Milkman The AMP

[DougWheeler74]

I have a friend who is buying a Creston Tele with Lollar Charlie Christian pickups and is looking for an amp.

Some of his parameters include:

He lives in a condo, which is fairly soundproof but quiet is still high on the list

He is thinking of building a cabinet a bit further down the line.

In his words he will be playing, “This tele will not be a rock ‘n roll guitar. It is going to be suited for more melodic playing whether that is jazz, maybe a little soul, jazz blues, and most of all … some of this and that.”

He is thinking of a Milkman Amp. He asked my opinion and I have no personal experience with one.

Anybody here have any thoughts about this amp or perhaps a different amp for his needs?

 

[Chmason85]

I’m not super familiar with milkman amps but I thought they were mostly just variations on the Princeton theme? I have a milkman pedal and can say it’s one of my favorites ever

 

[drmilktruck]

If it was blue, it'd be the perfect amp for me!

 

[Mark W]

This has both Trem and Reverb and sounded pretty good but I have too many amps already or I would have bought one.

 

[Tony65x55]

I've only heard one - a Milkman Creamer - and it was exquisite. It should have been for the price but it achieved its objective of being a great-sounding high-end amp.

https://milkmansound.com/collections/amplifiers/products/20w

 

[hooligangorilla]

I’ve never played a real Milkman but since they’re Fender style amps, it definitely sounds like the right call for what he says he wants to use it.

I lived in a small condo and a little 6W silverface Champ combo was my perfect companion. You said he might want to build his own cab, but if he’d like tubes and wants great cleans at low volume, he might be better off saving the hassle and just getting Milkman’s One Watt Plus combo (with power scaling between 1 and 10W!) or the 5W Half Pint combo. Both seem like they’d be ideal, if he didn’t mind a combo.

Speaking from personal experience, Supro could be another to check out. Lots of small amp options with gorgeous clean tone.

 

[Uncle Daddy]

My Princeton Reverb is a bit much for my townhouse. I can seldom get it to the point where it's really cooking.

 

[hcsterg]

I suppose that it is a modelling amp : right ?

A+!

 

[larryr]

I suppose that it is a modelling amp : right ?

A+!

Solid state amp....

 

[Ricochet]

Solid state amp....

Close…preamp is based around a non starved 12ax7 tube(with a Class D power amp).

 

[Chet Harrison]

It’s not a modeling amp. It’s just a tube pre married to class D power.

I had one for a while. It sounds great clean and the price is hard to beat for the features it has. The overdriven and edge of breakup tones were not all that great by itself (a single 12AX7 is nice for “warmth,” but kind of buzzy and compressed when you really drive it), so I would stage it out with a couple gain pedals in front of it (boost, OD, fuzz, etc.).

I ended up selling it because I wanted more flexibility (cab sim more than just on or off, different reverb types and controls, etc.). I also wanted to go stereo, which is really great for playing through headphones and monitors at home, which is what I do 99% of the time.

I went with a Flint for reverb and trem and a Cabzeus Stereo for the cab sim. I use a Kingsley for the preamp. I didn’t end up replacing the power section and sold my 1x12 cab.

So basically I ended up putting together a modular rig; it was more expensive than the Amp, but the sound is incredible.

I also had an Iridium for a while and still recommend it even though I didn’t keep it. It might be better than the Amp, depending on what you want to do, what other gear you have, and so on.

 

[hcsterg]

It’s not a modeling amp. It’s just a tube pre married to class D power.

OK, I see... Thanks !

A+!

 

[Chet Harrison]

I’ve never played a real Milkman but since they’re Fender style amps, it definitely sounds like the right call for what he says he wants to use it.

I lived in a small condo and a little 6W silverface Champ combo was my perfect companion. You said he might want to build his own cab, but if he’d like tubes and wants great cleans at low volume, he might be better off saving the hassle and just getting Milkman’s One Watt Plus combo (with power scaling between 1 and 10W!) or the 5W Half Pint combo. Both seem like they’d be ideal, if he didn’t mind a combo.

Speaking from personal experience, Supro could be another to check out. Lots of small amp options with gorgeous clean tone.

The Supro 1605RH would be ideal. You can run it direct out without a load.

 

[hcsterg]

The Supro 1605RH would be ideal. You can run it direct out without a load.

I don't know the Supro 1605RH, but I own the Supro 1605R "Reverb 1964" :

It's a fine and well-built amp (I mean : not from an anemic construction) :

The Supro 1605R is perfect for vintage Soul / Rock'n'Roll / RockaBilly styles . Just don't expect Hi-Gain, or real deep pure clean loud level tones.

Nice, compact, good sounding, I wouldn't part with mine.

A+!

 

[Chet Harrison]

This is the 1605RH. The only thing missing is the tube-driven tremolo.

 

[hooligangorilla]

The Supro 1605RH would be ideal. You can run it direct out without a load.

Yeah, something like that would be perfect. Mine is a 1600, and at 25W it’s almost stupidly loud, not as good for an apartment as a 1605R. I do know the Supro Comet is also 15W and has power scaling down to 6W I think.

With my 1600, it’s definitely useful if you’re playing with a band and you need a louder clean tone that can keep up with a reasonable drummer… I had a Fender DRRI at one time, and the Supro 1600 is a lot like that but with better dirt tones in my view.

 

[hcsterg]

This is the 1605RH. The only thing missing is the tube-driven tremolo.

Ah, OK : H stands for Head version...

And yes 1605R and RH would be killer with a built-in tremolo !

A+!

 

[DaddyDog]

@DougWheeler74 I have owned The Amp for a couple of years now. I think it will be excellent for your friend's needs. I like it so much, I considered also getting the model with just reverb, no tremolo.

I love being able to play quietly at home when my wife is still on work calls. It has ample power to play at gig volume. I use it on my gig board as a built in back up in case my main amp dies. And yes, it saved me once.

 

[LeSainte]

I don't know much about them... But I've wanted one for a while.