Blackheart????

[Christopher Lynn]

I've been thinking about getting a smaller amp than my ac30 to lug back and forth to practice. So I had originally thought I'd just get some crappy solid state something or other, Then I decided it would be better to go for an Epi Jr. Half Stack -THEN- I saw those Blackheart little giant amps, which look to be pretty much the same thing as the Epi Jr., just a few more options on them. No store around here has them. I took a trip to the closest Guitar Center (an hour trip) But they didn't have them either.
Does anyone know if these things are decent or not???? You can't beat the price on them, but you also get what you pay for, right?

[Jeff Fajans]

Haven't heard of these but I did hear a killer amp at SXSW this week.

It's made by Reverend.

Not sure what the model was but check this out. It sounded AWESOME! if you are going for that bluesy, smooth tone. And it really kicked.


Anyways, have you checked out any reviews of Blackheart at musiciansfriend.com or harmony central?

[Norbert]

I built myself an 18 watt amp because I wanted something smaller than my AC30.

Check out www.18watt.com

[Christopher Lynn]

Pardon my ignorance, but what is SXSW? I googled reverend, and I found reference to a Hellhound amp that doesn't seem to be made anymore, and there aren't any on Ebay... The reviews of it indicated that it would be out of my price range.

I have looked at Harmony Central and what not for reviews on the Blackhearts and they all seem to be pretty good, I think you sometimes have to take those reviews with a grain of salt. (musician's friend - guitar center - harmony central = all the same entity. But all in all, unless I stumble on an old lady selling her son's Marshall "noisemaker" for $100 just to get it out of her house (or something like that) I'll probably end up ordering a blackheart or just picking up the Valve Jr. Anybody else got any ideas? What are some other amps I could get for $250????

[Christopher Lynn]

BTW, Forgot to say Thanks Jeff!

[Jeff Fajans]

No prob! SXSW is South by Southwest, in Austin.

It's one of the biggest music festivals in the world form what I understand. Bands and fans all over Austin.

This year there were smething like 1700 bands playing. It takes place all over the city of Austin, and pretty much every venue has a band playing at all times.

[Guitar Noize]

I haven't tried one yet but my local shop is getting a few in very sound so I'll check them out. I'm also looking at a small tube amp at the moment and I'm torn between the Peavey Windsor Studio which would be great for home recording because of the power sponge which lowers the output while keeping the tubes driving, and a ValveKing 112 which has a bit more balls and would be ok for small gigs too!

[Christopher Lynn]

Thanks for the input. I think the Peaveys are out of my price range, and I had a bad experience with a Peavey, so I don't think I'll go there again.

[The Groove Mine]

Personally I like Line-6 amps, they have ALOT of vesatility for any style of music. You have to tweak the knobs a bit (the stock sounds suck), but when you dial it in correctly, it's magic! Happy shopping!!!

[Christopher Lynn]

y'know, I really don't get the whole Line 6 thing, and maybe it's just 'cause I've only ever noodled with the Spiders (maybe the vetta's ARE alot better) But they just seem like chincy junk to me. I don't really want a jack of all trades master of none kind of thing. (of course at my price range- I shouldn't bitch about anything, I know, I know) The other thing is that if I have to tweak a bunch of stuff everytime I go to play, it just isn't worth it. I want to just plug it in and go. Same reason why I don't bother with a bunch of pedals I guess. Thanks for the input Groove.

[The Groove Mine]

It's all good, to each his own. I have a Vetta II and it kix ass! I like being able to have diverse sounds without lugging a bunch of stuff around.

[Christopher Lynn]

thanks man, I appreciate the input. I'll check out the Flextones