A lightweight, low-powered combo amp with 3-band EQ, flexibility, and high headroom.
Operating in Cathode Bias on a single JJ 6V6GT output tube; the new compact, 5 watt combos are a small format, light weight, low powered 110 combo amplifier that possesses professional grade tone, high headroom and maximum flexibility. Loaded with a 10” speaker by American boutique speaker company, WGS Speakers, the Spanky JR 6VEL is Cathode Bias and is compatible with virtually every octal-based power and rectifier tube. The Spanky JR 6VEL utilizes one each octal-based power and rectifier tube socket with supported power tubes including 6V6 (standard), EL34, 6L6, 5881, KT66. Supported rectifier tubes include 5Y3 (standard), 5U4, and 5AR4/GZ34. Other features include an American voiced preamp, 3-band EQ, and a tube driven spring reverb that features FLOOD MODE - turning the unit into a stand-alone all-wet reverb effect.
Features
Clean, American Voiced, High Headroom Preamp Section
Over-sized /Overbuilt Power Transformer and Power Supply
5Y3 Tube Rectified as standard (5U4, GZ34 compatible)
Hand-wired and Hand Built in Nashville, TN
Limited Lifetime Warranty
All 3rd Power amplifiers are hand-built in the USA and feature point-to-point turret board construction. Spanky JR 6VEL is now at introductory prices starting around $1899. For sound clips and more information, please visit www.3rdPower.com.
BOSS announces CUBE Street II, a battery-powered stereo amplifier for mobile music performers and anyone who needs high-quality sound on the go.
Evolved from the best-selling Roland CUBE Street—and newly rebranded with the BOSS name—the compact CUBE Street II features two input channels for mics and instruments, onboard effects, looper and harmony functions, and more. The amplifier also includes support for the optional BOSS Bluetooth Audio MIDI Dual Adaptor (BT-DUAL), a new product that allows users to wirelessly stream backing tracks and control CUBE Street II functions with a dedicated app for iOS and Android mobile devices.
First introduced in 2007, the groundbreaking Roland CUBE Street was an instant hit among mobile musicians. Offering a high-quality, battery-powered sound solution for street gigs and other intimate performing situations, it quickly became a mainstay in the busking world and continues to be used daily by performers everywhere. In 2014, the series expanded with the CUBE Street EX, a more powerful and feature-rich model for larger audiences. Starting with the CUBE Street II, all newly developed products in the CUBE Street series will carry the BOSS brand name.
CUBE Street II is even lighter and more durable than its predecessor, thanks to a modern ABS injection-molded cabinet design. The output power has also been doubled, providing 10 total watts of loud and clean stereo sound to cut through street traffic, train arrivals, and other noise challenges on the gig. In quieter situations, users can engage Eco mode to reduce the power and extend battery life.
NEW BOSS CUBE STREET II - Battery-Powered Stereo Amplifier
With two ultra-versatile input channels, CUBE Street II supports all types of musicians and performers. The Mic/Instrument channel features a combo jack for either an XLR balanced mic or an instrument such as a keyboard or Roland's Aerophone Digital Wind Instrument. Equipped with a standard ¼-inch jack, the Guitar/Mic channel provides plug-and-play sound for guitarists with seven acoustic and electric amp types, as well as settings for a line-level instrument or unbalanced mic.
CUBE Street II also includes many great features to take performances to the next level. Each channel provides three-band EQ and reverb, and there is a chorus/delay effect on the Guitar/Mic channel. An automatic harmony function allows users to create impressive vocal harmonies based on the guitar chords they play or a preset key, and CUBE Street II also includes a built-in looper for creating backing tracks on the spot.
CUBE Street II helps performers reach both in-person and global audiences at the same time. Via i-CUBE Link and USB, users can send the amp's audio output to video, livestreaming, or music production apps for on-the-spot capture. And while designed with performing musicians in mind, CUBE Street II excels in any situation that requires high-quality sound. It's easy to move and set up anywhere, making it perfect for speaking in presentations, workshops, and school events. The optional Bluetooth Audio MIDI Dual Adaptor (BT-DUAL) brings even greater creative power to CUBE Street II. Once installed, users can wirelessly connect a phone or tablet to jam live with backing tracks or play break music between sets. It also provides wireless connectivity for the CUBE Street II Editor, a free app for accessing extended functionality such as deep effects editing, battery level monitoring, Live Set creation, and much more.
The CUBE Street II and Bluetooth Audio MIDI Dual Adaptor will be available in the U.S. in July for $349.99 and $49.99, respectively.
A study in Orange: Joanna Connor routinely puts her amp and her Delaney signature model through seven- or eight-hour shifts in the heart of Chicago's blues scene. But for now, it's used for jams at a friend's art studio.
Photo by Maleki Raei
How blues firebrand Joanna Connor gets tube-like tone from a durable, solid-state combo.
The best way to get a fix on your priorities for an amp is to play, play, play. Joanna Connor's been tirelessly bending notes and wailing slide since the late '80s: initially touring the U.S. and Europe, and then, since 2005, holding court at clubs in her adopted home of Chicago, letting the world come to her at tourist destinations like the House of Blues and Kingston Mines.
Kingston Mines, in particular, is a crucible. Up until the pandemic, Connor played there four nights a week—typically starting at 7:30 p.m. with an hour-long acoustic set, then bringing on her band to lay down the law of blues until 2:30 a.m. on weeknights and 4:30 a.m. on weekends. Those are long, tough performances, but they splashed fuel on what was already a conflagrant playing style, blending loud, burly, Les Paul tone with an immense vocabulary of blues, rock, and much more, including a soloing approach as likely to nod to Hendrix as Elmore James, Lonnie Brooks, or even Professor Longhair. Those shows also brought Connor to an amplifier that she says can stand up to punishment and still deliver the big sounds she needs: an Orange Crush Pro 120 Combo.
While blues tones are generally considered the province of glowing tubes, this solid-state option serves Connor well. "Tube amps are divas, in a sense," she says. "If you're not babying them, they have issues. I played a Victoria 2x12 for 20 years on the road, and I loved it, until it literally fell apart. Playing those long nights puts a lot of abuse on an amp. Kingston Mines is a long room, and more than 400 people can squeeze into the place. I also like my band to play hard, so I need an amp that can get over their stage volume and get my sound into the room, on top."
"Tube amps are divas, in a sense. If you're not babying them, they have issues."
Connor was using the club's backline on the night Orange's global artist relations manager, Alex Auxier, caught her live. She tried a number of Orange tube amps after he offered an endorsement, but she selected the 120-watt Crush. With two 60-watt, 12" Voice of the World speakers and an 18 mm birch plywood cabinet, the Crush is no lightweight, sonically or literally, at 63 pounds. The controls are a global master volume, and the clean channel sports volume, bass, and treble dials, while the dirty channel has 3-band EQ and gain. There's a buffered effects loop and reverb channel switching, with digital hall, spring, and plate options.
That array covers all the basics, but Connor keeps things close to the bone, using only the clean channel and a handful of pedals—a Boss Blues Driver, a Way Huge Blue Hippo Chorus, and a Rocktron Short Timer delay ("I use delay instead of reverb," she notes)—to project the sound of her Les Pauls and her Delaney signature model, a single-coil guitar that's shaped like a Paul, with a Stetsbar vibrato arm. "To switch between rhythm and lead sounds, I use the pedals, and for slide, I use the pickup selector more, and I tend to leave my guitar controls wide open," she relates.
As for the Crush, Connor keeps all the controls on the clean channel at about 2 o'clock. At that point, even the clean channel yields organic-sounding breakup—a result of the amp's all-analog signal path, inspired by Orange's Rockerveb series. "I turn it up good and loud, so it's responsive and the lows, mids, and highs are all apparent, but not to the point where your ear drums are bleeding," she says. "I get a nice, warm heavy bottom out of it. A lot of amps can't handle the amount of bass I like without distorting or getting muddy, but this amp has nice presence and is crisp and clean. It has the warmth of a tube amp."
Connor uses few stomps—just an overdrive, digital delay, and a chorus—and prefers to drive her amp to create boldly sculpted tones.
Photo by Maleki Raei
To get an earful of Connor's dramatic playing, check out her new album produced by Joe Bonamassa, 4801 South Indiana Avenue. The address is that of the now-long-gone Theresa's Lounge, where the Massachusetts-born Connor first dropped roots in the Windy City. And the sound is granite-solid blues-rock with a Chicago and Memphis spin, paying respect to a host of foundational musicians, including Hound Dog Taylor, Albert King, Magic Sam, and Johnnie Taylor. Her guitar is unspared and unsparing throughout, although you won't hear the Crush at work. Bonamassa dipped into his notably swank collection of vintage gear and dug out a '55 tweed Fender Deluxe to channel her slide and lead playing. But you'll see the amp behind her in the album's first video, Connor's version of Magic Sam's totemic "I Feel So Good," where her slide playing will scald your cranium. (You can find it with the online version of this column.) You can also peruse her substantial recorded catalog, where 2019's stylistically diverse Rise and 1996's Big Girl Blues provide an especially good introduction.
With her regular gigs at Kingston Mines and the House of Blues—typically covering six or seven nights a week—on hold along with the rest of the world, Connor has been teaching online and working on adding more jazz to her vocabulary. As for her Orange Crush, it's waiting for the stage at a friend's art studio—at ground level. "I'm not dragging that thing up to the second floor of my house," she says, laughing. "I leave at his place, and we get together and jam every Thursday."
YouTube It
Listen to Joanna Conner kick ass on slide guitar in her take on Chicago blues legend Magic Sam's "I Feel So Good," from her new album, 4801 South Indiana Avenue, produced by Joe Bonamassa. Her Orange Crush Pro 120 combo has her back onstage.
