Has the Bluguitar Amp 1 died before it got going? Nah!

firepaulmusic · April 2015

I'm going to try the DI out through my Torpedo CAB speaker simulator at the next gig to see if it rounds out the sound...kind of defeats the whole thing about having less gear though.

monquixote · April 2015

Amp1 hasn't arrived yet.

Boo no Easter shredage for me

monquixote · April 2015

It's arrived!

First thoughts: It's improbably small and light!

steamabacus · April 2015

I've just read another review in Guitar & Bass Magazine. Another positive review - the only negative points are to do with build quality. They say the controls feel a bit flimsy (although they report no actual issues) and they mention the footswitching has an 'unnatural jerkiness'. Are they all like this or are there some early QC issues with the switches?

firepaulmusic · April 2015

Thomas has road tested this for ages so he's obviously happy to let it come the masses....I asked him a question the other day about switching with a double footswitch. It appears that a switch with LEDs won't switch the boost on although it switches channels ok.

monquixote · April 2015

I used the Amp1 at practice last night and I have a few brief observations.

It's really tiny, but seems well made. The little bag it comes in is a nice touch.

The knob values are very hard to see especially with the reflections from the illuminated panel.

Initially I didn't like it at all and found it quite weedy and a bit fizzy, but I think it just needs some dialing in. I should note that my bandmates (who will tell me if stuff sounds bad) all thought it sounded good all the time.

Once I'd dialed it in, I started enjoying it a lot more and found some of the sounds very usable.

The drive channels sound best with the gain low (3-4) and sound very artificial when cranked. Again not an issue for me as modern on 3 is still more than I need. The boost works very well and sounds more natural for more cranked sounds.

I didn't especially like the emulated out which sounded quite harsh, but running it through my Redbox sounded a lot better.

It's certainly loud enough to gig but it's not "that" loud (Not as loud as my Puretone (which is about HRDish levels of output) and it breaks up as you wind the master up. The volume level is very controllable and doesn't assault your ears.

The footswitches seem to work OK, but I'd much rather have regular stomp switches (not an issue for me as I'll be hooking it up with MIDI).

So far it's a cautious thumbs up, but it's clear I'm going to have to do a lot of work with it to really understand and get the best out of it.

monquixote · April 2015

Spent quite a bit of time mucking about with it last night.

Findings were that I don't like the reverb very much and the MIDI doesn't seem to work properly.

ThePrettyDamned · April 2015

monquixote;589254" said:
Spent quite a bit of time mucking about with it last night.

Findings were that I don't like the reverb very much and the MIDI doesn't seem to work properly.

what's up with the midi?

This is turning more and more into something I need to try myself... I was hoping reviews would be consistently glowing. I'd really only need the clean and Plexi channels, assuming both took pedals well. Running a ds-1 into a dirty Plexi gives the most kick arse rock tone, and I wonder if a solid state version would be as good.

monquixote · April 2015

It just doesn't seem to work as far as I can tell.

Might be a duff adapter as if you wiggle it the channel changes which suggests something is shorting out and acting as a regular channel change.

steamabacus · April 2015

Is this with the midi-to-jack adapter?

It did occur to me that, with a small new company like this, there might be some teething troubles with quality control. Making a couple of examples for Thomas Blug to road test is one thing - making thousands to ship around the world is another thing entirely.

monquixote · April 2015

Yes it's the MIDI1 cable.

It goes into MIDI learn mode about 50% of the time, but then next picks up any channel changes..

dindude · April 2015

So apart from mediocre sounds, so so build, crap reverb, cab sims that are worse than a Red box and midi that doesn't work, it sounds ace!

I do like you reviews though @monquixote, they're very honest, you don't get caught up in the "isn't this new a shiney" world that is so easy to do with new kit.

Cabicular · April 2015

Don't forget fiddly controls!

firepaulmusic · April 2015

Played a marquee wedding last night and thought I'd try my usual setup. Tried it for a few minutes then ditched it in favour of the Amp1 into a Marshall 1x12 mic'd. Reckon I may be hooked on this little amp, it just seems to do what I need it to without any fuss if that makes sense.....I don't bother with the boost I just kick in a BB Preamp or Archer pedal in preset mode with a footswitch changing clean/dirty and the 3 channels on the unit switches. I'm going to try keeping the gain lower in future, around 5.

monquixote · April 2015

I probably sound more negative than I actually feel about it.

I'm kind of taking it as a given that it's a decent piece of kit given the reviews it's had and the amount it costs and really homing in on anything which comes up short of my very high expectations.

Those familiar with my reviews will be aware that I'm coming from the position of a rig composed of a DGT into a £2K handwired amp via a load of very carefully chosen boutique pedals. Though my brain knows that something more practical and lighter weight should trump absolute sound quality I find it very hard to compromise at all.

Soundwise, now I've got a bit more used to it I think it's actually very good. The clean channel is pleasingly Fendery and though it's never going to live up to the PureTone it's better than any modeller or other solid state amp I've tried and better than the clean channel on most dirt focussed valve amps (DSL, JVM, etc) that I've tried.

You can really tell Thomas Blug's bias as all the channels sound better with single coils than humbuckers. It really loves a strat neck pickup.

I don't really like the Vintage channel I would have assumed that this would be "my" channel, but I find it sounds a bit artificial and has some fizz to it. It may just be a question of dialing it in better.

The Classic channel is really bloody good. It's a proper raunchy plexi rock sound and I can see me using it a lot.

The Modern channel I wasn't expecting to like, but as long as you don't get silly with it you can get some brilliant fat rock lead sounds out of it.

The reverb is a bit shit, but keep in mind that I hate every digital amp reverb I've ever heard and also the reverbs on just about every pedal I've tried with the exception of the Strymon Flint and Hardwire and even on the Strymon I thought the Spring reverb was poor so take it with a pinch of salt.

I'm assuming the MIDI1 cable is fucked or is not what I ordered as a bit more experimenting tonight suggests it doesn't work at all and it doesn't look like what is shown in the pictures on the BluGuitar website. I'll be getting in touch with support to sort it.

I might very well just use the switching jacks in any case (which the Switch Dr can control) as that gives me clean and dirty with, or without boost and as I'm not planning on using the Vintage channel and will only use the Modern once in a blue moon it should be fine. I was quite impressed that in patch mode if you switch it from Classic to Modern on the unit and then switch to clean and back with the remote jack it goes back to the dirty setting you were last on which is a nice touch.

It's possibly an unfair comparison with the Redbox as it was running between a power amp and a loaded speaker whereas the emulated out on the BluGuitar has to try and replicate that with a line level signal.

firepaulmusic · April 2015

Selling one for my mate who bought one when I got mine. He's not really used his as he has a Freidman and Soldano SLO (no surprise there then...). £425 posted as brand new.

sted · April 2015

I got excited by these but the more I think about it the more I think a small powerful combo would be a better choice.

I mean this still needs a cab so the portability goes out the window if you aren't going direct, then if you do go direct the general consensus is that the emulation isn't great which means something like a torpedo cab, doubling the cost effectively.

Not denying its a very innovative piece of kit but it seems a lot of faff to just not bother with a decent amp instead.

Cabicular · April 2015

Not really Sted
It and a cab are a far easier lug than a combo
Some venues I play have a 4x12 already there so double bonus
The direct sound I think is better than is being advertised here (but that's down to taste)
There are a lot of scenarios where it really helps
(Rehearsals Jam nights, showcases etc) where a quick tear down is worth its weight

monquixote · April 2015

So I think mine is definately going back to Thomann.

I used it at rehearsal last night and given that I can't get the MIDI to work, I don't like the reverb and I can't get the channels to switch consistently with the foot pedal I don't think it's for me.

EricTheWeary · April 2015

He has brought out matching cabs, I've seen somewhere, a standard 1x12 and a compact 1x12 I think.

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Has the Bluguitar Amp 1 died before it got going? Nah!

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