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Dear friends,
Hope you're all well! Just wanted to share my review of the Henriksen Bud amplifier with you as well as my interview with Peter Henriksen.
Hope you'll enjoy it!
Review and Demo:
Interview:
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10-17-2025 06:26 PM
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Just a note for everyone: The video is labeled as a "Henriksen Bud" review. But the amp demo'd is a Blu. Aside from the Bud having two channels and the Blu one as noted, the 5-band EQ centerpoints for the two amps are substantially different, so amp settings for a given sound between Bud and Blu will be somewhat different. Otherwise, great to see Henriksen getting more current attention. -Phil
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I appreciate the reply Phil but as far as my experience goes, playing many buds and blus and having talked to Peter directly that doesn’t check out.
Originally Posted by 213Cobra
The only difference is the number of channels. The review was shared by Henriksen with no notes so unless I receive an actual note for correction from Henriksen I can’t agree with you there.
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Bud EQ points: 80Hz, 420Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.5kHz, 7.2kHz.
Blu EQ points: 100Hz, 350Hz, 760Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.5kHz.
It's right on the Henriksen site. I have a Bud 6 and have played a Blu alongside. The EQs will be different to make a given sound. Most written reviews note this difference. If you run both amps flat, then sound will be the same as the preamps sans EQ are identical. I plan to get a Blu 10 in addition.
PhilLast edited by 213Cobra; 10-17-2025 at 11:46 PM.
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I have a Bud 6 and a Blu 10. I used to have a Blu 6. I mostly run the EQ flat and I found no audible tonal difference between the Bud and Blu, but I suppose there could be a room that is so dark sounding that I will be glad that I have my Bud 6 on the gig or I will wish my Blu 10 was a Bud 10. I have not played that room yet. I suspect that the extra EQ availability of the Bud is more useful when dealing with vocals as opposed to jazz guitar. Originally Posted by 213Cobra
That said, there is a big tonal difference between the 6 and the 10. If I could only have one amp, it would be the Bud 6.
@ the OP. Two things. First, nice playing. You get a good sound out of your guitars. Second, you really should have called the video a review of the Henriksen Blu. Your amp is not a Bud.
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Indeed, naming the wrong product does not inspire confidence in the reviewer.
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The front end voltage amplifying sections (preamps) on all the current Henriksen amps are identical. The tone stacks on the Blu and the Bud are different in their available EQ frequencies, albeit both offer 5 bands. So, yes, if you don't use the tone stack the amps will sound the same, flat, within the same speaker size. The cabinet construction, speaker, preamp and Class D power amp are the common elements. There are some differences between the 6" and 10" speakers, but they both yield the Henriksen voice. However, if you do use the tone stack to attain a preferred sound, the settings on the 5 Band EQ required to achieve it will be different on a Bud than on the reviewer's Blu. I don't know what proportion of players run their amps flat v. tonally-tweaked, but my locally and temporally restricted observation is that in guitar, there are more tone tweakers than flatliners. Depending on what you want to achieve through EQ, the center frequencies and ranges in the tone stacks of the two amps could influence which best suits you, independent of the 1 ch v. 2ch choice. I just think people seeing the review should understand that. A Blu is a Blu; a Bud is a Bud; but they are all Henriksens. All good. Originally Posted by Stringswinger
Phil
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[QUOTE=213Cobra;1429814]Just a note for everyone: The video is labeled as a "Henriksen Bud" review. But the amp demo'd is a Blu. Aside from the Bud having two channels and the Blu one as noted, the 5-band EQ centerpoints for the two amps are substantially different, so amp settings for a given sound between Bud and Blu will be somewhat different. Otherwise, great to see Henriksen getting more current attention. -Phil[/QUOTE
Good point. You can see those frequencies right on the panel of each amp.
Also, the Bud has an input gain control for each channel, the Blu has no input gain control.
A lot of great players absolutely love the Bud/Blu. I tried the Blu but preferred the DV Mark Little Jazz. The LJ seemed warmer no matter how I adjusted the Blu.
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Well, far be it from me to ignore the facts, I stand corrected.
Pinned the statement below to my video:
"Hey all, it's been called to my attention that my amplifier is in fact the Henriksen Blu instead of the Bud. Apologies for the mistake, i was under the impression that other than the number of channels there was no tonal difference between the two and nothing in my conversation with Peter led me to think otherwise. I stand corrected. I encourage you to try both amps and see which works for you. If you'll consider my opinion as a full time Jazz guitarist, I've played the Bud in many venues many times: The Zinc Bar, The Bar Next Door, The Artisan Guitar Festival, The Rocky Mountain Archtop Festival, the Central Coast Jazz Guitar Festival and many more. I've played my Blu in countless events and gigs, too many to possibly list. I must confess that I didn't find any appreciable difference between the amps (TO MY EARS). Once again I encourage you to try them for yourself and know that whatever amplifier you get will be an outstanding amplifier and will support a stand up guy and business. Once again, thank you for listening and supporting."
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Well, that's my conversation with Peter when I was choosing Bud vs Blu
Ll.
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When I had my Blu 6, I did a comparison between the Blu 6, the Bud 6 and the Blu 10. I could not hear a difference between the Blu 6 and the Bud 6 with the EQ set flat. I accept that one could get different tones by using the different EQ capabilities on the two amps along with the bright switch and the separate gain control of the Bud. But the Bud 6 and the Blu 6 sounded exactly the same to my ears with my usage so I sold the Blu 6 as I found it redundant.
The Blu 10 with it's bigger speaker and larger cabinet does have a different tone, so I kept it. It is a more bass heavy sound as one would expect. I was not able to match the tone of the Blu 6 or Bud 6 to my Blu 10 by adding bass with the EQ. It may have the same pre-amp and power amp, but to my ears, it does sound a bit different.
Another thing that I will add is that the 6 inch Henriksens do better for me on a gig while using a wedge. The 10 does not need the wedge. HTH
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I'm glad you appended a note of correction about Bud and Blu, Ricardo. But I still think you haven't assimilated what's been pointed out to you, in writing your correction. Originally Posted by RicardoGrilli
The correction involves the differences between the two amps' tone stacks, not in the essential tone sans tone controls. Plus, as was also pointed out in the thread, Bud has input gain controls and Blue does not. If you run the tone controls flat, then Peter's right -- there is no tonal difference between Bud and Blu. However, if you use EQ, you will have to use different settings on Bud and Blu to "correct" or shape to the same objectives. Put another way, if a Blu owner hears a player with, say, an L-5 CES through a Bud, and likes the tone heard, that Blu owner might ask about the settings used on the Bud to get that tone. If shared, then the Blu owner will quickly learn that he or she cannot use Bud settings on a Blu to get the same sound because the EQ frequency centerpoints are not the same. Again, the EQ centerpoint disparities:
BUD: 80Hz, 420Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.5kHz, 7.2kHz
BLU: 100Hz, 350Hz, 760Hz, 1.6kHz, 3.5kHz
It should be self-evident to you that if settings on both amps were, say, set to Low @ 4, Low Mid @ 6, Mid @ 7, High Mid @ 3, Presence @4, their resulting sounds will not be the same.
Low and Low-Mid are reasonably close. The disparities become greater in Mid-High, High and Presence. You'll have more precision for taming spurious high frequency noise (in guitar terms) without affecting tone, on the Bud than on Blu. Same with trimming boominess on the bass end. The middle EQ points will simply require different shaping to reach a given sound. Then, for players who want to sometimes dial in some dirt, having input gain controls will make that easier and more precise.
So, what you really want your viewers to know is that, 1/ Your review is of a Blu, not a Bud, and 2/ there are differences in versatility and flexibility (2ch v. 1ch, input gain v. not), and 3/ the two amps have different tone stacks, which may affect the buyer's choice between them. Otherwise, if both are used with flat EQ, they will sound the same.
Which brings me to another comment about the interview with Peter: Read interviews by serious interviewers and the person being interviewed does more talking than the interviewer. The interviewer is there to draw out insights from the interviewee and to direct the conversation. But in your video, you consumed far more of the talking time with your observations about the amp, without asking questions that only Peter could answer. It would have been interesting to know, for example, why Bud and Blu have different tone stacks. Why he chose different EQ centerpoint frequencies for amps claimed to have no tonal differences. Did he think single channel players have different EQ needs? It would have been interesting to know why he chose the Eminence Beta driver -- he does mention it's a midrange hi-fi driver with excellent power handling but nothing about why that driver compared to myriad others. It would have been interesting to understand why Peter no longer makes a 12" version of the amp. His own website has a video comparo of 6", 10" and 12" Buds, with clear tonal differences between them. These are just examples. Other people might have added points of curiosity. Peter might have points he wants to raise in interviews. Net is, get the interviewee talking and let him talk. Always much less of the interviewer than interviewee.
PhilLast edited by 213Cobra; 10-23-2025 at 04:28 AM.
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Peter makes great amps. But if he thinks different tone stacks in Bud and Blu is no difference at all to players who use EQ, he's wrong. As he is if he thinks input gain v. the absence of it is no difference. But then again, he admits, he's not a guitar player. Originally Posted by Llewlyn
Well, that's my conversation with Peter when I was choosing Bud vs Blu
Ll.
Phil
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Just a guess, but the second channel may be directed at vocals. The manual mentions use of microphones. The EQ ranges of the Bud controls are more spread out than the Blu and therefore might be more relevant to a vocalist.
I've read that the Bud is good for vocals, but I don't know that Peter has said that.
It did lead me to start experimenting with using FRFR devices for guitar, figuring that Henriksen might not be the only one marketing a unit that is good for both guitar and vocals. I settled on the JBL Eon One Compact, which I've already posted too much about.
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Seen from a jazz guitarist's (narrow) perspective, The Bud and Blu do the same job. Bud's whole point is the second channel, which makes it perfect for duos, with or without guitar in fact. The broader spacing of EQ shelves is obviously meant for instruments with a higher tonal range or more pronounced harmonics than electric guitar: acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin, harmonica, flute, a host of "ethnic" stringed instruments. The human voice is a complex spectrum of under- and overtones, which is why singers stick to their favorite microphones. Henriksen's five-zone eq is no doubt a blessing for vocalists.
This brings me to my permanent plea: a micro head/powered mixer with two independent channels, XLR input and phantom power for one, and reverb. 100W would go a long way. Then why not the Bud Head? By my book, it's bulky and heavy. By many a pocketbook, quite pricey.
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The input gain on the Bud might better be labeled input sensitivity, since that’s what it controls. It’s to let users get the same volume and tone from pickups of widely differing output levels using the full range of the output volume & EQ pots. Originally Posted by 213Cobra
The Bud won’t behave like most amps with input and output gain controls - you can’t get usable distortion by upping the input gain and lowering the output / master. If it’s pushed to clipping, it does not sound good at all. You need to use external effects if you want an overdriven sound, but you can’t just overdrive the input with boost.
My Zensation pedal sounds great through my Blu.
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Well I don't know about all this pedantic gobblygoo, but I just came back from a duo rehearsal with an upright bass player, and he raved about my archtop tone through my Bud 6.
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I get nothing than compliments when I gig with my Blu 6. Still, the Henriksen is voiced rather dark I think (at least with my guitars: Gibson ES-125 and Ibanez AF55). I sometimes use my Quilter Superblock US in front of it if I want a bit more treble in the tone à la Grant Green. Or is that perhaps of the lack of a gain/sensitivity control of the Blu?
The Henriksen can’t be beaten in terms of portability and power in a small package. My AER Alpha is just as portable but is only 40 watts and has a built in limiter (which can make the tone ‘sing’ in a nice way, btw). The AER does have a nicer carrying bag…. And with a louder drummer in a noisy bar I also have to turn up the Henriksen to almost full power sometimes.
But I am very happy with the Blu 6.
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This doesn't correspond with my experience with the Bud. While the input gain controls aren't a gateway to Marshall or Boogie levels of preamp distortion - which you wouldn't want from this amp anyway -- the input gain interacting with Volume does allow a precise dialing in of edge-of-breakup plus a little more, at volume levels you can't duplicate, dB for dB without the input gain. I tried to get there on a borrowed Blu and it was not attainable at the same moderate volumes. I haven't seen a Henriksen preamp schematic so I can't comment on whether the "input gain" is just a simple input sensitivity control (which is not far from the same thing) or not. But it behaves like an input gain control for threshold-to-moderate breakup with my guitars, particularly with humbuckers. And the modest level of breakup sounds good - especially for solid state - if you know when to stop. I agree that if you want even more precision for distortion and more harmonic richness with it, and want to go deep into that realm, a pedal into the Bud or Blu will be necessary and desirable. And by the way, I couldn't be happier with my Bud 6. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
Phil
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Ricardo I think you did a great job with great motive.
none of the big names are building jazz centric amps. We need to support these smaller outfits!
I have a Bud and they are really neat. I tend to agree that aside from the centre frequencies of the EQs, the blu and bud are essentially identical amps, just with different feature sets. Cabinet, speaker, power stage and preamp all the same.
For the size it is a deceptively heavy little nugget. When you see it, you expect it to weigh even less than it does. That driver must carry a pretty fat ceramic magnet for the power handling and excursion.
I do not view the input stage as a preamp gain in the traditional tube amp sense. In fact I find with this amp the eq stage and preamp input gain are all ‘corrective’ to obtain a consistent flat (but warm) tone for a given venue and context. Not HiFi flat like PA, but warm as in the eq maybe soft-limits transient spikes?
With my tube amps it is more a case of preamp to adjust for headroom gain/breakup and eq to adjust for mix. Different tool.
If there was one thing I would change though, it would be the power switch strategy. Either the switch hardware or a soft start. There is quite an inrush current and a slight arcing crackle as the switch goes through its motion between contacts when turning on or off anything less than fast. Time will tell how robust this hardware is. I tend to be conscious of it and try to flick the switch as fast as possible. I can’t imagine it is a 240V thing, but I have come across some amps with SMPS designed in-house that reported no issues on 110v, but 50hz 240 had issues, including mine.
cheers
Emike.
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I've seen a few one-off 12's. Would LOVE to see a Bud 8. Maybe with the speaker Quilter used in their 8" models(?). Or a neo of some kind. The thing is, the 6 fits right into my gig bag. (Albeit adding quite a bit of weight.)
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Hmm… apparently You should do Your own review and interview when You have all the right knowledge and right questions. Originally Posted by 213Cobra
Ricardo has done a lot of work for the review and interview. It is unfair to keep on bashing him about things that You would have done differently.
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I understand your sentiment. But effort is not the same as output or result. Ricardo titled his review as an assessment of the Henriksen Bud, but very quickly the viewer can see he is actually commenting on a Henriksen Blu. It's printed in big white letters on pastel blue right there on the amp. He's reviewing the Blu, not the Bud, so everything else factual becomes suspect. Moreover, most of the review is subjective raving with no details about why, or how the amp is experienced by a prospective owner. It's a lot of cheerleading that he happens to be right about, but you wouldn't know why from the review. And when the discrepancy is pointed out, his response is that my observation "doesn't check out," despite the fact that everyting I raised is documented on the Henriksen website. Even a casual reviewer should be expected to get basic, publicly-available facts right. Originally Posted by Herbie
Regarding the interview, Peter gets to say almost nothing substantive and Ricardo dominates the verbal output with a spray of endorsing enthusiasm absent qualitative content in support. It's poor interviewing when the interviewer cannot restrain himself from flooding the conversation to the point of crowding out the interviewee.
Point is, if Ricardo takes my feedback seriously, he will adjust in his own way to be a better reviewer and a better interviewer. I'd love to see that develop!
I could do my own review, but not via video. I write. Youtube is good for how-to instruction, and to a (very) limited extent sound quality or audio-differences demos. I am 213Cobra here, on audiogon.com, audioasylum.com, whatsbestforum.com, head-fi.org, cloudynights.com (for astronomy) and many other forums since 1994. Even before that in interest-oriented newsgroups, if you remember those, going back to the early 1980s via CompuServe. I had my first corporate website debut in December 1993 and had an internet company in revenue in 1996. I've been interviewed in a tech context by inept interviewers who didn't know how to ask incisive questions. So you can find many examples of my commentary on gear if it matters to you how I assess products and services.
I am not bashing Ricardo. He made several amateurish errors in his review and his interview, but I recognize his enthusiasm and intent. I want to make him better, not make him wither.
If someone is putting the time into it, reviewing should be more than "I love this and it's amazing."
Phil
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You do seem emotionally involved from this post though.
At any rate, I loved Ricardo's video, I found it quite well done.
Ll.
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So based on the above observations, does the Blu or the Bud tend to be the brighter amp?
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