Blackheart Engineering BH15H - Modded by Rat Valve Amps

All lamp 7/15W Bass / Middle / Treble / Presence / Gain / Volume

UTILIZATION

Very simple. As simple as a toaster.

SOUNDS

My style of music is very rock roots, the ACDC sound, played the Stooges
Clear sound beautiful, saturated sound extensive, good gain
I play an SG Faded 2x Humbuckers

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for purchase. I had a lot of amps since, including a 1983 MusicMan 100W Hybrid which was excellent. I've always wanted to approach this MusicMan that I sold because it was too heavy and complex enough életroniquement.

The attraction of this head to have any lamp that sailed like a box of makeup.
His only fault is the lack of reverb and the single channel.

The 15W are super-efficient! Power is not everything: there are still performance, and this has an excellent head. Even with nags, I can pierce the mix.

We compensate for the absence of a small reverb pedal, a boost for solos. For no single channel, nothing more rock'n'roll than turning the knobs full solo, as Pete Townshead!

I also have a 4x12 Blackheart topped with a 60w Ashdown. The "small" stack overcoming two 15W speakers 15w is an excellent alternative because it gives me a real alternative to either play with a backline or the other quite easily. Without breaking the back ...

It's a head amp Blackheart Handsome Devil 15W all-tube amp valve amended by Rat, an Englishman with a passion to tweak a bunch of amps.

Features:

- Boosted 15W all-tube: 3 ECC83 preamp in, PI, and FX driver. 2 EL84 power tubes and as a lamp as 5Y3 grinder.

Front:

- Setting knobs: presence, bass, mid, treble, level, drive.
- A switch bypass the preamp
- A 3-position switch to select one type of preamp (3 choices: bass, mid, and treble)
- A 3-position switch PS1/Standby/PS2 (power scale) to choose which path attenuator will have a share or put the amp in standby.

PS1: Only lamps are reduced
PS2: The preamp and lamps are reduced

- A knob for adjusting the OPR is the attenuation (for playing at low volume while keeping lamps pushed to the bottom if desired)
- Input guitar.

Behind:

- A switch power on / off
- A 3-position switch to select the lights: the grinder, the V1 or V2
- 2 Hp output jack
- A knob to select the ohms depending on the speaker connected (4, 8 or 16 ohm)
- 1 x Line out jack
- 1 headphone jack
- An effects loop with knobs to adjust the input and output of the loop
- A switch to indicate a connection in parallel or in series.
- An input jack for a footswitch boost came with the drive to push.

UTILIZATION

The amendments made to the head and the choice to manage all the settings such as choice of lamps, many of the preamp settings, choosing the path of action of the attenuator, allows a huge range of sounds. The attenuator is really a great value because they can play in an apartment without rousing the authorities to daytime noise. Then of course the line out and headphone output are also a plus for the benefit of a pure lamp for various use. I use all these features, both for play days in the apartment 'with the attenuator in the evening or at night leaving the sound in the headphones, and a sound card via the output line out to record a few sentences.

The ideal is that you can switch any settings, without necessarily need to put the amp in standby, and one can also use the head without being connected to a speaker (some heads do not like it at all.)
I did not push hard as it releases a lot of power. However one can find a sound quite easily.
The manual that came with is in English, but it is extremely well explained. All while everything is actually said.

SOUNDS

It is a very head blues / rock, I use a Blackheart BH112 cabinet and a Fender Telecaster American.
The sound comes out with a remarkable purity as the circuits have been modified in order to transfer all the crunch amps, the "hum" the buzz and other unpleasant sounds greatly improving the quality of the amp. In the acute clean out accurately and also the bass come out very well making her a very deep and round. Pushing the drive you have access to a popular overdrive, which according to the choice of lamps give a more current or more vintage sound and creamy.
The footswitch allows you to manage the drive to the foot.
We regret just a reverb, but there are already so many things in this little head it would have been a problem for the fit. However it agrees perfectly with analog pedals (forget the digital, the sound is really distorted with lamps), and with it, this head is really versatile.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for one month almost every day, often try new settings, and I have never been disappointed by it is sound and its use.
What I like is already an all-tube head for a relatively small! I believe the original header Blackheart is approximately 250/300 euros. While the valve is modified by Rat 400/500euros around.
This may seem high, but when one looks more ready installation on the head of one of the best attenuators, which individually cost more than 200euros, we realize that this is not huge. knowing that there are two lamps in addition, changing circuits, headphones, line out and effects loop. Frankly, it's beneficial and what is not changes superflux.
It lacks a reverb, but when ordering you can choose what changes we want for the price of course.
Unfortunately it does not change over Blackheart because it has too strong a demand for Marshall.
But in any case I do not really regret my purchase, I'm not ready to part with it and I highly recommend the work of RAT valve amp. I'll even buy a second BH112 to complete the stack!