You’d be forgiven for not realizing it at first glance but inside its cool, retro-American exterior beats the heart of a tube amp with hardware that turns the Fender Pawn Shop Special Greta into a guitar amp capable of satisfying tones.
It might conjure visions of old 50's style radios and evoke the sense of unearthing a dusty, vintage gem in a pawn shop or second hand store, but make no mistake the Fender Greta is brimming with Fender know-how, with an impressive spec that's ready to go from clean to old-school rock tones at the turn of the dial.
With its aesthetic leanings the 2- watt Fender Greta would not look out of place in any lounge, bedroom or office space and is great for a quick practise on its own or as a preamp to another amplifier or speaker cabinet. Beginners to advanced players alike will find this amp tons of fun and very affordable at around $200.
Click here to read more...- Simplicity and tabletop convenience
- Impressive warm tones and distortion
- No carry handle
With a 12AX7 preamp tube and a 12AT7 power amp tube this is a true tube amp, with that distinctive tube responsiveness not found in many "tabletop" amps. With the tone knob set down low and the volume knob at a modest level, the bulit-in 4-inch, 8 ohm speaker gives out warm, clean, subtle tones. Cranking up the tone and volume soon has the tubes working hard and yielding good break up, giving a great range of blues, rock and hard rock distortion at moderate volume. The cool looking VU meter has a needle which responds to your playing and reflects whether the sound is in the "clean to overdrive" range. Those wanting more extreme, high-gain distortion will probably look elsewhere, but then again you can always add in an overdrive pedal.
At 2 watts, the output is adequate for discrete practice sessions, but for those who want it loud, the back of the Fender Greta has a 1/4-inch LINE OUT jack for connecting it to another amplifier and using it as a preamp. It also has a 1/4-inch EXT SPKR jack for connecting it to an external speaker or cabinet with a minimum 8-ohm impedance, so you can use 16-ohm versions too. Doing so broadens the scope of the lo-fi tones you can achieve with it and the amp definitely sounds better through an external cabinet. You can even go whole hog and team it up with the Fender 1x12" 80 Watt Greta Speaker Cabinet featuring the same color red vinyl covering and a wheat-colored grille cloth to keep the vintage vibe going. Along with the standard 1/4-inch GUITAR input jack, there is a rear mounted 1/8-inch AUX IN jack so you can plug in your portable media player into the Fender Greta and jam along or just kick back and listen to your favorite tunes.
The unabashed retro look of the Fender Greta may not be to everyone's taste but typical of Fender, the build is sturdy and the quality is hard to fault with wood front and back panels, metal top and sides for increased shielding and a heavy, wire-mesh grille protecting the speaker.
The Fender Pawn Shop Special Greta provides guitar players with a quirky but unobtrusive tube amp that can easily be tucked away next to a desk lamp or on a shelf. Yet it also gives you the satisfying experience of playing clean to gritty, vintage sounding tones at moderate volumes, with the added plus of being able to hook it up to a bigger amp or speaker, all at a reasonable price.
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