The Developing Blackheart Amp Story I’m kind of fascinated by what they are doing over at Blackheart Engi...
I’m kind of fascinated by what they are doing over at Blackheart Engineering. In a nutshell, the pitch goes something like this; boutique grade, small tube amps, made with quality components at a cheap price. But, there’s a little twist. Blackheart has embraced the idea that people are going to hot-rod these things so, they have made them “mod friendly”. On their site, they even supply links to and information about mod kit manufacturers. They are encouraging mods.
The amps are el84 types that are based around getting Marshall type sounds. They have heads, cabs and combos. Now, I have seen the five watt combo around but, I’ve yet to see one of the 15 watters.
If you go over to Gearwire, you can watch a video of Owen O’Malley playing a Gibson SG through the Blackheart BH5-112 (5 watt combo).
You can get a BH5-112 at Musicians Friend for $279.99. That’s a real good price for what you’re getting there. They get it done by manufacturing in China, using components made in Korea and distribution through Crate. The word is that the factory in China is being done right. The story I heard was that designer, Pyotr Belov, spent months at the factory, training personnel, and overseeing the operation before putting his stamp of approval on it.
For the money, you could mod one of these things to the max (there is even an outfit making a turret board to replace the printed circuit board) and still come in well under what you would spend on a comparable boutique amp.
It seems as though Blackheart is kind of dipping a toe in the water by starting with small amps. Like the logical progression is to move towards a more gig-ready sized amp. It’s a smart move. Not only does Blackheart give themselves every opportunity to work all the bugs out, it also gives the guys that are designing the mod kits to do the same. If Blackheart comes out with say, a 30 watt model, the mod guys will be up and running, ready for it. That will change the game, right there.
