Takes a bit of tweaking to get just right, and I still haven't found the exact sweet spot. This would be the case with any new piece of gear though, so it's not a knock on the amp. Mine shipped with JJ tubes in both pre/power, which makes a marked difference. I didn't care much for the stock speaker, sounded a bit harsh and brittle to me. I replaced it with an old Eminence Private Jack I had left over from another amp and that helped smooth out the tone. The cleans are not Fender good, but they are certainly very good. This amp doesn't suffer nearly as much from the "boxy" sound that many other amps in this group do. I was surprised how much bigger it sounds than it looks. 15 watt setting gives you a fuller, deeper tone with (obviously) more clean headroom, 7 watt mode saturates well at very low volumes. I haven't been able to really crank this amp in a live setting, so I've never heard the natural overdrive at its best. I am not a big fan of the amp's overdrive at lower volumes, but as a platform for OD and other pedals, this amp shines.

7/15 watt mode is actually quite useful. Good recording tones at low volumes with the 7 watt mode, and a respectable amount of volume out of the 15 watt mode. I think it would be enough to keep up with a live drummer. I just gigged this amp in an amphitheater setting and never had to turn it up past 3 (both pre and post gain knobs) to have enough stage volume. It also has a ton of outputs for stacking with external cabs, so you can push more air if you need to. Internal speaker isn't necessarily cut when you hook it up to an external cab, which is a bonus. No reverb or effects loop, but for the price I don't think you should be shocked. Takes effects very well straight in.

Plug and play.

I'm shocked at how well this thing is put together. Exceptional tolex work, electronics are solid and lines are clean, no MDF (all plywood), and it's got some weight to it. This is a very well-made little box.

Comparable products are the Fender Blues Jr, Jet City JCA20/22, Blackstar HT series, etc. I can definitely see going with a Blues Jr, but they sounded a little boxier than the Blackheart to me, and at about $150 more. I owned two Jet City JCA22H's before the Blackheart, both of which died within a week; they had great tone, but they were poorly made, and still $150 more. The Blackstars just sound lifeless and compressed to me, and still cost more. I think the Blackheart line is very competitive and priced correctly.

Not yet, hope not to.

It's kind of a cheesy logo, but it's growing on me because it sounds good. The amp itself is cleanly put together, so it's nice to look at. It's no Fender, but it's also not ugly.

Home recording, Worship