The impishly wisecracking tone junkies at Blackheart Engineering have
announced their diabolical plans to conjure up and unveil yet
The impishly wisecracking tone
junkies at Blackheart Engineering have announced their diabolical plans to
conjure up and unveil yet another classic amp design, the "Handsome Devil."
Available in two totally wicked versions — as a disembodied head (BH15H) and
single 12-inch combo (BH15H-112) — the dashing ol' Devil is a meticulous take on
15-watt, Class A amplifier designs from tube amplification's golden era.
Designed and prototyped in a
one-car garage in Austin, Texas, by non other than Russian-born amp whiz Pyotr
Belov, the Handsome Devil evokes classic tube tones that are highly reminiscent
of the great American and British plug-and-play workhorses that laid the
foundation for rock and roll guitar tones starting in the '60s. Just like its
predecessor and little brother, the Little Giant 5, Blackheart's Handsome Devil
is overbuilt to last with features and components you'd expect to only find on a
hand-built, much more expensive piece of gear.
"We truly believe that a
Blackheart Engineering product may be the only lengthy and meaningful
relationship you'll ever have," says Kevin Van Pamel, Blackheart's official
talking head and admitted corporate sellout. "If you look at the statistics on
marriage, you've got to agree. Well, we're not going to let you down like that.
We're in it for the long haul. You come home at night and that Blackheart's
going to be waiting there for you, as pretty as the day you met her and ready to
cook."
That might explain the simple
elegance and robust component specs that mark Blackheart Engineering's designs.
From one-watt, carbon-film resistors in the signal path to a beefy, double-sided
PCB with two-ounce traces, 16-gauge, precision-folded and welded chassis, and
mutli-ply, classically joined cabinetry, Blackheart is as serious about quality
as it is about tone.
Delivering 15 watts of RMS
output power in Pentode Mode and 7 Watts in Triode Mode, the Handsome Devil is
equipped with a pair of 12AX7 tubes in the preamp section, a pair of EL84s in
the power amp section, and a solid-state rectifier with internal 6V — 2A
rectifier tab that permits future mods with 6X4 or 5AR4 type tubes. Front panel
controls include rotary "chicken head" knobs for Drive, Level (Master Volume),
Treble, Middle, Bass and Presence, flip switches for On/Off and 15W/7W
operation, and a brilliant red jewel Power indicator. Rear panel speaker outputs
can accommodate 1x16-ohm, 2x8-ohm and 2x4-ohm setups.
Available as a compact head
(9.6" H x 18" W x 9" D) or single 12-inch combo (18.6" H x 18" W x 11" D)
featuring the specially designed Eminence speaker range developed by Blackheart
Engineering and Eminence Speakers,
