Blackheart Engineering Handsome Devil BH-15H

Amp new 01/09. Been looking for something lighter weight, yet still having enough guts to play without micing/lineout.
I'm a harp player, so simplicity is often a good thing.
Play many different genres, but Blues obviously.
This classic push/pull class A is more than sufficient for most club venues. Has a pentode/triode switch. I rarely have to go from 7 watts to 15.
Does not have reverb. Would prolly cost at least $100 US if it did.
All tube..two power EL84's and two pre-amp 12AX7C's.

Original tube complement, WAY too bright, tinny, and piercing. Plenty loud though.
So...first thing, I pulled all the Chinese dentist drills.
Then, it was a matter of experimentation.
Got two matched pairs of used RCA 6BQ5's and went with the 85% pair. The other 80% pair sounded fine but slightly mushy...maybe good for jazz.

First went with 12AU7's in V1 & V2. Great tone/no volume. Then went back to NOS 12AX7A Philips' . Plenty loud/ no warmth.
Then tried a 12AV7 in V1. Better, but still too quiet. Then, put in a 12AZ7A in V1. Thought I had it and took to a gig. Played with it, but noticed an ambient white noise hiss when not playing. Great when playing, though.
Finally, put in a pair of NOS 12AT7WA/6201 triple mica's.
NO microphonics, and sound terrific at all levels.

I got the separate 12" speaker cab with the deal.
Now, I've got that Jimmy Reed sweetness on the high's without the icepicks, and a modicum of Jerry McCain growl on the lows.

New ( for me ). Seems solidly built, but I bring along some kind of insurance rig to any paid gig.
Not enough info to contribute.

I emailed the company concerning multiple topics, and they have yet to respond.
Can't say how reliable they are.

Been playing 35 years.
Have a museum piece Gibson EH-125 that's too valuable to gig with.
Have a Traynor YGL-3 MkIII twin 12" that is only harp friendly after extensive modding. Sounds great, but 85 pounds! UGH!

I got this combo at a bargain. My "voicing" with tube replacements would have doubled the price, but I am friends with an old school amp tech that let's me fool around and select good stuff from his vast collection for a six pack and some comeraderie. Course, I do find some things for him, too!

There are other 'boutique' amps available that would undoubtedly outperform this unit, but for the money...with the simple mods; this is one of the only affordable, servicable amps fit for harmonica in new amps.

Brand new for 2009, and we've been waiting for those for about a year... The basic tone of the amp is very pleasing and reminiscent of a smaller version of a JCM800 or late 70's JMP amp. Straightforward except for the 15/7 watt switch. Full tube of course. No loop, no reverb, but I might change that in a near future as these amps are easily modded. For me a cool single channel tube amp is mostly everything I need on top of a boost pedal, so I'm an easily satisfied guitar player, others may find this limited but then why would they buy this ?

The basic tone is REALLY good. As I stated before, it reminds me of a classic marshall tone, not that it sounds exactly like it, but it has the same balls and prominent midrange. I'm a Marshall man through and through and I like this little beast as much as any tube Marshall I ever tried ( and that's a lot of them ).

Simple=reliable.

I also own the 1 watter and the 5 watter, and have yet to experience ANY issue with those.

the guys at the company are very cool and respond to their emails personally. They sent me the schematics for the amps when I asked. Who does that nowadays ?

Awesome little amp. Great for blues, rock, Classic Rock and 70s hard-rock. Anything beyond that would require a boost pedal ( OD or distortion ), gets me the Zakk Wylde, Doug Aldrich, George Lynch, Gary Moore, Slash and Co kinda tones that I favor, without peeling the paint off the walls like my 100 watt Marshalls do. For most live situations, I'll take this sucker out and play it without thinking twice. So much so that I'm going to order one more as backup, just in case... At that price, why bother... ?

This sexy little slice of valve heaven has a three-band EQ, a gain knob and master volume. I wish it had an effects loop so tone wouldn't suffer through a long signal chain, but for the money, there's a lot to be proud of.

This is a classic-voiced amplifier through and through. That said, if you're a metal guy looking for a cheap tube amp, out-of-the box, this is not your amp. Also, if you play in a versatile cover band that plays a mix of modern and classic, the single-channel overdrive isn't versatile enough to do the job.

I'm not dogging this amp for its voicing, but merely giving an accurate and truthful account.

It has a stock voicing reminiscent of early Led Zepplin, The Who and other classic rock bands. Suffice it to say, it sounds very British, with a loose bottom end.

If you want to make this amp more versatile and have the ability to do channel switching, I'll share with you what I did.

Because this amp breaks up fairly early, especially when you apply high volumes, you can 'create' your clean channel by downgaining it. Because I play in a working, paid cover band that plays the full gamut of rock, I had to get creative with my configuration. Here's what I did:

I scrapped the Chinese EL84s and the stock 12AX7s. Both are brittle and bright. I substituted German-made Siemens EL84s in the power section and that alone smoothed things out a lot. Next, I reached in my tube inventory to try to clean up the preamp section as much as possible. I tried everything from 12AT7s, 7062s, 12AV7s, 5751s, 5965s and 6201s. After extensive testing, I found that a pair of JAN Sylvania Special Quality 7062s were the richest, cleanest and best sounding preamp tube for my mission.

In case you don't know, a 7062 is a military-spec 12AT7 with a longer bottle and longer plates. They sound amazing, but they are a bit microphonic. But I cured that by putting three high-temperature O rings on each bottle.

Remember, the goal was to create a clean channel that, at loud volumes, only had a small amount of breakup.

Next, I had to create a versatile overdrive/distortion channel that preserved the tubal integrity. I tried out several and settled on the new Ibanez Tube King, with amp level bias voltage.

This pedal, out of the box, had a super hot Chinese 12AX7 -- too hot for anything but metal. It had no headroom, even with the gain 50 percent or below. That problem was easily fixed with a JAN Tung Sol 12AT7.

It still has LOADS of gain, just at the right setting. I set the gain on the pedal at about 50 percent, and with linear dynamic volume rolls, it cleans up with you roll back and goes balls to the wall when turned up.

Bruce Hutcheon, the owner of BitMo amp mods, states in all his pitches for amp mods about how much this amp "loves overdrive pedals." I would definitely stay with a tube-driven distortion pedal, though, because most transistor-driven pedals sound like make believe.

With this configuration, the BH15 will stay fairly clean with the gain up to 7 and the volume all the way out. It provides just enough hint of tube breakup to make it sound killer with the tube pedal.

In summary, if you need two-channel versatility, swap tubes and run a good tube-distortion pedal like the Ibanez Tube King and you'll have a killer rig.

Now, about volume.

I run the BH15 through a Laney, sealed-back 1X12 cab and it sounds great. The cab even matches, making it even more a winner.

That said, this thing is PLENTY loud enough for the practice room and even does live gigging just fine IF you plan on miking up. I'm not a fan of playing live without miking up anyhow, but you'll need it. It's incredibly loud, though, for only being 15 watts. That's the power of vacuum tubes!

Simple in design. Unless one of the transformers craps out, fixing this baby isn't a tough task. Mine has not exhibited any ill symptoms.

For $349, you get amazing classic tube tone that you can either use stock, or customize like I did to make it the amp of your dreams. I wish it had a reverb tank, but for the money, I'm not complaining.

Well here it is the first review of blackhearts handsome devil 15 watt,class a,single channel head. This amp is great for anyone who wants vintage tone for $350.00 its very versatile and handles most styles of rock well. There are presence,bass,middle,treble,level, and a gain control ,it also switches from 7 watts to 15 watts. I have no doubt that this amp has more than enough balls to play venues(if your using a good 4x12), seeing as how it sounds great in a full band practice, and it cuts through the mix with ease and presence. I also wouldnt doubt that its great for recording.

i play a custom made telecaster and plug the head into an original 1979 marshall 4x12 with Celestion g12's and it gets MEAN! the clean tones on this amp are clear and smooth with bell tone highs on any pickup of my guitar, it also sounds great with the gain set at 1 o'clock for a nice crisp crunch. But to get the full experience you have to dime the gain and level settings! There is no need to change anything on this amp, it sounds great stock (tone is in the fingers). Not too much headroom but why would you gig with a 15 watt head if you wanted a loud clean sound? Also if you love eric clapton style woman tones, but cant afford a real marshall, this is your best choice. I really cant say enough good things about this amp considering how cheap it is, but i warn you in order to really appreciate this head you need to play it through a good 4x12 cab to hear the amps full capabilities. Oh yeah and this amp is good for any music that sounds good.(no matter what the style)

Only had it for 2 days. It seems to be built like a tank.

Great amp, if it was stolen i would save up for another. Buy this head before prices go up! I feel that ill be playing this amp for a long, long time.