Foundling Audio Labs Rapscallion GSE-5 - 5 Watt Hand Built Single-Ended 6V6 Tube Guitar Amp 213414

Foundling Audio Labs "RAPSCALLION" - Model GSE-5
Hand Built 5W Single-Ended 6V6 Class-A Guitar Amplifier.

The GSE-5 "Rapscallion" is a handmade miniature guitar head / tabletop tube
amp designed to drive any 8-ohm speaker cabinet via its 1/4" output jack. For
best results, an open-back 1x12 cab is recommended. It will piggyback
wonderfully on many common combo amp cabinets giving amazing new voice to
something you may already have sitting around.

The Rapscallion is:
• Hand built with meticulous care in the USA
• 100% point-to-point wired with absolutely no PCBs
• Comprised of top-quality parts and components, exhaustively chosen and
artfully combined
• Unapologetically overbuilt for a solid, substantial feel of intrinsic quality

It is a faithful reproduction of the amp I designed and purpose-built for
everyday use in my own recording studio. Frankly, I never planned on building
more than that original one, but after such lengthy experimentation and
countless reconfigurations, my results were too good not to share. I knew other
players would love this mighty little tone pusher as much as I do.

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Tasting Notes
See our demo video at: https://youtu.be/wvfG4cd7uNw

This is an amp for grownups. Simply put, it does clean tones better than
anything you've ever played through. A bold claim, but with its volume set at 9
or 10 o'clock, I dare you switch to your neck pickup, dig into your strings,
and try not to smile.

You're gonna' smile.

What you'll immediately notice is an irresistibly slinky, chewy string feel
that makes every song you know seem easier to play and every sustained bend
sound positively Gilmourish (and I don't throw that term around willy nilly).
You'll fall in love with its chiming brilliance and shockingly even string
balance.

If that isn't enough, it can also crank up and deliver real,
honest-to-goodness tube crunch that's thicker than a drummer's skull during a
theory exam. At the edge of break up, brisk transients find that perfect extra
tier of gritty intensity. Push the volume even more and you'll begin to explore
myriad shifting ratios between sparkling fundamentals and sizzling hairiness.

I take particular pride in the fact that this amp produces totally useable
sounds at every point on its volume control (often not the case with small,
single-ended amps). This is due in large part to the unique way in which the
Rapscallion is voiced. By asserting aggressive control of low frequencies
early, I could safely enrich and embolden the guitar signal with unusually
full-throated gain stages further downstream. No muffling pillow of low-end
buildup, no muddy blocking distortion, and the only thing that's been
sacrificed are frequencies that any decent sound engineer would lob off with a
high pass filter anyway.

For this and other reasons, players with extensive recording experience will
particularly love the GSE-5's simple immediacy. Much like the very best vintage
microphone preamps, one knob is all any decent piece of gear truly needs. No
nonsense here. Just decide how hard you want to drive it, and get to work.


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More nitty gritty:
• 12AX7 dual triode (two-stage pre-amp) with a single 6V6 power tube. Ships
with brand new Tung-Sol branded Russian tubes installed.
• Heavy-duty, oversized Hammond transformers
• Belton tube sockets
• Switchcraft Jacks
• Tocos Potentiometer (single volume control)
• Sprague Atom and Kemet Elecrolytic Capacitors
• Cornwall-Dubliner Film Capacitors
• Metal film resistors with 5W wire wound cathode bias resistor
• Shielded input leads
• Amber jewell pilot light
• 6' braided cloth power cable
• Chrome-plated steel handle
• Dimensions: 11" L x 6" H x 5" D
• Weight: 6 lbs.
• 5-Year Limited Warranty

Amp pictured is the actual unit for this listing. [Serial Number 213414]