SmokeyAmps

              This month I reviewed Smokey Amps.  They are the little practice amps made out of cigarette packs.  

To be honest I've owned one for quite some time.  I bought two at Christmas one as a gag gift for friend and        

one for myself, just to check it out.  So my review comes from months of playing through it.  A brief                      

description is a two inch clear plastic speaker in an overwieght cigarette pack with two quarter inch inputs           

(one is the guitar input the other is for an extension speaker) on the bottom.  I ordered mine in a Marlboro              

pack, because that was my brand at the time (you can order any cigarette pack and as long as they can find          

it, yours will come in it).                                                                                                                                                                    

         The amp itself takes up about half the bottom of the pack which is surprising considering the amount of

sound this little device emits.  The distortion/volume is controlled by the volume control on your guitar.  There    

really is no volume control to the anp though.  If you turn the guitar all the way down the amp quicklt cuts out.    

as you turn the volume up the amp comes back on.  If you turn the control past five you start to get distortion.    

This is really where the amp comes alive.  As it isn't (obviously) a tube amp (where would you put em'?) you        

only really get one kind of distortion.  It sounds like a night at an arena in the 80's; this is a great sound though.    

Unfortunately if you turn your guitar up past 8 the sound tends to get a little too crunchy and overbearing.              

So much so that it can wash out the notes.  This does not happen when the amp is plugged into the extension      

speaker.                                                                                                                                                                                                

           Untill I decided to review my Smokey Amp I had not used it to power anything other than it's own little

speaker.  The reason was that I had had enough problems with my other larger amps that I was afraid to mess    

around with them too much, but I figured if I was going to be accurate in reviewing I'd better bight the bullet      

and try it anyway.  So I plugged it into a Laney two-by-twelve and let it rip.  I was surprised at the sound it        

generated.  It said in the info that I recieved with the amp that this was possible, but I assumed that it would        

only amplify to the extent it did with the two inch speaker, possible only with better sound.  I hope I don't have  

to tell you what happens when you assume.  The amp sounded great and had more power than anyone would    

assume.  Another nice part about the extension speaker was that I could get the highest distortion out of it          

without sacraficing sound quality like the unit on its own.                                                                                                      

            At first when I recieved the amp I was worried about durability (after all it's only made out of a cigarette

pack.  But after about a week I had dropped it twice and accidentally set dozens of things on top of it. It kept    

on ticking.  The only troubles I had were when I opened the top (which is sealed with double sided tape to        

prevent the battery from falling out) and pulled out the battery one of the perforated sided of the pack ripped.  I

suppose if I had been paying more attention this probably wouldn't have happened.  Also after a few months     

the double sided tape is starting to lose its stickiness.  If I weren't so lazy I probably would just put a new piece

 on.  The only thing that concerned me at first was that the hinge on the pack might wear out (like the ones on my

cigarettes do), but the hinge is reinforced with little strips of black rubber on the inside.  So, that has not            

 happened yet.                                                                                                                                                   

              The amps sell for $25 (about $30 with shipping.This makes them a cost effective little setup.  Any

other headphone/practice amp I have ever seen in this class sells for at least $50 and ussually $75.  For those      

of you who don't find the cigarette packs a novelty or just want something a little more durable a plastic             

encased model sells for the same price.                                                                                                                                            

           Overall it makes me happy that my first review is posative.  In fact it was a posative expirience all

around.  When I originally emailed Bruce Zinky (the man who builds the amps) I was given very posative feed-

back about the idea for this page.  He was also very helpful in providing  pictures (the ones that accompany    

this review).  I believe this all speaks toward his customer relations.                                                                                

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