 8, since, again, it's a one-trick pony.

I haven't had it out in the big wide world yet, but I won't carry a backup. I've gigged for 30 years with tube amps and, so far, so good. I don't crank 'em till the speakers smoke, or abuse 'em, and I have had good luck so far. No breakdowns so far. If it does, I will take it to the local tube tech who has worked on all my other tube amps, and tell him to fix it. Another 8, unless it suddenly leaves a smoking hole in the studio floor where it used to be.

No experience, and I have already violated the warranty terms. Oh well.

Note that the price was the amp only: the speaker and the 12AT7 bumped it up to $300, and, in my opinion, this is the minimum that you should do for this amp. Still very, very inexpensive.

This amp takes its place with the Silvertone, a 1963 Ampeg B15N, an early '70's MusicMan HD130 Reverb, an '82 Carvin XV-100 with a Torres Tone Kit, and a 2000 Ampeg B100R. As you can see, all tube except for the last one. I play the Les Paul, a 1963 (what IS it about that year?) Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gent, an early '60's Ventura copy of the CG, and a single-neck pedal steel guitar. I occasionally gig, but spend much more time in my recording studio. I play Dobro, harp, electric slide, and bass. I started all this nonsense back in 1971.

I bought the Pignose after reading about it here and at GuitarNuts, and as noted above, I was in the market for a small amp. This one did not disappoint. I'd want something else for other styles, if I played other styles, or acoustic/electric, but that's not the point.

f it disappeared I'd have to get another, and go through the mods again. It's a great small amp. If it had a spring reverb it would become my all-time favorite at once. I am looking now at adding a reverb pedal, or, if I get desperate, a Pignose G60VR (but it's bigger and more expensive and heavier and more complicated and...). If you're into retro tube tone, this is the real deal.

The perfect understatement! It was small, it was funny, so I bought it. 40 Watts all tube, with everything one really needs: Volume, master, trebble, mid, bass, presence, less than 10 kg "heavy". Now I played it for about two month and I like it every day more I use it. Is it versatile? For the things I want him to do YES. It suits to generate Blues and Mainstream Rock tones. And, if You keep the stock tubes, nice Rockabilly and Country sounds. The G40V would be the perfect amp if it had thwo-channel-system. But it would make that little amp more expensive. So it's okay.

If You like blues or Rock - it's Your thing! For more You have a 4x12-Box (Fender to me is the best). With the original tube-setting (Golden Dragon I suppose) it was too clean to me, so I changed complete - Sovtek 12AX7LPS, Sovtek 12AX7WA, TubeTown 12AX7 in the pre-section, two JJ 6L6GC in the power-ap-section. So You got Fenderish tones up to 9 o' clock (I needn't more, because for very clean tones I own a 70s Twin Reverb with 135 W), than (up to 11 'o clock) fender- and bluesbreaker-crunch, after that nice Marshall-like sounds with increasing gain. Some say, they miss "Bass". If they would use a bigger bo, they easily could hear, that this little amp has more bottom than many Marshalls (I prefer a Fender 4x12 cabinett). The built in 10 " speaker is more for bedroom-use than stage.

It's built in China, but no reason why it shouldt not run for years whithout any problem.

No need to use it.

I'm thinking to buy annother one. So, all is said.

I just got this amp, but wanted to let everyone in on my experience. It was made recently, either end of '04 or earlier this year. As far as versatility is concerned, I feel that it is a great building block for my sound. I am using it in conjunction with my 5150 and Fender's (signal splitter) to get a complex sound. I like the simplicity of the features on this amp. Simple amp, simple price, bright crunchy sound.

I use this with my les paul, wolfgang, and some custom pieces I have to change the sounds it allows. As a stock amp, it's not bad. However, it is limited in the bass range. I have definitely heard worse. There are some great mod's that can be done for those who know how, to really allow you to push this thing to its max. Lots of people talk about the 'bluesy' sound they get out of tube amps, and this leads me to believe that it gets a good crunchy overdrive, with warm overtones, and really picks up the brightness of a decent single coil pickup. I give it an 8 because it's better than most practice amps, offers a classic tube sound, but lacks in the lower ranges without modification (speaker upgrade essential!)

Reliability is something that we all want to know about constantly, and tube amps are something that we will constantly need to be careful with. I currently run two tube amps in my set up, plus my rhythm guitarist's tube amp, and they will all have their day. But this is a sound set up, and is put together well.

I haven't dealt directly with pignose, and really can't say how helpful they can be. Comes with a decent warranty though. American Musical Supply added an extra year to the warranty.

I have been playing for over 10 years. I have close to a dozen guitars, and a half dozen amps. If I lost this amp, I would replace it; absolutely. It's light, it's versatile, it's cheap. Most people can afford to buy two of these, keep one stock, and hot rod the other. Overall, this is in the top 90% of small tube amps, once you dialed in your sound and either cabbed out or replaced the speaker.

What features? Only 6 knobs - master, volume, treb, mid, bass, presence, the input, and the power switch.

That's it.

No reverb, no tremolo, no second channel or input, etc.

VERY basic.

If you're a less-is-more kind of player, this is great. If you prefer three seperate channels with tons of features, effects, etc., you might be dissatisfied.

Lovely, sweet sound from this amp. Very surprising. I turned it on expected cheap un attractive tone, like the tube Crates. Nope. Excellent tone from this. The treble mid and bass are voiced unusually, it takes some knob turning to get the sound you want.

With the stock 6L6s, turn the master down and the volume up and you will get a vintage Marshall-type crunch. In fact, it's VERY much like a vintage Marshall in this way, since chords are thick and rich but single notes sing out and don't sound ridiculously gainy. Lots of complex mids really help this amp out.

The clean sounds that come out are also great. The best thing about them is the precise articulation this amp delivers. Everything comes through

No problems so far, through hours of practice. Chinese tubes have held up - even though I have JJs on hand for when one of them goes.

It's a great amp. Try it yourself to be sure, like everything else. But it works great and delivers tons of tone.

Features?...We dont need no stinking Features!!!
My Pig-Noise as i lovingly refer to it has 6 knobs...1 hole...and one switch
I consider that pretty feature rich...

Sound...well lets see
I rebuilt the cab and replaced the stock 10" with a Peavey 12"
Replaced ALL the Tubes and now it sound great!

I go from my Mexi Strat into a Morley PSW Wah int an Ibanez PT5(overgrown tubescreamer)into Volume Pedal Into PIGNOISE...
It has a pretty kewl Marshall-esk sound especially when you crank it up and let all 40 watts run screaming through the room like a pack of hyenas. Or maybe it only sound like that when i am playing.?.?.?

I replaced ALL the tubes when one went out on me...
I have had to replace a fuse in it also when it shut down on me...and it wasnt the "external" fuse, I had to open it up and replace one on the
inside wich is very odd and leads me to believe it may be somewhat faulty.
But i have been playing it for a little over a year now and it is still holding up...

1 year warranty and your on your on...

If it were stolen i would hire a crack team of commando monkies with machine guns, riding on alligators backs with lazer beam helments and high on pot to hunt down the degenerate scoff-law and bring him before me so i can hit him on top of his head so hard he will have to unzip his pants to look around.
DIE PIGNOISE THIEF!!! DIE
I smell cookies....

See previous reviews. This amp has only one channel and no secrets. For me it will only be a home practice amp but that's what I bought it for. At this price and features, it would be an insult to the crowd to use such a limited amp publicly.

I agree with previous reviewers who complain that when using this amp alone you can't get any bass out of it. One recently said that the problem is not the tubes, but the speaker, which is an excellent point. An easy solution that has worked well for me is to simply run through an EQ pedal (mine is a 7 band DOD) anywhere in front of the amp. This allows me to make adjustments depending on which guitar I'm using, and I can get plenty of bass as well as more or less of whatever else I want.
I didn't find that replacing the Chinese power tubes with Svetlanas made much difference in tone, but switching out different preamp tubes does. The stock Chinese 12AX7s are too bright for me. I now have two different preamp setups depending on whether I want less or more distortion. Consider trying tubes other than 12AX7s for the warmer, less distorted sound, like AUs or ATs in various positions. Since the tube sockets are so well made and not on the circuit board, you can try lots of options without loosening anything.

Fine so far.

No experience with them.

Stock, I'd only give this amp a 4 or 5 rating overall and wouldn't really want it. With the above suggestions I've given (and perhaps with some more expensive ones), I'll give it an 8 considering how little I paid for it. I'd give it a higher rating if it was a two channel amp. I totally disagree with a previous reviewer who said there is always a sacrifice when you have two versus one channel in a tube amp. In my experience (16 years and many amps), the opposite is true.

2004 model of the Pignose G40V: 1x10 40 watt tube combo amp. The amp is surprisingly versatile- clean tones accentuate pick attack, and the overdrive is, well, gorgeous! I play mostly blues and classic rock. Single channel, full tone stack including presence control, and absolutely no frills except the option of using either a 4 or 8 ohm extension cab. I wish it had a standby, but it's not enough of a fault to make me want another amp. I use the Pignose at home and at club-sized gigs, and I have NO trouble with power or punch- 40 tube watts!

It may seem ridiculous to give such a simple amp a 9 for features, but after running through hoops and multi-amp setups from Fender, Marshall, Peavey, and Mesa, I have to give props where props are due. This amp is everything I need- nothing unnecessary. Minus one for the lack of standby. 9 out of 10.

I use Strats, Les Pauls, a Tele, and an acoustic/ electric guitar with my Pignose: single coil, humbucker, and piezo pickups. In all fairness, the amp is VERY trebly through the stock speaker, and I have to turn the tone on my acoustic guitar almost all the way down to avoid spikey tones on clean settings. With a solid body electric, though, the amp is a dream come true.

Clean tones are very clear, and I never miss the aid of reverb: the tone is too sweet. Blues absolutely come alive when this amp is overdriven. The volume acts as a gain control, and the master acts as... well... master volume :-) The mid control is a bit deceptive, and I usually have it no higher than 9 o'clock, with the treble and bass set to my taste. It's a very quiet amp, and I've had no trouble with hum or phantom radio sounds.

With an extension cabinet, and the power tubes pushed hard, forget about it. This amp is absolutely stellar. Distortion buries Fender and most Peavey amps, and is easily on par with Mesa and Marshall offerings. No joke. Distortion is very easy to manage and nowhere near harsh. 9 out of 10 overall for sounds. I'm tempted to give it a 10, but I have to admit that the Blues Box amps from Chicago are still the greatest tube amps I've ever heard. But this Pignose is a fraction of the price and very, very close.

Sure, reliability is a bit of a concern. The guts fit sorta tightly into the small cabinet, and the amp can get a little hot. The amp is designed well, though, even if it's made in China. The lack of a standby switch is also a small concern, but a lot of Dennis Kager's recent designs have omitted the standby switch. Many smaller Gibson and Fender tube combos are on/ off entities, too.

Design-wise, the Pignose layout is superb. Tubes are off of the circuit boards, each preamp tube is shielded, and the power amp tubes have metal supports. Having totally torched a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe circuit board at an outdoor gig in Texas, I am definitely appreciative of the simple, road worthy design. Did I mention the weight, too. Unbelievably light, but still solid. Awesome. 8 out of 10 overall. Minus one for manufacturing concerns, not design concerns, and minus one for the lack of standby switch.

Customer support is amazing. They actually respond to individual emails, and provide SUPPORT. Crazy, eh? Warranty is standard- 90 days for tubes and a year for the unit. 9 out of 10 overall. Fantastic job as far as service; they make you feel like part of a fraternity instead of stranded.

I've been playing for about 3 years, seriously. I recently started gigging for money. I used to own (not all at once) a Tweed Fender Blues Deluxe, a Blues Junior, a Marshall DSL 40 combo, a Mesa Subway, and a Crate Vintage Club 60. I have had many gigs where I'd have to switch between Fender clean and Marshall/ Mesa crunch. Heavy, cumbersome and annoying. Now I own 2 Pignose G40V's, and my life is so much simpler :-)

If it were lost, stolen, or if I torched it, I'd run and buy another for just $200 new. I don't even think about buying another amp anymore- not even the 60 watt big brother. I'm happy, and I'm not messing with my happiness, just yet. I love the clean tones, the overdriven tones, the light weight, and the amazing overall vibe this amp exudes! The standby lack is the only knock, but it kinda gives the amp more character.

I don't use effects. I get most of my tone from my fingers. I read about the reliability concerns of this amp, the crappy speaker, the crappy tubes, and the crappy tone. I have worked the devil out of this little amp in stock form, and have been absolutely blown away. This is the amp I was hoping my Blues Junior would be, cranked, and then some.

With an extension cabinet, you can do anything in the realm of blues and classic rock you want, with amazing spread. The stock speaker should get you through a small gig. I actually like the 8 ohm stock speaker, and it even sounds good with my 1/2 watt smokey practice amp :-) The tubes sound great.

Yes, I know the difference between good tube tone, and bad tube tone. I don't work for Pignose, and I don't mean to annoy anyone who's had a bad experience with this amp. All I'm saying is that, even with some shortcomings, this little amp is, indeed a giant killer. This is the best bang for the buck blues amp, maybe ever, and the design is pretty solid. If you got a bad unit, I'm sorry. At the very least, all the bad reviews of this amp will keep a few more on the market for me to buy. 10 out of 10 overall. Highly recommended.

I wanted a class A tube amp without any frills. Some people consider the lack of a dedicated overdrive channel, reverb, tremolo, effects loop, etc to be a detriment. Considering the fact that most (like me) will use pedals anyway, this amp's simple design will let you adjust a tone that will work with floor units. I don't want to have a floor unit effect sound great on one channel and craptacular on another and I don't want to have to switch channels and effects at the same time. For me, this amp is perfect. I gave it a "9" because there is no standby switch.

The sound is great for anything from blues and jazz to classic rock and most alternative. The EQ takes a little gettig used to as cutting the mids will seem to render the bass knob ineffective. At around 9 o'clock it allows the bass knob to be completely effective. The chinese made 6L6's and 12AX7's are actually smooth. I replaced them with SED's and JJ's (respectively) but didn't notice an audible difference.
The dialed down "clean" sound (low gain) is nice but the high gain sound is what makes it shine (if you can eq it to your liking). It's not a metal amp but could be with the right pedals (then again, couldn't any amp?) I base my rating on the sound without anything additional added. The speaker will handle the volume but it doesn't really do what a good set of speakers will for the amp. I ripped the chassis out of the 1/2" ply box with MDF speakerboard and shoved it into a custom box I built with a 10" Jenson ceramic and a 12" Jenson Alnico. I would now give it a 10.
My setup is an Epiphone SG special (gutted, with 250k gibson pots, a burstbucker at the bridge and a burstbucker pro at the neck and gotoh tuners) - DOD milkbox - DOD YJM308 - Pignose G40v - THD Hotplate - Jensen speakers.

I play the crap out of it. It's biased a hair cold (fixed bias) so there are generally no worries with the right tubes. You simply have to change them out once in a while to see if your current set (or one of your current set) is going (noticeably) bad. It's not always easy to hear it if you play every day. It's a reliable amp and the cost of manufacturing it was obviously put inside the chassis, not into the subpar cabinet, speaker or asthetics...so I have no fear gigging with it. I bring a backup but I would with any amp in any performance situation. I've heard of transformer problems in the past on the MF website but mine hasn't given me any problems whatsoever. It does run hot and the cabinet it comes in is super tight. I wouldn't be suprised if a heat related problem occured playing it in the original cabinet for more than a few long sets.

Never dealt with them, and considering I violated the warranty the minute I took out the chassis, I likely never will.

In my opinion, you are not going to get a tube amp that is 40 (more like 50+) watts that sounds this good for anywhere near $200. Yes, it needs a new cabinet and decent speakers to be stellar, but if you can cut a dovetail joint, use a compass and jigsaw and don't mind spending another $150 to $250 for the supplies, wood, tolex, grillecloth, and speakers, you will be happy with it. I bought it because I figured as long as it was all tube, I could adjust the sound with a floor EQ but was suprised to find out I didn't have to. My total cost was around $450 and 12 hours of enjoyable labor. My $450 would've gotten me a 15 watt fender tube amp and couldn't even get into tube territory with Marshall. As far as the printed circuit board vs hand wired boutique style...I say if PCB's are good enough for Mesa Boogie, they are good enough for me. All in all. it's a great amp for the money but is a "handyman's special" for those wanting to fully utilize it's capabilities.

Basic tube amp with no extras, mine was made in 2000.

I have had this amp for several years and I also have several other combo tube amps, (Mesa Rocket 44, and Carvin x100 ev) After I read the review posted just prior to this one I thought I would pass this information along. I also agree that this amp with the supplied speaker has no bottom end whatsoever. However the tubes are not the problem, the speaker is. If you read all the posts from people who have hooked this amp up to 4x12 or 2x12 cabinets you will notice that they all report that suddenly the bass on their amp works and the amp sounds much better. I also hooked this amp up to the 12" electro voice speaker in my carvin amp and the improvement was dramatic. However I did not want to run a seperate speaker cabinet so I set out to find a 10" replacement speaker that would handle the power of this amp, bolt into the exsiting cabinet and Improve the low end. After some reasearch I decided on a new model that eminence had just came out with this year. It is called the rajun cajun and is rated at 75watts (150 watts peak). It is much louder and articulate than the stock speaker. It has twice as big of a magnet as the stock speaker and the improvement in sound is DRAMATIC. The amp now has some balls. The speaker is available from zsounds or US Speaker over the internet for about 60.00 delivered. I have several other amps that also have 10" speakers in them and I tried using the pignose speaker I took out in these other amps and it sounded worse that the factory speaker in every amp I tried it in. The Bottom line is the pignose factory supplied speaked is a real pile of shit and you will never know how good this amp could sound untill try it through other speakers.

Bottom line is with a speaker change this amp kicks ass. With the factory supplied speaker you don't know what you are missing.

this is a tube amp with 6l6gc. the amp has just what you need: master,gain,bass,min,treble,presence

when i use it clean with a stratocaster i can get jeff buckley 's bright sound, and that makes me very happy :D, when i use it with a humbucker equipped guitar and gain up i can get soundgarden - like sound and that makes me very happy. when i use distortion, humbucker guitar and 4x12 cab i can get alice in chains sound and this makes me very happy with this little combo-head. this is what i was searching for. no more 100 watts modern amps with 10000 settings and basically no change of tone so i rate sound 10!

no prblem since now, only a blown fuse that i replaced and everything came back great

did'n dealt with company

I bought this only for the low price,i had 200 euros with no purpose and i wanted to try this, if i didn't like it i'd sell it, but when i heard this i was happy like no one on earth... and i decided to keep it and to gig with it. i did 12 gigs with it and the sound when cranked was awesome, the guitar players with i share the stage look me almost laughing when they see this tiny amp on the top of the marshall 1960 (4x12) before i start playing. when i came down from the stage they always have eyes open wide and they give me the hand saying "what a fucking great sound, how did you do?" hehe, this is a great support to my ego :DDDD
i love THE SOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!

2004 model from Zzounds. I only play through 1 channel Amps, I bought the Amp to use at rehearsal only. No matter what I did I could not get a good osund out of it. I changed the Power Tubes & Pre Amp tubes & still it didi not deliver a decent tube sound. What did I expect for $200 new.

This amp has NO Bottom End at all. I mean NONE. It's too bad because the over all tone is quite nice. I did change the tubes a month after I bought it. The new JJ-Tesla warmed it up slightly. Even if you change the Power & PreAmp tubes it's still far too bright sounding.

Other than a rehearsal type setting, I would not depend on this amp. They have these Amps running way too hot. The plate temps the amps reach are much higher than normal. Which tells me they're going to burn through some tubes.

The folks at Pignose are quite nice to deal with.
They answered all of my questions.

I've been playing 27 years. I own or have owned Marshalls, Hiwatts, Ampegs, Fenders, etc. I play through a Marshall Bluesbreaker most of the time. I would not buy this amp again. I don't know what I expected for $199. Even with $70 more for new tubes, it still didn't work in a rehearsal setting for me. It's the only Amp of it's kind for the $money$. A Tube Amp for $199, you might just get what you paid for.

I bought this amp about a month ago, and for $200 bucks, the value is INCREDIBLE. It has an all tube preamp and power amp, as well as preamp volume, master volume, and 4 band EQ. People always complain about the lack of more than one channel, or reverb, or an effects loop, but it's a TUBE AMP FOR 200 BUCKS. It's also "vintage" styled, so I wouldn't expect it to be comlex. It's a great practice amp, has a great sound, and honestly i've never used the effects loop, and i don't miss the reverb. It also has cathode tube biasing so you shouldn't need maintanance when you replace the 3 12AX7 or the 2 6L6GC tubes. It also has RF shields over all the preamp tubes, something you don't even see on a lot of high end aups. Finally, it can be LOUD: it is 40 watts, and even with a 10 inch speaker that is loud if you crank it.

I have played through my G40V with a 1970's Gibson SG special with P90's and an SG standard that is a year or so old. The sound is very crunchy... think AC/DC but maybe with a little more overdrive. This is with the stock chinese tubes, so i would think that it will sound better once i get some real tubes into it. Still, as is, it rocks. You just have to remember that it's a vintage kind of crunch, and not a modern super high gain overdrive.

I would depend on it. I have seen the circuit diagrams, and the design is very simple inside. It also has chassis mounted ceramic tube sockets, which means if one breaks, you can just replace that one and not have to worry about replacing a whole circuit board or something similar. I haven't had it long enough to break down, but I wouldn't anticipate it breaking.

Haven't needed any

It is a 40 watt tube amp that gets a great classic cranked crunch, and it only cost me 200 bucks. It looks nice, it's not to heavy, and i just love the thing.

2003 all tube amp has no extras very plain no effects loops, On and off switch is very cheap looking but seems to work well. This thing is a 40 watt but I think it is more like 60 watts. I wish it had A loop and reverb I play blues and old 50s-60s rock&roll works well with the rock&roll A bit twangy for the type of blues I play.

I play several types of guitars Strat,Tele,Ibanez, Artcore to many others to list. All stock pickups singles, humbuckers ect. This amp is not for head bangers or grung.Texas blues and old rock sound alright. I do not play with alot of distortion but it seem to handel it alright not to noisy that I can tell.

I do not gig anymore to old but if I were to I would not be afraid to use it. I have never had any problems in the year I have had it.
If it was lost do to whatever I would replace it. I am rating everything before I modifyed the amp.I will save the after mod. rating for last. The amp looks cheap but seems dependable and for 200 bucks I don,t think you can find a better deal. I will take sound over look any day.

Don,t Know never had to use them.

I have been playing for 45 years I also have a Fender Blues Jr.and a Crate GFX-65. I did not like this amp at all but after I did the Guitarnuts.com modification I have not used the other amps at all, If you like the Texas blues sound it is fine like it is but if you like a fatter B.B. King sound go to guitarnuts.com and do the mod.or have your local amp shop do it for you. You won't be sorry.

Mine is a 2004 model. Same features as everyone else. I'm thinking of adding a channel switch option by jacking up the level and creating a second volume pot. However, I haven't gotten the balls to do that yet. It works fine with an overdrive pedal (at least now it does, after a few mods). So that's enough for now.

It's not terribly versatile or clear from stock. It sounds a little like someone put a blanket over it.
I've got a single coil tele and an older beat up ibanez humbucker that I run through it. From stock, with the original speaker it was not very clear and had very little bottom end or even much mid-low response.

The distortion is pretty serious with the volume all the way up from stock however I have performed the following mods:
1) built a new cabinet with a Celestion 70/80 (open backed 3 cu ft. cabinet.
2) added resistor to input.
3) changed the mids capacitor, and the highs capacitor.
4) switched to a 12at7 for the second tube ala guitarnuts
5) changed the resistor going from the second tube ala guitarnuts website
6) most importantly, changed the resistor for the negative signal from the third tube from a 68k value to a 81k value (I believe it's resistor #25. Check blue guitar website for the values on this mod and the capacitor mods.

Anyways, long story short, the amp sounds much cleaner and more present now. Also, the treble and mids pots actually sound good at the 5 level. The amp is pretty sweet with the mods listed above. Therefore, if you are willing to invest a little and have the balls to take an iron to your new amp, you can make it sound like a much more expensive amp.

The rating is for my current sound.

so far no real problems except that the speaker it came with was a piece of crap that had cone rub. That's where when the speaker physically moves in and out, it rubs against itself and makes this horrible buzzing/friction sound. Replacing the speaker(and building a real cabinet) is worthwhile.

haven't dealt with this yet.

hate the effects, love the modified sound.

Also, this amp makes a great project amp and I have discovered how much fun modding an amp can be.

one chanel small amp whith 40w. pretty loud though!

Well... I've been looking for a small combo (all tube ofcource)for a while now. I'm sick and tired of carrying arround my bassman 100 silver face so I want a small combo with "the sound" in it. This one don't! I don't even know WHY they've (pignose) put a bass controll next to the mid and presens knob? 'cause it absoloutley sucks. it works up to level 4 and from 4-10 its absoloutley useless. the distortion you get wen you really turn i up is pretty ok but VERY bottomless!

is cheap and feels chap. and oh boy... noisy tubes :(

DON't Buy if you're not playing anything else than surf rock!!

No reverb and no standby switch, but this amp is STACKED for the price. Speaking of stacked, it has a full tone stack and an effective presence control. Only one channel, no effects loop, no headphone jack, but once again, this monster is $200.00 new. What do you expect. I use this amp mostly for home practice as I do not gig anymore, but I expect it would have enough power to play out with, but you might need to hook it up to a speaker cab. I am very happy with the features of this amp, but I am giving it an 8 because of the lack of a standby.

I play mostly Rock and Blues. My main guitar is an American Series Strat. With the stock Chinese tubes this amp was a bit noisy. I replaced the preamp tubes with Electro Harmonix 12AX7's and the power side with JJ 6L6GC's. No more noise and the amp just sings. This is some of the best pure rock tube distortion I have ever heard. No kidding. I push the front end with the Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster and talk about smooth. I can get relatively close to the old EVH sound with this setup. Not too bad for a $200.00 amp.

The first G40V I had came out of the box damaged. GC took it back and promptly ordered me another one. I question the reliability of the stock Chinese tubes, but you probably want to replace those anyway. The speaker has held up so far.

I called Pignose about the amp initially being noisy. The person I talked to was nice and very helpful.

Be careful about underestimating this amp. With a few simple modifications this is a true gem. I have been playing for about 24 years. I have owned many amps, and most of them I do not miss. I would definitely miss this amp if it was ever lost or stolen, and would get another immediately. I love the smooth overdrive achievable with this amp. Push the front end just a little and you are in OD heaven. Only the lack of a standby switch keeps it from getting a perfect 10.

this is simply an update on my review from 06/11/2004
i just bought an old les paul copy, nothing amazing by any stretch. but this amp sounds amazing! it definitely teams up the best with humbuckers. the bridge with some overdrive bites and growls, and with the neck pickup, tone rolled down, it spits out a very fat, very smooth jazz and blues lead tone.

update from 06/11/2004. this amp seems to have something wrong with the speaker. when i turn up the amp it makes a buzzing rattling noise. upon further inspection it appears to be coming from inside the speaker. i was not expecting it to last too long, so its not a surprise. i will eventually get a 2x12 cab and saw this amp into a compact head. then i'll be in business!

Single-channel, fixed bias so this gets a 5. No onboard effects, but I wouldn't use them anyway. I use a Korg AX1500 to get whatever sound I want.

2 6l6's and 3 12ax7's. All-tube for $200? Sign me up every time! I bought this amp expecting to mod it over time. I have already replaced the stock 6l6's with Svetlanas, and have heard some improvement.

Make no mistake, this is a "trebly" amp. But by screwing with the gain, presence, EQ, effects pedal and guitar tone pot, I've been able to get tones I like out of it, especially since I switched tubes.

No problems

I've been playing just over 2 years, basically nothing but metal. Mostly I play my ESP LTD EX-351, EMG 81/85 configuration. Works pretty well with the amp. I also play an ESP LTD MH-201, SD designed PUPs. This guitar may actually sound a little better throught the pignose than the EX-351. My Jackson DK3 with DiMarzio Tone Zone, DiMarzio Double Whammy and SD Lil' Screamin Demon - well, I can pretty much dial that puppy up to sound good out of just about anything. Unbelievable versatility.

I believe mine was manufactured in 2003-04.
I play anything from blues-classic rock, to modern heavy stuff. With my gaggle of pedals it does the job just fine. Not going to repeat the features, they've been done to death. Wish it hat an fx loop though, not that it isn't easy to drop one in. EQ could be a bit more responsive, but after tweaking it extensively I think I've figured out it's little nuances.
I've gigged more than a few times with it and rehearsed a ton with it. It has done well. Plenty of headroom considering it's size, and my drummer is a heavy hitter. I bought this thing with the sole intention of heavily modding it. The only thing I've gotten around to is pulling it from the combo and making a head out of it so far.
When you consider what a low wattage head cost these days, this is a really affordable alternative even before any mods.

I use stat styles with singles, and LP styles with humbuckers, all different makes and models. Since I made a head outta this I use a 2x12 that I custom built with V30's in it.
again, for the money, this amp suprizingly does very well. No, it's not a metal amp, but the right pedal can get it close enough for rock and roll.
I'd say it accepts pedals moderately well. It seems very sensetive to the signal path, more so than my Twin Reverb.
And as another review writer said, man this thing sound sweet with single coils. Very chimey and brilliant. I love to just plug straight into it sometimes and wank away ala SRV and Hendrix, it really gets my single coil out of phase rocks off.
I think some people are way too critical of it's live sound considering the most anyone would pay for this amp is $200-ish US. Would I record with this? maybe after some of the recommended tube changes/mods, but probably not in its stock form though I haven't attempted mic'ing it yet.
I play basically any kind of bar environment you can think of and it's been surprisingly noise free compared to the 5150 I used live in the past.
The clean sounds really good, very pleased with it. A litle break up but a change in pick attack can make or break it.
Overdrive isn't bad, just don't expect metal out of it. Man does it nail early AC/DC though.

So far so good. I've only had it since March '04. But I'll agree with some of the others here, man does it look cheap inside. You get what you pay for.

Not dealt with this issue. But I figure anything I run across in this catagory I will deal with on my own because I voided any warranty when I yank it from the original cabinet and repainted the chassis.

I've been playing for almost 30 years. Mostly as a rock player but broadened my horizons later in life. I also have a Vox Valvtronix AD120VT as well as a late 60's Twin Reverb that I use on occasion. The pignose stands up pretty well tonally when I compared it to the Twin Reverb. I'd replace it if it were stolen no question.
I love this thing. You have to remember you get what you pay for. Don't expect a Bad Cat when you order this thing just because a bunch of us here in the user reviews think it's a great amp. It's a cheap tube amp. Period.
If you consider the alternatives though, and you want something like this it's a fantastic bargain. A local store here is selling a crate vc508 (tube 5 watter) for $400!!! I'd buy 2 of these over that any day of the week.