Would this work as an emergency back up rig...

Teetonetal

So, I have the Blackstar HT 40 as my 1 and only amp. Trouble is my band is now just starting to play gigs and I am a little concerned about the dreaded total amp fail...

I really don't want to lug a spare amp around and as I have a Combo was thinking that I would have to get some kind of modeling unit that could be stuck inmto the PA..

however, I was looking at the Tiny Terror Micro head, which is 20 W and very small. Could I unplug the speaker from the Combo and plug into the Tiny Terror (would probably need to take the feet off to make the cable reach). So long as impedence matches and the combo is switched off,  this should be fine right?

Anyone done this or something simillar? The beauty here is so little extra gear I'd need to carry and I would still get an onstage Amp sound (often playing without monitors)

richardhomer

Yes it would work (I've often played my Blackstar HT1r through the speaker in my Mesa LSS).

Whether it would have enough headroom, I would be less sure about. It would definitely sound very different.

guitarfishbay

Yeah if you plug the cable for the speakers in to the Micro Terror it will work.  Just make sure you don't switch your valve amp back on without a speaker connected the next time you try it and you should be fine.

ICBM

It will work, but if the combo speaker is 16-ohm (from memory it is) you will get very little volume and headroom. The Micro Terror has a solid-state output section which is essentially 'linear' in power relative to impedance, so you'll only get 5W into 16 ohms.

not_the_dj

I've said this on here before, but I use a Micro Terror as a back-up. I had to use it once when the output transformer of my main head went.

I use two 2x12 cabs (at 8ohms combined) and it performed great for a pub gig (without being mic'd up). We're a single guitar line-up though, might be different in other set-ups.

I did have a drive pedal upfront and the rest of the band hardly noticed any difference.

Not the greatest sounding amp in the world, but great for those "get out of jail" situations.

ICBM

I honestly think it's one of the worst-sounding amps I've ever heard, but I'd still rather have one than no sound .

ThePrettyDamned

A different solution, if venues have a pa that's powerful enough, is to buy a blackstar ht dual pedal. It'll give similar sounds to your amp straight to pa and you'll feel a bit more at home tonally.

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

A different solution, if venues have a pa that's powerful enough, is to buy a blackstar ht dual pedal. It'll give similar sounds to your amp straight to pa and you'll feel a bit more at home tonally.

Doesn't work well with no monitors though, if the speaker cabs are in front and pointing out from the stage. It's harder even than singing with no monitors, from what I can tell - I don't sing, but when my band tried an all-PA setup for very small gigs with no monitors, the singer seemed to get along fine, but I didn't.

not_the_dj

ThePrettyDamned said:

A different solution, if venues have a pa that's powerful enough, is to buy a blackstar ht dual pedal. It'll give similar sounds to your amp straight to pa and you'll feel a bit more at home tonally.

Ok if you always have monitors. I've tried that route with the HT Dual and a Pocket Pod as a back-up before (and a Tech 21 pedal IIRC).

Personally I like a back-up to still be something that powers my cab(s).

The EHX Magnum 44 was almost the perfect solution...right up until the point it blew up 

:x

The Orange does me fine now, and I recently got a Diago Little Smasher (comp prize on here :-) ) but I've yet to run that against the rest of the band.

Of course the OP's situation might be different.

Teetonetal

Hmm, hadn't heard of the Magnum...: http://www.ehx.com/products/44-magnum looks interesting

We are mainly playing small gigs with our own PA, which is really vocal only and we don't have a monitor as the singer uses some inear wireless system... This is why a system where I can use my combo's speaker is ideal.

I guess the HT 5 head would not be so huge, might also be an option. Will need to see how long that speaker lead is!

guitarfishbay

44 Magnum should be loud enough even at 16 ohms.  It does sound thinner than a valve amp though the trade off in size probably makes up for it in emergency situations.  Some people seem to have had reliability issues.  I've used mine twice (still going strong! lol) and one of those times was only because I'm an idiot and I actually forgot to bring my amp head to rehearsal.   )

not_the_dj

guitarfishbay said:

44 Magnum should be loud enough even at 16 ohms.  It does sound thinner than a valve amp though the trade off in size probably makes up for it in emergency situations.  Some people seem to have had reliability issues.  I've used mine twice (still going strong! lol) and one of those times was only because I'm an idiot and I actually forgot to bring my amp head to rehearsal.   )

I used mine for about half a dozen rehearsals (easier than taking my head along)...and then one time there was a big pop, a burning smell and a dead pedal.

Lucky for me I'd bought it new so it was replace under warranty...but I never trusted it after that.

It did do the job fine though, and was the perfect size and power for me.

ecc83

IIRC the speaker lead on the HT-40 is jack to spade terms so just make up a longer one and keep it coiled up in the cab.

Again, memory fails a bit but I think the speaker is a 70/80 so you could have a pretty meaty sstate amp as backup, 100W into 8R would be fine.

Bonus is the forty won't care a ***t if you forget to plug the speaker back in!

Dave.

Teetonetal

ecc83 said:

IIRC the speaker lead on the HT-40 is jack to spade terms so just make up a longer one and keep it coiled up in the cab.

Again, memory fails a bit but I think the speaker is a 70/80 so you could have a pretty meaty sstate amp as backup, 100W into 8R would be fine.

Bonus is the forty won't care a ***t if you forget to plug the speaker back in!

Dave.

Oh, great, will check that out!

gubble

Wondering how easy it would be to build a magnum 44 clone of sorts?

I'm sure a fair few of us would want this.

ICBM

gubble said:

Wondering how easy it would be to build a magnum 44 clone of sorts?

I would imagine pretty difficult as it will be a Class D amp.

ThePrettyDamned

Ah yeah, didn't think of monitoring...

But a ht dual and a small power amp could work. You're looking at a greater cost, though

Bidley

This is what the market needs, really. Something small, with a bit of whallop, that can act as a simple power amp. Basically a reliable Magnum 44 with a bit more power.

gubble

like a crate powerblock?

ThePrettyDamned

gubble;282635" said:

like a crate powerblock?

But reliable.

Loads of people online disappointed with breakage.

If peavey released the bandit as a power amp in a relatively small package, even with the transformer, it would be a winner I'm sure. I've run a digital preamp through the line in (pod farm) and it works really well, though pod farm isn't the best.

not_the_dj

gubble said:

like a crate powerblock?

The discontinued, difficult to repair and horrid sounding crate powerblock? ;-)