DEMETER TGA-1-180D
THE MIGHTY MINNIE
We’ve covered the British-built hybrid head
and the futurist, feature-laden German
modern marvel, so now it is time for some
good ol’ USA-made boutique hybrid
action, courtesy of Demeter Amplification.
The Mighty Minnie spawned from Sonny
Landreth’s call for a head that could fit on a
pedalboard, while sounding miles better than
the subpar rental amps he often encountered
on his musical adventures. What amp guru
James Demeter whipped up was a single
channel amplifier that pairs the hand-wired
clean channel preamp section of the famed
TGA-3 with a next-generation audiophile
Class D power amplifier. This is the perfect
pedal-freak hybrid amp with its cleaner input
stage, small size, and simple tone stack for
fine-tuning. I would happily gig with my TC
Polytune Mini, Crowther Hotcake, Source
Audio Orbital Modulator and a good analog
delay running straight into the input at the
end of the chain. All I would need then is a
long speaker cable going out to a house cab
and a daisy chain for pedal power, because
the TGA-1-180D has a nine-volt output on the
face of the amp.
GLOWING BOTTLES
SOLID STATE THROTTLES
All-tube tone hounds have sniffed at hybrid
amplifiers for donkeys’ years. Like all new
technology, teething stages can be hit or
miss, but I personally think solid state and
tube circuits work perfectly together when
they are engineered properly. In theory,
anyone who sticks an overdrive or boost
pedal in front of their $3000 boutique amp
is turning it into a hybrid anyway, so beware
naysayers. Sometimes it is nice to have the
warm tube compression coupled with the
immediate tight low end attack of a super
efficient solid state power section. This to
me is the hybrid experience so far and I love
being able to plug into any old cab without
worry. However, with a growing number
PA companies and power amp specialists
getting in on the guitar game, the sky is the
limit for hybrid analog guitar amps.
ToneReport.com
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