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Tone King Gremlin 5-watt 1x12" Tube Combo Amp with Attenuator - Black

5-watt 2-channel All-tube 1x12" Guitar Combo Amplifier with Onboard Power Attenuator - Black
9 Write review Item ID: GremlinCBlk
$1,395.00

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Tone King Gremlin 5-watt 1x12" Tube Combo Amp with Attenuator - Black
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Vintage Tone with Modern Control

Whether you play onstage or at home, the Tone King Gremlin 5-watt 1 x 12" tube amp will supply you with the juiced-up sounds of Blackface- and tweed-era guitar amplifiers in a convenient, compact combo. With two inputs and controls for Volume and Tone, the Gremlin couldn't be easier to use. The Rhythm channel is a higher-headroom tone that brings to mind the clean American sound of the '60s. The Lead input takes you to the warm and compressed drive of some of the best tweed tones out there. And Tone King's own Ironman power attenuator is waiting onboard to bring those cranked-amp tones to a bedroom-friendly level. If your tonal tastes demand gritty and raw American tones, you'll fill your need with the Tone King Gremlin.

Related Videos: Gremlin 5-watt 1x12" Tube Combo Amp with Attenuator - Black

Tweed and Blackface tones on demand

With such a straightforward control layout, it's amazing how many tones you can pull from this punchy combo. If you want a cleaner tone, the Rhythm channel will deliver the chime and sparkle you need. Do you like pushing your amp harder? Plug into the Lead channel for the unmistakable throaty drive of a cranked tweed combo. And best of all, throw an optional A/B/Y switch into the mix, and you'll be switching channels and even jumping them together on the fly. This flexibility has made the Gremlin popular among many guitarists at Sweetwater.

Built-in attenuator

To get the most out of this Tone King Gremlin, you need to give the surprisingly loud 5-watt power section enough of a kick to get the tubes working hard. Thankfully, you'll find Tone King's popular Ironman attenuator built in, offering you the power-tube grit you want at the perfect volume for the stage, the studio, or even the living room. And best of all, the attenuator's reactive load ensures your Gremlin will react and feel the same all the way through its entire range.

Compact in size, not tone

One of the greatest benefits of adding a Gremlin to your amp arsenal is the ability to fit it easily into your car's trunk, onto a cramped stage, or out of the way in your home. And you'll never sacrifice your larger-than-expected tone, thanks to a specially designed cabinet and 12" speaker that sing with the low-end punch and top-end clarity of a much larger tube amp.

Tone King Gremlin 5-watt 1 x 12" Combo Guitar Amp Features:

  • Compact tube combo with American-style tones
  • Rhythm and Lead inputs offer differing levels of headroom and gain
  • Tones range from Blackface cleans to tweed-era grind
  • Switch between or jump the channels with an optional A/B/Y footswitch
  • Onboard Ironman power attenuator achieves cranked-amp tones at whisper-quiet levels
  • Custom-voiced cabinet and 12" speaker offer a much larger voice than expected

Additional Media

Guitar Amp Buying Guide

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Tech Specs

  • Type: Tube
  • Number of Channels: 2
  • Total Power: 5W, built-in variable attenuator
  • Speaker Size: 1 x 12" Celestion 870 speaker
  • Preamp Tubes: 2 x 12AX7
  • Power Tubes: 1 x KT66
  • EQ: Tone control
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4" (rhythm), 1 x 1/4" (lead)
  • Outputs: 1 x 1/4" (line out)
  • Footswitch I/O: 1 x 1/4" (channel, tremolo)
  • Footswitch Included: No
  • Bias Type: Cathode Biased
  • Construction Material: Baltic Birch cab with black and cream finish
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 17.5"
  • Width: 19"
  • Depth: 8.75"
  • Weight: 29 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: Gremlin - Black

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Customer Reviews

4.9 out of 5

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Wasted time not buying it earlier

The title summarizes it pretty well for me, I totally agree with what Joe from Charleston mentioned in his review. For years I used solid state amps, as an early beginner and then some years later, once I got closer to intermediate level without realizing how much am I missing out. I started exploring the world of tube amps with a demo of Blues Jr by Fender, which I played at a local music store. It sucked compared to the Gremlin. The tone and quality is on a completely different level. Yes it's nearly twice the price, but honestly in feels and sounds like it's 5x the price. I love the fact that I can get quiet or loud with the clean channel.
The attenuator is an absolute marvel for home practice - with just a quick turn you can preserve the tone and tube action, but immediately become nicely quiet (or loud). This is 100% what I was looking for in a home practice amp - being able to play at nice level, without damaging my already tinnitus-riddled hearing, but with amazing sounding tone.
Built quality seems great to me, although to be fair I don't have too much experience in comparable amps. For my purposes though, it's awesome.
The controls are fantastic, not overly complicated, while still giving more options that I would ever need.
One thing that I wish was different (and I may be ignorant here in terms of how those things work and are designed, so if that's the case, please disregard) - the fact that there is no simple switch to go from Rhythm to Lead and instead you have to physically switch the cable. It's not that I'm doing it too often, but still. Same goes for the attenuator, wouldn't mind if it had the controls on the top, instead of the back panel. On the other hand though, I can imagine that over time, I am not going to be switching back and forth as much, once I learn about all my favorite settings.
Anyway, absolutely fantastic amp, I would give it 97.5 out of a 100 max. Thanks to Jason Sain for working with me on this purchase!
by Grze S from Virginia Beach, VA on

Perfect bedroom amp!

Oh man….. I just don't really know how to describe this amp. All I know is it sounds incredible. I don't even run any effects into it. You can get all the tones at great volumes from the built in attenuator. It's just so good. Instantly an upgrade for all my guitars. Not for metal players as the channels are modeled from a blackface deluxe and a tweed. It will go all the way to classic rock and everything below VERY well. I wished I would have gotten this a long time ago. The only thing with this amp is you are not going to get clean sounds that could hang with a band. Obviously you would go with something with more power if you were gigging though. It's just a really nice amp to have in your bedroom.
by Joe from Charleston, SC on
Music background: Bedroom warrior

Amazing amp

Bought this amp because I mainly play at home and my Princeton reverb was too loud. For being being 5 watts this thing is crazy loud with a bunch of headroom. It gets pretty loud with out any break up. Break up is absolutely beautiful. The lead channel is not used a whole lot by me but has a lot of great tone. I have only played my strats through it but really look forward to trying something with some humbuckers through it. Also sounds great with any pedal I've ran through it! Highly recommend!!
by Joe from Indiana on
Music background: I am Elvis Presley

Tone King Gremlin

If your not a pro and just need an amp to play in your home this is the best amp out there. If I would have purchased this first I could have saved a lot of money. Sure its a little pricey and doesn't have reverb. But worth every penny. Wisper quiet to pretty loud , more than enough headroom and the tone is unbeatable.
by John Kendrick from Texas on

Very nice little tube amp!

Received this amp a little more than a week ago, and have been playing it pretty much non-stop. For context, I live in an apartment in New York City, and bought this amp specifically for home practice and recording. It sounds fantastic, and the attenuator works exactly as advertised -- it's easy to get a wide range of tones at volumes that do not bother my wife or neighbors. Full disclosure, this thing can get VERY loud. Even with maximum attenuation, cranking the volume all the way up pushes the limits of what I can get away with in my apartment. But with a good overdrive pedal in front, it's very easy to push the amp into an awesome cranked sound & feel at moderate volumes.

The line out is also surprisingly great for recording. It's not speaker-emulated, so you need an Impulse Response, otherwise the sound is very flat and dead. I've been plugging the line out into my audio interface, and then running one of the Neural DSP plug-ins with everything before the cab section disabled (so the plug-in is just providing an IR, EQ, and some delay & reverb). Very happy with the results from this approach.
by Mike from New York on
See also: Combo Amps, Tone King, Tone King Guitar Combo Amps
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