BettyFjord
11-22-2008, 07:08 AM
I live in a flat in central London with my wife and two children. The amp sits in the living room so I need something that sounds and looks amazing and that won't burst my children's eardrums. Realistically, almost every production amp is too loud for my home. So I've been on a quest for low-wattage amps. This is my latest adventure.
While looking around the forums I stumbled onto a low-wattage amp thread and saw the classic list appearing. Unexpectedly though, a new name popped up. A UK company called Audio Kitchen (http://audiokitchen.co.uk/). After having a look at the site I found some things that particularly appealed to me. First, the amps are gorgeous. Even the tolex is a beautiful two-tone. Second, the Little Chopper is a reasonable 6 watts and uses a variable-power system that means the amp can act in a non-master volume mode and also in a scaled-power one. Perfect for the flat. Finally, they're made in the UK - something I particularly like - by the guys behind Mutronics (http://www.mutronics.co.uk/). The client list is impressive and I also asked some people I trusted who'd had access to the amp and got lots of favourable reports.
So I got in touch with Steve Crow and started the process. I decided to take a large hand in the look of the thing and leave the sound of it to him. And I really cannot say enough good things about Steve. He's charming, patient and knowledgable. I'm picky in all kinds of silly ways and he not only put up with it, but encouraged it. If it's important to me; it's important to him. He also, as you will see, gave me a constant stream of photos and updates and consulted me on every detail. And, if that weren't enough, he invited me to his workshop when it was done, gave me cups of tea, and talked me through every detail of the design and build. The amp itself is amazing but more on that later...
I wanted something a bit different - red control plate, cream chickenhead knobs, sapele wood and a nice grille cloth - so Steve got samples together for me to see. I liked everything except the cloth.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/1-plate-sapele-cloth.jpg
Steve got more grille samples from a vintage place in the US - they are for old radios - and showed them to me. The #13 Philco 84 whiskey rayon took my fancy so we went with that.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/2-plate-13-53-cloth.jpg
The next step was to choose a finish. I wanted a French polish and he offered it in light and dark. The dark brought out the figuring in the wood so I went with that.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/3-wood-finish-samples.jpg
Paul, the wood guy, took some shots of the cabinetry build. Here's the raw and dovetailed wood.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/4-dovetailed-sawn.jpg
For a small upcharge Steve & Paul made me two backs for the cabinet - closed and Dumble-style. Here's Paul with his patented template.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/5-bucket-hole-template.jpg
A picture of the figured top of the cab.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/6-cabinet-top.jpg
The cloth arrives from the US. It's too small so it goes back. It looks brilliant though.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/7-cloth-too-small.jpg
My completed head and cab (top head, bottom cab).
http://images.bettyfjord.com/8-heads-cabs.jpg
The finished, stained and polished head, cab and backs. Note the faceplate on the head.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/9-head-two-backs.jpg
The finished, stained and polished head, cab and backs showing the figuring and grille cloth. Note the faceplate on the head.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/10-head-cab-cloth.jpg
And... introducing... the finished amp. My Little Despot. Dark French polished sapele with #13 Philco grille, red anodised control plate and cream chickenhead knobs. Remember I asked you to note the faceplate before? That's because it's changed now. Steve found a flaw in the wood, knew it wasn't good enough, and had a new one made.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/11-despot-finished-straight.jpg
The Little Despot quietly enjoying the autumn sun.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/12-despot-finished-side.jpg
At this point I went to the workshop, had tea with Steve, and took my amp home. It's an amazing piece of kit. It's got incredibly flexible and useful controls, and a great range of sounds. The overdrive is defined and not mushy. The cleans are ringing and articulate.
Unfortunately, my fiddly nature meant that I couldn't leave well-enough alone. I had fallen in love with the two-tone blue-grey tolex finish in the workshop and kept looking at the two-tone finish in my cab. So I asked Steve if he could get Paul to make me a new faceplate, in the same wood as the corner stripes. A short while later this gorgeous piece of English oak showed up.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/13-oak-face.jpg
I took off the back to get access to the front and found this little treat. The backplate is also anodised red and there's an etched message telling me it's the 20th Little Chopper (the official name of the product), finished on the 3rd of October and contact details if I need them. Cool.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/14-despot-open-back.jpg
And here's the now-finished product. A two-tone head with dark polished oak and sapele. It's gorgeous.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/15-little-despot-face.jpg
The complete amp. I think the aesthetics are perfect. The two-tone head and cab feel elegant and fit in beautifully in the flat. My little boy has already poked the hell out of the grille so there's a dent. It's a damn good thing I love him.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/16-little-despot.jpg
The Little Despot and my recently adjusted Vinetto. A perfect match.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/17-little-despot-vinetto.jpg
The amp has high, middle, low adjustments and a stack selector. The stack is two position - on, which gives you access to the high, middle, low; or off to bypass them for a single treble roll-off. It can also act like a hi/lo for kicking up the gain if you need it. When the amp's in 'normal' mode - the power control all the way to the right - the gain control acts exactly like a volume knob. Turning it all the way up means the thing is bloody loud through it's 12" Celestion Blue. Turning the power control to the left lowers the headroom and volume. Which means between the gain and the power you can get any level of distortion at any level of volume. And the distortion is lovely - creamy and thick but defined. There's no mud or blurring. The cleans are good too, if short-lived unless you are are on non-master. It's really so much fun to play because a quick twist of the controls gives you so much variation.
The workmanship is excellent too. The head and cab are dovetail joined with a contrasting oak stripe at the corners. There's full piping on the grille. The control plate is anodised aluminium (your choice of colour) and has a funny hand-written type but it's actually etched. The little logo plate is all chromed and beautiful. The amp is made entirely by hand, in the UK, using clever and appropriate techniques (Steve's no slave to tradition - he does what makes sense and sounds great). It's a blend of hi-fi and old amp and massive Hammond [edit: massive Northern] transformers. Even the caps are custom-made for Steve to his specs (I'll leave him to tell you about them. It's a great story). There's a pro review (search for "audio kitchen little chopper review" in Google) if you are interested.
The family's happy because it's all at a reasonable volume and a respectable aesthetic. I'm happy because I've got an amp I can use and learn and love. In the end, I couldn't be more pleased with the amp and, as an added bonus, with the experience.
While looking around the forums I stumbled onto a low-wattage amp thread and saw the classic list appearing. Unexpectedly though, a new name popped up. A UK company called Audio Kitchen (http://audiokitchen.co.uk/). After having a look at the site I found some things that particularly appealed to me. First, the amps are gorgeous. Even the tolex is a beautiful two-tone. Second, the Little Chopper is a reasonable 6 watts and uses a variable-power system that means the amp can act in a non-master volume mode and also in a scaled-power one. Perfect for the flat. Finally, they're made in the UK - something I particularly like - by the guys behind Mutronics (http://www.mutronics.co.uk/). The client list is impressive and I also asked some people I trusted who'd had access to the amp and got lots of favourable reports.
So I got in touch with Steve Crow and started the process. I decided to take a large hand in the look of the thing and leave the sound of it to him. And I really cannot say enough good things about Steve. He's charming, patient and knowledgable. I'm picky in all kinds of silly ways and he not only put up with it, but encouraged it. If it's important to me; it's important to him. He also, as you will see, gave me a constant stream of photos and updates and consulted me on every detail. And, if that weren't enough, he invited me to his workshop when it was done, gave me cups of tea, and talked me through every detail of the design and build. The amp itself is amazing but more on that later...
I wanted something a bit different - red control plate, cream chickenhead knobs, sapele wood and a nice grille cloth - so Steve got samples together for me to see. I liked everything except the cloth.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/1-plate-sapele-cloth.jpg
Steve got more grille samples from a vintage place in the US - they are for old radios - and showed them to me. The #13 Philco 84 whiskey rayon took my fancy so we went with that.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/2-plate-13-53-cloth.jpg
The next step was to choose a finish. I wanted a French polish and he offered it in light and dark. The dark brought out the figuring in the wood so I went with that.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/3-wood-finish-samples.jpg
Paul, the wood guy, took some shots of the cabinetry build. Here's the raw and dovetailed wood.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/4-dovetailed-sawn.jpg
For a small upcharge Steve & Paul made me two backs for the cabinet - closed and Dumble-style. Here's Paul with his patented template.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/5-bucket-hole-template.jpg
A picture of the figured top of the cab.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/6-cabinet-top.jpg
The cloth arrives from the US. It's too small so it goes back. It looks brilliant though.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/7-cloth-too-small.jpg
My completed head and cab (top head, bottom cab).
http://images.bettyfjord.com/8-heads-cabs.jpg
The finished, stained and polished head, cab and backs. Note the faceplate on the head.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/9-head-two-backs.jpg
The finished, stained and polished head, cab and backs showing the figuring and grille cloth. Note the faceplate on the head.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/10-head-cab-cloth.jpg
And... introducing... the finished amp. My Little Despot. Dark French polished sapele with #13 Philco grille, red anodised control plate and cream chickenhead knobs. Remember I asked you to note the faceplate before? That's because it's changed now. Steve found a flaw in the wood, knew it wasn't good enough, and had a new one made.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/11-despot-finished-straight.jpg
The Little Despot quietly enjoying the autumn sun.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/12-despot-finished-side.jpg
At this point I went to the workshop, had tea with Steve, and took my amp home. It's an amazing piece of kit. It's got incredibly flexible and useful controls, and a great range of sounds. The overdrive is defined and not mushy. The cleans are ringing and articulate.
Unfortunately, my fiddly nature meant that I couldn't leave well-enough alone. I had fallen in love with the two-tone blue-grey tolex finish in the workshop and kept looking at the two-tone finish in my cab. So I asked Steve if he could get Paul to make me a new faceplate, in the same wood as the corner stripes. A short while later this gorgeous piece of English oak showed up.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/13-oak-face.jpg
I took off the back to get access to the front and found this little treat. The backplate is also anodised red and there's an etched message telling me it's the 20th Little Chopper (the official name of the product), finished on the 3rd of October and contact details if I need them. Cool.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/14-despot-open-back.jpg
And here's the now-finished product. A two-tone head with dark polished oak and sapele. It's gorgeous.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/15-little-despot-face.jpg
The complete amp. I think the aesthetics are perfect. The two-tone head and cab feel elegant and fit in beautifully in the flat. My little boy has already poked the hell out of the grille so there's a dent. It's a damn good thing I love him.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/16-little-despot.jpg
The Little Despot and my recently adjusted Vinetto. A perfect match.
http://images.bettyfjord.com/17-little-despot-vinetto.jpg
The amp has high, middle, low adjustments and a stack selector. The stack is two position - on, which gives you access to the high, middle, low; or off to bypass them for a single treble roll-off. It can also act like a hi/lo for kicking up the gain if you need it. When the amp's in 'normal' mode - the power control all the way to the right - the gain control acts exactly like a volume knob. Turning it all the way up means the thing is bloody loud through it's 12" Celestion Blue. Turning the power control to the left lowers the headroom and volume. Which means between the gain and the power you can get any level of distortion at any level of volume. And the distortion is lovely - creamy and thick but defined. There's no mud or blurring. The cleans are good too, if short-lived unless you are are on non-master. It's really so much fun to play because a quick twist of the controls gives you so much variation.
The workmanship is excellent too. The head and cab are dovetail joined with a contrasting oak stripe at the corners. There's full piping on the grille. The control plate is anodised aluminium (your choice of colour) and has a funny hand-written type but it's actually etched. The little logo plate is all chromed and beautiful. The amp is made entirely by hand, in the UK, using clever and appropriate techniques (Steve's no slave to tradition - he does what makes sense and sounds great). It's a blend of hi-fi and old amp and massive Hammond [edit: massive Northern] transformers. Even the caps are custom-made for Steve to his specs (I'll leave him to tell you about them. It's a great story). There's a pro review (search for "audio kitchen little chopper review" in Google) if you are interested.
The family's happy because it's all at a reasonable volume and a respectable aesthetic. I'm happy because I've got an amp I can use and learn and love. In the end, I couldn't be more pleased with the amp and, as an added bonus, with the experience.