sofamusician's Metal Amp Rig

After playing with practice amp combos (with small speakers) for a while, I wanted to try a larger cab. Due to space constraints, a 1x10 was the largest I could get, and the Harley Benton G110 was a very affordable option.

This cab sounds full and provides enough volume for jamming. I don't have extended experience with other cabs, but I was happy to hear a smoother sound without the roughness I was getting at times with smaller speakers and headphones.

I tried this cab connected to different devices: the Orange Micro dark hybrid amp head (20W), the Orange Crush Mini combo through its 8 Ohm out (3W), and the EHX 5mm power amp pedal (2.5W).

The cab sounds best with the more powerful Micro dark, but the other options (combined with a battery-powered power bank) allow for a more portable set-up.

The cream tolex and the grill cloth look nice. To simplify the look I unscrewed the Harley Benton logo from the top, leaving only the Celestion logo at the bottom corner.

The build quality seems good, and it is quite lightweight. It is equipped with a 10" Celestion Tube10 (G10E-30) speaker in a closed-back set-up. This speaker is used in amp combos such as the Fender '68 Custom Princeton Reverb. For the average price of a pedal, you cannot ask more from a cab. This cab provides excellent value for the money.

This tuner pedal covers the basic needs: precise tuning, clear and large display, and solid construction.

As a nice extra it provides two output jacks. One becomes muted when tuning, and the other keeps the input signal all the time. I use this as a way to fork the signal. I have a cab that can be used with an Orange Micro Dark head or with my pedalboard (through a EHX 5mm power amp pedal). I use the Rockboard tuner to direct the signal to both (muting the MIcro Dark when tuning) . In this way, I just have to change the speaker cable to connect the cab with the amp or pedalboard, without additional adjustments to the input cable.

While, more expensive options may allow to tune multiple strings at a time or show notes faster, this tuner pedal covers the basic needs quite well. You cannot ask for much more for the price of this pedal.

The Vappeby (formerly Eneby) speaker is mainly intended as a portable Bluetooth speaker. However, it has an aux input without any latency. In combination with a battery-powered amp-like pedal (amp simulator, headphone amp, etc.), it enables a very portable setup.

Sound is good for home uses, and the internal design seems solid.

Being an Ikea product, it provides a nice design at an affordable price. Visually, it has its roots in a previous collaboration between Ikea and Teenage Engineering (whose products are often priced much more higher).

The Platypus is a special incarnation of the Firebird, combining some aspects from the classic "reverse" model (body shape, and pickups) and other aspects from the later "non-reverse" model ( set-neck construction, flat six-on-top headstock design, and lack of banjo tuners).

The result is a modernized version of the Firebird that keeps the great classic looks and sound, while improving some aspects contributing to the neck playability, avoiding neck-dive, keep pickups parallel to strings, and improving tunning stability. I'd have appreciated the new model to still be nechk-through, but it was not a deal breaker for me since this has not much practical impact.

The pickups are true Alnico 5 Firebird pickups, and they sound great. Dynamic and great note clarity. The volume and tone knobs allow to get a wide range of usable tones, which makes the guitar really versatile.

Versatility was important in my case, since I want to keep my guitar collection quite minimal with just two guitars: an affordable Gretsch electrònic double jet (my first guitar, which being affordable I've been comfortable taking anywhere) and, the Firebird Platypus (to play at home).

I play mainly seated, and found the Firebird quite comfortable. The ergonomics of Firebirds have always been a mystery to me. The Firebird horn on the treble side helps to keep the neck higher (less horizontal to the floor) which makes it comfortable and facilitates fret access when playing seated. On more conventional guitars you may need to shift to "classic" position to achieve this. However, comments and reviews often describe Firebirds, as huge and "shifted to the left".

Interestingly, when I was finally able to try a Firebird in a store, it didn't feel that different from my Gretsch G5222 (for which you won't read such comments). So I guess it depends on which types of guitars you are used to play, in which position, and how it fits your body.

Being a less common model, it is priced a bit high. However, with some research you may find good opportunities for a discount (I got mine at a 24% discount of the official price).

The looks of this orange amp in miniature are really cool, but don't think this is a toy or pure decoration. This little box provides many possibilities for very little price. I'm using the Crush Mini with a portable pedalboard, powered by the same Harley Benton battery power bank I use for the pedals.

The direct sound is limited by the speaker size, and too much distortion becomes unpleasing. However, the clean sound is good, and usable as a pedal platform. The cab output makes it go to another level. Connecting to a cab you can get a good loud sound with a totally portable solution. In comparison, the sound through the cab is not as full as with the Orange Micro Dark, but still sounds good with the Crush Mini.

The headphone output for the Crush Mini is quite usable (much better than the Micro Dark, which was a bit noisy).