PRODUCT REVIEW
Krank Amplification
Rev Jr. Mini-Stack
BY ADAM MOORE
While the small-wattage craze has been a
boon for guitar players of all stripes, bringing great tone down to manageable decibel levels, it seems that blues and classic
rock players – needing mostly clean
sounds or a mild crunch – have stood
to benefit most. Unfortunately for those
players needing a bit more gain on tap,
there’s been a dearth of compact options
to choose from.
Burstbucker at the bridge sparkled, thanks
to the duet of 5881s. Fortunately, it’s easy
to get this amp cooking in no time; turning up the volume to 9 rewarded me with
a creamy Marshall-esque grind – perfect
for those bedroom covers of “All Right
Now.”
Whether it’s because of an altruistic
desire to right this wrong, or simply due
to the fact that they’ve gone mad with
power, the boys at Krank Amplification
have turned their shrink ray on their monstrously heavy Revolution Series 1 head
and created the 20-watt Rev Jr. This stylishly aggressive mini-stack sits atop your
choice of one or two 1x12 solid poplar
cabs and will be sure to scare all of your
other low-wattage friends.
And that’s before the effects loop enters
the picture. The Rev Jr. features an active/
passive loop, which alone is a nice addition for an amp of this size, but the real
surprise is when you hit the Active FX
switch sitting there innocently enough on
the rear panel. This introduces another
preamp gain circuit to the proceedings,
and has the ability to take those overdriven Kleen channel tones even further
into modded-Marshall territory. It makes
such a difference that even the Krank
manual recommends leaving the loop on
at all times.
If you’re in the market for something
with a little less wattage, but still want to
whip out those lightning-fast and murderously low Dethklok riffs, you’d do well to
check out the Rev Jr. mini-stack. The faint
of heart need not apply.
So there’s 20 watts, you’re saying with
a shrug. Well, those 20 watts are put
through a gain-soaked circuit, complete
with three 12AX7s and two 5881s – a 6L6
variant that starts out shimmering and
gets fat as hell when you drive it hard.
When you add the Boost switch and the
Active FX loop (more on that shortly), the
Rev Jr. shows up with enough headroom
to destroy weaker constitutions.
But you probably aren’t reading this
because you want an overdriven Marshall.
Flip on the Krank channel and everything
becomes multiplied. The EQ comes back
in (and it actually works here). There is
suddenly a lot of gain on tap.
Rating…
Tone...
Craftsmanship…
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ONTHEWeb
Head online to check out the video
review of the Rev Jr. Mini-Stack!
premierguitar.com
Wisely realizing that guitarists cannot live
on distortion alone, the Rev Jr. comes
equipped with a respectable “Kleen”
channel. Playing on the Kleen chan-
nel bypasses all of the EQ, leaving you
with just a volume knob. This may be
enough to discourage some players, but
the intrepid will find plenty to like. With
a Gibson BFG plugged in, the P- 90 at
the neck had plenty of depth, while the
The Sweep knob gives you a good control
of the amp’s frequencies, allowing you to
dial in a solid low-end or more midrange
crunch. With the Sweep down low and
the Bass cranked, the Rev Jr. put out
enough bottom for our dropped C riffs.
Of course, the lows aren’t going to be
as tight as a full-sized Revolution head,
and the solitary 12” speaker got a little
flatulent as the Gain control rotated to the
right, but considering we were pushing
this amp at the ceiling of its abilities with
only one 12” cab, there was plenty to be
impressed with.
Krank Amplification
Full Stack MSRP $1199
Half Stack MSRP $949
krankamps.com
