Taurus SH9.MiniMax Tube Guitar Amplifier
01-2026
Simple, fast, with massive tone — in its purest form.
SH9.MiniMax is an amplifier designed for guitarists who prefer simple and effective solutions when it comes to equipment setup. This amplifier gives you rock sound right after you plug it in. You turn it ON and you’re ready to play. Minimum settings, maximum inspiration.
Taurus SH8,Qube Small Tube guitar Amplifier
11-2023
Stomp-Head 8, Qube small tube guitar amplifier in a custom version.
Suggestions from guitarists resulted in us adding an additional option that allows you to select the CLASSIC or HIGH GAIN type of distortion.
08-2023
Stomp-Head 8 is our newest series of compact guitar amplifiers.
Three versions were created:
SH8.Qube - small tube guitar amplifier with exelent warm tone.
SH8,Qlone - Solid State version of the above amplifier.
SH8.Clean - a proposition for guitarists who prefer a transparent sound of a guitar amplifier.
Check our gallery of pedalboard guitar amplifiers:: here
02-2021
Stomp-Head 7, Apogee Plus is the latest version of the SH7.Apogee amplifier.
In this version, we added an option that allows loading loudspeaker profiles. The amplifier is still in analog technology, while the IR loader allows the use of 16 profiles of speaker cabinets. The line output in this amplifier has two-way mode so you can send signal from line otput with or without simulation. More information: here
NEWS.
04-2020.
A new design is created - the Stomp-Head 6.CE small tube guitar amplifier with huge and exelent sound
More information on the product page: here
Stomp-Head small tube guitar amplifiers. A compact guitar amplifier for installation in a pedalboard that provides great guitar tone.
I managed to design small guitar amplifiers, but the problem of cabling still remained. Long cable runs were required between the amplifier and the effects placed in the pedalboard, as well as between the amp and the footswitches used to control its functions.
This led me to design an amplifier that would move from the speaker cabinet directly into the pedalboard. That’s how the Stomp‑Head was born. Our first amplifier of this type was completed in 2011. At that time, Taurus was the only company offering a high‑power, professional guitar amplifier that could fit directly into a pedalboard.
Here is our first Stomp‑Head:
https://youtu.be/FpNG0y3VXR0
For years, Taurus has been creating guitar amplifiers that combine the character of tube‑style tone with a compact form. This page presents the story behind the development of the Stomp‑Head amplifiers — the world’s first high‑power, professional pedalboard guitar amps.
The Beginnings of Taurus Amplifiers (1983–2000)
The first Taurus guitar amplifiers appeared in 1983.
At that time, I founded a small workshop focused on building guitar and bass amplifiers.
Bass amps were slightly less demanding in terms of technology, but guitarists strongly preferred tube amplifiers — and their biggest drawback was always weight and size. As a designer and an active guitarist myself, I wanted to reduce both as much as possible.
I built many prototypes before I finally developed my own technology that allowed me to create a compact guitar amplifier with the tonal qualities guitarists expect from a classic tube amp.
Below is a selection of early Taurus head‑type guitar amplifiers. They followed the traditional head format, but were significantly smaller and lighter than typical designs of that era.
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Stomp-Head, my idea.
I had always dreamed of an amplifier that contained everything I needed inside a single enclosure. I’ve never liked the tangle of patch cables, plugging everything in before a show, and packing it all up afterward. I prefer cleanliness, order, and the minimum amount of gear. That’s why, in 2009, I began working on a concept that broke away from the traditional form of guitar amplifiers.
I wanted an amp that combined all the attributes of a classic tube head with built‑in footswitch controls — everything integrated into one compact unit. The amplifier would offer three different ways of being used on stage: mounted in a pedalboard, used as a traditional head, or simply placed directly on the stage floor.
Practical Assumptions – What Was Stomp‑Head Designed to Solve?
On stage, conditions can vary greatly. Sometimes a guitarist needs the natural monitoring of a guitar cabinet, and sometimes the stage setup simply doesn’t allow it — forcing us to play through the front‑of‑house system and rely only on monitors, where the guitar sound is often far from what we expect.
So I decided that the Stomp‑Head had to operate in two modes: as a classic amplifier, and as a preamp with speaker simulation, allowing it to be connected directly to the PA system while still delivering a guitar tone comparable to that of a traditional speaker cabinet.
The second important aspect was integrating all essential switching functions into the amplifier itself: channel switching and BOOST activation. I have always preferred using dedicated amp channels for CLEAN, CRUNCH and LEAD tones. In my experience, this approach works far better than relying on a chain of external DRIVE pedals, which often reduce dynamics and behave unpredictably with different types of amplifiers.
With all of this built into the amplifier, I didn’t need much more. Adding a reverb and delay — and maybe a modulation effect — was enough to create a complete, ready‑to‑play setup.
The Birth of the Stomp‑Head Concept
Taurus Tube Guitar Amplifiers in a compact form.
The Story of Stomp‑Head.
Stomp‑Head and the Evolution of the Technology (2015–2025)
The Search for a Compact Form – The First Small Heads
Taurus Custom
My first rig consisted of a Stomp‑Head with a reverb and delay connected in the effects loop. Everything fit into a tiny pedalboard that required only two cables: one speaker cable and one guitar cable. Setting up and packing this rig took just a few minutes.
Another advantage was having the amplifier right in front of me. From my position on stage, I could easily adjust the tone and clearly see all the control settings from above. In the past, when I used a traditional head, I needed four separate footswitches (CLEAN, CRUNCH, LEAD and BOOST), along with a set of effects that required several meters of cabling between the pedals and the amplifier. Some cables went into the effects loop, others into the amp’s input — altogether creating many meters of wiring weighing several kilograms.
Now, all those switches are built into the amplifier with no external cabling. Connecting effects requires only a few centimeters of patch cable — and the cable mess is gone.
The Greatest Challenge – Achieving Tube Tone in a Compact Format
Concept is one thing — but above all, we are all searching for great tone. For most guitarists, true high‑quality sound is still associated with traditional tube amplifiers. Achieving that level of tone in a compact format was the biggest challenge I faced. I knew exactly what guitarists expected, and I knew how difficult it would be to deliver the same result within the size constraints I had set for myself.
I already had some solutions that had worked well in earlier designs, but it still took several more years of experimentation before the Stomp‑Head could truly compete with classic tube amplifiers. During this process, I developed my own technology, which I named Master Tube Design. The concept is based on a tube placed between the preamp and power amp sections, supported by a set of optical components that shape the dynamics and compression in a way characteristic of traditional tube circuits.
I have always been a strong advocate of analog designs, and Stomp‑Head amplifiers are built entirely in this philosophy. How close we came to meeting the expectations guitarists have for top‑tier tube amplifiers is something I leave to the musicians to judge. What I do know is that many players who switched from classic tube heads to Stomp‑Heads have stayed with them ever since.
Looking back, solutions like this are much more common today, but in 2011 the Stomp‑Head was the first high‑power, professional pedalboard amplifier on the market. At that time, it was a completely new concept — one that other manufacturers only began to explore later.
What started as a bold experiment eventually became the foundation of the entire Stomp‑Head line. The Master Tube Design technology, developed through years of testing and refinement, remains at the heart of our amplifiers to this day. From the beginning, its purpose was clear: to deliver the full dynamics and expression of a tube amplifier in a format that offers freedom, mobility and comfort on stage.
Today, Stomp‑Head is a mature and well‑developed series of amplifiers, yet its original idea has remained unchanged — to create a compact amplifier that matches the character of classic tube designs while eliminating their limitations.
Taurus Effects Pedals Servo, Drive, Multidrive, Tux compressor, Beefmaster, MultiWay Booster
Designed by musicians for musicians