Pignose G60VR

1x12 combo amp. High/Low gain switch, essentially shuts off one side of the first preamp tube when switched to the low setting. One channel. Tube driven reverb. Presence control. Input gain, master volume, and Treble, Mid and Bass tone controls. Effects loop (very handy). 4 and 8 ohm outputs. 6L6 power tube section, solid state rectifier. Plenty of power, have been asked to turn down at outdoor venues! would like to have footswitchable capability to change from Low to High setting. I consider it a Budget Boogie.

Sounded crappy out of the box with the factory chinese speaker. I replaced this with an Eminence Legend. Instant improvement in sound. Then I changed the first preamp tube with a JAN 5751, the second with an old USA 12AT7 and kept the third the stock chinese 12AX7. The reverb was really "In Your Face," so I changed the fourth 12AX7 with an old USA 12AT7. I tried several varieties of 6L6 power tubes, but kept coming back to the stock sino tubes. There was really no improvement in tone to my ears with a power tube change.

Now the gain is more controllable and the reverb sounds nice. Final answer=9 after the mods.

I have been using this amp for 3 years now with no failures. I bought it to replace the 4x12 1/2 stack I've been using for a really long time - I'm not getting any younger and stuff isn't losing any weight. . .

I have contacted them and they responded quickly, even sent me a free T-shirt just 'cause I asked about T-shirts!

Been playing over 30 years pro. Would replace in a heartbeat! I love the portability, power and tone with the mods. Just wish it had boost switching. With this amp, you can play ANY venue, and sound great! Just lose the stock speaker!

I rated this amp previously below as "jomamma".
Just wanted to lay down some additional advise to those possibly experiencing tone-or lack of- problems.

The following malfunctions-(all of my own making)-ocurred, which greatly affected this amp's tone, punch, and sustain. You can thank me later (send any denomination of check or currency. Email me for my addy.

OK-Rough handeling.
I usually transported my amp on my ft. car seat laying down (not flat) at an angle. Sure enough, eventually some Tard or deer causes me to have to emergency brake to avoid wrecking (and missing the gig). The amp, following Einstien's well established laws of physics, ends up slamming against my dash on several occasions.
Here was the result...and only discovered after trying new power/preamp tubes.
The sensitivity switch, as i found, was not making good contact when switched to Hi due to having greeted the dash. The lack of continuity caused a dull, low power sound. I remedied this by simply soldering the two wires going to that switch together, and sealing. Since I don't use the Lo sentivity side of that switch anyway, this works for now. (modest banging on the amp cabinet, and resulting noise is a good clue-in here)

Another problem I discovered was that when using the spring reverb, there was no reverb effect, and in addition, there was again a loss of power/punch. After removing the reverb box, and removing it's cover, i immediately saw a broken wire from (either the input, or output) impedence matching coil. Worse yet, the wire broke off at the coil leaving NOTHING to splice to. Using a STRONG magnifying glass, I stripped the outermost insulation from this miniture coil, and was just barely able to identify (and strip insulation off) the last mm of wire before going into the coil windings. And with same Magnifying glass-and sharpened soldering iron, i (quickly) made a solder to the broken wire. Being such a microscopic soldering joint, i then melted glue stick droppings onto my repair-and coil assembly. It's held great.

One final, and painstaking repair may be needed, especially if you are into tube rolling-(especially preamp tubes), or suspect dirty/loose tube sockets. And this goes for any brand tube amp.
Here's the problem/s: Lack of amp power/definition/sustain/noisy(with certain notes or apon tapping tube), and sudden permanent failure of tubes (again-especially preamp tubes).
Clean and (TIGHTEN) tube socket contacts. Easily done on your power tube sockets, but not the case with your 12ax7 sockets. For these you
will need:
2ea.ibuprofen tablets, A few various angled small needle nosed pliars, A strong magnifying glass, and lots of various sized needles with the tips bent at about 15-20 degrees.
Start by swallowing the pills....you're gonna need it. Then, (starting with V1,then V2,then phase inverter,then reverb in case you run out of time), bend the two tube pin contacts closer together. Do this for every single preamp tube pin recaptacle. You might be amazed at the results!

The above repairs may be applicable to many tube amps that are sounding tired, even though you've spent $$$ on new tubes. Don't blame the amp helter skelter. Much trial and error has taught me that's it's usually not complicated and expensive tube tone characteristics that are the culprit, but more likely a common sense overlooked maintenance issue.

YO!

over-the-mountain dot com is open jam wknds. Dat's where I be goin.
Don't be a Mo Fo. If'n I Be seein yo caddy be pullin up wit all de ho's steppin out, we be layin down sum grooves.....all nite looong!!

Single channel all tube amp with tube driven spring reverb, effects loop, volume, master volume, bass, midrange, treble, and presence controls. Also hi/lo input sensitivity switch, and capable of driving either a 8, or 4 ohm speaker load. The 12" internal speaker is 8 ohms.
You get great tone, massive volume (for a combo), and best of all, in a very light unit.
I play w/out effects. Therefore, this has all the features I want, except a stanby switch, and a bias circuit (which I installed myself).

Awesome variety of tones ranging from crystal clean to heavy Marshall overdrive..(with more bass and no muddiness)--all from this single channel amp.
As with any tube amp, you need start with good quality tubes, guitar (pickups!!), and your mojo.
After much trial and error, I highly recommend JJ-6L6GC power tubes (or that's Groove Tubes 6L6S-if you like spending lots more for the same thing). Trust my experience here on this. I'e tried them all-(NOS, ANOS, and Current Production).
btw....don't think you need change the stock speaker.., it's really pretty damn good.
Before installing a bias circuit, it was pretty much a crap shoot as to which power tubes would sound optimun. Few tubes ever sounded bad, but only a few also sounded awesome-(even within the same brand). I highly recommend at least springing $50 to have a tech install a bias ckt.(if you're not comfortable doing yourself). I have found that every matched tube duet from any vendor/or even the same batch, has a different optimun bias setting (for that next level of sound). If the bias circuit were standard (the cost of a couple resistors and a pot), I would surely score a 10 here. But for the price of a tech installing one, this amp is still a good buy.

I'm very happy with this amp. It shines amongst any and all of the others performing onstage!

I've had this out playing hard every weekend (at least) for 6 yrs now. Aside a loose jack once, no problems whatsoever.
Of course, there had been a very few tube malfunctions occuring onstage, they were not related to the amp itself. I have remedied any power tube failures by installing a 6" hi output box fan blowing onto the tranny and tubes. Things run so cool now, that I can touch the 6l6GC's during high output performances. The additional cooling GREATLY increases power tube life, and allows me to bias a little hotter without shortening tube life. EVERY TUBE AMP NEEDS TO BE COOLED WITH A FAN.

I've actually spoken to Howard Chatt (president of Pignose Industries). I called for a schematic, and to ask if the G40 had the same power supply board as my G60VR. He picked up the phone and ansered my question, and shot me the schematic in question. Have'nt had to do anything under warranty, but my guess is that there should be no problem (especially for this tube amp that Pignose sells---this is their flagship product...while most of their other products are best described as beginner items). Hats off to Pignose for continuing to offer this amp. It's really more than in a league of it's own--inside, or outside of Pignose.

I've been playing for close to 20 yrs now. I refuse to spend big $ for name brand music gear.., and instead, rely apon myself to interpret the few real differences that set apart the high priced gear from (good) budget gear. It's also a hobby for me. I also bulid my own electric guitars, and modify others to play like the high end stuff.
I'm way past the stage of composing anything from a "beginner's" standpoint.
This is a really decent amp. I regret having to insist on the necessity of installing a bias circuit mod, but I'm finding that there is little consistency between tube manufacturers today. That said, you will get decent performance (and sometimes even awesome) without the bias mod. But with it, you will more often be able to tweak a given set of tubes to their potential.
Again...buy JJ 6L6GC's.

fyi: I have tons of tubes...power, preamp, old, and new production.
Aside the JJ-6L6GC'S, here's what I'm currently using in the preamp:

V1= 12AX7= CBS ("made in Germany") I believe this to be a Simiens..sold to CBS for resell.

V2=12ax7= CBS ("made in USA")

Tube Driven Reverb=GE 12AT7 (inconsequential)

Phase Inverter=12ax7=Telefunken (chose this for assumed consistency between triodes, and assumed close to spec current output.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Purchased this amp about 5 yrs ago from MF for then $299 (killer deal at the time...but not now--the price has increased significantly).
Volume, Master Volume, Presence, Bass, Mid, and Treble tone controls. Tube driven reverb (nice!). Also Send Return, and 4/8 ohm speaker jacks on the rear.
The ckt. board is neatly routed, and all the tubes are mated with porcelean tube holders (nice!)
This rig does'nt have multiple channels, or other controls that get in the way of pure sizzleing tube tone.
The BIG thing that it does'nt have, which I installed was a bias circuit. THIS IS A MUST!!! (if you find yourself with one of these).
This amp has exactly what I need, and not a lot of crap instead.

Without the bias ckt., it was a crapshoot (most of the time on the loosing end), as to what sound you will get with a given set of 6L6GC tubes. With all the better current manufactured tubes today (think JJ!), AND the avail. NOS tubes floating artound, there is a huge discrepency as to where they all bias correctky for the best tone (compared to each other). Once I installed the bias ckt., I can make pretty much any pr of output tubes killer.

This amp rocks!---(i bias them a little hot...for a little bit of Marshall overdrive).

This amp has been totally reliable for 5 yrs now, with the exception of tightening the input jack. I installed a 6", 120 volt high output box fan blowing onto the output tubes and main transformer. The cooling effect works across the board, though. This has a proven significant effect for output tube life (not to mention the other components). I can actually touch my tubes while gigging. This xtra cooling allows me to bias tubes nice and hot without shortening tube life, as is the case normally.
Every amp should have a cooling fan!
btw....This amp remains quiet--even with the strong ac fan.

I have actually spoken with the president of the company on numerous occasions. When I needed a schematic, one was sent to me pronto.

This is my main battle weapon for club gigging. No need for pedals, or a dolly to lug it around (VERY light considering how loud it is).
That's loud and toneful.
For the price, this (was) a killer deal. It still remains competitive, given the other better known amp prices out there.
If you have the coin, by all means go out and purchase the Logo's. If you don't mind Logo's (or other people's first impressions), save some moola and get one of these.
Even though I have other amps, including an Ampeg V-3 (6550'S), I would NEVER be without this amp.
So....Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Bought this amp second hand so I can't be sure how old it is. This is just a nice simple tube amp, no channel switching just great tone. The EQ is a little odd and doesn't seem to really have much range on the bass control. I've read that this is greatly improved by changing the stock speaker for something a bit fancier like a Celestion.

This amp gets close to a few Fender sounds with the mid range cranked up but the drive is quite refined and almost 'boutique'. Whenever I play it I can never get over how smooth the drive is but yet it still retains enough growl and thump for SRV style playing.

I bought this cheap from Ebay on the basis that it had a fault which needed fixing. So far this fault hasn't materialised so I'd have to rate it pretty high! But I haven't gigged it yet so I'm not going to hold my breath...

The best 100 quid I ever spent! I have owned a few amps in my time and played most of the modellers out there. I am currently playing my early 80's Jap Squire Strat with Kent Specials and with the Pignose it sounds just gorgeous for classic rock and blues. I can hear there are some improvements to be had with better speakers and valves but it sounds amazing as it is.

The only question is - why aren't these amps everywhere? They're so affordable and the tone trounces anything in the same price range.

2004 version. I'm using it for a rhythm position in a 3 guitar line-up. It's limit is that it only has one channel, unlike my bandmates' M&M's (tube amps too). This is the one thing I really wish it had, a separate channel to allow a second guitar to use it. Sometimes I use my amp as a stage monitor for my acoustic electric. For now I am going to concentrate on what this amp does and what I've done to make it better. First it will wail!!! Second it is the brightest amp I've ever played. Like the first part, hate the second part. (I'm partial to Fender Blackfaces - have two '64 Princetons (one reverb and one non-)). The Pig reminds me a of Pro Reverb in that it uses 6L6's in the power amp and a trio of 12AX7's in the pre-stages. Took the advise of others here and changed the tubes out recently - after battling the "bright" factor for two years.
Changed the Chinese 6L6's to a matched pair of JJ 6L6's
Changed the V1 pre-amp tube to a 12AY7 and the V2 pre-amp tube to a 12AU7. Also updated the other 12AX7's to vintage RCA's

End result - smoothed it out to a very, very Fender vintage sound.

Also changed the stock speaker to a 100w rated Fender Emminence designed speaker (NIB).

Before the change - ok, now it is like having a 1/2 Pro Reverb!

Before the speaker and tube changes, the amp had a hard time getting true vingtage tone (which is somewhat subjective).

After the changes, the amp takes me back to a warmer time in amp tone. I can crank it to just before the natural overdrive of the tubes kick in and then with a Marshall ShredMaster, head off to vintage 70's overdrive (Not fuzz box here, just natural breakup of the amp's tone)

I'm using a couple of strats - both MIM. One has the stock single coil set up and the other a set of vintage humbuckers. Both guitars are working well, took some time to dial the tone to where both axes are happy. I'm pretty close now!!

The amp itself in this setup with a 2X12 extension cabinet is an all around gigging monster.

In the two years of gigging and moving here and there, it has never let me down. I will change the 1/4" input, does not have a real solid feel when you plug up. But overall, no complaints for a Chinese tube amp.

No need to contact them, except a schematic would be helpful. Not had to try get it repaired and if I did, the warranty is long gone. I would still send it to Pignose and tell them to fix it! I need it!

I've been gigging with this band for about seven years now. In that time I have played numerous amps and still own some of them. The Pig will become my primary amp and the Princetons the home practice amps. I have other guitars - a Seagull Artist Portrait retrofitted with the LR Baggs element, the two strats, an Ibanez Soundgear GSR205 bass, a Peavey Mark III head with Peavey 210 TBX cabinet (killer combo!)....

If this amp were stolen, I would wish the thief well and go buy myself another, get on Ebay and get some new tubes and speaker and start gigging again! I like it that good.

No it's not a boutique amp, but I am not in a boutique band. We are players who love good tone when we find it. To me this amp does compare to the silveface Fenders of the mid-Seventies. It will never have the collector value, but then again if it doesn't it will always be cheap and readily available!!

Basic 60 watt tube amp..one channel,volume,master volume,tone controls,presence,reverb....Lot's of power...all you really need..well maybe not......

I use this amp with a bunch of different guitar/pick up combos and I play a bunch of styles of music......Guitar>ME-50>amp
It sounded OK when I bought it(got it cheap)but it was just OK(some what noisy.Mid range tone knob pretty much useless..After a couple of inexspensive mods it sounds freakin great.....

First replace the crappy Chinese speaker...I used an Emminece "black powder"..got it for like $40....

Next I replaced the power tubes with Svetlana 6L6GC's..about $40

I then replaced the V1 and V2 preamp tubes with some electro-harmonix pre amp tubes(read a couple of posts down) for about $20....(probably should have done all of them...But..It's now a killer sounding amp.I highly recommend these mods.

Before mods 6..after 9

I've had it for about three years now with no problems.I don't gig with it so who knows??????????

Never had to use it

Ive been playing for a few years now...Own way too much gear for my talents....I would buy another one if I could find one cheap..I think there a little over priced for what you get.
Wish it had a stand by switch.
Over all a good basic tube amp if you can find one used(cheap) and do a couple of mods to it to make a great amp.

this amp is pretty basic. it has return and send and an option for 4 or 8ohms. It comes with a low/high switch and presence and reverb knobs. Its all tube, one of the reasons I got it.

I use a used an old jackson dinky style with seymour duncan hot stack an d custom humbucker. It sounds great. I play mainly rock but this is a pretty versatile amp.

It was great for about 3yrs original tubes and all played every week (10+ hrs).In the 4rth year I had the tubes replaced. Then in the fifth year, in the middle of a set it died. At first I thought it was the cord so I changed it but nothing. Then I noticed the light had gone out and one of my friends close to the amp said he smelled something burning. I took it in to get it repaired and they swapped out the tubes and replaced the goofy fuse container with a solid better connecting one. It was o.k. the whole week (2+ hours/day) then the same thing happened. The repair guy tells me its the transformer.

getting the new transformer is $45 for shipping. other than that I never had to call them.

It was a ten before the transformer thing happened.

All the Tube Power (60 Watts) and Features (Tone Stack, Presence, Effects Loop, etc.) I need from a Pro Tube Amp.

This amp is still managable with the single 12" speaker, but loud enough for any venue ... if you need more volume, do what the pro sound guys do and mic the amp for PA reinforcement (typical for outdoor, large-venue concerts).

The Hi/Low gain input is key to getting both clean-compressed tone, as well as the higher gain compressed tones.

This amp is fine out of the box for rock and blues. And actually to loud for my performance needs. 60 Tube watts is really a lot of power. FYI, Fender Twin Reverb amps push 85 tube watts and don't distort without volume levels that risk damage to your hearing ...

My music leans towards Jazz-Blues (Kenny Burrell, Wes Montgomery, Russell Malone, Grant Green), Early Rock and Rock-a-Billy, Jazz-Swing, and Swing-Jump Blues.

To accompodate this style, I made two small changes to the amp, and am now getting exactly the tone I wanted, at a fraction of the cost of some other products. And this amp is very easy to lug around compared to some of the competition.

I changed two pre-amp tubes and the speaker, spending about $70 to get the ideal tone (combination of tube compression, and speaker tone) for my style of playing. Here's what I changed,
- V1 Preamp Tube replaced by 12AU7A / ECC82EH ($9)
- V2 Preamp Tube replaced by 12AY7EH / 6072 ($12)
(use the Electro-Harmonix 12AT7WC-EH if you must have more
stage volume but similar tone-response)
- Pignose 12" replaced by Eminence Legend 125 ($50)

The tubes calm down the preamp, provide more usable headroom-compression, and the speaker provides a very good compliment to the new amp characteristics by adding better clarity at all frequencies, and allowing some non-linear speaker cone response at reasonable (vs. ear bleeding) performance volumes. The amp now also seems to be much quieter than most Pro Tube amps, probalby due to the more practical gain levels of the preamp stage.

Tubes were purchased from 'thetubestore.com', and the speaker from 'bltsound.com'. Both e-tailers are very professional and knowledgable, answer their e-mail, and ship quickly. bltsound spent quite a bit of time with me on the phone to educate me on Eminence and the product line.

This amp now sounds exceptional with all of my guitars ... and that is not the case for some of my modeling amps, which are very picky about the signal source. The amp now has two usable tone stacks, the clean channel (compression with dynamic range, capable of up to the edge of clipping) and the gain channel (compression with higher volume, capable of clean to blues-edge distortion ... think Wes Montgomery and Grant Green to a bit more blues edge-breakup without the annoying 70's transistor 'fuzz tone' sound).

The Hi/Low gain input is key to getting both clean-compressed tone (for Jazz Guitar and studio volume levels and for practice), as well as the higher-gain 'slightly' compressed tones (for live performance, keeping up with the band volume, and getting the volume and compression at the slight breakup-threashold tone that Wes Mongtomgery, Kenny Burrell, and Grant Green are famous for).

Never had a problem, or a breakdown in several years of daily use.

I have talked with the amp designer directly, have acquired a schematic in the case of any need for service.

For the tubestore.com and bltsound.com tube and speaker upgrades, the support (and fast shipping) was beyond my expectations.

I will be purchasing similar product from these sources again, when the need arises.

For $550 (new) and some small upgrades, this amp now sounds better than tthe big brands I tried (Fender, Gibson-GoldTone), and even competes well with some of high end (Dr. Z., etc.). However, the Dr. Z. may have an edge is you always play metal or other modern styles, and never venture into more traditional rock, blues, jazz, jump-swing, etc.

Not very many features on this amp, but there doesnt need to be. 4&8 ohm speaker outs with an effects loop on the back panel. On the Front panel: Vol, Master, 3-band EQ, Presence, reverb and a HI/LO sensitivity switch. There could have been channel switching and a damn standby switch! But for the price it can't really be beat.

The main guitars I use are a Gibson Les Paul Studio with 490R & 498T Epi AlleyKat with a classic 57' and a mini bucker and an Epi Sheraton with pickups I had custom wound with a hot 19.87k pickup in the bridge position (my favorite guitar I've owned out of many guitars including Gibsons Epiphones and Fenders). In front of the amp I run a Chandler Tube Driver for lead work or a gain boost for heavier styles.

After the slight and easy mods this amp is versitile and by far the best sounding amp for the money. It can go from glassy Fender-like clean sounds to the marshall JTM 30 or Marshall Plexi sounds if the EQ is done right. I have owned many amps Since I have started playing, from the Solidstate Practice amps and twins through a Marshall JCM 600 and even some Line 6 modeling plastic sounding crap. This is by far my favorite.

Before you play this amp I highly recommend that the crappy stock speaker is replaced, I removed the speaker and ran it into two Celestion Vintage 30's which made a world of difference. After thar if you have the money it would also be a wise choice to replace the stock tubes and I wont tell you which kind to get cause tastes vary and I wont push mine.

As others have said leave the mid control below 3 or it will overpower the other tone controls. With those things in mind it is a very versitile and great sounding amp. Note that it gets a 10 after the slight mods.

I feel this is a dependable amp I have gigged it many times without a backup and will continue to do so, as I would not with the newer Marshalls, this Pignose amp is built like a fuckin rock. I dont mean to talk shit about Marshall. I love the Marshall sound theres just the common knowledge and my own personal experiece that they break too damn much to be reliable. I have owned this for about 4 years without problem. But who knows what the future will hold..

Never dealt with 'em

I've been playing for 6-7 years now and I have owned too many amps which I have regreted. The G60VR is the opposite I was blown away by what I got for such a little amount of money, it was a score. If lost or stolen I would be pissed and most likely buy the G60VRH (the head version) cause this amp rocks HARD. The amp would just be that much better with two channels (even with shared EQ) and a goddamn standby switch which all tube amps should have in the first place. This gets a 7 cause it is an awesome, versitile amp with lots of very useable sounds but it you must do come light mods to get a good sound and the lack of stanby/more than one channel.