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Posted by: Scott Gentzen Mar 25 2008, 03:01 PM

I'm still trying to decide between picking up an Epiphone Valve Jr or the Blackheart amp as my first tube amp (if I had the money I'd just pick up a Tiny Terror and be done with it). Since I can get them as a head, there's no real reason that I'd have to get the matching 1x12 cabinet.

So, I'm looking for a small cabinet to hook it into. 1x12 is probably best for now. I'm not looking to play out or anything. The amp I have now is a 1x12 combo but it's a modelling amp so the speaker's real clean and it doesn't have an input to run a different head through it anyway.

Besides the usual suspects (Marshall, Crate, Orange), does anyone have any experience with interesting 1x12 cabs in the $100-250 range?

Posted by: MickeM Mar 25 2008, 03:27 PM

Check out http://www.avatarspeakers.com/
I've heard lots of good things about them and I actually tried to buy a 4x12 before but they wouldn't ship to europe.

Posted by: Milenkovic Ivan Mar 25 2008, 07:45 PM

Maybe also do a custom cabinet, and load it with the speaker to your liking. Celestion VIntage 30, or Greenback for blues and jazz, and G12T75 or G12H for rock and metal

Posted by: blindwillie Mar 25 2008, 10:40 PM

I see no reason to choose the Epi Valve Jr over the Blackheart really.
The BH5H is the best sounding little amp I've ever heard.
And with that settled I see no reason not to pick the Blackheart BH112 cab. They work wonders together

Posted by: USAMAN Mar 25 2008, 10:58 PM

+1 on avatar cabs

Posted by: Tjchep Mar 25 2008, 11:14 PM

Avatar cabs are amazing..

Myn's pretty ugly though .

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Mar 25 2008, 11:24 PM

I thought about that. Thing is that I was expecting that if I tracked down a cabinetmaker around here and did something really custom, it's going to cost more than I'm looking to spend right now.

The custom/special cabs at Avatar aren't that bad either so it's something to look into. A 2x12 is interesting to me because of the possibility of mixing two different speakers (something like the Vintage 30 and the G12H30) but I'm thinking that'll be too loud for the house.

I will look into that though. Maybe cabinetmakers aren't that scary expensive.

Thanks.

Posted by: Bogdan Mar 25 2008, 11:47 PM

Well it may not be that expensive to make a custom cab..Its not like they are making a guitar

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Mar 26 2008, 12:04 AM

Actually, I'm not so sure about that. And I can explain why. Two videos got me thinking of mixing and matching cabs.

This one's an A/B comparison between the Valve Jr and the BH5H.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roIqsFF3MZI

There's this high-end raspy sound that I don't like about the Blackheart.

Then there's this video...the Epi and Blackheart cabs being driven by a Tiny Terror.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bng-zXiZfMY

The same high-end rasp is still there which tells me that what I don't like about the Blackheart might be the cab instead of the amp itself.

I'd really like to find a place that I can go and mix and match and play around with it and see how they sound. Looking into that too.

Posted by: Muris Mar 26 2008, 07:14 AM

Yeah,it'd be awesome to find place(maybe some music store) to try all those cabs.
Deal is,you have to try it with the same gear you're gonna use normally,
take few friends with you,load all gear and invade some stores near by.

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Mar 26 2008, 11:50 AM

I'll have time to do it over the weekend maybe. Will see.

The nice thing is that I really don't need any help. More gear means I have more buttons and knobs to distract me when I'm practicing. A guitar or two and a distortion pedal arenlt hard to carry around.

Posted by: Muris Mar 26 2008, 12:56 PM

Ohh,that's fine then my mistake.

I thought you were more like gear efxs guy,using bunch of stuff,my bad.

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Mar 26 2008, 02:37 PM

You are correct. Available fundage is an issue (pedals I'm interested seem to be mostly in the $300-400 range). I still want to plug a guitar into a modular synth some day and see what happens.

Also, since I recognize those tendencies in myself, I want to be better at actually playin gthe instrument before I start playing with a bunch of boxes and knobs that the instrument is plugged into.

Posted by: Bogdan Mar 26 2008, 03:03 PM

Thats good thinking man! If you think new gear is going to distract you from practicing than you should not buy it

Posted by: blindwillie Mar 26 2008, 04:12 PM

I won't tell you what sound you prefer and I'm not trying to convince you.
Best thing would be to cross test heads and cabs yourself ofc.
I'm in no way an expert, but I do know what *I* like and don't like.
I just want to point out something I noticed from the videos.

He talks about Epi having a warmer sound. I would say it sounds "muddier" or like it's in a can or something. I do have problems with putting words to how something sounds though so it could be me misinterpreting "warm". To me the Blackheart is "clearer" and "warmer". The rasp you are talking about I can't hear in my equipment but I might be listening for the wrong thing.

About the head though I was surprised to hear him say that the tone controls on the Blackheart was useless. While comparing with a head without tone controls? The tone range was wider than what I've expected after trying out other amps and one of the things I appriciate on the BH. And the volume headroom is to low on the BH? Oooh no, it delivers. It's loud. That made me wonder a bit about this guy.
Either something is wrong in that video, or my sound preferences differs lightyears from his.

Posted by: Scott Gentzen Mar 26 2008, 05:04 PM

You won't get any argument from me on that. It eventually all boils down to what sounds good to my ears and if I want to be sure before I buy, I'll have to listen for myself up close.

Idefinitely favor the Blackheart for several reasons. The EQ. The 5/3 watt switch. The 4/8/16 ohm outputs. The Epi has more documented mods, but I think that's just because it's been around longer.

The video isn't absolute, and I understand that. The audio's going torough a cam corder. I'd be more convinced if he cut in the audio from a pair of SM57's or something. It's just food for thought for me. Instead of buying it unlistened, I want to A/B them myself...which is good because I won't wonder about it after the deal's done.

I'm figuring that as long as I'm testing things and I'm just looking at getting the heads, there's no real reason to limit myself to the matching cabinet. If I can spend a little more and get a lot better cabinet and speakers (maybe even a 2x12), I'll be happy to do it. I'm looking for a better bang-for-the-buck config. If I had more like $800 to spend instead of $300, I'd just get the Tiny Terror and a nice mixed 2x12 and be done with it.