Black Heart Little Giant

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Anyone else play one of these? I picked one up yesterday and I have to say that my jaw is still on the floor considering I only paid $200 used for it. It eats my BB Preamp for breakfast... and it's LOUD. Great bass response, great bloom.

I'll see how well it keeps up with my drummer in a few hours, but it's too loud for apartment use at even the 3watt setting, that's for sure. Something more in depth to come (I'd do clips, but my boom mic is a state away).


-Russ

 

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Just dumped a G12 Century into it. I won't jam till tomorrow, but I'm thinking this will have no problem hanging with the drummer. Not sure if I like the Century tone with this amp, though. We will see.

I'm thinking some new tubes might be order, too. Seeing as there are only two, it shouldn't cost too much

 

[Variable]

Hey man, I want to hear one of those pretty bad!!! I have yet to see one in GC.

You might try a Music-Go-Round. I got mine there. Pretty much any Crate dealer should have them if I'm not mistaken (of course, it depends on whether or not they actually place an order). Then again, the amp is cheap as hell, so it's not like you'd be out much if you bought one from the Fiend

There are quite a few YouTube clips of varying quality; of course, they are no substitute for playing in person.

I tried mine out with a P90 equipped mahogany Godin guitar. Holy shit does this amp love P90s. Makes me want to get a Les Paul Jr...

So far the sound is pretty vintage. Reminds me of the clean on my Guytron with the tone around 12:00. It can get some early Marshall snarl with the mids up and the volume cranked. Treble is a little harsh turned up, but that could be either the HN3 in my Legacy, the G12 Century (which has a pretty spiky treble from the neodymium magnet), or the tubes.

 

[Variable]

Those are made by Crate? I didn't realize that... We're both going to be Crate fanboi's now. lol... Just kidding.

I think I'm going to go take some Ibuprofin now. Yea, drugs are definitely necessary at this point. And alcohol. LOTS of alcohol...

The neighbors are probably getting pissed off. I can't stop playing this thing. God do I love single-ended Class A amps!

 

[peaveyT60]

God do I love single-ended Class A amps!

i do too. they just respond so nicely to guitar dynamics and i love the squish. i have been interested in one of these too or the handsome devil. just a nice little tube combo that is the right volume cranked all the way up.

 

[scredly]

I have the half-stack and a Kimber Kable 4VS Speaker Cable. It's a cool amp. 3-Watt sounds better than 5-watt mode to me. I put a Sovtek LPS in and kept the original Shuguang EL84. Nice crunch.

I have some clips of the stock amp into a VJ cabinet in my sig. I should add clips with the LPS in it and the BH cab.

My BH thread on HC: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1813598

 

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I have the half-stack and a Kimber Kable 4VS Speaker Cable. It's a cool amp. 3-Watt sounds better than 5-watt mode to me. I put a Sovtek LPS in and kept the original Shuguang EL84. Nice crunch.

I have some clips of the stock amp into a VJ cabinet in my sig. I should add clips with the LPS in it and the BH cab.

My BH thread on HC: http://acapella.harmony-central.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1813598

I'm digging the 5watt sound a little more than the 3. The triode mode sounds too soft for what I like (though it does rip with a boost in front). But MAN is that extra 2 watts a big perceivable volume difference.

 

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Update: The G12 Century goes well with this amp. Makes it easily loud enough to keep up with a hard hitting drummer (maybe not clean, though). Noticeably louder than the stock Eminence speaker (I don't know what that speaker's efficiency is, though).

Not a lot of clean headroom in 3 watt mode; more headroom in 5 watt. Even then you're going get breakup if you dig in (at least at a volume level that gets the tubes working) with medium-output humbuckers. It really likes the '59 in the neck of my Legacy. Very woody and smooth clean. It doesn't like my Tribute S-500 that much, though, but that could be old strings. It even likes my detuned to C# ASAT Deluxe.

This amp becomes something entirely different with the BB preamp in front. I mean, I can shake the walls of my apartment if I crank up the volume with the BB. There is nothing about the boosted sound I don't like. Very open with a lot of thump/fast bass response. I could probably pull off some metal if I set it right, but it really excels at that low-mid kick you in the guts power rock tone with the BB.

I'm thinking of picking up a 'verb unit for the front end since that is the only thing (other than an FX loop) that this amp is missing IMHO. I was thinking the Line6 Verbzilla based on reviews I've read. Thoughts?

-Russ

 

[bill]

I got one of those 57 reissue Les Paul Jrs. What a cool guitar really have to dig in but that P90 snarls and growls with the best of em.

 

[blackba]

I have a line6 Verbzilla and like it, I wouldn't hesitate to pick one up, it even sounds good in front of the amp (assuming you are not getting much distortion from the amp). It does eat power though, so plan to use an AC/DC adapter.

So where are the clips of this little beast?

 

[White_Van]

I like the Crate V8 better, but that is a great little amp.

 

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I have a line6 Verbzilla and like it, I wouldn't hesitate to pick one up, it even sounds good in front of the amp (assuming you are not getting much distortion from the amp). It does eat power though, so plan to use an AC/DC adapter.

So where are the clips of this little beast?

My boom stand is in another state. I don't know when I'll be getting it back...

 

[scredly]

I picked up a Holy Grail Plus reverb as neither the Blackheart nor the Rev Jr have verb. Sounds good to me. doesn't seem to suck tone. I use a medium room setting.

I haven't had time to try the BH with the Krank cabinet. I also have a Traynor 112WR with V30. I'll have to do a little cab swapping fest.