This is one feature packed little AMP package that weighs next to nothing, sounds huge, and is equally suited to the bedroom as it is the stage. By Reg Barber

Markbass have brought a lot of their knowledge and expertise in bass amplifiers to their new line of guitar amplifiers. They are using the same Neodymium speaker technology in their bass cabinets to provide guitarists with some good sounding and very light guitar gear. The DV Mark Little 40 and 2×12 standard cab weighs in at about 17kg, making it very easy to transport and it sounds great too.

ONE CHANNEL, BUT IT AINT NO ONE TRICK PONY

The DV Mark Little 40 is a straightforward single channel amplifier. It has your standard three-band EQ and presence control with a low- gain pre-amp, and high-gain power amp. Where a lot of the tonal variation comes from is the control you have over the power amp section. There is an option to switch between Pentode and a Triode mode. Pentode mode offers plenty of clean headroom, and Triode mode allows you to dirty things up at a lower volume and get some nice power tube break-up. There is a type of built-in attenuation called Continuous Power Control, so you can reduce the power amp output and increase the distortion allowing high- gain sounds at bedroom levels. You can use this amp to practice at home and it is loud enough at 40 watts to play gigs! Many amps have built-in attenuation but this is the best I’ve heard.

There is a boost footswitch jack that increases the saturation of the sound with 6 db of Volume Boost; very useful for leads or high-gain rhythm tones. The input has a 6 db pad switch that can be used for passive and active pickups or it can be used to get some great clean tones by decreasing the output of your passive pickups, making this simple one channel amp a very versatile beast indeed.
The DV Mark Little 40 comes stock with EL34 power tubes, but it can use 6L6 or 6V6 power tubes. A really cool feature is the inbuilt bias circuit that biases and matches the power tubes every time you switch it on. As your tubes age it re-biases them and matches them if required, wow! When you switch the power on the light flashes until the power tubes are at operational temperature.
But the features keep coming with a series effects loop for pedal loving peoples. There is a High and Low Bias switch, which will automatically bias to either preference, the higher setting containing more upper harmonics in the sound if that is your want. If that wasn’t enough there is an ethernet service port that allows the amp owner to plug the amplifier into a computer for diagnostic statistics such as tube usage, voltages, bias and servicing.

BUT THE REAL QUESTION IS HOW DOES IT SOUND?

The Little 40 sounds big. It has enough headroom in Pentode Mode to get some really full and big sounding clean tones. The Continuous Power Control means you can keep that master volume dimed and pull back the output to one watt to get some good sounding distorted tones at bedroom volume. Open chords sound clear with lots of note definition; you can get some great rock and bluesy tones with this amplifier. The Little 40 is by no means a metal amplifier, its’ dirty tones come from power amp distortion, not pre amp tubes, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used for metal with your favourite distortion pedal. The Continuous Power Control really is the star feature of this amplifier; attenuators have always sounded like they change the tone for the worse to me, but not this one.

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you are a guitarist who likes power tube style distortion and getting tones from your guitar volume pot, as well as pedals, you are going to love what this amp has to offer. The DV Mark Little 40 is feature packed, light weight and very transportable making it a great amp for the gigging muso. It looks pretty and it comes covered in Italian leather so it smells pretty nice too!

FEATURES

• Price: DV Mark Little 40 $1595, C212 Cab $1250
•  40 watts down to 0.5 watts
•  Bias switch (self biasing)
•  Effects loop
•  Foot switchable boost
•  Ethernet service port
•  All tube tone: 2 x ECC83 plus 2 x EL34
•  Continuous power control
•  Pentode and Triode modes