Harley Benton has rolled out a trio of tube amp heads, inspired by the success of their combo amp counterparts – and perhaps the design of the high-end guitar amp designers.
While Harley Benton might be referencing boutique amp design, it’s not emulating the price. These smart, cream Tolex-covered amp heads are hugely affordable, with the largest and most expensive of the three, the 3o-watt TUBE30, priced just £394.
The five-watt TUBE5 and 15-watt TUBE15 round out the series, with the matching G110 Celestion speaker cabinet available for just £77.
All share a similar aesthetic, with high-polished chrome control panels and white chicken head dials. The TUBE5 and TUBE15 have cloth fronts, the TUBE30 a metal grille. The TUBE5 and TUBE15 have power-scaling features and are switchable down to a bedroom-friendly single-watt setting.
The TUBE5 is pretty much as simple as a guitar amp gets, with dials for Volume and Tone and a push button for power output. A red-orange jewel lamp lets you know when it’s on.
Under the hood it has a single ECC83/12AX7 in the preamp, and a single 6V6 in the power amp. It has a single eight-to-16 ohm speaker output at the back of the amp. Weight just 5.2kg, it’s compact and portable and looks a lot of fun. Just plug in your electric guitar and crank it up.
The TUBE15 is similarly a single-channel model but is a little more involved, giving players more options for shaping their tone. It has Bass, Middle and Treble controls, plus an extra Tone control, and there is an onboard reverb. It too has a single speaker output but there’s also an effects loop around the back so it will play nice with your pedalboard.
It is powered by a pair of EL84s, and has a trio of ECC83/12AX7 tubes in the preamp, and at 15-watts it should have more than enough juice for small gigs, with that single-watt setting coming in handy for home practice.
The TUBE30 has two channels and two inputs. The Clean channel has a single Volume control and a Bright switch. The Overdrive channel has Gain and Volume controls, while a three-band EQ, reverb and extra tone control serves both channels.
It has an effects loop, footswitch input for the reverb, and eight ohm and eight-to-16 ohm speaker inputs. There are four EL84s in the power amp, and three ECC83/12AX7 tubes in the preamp.
Rounding out the launch is a very affordable matching G110 1x10” speake cabinet, with the plywood cab fitted with a G10E-30 Celestion.
These are all available now exclusively via Thomann. You can find more details over at Harley Benton.
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