Bluguitar AMP1 Hints & Tips

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  • SassafrasSassafras Frets: 30273
    ICBM said:
    I recently tried one of these.

    It was absolutely horrible. Nasty dynamics - stiff and unresponsive when playing gently, then sounding like it was brick-wall limited when playing hard; nasty tone - very nasal and clangy, which could not be dialed out completely even with extreme EQ settings; impossible to balance the channels completely even using the massively annoying fiddly little trimpots; and required a total change of settings for different guitars.

    I didn't even get round to using the FX loop or trying the MIDI… no point when it sounded that bad. Incredibly disappointing after it sounded pretty good in some demo clips.

    No idea about the reliability - it wasn't with me to be repaired, just checked over - but I've heard enough that it would put me off, given that it looks like it would be very difficult to repair other than by a factory board replacement.
    How did it compare to a Micro Terror?
     ;) 
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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71963
    Sassafras said:

    How did it compare to a Micro Terror?
     ;) 
    Not as appalling :).

    I could just about get a tolerable sound on the Bluguitar (I think on all the channels in isolation, but I can't remember for sure), provided I didn't try radical changes of dynamics. It certainly didn't have that hideous overpowering, grating, fatiguing tone of the Micro Terror, and there was no 'after buzz' in my ears when I stopped playing.

    So the Micro Terror's position as the Worst Amp Ever remains unchallenged for now...

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • Hello all,
    Thank you very much for sharing information about Amp1 it really helps me to sorting out. I have a question about MIDI1 cable which is a mono jack not stereo. Could someone who has MIDI1 cable, check with multi-meter and share which midi pin connects which part of mono jack please? I am trying to solder my midi cable.
    Thanks in advance! 
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  • Malc_PMalc_P Frets: 0
    Hi from Hastings!
    I bought an Amp1 a couple of weeks ago having done some online 'research'... I've had back pain and been diagnosed with a couple of bulging lumbar disks, nothing serious but enough for my GP to tell me to stop lugging a Marshall combo around (a Haze 40, very nice despite some users hating it).

    So anyway - I got the Amp1 and the pedal unit. No midi for me!
    I have a couple of Celestion 10" 80W speakers in a homemade cabinet that I've been running a Fender 5E3 (Neil Young's amp) clone into quite successfully so I've been plugging the Blug into that. There's no way I can justify spending another £450 or so on the Nano or Fat Cab.
    I play an SG with Burstbuckers, a Strat with Bareknuckle Rory Gallaghers and a Tele in open 'E' for slide so a VERY wide range of pickups and outputs.
    I'm having second thoughts about the thing now, but will persevere a bit longer. I have found it's a devil of a thing to set up to get a really nice tone from, and it's so easy to get a nasty harsh vile-sounding fizzy distortion, takes some real dialling-in, just a half a step out on any of the tone controls and it's horrible.

    What I HAVE found works is to have the master volume set to at least 8 in order to keep the nanotube driven hard; then set the Classic channel (which doesn't have side-panel trimmers) up with Bass/Middle/Treble controls set to 7, 4.5, 4.5; gain set to 3 and input master volume to control overall volume (i.e. NOT the 'main' master volume). Then set up the Vintage channel using the side-panel trimmers, and the Modern channel similarly (although I rarely use that channel for the stuff I play). I have the side-panel 'boost' control set to about 75%, which I find works best.
    With this setup though, it's still difficult to get a 'crunch' out of the clean channel (even with 'boost' on)  unless it's at ear-splitting volume so I have to use the power-brake facility on the pedal unit to tame it.

    I'll give the thing another couple of weeks (and a gig next weekend) before deciding if I'm going to can it. I REALLY want it to work but I think it's going to be a hard slog to get there. In the back of my mind is a voice saying "No amp should be this finicky to make usable!"


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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    Malc_P said:
    Hi from Hastings!
    I bought an Amp1 a couple of weeks ago having done some online 'research'... I've had back pain and been diagnosed with a couple of bulging lumbar disks, nothing serious but enough for my GP to tell me to stop lugging a Marshall combo around (a Haze 40, very nice despite some users hating it).

    So anyway - I got the Amp1 and the pedal unit. No midi for me!
    I have a couple of Celestion 10" 80W speakers in a homemade cabinet that I've been running a Fender 5E3 (Neil Young's amp) clone into quite successfully so I've been plugging the Blug into that. There's no way I can justify spending another £450 or so on the Nano or Fat Cab.
    I play an SG with Burstbuckers, a Strat with Bareknuckle Rory Gallaghers and a Tele in open 'E' for slide so a VERY wide range of pickups and outputs.
    I'm having second thoughts about the thing now, but will persevere a bit longer. I have found it's a devil of a thing to set up to get a really nice tone from, and it's so easy to get a nasty harsh vile-sounding fizzy distortion, takes some real dialling-in, just a half a step out on any of the tone controls and it's horrible.

    What I HAVE found works is to have the master volume set to at least 8 in order to keep the nanotube driven hard; then set the Classic channel (which doesn't have side-panel trimmers) up with Bass/Middle/Treble controls set to 7, 4.5, 4.5; gain set to 3 and input master volume to control overall volume (i.e. NOT the 'main' master volume). Then set up the Vintage channel using the side-panel trimmers, and the Modern channel similarly (although I rarely use that channel for the stuff I play). I have the side-panel 'boost' control set to about 75%, which I find works best.
    With this setup though, it's still difficult to get a 'crunch' out of the clean channel (even with 'boost' on)  unless it's at ear-splitting volume so I have to use the power-brake facility on the pedal unit to tame it.

    I'll give the thing another couple of weeks (and a gig next weekend) before deciding if I'm going to can it. I REALLY want it to work but I think it's going to be a hard slog to get there. In the back of my mind is a voice saying "No amp should be this finicky to make usable!"



    Just ditch it before it's out of returns.

    There are so many better options.
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  • Malc_P said:
    Hi from Hastings!
    I bought an Amp1 a couple of weeks ago having done some online 'research'... I've had back pain and been diagnosed with a couple of bulging lumbar disks, nothing serious but enough for my GP to tell me to stop lugging a Marshall combo around (a Haze 40, very nice despite some users hating it).

    So anyway - I got the Amp1 and the pedal unit. No midi for me!
    I have a couple of Celestion 10" 80W speakers in a homemade cabinet that I've been running a Fender 5E3 (Neil Young's amp) clone into quite successfully so I've been plugging the Blug into that. There's no way I can justify spending another £450 or so on the Nano or Fat Cab.
    I play an SG with Burstbuckers, a Strat with Bareknuckle Rory Gallaghers and a Tele in open 'E' for slide so a VERY wide range of pickups and outputs.
    I'm having second thoughts about the thing now, but will persevere a bit longer. I have found it's a devil of a thing to set up to get a really nice tone from, and it's so easy to get a nasty harsh vile-sounding fizzy distortion, takes some real dialling-in, just a half a step out on any of the tone controls and it's horrible.

    What I HAVE found works is to have the master volume set to at least 8 in order to keep the nanotube driven hard; then set the Classic channel (which doesn't have side-panel trimmers) up with Bass/Middle/Treble controls set to 7, 4.5, 4.5; gain set to 3 and input master volume to control overall volume (i.e. NOT the 'main' master volume). Then set up the Vintage channel using the side-panel trimmers, and the Modern channel similarly (although I rarely use that channel for the stuff I play). I have the side-panel 'boost' control set to about 75%, which I find works best.
    With this setup though, it's still difficult to get a 'crunch' out of the clean channel (even with 'boost' on)  unless it's at ear-splitting volume so I have to use the power-brake facility on the pedal unit to tame it.

    I'll give the thing another couple of weeks (and a gig next weekend) before deciding if I'm going to can it. I REALLY want it to work but I think it's going to be a hard slog to get there. In the back of my mind is a voice saying "No amp should be this finicky to make usable!"


    I kind of found the same but had great results just using it as a clean base amp with a couple if drive pedals. It does sort of defeat all the theoretical flexibility but if weight saving is the prime concern then perhaps this could work for you?
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  • I only use the clean and vintage channels 95% of the time. The others aren't to my taste. With those, though, it's great - for me. 
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  • Not much of a tip, but I find the Iridium sounds better cab out (to a cab, etc.). I went into the Suhr Reactive Load and into the Blubox speaker sim pedal for this demo I just completed.

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  • BGGBGG Frets: 688
    I’ve been watching so many videos recently of the Amp1, and it always sounds killer. 
    Would love to try the Mercury edition, my Helix has just got so much I don’t use in it, and forever tweaking it. 
    #thebatesmotelband
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  • TheBigDipperTheBigDipper Frets: 4722
    BGG said:
    I’ve been watching so many videos recently of the Amp1, and it always sounds killer. 
    Would love to try the Mercury edition, my Helix has just got so much I don’t use in it, and forever tweaking it. 
    I still use my original AMP1 with a FatCab when playing with a band. I've had it for over 4 years, now, I think. It goes really well in 4CM with an HX FX, using MIDI to change channels, etc. I can get the tone/volume I want onstage and send a line level signal to the desk using the emulated speaker output. It's fine for gigs like that. I do have a BluBox for recording, though. I just don't take it out. The AMP1 doesn't need to see a speaker load, so it can run without a speaker and be recorded, or on a silent stage, etc. 

    Unlike so many of the YouTube demos you hear, I'm much more likely to play clean or "edge of breakup" than crunchy or distorted. Great in a band mix.  
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