Orange Micro Crush

[newey]

Just got this little travel amp today, to go along with the still-in-the-works travel guitar:



So here's the hands-on review:

Naturally, with 3 watts and a 4" speaker, I wasn't expecting this thing to sound like a Twin Reverb, but I am not thrilled with the sound. As the ad copy suggests, the tone control is really more of a gain/tone combo. The only semi-clean sounds to be had are with this control rolled all the way down, leaving a somewhat muddy bass tone.

It is not at all loud, you're not going to get kicked out of any hotel rooms even with it cranked. (Which is, I think, the point)

The OD button gives tons of sustain but it is so noisy as to be practically useless. There's plenty of distortion even with it off.

If one was strictly a shredder type, this might just be the ticket for on-the-road practice. But not if you're Mr. Clean.

On the positive side, the unit appears very solidly built, no plastic to be seen. The back is metal, the cabinet feels sturdy, the controls have a good feel to them.

The onboard tuner is functional, it just has the 3 LEDs red-/green/red+ so it's hard to be terribly precise cents-wise, but handy to have. It has a headphone out, but of the mini-jack variety.

And it is very small- 5"X5"X3.5" approx. Fits into the pocket of my gigbag (just barely). Looks sharp, with the orange Tolex and wheat-straw grillecloth.

The only other of these mini amps I have used to compare it to is the Pignose, which is $20 more but sounds a lot better IMO. This is, however, about 1/2 the size of the Pignose. I haven't tried any of the mini Fender or Marshall ones. I bought this mainly because of the tuner, and the fact that it had a 4" speaker, bigger than some of the others.

While I'm underwhelmed by the sound, it is what it is for $55. I'll keep it and use it as planned for travel. Although I have the feeling this won't be the last portable amp I buy.

BTW, I ordered this from Geartree, first time I've orderd anything from them and no problems. When I ordered this in June, the website disclosed that the item wouldn't ship until July 23 due to a backorder. It actually arrived today, on the 23rd. So, it's only one transaction with these folks, but seamless.

[D2o]

Thanks for the report newey.

I guess the point of this amp really is the size, then. Kinda cool to be able to shove it in the pocket of your gig bag.

On board tuners are useful (these days). I have a tuner function in my multi-effects pedal ...

... funny thing is, it's because of all these electronic tuner gizmos these days that they're useful these days ... I can no longer tune a guitar by ear for the life of me!

DD

[ux4484]

I saw the mini-crush at a local shop, and I've eyed the Vox battery job for a while, but I've had a Cortez mini-amp for decades with a 4" speaker that has been rock solid (except for the 9V battery connector). No features other than a volume and speaker out (can actually drive my 2x12!), it's got a little distortion at high volumes but on the whole is pretty clean. The main problem being that it's just a tad too large to fit in a (hardshell) case, which I why I picked up a Smokey mini-amp (formerly cigarette pack amp). Noisy, but fun and only $15!

[nomadh]

I like the vox da5 best. A little bigger and more expensive but a great little amp.

[newey]

NomadH-

Yeah, I haven't played one of the Vox DA5s yet, but as I said, I don't think this is the last portable amp I'll buy. If I get up into the Vox price range, I'd also look at the Roland Microcube and the Line6 Microspider.

All those are a bigger size than this, but the real question I have is: How much am I actually going to use the travel amp? If I end up using it a lot, I'll look to upgrade and start playing some of the above models. If it's just an occasional thing, then this $55 model should suffice for quite a while.

On further playing around with this amp, I found that it has another nice feature: It is wired such that the power switch will not power up the amp unless a cable is plugged into the input jack. This prevents the amp from being jostled "on" in a suitcase and running down the battery.

[ux4484]

My kids have gobs of activities this summer, one of the things I do with my Smokey is to bring it, my '51, and headphones with me to keep occupied during their classes. Starting this week, we have four days a week at a local (musical) arts center, so a middle aged dude playing into headphones in the lobby is not an unexpected sight.
When the Mrs and I go to a party we suspect might get a bit dry, I pop my '51 case in the trunk with my Smokey....no one has complained yet ;D .
The Smokey has a sensing plug as well, I get a couple months on a 9V battery.
I've found the more I use it, the more likely I am to find more opportunities to use it.

[newey]

This thing is actually quite a bit of fun, after futzing around with it for a few days. As far as the sound goes, I'm beginning to think the speaker may simply be breaking up too soon. Have to try it through headphones and see what it sounds like, if it 's cleaner through the cans maybe a speaker swap is in order.

Gawd, here I am, talking about modding a $55 9V amp, less than a week after I got it.

[andy]

That's the spirit, Newey! It's the only way to go!
Any plans for sourcing a better quality 4" speaker though? They can't be easy to find.

[JohnH]

Newey - if you are a REAL modder you would rebuild the cabinet with 3/4" finger-jointed baltic birch ply. Nothing else keeps that real tightness and projection in the low end for bone-crushing bass response.

I'd also recommend upgrading the battery to an NOS zinc-carbon type from around 1965, to get that authentic power 'sag'.


John

[newey]

An Update on the Micro Crush-

This week, I had to go out of town so I got the chance to take this on the road and use it in a hotel room. And I'm liking it more and more.

At home, in the basement, I had been using all, or nearly all, of the volume available just to get some sound out. In the hotel room, I found myself turning it way down as it seemed likely to disturb others. Once I got the volume down to about 5 or so, a decent clean tone is available at a very low volume- perfect for the hotel setting.

So I'm retracting some of my initial impressions. It also occurs to me that the speaker may be breaking in a bit.

I'm not a big fan of playing through headphones so, for the money, I'm liking this piece. A vacation at the beach next week will be the true workout, as I won't just have to worry about the neighbors being annoyed, but also my wife . . .