Ginelle owner/designer/main man Rick Emery boasts that his El Toro Pequeno amp is “bulletproof” and that it “...likes to be pushed.”
Well, claims is claims, and we’ve heard it all before. But when someone brags up their stuff, we always like to oblige – especially when “obliging” involves guitars and cranking up an amp.
The El Toro Pequeno (“the little bull”) is a 1x12 all-tube class A/B combo housed in a finger-jointed pine cabinet. Our test unit was covered with very cool purple tolex (black is also an option) that, when combined with the salt-and-pepper grille and stainless steel Ginelle logo, made for show-stopping good looks. So it talks the talk.
But what does it all mean? Well, though we didn’t wield a 40-aught, we did put the amp through its paces and we can tell you it is tough, and can snort with the best of them.

Skin Deep?
Aside from sheer aesthetics, a major part of what makes the El Toro appealing is its ease of operation. The spartan top-mounted control panel has only volume, bass, and treble knobs, a five-position tone boost, and the power switch. There’s also a damping switch tucked on the underside of the chassis, which adds tightness at high volume.
And helping the amp walk the walk is a pair of EL84s producing 20 watts of output, and a pair of 12AX7s in the preamp, joined by meticulously executed point-to-point wiring with high-quality components, a 1/8"-thick machined aluminum extrusion chassis (a.k.a really heavy duty), and a 12" Celestion Vintage 30.

Fire!
Our first crack at the El Toro involved a ’73 Strat and a G&L Legacy. With them, the amp produced a very tight, “sparkly” tone with plenty of bottom-end. And all frequencies were covered nicely, with impressive overtones.
As we started cranking up the volume, a quick flick of the damping switch did an excellent job of keeping the low-end under control. The volume and the tone boost knobs take the El Toro from a beautifully round and lush “Sultans Of Swing” clean tone to a down-and-dirty blues overdrive with that sweet EL84 sound. Positions 1, 2, and 3 on the tone boost circuit worked best, giving more boost to the mids as the knob inched toward “dimed” territory.
Looking to satisfy our humbucker jones, we grabbed our early-’70s Les Paul. As expected, the ’buckers delivered more drive and distortion, and the tone boost switch kept the El Toro from surrendering any of its clarity. The bass and treble knobs hovered around the 12 to 1 o’clock positions. The heart of the amp’s tone section relies on the filters, and Emery made some excellent choices.
The El Toro covers the blues, rock, and country realms very nicely. And its impressive tones and high-quality construction (along with its price) make it one of the best amp values we’ve seen in a long time. – Phil Feser/Bob Tekippe