You've got to hand it to bassists. We've helped launch a sea-change in amplifier technology with our rapid adoption of micro amplifiers. We've even heard from some bass companies that their micro heads are outselling their conventional designs by a wide margin. But what is a "micro bass amp?" The modern micro bass head is defined by its light weight, compact form factor, class-D output section and switched-mode power supply. Pretty much all the current micros follow this recipe. But it took a while to get here. Let's set the Time Machine back to 1970. 1970? Yes, think muscle cars, computers the size of freezers and if you wanted an innovative telephone, it weighed 4 pounds, came in pink and was wired to the wall. It was also the year that a guy named Walter Woods made an amplifier that was, oh, only a FEW DECADES ahead of its time. It was compact, lightweight, sounded great, and used a switched-mode power supply. Walter still makes incredible bass amps today, handmade, one at a time, just like he did in 1970.

Along the road to today's micros, there are several honorable mentions. First is the MB ("Micro Bass") series by GK, which were lightweight, but conventional, heads from the 1980s. Then came amps like the Eden WT-550 and the Mesa Walkabout, which helped make the compact form popular. Acoustic Image, Euphonic Audio (EA), Markbass, and others continued to press forward with ever more lightweight and powerful designs. In the last few years, these pioneering companies put the pedal to the aluminum and started rolling out whole product lines of micro bass heads.

Larry Ullman and John Dong (EA's co-founders) started on the road to bass fame with their 3-way transmission line design cabinets. In 2000, Gary Gibilisco joined EA and helped lead them to their first 'hit' in the amp market, the iAmp 350 head in 2002. While not a micro by today's standards, it was compact, and pretty darn good sounding. This led to their higher-power iAmp500 and 800 in 2005, their first to utilize class-D poweramps. Based on the designs in those units, EA borrowed a Shrink Ray machine and created the tiniest bass amp anywhere, the Micro iAMP300, in 2006. At 34 ounces, and the size of a paperback book, you practically needed tweezers to operate it. I can tell you from personal experience, this was not a lightweight in the sound department. In fact, it was the cat's meow (actually, my cat ate mine). The Micro 300 did play fairly loud, but I was always looking for the day when EA would squeeze out a bit more juice.

At this year's NAMM show in January, EA released 3 (THREE!) new Micro amps, their new 550-watt rated Micro, the upright-friendly Doubler, and a new 1200-watt Pro. In one fell swoop, they upped the power on the smallest Micro amp in existence, added a variant especially designed for upright bassists, and finished it off with a super high-power amp mid-sized amp that weighs in at only 9 pounds.

The new two-channel Micro fits in the same 2.1"H x 8.5"W x 5.4"D chassis as its predecessor, continuing its reign as the smallest of the small. They've switched their output section to Bang & Olufsen's ICEpower module which shows up on some of the top bass products out there. Doubly true for the Doubler, which also adds variable controls for Phase, Notch Filter, High Pass Filter, and an XLR input for mic with a switchable phantom power. All this, and it's only 2" wider and a few ounces heavier than the Micro. The Pro is a whole 'nuther animal. The preamp layout is similar to the iAMP 500/800, but the power is a foundation-rattling 1200 watts. Yet, it is a good bit lighter than its forefathers. At only 3.5"H x 14"W x 9"D (the size of the iAMP500) and 9 pounds, this is bound to make a lot of people take notice.

A final note. The Micro streets for $675, the Doubler for $750 and the Pro is $1195. Very reasonable if you ask me. But get this - they are all made in the USA. Who says we can't build 'em here anymore! Available now.
eaamps.com