Blackheart Engineering BH5H Head

This is not a feature laden amp. You're not paying for reverb, tremolo, channel switching and all that, but I miss that stuff sometimes and have to add pedals (more on that later). The features it does have are useful, well thought out and welcomed.

The 4, 8, and 16 ohm outs allow you to use any cabinet you can get your hands on. The 5w/3w switch is a fantastic addition. The EQ is mildly responsive and could probably be improved.

I'll give it a 7 here. If I gave a movie a 7 rating for something, I wouldn't want my money back.

This amp seems to shine with a variety of guitars. I've played an American Strat w/ Dimarzio humbucking strat pups, a Les Paul '68 Historic and a custom Jem through it and have been relatively happy with all.

As others have stated, this thing by no means stacks up against a lot of other amps. My Deville 4x10, JCM2000 and Triple Rectifier leave this little guy in the dust but there's just something about it I can't put my finger on. Being able to play it just past the point of breaking up at listenable volumes makes me feel like I'm really in control of the amp. My old Japanese DS-1 and Visual Sound J&H do a great job of pushing it into blissful power amp distortion. I have a Devi Ever Hyperion that sounds unbelievable through the BH5H.

At that point, time based effects really suffer, but they will with any amp on the edge of catching fire.

Oh and for what it's worth, I used it in rehearsal with a relatively loud rock band and it held it's own. I did find myself wishing I'd gotten the Handsome Devil from time to time though. That's not this amps intended purpose, but it was a lot fun anyway.

This amp surprised me from the get go. WAAAAAY worth the $150 I paid for it.

Again, as others have stated, the input jack seems a little weak. I'm going to replace it or beef up the solder joints. Other than that, it seems to be well made. The knobs and switches feel substantial, durable... the tolex (if that's even what's covering it) looks awesome and is much better than that of said Deville 4x10.

I think it would be my backup at a gig. If the Deville died on me, I'd use it's speakers with the BH5H via a cable extender and a speaker cable.

The BH5H is such a fun little amp. It's not the greatest sounding, flashiest looking amp out there. It's not gonna get you any praise on TGP or bring Dumble back from the dead so he can applaud your amazing guitar sound. It will provide kick ass old school rock tones by itself and will react in a very accepting manner to whatever little metal boxes you put in front of it.

I'm glad I bought it and will buy other Blackheart eng. products in the future.

Bought this baby last year, mainly use it at home but I have used it on stage at least a dozen times through a 1x12 cab in conjunction
with either a blackface Bandmaster or blackface Bassman (both modded)
through a 4x10 cab, and together they sound great! I tried the Little
Giant by itself at one gig and it just couldn't keep up, we play too
damn loud for a 5-watt amp to hold it's own. I bought this with no
intention of modding it, but now I have the itch...maybe a Bitmo mod,
the Mercury mods are a little spendy for an amp that cost me a hundred
bucks used.

Well, this thing is definately not a Marshall, Vox or Fender, don't
even go there. My blackface amps walk all over this amp live, but I
really like the sound of this amp anyway. With humbuckers on the 3-watt setting, it's smoooooooooooth and round, full and sexy! Sounds
verrrry good. I bought this amp when I was getting a little bit of
studio work last year, but haven't recorded with it yet. This would
definitely be a good amp in a studio environment, and it works just
fine at home on 3 watts at home, just gotta keep it down a bit. Overall, I am pretty impressed by the sound, especially in 3 watt
mode. I've had the great pleasure of owning a handful of great Fender
amps, had a Marshall, and a Classic 50, and even though this amp isn't
comparable to any of these amps, it's still a very decent sounding amp. Again-it's not a Vibroverb or a JTM-45, it is what it is. I did replace the stock tubes with an old RCA EL84 and a fairly old Peavey
12AX7 that I had around and that made quite a difference..now if I could just get Mercury Magnetics transformers in it cheaply lol

I played a lot last year, and as I said, I brought the Blackheart
out at least a dozen times in the last year. With the exception of
picking up an evangelical broadcast ("Jesus knows what's in your heart, don't you know!!!!") during a gig due to a bad cable, the amp
performed wonderfully. The input jack is a bit suspect, but has held
together well. All in all, I will continue to use this amp live, at home and will hopefully get a chance to use it in the studio.

I love the fact that there are an abundance of low-wattage amps on the market now that don't cost more than my car (are you listening,
Carr?) and are of reasonable quality. It began with the Valve Junior, and now it seems everyone has a 1 to 15 watt amp in their lineup. Hats off to Epiphone for kicking the boutique market square in the nuts.
Tiny Terror next? Maybe an Egnator? Who knows? Heard the little 20 watt Egnator last night, loved it, by the way. Man, I wouldn't dream
of setting up a 100-watt full stack in a tiny club, those days are gone! I get told to turn down if I'm playing through a Bassman, even with a Blues Junior! I can't imaging trying to pull over a 100 watt
Marshall or Boogie, I'd be run out with torches and pitchforks. Nope, small amps, I'm learning in my "old" age, are the funnest!

Pretty basic. Single channel. 3 tones and volume pot. no effect loop.
3W/5W switch is nice.
outputs for 4, 8 and 16ohm is nice.
small size/portability is a plus.
Again, less features than many amps, so I rate it a 6, but this amp really isn't about infinite features.

I primarily play a Yamaha with HSS pickup setup, usually in the 2 and 4 positions. Run into 2x12 or 4x10 cabs. I like the amp by itself for both clean and bluesy sounds. It does a great SRV Little Wing Type sound. For distortion you'll want to run a pedal in the input. I use a Fulltone OCD pedal for more gainy stuff. The amp still adds a real nice character to what's going on even with pedal in front.

Rate a 9 here because I don't like to give 10s but really like how this little amp sounds - and at lower volume levels. The big amps just have too much power sometimes - and its nice to be able to put this little fella on 3Watts at a volume of 5 in the living room and get a real good vibe going.

the 5W setting seems to have a little more edge/bite when jamming, but I usually play 3W at home because of volume. The 5W is usually a tad loud for the house.

I've had no problems, but I'm not rough on it.

no opinion. the manual on the website is helpful

giving a 9 here. I really like this amp. If it was lost or stolen I'd get another. I'm probably going to get the bigger 15W version too because I like this one so much. For this price it's really a no-brainer in my book.

By the way I've used this thing practicing with a band using drums/bass/keys and the amp does it's thing and keeps up. 5W is pretty loud and might work fine for your practicing and small venues depending on the kind of music you play.

Other pre/poweramps I have now include Marshall Vintage Modern 50W head (loud) and a Rocktron Voodu Valve into a Roctron Velocity amp. Also have a Mesa Boogie 50/50 poweramp (way too loud unless you're in a big room). I mostly use the little Blackheart when practicing as it seems to be the right power for home practice and volume level and has a real nice vibe.

I am from Belgium, so please excuse my english.
Features are discussed below, for me the amp has every i need. The only thing i am missing is a gain poti.

Wonderful. This is one of the best sounding amps i have ever owned. With a lot o mojo and very dynamic.
Ideal for small clubs or just playing at home.
I use it with a Celestion G30 speaker.

Bad.
The quality of the input jack is terrible, very shaky.
I have this amp for 6 month, and it was already times broken. There were always loose contacts inside. The repair always lasted more than 4 weeks.
American engineering and chinese manufacturing seems not to be a good partnership. I have a Hugh&Kettner Cream machine (made in germany) and it works since nearly 20 years without any problem.

Very funny homepage , but service in europe is very poor

I am playing guitar for more than 30 years. I own a Cort MGM (veeery good guitar), a Mexico strat and a Framus Diablo (best guitar i ever had).
The amps sounds very sweet, but if they do not increase the quality, i would not buy it again.
It??s annoying to have an amp that works only 2 weeks and then needs service

I am updating a Review of 11/14/08. I received my 3rd Head, returned 2x prior amps for a poping when using 5w-3w switch .BlackHeart Customer Service finally mentioned that turning power off when switching 3-5w or 5w-3 will eliminate this problem.Makes sense as the amp has no standby switch. Wish the Manual Had better specific info.!

Good both the seller and BH.

Hope this amp proves to be a good reliable , affordable option to Boutique amps.

My wife bought it for me as a birthday present this summer. It's got volume, bass, mid, treble and 3w/5w switch. Well built, with the price in mind very well built. I changed the stock tubes and put in TAD tubes. This made the amp sound much better, more 3D.

I use this amp live for club gigs in the 3 watt mode. I play in a blues rock band and we play Rory Gallagher type of music. It's loud enough for nearly every gig, as we usually mike the amps. The volume is around 2-3 o'clock, so the power tube starts to distort a bit.
The box I use, is equipped with a single celestion G12H Heritage speaker (55 Hertz Bass version). I use a TS808 for soloing and play an original Fender Strat from 57 (a player with new frets and refinishing) and a Danelectro Hodad for slide. The features suit my needs perfect, as does the sound. With the Celestion the tone is very big and doesn't fart in the bass. I tried the amp with two Jensen P10R but dind't like the sound - a C12 N didn't fit my needs either.
The Amp has got the rythm sound, I was always looking for. And with the TS808 to push it for solos, the amp begins to sing.
So it's not very versatile, but it does what I want and it does it british. Perfect amp for my playing style.

I got it for a few months and had it with me on tour. It's my main amp and I didn't have any problems with it. I have an old Fender Blackface Bandmaster Top as backup with me, but didn't need it up to now - and don't even miss it's tone. I think the BH5H is reliable, but time will tell - so I can't rate this category. I'll tell you in 5 years.

Didn't have to deal with them - but they have a funny homepage.

This little amp fits my needs very well and sounds awesome. But it isn't versatile, so you have to know, what you want. If you do so, enjoy this amp's sound and play your guitar.

2008 Single channel,vol.,Bass,Treble,Middle/5-3watt switch and on-off switch. A good Basic plug and play amp.

Sound quality is good and would benefit from NOS or better new tubes.I play mainly Blues and Blues Rock and it works well.Fairly quiet . Good clean and disrorted sounds with surprising headroom on 3 watt setting.

I just sent back for exchange my 2nd Little Giant Head to Musicians Friend. The Pentode /Triode or 5w-3w switch has been Defective on Both Heads I've Bought from Them! Hope the 3rd times a Charm.

5 yr. Trans.from BlackHeart w/MF 45 day return policy. Sent both amps back for exchanges.

We'll add more if I finally get one that isn't defective. Some times price equals quality!

I got the head and cab about a week ago. I think the features have been covered as many times as J.Lo has been around the block. So I am not going into that too much. I personally think the 3 watt 5 watt switch may be the best feature on the amp. For what I am using this amp for you can't go wrong. I live in a APT and this thing while loud, yes it can be very loud. It is perfect for a good tube tone at a level the cops won't come pounding on the door.

Tone and mojo are what this amp has. If your looking to play some Slipknot or Slayer, please for the love of God do not buy this amp, those bands have no tone, just massive distortion and with that much distortion you loose all the coolness unique sound..

On to the sound quality. I mainly use the 3 watt setting and get it right below the point of breakup. picking dynamics are key. I can dig in and get a bit of break up or pick light and get a great clean sound. I am in love with the cleans of this amp. I keep hearing people say this amp is a mini Marshall.. Hmm I have to disagree. And will add if you want a Mashall sound buy a Marshall, you'll be happier, Never and I mean never compromise what you want as far as sound. This amp has it's own sound and it own mojo. the cleans are clear crisp and can be chimey.

I do not use many pedals. I am more of a plug and play. I run a and tremelo and a echo pedal. the rest of my sound is all guitar and amp. So having a good sound is very important.

This is a Rock N Roll amp I will not deny, but the Rock N Roll of an age long since gone. I nail Chuck Berry on this amp. You get get The Who and maybe some Zepplin. But that is where it stops.


MY buddy who just happens to be the number 3 rated guitarist in the country, U.S.A., loves this amp also.

So far this thing seems to be built like a tank. It's not too heavy nor too light. seems perfect for it's size.

I would depend on this amp to jam with friends without a backup. as far as live gigging goes. I have to be honest. If you use this amp to gig with 1 of 2 things is going on. your a teenager or you really know what this amp is made for. You would prob need to mic it to fill out a club. But as long as your drummer isn't king kong I think you'd be good to go.

I have sent them emails in looking where to buy. there very friendly and helpful.

If this amp was lost or stolen I would get again. ths is perfect for getting a good tube tone at you home without going def.

For the price of this amp you can't go wrong. But buy a amp is like buying a car or a guitar. you have to try a bunch out to see what fits your needs. And this fits my needs.

I would recomend this amp to anyone who play country, rockabilly and things along that line. BTW I use this with a Gretsch 6120.

I would say if you want that scooped metal sound this amp is not for you. YOu might be better off with a Peavey Valve King or a Marshall.

Made in 2007, one of the first batches. Only one channel, so you need effects boxes.

Blackheart BH5H Little Giant 5W 120V Tube Guitar Amp Head Specifications:
5W Single-Ended, Class A
4-, 8-, and 16-ohm Speaker Outs
Solid State Rectifier
Volume with 3-Band EQ
Pentode (5W)/Triode (3W) Switch
DC Power to filaments for super quiet operation
11-ply (18mm) thick
12"L x 17"W x 11"H
20 lbs.

Blackheart BH5H Little Giant 5W 120V Tube Guitar Amp Head Features:
16-gauge steel chassis
1/2" corner radiuses
Meticulous tolex work to insure years of reliable performance

With a super strat with Seymour Duncan JB and Floyd rose, is is very quiet when not being played, and very loud when set to maximum volume. It really sounds good, and sounds the best at maximum volume. A Marschall or a Laney still sounds much better, but the cost is that the volume must be punishing to get that sweet sound.

So far so good.

No clue. Never had any problems or questions.

Value wise, this is a great deal. Only a used Marshall at a yard sale would be cheaper and better.

The Little Giant is a Class A tube amp which allows you to switch from 5 watts to 3 watts. Basic controls including volume and 3 band eq (bass, middle, treble). The only thing I would add would be an independent gain channel. Other than that the features are great. I am a hobbyist (now) and it suits my needs well. it is plenty loud to gig with if needed but can be tamed for bedroom use.

By itself the Little Giant has decent sound. With the tone control and the 5 watt/3 watt switching capability you can really tweak this little sucker. Here's the deal. When i bought it I was not expecting it to give a great sound by itself. My intention was to use the amp as a platform to add pedals to. In fact, I've got my Digitech RP500 hooked up to this thing going into a THD cabinet, which by the way I bought with a THD bivalve head. I returned the THD bivalve because for $1,000.00 I did not think it was that great. By itself the THD has a little more headroom than the Little Giant but add the RP500 to it and this thing is fantastic. Very quiet and allows the RP500 to do what it was meant to do. Unless you just absolutely need 15 watts of class A or more than the little giant is the way to go. The only problem with the little giant is that you have to crank up the volume in order to get any gain (used by itself). Even at the 3 watt mode it is way too loud for home use (especially if you have a wife and kids). In fact, when you crank it in the 3 watt mode you really don't get any gain. But in the 5 watt mode you get moderate gain. Add a clean boost to it and you have classic rock bliss. My suggestion is either get a quality pedal to go in front of this thing like I did and hook up an attenuator. I added a the Weber Micro attenuator and with the separate tone control it has it works great. You can crank the volume and really drive those tubes if you want or you can tone it back done and just turn on your foot pedal.

Too soon to tell

Haven't had to use them yet. I hope I don't have to.

I've been playing off and on for 25 years. I don't have time to gig or even get together with friends to jam any more so it's just me and my guitars for now. I have been trying like everyone else to find the perfect tone. Honestly, I don't think anyone will truly ever find the perfect tone. Look at all the professional musicians from Slash to Steve Vai, etc... who change out equipment or stay with one thing because they endorse it. However, in my opinion my combination of the Little Giant my THD cabinet and the Digitech Rp 500 I have come pretty close. I haven't been this satisfied with my achieved tone in a while. Trust me, I've bought and sold so much over the past couple of years, it aint funny. I finally think I'm done. I just don't see why I would have to spend more money than this when I don't see a big difference in sound. Class A is Class A. You can swap out tubes if you want and swap out cabs but you will basically get the same thing, a baseline to add to which is exactly what I did. Give it a shot for $200.00 and see for yourself.