Pignose 7-100 Legendary portable amplifier

I was thinking about this amp when I woke up this morning. This is how central the product has been to the three decades I've been playing guitar. I've got a forty year-old Fender Twin somewhere in storage in California, along with a Fender Blues Junior. I've owned orange colored Roland Cube amps and Ampegs, played through a Rockman headset, and used many Marshall stacks in my day. But I've also lived between coasts, and inhabited apartments, traveling and shipping belongings from place to place and having neighbors above, below and on either side of me. It's always the Pignose that I come back to and the other amps remain sitting unused somewhere else. I've owned at least three of them .. none broke down, one is on the other coast and the third packed away in a moving box somewhere.I've read complaints that the amp won't give you a 'clean' sound, and it's true that you can't get the same bright, glass-cutting clear tone that a Fender Twin will produce. But try putting the Twin in your backpack or using it in any reasonable fashion with a neighbor next door. The Pignose has a great and unique sound and produces a mellow, over-driven effect particularly as the batteries get low. You can buy an optional AC adapter if you don't want to worry about the batteries. You can get a reasonable variety of tones just by adjusting the volume or switching between pickup combinations on your guitar.Obviously it's a practice-sized amp with only one volume control, so you won't get the range of tones or sound that you do with a full size amp. But in a sense this also makes you a better guitar player because you aren't forever messing with the controls, adjusting the mix between that master volume and volume knobs, or trying to adjust for the perfect balance of bass, treble, reverb, 'speed', 'brightness', or whatever the manufacture is calling it. You see these amps everywhere; on stages, strapped to street musicians on the sidewalk or in the subway station, used as microphone amplification etc. They've been around for 35 years and haven't changed much in price or construction. (As a side note, I've owned one of their other amplifiers besides the 7-100 and wasn't as big a fan.) The most recent one I bought is about the same amp as the first I ever owned. Nobody talks about a 'pre-CBS Pignose' or the era when they built them right. And you can get one for under a hundred bucks.If you're a musician who's been around a while and still enjoy playing the electric guitar but find that it no longer fits your lifestyle, pick your favorite axe and keep it under the bed or in a closet along with the Pignose, a reliable cord, and fresh AA batteries. It's a great amp and a hell of lot more convenient than dragging the Twin up from the basement.

First, I have to say the only reason I bought this is that we have two pot belly pigs that live in our house...so this was a no-brainer to purchase just to have as a fan of pigs, and I play the guitar too.Now for the review.This little "collector" amp turns out to be something I will actually use rather than put on a shelf to look at with all of our other pig stuff.I was very surprised how well built it is. It's solid as a rock with chrome handles, edge guards and a pig snout for the volume control.It looks like a mini suit case and contrary to another review, the AC adapter fits into a compartment inside so it may be stored internally. It also operates on batteries which makes this little thing quite the gem to take with us this summer. Now I can take the Fender or Gibson electrics rather than the acoustic.Okay, I keep getting off topic here...The sound is clear and crisp for it's size. Sure, it's not my Fender Mustang IV, but I didn't pay 600 bucks for it either. But then my Fender doesn't have a pig's snout!! There are no controls on this for tone adjustments, just a volume knob. But, most of our modern electric guitars have quite a bit of tone adjustment anyway. I would compare the sound coming from it as above average but it's the novelty of the amp that is the real attraction, for me anyway.As for it's size, I would say it's just about the size of your average small jewelry box. But it's much heavier, deceptively heavy but I like that. It doesn't have that "cheap" feel about it.Like I said, I WILL use this occasionally, especially during summer months when we cruise in the convertible or in the conversion van. I look forward to the comments the amp will get, I'm sure way more than my guitar playing skills as I still have a lot to learn. But, learning should be fun and this little amp and is just another way to make it even more fun.In summary, I would highly recommend this to any pig lover who owns a guitar or to anyone who's looking for a portable amp that operates on either batteries or an AC adapter.A word to best describe it...."COOL".