Mooer Tube Engine 20W power amp

digitalscream

So, in the absence of any press reporting on this whatsoever, our man @ThorpyFX popped over to the Mooer booth to get the skinny on their Tube Engine.



- 20W power amp
- 2 x EL84, 1 x 12AX7, 1 x 12AT7 (this was on their woefully-badly updated Facebook page)
- Looks like it's got the hi/low input, presumably (hopefully?) for switching between instrument-level and line-level sources
- $300-400 in the US, ~£300 here
- Should be arriving April/May time

I, for one, can't bloody wait. It's the solution to the last remaining problem in my rig - a loud, compact, lightweight (relatively) power amp between the Helix and the NL212. A resonance control would've been nice, but I can live without that for all the other benefits it'll give me.

As thanks for his endeavours, here's a gratuitous pic of Thorpy's progeny:



...and the obligatory Andertons run-through:

Fortheloveofguitar

A resonance control would have been ideal. Still not sure about EL84’s though. Would have preferred bigger bottles 

guitarfishbay

You’ve fallen foul of the forum edit bug - it’s turned the YT link into a picture.

However this is a cool product. If they ever do a 50 watt or even 100 watt one I’d be interested. Right now I have a hilariously overpowered 2:90, which is heavier than necessary because I only need one side of it.

digitalscream

Fortheloveofguitar said:

A resonance control would have been ideal. Still not sure about EL84’s though. Would have preferred bigger bottles 

How big do they really need to be in a 20W amp?

guitarfishbay said:

You’ve fallen foul of the forum edit bug - it’s turned the YT link into a picture.

However this is a cool product. If they ever do a 50 watt or even 100 watt one I’d be interested. Right now I have a hilariously overpowered 2:90, which is heavier than necessary because I only need one side of it.

Ta, sorted that.

For me, 20W should be just fine. It worked from a modeller through the Jet City JCA22H, so as long as this thing doesn't object to being pushed a bit...it's all gravy.

dindude

smart move this, surprised we haven't seen more of the like

digitalscream

dindude said:

smart move this, surprised we haven't seen more of the like

Exactly - with the current trend for preamp pedals all over the place, I'm frankly stunned that nobody seems to want to put out an easily-portable power amp that's not a rack unit. Jet City have rejected the idea as unsellable numerous times.

Matt_McG

I suppose there are solid state options. Seymour Duncan, or Quilter. I've thought about the same. I'm in the process of building a Lab Series clone preamp pedal (Aion L5 - https://aionelectronics.com/project/l5-preamp/), and the idea of combining that with a compact power amp, would give me a pedalboard + full amp that would fit in a gigbag sized space.

Tube, on the other hand, sounds even nicer. 

JayGee

I gather they’ve got a neat programmable (and MIDI equipped) pedal format pre-amp to as well - that looked quite a handy piece of kit too, and would pair nicely with this...

digitalscream

JayGee said:

I gather they’ve got a neat programmable (and MIDI equipped) pedal format pre-amp to as well - that looked quite a handy piece of kit too, and would pair nicely with this...

Yeah, that's what all the articles (and the few vids that are out there) seem to be concentrating on.

digitalscream

More info here:



Starts at about 5:20 - seems they're expecting them a little earlier than previously thought (March/April).

John_A

Any word on these being released?

digitalscream

John_A said:

Any word on these being released?

Well, there's this....

https://www.gear4music.com/PA-DJ-and-Lighting/Mooer-Tube-Engine-20-Power-Amp/2IOC

£374 seems a little too much to me.

digitalscream

Also, they apparently have rackmount kits:

John_A

Yes £374 is a bit steep, but not many alternatives around.  Think I'll stick with the fx return on my Engl for now

digitalscream

Indeed. I just got tired of waiting and bought a DXR10 instead.

StefB

The matching cab is even more expensive than the amp!

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/180601328071008--mooer-gc112-v30-closed-back-cab

Serious pricing this kit, for a manufacturer traditionally thought of as a 'budget'* brand.

*I know their gear is quite good though...

digitalscream

StefB said:

The matching cab is even more expensive than the amp!

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/180601328071008--mooer-gc112-v30-closed-back-cab

Serious pricing this kit, for a manufacturer traditionally thought of as a 'budget'* brand.

*I know their gear is quite good though...

Thing is, I'd have been happy to save my money and buy one - if there were any details available at all. They haven't responded to my numerous emails or social media messages requesting info.

Probably the worst product launch in recent memory, with the possible exception of everything Gibson have done.