I just got one of these and have spent all morning in total awe of the sound that comes out of it. I've even taken it to my local guitar shop and put it through a few different cabinets and it has an unbelievable sound to it.

I think I'm in love.........

Anyone else here using one?

If not I suggest you check them out if your into recording guitars

http://media.zvex.com/nano.mov

It is amazingly well built and sounds fantastic.

I know the amp...it's a fantastic little gizmo. a real valve amp sound in an amp as big as my coffee mug. I wish they putted a filtered line out and a built in powerbreak,though. but it's ok...

BTW what valves does it uses? even those valves it has are ridicolously small,ah ah...how much you paid for the nanohead?

Edited by Don Chishiotte (01/06/05 03:18 PM)

It uses Phillips 6021W military submicro duotriodes !

And it cost me £190.00 inc delivery (Ebay)

It's a limited edition Chrome one

And very nice.

Powerbreak or line out would be cool, except I purchased it for mic'ing up in a recording situation and it seems perfect for the job.

Coolest little box I've used in eons.

bargain ,man. I have seen one in a shop for £ 330!
that little thing kicks butt. make sure you find a source where you can buy those microvalves from, thought...dont need to get to worried about them,just buy 4 or 5 in case they need replacing in a number of years...other than that,you wont be short of tone.
man,a valve amp you can carry in the palm of your hand. unbelievable. THAT'S technology,unlike all this line 6 and digitech etc. gizmos with 3 zillions of lifeless sounds

Edited by Don Chishiotte (01/06/05 04:56 PM)

I WAS going to say that I don't have one but am very interested in getting one and would like to canvas opinions from other users.

But you all beat me too it. Looks like I have something else fighting for top spot on my shopping list now. From all I've heard it sounds great even at £330!!

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

An acquaintance at work has one and he loves it. Even at 0.5W, when played through his marshal 4x12 it's too loud for his London flat so he uses it with a THD hotplate!

I just played it through a couple of 4x12 cabinets yesterday and a 12" cab and it is very loud. It defintately has 'That' sound and is prfect for recording or as a practise amp. I'm now trying to source a good 4 x 12 with greenbacks to go with it as I want to use it for recording.

It sounds unbelieveable, breaks up beautifully and has bags of tone.

Zachery Vex has put alot of soul into this project and I'm very glad he took the time to do so, as this is what I have wanted for the last 20 years and he went and made it.

this Zachery Vex guy is a good artist...in America there are quite a few of guys like that ,that make building amps an original and artful work.
Curt Emery is another mad guy www.emerysound.com
the last time I checked their site I saw a fantastic single ended amp,the Superbaby (means with only 1 power valve) with so many interchangeable options it's disgustingly great. you can put an el 34,el 84,6l6,and even the mighty and crushingly toneful kt 66!
with a powerbrake and so many different valves, that amp will really sound like 6 amps into one. the price was very reasonable last time I checked (been about 4 months),around 500 dollars.

it's very different than the nanohead,which is a great amp although I can hear it's triode-power amp distortion. sounds very full and pockey but I have a weak spot for PENTODE power amp distortion,which comes from pentodes of course (el 34,kt 66,el 84 etc).
well it's not better...only a personal preference. both the nanohead and the others are unique amps,the nanohead more so because it's so minuscule

Edited by Don Chishiotte (03/06/05 02:24 AM)

They look beautiful and I bet they sound it too, love the styling and the cabinets.

We need more of this and less plugin rubbish if music is going to evolve and move on.

Plugins are cool (easy, quick and cheap) but very bland and not great for tone and character, whereas these amps have great sound at recordable levels which is marvellous.

I love this week my Lindy Fralins 'Blues Specials' and my Steel trem block for my ol' Strat have just turned up from Charlie Chandlers.

It's going to be a blue, soulful weekend.......

Quote Stonehousestudio:

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They look beautiful and I bet they sound it too, love the styling and the cabinets.

We need more of this and less plugin rubbish if music is going to evolve and move on.

Plugins are cool (easy, quick and cheap) but very bland and not great for tone and character, whereas these amps have great sound at recordable levels which is marvellous.

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yes,that is what I thought about the stilyng...very beautiful. someone said that 'simplicity is an art,too'. we dont mean simplistic,but creative. love those amps. well ,plugins are a different world...if you are a pianist you dont record with a Bontempi organ. plus,plug ins are not really far from the price of a small valve amp,especially used

Oh yes, I really miss quirky but excellent amp and cab options.

So much so that I might look at getting a new workshop in the next few months and put some together.

Getting a house move completed at the moment. But once I'm safely serttled in to my new flat I'll be looking to rent a decent workshop space and getting my tools and machines sharp again.

Plug ins are a fantastic tool, but nothing quite compares to the real thing

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

Do it ! We need more real kit and less virtual rubbish.

Personally I'm getting quite sick of software and the results that I hear churned out every week from people using it.

Maybe I'm getting old or something ?

I believe in appropiate technology. Valve, tranny, digital, modeled.. don't give a damn as long as it gives me a good noise. Get the best of everything in my book

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

I don't believe in Trannys Zen, I think you may want a more specialist website for that sort of thing mate.

I found that specialist site, I don't believe in Tranny's anymore... trashed my credit card !!!!

LOL

Andy

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When the going gets weird, the Weird turn Pro.

I've just noticed www.hotroxuk.com has the Nano Head going for £265. Which is a hefty saving. Now I have to exercise will power and not shell out for the damn thing. Curses :s

Rahnoo

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www.cakeforlily.com

I'm getting two.

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My Jukebocks

I liked it so much, I bought the company!







Errrr..... actually that might not actually be true, though I am hopeful my birthday will see a Fuzz Factory pitch up to run through the my Nano.

>;o))

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Rome wasn't built in a day. But it was built...

Quote zenguitar:

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I believe in appropiate technology. Valve, tranny, digital, modeled.. don't give a damn as long as it gives me a good noise. Get the best of everything in my book

Andy

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totally agree with the above! its all about the right noise for the job, whatever package the noise comes from...

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"Some say, they come looking for drugs, dirty dancing and pounding, pounding house music"

Quote Rahnooo:

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I've just noticed www.hotroxuk.com has the Nano Head going for £265. Which is a hefty saving. Now I have to exercise will power and not shell out for the damn thing. Curses :s

Rahnoo

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hotrox seem to be one of the few places that don't seem to do a $1->£1 currency conversion when pricing up US imports. Prices on all the zvex stuff seems pretty reasonable

*idly plays with credit card*

.... must ..... resist

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Funk this, arm half due wink a trump


Edited by Sir Lurkalot (18/10/05 09:32 AM)

Quote Sir Lurkalot:

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*idly plays with credit card*

.... must ..... resist

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Resistance is futile!

Resistance IS futile. So I didn't resist and took advantage of that good hotrox price!

Hmmm - wonder what it would sound like on bass....

p.s. I don't have a speaker cab to use; I was intending using the speaker in my Cornford Harlequin (just plug it direct in to the Nano).

I also have an old Fender 112 deluxe which has a "Power Amp In" socket on the front. Anyone know if this means, "plug your pre-amp output in here and use my power-amp" or "plug your power amp output in here and use my speaker" ???? Many thanks. I don't want to test it, get it wrong and blow anything up !!!

I would have thought it the former myself.

>;o))

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Rome wasn't built in a day. But it was built...

Quote Reds:

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p.s. I don't have a speaker cab to use; I was intending using the speaker in my Cornford Harlequin (just plug it direct in to the Nano).

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I do exactly the same with my Trace-Elliot Speed Twin speaker.

>;o))

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Rome wasn't built in a day. But it was built...

Quote Reds:

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I also have an old Fender 112 deluxe which has a "Power Amp In" socket on the front.

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This is definitely for feeding a signal from a separate pre-amp or another guitar amps line-out in to the power amp of the combo. Definitely not for connecting directly into a speaker. Although the Zvex is only 1/2 watt, that is still a lot of power and will definitely spoil the amp's day if plugged in!

Thanks for the confirmation! That's another fine mess I nearly got myself in to.

My friend has a Marshall 4x12 cab I can borrow - not as 'sneakable in to the house' as the nano though....

Welcome to the wonderful world of Zvex nano amp ownership!

When not in use, I always keep mine nice and visible on a shelf somewhere. Its always nice when people see it and go "what the hell is *that* !?!"

Its definitely one of those things (for me, anyway) thats a joy to have around, cos its so inspiriational - fun to look at, fun to hold... oh yeah, don't sound half bad, either

I ordered mine from the States about six months ago, right after I'd submitted the order I felt terribly guilty and self indulgent - all that money for a 1/2W toy??? I figured I'd sell it on and not lose any money.

Anyway, to cut a long story short I fell in love as soon as I opened the box and thats that!



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Funk this, arm half due wink a trump

Damn right my Nano rules and looks great in my studio too. Everyone asks what it is and then I fire her up and they are like "What the F***, is thatv really coming out of that?"

I love it it is a joy to use and I still sit there in the evening and use it to noodle through when I'm winding down.

Fantastic little amp.

Hi,

I would heartily recommend that anyone with a Fuzz Factory looks into a Machine. You can get some AMAZING sounds running both. The Machine turns the Fuzz Factory into this wonderfully complex snarlying spitting FF on steroids!

ACE

Cheers

Steve

Has anyone heard/tried the Matamp Minimat 2Watt amp? If so, how does it compare?

I take it this thang is really only useful for distorted or crunchy tones? How is it on cleans/semi-cleans?? Just visited the site and sure enough - it`s another wasp-in-a-jamjar box. Wish someone would get a thing this small that sounded like a vibrolux or a tremolux....