AXL ThinAmp DSP-10

thinampSomething like 8 years ago, I bought an AXL ThinAmp DSP10 – a portable battery-powered amplifier. At the time I was making a lot of use of my guitar-synth; which works, of course, if you can plug it into something. As most of the places I played (filk and non-filk) were predominantly acoustic venues, I thought this would do the trick.

Indeed it did, and for a couple of years, I loved it. While not a patch on my Trace Acoustic amp (naturally), it had the advantage that it was lighter than a laptop, didn’t need mains power, and didn’t look like an amp – which meant I didn’t get snooty looks from the true acoustic people. And it did have 10Watts, although I don’t ever think I played it at full volume.

Unfortunately, the battery pack proved to be pants, and within a year, it was barely holding a charge. A replacement was going to cost a fortune, so I hesitated, and when I next looked the batteries were no longer available. The ThinAmp disappeared from the market soon after.

A portable battery-powered amplifier isn’t much use without a battery; so the ThinAmp got put away in its case, and stored away with the rest of my no-longer-used kit; and there it has sat for years.

Recently, playing with one of my stick dulcimers – the electro-acoustic one – I have been plugging it into my Trace amp to experiment with. But the Trace is a lump, and I tired of constantly tidying it away. I realised that the ThinAmp would do the trick, plugged straight into its wall-wart.

BatteryNow back-track a few months; I recently bought a cheap 3 quid battery case to hold 8 x 1.5V AA batteries as portable power for my Yamaha Tenori-On. I had been playing with the Tenori-On at the weekend, so it and the battery pack were on the table, as I plugged my ThinAmp in. I wondered…

Yep, it seems an 8 x AA pack can power the ThinAmp just as well (better, even) than the 40 quid custom battery. I’ve been playing with it for a couple of hours, power is still good and the pack isn’t even warm. Of course, AA batteries are cheap enough, but even better will be a set of rechargeables. If I can get a couple of hours play out of a single charge, I’ll be happy enough, I suspect I will get a lot more than that.

So my ThinAmp has just been given a new lease of life. Beats sitting in the garage.

2 Comments

  1. raymond
    July 27, 2022
    Reply

    had a thin amp a number of years but not used got a new guitar and needed a small light amp to carry about the thin amp was just the job with a set of rechargeable battries lucky saved the amp did the job very well ,pity they do not make them now

  2. David
    March 4, 2024
    Reply

    I had one of these about twenty years ago and had always hoped i would find another. Now i have three and a fourth i messed up by using the wrong adapter. I just bought one today on Ebay. They have become popular again i guess because prices are shooting up even if you can get lucky enough to find one. Great travel or practice amps and all the extra effects sound pretty good to me anyway. Much simpler than having to hook up a bunch of pedals just to practice.

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