PIGNOSE
The Pignose is another solid-state
wonder that’s been around in one
form or another since 1969. It’s also
battery powered, rated at five watts,
and contains a five-inch speaker.
While the Pignose won’t fit in any
pocket, it comes with handy little
strap buttons so you can sling it across
your body with a spare guitar strap.
Prior to the more feature-rich battery
powered amps from Roland and Line
6, the Pignose was the go-to amp
for buskers and Venice Beach rollerskating rockers. The current production
Pignose is known as the Legendary
7-100 and pumps five watts into a
six-inch speaker. On the back of the
Pignose, there’s a jack for a nine-volt
adapter and a jack for running the
Preamp of the Pignose into a larger
amp or pedals.
The tone is surprisingly full and the
Pignose stays clean until at least
noon (tip of snout facing directly up)
with most pickups. Sure, it lacks the
dynamics and mojo of a tube amp, but
the Pignose is surprisingly response
and very cool sounding.
PRO USE: Legend has it that Frank
Zappa used a Pignose to record a lot
of his early-‘70s work. The story is
that he placed the Pignose on its
back facing up towards the ceiling
and placed a mic from above. The
contact with the floor and the radiating
low frequencies helped to make the
Pignose sound bigger.
BONUS: One cool feature of the
Pignose is hinged case which allows
access to the battery compartment.
Opening the case changes the
resonance of the case and serves as a
EQ. Even cooler, you can have a friend
open and close the case while you play
creating a mechanically-induced wah/
rotating speaker effect.
ToneReport.com
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