New Amp Day

Discussion in 'Guitar Gear Talk Forum' started by aryasridhar, Oct 1, 2012.

  1. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Blackheart Little Giant Head -- What a wonderful amp......love the tones, has a 5w/3w setting, full EQ, and a Volume Control

    Do not let 5 watts or even 3 watts fool you, its LOUD as hell for home use, I am loving it, nice voxy cleans and Marshall Kind of drive......
    It loves pedals......here is a clip - which is just a basic clip though recorded well, to give an idea of how this amp sounds.....

    Blackheart Little Giant - Short Demo by aryasridhar on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free

    I took the amp apart, to see what’s inside, and to replace the preamp tube thinking it was some cheap tube, but man, I was wrong......It had JJ 12AX7 for the Preamp tube and a JJ EL84 (Same ones used in Vox AC30), Love it......
    Even though the Preamp tube was JJ, I replaced it, suspecting it was microphonic after doing some tests, replaced it with a Tungsol 12AX7. Sounds much sweeter and warmer now…

    The PCB has really beefy traces; the tubes get DC power to its filaments, meaning less hum and noise.....
    The chassis is 18 Gauge, looks and feels solid, the Transformers are FAT and Beefy.....Solid State Rectifier (I will mod it for Tube rectification), This amp looks perfect for a person like me to perform MODS on, I am planning on getting some SOZO capacitors and what not.....

    I am running it through the Over sized 112 cabinet that i built myself, Loaded with an Eminence Governor Speaker in it....

    I tried a pedal that i am building, with the amp, and it seems to love it really......

    A couple of things that I miss are, Gain Control and a Standby Switch..... however, without the Gain control, its much simpler to dial in a great tone….

    NO SMD Shit in this amp, all the components are real and that's how i like it....
    I did quite a lot of research before getting this amp, the others i had under consideration were a Fender Champ, Blackstar HT1R Head, and the Blackheart Little Giant.....But i am happy I made this choice......

    Here are some pictures of the amp insides opened apart

    New Amp Day --- Blackheart BH5H | Facebook
     
  2. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Great dude!

    Where did you buy it from? Is it available in india?
    Also, price?
     
  3. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    And that Pride and Joy part in the demo sounds awesome with the amp, must say!

    How good is it compared to your Cub?
     
  4. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    I bought it from Onstage Bangalore, Its available through Saptaswara as well, Its priced at 13.7k, But i got it from Onstage for 12.5k
    For the price it is a great amp....
     
  5. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Thanks Man, The cub 10 is a real nice amp, but it is something that is a little dark to my taste, this one sounds a lot open......
     
  6. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

  7. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Wow, 26 views and just one person commented.....
     
  8. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    I know you are more into blues and classic rock but just outta curiosity, out of your two amps, which of these do you think can do metal and hard rock better (including shred soloing and stuff)?
    I know I would need a metal pedal or a boost to do so with either of them, but which of these would actually sound better for metal just in case?

    I completely agree that the Little Giant is much much more suited for the stuff you play than the cub.....

    And how would you compare it with the AC4TV head and the Bugera V5?
     
  9. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Yes you will most certainly need a pedal for metal tones, This amp can do metal, It is great for Classic and Hard Rock and definitely a neat one for Blues,

    The cub 10 is a dark amp, but its a great amp nonetheless, I have been able to get some really nice tones off it, but it tends to get dark which is something I am not a major fan of, It has tons of bass, the Blackheart too has lots of Bass but when compared to the Laney it is much lower and tighter...

    Cub Vs Blackheart would not be a good comparison, Cub is a Class AB amp whereas the Little Giant is Class A, Cub uses 6V6GT's in the Power section and the Little Giant has an EL84 in the power section. Think of the Blackheart as a Little Marshall Plexi with no master volume, and the Cub is something similar to a Fender based amp..I could get some real nice Marshally tones from the Blackheart with the Marshall Plexi pedal i made, it sounded so much better and open, when compared to the Cub 10.....

    I did try the VOX AC4TV, its a nice amp in its own right, however to me it sounded boxy, especially the combo, construction wise the Blackheart is much superior than the other two.....right from the cabinet wood to the electronics etc.....

    Never tried a Bugera V5, so can't comment on that....

    Hope this answers your questions......
     
  10. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Tight vs Bright then....

    Thanks a lot for the review.....
     
  11. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    Egnater does this thing pretty well
     
  12. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Does what well? Could you elaborate?
     
  13. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Actually I'm gonna shop for a new tube amp this December or January next year.... So doing my homework, a bit of research as the days pass along....

    Budget's gonna be 20-25k (combo or stack, doesn't matter) so Egnater's kinda outta my reach...
     
  14. rickkkyrich

    rickkkyrich Guest

    Tight and bright both...
     
  15. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

  16. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Hey thanks for the vid dude... The amp sounds superb!

    And by any chance, did you spot the Blackheart 15 Watter handsome devil combo (BH15-112) in the store? I can't find one online...
     
  17. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    Thanks, Not sure about Handsome Devil.....I don't know if it is available in Bangalore though.....Do you need an amp for gigging or for home use or for small gigs?
     
  18. guitarplayer729

    guitarplayer729 New Member

    Nice amplifier.
    Sounds good but didn't like it with the VOX satchurator one bit.
    Try a different pedal with it.
     
  19. tirtha2chester

    tirtha2chester New Member

    Home use as well as for gigging (lining out to the speakers).... Also for jamming with a band...
     
  20. aryasridhar

    aryasridhar New Member

    If you are going to be micing the amp at gigs, then 5 watts should be more than enough really and for small gigs it should be plenty loud.....for home use it is definitely LOUD, i get great tones with some pedals with the volume set at just about 3-4
     

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