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In terms of tone, the EQ is pretty flexible. It's five bands, so you can get a pretty broad range of sounds.
Originally Posted by JazzNote
But to my ear it sounds like most solid state amps, which is to say it gives a very good, down the middle sound that's pretty true to the natural sound of the guitar. It reminds me most of an old Polytone MBIII that I had. Obviously there's a difference between a 6" speaker and a 15" speaker, but evidently, not as much as one would think.
Where it really reminds me of the Polytone is in the feel. It's got that instantaneous attack that almost seems to anticipate what you play. There's pretty much zero compression, so it's pretty unforgiving in that way. It will force you to work on your picking.
What it DOESN'T remind me of is my other solid state amp, the Acoustic Lead 60. I think they must have designed some kind of compression circuit to make it sound more like a tube amp for that one. (I should try running them in stereo.)
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12-20-2019 12:45 PM
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That's good to know. I've got a Mesa Theile cab I can use if I need to push more air. Originally Posted by gitman
One of the interesting aspects of the BLU (and I assume the Bud as well) is that it's a closed back cabinet, but it's ported on the bottom, so one possibly underappreciated aspect of dialing in the tone is where you put the thing and what you put it on. I'm still experimenting with that. Putting it on the floor gives pretty nice bass response, but I can't hear it with the band with the sound blowing past my ankles. So far my favorite place for it is on top of the old upright piano in our rehearsal room.
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YES! Unequivocally yes! If you didn't see what the sound was coming out of, you'd have no idea it was so small. Originally Posted by AlsoRan
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Originally Posted by Boston Joe
Sounds pretty good, glad you happy, i wont be buying one yet, too many amps.
but would love to play one, re above quote i mentioned/started in a thread sometime ago, don't remember, what with all the talk about amps size power weight sound etc that response time does not
get mentioned. i know immediately, i wish i didn't it makes one critical.
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For years and years, I was a Gibson ES-175 into a Polytone Baby Brute gigging guitarist. No pedals, just an instrument chord. Worked fine in my jazz trio--piano, guitar, bass.
In that context, the BLU would be a natural successor to the 35 year-old Baby Brute--lighter and even more of a wow factor with the audience, FWIW.
Been interested in the BLU since it was announced.
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Originally Posted by JazzNote
The eq controls on the BLU/BUD models can easily be tweaked towards a mid-heavy Ampeg/Polytone sort of tone but
also in the opposite direction : cutting the lower mids and boosting the highs/presence gives you a more Fender-ish sound. I have no trouble dialing in an airy but warm Ted Greene tone with my Tele or a dark-ish Kenny Burrell type tone with one of archtops. Mind you, these descriptions are subjective and depend on your personal experience/ability and preference. I gig with my Bud often and can attest to it's robust, round, warm and surprisingly room-filling sound.
It beats any Polytone I ever owned (appr. 8 or 9 over the past 20 years) , works like a charm with effects in front or in the loop and the line-out signal is absolutely useable , both for recording (I use this signal for adding subtle fx in the mix) and on stage , a BIG plus.
A friend owns a '66 Blackface Deluxe Reverb which has a beautiful sound at moderate volume level but I can't get it to stay clean when playing with my bands. It breaks up/farts out too early. Dirty sounds are great but that's not what I want from an amp for my jazz gigs ! He paid twice the price of my BUD, had to have it serviced and now he's afraid to take it to out gigs for fear it might get damaged ....
The only guitar that sounds "better" played through a bigger amp/speaker is my Super-400 : it puts out a lot of bass (which i love and take advantage of when playing with in my organ trio) so it needs a bigger cab. When using a ported 12" extension speaker with the BUD that issue is taken care of. In short : a REALY universal piece of gear, extremely player-friendly re size/weight and in my opinion there's no real contester out there.
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The BLU had its shakedown gig last night.
The gig was three different groups, and then some jam session type stuff. Two other guitarists used the BLU, so I got to hear what it sounded like from the back of the room. Long story short, it sounded great, but what I didn't expect was, it sounded HUGE. If I didn't know better, I would have thought I was hearing a decent sized cabinet. The venue was a smallish restaurant, and I had the BLU up on a plastic chair.
The other guitarists liked it as well. One guy was eager to try it, even though he had brought his own amp because he thought I sounded good through it. I was using my P-90 Tele, and he had a Gibson (not sure what model - like a 335, but with a trapeze tailpiece and a floating bridge), which also had P-90s. The other person was a woman with a humbucker-equipped PRS. I though the Gibson sounded better through it, though maybe if the PRS person had had more time to dial it in, she'd have sounded better. (She didn't sound bad - just a little over bright).
Anyway, still very happy with the purchase, and doubly happy that I now have a rig that I can move in one trip.
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How are you still liking the Blu TEN?? thinking about pulling the trigger on a Bud Ten..
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I like it a lot! The sound is excellent - plenty of tube-like warmth and enough power & volume to gig with. I’d say the sound is very comparable to my Deluxe Reverb Reissue but only a fraction of the weight. My back certainly appreciates that!
It sounds great with both of my arch tops with built-in pickups and with my Tele, but it sounds especially good with an arch top with a floating pickup.
I have no regrets.
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02-05-2020, 11:00 PM #85joelf Guest
The Blu will be my next major purchase after I get my next car shortly. I've heard nothing but raves about its sonic qualities and gig-worthiness.
I have 2 workhorses: a Roland AC-33, which with its skimpy 33 watts has the limitation of your sound getting buried in the average situation involving drums. The only way out then is to mic it or run a 2nd cable through the house PA---if there is one. I do like the sound, portability, and AC-DC capability for outside situations where there's nowhere to plug in. The other is a Fender Champion, which has the wallop of 100 watts and good sound for a transistor amp---but who wants to lug all that poundage around, car and luggage cart or no? A pain.
Henriksens are pricey, but hey. 13-15 lbs. and 100+ watts, clean sound, etc. and the ability to cut through in an organ group w/Leslie and drummer vs. those other 2? Ring me up...
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02-07-2020, 06:47 PM #86joelf Guest
When do yiz figure the price will come down---or used Blu 10s will be up for sale?
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There is a used Blu 10 (the last version of the jazzamp 10 and the Blu 10 are one and the same) for sale on the classified section of this forum as I write this (and no, it is not mine). Originally Posted by joelf
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I have a Blu, as well as a Benedetto Carino 10. The difference between the 2 amps is minimal when using a pick. I prefer the little Jazz Tortex 1.14 so you can see where I’m coming from.
The difference between the 2 amps is revealed when I play with fingers and very short nails. The Blu suddenly transforms my El Rey 1 with a lace Alumitone into a remarkably acoustic sounding guitar. The Benedetto will do almost the same, but I have to dial the treble back quite a bit. With the Blu, I need only back the tone of the guitar off slightly. Love the Blu. I would love to have a Blu10 as well, but sanity suggests it’s not necessary.
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