Smokey Polycarbonate Portable Miniature (Mini) Guitar Amplifier Amp Clear

These Smokey mini amps are fantastic. I highly recommend them to everyone looking for a portable amp for campsites, hotel rooms, or noodling in your living room. I surprisingly own 3 of them. Why? Because I bought the original made from a old cigarette pack, loved it and needed a second so that I could keep one in my travel bag. Then, I've found that after playing both cigarette pack versions heavily for a year now, they definitely show a lot of wear, and the cardboard starts breaking down. I do not mind the wear and tear at all but I wanted to get one of the plastic shell amps to take the brunt of my playing so that it lasts longer. The plastic shell amp sounds slightly different from the cardboard cig pack amps because of the material, the plastic shell amp sounds a bit louder and a bit glassier (whereas the cardboard is a bit more warm). The only inconvenience with both cardboard and plastic shell models is changing the batteries. These plastic shell versions require you to unscrew three small screws to change the battery, not really a problem, and actually I like the sturdiness of it rather than a plastic clip or something. In the cardboard versions the lid of the cig pack is where you change the battery and it just wears out really quickly being cardboard. I find with regular use for an hour or so a day, the 9V battery lasts about 3 weeks or so. The sound is excellent, really rich and the perfect amount of distortion as you crank the volume - clear up to vol 5-6, with breakup at vol 6-7, and some real grit at vol 10. The output headphone jack can be used to go out to other speakers and you can actually use this as a slightly overdriven pre-amp. Plugging a cord into the input jack is how you turn the unit on, so it is VERY easy to use, just remember to unplug when you are finished. Volume is controlled using your guitar volume adjustment. They may seem pricey for a small amp, but they are not a toy and they are easily ten times better than other toy-like kids practice amps, and therefore well worth the price, a great value in fact. AWESOME amp. Get one. Get TWO.

Really like the small size and ease of use...plastic case changes the sound quality, but it's a trade off....paper box sounds better but is not as durable.