Little Smasher Amp by Diago Product Review

Amps just aren’t made like they used to be…wait am I really starting off a new amp review with that line? Yes I am! That’s because the Little Smasher or sometimes called the Lil’ Smasher amp by Diago is great life or gig-saving option to carry around with you for that just in case moment.

No bigger than a standard overdrive pedal or shown above next to a can of soda, this 5 watt amp head can save the day with enough juice to get you through the gig. Now don’t get me wrong, this amp doesn’t always need to play second fiddle. Below I’ve got some pretty convincing sound clips. I will think twice about lugging a big old tube combo out of the house to go jam with friends when this fits nicely with my cables in my gig bag.

Let’s take a closer look. First things first; this operates the same way an amp head would. This is NOT an effects pedal. If you plug this into your current amplifier you could do some damage, some dirty, loud, feedback screaming, you’ll need-a-new amp kind of damage! Plus for the next few gigs your Little Smasher will be telling everyone how he beat up an amp 10x his size.

Controls from left to right: Bass, Treble, Gain and Volume. The Treble and Bass knobs have a +15 to -30db range. It can operate safely into any cabinet between 4-16 ohms. Please use a speaker cable or once again the Little Smasher will run his mouth to all your friends that you can’t tell the difference between an instrument and a speaker cable!

The power supply is included with the amp along with optional rubber feet grips and an instructional manual. The Little Smasher runs on a 9v 600ma power supply. It cannot be ran on batteries. There is an On/Off switch.

Clip one is a Les Paul plugged into the Little Smasher then sent to a 1×12 Celestion equipped cab. My heavily Thin Lizzy influenced demo was an attempt to copy the classic Les Paul into a Marshall rock tone.

Clip two is a Strat plugged into the same setup. My goal was to copy that classic maybe a Vox AC30 tone where the amp is clean, yet on the brink of overdrive. It’s up to your fingers and your guitar’s volume knob to decide how clean or dirty the output is.

Web: diago.co.uk
Street Price: $189.99