FOR MORE THAN 10 years, David Kowalski has been building and repairing tube amps in McAllen, Texas, just across the Rio Grande — and the U.S. border — from Reynosa, Mexico. Fairly recently, he came up with his own big idea in the form of the tiny Dark Gene micro amplifier. Available in Red and Green models, the Dark Gene puts out a diminutive 0.5 watt into your choice of four- to the 16-ohm cabinet, and is voiced and gained up to sound huge in spirit, if not in decibels.
Mini and microamps have become a popular way to achieve cranked-up tube amp fury without overwhelming volume. Unlike some of the mass-manufactured mini amps that have hit the market in recent years, the Dark Genes are hand-wired in genuine point-to-point style. A pair of 12AX7 tubes take preamp duties, and a 12AU7 — also traditionally a preamp tube — is conscripted as an output tube, wired in parallel for a dual-single-ended Class-A output stage.
SPECIFICATIONS
Dark Gene Micro Amplifier
CONTACT
dkowalskiamplifiers.com
PRICE
$349 direct, each
CHANNELS
Red model, 2; Green, 1
CONTROLS
Sensitivity, gain 1, treble, bass, gain 2 (with clean/lead push-pull on Red Model), switch for Top/Mid voicing
POWER
0.5 watts
TUBES
Two 12AX7 preamp tubes, one 12AU7 as output tube
EXTRAS
Low output for use as preamp. Uses a standard IEC power cord
WEIGHT
2 lbs
BUILT
Assembled in USA
KUDOS
Cleverly designed and well-constructed, they tunefully fulfill the need for low-volume playing
CONCERNS
Red overdrive can sound a little fizzy when pushed hard
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2021 من Guitar Player.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة November 2021 من Guitar Player.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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