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Pros:
- Sounds amazing
- Can be used on its own or as a recording device
- Extremely simple to use and tweak
Cons:
- You might want to pass if you are looking for versatile features
Those, who love simplicity and are tired of carrying around heavy amps, unite, I have a wonderful news for you. Pignose, the company renowned for the production of portable amplifiers, came out with Legendary 7-100 back in ‘70s and has been producing this model since then. It quickly caught on due to the sound quality it could deliver and the simplicity it could offer. Joe Walsh, Eric Clapton and Frank Zappa have used this bad boy on their records. Do you want to know what is so special about this amp? Then stay with me as I discuss everything in depth and provide you with all the essential information.
Features
The Legendary 7-100 really stands out among the crowd due to its distinctive design. it is featured in a hinged box chassis, which seems pretty sturdy and durable. Not only does it look good, but it also has a lot of space for storing your cables, AC adapters and straps. This way you will have everything perfectly in place and will not struggle with forgetting something when you are in a hurry. Apart from fancy looks, Legendary 7-100 can produce 5 watts of power and deliver its tone through a single 5” speaker. There are two ways of powering this amp: you could purchase an optional AC adapter (no, it is not included in the package) or shove 6 AA batteries inside. Either way, it will start operating perfectly. Legendary 7-100 can be utilized as a recording tool or connected to external speakers and amps with a Preamp Out output. It also has a single input for your instrument and a socket for plugging in the power supply. Even though this little fella is not the most versatile amp on the market, it knows how to get the job done. And its simplicity is the very reason why it became so popular.
Controls
The Legendary 7-100 is unique in terms of controls as well. Rarely will you see an amp with such a small amount of knobs and buttons. No matter how hard you try, you will not find anything else except the power switch and a Volume knob. You will probably be surprised by this, but the whole beauty of this amp lies within this detail. This means that you will have to rely on the controls of your instrument a great deal. The amp is responsive to the changes you make on your guitar: if you turn up the volume, the stronger signal will be fed to the unit and it will overdrive. And when paired with the on-board volume knob (act as a gain control and intensifies the distortion), it will give you some jaw-dropping results. Probably the majority of you are not used to such small amount of control over the tone, however, Legendary 7-100 makes up for this by offering you the sense of efficiency and forcing you to experiment with your sound. You cannot help but become creative when you have so little to work with, right? And as I have already mentioned, the key here is to look at things in a simpler way.
Pignose 7-100 Sound
None of it would matter if Legendary 7-100 sounded like a piece of crap. Who needs fancy design and features and easy controls if the overall output is not good enough? Fortunately, this little amp does not have that issue. On the contrary, it sounds amazing. The clean tones are sweet and warm, resembling those vintage tube amps we all love so much. They have dimension, definition and power, which is surprising at 5 watts of capacity. Legendary 7-100 can easily get overdriven: you just have to tweak the volume knob and you will soon bark up some subtle distortion. As you turn this control clockwise, the distortion is intensified and steps into the fuzzy territory. But the signal does not lose any tonal characteristics along the way. If you want to experiment a bit more, you can open up the box and start playing with spatial sounds. Who knew a single knob could be so magical?
Conclusion
All in all, Pignose Legendary 7-100 deserves its name, since it is truly legendary. It does not offer a wide range of features, fancy amp models or too many on-board effects, but it still manages to create the badass tone. It is extremely simple to use and can be carried around easily. It is the perfect combination of convenience, affordability and decent sounds. Listen to the demos available online and you will be mesmerized by its capabilities in no time. Good luck!
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