Gear Review: Sonic Pipe Elbow 3-Watt Practice Amp

Like some other rock-star accessories, the Sonic Pipe practice amp looks like something you probably wouldn't be able to take on a plane.

It turns out it's a unique U.S.-made practice amp for under $50. I had to learn more.

The E-3.1 is part of Sonic Pipe's Elbow series of practice amps. If you're thinking the design looks strangely familiar, it might be because it is built from a PVC pipe fitting.

Up top is a 3-inch speaker, and the semi-closed bottom acts as a port. The insides consist of a 3-watt amp, a power/Gain knob, an input jack and a Brightness switch. The amp runs on two 9-volt batteries. Also included is a clear plastic speaker cover to protect the speaker when it's not in use.

There's really no right or wrong way to use it. On to the clips!

Clip 1: First things first; as guitarists we have to crank everything up and listen to the fuzz tone.

Clip 2: With the Brightness switched on and the volume on the amp and my guitar rolled back, things cleaned up well.

Clip 3: Flipped upside-down, I mic'd up the bottom port of the amp to get a dirty old radio sound.

Clip 4: By lifting the bottom port on and off a table I got a cool manual phaser/wah-wah tone.

Web: sonicpipeamps.com
Price: $40.95

You can't believe everything you read on the Internet, but Billy Voight is a gear reviewer, bassist and guitarist from Pennsylvania. He has Hartke bass amps and Walden acoustic guitars to thank for supplying some of the finest gear on his musical journey. Need Billy's help in creating noise for your next project? Drop him a line at thisguyonbass@gmail.com.

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