Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: phlip on September 24, 2008, 01:30:08 PM
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After months of humming and hah-ing I've hit the buy button on Ebay for a Rat Hot rodded Blackheart BA5H. It should be with me tomorrow. I haven't had a propper Valve amp since I got rid of my JCM800 years ago, so I'm looking forward to see how this little Class A head performs especially with the Power Scaling built in for low level but cranked sounds.
Ok I won't get speaker colouration at these levels but still I can always crank the shiteeee out of it when the wife and Neighbours are out.
I'll running it through a Epi 1x12 at the start but may upgrade the speaker or cab sometime in the future.
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is that the valve junior cab? if so, what do you think of it? i've been meaning to pick on up as the price has dropped recently, a tried one a while back and seemed to remember it being pretty nice (especially for the money).
nice score on the amp by the way. :)
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I've been looking a his stuff and thinking it might be a good little amp for home use, so I will be interested in what you think of it, and clips of course :)
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is that the valve junior cab? if so, what do you think of it? i've been meaning to pick on up as the price has dropped recently, a tried one a while back and seemed to remember it being pretty nice (especially for the money).
I have one that I keep at my singer's house for writing sessions. I usually go guitar > Smokey > Epi cab.
It sounds good enough for writing, but it's open back so you're not gonna get a tonne of low end from it.
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is that the valve junior cab? if so, what do you think of it? i've been meaning to pick on up as the price has dropped recently, a tried one a while back and seemed to remember it being pretty nice (especially for the money).
nice score on the amp by the way. :)
It is the valve Junior cab but I haven't had it or used it long enough to form an honest opinion, aside from for the money it's better built than I expected and the speaker seems canny enough. I'll keep it stock for a while but given the excellent prices of good Celestions these days an upgrade is very probable.
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I've been looking a his stuff and thinking it might be a good little amp for home use, so I will be interested in what you think of it, and clips of course :)
Of course :)
Before i bought I listened to a lot of clips of the stock head and it sounded very decent certainly better than the VJ and Harley Bentons, so given the mods and fixes done I'm (Hopefully not in vain) hoping it's gonna be a cracker. It's a risk of course but I've heard nothing but great stuff about the Andy Dokken modded 5 watters and the Power Scaling.
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I've been looking a his stuff and thinking it might be a good little amp for home use, so I will be interested in what you think of it, and clips of course :)
+1. I shall be watching!
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I can't wait to hear about this! i was after a Blackheart Little Giant as more of a pedal-platform but this would be absolutely ideal as a home amp (and pedal platform) if it sounds good! I'm sure it will with the 6L6GC, i wonder if you can make that a real 6L6... hmm. Not quite sure on the differences these days myself!
Wonder how well it could cope with a low B or A with the 6L6GC...
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cheers phlip and TO. not overly worried about a lack of low end as i'll likely only be putting the VJ through it, don't need a particularly modern bass-heavy sound out of it anyway (assuming that's what you mean by a ton of low-end).
:)
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I can't wait to hear about this! i was after a Blackheart Little Giant as more of a pedal-platform but this would be absolutely ideal as a home amp (and pedal platform) if it sounds good! I'm sure it will with the 6L6GC, i wonder if you can make that a real 6L6... hmm. Not quite sure on the differences these days myself!
Wonder how well it could cope with a low B or A with the 6L6GC...
'fraid I won't be able to answer that one as I bought the single El84 & switchable Rectifier model not the switchable output valve model as I'm not bothered about the extra clean headroom the 6L6 offers (I know there's a potential bottom end benefit on 6L6's depending on the amp). I'm more Marshall than Fender in my amp tastes.
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Well the Head has arrived at work, Wont' be able to try it 'til tomorrow.
Build quality on the Blackheart is excellent and a swift bit of screwdriver work shows me the mods and rewiring have been done superbly by Rat/Andy Dokken. Of course no matter how well built or neat the mods are it's tone that matters. Bit it's looking promising.
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Ratt/Dokken.
There, I fixed it!
\m/
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Ratt/Dokken.
There, I fixed it!
\m/
Sweet!
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Ratt/Dokken.
There, I fixed it!
\m/
LOL Good one.
Anyway quick review, it's nearly pub time.
IT'S LOUD!!! REALLY LOUD!!!
Blimey without the power scaling this would be a wall cracker for anything but the cleanest cleans. HOWEVER the power scaling is great with every control flat out (Cracking DC sound like this) you can reduce the actual volume to something which wouldn't wake a baby. The tone does change a bit when you do this it gets a little bit of fizz at the top and a lot fatter with more overdrive, reducing the master cures this side effect if you don't want it. I actually like it though. I am talking at extremes here ie flat out to very quiet.
It's got nice cleans at lower levels and with a HT dual in front of it it absolutely RIPS!
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I've just clocked them on Ebay... they do look VERY tempting...
You gonna post some clips? It's only polite, you know...
Mark.
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So definitely a good home amp then! or at least a pedal platform or whatever people call it...
Yes yes, clips!
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Talking of small home amps, I got a Hughes & Ketner Cream Machine off ebay recently, just recieved it on Friday.
It's a 1/2 rack preamp with a 1w valve output stage using a single ECC82 (12AU7). The preamp consists of a dual opamp (5332) setup for a modest amount of gain that drives an ECC83 (12AX7) for the bulk of the OD.
It's essentially got a really nice OD pedal built into the front end with a (modest) pre-set amount of gain. The 'gain' pot controls the signal in the ECC83 valve stage if you look at the schematic, so you can control the valve compression/gain quite satisfactorily.
At full volume through a 4x12, it's not unbearably loud - maybe a wee bit too much for neighbours if it's mid-evening. However, it still sounds really nice with the master a little lower and actually sounds 'best' with the master set to around 2/3'rd volume.
It has LOTS of gain, and to get more range out of it I've put an ECC81 (12AT7) in place of the ECC83 to reduce the total amount of gain available. I now get plenty of gain at higher settings, but with the gain around 2-3 I can get some gorgeous clean tones with my Tele. Wind up the gain to 5-7 and it just screams with a phat tone - I love this thing!!!
I'm gonna try building a repro with some extra options (expand the idea a little with more control over the tone) - I reckon loads of people would dig a 1w all valve practice amp that comes in a package this small (or would people prefer it in a standard head box?)
Anyway, sorry for the slight hijack :lol:
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So definitely a good home amp then! or at least a pedal platform or whatever people call it...
Yes yes, clips!
Definately a good home amp I would say (sorry slur been to pub!)
Clips as soon as I borrow a mike from work. They playing may be sheeite but it'll give you the gist of what the amp sounds like, I need to think of a way to get across how much you can pull the volume down from full tilt using the Power Scaling.
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Theres so many new products in the latest Guitarist Magazine thats giving me so much gas.
If your interested in 5wat amps have a read of the new Blackstar HT-5. It is a 5 watt amp. It comes in a combo or a head. The head is £219. The head + 2 x 10 cabs is only £349. thats mental. a mini stack. the pre amp is basically the HT DUAL in the head + it has an effects loops!! looking forward the the reviews of that!
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Talking of small home amps, I got a Hughes & Ketner Cream Machine off ebay recently, just recieved it on Friday.
It's a 1/2 rack preamp with a 1w valve output stage using a single ECC82 (12AU7). The preamp consists of a dual opamp (5332) setup for a modest amount of gain that drives an ECC83 (12AX7) for the bulk of the OD.
It's essentially got a really nice OD pedal built into the front end with a (modest) pre-set amount of gain. The 'gain' pot controls the signal in the ECC83 valve stage if you look at the schematic, so you can control the valve compression/gain quite satisfactorily.
At full volume through a 4x12, it's not unbearably loud - maybe a wee bit too much for neighbours if it's mid-evening. However, it still sounds really nice with the master a little lower and actually sounds 'best' with the master set to around 2/3'rd volume.
It has LOTS of gain, and to get more range out of it I've put an ECC81 (12AT7) in place of the ECC83 to reduce the total amount of gain available. I now get plenty of gain at higher settings, but with the gain around 2-3 I can get some gorgeous clean tones with my Tele. Wind up the gain to 5-7 and it just screams with a phat tone - I love this thing!!!
I'm gonna try building a repro with some extra options (expand the idea a little with more control over the tone) - I reckon loads of people would dig a 1w all valve practice amp that comes in a package this small (or would people prefer it in a standard head box?)
Anyway, sorry for the slight hijack :lol:
ooo, i have one of those too.
i also use it with AT->AU (i agree AX is too much in the preamp)
really like the gain, but find the box a bit dark for my taste. should probably get round to selling it in fact.
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Can't find the HT5 anywhere... got a link? Can't see it on the Blackstar site...
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its mentioned on page 16 of this months Guitarist Mag with pics. It says it will be fully reviewed next issue. It refers to their website but its not on there atm from what i can see
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Theres so many new products in the latest Guitarist Magazine thats giving me so much gas.
If your interested in 5wat amps have a read of the new Blackstar HT-5. It is a 5 watt amp. It comes in a combo or a head. The head is £219. The head + 2 x 10 cabs is only £349. thats mental. a mini stack. the pre amp is basically the HT DUAL in the head + it has an effects loops!! looking forward the the reviews of that!
Yeah I saw that too, could be very interesting... Not sure when it's due to ship though. I guess they'll try to get it out before Christmas.
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Theres so many new products in the latest Guitarist Magazine thats giving me so much gas.
If your interested in 5wat amps have a read of the new Blackstar HT-5. It is a 5 watt amp. It comes in a combo or a head. The head is £219. The head + 2 x 10 cabs is only £349. thats mental. a mini stack. the pre amp is basically the HT DUAL in the head + it has an effects loops!! looking forward the the reviews of that!
Yeah I saw that too, could be very interesting... Not sure when it's due to ship though. I guess they'll try to get it out before Christmas.
I was about to mention it infact!
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But will the blackstar have powerscaling! if not then it's still going to be rediculously loud.
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Talking of small home amps, I got a Hughes & Ketner Cream Machine off ebay recently, just recieved it on Friday.
It's a 1/2 rack preamp with a 1w valve output stage using a single ECC82 (12AU7). The preamp consists of a dual opamp (5332) setup for a modest amount of gain that drives an ECC83 (12AX7) for the bulk of the OD.
It's essentially got a really nice OD pedal built into the front end with a (modest) pre-set amount of gain. The 'gain' pot controls the signal in the ECC83 valve stage if you look at the schematic, so you can control the valve compression/gain quite satisfactorily.
At full volume through a 4x12, it's not unbearably loud - maybe a wee bit too much for neighbours if it's mid-evening. However, it still sounds really nice with the master a little lower and actually sounds 'best' with the master set to around 2/3'rd volume.
It has LOTS of gain, and to get more range out of it I've put an ECC81 (12AT7) in place of the ECC83 to reduce the total amount of gain available. I now get plenty of gain at higher settings, but with the gain around 2-3 I can get some gorgeous clean tones with my Tele. Wind up the gain to 5-7 and it just screams with a phat tone - I love this thing!!!
I'm gonna try building a repro with some extra options (expand the idea a little with more control over the tone) - I reckon loads of people would dig a 1w all valve practice amp that comes in a package this small (or would people prefer it in a standard head box?)
Anyway, sorry for the slight hijack :lol:
ooo, i have one of those too.
i also use it with AT->AU (i agree AX is too much in the preamp)
really like the gain, but find the box a bit dark for my taste. should probably get round to selling it in fact.
I agree it's a bit dark, but decent NOS valves sort that out. What ECC81 and ECC82s are you using? (current production stuff is still way too undefined and gainy). If you haven't already, try some decent NOS valves - since they're ECC81s and ECC82s you won't pay anywhere near what NOS ECC83s go for. I typically pay no more than a fiver for good NOS ECC81 and ECC82s on ebay. Get them while the prices are still somewhere approaching sane.
My faves are Brimar because of the punchy, aggressive midrange they are characterised by. Sylvania, GE, RCA, Mullard, Phillips, Mazda etc... are all good too although you'll still pay a little premium for anything with the Mullard name on regardless of what it is. The other brands represent better value.
Also, US-made NOS valves tend to be brighter than their European-made counterparts, so this will help the darker tone of the Cream Machine. Stick with it a little while, trust me.
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But will the blackstar have powerscaling! if not then it's still going to be rediculously loud.
I think this will be the key to the sucess of this. I was stunned at how loud 5 watts of Valve sounded - it's been a while-, supposedly the Blackhearts are louder than the Epi/Harley bentons which are rated 5 watts peak while the Blackhearts are 5 Watt RMS. Whatever that means.
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ANYWAY!
How are we coming on with the Rat/Blackheart soundclips?
I only ask because I'm in the market for a 200 quid LOW watt valve amp... Getting a decent sound out of my Orange is getting very tedious for my kids/wife//neighbours... I know I could go the THD route... but to be honest the Orange is also a little unsophisticated - no master, just single volume. I'd like something that does a bit more.
Hence my interest in the Blackheart. Also the Blackheart Little Devil, the Blackstar HT-5... there seems to be some interesting stuff in the sub 15 watt market at the moment.
Mark.
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Please excuse the playing I'm loaded with cold and bunged up to hell so I plugged in a played a riff once for each sound and that was it.
Anyway it's the amp you want to hear not my godawful playing so.
Les Paul with Rebel Yell>
RATBlackheart 5 Watt>
Stock epi 1x12 hardly played yet>
Audio Technica SM58 rip off>
POD x3 as mic pre only>
Maudio Delta Sound Card>
Cubase.
1st bit amp set clean ish
2nd Amp fully cranked Master and Pre, power scalling keeping the volume down to wouldn't wake the baby levels
3rd clean as 1 but with a HT-Dual Green Distortion in front
4th clean as 1 but with a HT-Dual Red Distorion in front.
I hope after you've finished lauging it'll give you and idea of the amp.
All recorded volume wise at levels that wouldn't have woken a baby 2 rooms away.
BTW it was very close miked and the hint of reverb is from the X3, the clipping in the clean is sound card.
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No laughing necessary - that's excellent.
No baby waking? That's ace... I think that you've just convinced me that this is the way forward, partic as I have a HT Dual, and it seems to take that pedal extremely well...
Well done that man.
Mark.
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Ta,
TBH the only thing wrong with the powerscalling is the more you turn it down the more compressed the sound gets and there's a littl bit of fizz. Small price to pay to be able to 'crank' the valves without divoce.
The clip isn't as bad as I first thought its just sloppy as hell, then again I was sloppy when I played in bands properly 10+ years ago :P
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Philip, I've lost the link to the Ebay shop that had those amps - can you post it?
Ta.
Mark.
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http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/andydokken
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Ta.
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Ratt/Dokken.
There, I fixed it!
\m/
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
PDT_047
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Nice clip, and that's a really great sound from that setup. Makes me think that there is some real mileage in a 5 watter, currently I am leaning towards tinkering myself, but that sound makes me think that Andy has really sorted these little fellas out so maybe that's the way to go!
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Yeah he's done a great neat job, it's got a good range of quality tones given the price and simplicity of the design. I'm still stunned at how loud it is fully cranked without the power scaling on. OK I have it in a small room but it would render me deaf in no time in there, plus it sounds great like that.
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TBH the only thing wrong with the powerscalling is the more you turn it down the more compressed the sound gets and there's a littl bit of fizz.
Nice clips, shows well what Power Scaling can do.
The slight fizziness and compression, at very low levels, is caused by the signal from the preamp becoming relatively larger as the output stage becomes effectively smaller.
It can be avoided by fitting an extra volume control (what KOC calls drive compensation). On amps with more complex preamps, this is easier, but on simple stuff like the VJ, Deluxes and 18 watters, it's trickier to find a suitable insert point. It's not a big problem, as you said, and often reducing the guitar volume a tad will do the same job.