The Blue Angel Appreciation Thread

[dylan7620]

right on, i like the 1x12 it looks a little easier to carry around :wink:

 

[ned]

Since this is one of the longest threads on the board I went ahead and added the Blue Angel to the amp settings database. So go ahead an input your favorite Blue Angel sounds.

http://www.grailtone.com/tone-settings/tone-settings.html

Ned

 

[cvansickle]

Thanks, Ned. The more I play this amp, the more I understand just how much respect it deserves!

 

[musicbox]

come on guys...add some of your own settings to the database, i've only had mine for a few days and need some ideas!

 

[mullet_king]

come on guys...add some of your own settings to the database, i've only had mine for a few days and need some ideas!

Use your ears. Try all the different tube combinations and don't be affraid to turn that bad boy up--way up. I've had mine for almost 6 years and I'm still figuring out how to get the most tone out of it. It sounds the best when I turn it up high enough to break up and then goose it with a clean boost. Overdrives are okay, but powertube distortion is so much better. And this amp has it in spades!

DISCLAIMER: living room settings don't work on stage, and gig settings usually sound pretty harsh in isolation--or without bass and drums.

Here's how I set mine at gigs:

FAT/BRIGHT: on FAT

VOLUME: right around 1 or 2 o'clock

TREBLE: between 8 and 10 o'clock

MIDRANGE: between 9 and 11 o'clock

BASS: about 9 o'clock or a little higher if I need a little more bottom

REVERB: between 9 and 11 o'clock (this amp has a ton of 'verb on-tap)

6V6s selected. I've got a set of NOS Phillips in mine. They cost more but I've had them in there for 4 years! IMO they're totally worth the extra money and they sound way better than the stock tubes did.

I don't use the EL84s much because they sound too bright with my guitars. I've used other EL84 equiped amps without running into that problem but for some reason the '84s sound really bright in this amp. With an already bright sounding strat, it gets very brittle on the 33 watt setting.

I used to own a V-Twin though I don't recommend using one with a Blue Angel. They don't really compliment each other, and it pretty much defeats the purpose of having a one channel amp. I use a Fulltone FULLDRIVE 2 on the 'Comp. Cut' setting and it works great with the B.A. as a clean boost or an overdrive, but I mainly use it as a clean boost.

The most effective 'tone control' you'll have when using this amp is your hands. Variations in pick attack have a pronounced effect on the tonal response you'll get. How hard you dig in and where you pick (ie how close to the neck or bridge) make a world of difference. If your approach to playing is to beat your guitar as hard as you can, this probably isn't the amp for you. It also doesn't respond to cheap, middle of the road effects pedals either. Cheap pedals sound--well--cheap through this amp. It seems to sound the best if you've got as little as possible between the guitar and the input jack.

Adios muchachos!

 

[musicbox]

on the contrary, i find the 6v6 setting dark and kind of characterless compared to the el84 or simuclass settings. i have the stock 6v6 still in though and use JJ 84's and 12ax7's which are slightly darker and might neutralize the 84's. this amp is soo horrendously sensitive to pickups...

what did those nos philips run you? i was thinking about going with EH, because i figured theyd have to be replaced every 6 months...

 

[musicbox]

Please post the guitar that you favour most with your Blue Angel, and why? What kind of tones and sensitivity do you achieve with this combination?

 

[Anonymous]

Mine works well with every guitar I own. I have noticed that my PRS CU22 with duncan 59s works better with this amp than it does with others, though.

I recently played a McCarty Soapbar through a BA 1x12 combo. That was a stunning combination.

 

[Blind Willie]

I have been using a '67 Epiphone Riviera (with mini humbuckers) and a 65 Strat through the Blue Angel. Both guitars sound great at nearly all different settings. So far, I have typically been using the Mesa recommeded tone settings. Both guitars are pretty bright generally, and the BA really fleshs out the tone in a way that effects really can't match. I can just plug the guitars in and let them rip.

I have also run an old SG Special with P-90's and an old Harmony Stratotone, both of which have very bassy pickups. It takes a lot more tinkering to achieve the tone that I want.

 

[cvansickle]

I bought mine to play mostly clean, so my Strat is the main guitar for this amp. I use it straight, with compressor, or with tremolo. It sounds good with my Les Paul Custom and Les Paul Special too. I haven't had a chance to use it with my Danelectro 12 String yet...

 

[mullet_king]

on the contrary, i find the 6v6 setting dark and kind of characterless compared to the el84 or simuclass settings. i have the stock 6v6 still in though and use JJ 84's and 12ax7's which are slightly darker and might neutralize the 84's. this amp is soo horrendously sensitive to pickups...

Yeah, it's a pretty moody amp in general. lol! If it sounds dark on the 6V6 setting, turn the bright switch on and turn the bass down a bit. Good tubes will make a major difference.

what did those nos philips run you? i was thinking about going with EH, because i figured theyd have to be replaced every 6 months...

When I bought them they were $60 for a matched pair. When it comes time to replace them, I'll try to find a reasonably priced pair of NOS 6V6s. If I can't, then I'll go with 6L6s and see how those sound. But if you can afford NOS, buy them because they'll last longer and they usually sound better too. Some amp techs say that NOS tubes will end up saving you money in the long run. In this case, I know it saved me some money.

 

[mullet_king]

Please post the guitar that you favour most with your Blue Angel, and why? What kind of tones and sensitivity do you achieve with this combination?

Being a die hard strat player, I've always played strats through my Blue Angel. It gets great, chimey clean tones with a strat. It sounds even better with slightly under wound, vintage style strat pickups. A stock set of Lindy Fralin strat pickups would really shine through this amp.

PAF humbuckers really sing through this amp. Plugged straight-in too--no boosters or gadgets. I loaned my amp to a friend to cut some guitar tracks with. He used a Flying V going straight-in, and it sounded really nice. He got some good, chunky crunch tones happening on the EL84 setting. Definitely not a sound I would have been able to get using a strat.

 

[mullet_king]

Since this is one of the longest threads on the board I went ahead and added the Blue Angel to the amp settings database. So go ahead an input your favorite Blue Angel sounds.

http://www.grailtone.com/tone-settings/tone-settings.html

Ned

My, how this little thread has grown since I've been away! :shock: Where did all these 'tone heads' come from?

I guess 'If you build it they will come' is a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy in this case. Or should I say:

'if you start the thread they will post,'? :lol:

Maybe I should have called this thread 'The Secret Underground Master Volume Resistance.'

 

[dylan7620]

the best i think ive ever heard it sound was with a 62 reissue strat with a super hard on pedal. its like the amp is completly transparent. if something is wrong guitar-wise or if u f up it'll let you know :wink:

 

[FireBros.]

Does any body use a 2x12 with their BA. If so what cab and speakers are you useing.

BTW I love my BA cranked with my LP Special w/ P90's through a Sparkledrive.

 

[Anonymous]

Does any body use a 2x12 with their BA. If so what cab and speakers are you useing.

BTW I love my BA cranked with my LP Special w/ P90's through a Sparkledrive.

I bought mine with a recto 2x12 cab with v30s. Sounded great, though I used the halfback option to open the tone up a bit. I sold both over time, and now have the head back. Still deciding what kind od cab to get.

 

[guitguy_al]

I've had a Blue Angel 4x10 (the older version w/Eminence alnicos) for about four years now. I've basically been able to dial in two main types of sounds:

The first one I call clean/clean drive, I have Fat Switch on, the volume set at 9:00, Treble at around 10:30 and Mid and Bass at 12:00 with reverb at around 9:00. This gives a great, shimmering clean tone, turn up the amp volume just a hair and you get a very dyanmic and subtle overdriven tone. Perfect for a very clean blues tone.

The other sound I've dialled in is full-on overdrive, with the Bass Mid and Treble all at 9:00, Reverb at anywhere from off to 9:00, and the Volume at half to full depending on how much drive I want. The fat/bright switch I'll usually set to Bright for a cleaner tone and then use a pedal for more overdrive, but sometimes if I want a bluesier sound with more drive just from the amp I'll use the Fat switch.

With the 4x10 setup, I get a very "classic blues" kind of tone, and I was curious about getting other sounds so I built a 1x12 cab with an Eminence Cannabis Rex. This gives a much cleaner drive tone, quite a bit fatter sounding as well but compared to the 4x10 it's just different types of sounds- I wouldn't say one is better than the other.

I've also found that when you really crank the volume settings on the amp, at least in my experiences, the EQ knobs get a harsh tone when dialled in above 9:00. The bass is too flubby, the mids too harsh (unless you want a nasty kind of tone) and the treble too shrill. I've found this to be the case with both of my speaker setups.

My main overdrive pedal I use with the amp is a V-Twin, I use it on the Blues channel with Gain at about half, it sounds pretty good this way for a blues/classic rock tone.

I use a Strat w/Texas Specials and a LP w/Duncan Alnico II's. The amp seems to be quite sensitive to pickups types, lower-output seem to be more suited to the amp.

I haven't had a lot of experience with Fender amps, or even tube amps in general, and I'd like to see how the Blue Angel stacks up against, say, the blackface-era Fenders, or Matchless, etc. I kind of figure it stands on its own, though, I've been very happy with it's tone. When I plugged into a Blue Angel for the first time at a store, I knew it was the amp for me. The only other amp I had that kind of experience with was a Vibro-King.

 

[musicbox]

well, this amp is full of surprises. i was getting irratated with the loose/flubby bottom end with the 6v6's and progressvelinkage, so a threw in a matched set of JJ 6l6's. ****... the headroom doubled on the 6v6(6l6) notch(ok, mild exageration, but its alot more!), and the bass is soo tight now...a nice round defined bottom unlike the former angel. it lost a TINY bit of warmth, but it gained a whole pile of sparkle on the top end and its alot more glassy now, kind of reminds me of bell, compared to a violin. the gains far outweight the slight loss in warmth.. if your getting tired of your angel, try putting in some 6l6's, deffinilty mixes it up a little bit...

oh, and i forgot the mention, the high gain sounds! for those that think the blue angel is a low gain blues amp, think again. on the 6l6 slot with the volume at about 2:15 and mids at 11:00 this thing has serious chunk and endless sustain..it compreses real nice.. plus theres no buzz from excess preamp distortion polluting the signal path.

try it!

 

[guitguy_al]

I tried the same thing (with the 6L6-for-6v6 tube swap). I heard about it on a forum, got a pair of GT 5881s (rated at about #5), put them in place of the 6v6s.

I got the same results as musicbox: enhanced, tighter bottom end, more top-end shimmer, no flabbiness when pushed into overdrive, more volume and headroom. The power with the 6L6s is about the same as the 4xEL84 setting now. Also, to me it sounds sweeter now somehow- definitely my favorite sound with the amp now.

I don't know if the 6v6s are "warmer" than the 6L6s... less treble response, I'd say, but it's not like 6L6s have too much of a cutting sound. Although, maybe the 5881s are warmer than typical 6L6s?

 

[cvansickle]

Is a direct swap safe? Are there certain brands of 6L6 that I shouldn't try?