Blackheart Little Giant BH5H

[luvmyshiner]

Well, I sold a couple of things in the last three weeks. My Oscar Schmidt OE30 and my Behringer GMX110. Sold the Oscar Schmidt because after playing CB's electrics, I realized how bad it sounded, and I sold the Behringer because after building the Firefly, solid state just ain't the same.

So I've been looking for a new tube amph to buy with the new funds, to go with Shiner's Custom Cab v. 1.0, and after researching the fret and other sources, I'm thinking I'll go with the Blackheart Little Giant. I'm probably going to order it tonight, but I thought I'd double check with y'all for input. Yea or nay?

[tunghaichuan***]

Over the last year I've developed a serious pedal addiction. : I've found that the BH5H amp takes pedals very well. If you plan on running a few pedals, the BH is a good choice. Or if you play primarily clean. The BH is a very clean sounding amp until you turn the volume all the way up. Only then do you get some grit.

It is a warm sounding amp. So if you like plugging straight in, it is a great little amp. Or if you want to run some pedals into it for a nice OD sound.

tung

[piebaldpython***]

OK...what the heck.....I'll play "devil's advocate" here. What can the Little Giant Head give you that you don't already get from the Firefly Head? If you are running both thru the same cab, the thought here is that you have more at your disposal with the Firefly than with the LG. The LG has a few more watts on hand, but other than that.....what am I missing? I was under the impression that the Firefly was an awesome little package.

'Splain yourself son.

[luvmyshiner]

Thanks Tung. I always respect your opinion. To be honest I don't even have an electric at this point. CB's collection is top notch so I play one of hers when the mood hits me. One of the reasons I decided to get rid of the modeling amp was that CB has a nice little collection of pedals now. She has four, and with the two Robert is sending me we'll be up to six. Looks like I'm going to have to build a pedal board pretty quick.

[luvmyshiner]

The Firefly is awesome Pie! But five watts . . . come on dude, that amph goes to eleven.

[just strum]

I've searched around for the "next" amp and unless some new amp comes down the line, I will be getting the Blackheart LG. The reviews here and elsewhere have been nothing but positive. In the past, I always had something that I was willing to sell, but I am down to only a few items. My RP350 which I have not aggressively tried to sell (waiting on my daughters poor friends) and possibly the Jamman. The Washburn has become the guitar I leave out and plugged in for some quick minutes, so that is probably off the market now as I am growing fond of it.

Based on my research, I think you will be happy with the Blackheart.

[WackyT]

I recently bought a Blackheart Killer Ant for practicing, and it is a fantastic sounding, apartment level amplifier. I also installed the Bitmo Anteater mod to it, and the addition of the tone control is a definite plus. As to the 10" sealed cab it came with isn't so hot. I currently have the amp connected to my Eminence GB12 equipped sealed back Lopo cab. I have a 10" Weber alnico speaker on order, hoping it'll make the Blackheart cab more pleasant sounding.

To come to my point, I'd definitely recommend Blackheart for their amps. This one is very well built, and sounds great!

[TS808]

After I got my Little Giant, I bought a Handsome Devil too I was so impressed. The Little Giant has a really nice tone, very simple, stays clean but begins to break up when you crank it and yes, it does take pedals very well. I run mine either through the Blackheart 112 cab or a 212 cab and it sounds fantastic through both.

Seriously, these amps are very good and literally are a steal for the price. I've played amps that I paid alot more for and they didn't sound as good as these.

[kiteman]

I got the Handsome Devil and all I can say is I'm glad I bought it.

[piebaldpython***]

Shiner.........Go for the LG head then. Hard to believe but the HLD head costs $150 more than the LG head, yet the LG head only costs $20 more than the Little Ant head.

SIX pedals???? Dude, what other pedals do you/will you have beside the Rabid Rodent? Just curious.

Does Maggie May enjoy all of the git-fiddle playin'?

[Childbride]

Shiner.........Go for the LG head then. Hard to believe but the HLD head costs $150 more than the LG head, yet the LG head only costs $20 more than the Little Ant head.

SIX pedals???? Dude, what other pedals do you/will you have beside the Rabid Rodent? Just curious.

Does Maggie May enjoy all of the git-fiddle playin'?

[...] i think he already did, about ten minutes ago.

pedals:

boss ds-1 [thanks again, Muddy]
rabid rodent [thanks again, DVM]
boss dd-3
boss ch-1 [the dd-3 and ch-1 were xmas presents from shiner and byproxy]

and now, shiner's two coming from Robert.

as to maggie... interestingly enough, just like katie, she immediately seems to know instinctively that getting around the guitars is Verboten.

i even had the LP plugged in the tv room this weekend finally getting to practice some. didn't touch guitar, cable or stand.

but i think she likes acoustic better. or maybe just shiner's playing.

[tunghaichuan***]

You know, now that you mention it, the Handsome Devil may be a better choice. It is going to have a bit more clean headroom. It will get seriously loud in a small room when cranked, though. The HD is cathode bias, so you can just pop in a new set of tubes when the time comes, you really don't have to worry about biasing unless you want to.

Shiner: The Killer Aant amp is around 1W, so it will be closer to your Firefly than the LG or HD amps.

Heck, if you wanted to get complicated you could run your Firefly into a cab sim like the Behringer GI100. Then run the line out of the cab sim into your BH amp. You have to load down the Firefly with a dummy load, but they are easy to make for a 1W amp like the Firefly.

tung

After I got my Little Giant, I bought a Handsome Devil too I was so impressed. The Little Giant has a really nice tone, very simple, stays clean but begins to break up when you crank it and yes, it does take pedals very well. I run mine either through the Blackheart 112 cab or a 212 cab and it sounds fantastic through both.

Seriously, these amps are very good and literally are a steal for the price. I've played amps that I paid alot more for and they didn't sound as good as these.

[rev156]

I've had the LG head for a while now and love it. My AD50VT sees very little use. I have a 1X12 (soon to be 2X12) cab loaded with a greenback and it sounds great. I am currently running an EH 12ax7 with stock power tube. I tried a NOS Jan 5751 in the preamp slot which cleaned it up even more, with nice tone but I liked the grit of the 12ax7. More experimenting is required!
I run a homemade fuzz, dan TOD, Boss ds-1, and EH small stone. The LG takes them very well. When I play at church it's mic'ed but I can't get it past 10:00 without being told to turn down! It's a loud 5 watts!
You'll enjoy it!
Cheers
Rev156

[luvmyshiner]

Thanks for all the input guys. Got the amph ordered last night, so hopefully it will get here this week. Oh, and I made sure to use the fret zzounds link.:

[Spudman***]

Over the last year I've developed a serious pedal addiction. : I've found that the BH5H amp takes pedals very well. If you plan on running a few pedals, the BH is a good choice. Or if you play primarily clean. The BH is a very clean sounding amp until you turn the volume all the way up. Only then do you get some grit.

It is a warm sounding amp. So if you like plugging straight in, it is a great little amp. Or if you want to run some pedals into it for a nice OD sound.

tung

Yup. What he said. Congratulations on your choice.

[tunghaichuan***]

One more thing:

The amp is voiced well for the stock Chinese tubes that come in it. You don't even have to upgrade the tubes when you get it. I swapped out a JJ EL84 in mine, and didn't notice a difference. Usually the JJ is an improvement.

Although I would use JJ tubes when it comes time to replace them.

tung

[just strum]

Thanks for all the input guys. Got the amph ordered last night, so hopefully it will get here this week. Oh, and I made sure to use the fret zzounds link.:

Congrats Shiner. I would think that the reviews will continue to be good, but I look forward to your comments.

[TS808]

Thanks for all the input guys. Got the amph ordered last night, so hopefully it will get here this week. Oh, and I made sure to use the fret zzounds link.:

Congrats on your purchase...I think you're gonna like it.

[luvmyshiner]

They shipped her out today. With any luck CB should be jamming on her by this weekend.