TopHat Portly Cadet

Original year amp, VERY low serial number (below 20), Bright switch, Boost switch, green jewel light, 8" speaker, 5 Watt rating, "Oxblood" covering with some piping and cloth grille. This is a VERY "bare bones" unit, but its meant to be that way. This IS a tube amp. Its tough to rate features on an amp that isn't designed to have a lot of them.

I used this amp for blues-rock, which to me means some overdrive. For this review I used a '59 Reissue Les Paul Standard with alnico Burstbucker pickups (I use the bridge pickup mostly). This amp sounds good IF you know what to use it for AND HOW TO USE IT. The person who sold me the amp told me that this is one of the most misunderstood amps out there. This is what is referred to as a "bedroom" or "recording" amp - it does not have the same "oomph" as a 100 watt Marshall stack, but that isn't what its for. I find that if you just do some "tweaking" (of the settings on the guitar AND the amp) you can get a pretty good sound. To get an overdrive sound you might want to use some kind of pedal - I tried a Marshall "Guv'nor 2" pedal and once "tweaked" it sounds cool, and louder than you would expect. However, there are limits to what an 8" speaker can do, which is why I gave it a 9 instead of a 10.

I would probably not use this for a gig because I prefer something with more power. However, as a practice/bedroom/recording amplifier this thing is among the "upper crust" of units like it. It is VERY well built, I have had it for 10 years and it still works. To be fair I have not used it much, but its 10 years old and it still works, which says something right there.

I have never had to deal with customer support because the unit works, so why would I call customer support? From what I hear though, their customer support is very good.

I've been playing for over 30 years (on and off). I own almost 2 dozen other amplifiers. If it were stolen or lost I'd be bummed out, but I probably would not replace it because of the power rating - I just plain want more "juice", but you could put a microphone on this and (with a powerful enough P.A. system) fill up an arena. I also recommend making sure that you break in the speaker on this one - play it loud for about 20 hours or so and the speaker will "loosen up" a bit and the sound will be fuller. IMHO, no amplifier speakers should be reviewed until they are broken in - they just sound better after they are - more "full range" if you will.

Bare-bones. One-knob wonder (vol) and two switches (boost, bright) -- heck, three switches if you count off/on! Anyone buying this unit surely must understand that it is what it is, and expecting an amp with under 10W and an 8" speaker to really pump is of course insane. So yep: minimal features. But that's the idea.

Used with custom shop strat, McNaught w/ humbuckers, Firebird, etc -- every darned thing out there. Handles all input types quite well, and does a good job dealing with tones of effects, including weird stuff. I'm not sold on its ability to deal w/ straight Strat, no pedals, other than in a generic kind of way (twangy and clean, little sustain)but if you're willing to use pedals and effects it functions pretty well as a sort of hi-fi reproducer without much character of its own. Frankly, for a teeny little studio amp, that's a plus. The Portly Cadet does oa good job with all my sounds, and then when my kid goes for his EVH imitations, it actually pulls of those tones, too -- all at "bedroom" or recording levels, of course. I can't imagine perfroming with this guy other than as background, very low volume stuff. Just cannot pump. As other have noted, the speaker seems very anemic, and I'm going to try swapping it out, as I'll bet it helpos a lot. Also, I changed al;l the tubes to great effect. The Top Hat guys provide good tubes -- Philips JANs -- but it was easy to come up with NOS Mullard for preamp, and RCAs for power and recitifer, and these sound really groovy -- open, breathy, responsive... I find the Philips to be punchy, which I hate. Basically, this is a tremendous low-volume performer, though it's limted to ear/brain rather than body impact.

This is a beautifully built amp with top quality materials and components assembled carefully. Great, great work. The builders clearly care.

Only made one phone call once, but they were nice. I've had nothing to fix, so have needed no support. Buildiong it right to begin with is the best service!

Good amp. I'd think twice about forking over top dollar, especially if you're going to sheel out for a few new tubes and a different speaker. I'm surprised at what some buyers paid. Ouch!

Simple amp. I bought it for the low power. Around a 2002 model.
More options than a simple Fender Champ, but not as nice as a Savage Macht 6.

Nice to a point. It had a nice clean tone, but, when the volume is dimed, this amp "Farts out". Just a bad sound. It can sound good up until about 3 oclock on the volume. You get some nice classic rock tones going. For the price I give it a 3.

Garbage. My first Boutique amp. It had problems from the start. I was so disgusted. It was expensive, and it had problems. All my mass produced circuit board amps worked fine, then I moved on to a point to point wired boutique amp, what a mistake.

Beyond poor. I had to pay shipping charges, I won't go into details. Let's just say that Brian gave me piss poor customer service. He would not acknowlege a problem with his amp, yet I and many others witnessed a defective product.

I initially liked the amp, until the problems arose, and the poor service showed it's face.

It's got a volume knob, a bright switch, and a boost switch. Not too complicated. No reverb, no master volume, no tone knob. I would have happily traded a tone knob for the bright switch and the boost switch. Honestly, the bright switch basically always had to be on unless you wanted a really muddy sound and the boost switch could basically be circumvented by just turning up the volume.

This amp is kind of a two-trick pony, one trick of which I didn't really get. At low volume settings the amp had a nice class-A tube early break-up sound. I was very much in love with the amp for the low volume settings.

Once the volume knob got past a certain point though (around half-way), the sound started to just flatten out. It sounded like everything was getting squashed way more than it should have been. A definite noticeable buzz appeared on top of the tone, like extreme clipping. I'm not sure whether this buzziness was due to circuit clipping or speaker distortiong (the speaker is custom designed), but I didn't really dig it. I may have been cool for certain instances (guitar solo for example), but I was looking for more of a flexible distorted sound at low volumes (the amp is 6W).

I owned the amp for only about a couple weeks, but it seemed extremely well built and very dependable.

The amp came with a warranty statement which was phrased in a very homey way that made it seem like the owner/builder could easily be contacted. There were two or three mis-spellings in the warranty statement which was slightly disturbing to me for some reason. Whatever. Hopefully the attention to detail only lapsed during that stage of the production. Who knows.

I probably paid on the high-end for the used price. It was basically brand new, though. I think the original owner did the same thing I did which was buy it, try it out for a about a week, and then sell it back. It's obvious that some people out there dig this sound, but it is a very unique beast. I definitely would advise hearing this amp before buying. I know that's always a rule but some amps have a little more universal appeal than this unique TopHat offering

You know the features. One preamp tube & one power tube. Comes with a 6v6. This product is deliberately simple. This is a dumb category to even have, but for what this amp is intended to be, its a 9.

I have the upgraded weber speaker others have mentioned. The amp still suffers from a high degree of speaker distortion when pushed up to max volume.

One thing I have done that is simply GREAT that everyone with a portly cadet who isn't going for heavy speaker distortion should try is to use a RCA 6G6 power tube instead of the 6V6. The 6G6 can be found for very cheap (like $6) on the web.

The 6G6 has a little less power to it and IMHO is the right match for this amp. I can see why tophat doesn't supply them, though, (1) they simply aren't widely available for production and (2) they are slightly less heavy sounding than a 6V6 and probably not the vision they had when they made this amp. However, I think it has a great crunch and for this low a price is something you guys with portly cadets should try out. At lower volumes, the 6G6 sounds a lot cleaner as well.

Because this is a cathode biased amp, the power tube can be changed without requiring any rebiasing. With this modification, I love the sound of this amp and do not have any issue with the speaker distortion that others have mentioned.

Even with the 6V6, it really isn't awful, its just not the sound I'm going for--it sounds like you are about to blow the speaker when you've turned up to full tilt.

It should also be noted that dropping in a 12AT7 or a 12AU7 instead of the 12AX7 will also erradicate the speaker distortion, but that also lessens the tube distortion a great deal, which is not desireable IMO.

Also, I wanted to mention that when plugged into a 1x12 cab or a 2x12, this amp sounds FABULOUS with the 6V6 (as well as the 6G6). I really, really, like this amp--it has great touch sensitivity and is the perfect "home practice" amp. The speaker distortion is very prevalent when turned up & if you don't like (as I don't) it can be easily addressed.

Brian answered an email very promptly & during the holidays, no less. They were helpful on the phone as well. Try getting this kind of help with Fender or Marshall.

I've been playing for 17 years. I own a lot of top-notch gear and have owned a lot of crap over the years as well. I bought this as the "practice at home" amp. I played and considered the following amps before settling on this one: a badcat mini-cat, an orange ad-5, a Gibson GA-15, a bunch of old fender champs, and the epiphone electra.

I really liked the mini-cat as well, but I didn't like it enough to pay an extra $300, plus it was louder, and I don't need louder for home practice. The Gibson was ho-hum. The epiphone sounded very solid-state. The orange AD-5 was dissapointing. Both the badcat and the tophat were great amps, though. If they were the same price, I have to admit I'd get the badcat, because the 10 inch speaker just straight up sounds better than the 8 inch tophat speaker. But they are close and the price was right on the tophat.

This is an update to my "anon" review dated 1/26/02. As I said, I really wanted to love the amp and I've been plagued by the sense that I was unfair to it. A while ago, I saw one on eBay with an upgraded Weber Ferromax speaker and I bought it. This one is Cadet 008, it is dark green with gold grill - very nice cosmetics.

Features as described by everyone else except for the Weber speaker.

OK, with a speaker capable of more easily handling the amp's output, this Cadet sounds GREAT. Full, warm tone at low to medium volumes, nice crunch kicking in at the 11 o'clock position and increasingly smoothly to a great overdriven tone. Through an external 12" cab, it sounds even better and is loud enough to small room gigs.

With an overdrive pedal in front of the amp, you get great breakup that's Fender-like but with a low and mid-range boost. It's hard to say what this amp sounds like. People say that the circuit is based on the old Supro designs but the quality of components and the sturdiness of the amp are so much better than old Supros that it sounds nothing like the 8" speaker based Supros.

Retuning to this amp after 11 months without one, the build and component quality is just amazing. I can't imagine any problems in this area.

I really like this amp. With the Weber speaker it sounds great, even past the 2 o'clock position. I'm going to be trying some other pre-amp tubes and also a THD Yellow Jacket with an EL84 option to see how the amp likes these options.

Very simple supro circuit. 8" speaker, one volume knob and treble and boost switches. this amp is simple by design.

I bought this amp to use for recording and practice around the house. It does exactly what I expected it to do. The tone of this amp ranges from clean to nice distortion by the turn of the guitars volume knob. I do not place the amps volume past two o'clock

No problems.

Talked with Brian a couple of times and he is very informative

Playing this amp is a real pleasure. It sounds great with my Mcnaught's, Prs ce-24 and the Melancon Pro artist T. I would buy it again.

Very simple and straightforward little amp, perfect for high-quality all-tube tones at residential volumes. One knob (volume) plus two switches: bright (boosts high end, a must for me, as I think Top Hats in general are voiced a little dark) and boost (extra gain--I rarely use). 1-6V6 for the power section, 1 12AX7 preamp, and 5Y3 rectifier tube producing 5 watts through an 8" speaker. Although there aren't a lot of controls, there are alot of "classic rock" tones in this little guy.

I have a Hamer Standard Custom w/Seymour Duncan '59 humbuckers, a Hamer Artist Korina with Seymour Duncan P-90s, a Fender Telecaster Custom (1 HB, 1 single coil), and a Hamer Sunburst with DiMarzio PAFs in it. Even with single coils, it is amazingly quiet--really almost as quiet as a transistor amp--really minimal hum, and never a pop or his. Sounds fantastic with the Tele--does a wonderful job mimicking '68-74 Rolling Stones, which is my goal. With humbuckers and P-90s, does a good job on ZZTop and Cream and so forth. (I tend to think it sounds better with single coils than humbuckers.) A very versatile little amp, reputedly voiced a lot like the old Supro amps. In my book, this amp sounds best if you keep the volume at about the 2 o'clock position, and the owner's manual (really just a xeroxed sheet) says so too--beyond that I think the available power overwhelms the speaker. However, by that point, you have plenty of available volume to practice with, and a little left over to irritate the neighbors.

I have owned this for about a year now, and it's needed NOTHING no matter how hard it's driven. Built like a tank with point-to-point wiring and impeccable, Top-Hat-grade components. Top Hats are the gold standard in reliability as far as I'm concerned.

Never needed any repairs, but I've e-mailed Brian on at least three occasions with stupid questions (usually not about this amp, but about other Top Hat products), and he's always replied promptly (within 24 hours). I've corresponded with Dr. Z, Aiken, Blockhead, and several others and he matches or beats them in terms of friendliness and responsiveness.

I've been playing for about twenty years and have tried a number of amplifiers, tube and transistor. There's an enormous selection of great amps of 30 watts and higher, but I've found over the years that it's hard to find good amps for use around the house and for recording in home studios at neighbor-friendly volumes. This is an excellent amp for a growing niche. I got one before the latest round of price increases. (This can't be a real profit center for him--I don't think it's that much more work to build a bigger amp that will get three times the price.) Get yours before Brian bumps prices again!

Beautiful looking little amp, solid cabinet, custom 8" speaker, volume, bright and boost switch. 5W.
Gets a 5 for features but that's a result of TopHat's design not things that are missing - this single knob amp has all the features it needs to be a great practice amp.

Tale of 2 amps...up to about the 2 o'clock position, I loved this amp! Warm, rich tone with good midrange bark especially with the boost switch on. My issue with the amp started when I cranked it beyond the 2 o'clock position. I was expecting a sweet overdrive but got a raspy distortion that was very disappointing. I was playing a Tele with Fralins and a Reverend with Kent Armstrongs through it. Whether I got a lemon or whether TopHat really think this is how a small amp should be voiced, I just don't know. I'm rating the sound as a 3. Even though the sound is great at lower volumes, what's the point of spending hundreds of bucks on a 5W amp that you can't use wide open?

Can't comment, returned it after a few days.

The dealer that I bought it through (Steven at Amazing Tone) was very professional. He did his best to get me speaking directly with TopHat which I just didn't have the time or inclination to do. If I pay top dollar for an amp, I don't expect to have to work with the manufacturer to resolve problems.

I've been playing for 25 years and have a lot of experience with small combos from $50 Danelectro Dirty Thirty's to vintage Champs and Supros. The idea behind the Cadet is great and I really wanted to love this amp. For a person who plays far more at home than in clubs these days, I really liked the idea of a high quality, low power amp that captured the tone of a larger rig. It didn't work out and I'm frustrated. Steven at Amazing Tone thought that there might be a speaker problem. Two thoughts on this: TopHat make a big issue that this is a custom speaker design, maybe they'd be better off with a more proven OEM 8" speaker. Second thought, even if I got a lemon, for $600 for a boutique amp, I expect someone to test this unit out thoroughly before shipping.

Final thought - I am NOT trying to trash TopHat. If I'm in the market for another amp, I would give TopHat another chance BUT I would not buy another TopHat amp without spending time with the actual amp/guitar combination that I was going to mostly play or without playing it at the volume that I expected to be using it at.

The "Portly Cadet" is a 5 watt all tube amp with one (5Y3) one (12Ax7)
and one (6V6).You also have an eight inch speaker with in/off swich,a volume nob and a bright and boost swich for added sound variations.

I personally like the terminology ,"less is More" and for such few bells and whistles,you have all ya need!

For playing amplified blues harmonica,in my opnion,this is the best amp that I have ever played thru.The Bright Switch engages a bypass cap on the volume pot.This switch will brighten the sound as well as provide additional gain at lower volumes.Turning this switch off and the Boost switch on will give you a more "Brown Sound" in my opinion.

The "Boost Switch" is a general overall boost on all frquencies.This is created by engaging a bypass cap in the power section.It adds quite a bit of drive,great for blues harmonica.

I lean towards the "Boost Switch" sound,nice velvety/violin type distortion.I have the volume chicken head nob pointed to the bottom of the (T) on the word Cadet on the panel or higher.I am using a "Shaker" dynamic harmonica microphone turned wide open.This amp gives me the most awesome sound I have ever heard,at all my gigs,harp and guitar players are taken back at the raunchy sound it has,and that is good!

I have had this amps for a few months now so this review has been well thought out,this amp is the "Holy Grail" of harp amps.

Like I said,have been gigging for a few months,has been knocked over by drunks and good meaning freinds wanting to get closer,had several liquids applied to it at over the top house parties and it sounds better every time I plug in,sounds better the hotter it gets.

Built so well,it will easily last a hundred years if taken care of.Have talked to Brian seveal times and he is VERY patient will any concerns or problems.Never had it to stop working on me.As with all tube amps,carry an extra set of tubes and fuses and there should never be anything to keep you from getting on down.

As I sated above,Brian and his wife are very easy to get in touch with and they STAND behind their products,class act,amps and the people that make them.

I have been playing harmonica for close to 40 years now,this is THE BEST amp that I have ever played thru.Would start looking for a new one tomorrow if it was lost or stolen last nite.

Mine was made in April of 2000. The features are very basic - which to me is a huge plus, as it delivers a wide range of incredible tone with just 5W, 3 tubes, 8" speaker, and a volume knob/boost switch/brite switch. This amp lets the personality of the guitar sing through, and really allows you to explore preamp and poweramp distortion, as well as speaker breakup at reasonable volumes. It allows you to go from clean to dripping with dirt, using only the guitar volume knob. I find this extremely liberating, so I give it a 9 for features - ELEGANT SIMPLICITY. This amp does exactly what they say it does - amazing studio recording amp tones, reasonalbe volume levels and price.

I use the amp to record in my project studio, and mostly use it with a number of early 60s jazzmasters, a '61 strat, and a newer Les Paul Classic. What is really amazing is that the guitars all sound totally different, which is what is supposed to happen. The fenders sound bluesy and clean at low volumes, bright and aggressive with the brite engaged, and bluesy with grit with the boost or volume turned up. The LP sounds very early Zeppelin at moderate volume, and when cranked, you get this dripping Neil Young Crazy Horse sound on steroids. Open G chords never sounded so good!

Built like a tank. I've had no problems so far, but I don't gig with it. It sits in my studio, but sees alot of "air time"

Great company, nice people, and very good reputation for service and support. Again, I've had no problems, but everyone that I've spoken with things the world of the company. I suppose I'd have to send it back to them if there was a problem, but I can't see that happening.

I've been playing guitar for over 20 years, and had lots of cool gear. I had a champ once (not even close), and have played through supros (this amp is essentially a modified supro design), and nothing has come close to the pure tone this amp produces. I'd replace in a heart beat if I lost the amp. THere is nothing like it, and I am suprised that other boutique amp companies don't do many low watt, all tube, recording amps.

See other reviews

Absolutely SUCKS! Cranked sound is very "buzzy". Called Brian at Tophat and he explained that this was a great sound and I should like it. NOT. Save your money and buy a Dr Z Carmen Ghia or a Carr Rambler. They blow this amp away. An Electar (Gibson) Tube 10 blows this amp away, ang you can get one for $110 new from www.musicyo.com.

Brian wasnt very interested in helping me. Did not answer several emails. When I write Dr Z he answers me the same day. DO NOT BUY TOPHAT - YOU WILL BE SORRY.

Great little amp for recording or not having the neighbors lynch you.
5 watts into a 8" speaker, volume, bright and boost. What more do you want? A little pricey? Got a Fender Champ? This is not a Fender copy,
someone finally decided to do it differnt and any of us old farts will
know this is close to an old Supro Amp.

Sounds great with any guitar, no channels no reverb but it honks and the reverb in those little Fenders are cheesy anyway. thats why I have an old fender outboard reverb unit.

Hand wired...built to last longer than a Greatfull dead jam

Havent delt with them but everyone who has says support is first class

Playing forever and older than my 51 broadcaster by nine months

I have a number of high-end amps and am always on the lookout for something that adds to my tone arsenal. Lo and behold, the 5-watt wonder from TopHat is verything a strat player needs and then more. For this particular amp, nothing more than on/off and volume is needed, yet included in this design is a "bright" and "fat" switch which can also be switched to the off position. The tube recifier in the power section was definitely a nice feature.

My main guitar is a Don Grosh Retro Classic, and it sounds great through this amp. As soon as I plugged in, it was Derek and the Domino's "Layla" tone. I swithed to an ASAT Semihollow Classic (Seymour Duncan pickups) and managed to get some of the old Zeppelin tones going.

The amp is very bluesy with plenty of high-end shimmer. It cleans up nicely with the guitar volume at mid level. But with the guitar volume cranked, it gives up some very sweet sustain and warmth.

It seems to be a very dependable amp, although I have had to replace the fuse in it. (I think that was my fault). I use it at home when I want a "cranked" tone without a lot of volume, but I don't think I would ever use it as a gigging amp. It is just too small to make it over the drums and other instruments. But, then, I didn't buy it for that.

I have had no dealings with TopHat other than through my local music store.

I've been playing for about 30 years. I currently gig with a Matchless SC-30 and TopHat Club Deluxe (1X12) and a Tone King Continental. The Portly Cadet is a great amp for home recording and late night playing. It definitely has a vibe that you can get only from an amp of this design. There is no way you can get this sound from a bigger amp. If you crave that "Layla" tone and early Zepp stuff, this is the amp for you. Another purchasing factor was that this amp is serial number 001.

Features:
Well for a "champ clone" you would suppose that it wouldn't have any features. It's not a clone, it's based on that concept; 1 pre tube , 1 power tube, 1 rectifier tube, 1 8" speaker.
point to point wiring, 1 volume, no tone controls. I am told that this amp is based on more of an older Supra design that anything. I just listed all but 2 features. There are also a "brite" and "boost" switch. And not just one of those crappy plastic push/pull things, real HD steel toggles.
Let's not forget the special design Top Hat 8" speaker.
I talked to the owner, Brian about this. He said the Jensen and Webers were good, but they were more replicas, not improvements. He tore apart a JBL speaker and designed this one from the ground up. And it is quite impressive sounding.
Construction: A work of art, that's all. The best of everything went into this amp.
It was designed to last decades. This is one to pass on to generations.
Black kevlar corner protecters on all 8 amp corners.
Looks: Modern vintage. very cool. Mine is Burgundy tolex w/oxblood tweedy grillclothe featuring gold sparlkes and gold piping. and a gold plexiglass name plate
Black plexiglass control panel. Steel toggles (3) and 1 white chiken head knob for the volume.
url=http://www.geocities.com/sirdanielgrant/portly2.jpg:Top Hat Cadet[/url]

Sound: This amp has that sound that people crave. Between the volume on the amp,
the volume and tone on the guitar, the bright switch (cutting lead sound on/ creamy brown sound off)
and the boost switch (cranks all frequencies up a couple of dB; more pronounces at lower volumes)
you have incredable variety of tones. real tones that make you never want to stop playing.
Don't look for big bottom here. 1x8 isn' gonna rumble. It does have extraordinary cutting power.
that 8 gives it a superb clarity. And don't for a minute think that 5 watts is insignificant.
I found this amp because everything else that had good sound was earsplitting.

I hear that it is outstanding.
It comes with a ltd. lifetime warantee and the owner is easily accessable

I have a Hamer Artist semi hollow with dual humbuckers. I started with a Fender Prosonic. very sweet amp. Channel one is a non-master which was both cleanish and great rock tone. But oh my, the volume!! Tinnitus special.
Next try was a Tech 21 Trademark 60. Again, an excellent amp w/excellent flexability. I really liked it. But it was missing that certain something that only tubes have.
Found a tweed Pro jr; 15 watts, 1x10 blue frame.
super tone; I would havve kept it if it weren't so loud. Yes, 15 watts can rock the neighborhood.
then I plugged into a '56 tweed champ. Oh baby, this is it. But to find one, and to keep it running.
I stumbled on to this new breed of amp. 4-8 watt modern-vintage. I believe the market for these is growing fast.
especially with the explosion of home studios.
Due to Top Hats stellar reviews and endorsements,
and after talking to the owner himself on the phone.
I was convinced to Purchase this spendy little amp.
Low and behold. I had found it. something that just rocked with life and breath.
Made me sound like a session master. No, really. My main gig currently is playing pit
band in a musical. I can open this thing up. It's just the perfect amp for this app.
Let it ring and rip. That 8" speaker cuts right through everything. No big bottom,
no problem, that's what the bass instrument is for. Do you just wanna sound good by yourself
or in the context of other musicians. The boost and bright were huge additions to the original concept. I have found my holy grail. And I can carry it a couple of blocks in my hand (15#) if I have to.
Brian says he barely makes enough on these to keep em coming, thus the list price is going up.
My setup now is Guitar-compressor-TOP HAT to add flexability and volume, mic w/sm57 to mulieffect guitar processor
(BOSS GX-700)-amp/speaker to add watts and time based effects

I will endorse this a pristine quality amplifier built for a lifetime.
Thanks Top Hat for bringing this to the public.

You can have this amp for a lifetime. It's that good