Blackheart BH1H Killer Ant Guitar Amplifier Head (1 Watt)
No longer available at zZounds
Attain that perfect tube tone at a lower volume. With this head, you're free of whiny neighbors or spouses because the output is only 1W.
Overview
The followup to Blackheart Engineering's Little Giant 5, the Killer Ant is the first attainable, boutique quality fractional tube amp. Featuring Class A, Single Ended circuitry, it delivers the complete, classic, touch responsive tube tone you need but at more manageable volumes for apartment dwellers and recording sessions.
Designed on a beer stained cocktail napkin, prototyped, built and tested in a one car garage in Austin, TX, and engineered to the same strict standards as the Little Giant 5, this "little head" delivers the tones, the smells and the attitude you want when sonic bliss is everything and volume needs to be kept at bay. The Killer Ant embraces 100% classic all tube circuitry but, instead of a high power tube output section, it boasts a clever, all tube power block pumping out a mere fraction of 1W. What you get is arena rock tone at bedroom levels. No more angry neighbors, whining wives/husbands or girlfriends/boyfriends (or both... just sayin').
Like its big bro, it features completely overbuilt component specs, from 1W resistors in the signal path to double sided PCB with 2 oz traces. Even its diminutive cabinet, just over palm sized, is built to take a beating with 15 ply (18mm) void-free wood covered expertly in durable black tolex. Final touches include distinctive white piping accents and a salt & pepper cloth covered front baffle. 4, 8 and 16-ohm extension speaker jacks allow you to hook the Ant into virtually any cab you like, including a 4 X 12. However,… read more its counterpart, the Killer Cab, is designed to be its perfect soul mate. read less
Designed on a beer stained cocktail napkin, prototyped, built and tested in a one car garage in Austin, TX, and engineered to the same strict standards as the Little Giant 5, this "little head" delivers the tones, the smells and the attitude you want when sonic bliss is everything and volume needs to be kept at bay. The Killer Ant embraces 100% classic all tube circuitry but, instead of a high power tube output section, it boasts a clever, all tube power block pumping out a mere fraction of 1W. What you get is arena rock tone at bedroom levels. No more angry neighbors, whining wives/husbands or girlfriends/boyfriends (or both... just sayin').
Like its big bro, it features completely overbuilt component specs, from 1W resistors in the signal path to double sided PCB with 2 oz traces. Even its diminutive cabinet, just over palm sized, is built to take a beating with 15 ply (18mm) void-free wood covered expertly in durable black tolex. Final touches include distinctive white piping accents and a salt & pepper cloth covered front baffle. 4, 8 and 16-ohm extension speaker jacks allow you to hook the Ant into virtually any cab you like, including a 4 X 12. However,… read more its counterpart, the Killer Cab, is designed to be its perfect soul mate. read less
Specs
<1 Watt RMS, Single-Ended, Class A
Outputs: 1 x 16 ohm jack, 1 x 8 ohm jack, 1 x 4 ohm jack
Solid State Rectifier
Volume (the rest of the tone is in your hands)
DC Power to filaments for super quiet operation
15 ply, 18mm thick-void free plywood construction
Outputs: 1 x 16 ohm jack, 1 x 8 ohm jack, 1 x 4 ohm jack
Solid State Rectifier
Volume (the rest of the tone is in your hands)
DC Power to filaments for super quiet operation
15 ply, 18mm thick-void free plywood construction
Reviews
Reviewers gave this product an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
(2 ratings)
Submitted April 17, 2011 by a customer from live.com
"There's an Ant in my studio!"
Verified Customer
zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.
If I was going to add anything to this amp it might be a small handle on the side, an effects loop, a line out, and a standby switch. That having been said, that's what mods are for! The Killer Ant is well worth the price just as it is - even with the stock tubes. I haven't had this much fun with an amp in quite some time.
Sound
I bought this amplifier thinking it might achieve what most of the other small tubes couldn’t: nice smooth break-up at “bedroom” volumes. This amp really shines in this department! With the stock tubes the sound tended to be slightly harsh so I swapped in a Mesa 12AT7 (pre) and a NOS GE 12AX7 and I’m blown away by the improvement. Lots of people have commented on the amp sounding “dark” but I’m not hearing that at all. I use my Ant with a Peavey Backstage Plus that I converted into a cabinet using a Weber Signature 10-inch speaker. Sounds great! I doubt you'd be interested in this product if you're looking for a heavy Distrubed sound but it kills for blues, country, rock, and jazz.
Features
Why am I giving this a 9 for features when there is only a volume knob and 3 speaker outs? Easy; I'm calling the DEAD QUIET transformer a feature. There is no noise at all at idle and that makes this amp perfect for recording! That's a feature I did not find with most of the other small amps I tried out.
Ease of Use
The only learning curve to the Killer Ant… read more is learning how to extract the magic from your guitar and NOT from your 6 gazzillion presets!
Quality
The sales hype on the Blackheart webpage talks about how this little amp is "overbuilt." Well, believe it. This is quite possibly the highest quality fit and finish I've seen at anywhere near this price point. Fender, Vox, and Peavey can't touch this! Only the Egnator amps come close, in my humble opinion. I wish there was a handle on the side but I've since added one so no big deal.
Value
This amplifier is definitely worth the selling price. I tried a lot of other amps first, some of which sounded great but cost 5 times what this cost. Overall I am very pleased with what I got vs. what I spent.
Manufacturer Support
I'm sure it's fine.
The Wow Factor
This is definitely a "must have" for anyone looking to get a nice rock or "Blue Note" jazz tone at a practical volume level in the bedroom studio. Takes pedals well and just sounds great! First time I've been able to get a reasonable Grant Green tone without shaking the walls.
Musical Background:
Been around the block
Musical Style:
Rock, Blues, Jazz, Alt-country read less
Sound
I bought this amplifier thinking it might achieve what most of the other small tubes couldn’t: nice smooth break-up at “bedroom” volumes. This amp really shines in this department! With the stock tubes the sound tended to be slightly harsh so I swapped in a Mesa 12AT7 (pre) and a NOS GE 12AX7 and I’m blown away by the improvement. Lots of people have commented on the amp sounding “dark” but I’m not hearing that at all. I use my Ant with a Peavey Backstage Plus that I converted into a cabinet using a Weber Signature 10-inch speaker. Sounds great! I doubt you'd be interested in this product if you're looking for a heavy Distrubed sound but it kills for blues, country, rock, and jazz.
Features
Why am I giving this a 9 for features when there is only a volume knob and 3 speaker outs? Easy; I'm calling the DEAD QUIET transformer a feature. There is no noise at all at idle and that makes this amp perfect for recording! That's a feature I did not find with most of the other small amps I tried out.
Ease of Use
The only learning curve to the Killer Ant… read more is learning how to extract the magic from your guitar and NOT from your 6 gazzillion presets!
Quality
The sales hype on the Blackheart webpage talks about how this little amp is "overbuilt." Well, believe it. This is quite possibly the highest quality fit and finish I've seen at anywhere near this price point. Fender, Vox, and Peavey can't touch this! Only the Egnator amps come close, in my humble opinion. I wish there was a handle on the side but I've since added one so no big deal.
Value
This amplifier is definitely worth the selling price. I tried a lot of other amps first, some of which sounded great but cost 5 times what this cost. Overall I am very pleased with what I got vs. what I spent.
Manufacturer Support
I'm sure it's fine.
The Wow Factor
This is definitely a "must have" for anyone looking to get a nice rock or "Blue Note" jazz tone at a practical volume level in the bedroom studio. Takes pedals well and just sounds great! First time I've been able to get a reasonable Grant Green tone without shaking the walls.
Musical Background:
Been around the block
Musical Style:
Rock, Blues, Jazz, Alt-country read less
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