Small tube amps

Dbmaj7 · 12-14-2009, 08:32 AM

Very cool. One of the advantages I see to using a head and cab is that you could isolate and mic the cab in another location, have the head on stage and fold you sound back to your floor monitor or in ear monitors. That would certainly help with stage volume but I understand there are trade offs too.

RubberChipmunk · 12-14-2009, 08:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bread man

We went with the Blackheart and I used tonight for the first time in a service. On the 3 watt setting it's pretty much the perfect volume for our church. With my Jazzmaster, SBN pedals and Cool Cat Drive it absolutely slayed. I'm so happy with it and can't wait to get a Little Giant head of my own to use with my 2x12 cab. A friend who is a commercial pilot is going to see if he can find a cheap one in Singapore for me.

I'm glad you found a use for the 3W setting. I'm probably going to convert mine into a standby switch... For some reason, I just don't like EL84's in triode mode.

I don't know what SBN pedals you have, but if you don't have Lil' or Screamin' Eagle, get one for that amp.

**bread man** · 12-14-2009, 02:44 PM

Lil Eagle and Trinity, both sound amazing. I think I see what you mean about the the 3 watt setting as well, it definitely sounds better somehow on the 5 watt mode. Anyway, I'm off to use it again for a kids activity day. Yay!

RubberChipmunk · 12-14-2009, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bread man

Lil Eagle and Trinity, both sound amazing. I think I see what you mean about the the 3 watt setting as well, it definitely sounds better somehow on the 5 watt mode. Anyway, I'm off to use it again for a kids activity day. Yay!

You have no idea how badly I want one of those Trinitys...
Try diming the knobs on the Lil' Eagle and put it straight into the amp. Do a midrange scoop with the mid control about 12 o-clock, the bass at about 2 o-clock, and the treble at about 3 o-clock. Then, set the volume on the amp to about 9 to 10 o-clock. This is my current favorite setting. You might like it.

I've really always felt that Pentode(Or Beam-Tetrode)/Triode switches were a bit of a gimmick. Its cool in concept, but I just never found it as pleasing to the ear. Without the screen grid and suppressor grid doing their job, they just get in the way of the electron flow, and the signal degrades a little due to electron "bounce," which is exactly what the Pentode and Beam-Tetrode were invented to prevent in the first place.

But hey, that's my opinion. Some people like it. Its cool for a while.

Major Tom · 12-14-2009, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bread man

Lil Eagle and Trinity, both sound amazing. I think I see what you mean about the the 3 watt setting as well, it definitely sounds better somehow on the 5 watt mode. Anyway, I'm off to use it again for a kids activity day. Yay!

I had a Little Giant combo for a while, I did not care for the 3 watt triode mode either, not sure what it was, but it didn't sound "right" to me. I use a power attenuator at church with all my amps - I used this amp once at church without that, thinking that the 5 watts would be about right... I was wrong, it was a bit too loud to be able to turn it up to where it started sounding decent. I would recommend getting one of the Lpad attenuators (like in the sticky thread "Home Made Attenuators" ) to use with it. Here in the US, you can put one of those together for $20.