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I've been looking for a small valve combo to gig with. My mate uses one and liked his sound. This came up at a decent price of £325 so have bought it.
I've heard they can burn through Poweramp Valves quite quickly. Does anyone know if this is correct? If so, is there anything (mods, valve types etc) that can be done to make it more reliable. The last thing I need is a dead amp on a gig night. Great little amp though!
Thanks
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Most guitar amps that use EL84s run them 'too hot' (certainly by the manufacturer's spec) to one extent or another. Some are worse than others, but in general, EL84s are a valve which requires fairly frequent replacement in most amps if used often.
In some cases the biasing can be tweaked to aid longevity, but I don't think the Artisan requires this. Depending on use, I'd replace them, say, annually?
The amp won't be unreliable if the useful life of the valves isn't exceeded.
The bias resistor change was A/B'ed by the "boss" and he reported no alteration to the sound of the amp. I must repeat that this was done within a very few months of the amps being released to market and there can be few left running that hot. The head versions came later and I would think all of these were sorted at the factory.
Note the cap change also applies to the A30 but B's would rather the amps come in for other mods. Nothing drastic I assure you! The A30 cathode R goes up from 47 to 68 Ohms, a 10W component again.
For all other Blackstar products there will be mods for some of them as with any electronic product as things are learned. Anyone who buys a second hand amp or pedal would be wise to phone the company and check.
Dave.
You'd think Blackstar would make a bigger deal of this on their website, having Springsteen A/Bing their amps for them...
Seriously though, I have wanted to try an A15 for a while, just wonder whether it will have the headroom with the band - not super-clean but that slightly breaking up twangy tone...
Changing output valves annual seems a lot to me. Is this generally accepted wisdom for El84’s?. Specifically in the Artisans.
also, am I right that the a30 is fixed bias so I can change the valves myself?
I tend to use the ECC83 channel the most so not too worried about the EF86 to be honest.
Would you give me the definitive answer please Dave as I seem to get conflicting answers to this one. If I do replace the output valves do I need to get the amp biased?
Many thanks.