It used to be that you bought a 5-watt amp for one of two reasons: It was all the amp you could afford, or it was something you needed for practice. Jimmy Pages storied use of small Fender and Supro amps on early Led Zeppelin albums probably had a lot do with the elevated respect that players now have for lowly practice amps, and with newfound attention being directed toward the low-power realm by todays boutique amp builders, its no wonder that the sophistication of these little amps has increased significantly. While the majority of tube amps in the pee-wee power class still tend to follow the one power tube, single-ended output stage format that has served so well in classics like the Fender Champ, some boutique designers have begun introducing multi-tube, push-pull designs that offer truly respectably big-amp tones, and are well equipped for everything from studio work to low-volume gigs. In this roundup, were focusing on five modelsthe Dr. Z Mini-Z, Carr Mercury, Cornford Harlequin, Mojave Coyote, and DST Engineering U84-TNTthat range in power from 8 watts to a muscular 12 watts. All feature handwired circuitry and are relatively new offerings, except for the Mercury, which we covered in 2003 (albeit in a version with a different output tube). The reason that it appears again in this group because its unique design simply cant be overlooked when comparing boutique amps in this power class. All of the amps were tested using a Gibson Les Paul, A PRS McCarty, a Fender Telecaster, and a new Fender Eric Johnson Signature Stratocaster.