The Blackheart Handsome Devil

[357mag]

I'm gonna try a Blackheart Handsome Devil. I'll just be using this for personal practicing in my apartment. I was using an AVT50 and that particular amp sounded good live at a louder volume but at a real low volume the amp sounded kinda thin and tinny as if the body was missing from the tone.

Have any of you guys owned or played through any of the Blackheart amps? What are your impressions of them?

I listened to some demos on YouTube and from what I could tell the amp sounded fairly good. Although some of these guitarists need some lessons.

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I have a Blackheart Little Giant 5W head.

I run it through a closed back cab with a Weber Blue Dog.

I used to hate it, but I retubed it with JJ's and cot this new cabinet and decent speaker, and now I'm really taken with it.

It does the Fender thing, the Vox thing (on triode operation, astoundingly well), and the Marshall thing.

Jack of all trades, master of none --- but that's kind of what I wanted.

The 5 watt head is so loud, I had to buy an attenuator to run at all times.

Here are all the demo videos I've made with it, so you can get an idea about the sound:

Testing a delay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oObSpSbY2I

Testing an attenuator: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlNX7hk4ZRs

Testing the amp when I first got it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1a85EqIYLk

I looked at the 15W amp and ultimately went with the 5W because it's single ended.

I bet you can get great sounds out of the 15 watter though --- 2 x EL84 is a great rock configuration.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I have also owned the 5W, and sold it out of blind idiocy. I thought that since it was inexpensive (and endorsed by Crate/Loud technologies), there must be better stuff out there. Yeah, there is, but that doesn't mean that blackhearts don't kick total @$$ for the price. They just need reverb!

The 5W one was truly responsive and cleaned up SO well with the volume knob. The amp on full sometimes got a lil muddy but what amp with such simple circuitry doesn't? The trick is to run it on 8 or so or back it off to 7 or so and use a pedal.

Mr. Six is correct in stating that blackheart's 5W can do the fender, vox, and marshall things fairly well. I see no reason why the 15W couldn't, it's very close in design.

I'm in the market for a new amp and I'm >< this close to buying a Handsome Devil, mostly for the clean headroom, master volume, and presence knob. If I don't get that then I'm going back to a 5W blackheart. I shouldn't have sold mine.

 

[357mag]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I was going to order the 5 watt version but I decided to go with the 15 watt version because I like the addition of the prescence and gain knobs. I don't want heads and cabinets anymore so I ordered the combo version.

I play Fender American Vintage Hot Rod Strats loaded with great sounding Dimarzio Area 67's and a Virtual Vintage 54 Pro. I also always use either a Marshall Guv'nor distortion pedal or sometimes an overdrive instead but it seems with me I've always preferred a distortion pedal instead.

If I don't like it I can send it back for a full refund but I hope it sounds good.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I bet you'll like it. try it and tell me what you think! I'm in the market for an amp and that one in #1 on the list!

 

[357mag]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

Does anyone know what specific brand of tubes comes stock with the Handsome Devil?

 

[FuseG4]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

shunghuang's or however you spell it.. basically generic tubes out of china.
I ended up using a new issue tung-sol in v1 in the 5W and a JJ el84. I read a long and detailed review on a different forum of a guy who liked JJ el84s, a tung-sol in v1 and a JJ 12ax7 as the v2 (phase inverter)

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

Mine came used, with a Russian tube and a JJ.

I put new JJ tubes in both spots and I like it a lot now.

I put one of those high-dollar MESA SPAX7's in it, and it sounded great but had a contact problem and was unreliable.

JJs for me in mine.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

truthfully i've never used any el84's besides jj's and the stock china ones.

 

[357mag]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

Okay here is my review...

Unpacked the amp and looked it over. It's construction is absolutely impeccable. Extremely solid throughout. Nice solid steel meshing. Wood and vinyl are very high quality. Switches and knobs are also very high quality. All in all it appears that this amp is made extremely well.

But unfortunately it failed in the sound department for me anyway. Even with the gain cranked and the gain on my pedal at about 8 I did not have enough balls. It simply sounded too lightweight. And the tone was a little boxy although not by too awful much.

I've realized that my initial thinking has been flawed. You see I thought that I would buy a low wattage tube amp and then crank it up to work the speaker and power tubes and get a nice tube sound. But the problem is that by the time I raise the volume level to get the distortion and crunch the amp is too loud. I know the neighbor lady is cool and she already told me she'd be okay with listening to me practice but I really do prefer to practice quietly because I need my privacy. I don't like knowing that someone is listening to me.

Because of this I probably will cancel my pre-order for the Marshall Class 5 too. That amp has no gain control which I need to be able to play softly with a ballsy sound at a low volume. I'm sure the Class 5 will sound awesome as all Marshall's do but it will be too loud by the time the volume knob gets set.

So I think what I'm gonna do is drive to my local store and pick up one of their used DSL-401's. I used to own one and their a great sounding Marshall with a strong distortion on them.

Well that's my review on the amp. Because I'm in love with the Marshall tone I guess no other amp will satisfy me.

But the Blackheart might work fine for someone else.

 

[RLee]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I'm guessing that within a few days of the Class5 shipping, there will be master volume mods for it. :approve:

 

[357mag]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

The problem with this modding idea is that there is no guarantee that you will like the result. You buy somebody's kit on the internet based on what they say. Then if you don't have electrical knowledge you have your technician do it and he charges by the hour for this stuff. It could easily cost $150 to mod an amp. And once you pay him he keeps the money regardless of whether or not you like the sound of it.

This is why the whole idea of modding an amp is questionable and can put you in the red.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

Sorry that you didn't like it. I'm surprised that it lacked the oomph you desire. Only a marshall is a marshall, only a fender is a fender, etc.

I sometimes feel the whole "are my neighbors meticulously scrutinizing my playing" thing starting to limit my practicing... I take some time to warm up a good bit first at low volumes and don't crank it until I'm settled in. Also, as long as they don't call the cops or complain... I just love loud-ass guitars and that naturally overrides anything else I feel.

 

[Doobiedawg]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I'm gonna try a Blackheart Handsome Devil. I'll just be using this for personal practicing in my apartment. I was using an AVT50 and that particular amp sounded good live at a louder volume but at a real low volume the amp sounded kinda thin and tinny as if the body was missing from the tone.

Have any of you guys owned or played through any of the Blackheart amps? What are your impressions of them?

I listened to some demos on YouTube and from what I could tell the amp sounded fairly good. Although some of these guitarists need some lessons.

I have a handome devil. It lives in my truck, in case a jam session breaks out. That way I don't have to carry my Marshall DSL-401 around everywhere. After one jam I dropped it and cracked one of the power tubes (cheap chinese crap anyhow). I replaced the power tubes with a set of Mullards, and the pre-amps with Philco tubes I had laying around. I can't even think of a description of how much better it sounds. One guy at a jam accused me of disguising a little 18 watt marshall with a blackheart logo. I don't know if the dude had ever actually heard a the 18 watt Marshall, but it gives you an idea of what it sounds like now. I also put a set of flip up guards on the toggle switches (like the ones you see in the movies to protect the arm switch on a bomb)... Looks cool and protects the switches at the same time. I also rarely have to kick it into the 15 watt pentode mode. I get asked to turn it down when it's just set on 7.. HAHA...too bad for the other guys...

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

Now that some time has passed and everyone has had time to reflect, what's the verdict on this amp?

I ask because I have a long deal on one if I want it and I'm still looking for a quality studio amp with controllable volume levels and a bit of subtlety.

All I hear in the videos is of course over-distorted, what I think of as "HH guitar-wanker tone" (if that's your life, fine, but it's not mine) and I'm looking for a more sophisticated single-coil sound in that little magical margin between clean and overdriven. That's not a sound that most amps do very well, and I don't need another unsatisfactory amp underfoot.

From what I understand, the 7W setting is not really tonally optimum, though this setting is where I'd probably be using it.

Does this amp do anything that, say, a Blues Jr. doesn't?

Does it have a low noise floor? I know that typically this is a matter of the individual V1 tube, but not always.

As always, thanks for any informed and thoughtful input. :wink:

 

[Surgeon]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I've realized that my initial thinking has been flawed. You see I thought that I would buy a low wattage tube amp and then crank it up to work the speaker and power tubes and get a nice tube sound. But the problem is that by the time I raise the volume level to get the distortion and crunch the amp is too loud. I know the neighbor lady is cool and she already told me she'd be okay with listening to me practice but I really do prefer to practice quietly because I need my privacy. I don't like knowing that someone is listening to me.

Your reasoning was flawed there: apartment and single-ended 15 watts...

I have a 1watt killer ant in an appartement through a 1x12 cab and it was too loud to even get past 12 o'clock on the volume.

15 watts tubes, single-ended isn't low-volume even if to you it's low-wattage.

For appartment dwellers, even 5 watts is too much IMHO, unless your neighbors are ultra-cool with guitar playing.

A low-wattage such as 1 watt is more reasonable but the whole modeler thing is where it's really at.

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

Never mind.

I'm blowing it off.

 

[Rick330man]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I play rhythm guitar in a band where the lead guitarists uses one of these. I also do double duty as the sound guy.

At first, I wasn't too impressed with the sounds coming out of the Handsome Devil head. They weren't bad, but they weren't impressive. When I peaked in the back and saw 2 Sovtek 12 AX7 preamp tubes and 2 Sovtek EL84 power tubes I knew we could count on years of reliable but mediocre sound.

I gave my friend a JAN Philips 5751 and an EH12AY7 to try in V1. The Philips 5751 in V1 brought out some beautiful detail and presence. It was a definite and noticeable improvement. I highly recommend this tube in V1 of this amp.

I'm trying to convince my friend to try other power tubes. Sovtek EL 84s are reliable, but my experience is that they don't sound good unless you are pushing them very hard. I'm betting this Handsome Devil is going to sound even better with Ei or JJ EL84s. We'll test that theory soon enough.

 

[Bezmotivnik]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

I'm trying to convince my friend to try other power tubes. Sovtek EL 84s are reliable, but my experience is that they don't sound good unless you are pushing them very hard. I'm betting this Handsome Devil is going to sound even better with Ei or JJ EL84s. We'll test that theory soon enough.

I think you'll be disappointed.

According to the EL84 maven and amp designer I know, EL84s just don't show the wide difference in sound that other power tubes do. A little, but not much. I personally can't tell the difference between the selected Sovteks and the JJs in my EL84 amps, so I tend to agree.

V1? Absolutely! A vintage (not new fake) Mullard or Amperex 12AX7 will make a new amp of it.

Still, an engineer I know who prepares the touring amps for THE biggest names in Rock uses the humble Sovtek 12AX7WA because it will always work. On the road, that's what you want, and you don't sweat the small stuff.

Anyway, I'm blowing off the Blackheart. It's not going to fix anything for me. I also don't like the idea of buying the top amp in a cheap line.

What I need is an isolation speaker cabinet, enda story.

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: The Blackheart Handsome Devil

i had one for a week or so. One of my students wanted to know what i thought cos he wasnt too keen on it. I didn't like it much either, but maybe with new tubes and a better speaker it would be cool. It was kinda buzzy at the top and weak at the bottom. For the money id rather have a blues junior or something.