Blackheart Engineering

(Originally written by Shredchris/translated from Audiofanzine FR) I got it today and played four straight hours with it. Very good manufacturing and finish. Very high output power. The sound is clear and much better balanced than my previous 1912 Marshall, whose high frequency response left me a very painful memory... The low frequency range sounds deep and accurate, mids are nice and highs are present and smooth. It's nearly perfect especially considering the price. Output power reaches about 75% of my 4 x 12" cabinet. I like it so much that I ordered a second one. Here's a picture of the product: As soon as the 4 x 12" model is available I'll buy two. I planned to buy a Marshall 1960AV but now I'll get the same quality for a lower price. Who could refuse such an offer. With my 15-watt amp head, I'll get a killer sound...

Blackheart Engineering, owned by Crate/ Loud Technologies, has been producing quality, value-priced tube amps for several years now, with an emphasis on lower-powered, lunchbox amps that have become all the rage among guitarists. The Blackheart Handsome Devil, also called the BH15H, delivers 15 or 7 watts (switchable) via two EL84 power tubes. Two 12AX7A's sit in the preamp section, waiting to take your guitar signal and mold it into classic-inspired valve goodness. The Handsome Devil has all the essential controls of a good single-channel, master volume amp, including: Drive, Level, Bass, Mid, Treble, and Presence. The rear panel sports numerous speaker jacks for a variety of cab-driving options. UTILIZATION The Handsome Devil is remarkably simple, and as a result, getting a great sound is a brisk endeavor. It's a very well built amplifier, with a nice, solid aluminum chassis, an actual wood headshell, quality tolex covering, and wiring and circuitry that is well done and free of soldering flaws. What's more is the Handsome Devil is mod-friendly, offering an extra low voltage tap on the power transformer for things such as tube rectification, or in this case, a Belden digital reverb module. SOUNDS The Handsome devil is designed to take advantage of the EL84's extremely low drive requirements, and that it does, but with careful tweaking, a great clean tone can be had, bolstered by the warmth and harmonic richness of the EL84's doing their thing. EQ Controls are reasonably responsive, though an overabundance of treble is easy to achieve on this amp. An over-abundance of volume can also be achieved with this amp. The Handsome Devil can get LOUD-loud enough to keep up with most drummers. But therein lies the beauty of it, as you have enough juice to play with a band, but not so much juice that you can't get some sweet inspiring power tube overdrive at a reasonable volume. That's the ultimate allure of these smaller tube amps. Upping the gain brings about a pleasant, natural-sounding overdrive that is a joy to play with and it evokes thoughts of the opening riff to Queen's "Tie Your Mother Down". Hitting it with an overdrive pedal increases the overdrive into distortion territory reminiscent of great 70's rock like The James Gang or Thin Lizzy. The power switch takes the Handsome Devil from 15 watts to 7 watts, which to my ears was simple a much quieter version of the 15 watt tone, minus some bass response. That being said, the Handsome Devil does have plenty of low-end punch, given that it's mated with a cab that handles low-end well. OVERALL OPINION Blackheart has a good thing on their hands with their line of lunchbox amps, and the Handsome Devil is a prime example of that. Rediculously simple, built like a tank, great sounding, and great-looking (hey, it IS Handsome!) makes the Handsome Devil an ideal alternative to expensive boutique lunchbox amps. With a street price of $399, The Blackheart Handsome Devil very hard to beat. The only things the Handsome Devil lacks are Reverb and an FX Loop, both of which are easily modded into the amp. MMM... I love the smell of solder fumes in the morning.

(Originally written by Námo Fëanturi/translated from Audiofanzine FR) Single channel, class-A tube amp with 5-watt or 3-watt operation, bass, mid and high controls, 5 speaker outputs (2 x 8 ohms, 2 x 4 ohms and 1 x 16 ohms). This amp was conceived by Pyotr Belov (Valve Junior designer) who packed into the Blackheart all the features the Valve Junior was missing. He also designed the Blackheart so that people with tube circuitry knowledge can easily modify it. You'll find the circuit diagrams on several websites. In the coming days I will have someone add an FX loop to my amp so that I can insert a reverb. UTILIZATION If you want a more simple product than the BH5H, choose the BH1H which only has one control. You immediately get a nice sound and the amp sounds well both with Eminence and Celestion V30 speakers. SOUNDS The sound is beautiful with a Strat US. For a crunch sound you'll have to set the volume control beyond the halfway point, which already produces a loud volume in 5-watt mode. The amp has a good dynamic response and the sound is superb, much better than the sound of much more expensive solid-state amps from other manufacturers. OVERALL OPINION I've been using it for 15 days: simply plug your guitar, set three controls and you already have a good sound! This amp is simple and very effective, the finish is wonderful and the value for money of this high-quality tube amp head is almost unbeatable. This amp is regularly out of stock since it was launched so I had to look for it 15 days until I found it secondhand. This amp is a true revelation for me. In its price range the Blackheart is the ultimate weapon for blues, rock, funk and reggae. The lack of power and distortion will be a problem if you want to play heavy metal in a band.

(Originally written by fantomas197/translated from Audiofanzine FR) UTILIZATION Very easy configuration: just adjust the tone using the three controls and the volume and you'll get a good sound. User's manual? I don't know if it comes with one. You won't need a user's manual with this amp. SOUNDS I play a Gibson BFG and I'm very surprised by the sound of this combo: nice clean sound, and good crunch sound at loud volumes (and it gets even better with a small boost pedal). You can also get a fat or twangy sound, and the amp sounds very good with effect pedals. OVERALL OPINION No cons considering the price of this tube amp. It's a high-quality amp and it's great to practice at home or even to play with a band if you connect it to a 4 x 12" speaker cabinet. Update from 03/08/2009: in both 3 watt and 5 watt operation, the last quarter of the volume knob doesn't really increase the output level but the gain. The sound gets wild (as well as your neighbors...) The 3 watt mode is for crunch sounds while the 5 watt mode is for distortion. Great. Once again, it's a very good amp considering the price.