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Tiago Costa « THE tone machine »
Published on 09/20/16 at 19:10
Value For Money :
Excellent
Audience:
Advanced Users
When I purchased this head, I had been looking for a high gain, metal-capable amplifier. I had my aim on an ENGL head due to a previous experience with a Powerball. I had no memmory of how it sounded, only that it roared, so I wanted one. Then I stumble upon this baby. The name did scare me a bit like it does to many people when they see it, but I was so wrong.
I use this amp is rehersal and stage. My bands play Power/Symphonic Metal and Pagan/Death Metal respectively. I haven't recorded with it yet, but once I get to it I intend to use it if I can since it's my main head and it bears MY kind of sound.
It was my 4th amplifier in 16 years. After using rack gear (ART and Rocktron), owning a Marshall JCM 900 SLX (the single channel JCM800 on steroids version, not the Dual Reverb or the MKIII) and a Fender Blues Deluxe, I found one amp that, in my opinion does it all and in a better way.
I got to compare the sound of all those amps, plus the Powerball that I wanted against the Blackmore and there was simply no contest. Where the Powerball "sucked" the tone to sound heavy, the Blackmore shined while keeping it brutal, more clear and articulate. It's an incredibly tight amplifier, you can leave the Tube Screamer to tighten up those Mesas and Marshalls because the Blackmore does NOT need it.
- The rack gear, I know the Blackmore it doesn't have all those features like the ART SGX 2000 Express pre-amp that I used, but those features felt a little overkill. Too complicated to use and program (I had a pro for that) especially for a guy who likes it simple like me. I used a Rocktron Velocity 250 as a power amp but I feel it's no way near what the 4 tube power section of a tube amp gives you, a whole other level of "juice", it's simply an entirely different world. May be debatable but it's my opinion guys so please bear with me.
The Marshall was a great amp, I'm not spreading Marshall hate here. The JCM 900 SLX was used by Kiss and Cannibal Corpse, so you can see the range of that beast. It did some nice AC/DC, but once you went to the metal ball park the distortion did need a little bit of tightening, like most amps do when you want them to "ultra chugg". Although an impressive power beast, it was a single channel amp and thus not versatile enough for my humble needs.
The Fender Blues Deluxe, from my "blues days" did on the other hand, have that neat Fender cleans and reverb but... it had no flamethrower!!
The Blackmore has 2 channels (Clean and Lead) divided into 4 different gain stages.
Clean channel:
-Lo gain clean - gives you the fenderish clean, just as bright and shiny but less ice picky. I do prefer the Blackmore's rather than the Fender.
-High gain clean - breaks up the sound. Awesome for some dirty blues and 70's stuff.
Lead Channel:
-Lo gain lead - gives you that Marshall voicing, it does some nice plexi tones, AC/DC kind of tone, it's pure and simple badassery.
-High gain lead - it's the flamethrower!! Lock up your daughers and shoot your sons. This amp goes to 12! It packs all the gain you could ever want (most of you), it's super tight and mean. It will do Metal with it's eyes closed. Incredibly punchy and it just roars. Just clear up your game because if you make a mistake the amp will show. The distortion is full and rich, and it won't lose tone. Just don't roll the mids all the way back like a noob and you'll be fine
There's a countour/reverb button so it rounds up the sound and boosts mid frequencies so that your leads will sound even better. However it does not have controlable reverb knob.
The pros of this amp are: 100 watts of tube powaah!! Flawless tone, sparkling cleans and BROOTALS!! The single EQ makes it's really easy to dial in a fairly decent sound. It's very versatile and can do from Blues to Death Metal with ease. The FX loop allows you to blend it with some extra effects. OH and it has 4 red lightbulbs inside that give it a red glow!! How cool is that?? It's super tough and the quality of the construction is incredible, it should be called Panzer!
The cons are: if you don't have the z5 footswitch you are screwed. Some people might find the shared EQ a flaw (I don't). It has no MIDI port, so might not be the smarter choice if you are into that kind of thing. Like I said before since the amp is tight and clear, it will display your skills, so polish your technique (not necessarily a con).
Cheers and thanks for reading!
I use this amp is rehersal and stage. My bands play Power/Symphonic Metal and Pagan/Death Metal respectively. I haven't recorded with it yet, but once I get to it I intend to use it if I can since it's my main head and it bears MY kind of sound.
It was my 4th amplifier in 16 years. After using rack gear (ART and Rocktron), owning a Marshall JCM 900 SLX (the single channel JCM800 on steroids version, not the Dual Reverb or the MKIII) and a Fender Blues Deluxe, I found one amp that, in my opinion does it all and in a better way.
I got to compare the sound of all those amps, plus the Powerball that I wanted against the Blackmore and there was simply no contest. Where the Powerball "sucked" the tone to sound heavy, the Blackmore shined while keeping it brutal, more clear and articulate. It's an incredibly tight amplifier, you can leave the Tube Screamer to tighten up those Mesas and Marshalls because the Blackmore does NOT need it.
- The rack gear, I know the Blackmore it doesn't have all those features like the ART SGX 2000 Express pre-amp that I used, but those features felt a little overkill. Too complicated to use and program (I had a pro for that) especially for a guy who likes it simple like me. I used a Rocktron Velocity 250 as a power amp but I feel it's no way near what the 4 tube power section of a tube amp gives you, a whole other level of "juice", it's simply an entirely different world. May be debatable but it's my opinion guys so please bear with me.
The Marshall was a great amp, I'm not spreading Marshall hate here. The JCM 900 SLX was used by Kiss and Cannibal Corpse, so you can see the range of that beast. It did some nice AC/DC, but once you went to the metal ball park the distortion did need a little bit of tightening, like most amps do when you want them to "ultra chugg". Although an impressive power beast, it was a single channel amp and thus not versatile enough for my humble needs.
The Fender Blues Deluxe, from my "blues days" did on the other hand, have that neat Fender cleans and reverb but... it had no flamethrower!!
The Blackmore has 2 channels (Clean and Lead) divided into 4 different gain stages.
Clean channel:
-Lo gain clean - gives you the fenderish clean, just as bright and shiny but less ice picky. I do prefer the Blackmore's rather than the Fender.
-High gain clean - breaks up the sound. Awesome for some dirty blues and 70's stuff.
Lead Channel:
-Lo gain lead - gives you that Marshall voicing, it does some nice plexi tones, AC/DC kind of tone, it's pure and simple badassery.
-High gain lead - it's the flamethrower!! Lock up your daughers and shoot your sons. This amp goes to 12! It packs all the gain you could ever want (most of you), it's super tight and mean. It will do Metal with it's eyes closed. Incredibly punchy and it just roars. Just clear up your game because if you make a mistake the amp will show. The distortion is full and rich, and it won't lose tone. Just don't roll the mids all the way back like a noob and you'll be fine
There's a countour/reverb button so it rounds up the sound and boosts mid frequencies so that your leads will sound even better. However it does not have controlable reverb knob.
The pros of this amp are: 100 watts of tube powaah!! Flawless tone, sparkling cleans and BROOTALS!! The single EQ makes it's really easy to dial in a fairly decent sound. It's very versatile and can do from Blues to Death Metal with ease. The FX loop allows you to blend it with some extra effects. OH and it has 4 red lightbulbs inside that give it a red glow!! How cool is that?? It's super tough and the quality of the construction is incredible, it should be called Panzer!
The cons are: if you don't have the z5 footswitch you are screwed. Some people might find the shared EQ a flaw (I don't). It has no MIDI port, so might not be the smarter choice if you are into that kind of thing. Like I said before since the amp is tight and clear, it will display your skills, so polish your technique (not necessarily a con).
Cheers and thanks for reading!