It's not automatically true that the 'big names' offer either the best equipment or the best prices. Some of the most attractive bargains derive from smaller companies, and one such outfit, Essex-based Elvic Electronics, have just launched a brand new range of cost-effective combos. IT borrowed their smallest model, the 30 watt rated 'Design 30', to see how it compared.

With its compact wood casing, covered in black vinyl cloth, and blue coloured steel grille affording ultimate protection to the 10" 60-watt rated Fane speaker, the Design 30 combo looks a tough little amp. The impression is borne out by the use of plastic corner protectors and a good engineering quality. The Design 30 certainly looks well enough made to stand the pace of life.

Facilities on this combo are comprehensive without being spectacular - it offers what you need but doesn't over-ice the cake. The open back reveals a properly secured spring-line reverb system and a captive mains lead. Above the gap, a back panel affords a single jack socket for D.I. output to mixers, suitable for either stage or recording use.

On the front panel you find a single jack socket input, followed by a rocker switch for 'bright' on/off, then pre-amp gain, master volume, treble, bass and reverb controls, a socket for headphones and a mains on/off switch.

Being a fairly low-cost solid state combo, you might be expecting a lot of hiss when you switch the amp on but, in fact, one of this amp's best features is its impressive silence - making it particularly useful for recording.

The tonal range is good too, the circuitry giving a comprehensive spectrum of sounds from a notably sparkling treble (especially when tested with our Tokai TTE 'copy') and with the very effective 'bright' switch 'in'. Once again, we have to send our compliments to Fane for having (as the manufacturer told us) worked closely at the design stage to get the speaker type right for the application. As a result, the reproduction from high top to low bottom is impressive - and the volume level is excellent, showing a high-efficiency design in the speaker.

Reverb in small combos is almost always a vexed issue. To get real depth you need a long spring line unit which, physically, is impossible to fit into a small casing. The Design 30's reverb, therefore, although certainly effective enough by smaller combo standards, does sound a bit 'clangy' compared with the tone of longer spring units - but there you're faced with an engineering limitation which can only really be solved by using bigger reverbs.

The distortion effect gained by running the pre-amp gain high against the master volume (and we tried it with guitars ranging from a Gibson SG through a Strat and numerous others) was good, but, in our opinion, not the best we've heard from a small combo. Running the amp at levels nearer its full power produced better results, but our view would be that it isn't the ideal choice for a dyed-in-the-wool 'heavy metal' guitarist. On the other hand, of course, not every player listens to Black Sabbath records at breakfast time, and a guitarist wanting a cleaner-sounding amp for Jazz, Country and Pop (with occasional overdrive use) could well find himself pleasantly satisfied with the combination of a wide tonal range and effective loudness.

Design amps are a new range, and the 30 combo is shortly to be followed by several other models, including a particularly interesting version delivering 100 watts into either one 12" or two 10" speakers, foot-switchable (LED indicated) channels (with reverb) and using an overdrive circuit which the manufacturers have, they tell us, patented. If the overall sound quality, quiet operation and robustness of the Design 30 are maintained then these could be interesting prospects, and we look forward to being able to test them. In the meantime, the 30 watt model is certainly worth considering if you come across it. Distribution is currently spreading throughout the U.K. and, for the right player, it could be a useful purchase.

RRP £155.25 INC.VAT

More details from Elvic Electronics Ltd., (Contact Details).