Pignose Hog 20

Its exactly what it claims to be. A very basic amp. Whoever buys this thing knows not to expect a hell of a whole lot. Its built well tho.

So here's the deal. My guitar is a Gibson Les Paul Voodoo. My main amp was a Marshal AVT50 Combo. Not anymore. The marshal is in the corner of my room gathering dust and waiting for a new owner. The new star is my HOG20. I plug my LP into a GNX3 effects box and run that into the pignose, toggle to "Rectify", add some delay and I'm in Heaven. I mean, It sounds so good I can't bring myself to try anything else! I'll be the first to admit that as far as my playing goes i suck. But I know a good sound when i hear it I've been stuck to the same sound for over a year now and am still in love with it!

I've had it for almost five years now. It sat in my closet for three of those years and was used by a bass player friend of mine as a practice amp for a year. I started using it when he gave it back to me and it hasn't missed a beat.

Dunno

If it were stolen i would definitely buy another one.

while limited in it's 3 knobs (volume, squeel and grunt if i remember correctly) this little bugger is about 1 thing, playing and sounding good on the move - mission accomplished

believe it or not this thing has a great sound. I tend to use it for garagey style rock, but it handles indie sparkle through to fuzzy noise remarkably well. not great for metal and struggles with heavyend bass noise, but otherwise great.

very impressed with its noise

no problems and i have had it for over a year. the thing seems to run on batteries for a LONG time at decently high volumes which is good.

no contact

this amp was bought for out and aboyt playing and playing at home when I was unable to make lots of noise. I havea a orange tiny terror as my main amp, but the pignose is still my amp of choice in the house.

If this Amp was stolen it would break my heart as it is such a cool little amp. definately get another one no question and have no reservation in recommending it to others (except you metal playing guys that is).

This Hog 20 amp is the business.Everything on it is simple yet effective.Its got a headphone jack which i suppose can be useful i never use.Everthing about this amp is solid well made.
You can line the Hog 20 out but in doing so cuts off the speaker which is an odd feature.Cutting out speaker that is.
(squeal control) which is overdrive , a volume control, tone control ,Big solid on off switch.
All simple features but is capable of a lot of different sounds.
Its very Versatile.

I am a professional jazz saxophonist and blues player.So i am into sound big time.I use the Hog 20 for blues harp.As everyone knows its got to be a valve amp small wattage overdriven for most harp players who are into the Chicago thing right.
Well The Hog 20s no valve amp but its not a bad second and for the money you cant beat it.By chance one time my preamp was off the road and so was my valve amp so i goes to my Hog 20.Incidently the Hog goes to most gigs with me as a form of back up.Well for some reason the line out wasn't working and under mormal circumstances i would have used perhaps preamp and used Hog 20 as a monitor.
So miked up the Hog 20 and as the flying Ace legend Biggles would say "Chocks away"
Man it took the roof off.
Its not the ultimate Harp sound but man every Harp player should have a Hog in the armoury.

Reliability.
All i can say here is that i have had mine just under six months and Whether i use it or not it goes in the car.I take care going to the gig but as often as not when the gigs over things can get thrown about a bit. No problenm so far its tough pig for sure.
Just one thing charge it up regularly otherwise it dies.The charge can last up to ten hours but if your using the Squeal ,thats the hogs name for overdrive be less than that.
Anyway adaptor comes to use mains anyway and light would change to warn you.Secret is if used just charge up after say 2 to 5 hours use you will be ok.In short the Hog 20 is tough

I dont know about customer support so far touch wood havent had any problem.
I guess in a year or too my bigest problem will be where to get new battereies from.Im sure it wont be too much hassle.

I am a pro if it were stolen id go buy another one immediately.
Then id seek out the people who stole it have them tried for treason
taken from the quarter deck and Hung drawn and quartered.
Its great value just a very good piece of kit.

It's a bit high on the treble side and really hurts the ears. No brown sound. The pignose fuzz sucks and is too harsh for anything usefull.

It has one channel. I wish it had real distortion instead of solid state clipping.

I bought this to use it as a portable amp.

The sound is really horrible. Much too trebly. Nothing brown about it, it's pale.

Should have a better distortion for the price. Probably have to buy a seperate pedal to use this amp.

Seems rugged and reliable.

Their website sucks.

This really sucks. It's no wonder why so many people are selling of theirs cheaply on Ebay.

I bought my Piggy in '03, I think. I use it mostly in my living room as a practice amp. It's a pretty basic amp without many frills. I won't knock points off for this, however, because I knew what I was buying didn't have a lot of frills!

Man the Piggy 20 rocks. I play mostly blues, with rock and punk following closely behind. I use it with a '58 LP Jr. knockoff, a Fender Tele, and an American Standard Strat. The Hog 20 sounds damn decent with all of them, but remember...know what you are buying. It won't keep up with my Super Reverb...should I take points off? The amp is very clean and amazingly loud for it's size. The distortion, labeled "squeal" isn't dirty enough for me, but I just use my effects pedals with it.

I've never had any problems with the Hog 20 itself. I had to replace the batteries after a year and a half or so, but that was due to my overcharging them. Most of the problems I've heard about the 20 is about the batteries. This is because most of us don't understand sealed lead-acid batteries. They are finicky. They like to be topped off all the time (NEVER, EVER DRAINED!!!), but not overcharged. I found a new set of batteries at a ham swap for $3 ea. Then I searched on the net and bought a small 500 milliamp battery-tender type charger ($10) and wired it for the piggy. Now it can stay plugged in constantly without overcharging, and it's ready to pick up and go whenever I want, fully charged. Batteries should last a LONG time this way too. Again, I'm not taking away points for my stupidity and forgetting to unplug my charger.

I've never dealt with them, the Piggy has never let me down.

I've been playing for years and still stink. I've got way too much other gear to list. I've got amps from big to small and way too many guitars for my meager talents. If someone swiped my pignose though, I'd get another one as soon as I found them on sale again. The only thing that could have been better about the Hog 20 is that it could have been delivered by a supermodel, pornstar, or at least a hooker. Seriously, the battery-tender type charger would be a nice feature to come from the factory. This would prevent a lot of problems down the road.

The Hog is strictly practice/small venue stuff. The tone is fine if you don't mind some element of distortion in just about everything you play. The squeal effect pretty much left me cold. Some might like that kind of distortion, but it just grated on my ears. I would rename it 'shrill'. I don't gig the amp, so it certainly has enough power for my purposes. I wouldn't call it completely portable, in the sense that the inbuilt battery would make for a sore shoulder if you were a busker on the move. Having said that, the battery holds a charge for what seems like forever.

I tend to play blues, jazz and some rock. The Hog isn't really suited to jazz, but seeing I only practice with it, that is fine and I am the only one who really has to listen to it.

While it comes into its own playing rock, I am, however, disappointed with a rattle in the speaker when I play it hard. While I appreciate that some amps 'break-up' when driven hard, I don't want it to happen literally. Perhaps mine is a unique experience, but it leaves me with a slightly bad taste in my mouth.

See my comment above.

This is a boutique unit here in Oz and I found it in a little shop on the Gold Coast while on holidays. I don't know who the distributor is, so I am unable to complain about the speaker break-up.

While it probably sounds like I am dissatisfied, overall I actually like the Hog 20. I just love it and I certainly don't think in retrospect that it was really worth what I paid for it, especially as a warranty which I cannot claim on is worthless to me.

Would I buy one again - no. If I was to compare it to a Roland Microcube the Roland would win hands down for versatility, sound, value and price. Silly me for not trying the Roland first and for listening to the raves of others about the 'vintage' sound of Pignose amps.

I bought my Pignose Hog 20 new a couple of years ago.I consider myself a blues/rock guitar player.This amp has one channel with two inputs.No effects loop. No reverb.I do wish it had reverb, but I don't miss it that much.I use it only at home so far.I wish it had an exstension speaker hookup, reverb, and a line out (like the little Pignose does).It has a squeel switch that is a distortion switch.

I play a Dean Tonic, and a Telecaster.This amp is a blues machine as some others state below. They are not kidding. So it fits my style very well.Now with my Dean Tonic it sounds pretty decent-but with my Telecaster it sounds fantastic!Then I'll plug in my littel Guyatone OD-2 and it gets even better.I would consider taking this amp to a blues jam and miking it.I set the "squeel" control at about 1/3-1/4 and leave it there.I give it a 10 with my beloved Telecaster-it might be an 8 with my Dean.

Mine has been 100% reliable.Zero problems in the last couple of years of ownweship.For reliability then, I have to give it a 10.

There are places to ship it off for repair. I have emailed a few with replys.Since mines been great, I haven't had to deal with them when the chips are down, so I'll give them an 8.

I'm a 51 year old player that has played(off and on) for about 35 years.If mine was stolen I would immediateley buy another Hog 20.In fact, I'd like to get another one and play them together with a hookup allowing that for more coverage.I love the portability of this amp.I love the sound with my Telecaster.It takes pedals very well(Guyatone OD-2, BD-2 Blues Driver,TS-7 Tube Screamer, etc.).I love the fact that its battery powered.Its a street buskers dream.If this thing had an exstension speaker plug and a line out it would be even better.I compared it to the Crate TX-15/Taxi, and I believe this amp sounds better and is cheaper too. I would like to try the Crate 30 and 50 watters though.
I want to list my other amps so people don't think this is the only amo I've ever used or something.In the past, I've owned a Fender Bandmaster head, an Acoustic 150 head, a Peavey Classic combo with two twelvws, and a Park/Marshall RCD30. I now own a Fender Blues Junior, an Epiphone EP-SC210, a Crate GT-50 Stealth all tube combo, a Pignose 30/60, a little Pignose, and a Fender Deluxe 112 Plus and an Electar Tube 10.
I would love to hear the Hog 20 miced with a band if someone would have the guts to do it.The little Pignose has a pre amp out plug so you can run a line to a bigger amp or a PA system-the Hog 20 should have that also.

Bought this amp in 98/99, new, as I wanted a portable amp and it had more features than the conventional pignose and a bit more relatively clean headroom. Features are few - volume, tone, "squeal". It's main feature is it doesn't need mains (but see below about problems with the batteries).

Being playing for about 32 years now (saying that makes me feel old...), and I gig and record professionally. Currently using Telecaster and ES135 plus a Bennet lapsteel. My current usual amp setup is Marshall JTM30 (used without built-in reverb)for clean tones and Laney for dirtier (in particular a Class-A Laney LC 15 with Phillips valves fitted). I also have a 50watt Plexi but it needs to be set far too loud to get a decent tone at the volumes I require, and the LC15 can compete in the volume stakes with most 50watt amps and some 100watt. I've also owned Mesa and Fender amps in the past plus a few heally horrible solid-state things. For effects Boss chorus and a Fender reissue valve reverb unit. I usually use 50s/early 60s kinds of sounds so the point where single notes are clean and chords begin to crunch with plenty of sensitivity to plectrum attack and guitar volume is important to me. The Hog simply can't compete with the valve gear in this respect, but I've yet to find a solid state amp that can.

The Hog clean sound is better than it deserves to be (pretty close to some of the 1950s clean(ish) blues tones) - kind of early tweed Champ running clean. I guess it's the speaker starting to break up that is responsible for this. "Squeal" "overdrive" seems to mostly boost treble plus a bit of harsh high-frequency fuzzing when cranked; it's not in the slightest bit touch sensitive. The single tone control starts with "lots of treble" and turns up to "painful". It's tolerable as a practice amp but if I switch from the Hog to the Laney there's a world of difference. For the money the Hog sounds decent enough, but it's let down by a lack of reliability.

This is possibly the most unreliable anything I have ever owned since the cheap transistor amps of the 70s.

As new the built-in lead acid batteries last about 6 hours. However. THe "manual" (a bit of paper containing the name "pignose" and not mush else) and stickers on the batteries say "keep me charged or I'll die young". But. If you charge this thing up before it's fully discharged, or leave it plugged into the mains - eve when the amp is switched off) for more than about 6-10 hours it will overcook the batteries and they won't work any more. There was no warning about this in the "manual" at all. If anything it implies you should leave it on charge (plugged in but not switched on)when not in use to keep it charged and to prolong battery life. Replacement batteries are very hard to get in the UK and cost nearly as much as a new amp.

The speaker grille is steel with a cast metal Pignose logo rivetted to it. When you play through the thing the logo rattles against the speaker grille like mad - louder than the amp. So remove the logo.

The amp's socket for the wall wart plug is very fragile and doesn't grip the plug at all well. It has a habit of breaking under even home usage (I've found this as have a couple of mates who have owned Hogs). The wall wart is inclined to fray through the outgoing DC power cable where it exits the transformer case = shorts and blown fuses. The transformer is a sealed unit so a quick fix with a soldering iron isn't possible without demolishing the thing. The pots are very noisy from new.

Would I buy another? No way. Get an ordinary Pignose - it's far more reliable and it's cheaper.

This is your classic little cheesy amp; rechargeable, play it anywhere on batteries. If you wanted features, you wouldn't be buying this amp. But it has its purpose. Gets a three which is a tall saddle for this lil horsie. But that is what makes them so affordable.

Call me nuts. But this is a killer, killer blues amp! 'Ya herd me rite! No one here seems too keen on workin that squeal. I turn mine to 7 and use a steel slide - WOW!!!! I play my Dean GCE resonator and it is slide heaven. It really enhances the slide without distorting what you are playing.

I have had it for a month now and thought it very average but nice. I wanted the convenience it offered. But then I turned on the slide. I can sell my Blues Cube 60 now. Just kidding but so you understand I know tone a little, I do play a BC-60 and a Peavey Triump with tubes.

So if yer lil amp is sittin there lonely, find an open tuning and get a slide, turn on some squeal! But that is only half the fun.

Next time you finish off your Mrs. Smith Apple Pie, save the tin. Place it on front of the Pig and wail away. You can touch it with your foot to deaden it and pull it off. It sounds like a snare roll on some parts of what I play. Instant drummer backin yer nasty slide. Oh oh ohhhhhhhhh. With some mods, you can even emulate tube break up. Not bad fer a lil amp and an apple pie to boot.

It is a take where you want to go amp. Light. It should last forever. No tubes to replace. Long as there is electricy in the land, you should do fine with it.

Since this is my main amp now, I will support the company regardless. Don't fail me now.

I must hold the record for playing the longest and never getting any better. But its a hobby. I have a small stable of guitars and amps. I bought this Pignose on ebay. I first bid on a Danelectro 30 because it is so cool. But now looking back, the Danelectro can't hold a pietin to the Pignose. I am looking for gigs at Nursing Homes and church clubs. The pignose should be more than adequate.

How do you lose an amp? Like really. Someone might steal your messa boogie or high priced gibson goldtone, but think my Pignose is pretty safe.

I went to New Orleans and saw this blues guy on the street playing a homemade amp that looked like it had a pietin in front. Thought it was kind of quirky and cool all at the same time. If you have a working history of blues players and the mods they used, I would like to hear from you.

Squeal, Volume, Tone. 2 inputs. Headphone jack. And mine came with a charger/AC adapter.
I bought the amp for street performances and it works great! There's power to spare!
I think an external speaker jack (or mono output) would be a little more useful than a second input. I use it sometimes as a preamp and it's a little tricky using a mono cord, you have to plug it in just right.
Oh yeah... I almost forgot! You've got to buy a NEW one, because Pignose amps smell really good for a few months.

I love the squeal! I wish I could find a effects pedal that sounded like it! I use a few different guitars and they all sound good with the amp. I plugged a bass into the amp and it sounded pretty good!Even with the little 6 inch speaker! The clean channel distorts if the battery is low, but this has only happened to me once.

I've dropped it and thrown it around a lot. One of the rubber feet fell off, but that's all. Just keep the battery charged and it will work fine.

I haven't dealt with them personally, but from what I read in the instruction manual they really want you to get a new battery if you need one.

I looked all over for this amp, and I'm really glad I found one (for a great deal!)

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.