Pignose Hog 20

Greeting to you PIG people..1 channel 2 inputs (front and back, headphone jack in back. Small room .. small amp big room .. big amp, Pig 20 is a small room or street corner amp. The battery that came with it fried and boiled the 1st charge so I bought a small 12 volt acid at Radio Shack and its been happy ever since. only 20+ dollars compared to what the Pig Maker charge for there's. I usally use the power supply, its almost as quiet as the battery an handles the few compnebts in the amplifier with no problem. The case sure is well built with corner protection and a strap that you can actually get your hand under to move it around. plus its fairly thick wood and which helps the low end. I took the protective grille off and put in a simple screen. How do you rate an amp like this for features?

I'm a one trick pony. Play all early blues, don't play anything else so my opinions are for one area of music. I use old guitars with old pickups. DeArmond, Kent, and this amp with the high frequency rolled off is a dead ringer for a tubey but with the treble up sounds like the Little Red Rooster got his gonads stepped on by Howlin' Wolf.. really offensive to my ears. The distortion called "the squeel like in deliverance works great for me if I just click it on and dont turn it up at all. Without the distortion it actually is fairly toneful and clean.. by the way, I pulled the original speaker out and found one (no name) that had to be put in at an angle because its (I think) 2 or so inches bigger then the orginal which was OK but its much more versatile now. Its been a good little Pig. I have my own small blues club and on stage are plenty of amps and I'm often asked which amp I'm using.. something else I should menton, there are NO drums in this joint, only foot poundin.. little stage floor is miked so no competition with drums. Amongst other amps I own the original little pig, the hog 20 and the 60 watt tube amp. Its hard to understand the picing on these things. I payed only $299.00 for the 60 watt tube amp which is a great amp for that money and I tnink the hog goes for $100 plus bux, hurts my brain to try to figure it out. My rating for sounds is the only tunes I use it on (mostly Muddy Waters) and thats why I give it a 10.. cuz it nails it with a 1930's regal slot head and a cheesey Kent hole pickup, nasty fingerpicking and slide sound.

There's not much to go wrong, if you saw the amp components you'd almost think they forgot 3/4's of the components, if anything went it would be the battery or the supply.

heard good, heard bad, if I couldn't fix it I'd cook it.

I can't quite explain it, I've had the best of the best and these Pignose products and I'm forever using the Pigs. Not for everybody, I think good for busking. If someone stole it I think they would give it back unless they placed raw blues

I bought this amp strickly for harp, The only feature I use is the gain. And for harp it makes a difference. Sometimes I play it with no gain. (It gets me a little more volume) other times I put the gain all the way up. (Gives me more grit)
It has a headphone jack - I've never used it.

I have never heard anyone play guitar thru this amp. But for harp I prefer it over what I used to have - Peavey Bandit 112 that costs almost 3x the price of the pignose. For Harp I turn VOl 1/2 way up (it has no numbers) for tone about 1/3 way up (more on bass side) And gain is a matter of what sound I want - clean - gritty. I rate this pretty high - remembering it is only an 5 watt amp with a six inch speaker.....

Never had a single problem. I Have had it for a lill over a year now. I don't charge it all that often - always play it off the battery and it has never 'died' on me. I love the fact that I can just carry it and plug my mic in and play.

Never had a need - the only thing I wondered about was getting a replacement battery if and when this one gets to the point where it does not take a charge. I searched the web and had a hard time finding a place to get one.

Been playing harp for about 8 yrs. Still own the Peavey. (It's for sale now) and still own an Ampeg BA 15 (For my bass) If it were stolen I would have it replaced within 2 days. Any harp player should have one of these. They sure are cheap enough and are great for practicing and even a small jam session.

Purchased in March 2003. Plain Jane Amp. Bought it as a knock around amp, to take it out into the wild blue yonder, without asking for an extension cord!

I play it with a Telecaster with "Texas Special" pickups. Keep volume and Tone turned to max, but leave "Squeal" control on 5. Any higher than this has a severe excretiatory effect. I control volume and tone on my Tele. Actually it sounds very good. For some reason the Tele and it hit it off immediately. Sounds like a chainsaw on steroids,especially when I hit the intro to "Give me Three Steps" by Skynrd. Yeah,Yeah, I'm a Kentucky hilljack that sets outside and plays in the backyard. Now you know why I need a battery powered amp. Only cuzin' Cletus has electricity in our whole neighborhood! Man my neighbors must dig it too, women scream, children cry, and men curse, and thats just while I'm packin' it out the back door. Every neighborhood needs a guy with a guitar.

Seems nuclear proof. I usually take good care of my stuff. But it appears sturdy enough. Probably weighs around 10 pounds or so. Although thats probably due to the battery. Although I have been cautioned not to play it till the batteries go completely flat. They claim that it is awful hard to get a recharge when they are completely dead. It also comes with a handy dandy charger to use. I played around 2 or 3 hours before, and it still had plenty of punch. Just make sure when your not using it, you keep it plugged up, it ought to last forever like that.

I hope I never have to deal with any customer support..........EVER!

I have only been playing for around a year and a half, so I don't know a whole lot. But this amp for the 99 bucks seems like a winner. True it doesn't sound like a 100 watt Tube amp, but it didn't cost 789 dollars, and it is very easy to take with you wherever you go, and the sound is very decent. Joe Bob Griggs gives it a hearty thumbs up!

I'm about to order my second Hog 20 -- to use as a powered monitor in a small semi-acoustic swing band. We tried it today with my old beat up one, and it worked great, hooked up as an extension to the rhythm guitar (an acoustic arctop, miked with a small clip-on condenser mike.) I also have used mine to amplifie a baritone uke, and it comes out clean. I could do witout the squeal control, and frankly I wish it had smart circuitry, so you didn't have to worry about fully discharging the battery to avoid charge memory problems -- why can't it be like a cell phone? But what do you wnat for 100 bucks?

-- Audio-technica Pro 7a condenser mike w/ low impedence output
-- Style: Gene Autry meets Django Reinhardt at Jack Teagarden's hoedown
-- Not much circuit noise
-- It is capable of horrible electronic sounds, but I avoid that
-- No unwanted distortion at reasonable levels
-- The intentional distortion sucks, so there are probably people who love it.

Well, I loaned my first one to a 12 year old boy for two years, and just got it back, and it still works, except for the megadeath stickers all over it.

-- Have played this and that for 46 years
-- Probably get another
-- It's small and simple. I don't like having to pay attention tot he battries
-- Crate GX-15. Didn't like the sound
-- Smart recharge, and ability to just take the batteries out to make it lighter on plug-in gigs.

Best feature: it's totally portable. I can turn up to a gig, not even bother finding a power outlet, park the Pignose on top of another amp or chair, mike-up the amp thru the PA and blast away! Second best feature: it's amazingly powerful for a battery amp: I played lap-steel at a jam session at a local club where other guitarist were using 50watt combos, and was asked to turn the Pignose down because they couldn't hear anything over my steel solos! The batteries last a LONG time between charges, even when played heavily. Seems to have a little more poke on the mains adapter, but it doesn't worry me none about using it on battery power for live work. The single input is a pain, as it would be nice to be able to plug in a mike or electric stompboard for busking.

I use the Pignose with my little Stella (with a Lawrence soundhole pickup) and also with my Dobro and electric lap steels. The 'Squeal' control adds distortion, but it can be pretty nasty. I use it sometimes on a low setting just to give a bit of lift and bite (it seems to add a fair bit of treble, but it doesn't produce a nice smooth overdriven sound). When used with an overdrive pedal this little amp is a real killer!

No problems, had it around 18 months, using it at home and for gigging. When I bought it (secondhand) one battery was dead, and this made the sound weak and distorted on batteries alone. A new battery (cheap non-Pignose replacement from the electrical hardware store) sorted this out. Nice solid cabinet and speaker cover, but the vinyl covering is a little soft and marks easily.

Never had cause to contact 'em.

The most useful amp I've got...my old Fender 75 combo is wonderful, but as it weighs around 90 pounds, it doesn't get dragged out much. Would replace it straight off the bat, but brand new they are a little expensive here in the UK...but nothing I've tried comes close.

See other reviews for most features. I would add that the rechargable batteries are a pair of 6-volt Gel Cells. These are lead-acid batteries like in your car. These are not Ni-Cads. Lead-acid batteries like to stay charged up as much as possible; you should not drain these flat as you would Ni-Cads. You ask why? Let me tell you! A lead-acid battery makes electricity by converting its lead and lead peroxide plates to lead sulfate (the 'sulfate' comes from the sulphuric acid). When you recharge the battery, the sulfate is driven back into the acid ... except ... there is always a tiny bit that stays bound to the lead. The more discharged the battery is, and the longer it stays discharge, the more stubborn the sulfate is about leaving the lead. When the lead plates become permanently sulfated, the battery must be thrown away. (Oh God! Forgive me! RECYCLED! I meant RECYCLED! Please don't tell anyone I use the oil drained from my car during an oil change to kill weeds.)

The amp has inputs on the front and the back. I assume these are strictly for convenience since there is no discernable difference in sound from either one, for example, as would be the case if one were for high impedence and one for low impedence.

The amplifier can be run indefinitely (as near as I can tell) off the supplied combination AC adapter / battery recharger. World travelers might be pleased to know that the adapter is switchable for 120V and 240V AC input.

The 'tone' control is really a treble control, and it provides both boost and cut to the treble.

Keep in mind that this is about a 10-watt (more or less) amp with a 6 to 6.5 inch speaker. It does very well with medium to bright and twangy guitars. With this type of input it performs very well for its size. But bassy, dark voiced humbuckers quickly strain the little amp into rattling. The Hog 20 makes a good portable keyboard amp too. Obviously, one should not expect tons of bass from the thing. Otherwise the mids and highs are reproduced very well.

The 'Squeal' distortion is fair to middling but on the crackly grungy side. I wouldn't consider it to be much more than an interesting curiousity. It ain't real distortion; it's Sears distortion (Frank Zappa? Cosmic Debris? The Pancho?)

It appears to be well built. I've had mine for about six months with no signs of any trouble spots appearing, but I am pretty nice to my equipment. The speaker looks to be fairly beefy. I've never had any static from any of the controls or switches. So far no problems with loose jacks.

Haven't needed any support.
I bought it from American Musical Supply, and my past experience from them has been OK.

If I had it to do again, I might take a look at the Hog 30 (which I am considering getting anyway). I think the Hog 20 is definitely a better value than the original Pignose. Think about it: The Hog 20 is $100; the Original is $70. The Hog 20 comes with rechargable batteries; an AC adapter/charger; tone control; a distortion control (sort of); none of which the Original has. If I were to change one thing, it would be to make the AC adapter built-in. The last thing I need is another wall wart.

I bought the amp in 2000, year of mft. unknown. It is a basic practice amp, the features are covered in comparable reviews.

The amp has very good tone and decent distortion control for everyday practice and playing around the house. Although it can sound quite loud at home, pure volume is not it's forte, if you bring it out into the "real world." But then, it is a practice amp- and for what it is designed for, it works beautifully, especially for the price.

Practice amp- has been as dependable as a rock. Heck, my old Chevy truck should have been so dependable!

Had no reason to, but I hear they are good to deal with. On hearsay alone, I will give them this rate.

I use this with both a Shecter TSH-1 semi hollow body electric and an Ovation acoustic electric. As a practice amp, it seems to fit the bill for me perfectly. It is a little heavy, but i think this is because it is relatively well made. It is nice looking , and a bit more esoteric than the garden variety practice amps. Part of my decision to buy this one was based on a sale price, so I don't know if I would choose this again or the cool looking Danelectro- would probably depend on the deal I could get.

its a very simple practice amp. one tone knob, one volume, and one overdrive which is called squeal. its got about a 6 inch speaker. its 10 to 20 watts but i dont think anyone knows the exact wattage (probably 20 hence the name hog 20). it comes with two batteries that are rechargable. i found that since most of the time im near a power source i didnt need them so i took them out and the little amp shed about 5- 10 pounds. it doesnt get very loud, though this isnt the kind of amp you buy for its decipals. it has for a cheap little amp some really good tone. my friend had a 20 watt peavy that had some real crappy tone. many times people complimented me on how nice it sounded.

my guitar is an epiphone standard les paul. this guitar really did not work well with the amp because since it was so small it distorted everything from 3-4 and up.i played it in the my school's jazz band and i had to keep it low but you couldnt really hear me. at first i liked to keep the tone down but as i got better and my tastes grew i eventually turned it all the way up and it has a really rich nice thick tone to it. i found that using fender, and ibanez guitars with my amp practically fixed the distortion problem because they have considerably les bass. i also used a bunch of pedals in it. i used a boss heavy metal which was the precursor to the metal zone, i used a dod chorus for a little bit, a dunlop jimi hendrix wah, and a brownesville flanger. the distortion was great because you were able to range in many sounds. the chorus was ok the pedal was used and didnt last very long. the the wah sounded nice and gave the amp a little bit of boost. the flanger was a little high and hurt the ears a bit. the squeal over drive on the amp did not sound so nice. the only real good thing about it was that it made the amp a little bit louder. it was too cri\unchy sounding and just was no good. this amp is great for practicing and just a nice mellow jam for classic rock and bluesy stuff. i love to play pink floyd and i dont perfectly replicate david gilmore but it just sounds great when set up properly.

the batteries were definately not dependable and the amp was louder when it was plugged in. this was my first amp and i messed with and experimented with it alot. this might have been because of me but after a while (i think about the first month or so) the amp started to get a bit fuzzy. right now its very fuzzy but still has lots of tone and great distortion with a pedal. it hasnt broken down but i f---ed with it so much that it has had a few wierd quirks. im not gonna buy it again but thats because im moving on to bigger better and louder things. i would definately buy it when i have kids and they need their first amp. this is a great first amp perfect solo practice amp and if you can get your friends to lower their volumes down this amp is great for jamming with friends.

never bothered. i messed with the amp to much for the company to take responsibility. i've heard that the pignose/gorrilla people are nice so i'll give them a ten.

i had a small crate which i bought from my friend and it broke. this amp beat that one out. it has such a great tone it really does. not really recommended for les paul guitars though. rather versatile with the use of pedals. im not buying it again but i already told you why. definately a great first amp. this amp is almost a novelty item people actually collect pignoses. not too expensive but probably best if you bought it used (just make sure your friends not trying to screw you) try the smaller aa battery powered one if your going for that novelty stuff though (built in wah wah)

The 20 is solid-state that runs at about 10-15 watts depending who your talking to. It has three knobs, an on/off squeal knob for distortion, a volume, and a tone. It has two inputs, one on the front and one on the back. Why I dont know. It has a headphone jack and an external power transformer that uses those wierd little plugs but it has a cord that runs to the outlet so it saves space there. It has two batteries, about 6 volts each and a Pignose 5 1/2 or 6 1/2 inch speaker (not sure which). It comes with the cool metal pig's-nose for the on/off switch.
Great little practice or road amp(for the car). I've had my pig a runnin around five hours strait, but it takes longer to charge than to drain.
I believe that Pignose and Gorilla are the same company for many reasons, but havenet been told so by anyone. One thing is that the Pig 20 and GG-20 are VERY much the same inside and out. Yet there different in sound and a the pig has more basic electronic parts.

I like the sound it makes with my Mexican Strat and Fender Bullet both with single coils. I like to crank up the volume and turn down the guitar for a different sound. You should keep away from TVs, Refridgerators, remote controls, and anything with an Electromagnetic-Field. That goes for all amps. I dont like to use much distortion, but it does distort the sound. It also gets alot louder. Overall i like the sound of it alot. It sounds kinda tubey to me.
The Pig and Gorilla also sound kinda Different. I think the Pig is more mellow and the Gorilla is kinda harder.

. It has a metal grill for the speaker, the corner protectors found on amps, and the batteries and speaker are pretty safe from behind too. The knobs are plastic with the little grey inserts, but all of mine fell out after time. There was about a month when I kept blowing fuses (located inside the metal chasis) i went through about three. Kinda sucked, but it stopped. My first speaker blew for some reason a few months after I bought it. There is two boards holding in the batteries one of mine cracked so I replaced both of them so they matched. Easy enough. All the 1/4 inch jacks are plastic shells to keep away ground loop problems but plastic isnt very sturdy for the other half of the 1/4 jack. Mine got stripped (two of them, the front input and the phones. The most used of the three.) and I had to replace them. I did it myself seemed easy enough but i then found the ground loop problem. I ended up using Mountain Dew cardboard for insulating washers. It works and you can't tell. I replaced the extra input with an external speaker for a single 16 inch cab. Lately I noticed very little battery time. About one hour to the required 8 to 10 hours of charging. Then I found that one of my batteries is dead. Still havent gotten to fix that. Probably over-drained driving the 16 inch cab. The overall electronics are fine its just bad choice of hardware mostly.
The plastic 1/4 inches and plastic knob inserts goes for both the Pig and the Gorilla. Plastic kinda sucks.

I never brought it in for any repairs so I wouldn't know. When I pulled out the speaker (I being the key word here) and brought it to the store and told them whats up. They told the company, and then the company didnt want to give us a new one because I took out the speaker. Thats basic warranty stuff. I ended up with one from another Pig at the store a few weeks later. I found everything I needed at my local Radio Shack.

I been playing for a few years now. My Pig has been with me for around two or three years. I kinda abused it, but I still love it and would buy it again. To me it sounds super. I like the battery thing on a larger amp. It looks very cool, but the fake skin is kinda soft. This little piggy went with me all the time and lived in the van for a while.
I compared the Pig to the Gorilla, but the Gorilla is my friends who never really uses it at home. I use mine most of the time. Plus his Gorilla is probably only 1 1/2 years old. Up here in WISCONSIN everything seems a little expensive. If ya want a mid sized battery amp these are your choices as far as I know. Chose the one with the sound for you. Gotta go with the sound.

This little (maybe around 1' tall, 8" wide? It seems to weigh >5 lbs, <10 lbs.) amp has only what you would really need in portable amp. It's got three knobs, squeal (overdrive), volume, and tone along with the famous little pignose switch. It works on rechargeable batteries that you can charge with the AC adaptor that comes with it. A headphone jack in the back is the only other little goody to come with it. It's a sort of "good times" amp, when you go to the park, sit around school w/ friends, etc. It's got the power to let you and a small group sitting around you w/in a 200 foot radius hear what you're doing.

The volume knob acts pretty weird; the difference between, say, 4 & 6 is quite noticeable, while going from 5 to 10 doesn't really make any difference. The squeal knob is basically crap; turned all the way up, it just adds this annoying shaky-sounding buzz to the signal. The only knob that seems to *really* work is the tone. -5 is a fat, mushy sound, 5 is a clear, ringing sound. The amp in general is a bit weak, but this is expected from a 5 1/2 speaker. It should be fine if all you want to do is practice a bit, say, in school. It's overall sound seems to be pretty bright, a little twangy, and really thin.

It seems to be solidly built. I don't know how long the batteries last until a recharge is needed, but I went for 2 straight hours with no problem the other day.

No problems here, but the manual basically says "return it to the dealer." They supply an address though, so....

I don't think I'd buy it again, I can make way w/out an extra hour of practice. But if you're looking for a portable practice amp, this should fit the bill. It's plenty loud, and it's clear. If people think you suck, you could plug in the headphones. I think that if you want to play, just for yourself, the Fender Mini-Twin or the Marshall Mini-stack would be fine. If you want others to hear you, those wouldn't work. I also think the cheap brown imitation leather covering looks neat.