Warwick Gnome Arrived Today

[Obrienp]

I just received my Warwick Gnome today. i bought it as a spare/rehearsal amp. My main amp is TCE BH550. The main criteria for my choice was that I wanted a small 200 watt (or thereabouts) head that could be put into the pocket of a gig bag etc, as a just in case for gigs. It also needed to be comparatively cheap. I considered the Trace Elliott Elf (too expensive and apparently has a noisy fan), the TCE BAM 200 (I already have a TCE amp) and the Gnome. I went for the Gnome because it is only £5 more than the BAM 200/and i have already given TCE a lot of my hard-earned over the years. Not the most informed decision but there was no chance of getting to do an A/B/C comparison.

There are quite a few reviews online of the Elf and BAM 200 but I could only find one of the Gnome and that was released by Warwick themselves. I thought it might be useful to folks considering one to give my first impressions. The Gnome is available from the German box shifters for less than the two UK outlets I could find online: Andertons and Bass Direct but now we are out of the EU I suspect there would be duties to pay on an import. The unit I received from one of the two UK dealers turned out to be a European model and came with a two pin power cable, which was annoying. I have duly whinged to them and I hope they will be sending me a UK kettle lead. More importantly I have asked for reassurance that the manufacturer’s warranty would be honoured in the UK, should the need arise; so watch out for that one!

My immediate impression on unboxing was that it had the look and feel of a high quality item. The top front and bottom of the unit seem to be made of a single folded sheet of thick brushed aluminium, with the rest of it being made of black painted steel. The controls, while dinky, appear solid and it gives the impression of something that can take punishment, and last for a good few years. Controls are limited to input gain (with a clipping LED that changes from green to red when the built in compression kicks in), bass, mids, treble, master volume and a green light to show the unit is powered up. On the back is is a pretty standard rocker on/off switch, socket for the kettle lead, jack socket for speaker cable (min 4 ohms) and a balanced DI with ground lift button. Although about the size of a thick A6 paperback, it feels reassuringly heavy for its size, despite being only a couple of kilos.

I connected it up to my standard rig, which comprises two Barefaced One10 cabinets daisy-chained giving a 4 ohm load. I started off with all gain and tone controls at 12 o’clock and the master volume at about 8 o’clock. Wow! I was staggered by the volume and girth of the sound. I swear it is louder than my TCE BH550, which as the name implies is 550 watts, at the same settings. Still with gain and tone at 12 o’clock, I raised the master volume to the mid point also and it started to drive the One10s to break up! They are rated at 250 watts each but Barefaced say they will comfortably take 300 watts each. Now they are designed to break up when driven but I don’t think the BH550 drives them that much at half volume. This is certainly one loud 200 watt amp! At this point I decided to protect my hearing (enclosed test space) and not try to open the volume control anymore but I am absolutely sure it has easily enough grunt to keep up with my band’s drummer in a pub type gig.

Warwick claim that the Gnome is designed to be completely transparent tone wise. It was hard for to gauge with the One10s because they are definitely vintage voiced (think Ampeg at a 10th of the size). The tone controls apparently give plus or minus 15 DB and to my ears they deliver. I would say that the mid is pitched around the low mids but that is pretty subjective and I haven’t actually looked at the frequency band but for those of you who understand that stuff, the data is freely available online. It would be nice to have low mid and high mid controls but there wouldn’t be enough room on the front panel without increasing the unit’s size. All in all I would say they were pretty good and give you a good tone pallet to experiment with. Although the fan kicks in pretty quickly in operation, you can barely hear it and it seems to be effective: the unit never got more than slightly warm to the touch.
 

My summary (and this is pretty subjective): a very useful, tiny and surprisingly loud amp. It appears well made and solid. It feels like it will take a lot of punishment. It is a great fall back amp, in case your main amp goes fut at a gig. Perfect for practice, rehearsals and small gigs. I will continue to use my BH550 for gigs but only because it has low and high mid controls, mute, built in tuner and  2 X TCE TonePrint effect slots. I can’t say it is better, or worse than the BAM 200, or the Elf because I haven’t tried them but if you are in the market for one of these mini-amps, you should definitely have the Gnome on your short list.

[jonno1981]

Great review! 

[three]

Thanks - a really useful and straightforward review!  I was considering a Gnome recently and may still try one (I'm probably more tempted now after reading the review).  I don't know how much the Gnome will have inherited from earlier Warwick amp design, but I've always been impressed with Warwick amp products.  Build quality appears to be great across the range.  I use a Hellborg pre as my main eq and it's without doubt the most extraordinary pre that I've used (after many years of experimentation and the eventual realisation that I prefer SS pres to valve).  I'd like to think that some of Warwick's learning from the Hellborg range has influenced design of the Gnome.  I should really try to find out.  Incidentally, my recent interest in a tiny amp led me to the Hotone Thunder bass - only 5w (class A) but surprisingly loud and with an unbelievably good eq - fat, bold and really sensitive to player dynamics 

[Obrienp]

For the sake of accuracy, I have to make a couple of additions/amendments to the review:

1. The brushed aluminium outer case is actually in 2 pieces, not one. It stops at the front above and below the control knobs. 
2. I forgot to mention that the front panel has a 1/4” headphone socket (far right), which apparently has speaker emulation.

3. You probably guessed but mine is the vanilla version without the USB, or Bluetooth. The top model is 300 watts, mine is 200 @ 4 ohms.

[MacDaddy]

Pics?

[JapanAxe]

• Barefaced Midget
• Trace Elliot Elf
• Warwick Gnome

Trend, anyone?

[Obrienp]

18 minutes ago, MacDaddy said:

Pics?

Yes, sorry. I’ll take a few and post them anon.

[MOSCOWBASS]

I got rid of my BF One10's because of breakup, quite early on!

[Obrienp]

1 hour ago, MOSCOWBASS said:

I got rid of my BF One10's because of breakup, quite early on!

Interesting. What did you replace them with?

[Obrienp]

I promised some pics. A couple here to try to give you an idea of scale. My studio is a bit dimly lit, so apologies for quality.

 

[MOSCOWBASS]

52 minutes ago, Obrienp said:

Interesting. What did you replace them with?

GR Bass AT210 and an AT112h as backup/addition for very occasional gigs, I don't play loud, mostly jazz and big band with the occasional  function band gig. The AT210 is both louder with same flattish amp settings (Mesad800+) and goes louder before breakup. It also weighs only 22lbs compared to 30lbs for the 2x BF One10's.

 

Edit, I'm not anti Barefaced, they are good cabs, I've had 6 in the past 10 years.

Edited May 13, 2021 by MOSCOWBASS
update

[Obrienp]

6 minutes ago, MOSCOWBASS said:

GR Bass AT210 and an AT112h as backup/addition for very occasional gigs, I don't play loud, mostly jazz and big band with the occasional  function band gig. The AT210 is both louder with same flattish amp settings (Mesad800+) and goes louder before breakup. It also weighs only 22lbs compared to 30lbs for the 2x BF One10's

I had never heard of that before. I just found it on Thomann. Incredible it only ways 10Kg. I imagine that it is not vintage voiced though with that switchable tweeter. I can’t afford to change though and break up is not too much of a problem for the music I play: I rarely get to turn up that loud anyway and both my amps have DI out. Had I known about GR before though..... life is full of missed opportunities.

[MOSCOWBASS]

I got mine through Bass Direct: https://w.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/GR_Bass_Amplification.html 

I've just noticed GR bass new web site up and running https://www.grbass.com/carbon-fiber/ 

Edited May 13, 2021 by MOSCOWBASS
update

[yorks5stringer]

On 11/05/2021 at 21:11, Obrienp said:

I just received my Warwick Gnome today. i bought it as a spare/rehearsal amp. My main amp is TCE BH550. The main criteria for my choice was that I wanted a small 200 watt (or thereabouts) head that could be put into the pocket of a gig bag etc, as a just in case for gigs. It also needed to be comparatively cheap. I considered the Trace Elliott Elf (too expensive and apparently has a noisy fan), the TCE BAM 200 (I already have a TCE amp) and the Gnome. I went for the Gnome because it is only £5 more than the BAM 200/and i have already given TCE a lot of my hard-earned over the years. Not the most informed decision but there was no chance of getting to do an A/B/C comparison.

There are quite a few reviews online of the Elf and BAM 200 but I could only find one of the Gnome and that was released by Warwick themselves. I thought it might be useful to folks considering one to give my first impressions. The Gnome is available from the German box shifters for less than the two UK outlets I could find online: Andertons and Bass Direct but now we are out of the EU I suspect there would be duties to pay on an import. The unit I received from one of the two UK dealers turned out to be a European model and came with a two pin power cable, which was annoying. I have duly whinged to them and I hope they will be sending me a UK kettle lead. More importantly I have asked for reassurance that the manufacturer’s warranty would be honoured in the UK, should the need arise; so watch out for that one!

My immediate impression on unboxing was that it had the look and feel of a high quality item. The top front and bottom of the unit seem to be made of a single folded sheet of thick brushed aluminium, with the rest of it being made of black painted steel. The controls, while dinky, appear solid and it gives the impression of something that can take punishment, and last for a good few years. Controls are limited to input gain (with a clipping LED that changes from green to red when the built in compression kicks in), bass, mids, treble, master volume and a green light to show the unit is powered up. On the back is is a pretty standard rocker on/off switch, socket for the kettle lead, jack socket for speaker cable (min 4 ohms) and a balanced DI with ground lift button. Although about the size of a thick A6 paperback, it feels reassuringly heavy for its size, despite being only a couple of kilos.

I connected it up to my standard rig, which comprises two Barefaced One10 cabinets daisy-chained giving a 4 ohm load. I started off with all gain and tone controls at 12 o’clock and the master volume at about 8 o’clock. Wow! I was staggered by the volume and girth of the sound. I swear it is louder than my TCE BH550, which as the name implies is 550 watts, at the same settings. Still with gain and tone at 12 o’clock, I raised the master volume to the mid point also and it started to drive the One10s to break up! They are rated at 250 watts each but Barefaced say they will comfortably take 300 watts each. Now they are designed to break up when driven but I don’t think the BH550 drives them that much at half volume. This is certainly one loud 200 watt amp! At this point I decided to protect my hearing (enclosed test space) and not try to open the volume control anymore but I am absolutely sure it has easily enough grunt to keep up with my band’s drummer in a pub type gig.

Warwick claim that the Gnome is designed to be completely transparent tone wise. It was hard for to gauge with the One10s because they are definitely vintage voiced (think Ampeg at a 10th of the size). The tone controls apparently give plus or minus 15 DB and to my ears they deliver. I would say that the mid is pitched around the low mids but that is pretty subjective and I haven’t actually looked at the frequency band but for those of you who understand that stuff, the data is freely available online. It would be nice to have low mid and high mid controls but there wouldn’t be enough room on the front panel without increasing the unit’s size. All in all I would say they were pretty good and give you a good tone pallet to experiment with. Although the fan kicks in pretty quickly in operation, you can barely hear it and it seems to be effective: the unit never got more than slightly warm to the touch.
 

My summary (and this is pretty subjective): a very useful, tiny and surprisingly loud amp. It appears well made and solid. It feels like it will take a lot of punishment. It is a great fall back amp, in case your main amp goes fut at a gig. Perfect for practice, rehearsals and small gigs. I will continue to use my BH550 for gigs but only because it has low and high mid controls, mute, built in tuner and  2 X TCE TonePrint effect slots. I can’t say it is better, or worse than the BAM 200, or the Elf because I haven’t tried them but if you are in the market for one of these mini-amps, you should definitely have the Gnome on your short list.

I guess you're laughing now?

[eude]

Warwick have some matching cabs on the way it would seem...

https://shop.warwick.de/en/amplifier/bass-amps/bass-cabinets/29881/warwick-gnome-cab-2/8/4-compact-bass-cabinet-2x8-200-watt

https://shop.warwick.de/en/amplifier/bass-amps/bass-cabinets/29882/warwick-gnome-cab-10/8-compact-bass-cabinet-1x10-150-watt

I can't expect they'll be incredible, but for the money, I don't think they'll be half bad for home, rehearsal and smallish gigs, especially with the tony little Gnome head!

Eude

[Pea Turgh]

They’re a bit odd - looks like there’s a space for the amp to sit, but there are connectors bang in the middle.

[eude]

2 hours ago, Pea Turgh said:

They’re a bit odd - looks like there’s a space for the amp to sit, but there are connectors bang in the middle.

Looks to me like there might be a combo(s) on the horizon too? A 1x10 combo plus the 1x10 can would be a nice compact, modular setup.

Eude

[DiMarco]

My Elf is on the shelf. 200w wasn't cutting it in my band. Funny enough the old TE AH250 Mk.V is capable of going n times as loud.

To cover my small & portable amp needs I bought a TC RH750 instead. Swiss army knife bass head that one.

The Warwick Gnome looks nice but I bet it can't compete with the JCM900 and Dual Rectifier stacks my guitarists are wielding. Whenever I can I bring out the SVT4-PRO and Barefaced Big Twin II gen3 to be able to keep up.

 

 

 

[eude]

30 minutes ago, DiMarco said:

My Elf is on the shelf. 200w wasn't cutting it in my band. Funny enough the old TE AH250 Mk.V is capable of going n times as loud.

The issue is that manufacturers are happy to mislead us with their quoted wattage.
The Class D Elf probably can put out about 200W, but only for milliseconds before the protection circuit kicks in to stop it melting.
The proper old school Trace head will push out its quoted max volume and will be able to maintain it, for a whole gig, without overheating.

There's been HUGE improvements in what Class D amps are capable of these days, and it will only get better, but if you want to keep up with 100W guitar amps, you need to be looking at the ones quoted as being 750/800/1000W. The mad thing is, a 300W old school solid state amp will easily keep up with the class D's quoted as being 2 if not 3 times as powerful.

Eude

[stewblack]

It's curious isn't it? My Elf is plenty loud enough for my band. Two 15" Barefaced cabs and it thunders. 

I tend to entirely ignore the wattage labels (or at least I try to) I've gigged with 1000, 250,100, 500, 200, 300, 2000 watt amps of all types shapes and sizes and all have done the job. 

[DiMarco]

Well the RH750 goes very loud with the Barefaced cab but the SVT4-pro just sounds better then the TC does.
I mainly use that TC amp with my two Trace Elliot 2x8" cabs - my tiny footprint lots of noise ministack when the stage is tiny.

 

[andy67]

You could be forgiven for suggesting the TC Bam and Warwick Gnome are one and the same thing! 

Edited July 3, 2021 by andy67

[Obrienp]

3 hours ago, andy67 said:

You could be forgiven for suggesting the TC Bam and Warwick Gnome are one and the same thing! 

Are they linked companies, or is it just that they are very similar amps? I could have saved a few Bob then; the BAM is cheaper.

I’m beginning to think the Gnome is a little harsh/bright but it may be something to do with my Barefaced One10s. It is certainly loud through them but sounds a bit more civilised through my Ashdown RM112 T Evo II, with the tweeter on low. I find the One10s go to cone overdrive quite quickly and it has quite harsh treble sound that can’t be equed out of the equation. However, possibly unfair comparison: 8ohm 1 x 12” cab at 100 watts max, against 2 x 8 ohm 10” cabs = 4 ohms and therefore 200 watts max potential.

[andy67]

1 hour ago, Obrienp said:

Are they linked companies, or is it just that they are very similar amps? I could have saved a few Bob then; the BAM is cheaper.

I’m beginning to think the Gnome is a little harsh/bright but it may be something to do with my Barefaced One10s. It is certainly loud through them but sounds a bit more civilised through my Ashdown RM112 T Evo II, with the tweeter on low. I find the One10s go to cone overdrive quite quickly and it has quite harsh treble sound that can’t be equed out of the equation. However, possibly unfair comparison: 8ohm 1 x 12” cab at 100 watts max, against 2 x 8 ohm 10” cabs = 4 ohms and therefore 200 watts max potential.

I did check for a link as in Behringer/Music Tribe: https://community.musictribe.com/ but Warwick is not part of it. However, those two amps are incredibly alike in layout.  Very curious indeed! Could be that like Cort manufacture for various instrument companies, Music Tribe do similar for others.

Edited July 3, 2021 by andy67

[durhamboy]

I think there's not a lot that can be squeezed into a box the size of the Gnome, Bam 200, or the TE  Elf, an input, volume, bas- mid- treble and a headphone jack is about it and still being able to turn the knobs!

Once a form factor like this takes off, then everyone who wants to be in the mini head game has to match, size, output, features and price pretty closely, with just enough individuality to create a point of difference.

There was a thread about the similarity between these small heads on Talkbass a while ago, with photos of all 3 opened up to show the circuits and layout. While the tiny size limits just how parts can be placed, all were different enough to show they aren't just the same amp in a different coloured case.