BluGuitar Amp X

[Sascha Franck]

My 600 euro ASM Hydrasynth Explorer has 4 non-notched endless encoders with a similar small display to what the Amp X uses on the four "X-Controls" and it works just fantastic. That's how I'd do it.

It's not just how you'd do it - it's how everybody should be forced to do it! Endless encoders (decent ones with enough friction please...) and some sort of readout (typically a small display or an LED ring) is the way to deal with programmable parameters.
FFS, manufactures of the world, stop complaining about Behringers's IP theft, pay it back to them! They've got those endless encoders pretty damn right on their BCR 2000 and VAmps, so just steal that concept!

 

[Whizzinby]

I find Blug such a likeable dude, and his insistence that it will only launch when it is fully realized I admire, but I do fall in the endless encoder camp. Once you go under the hood (literally) it starts to lose me. Sounds good though for his sorts of tones. Curious what he does for the high gain crowd. (Was happy he said he’s turned his focus in that direction)

 

[GTR37]

I find Blug such a likeable dude, and his insistence that it will only launch when it is fully realized I admire, but I do fall in the endless encoder camp. Once you go under the hood (literally) on this thing, that aspect of the device starts to lose me. Sounds good though for his sorts of tones. Curious what he does for the high gain crowd. (Was happy he said he’s turned his focus in that direction)

But it sounds like it’s still way out he will be back at summer NAMM I predict and it will not be out yet,

have nothing but respect for the man but the problem with
the pace is that ultimately someone is going to grab your idea and get there first ,

It won’t take much for an offshore company to throw in a nano tube and a preamp tube with their amp models and call it a day , although I don’t like mooer they have TC and by all accounts something like their 2290 delay is a solid reproduction
So imagine a mooer board w nano tube technology, and TC effects for $600 vs the $2000 or up Blug will charge and then additional charges for company blug prints .

 

[Whizzinby]

But it sounds like it’s still way out he will be back at summer NAMM I predict and it will not be out yet,

have nothing but respect for the man but the problem with
the pace is that ultimately someone is going to grab your idea and get there first ,

It won’t take much for an offshore company to throw in a nano tube and a preamp tube with their amp models and call it a day , although I don’t like mooer they have TC and by all accounts something like their 2290 delay is a solid reproduction
So imagine a mooer board w nano tube technology, and TC effects for $600 vs the $2000 or up Blug will charge and then additional charges for company blug prints .

For sure. I haven’t tried a Blug product yet, so I’m more of a curious onlooker following this, but I do like that he doesn’t want to throw this out there half baked with a bunch of #SOON promises. I’d be very confident when it does drop that it’s a fully realized idea and a comprehensive unit.

But I do agree. The market is evolving at such a pace that id be worried about such a prolonged dev period. I hope this lands to a receptive audience.

 

[laxu]

But it sounds like it’s still way out he will be back at summer NAMM I predict and it will not be out yet,

have nothing but respect for the man but the problem with
the pace is that ultimately someone is going to grab your idea and get there first ,

It won’t take much for an offshore company to throw in a nano tube and a preamp tube with their amp models and call it a day , although I don’t like mooer they have TC and by all accounts something like their 2290 delay is a solid reproduction
So imagine a mooer board w nano tube technology, and TC effects for $600 vs the $2000 or up Blug will charge and then additional charges for company blug prints .

Blackstar Amped range has already tried to rip off BluGuitar and do models with fx built in, but it hasn't made any real dent. Similarly H&K has their Black Spirit 200 with a similar idea. Neither are as flexible as Blug aims for on the Amp X and neither sound as good.

I don't think BluGuitar gets all the design and operation aspects right, but they do get the tone and feel.

Curious what he does for the high gain crowd. (Was happy he said he’s turned his focus in that direction)

On BluGuitar's last livestream someone in the chat said they would be willing to bring some really high end high gain amps for BluGuitar to add to Amp X, but probably later in the year. He had a Wizard, Mezzabarba, Gower modded Marshall...those would be some pretty killer options. Hope they can make that happen!

Afaik they will also have a model of Euge Valovirta's "Bad Boy" JCM800.

For the record the Iridium models are also rather competent:

 

[Sascha Franck]

the pace is that ultimately someone is going to grab your idea and get there first ,

I think it's more that customers, once potantially interested, will be sorted already. Sure, there's folks new to all this - but I think it's rather likely that they will develop a vital interest in an all analog platform. And as said, those once interested, might be sorted by now. Unlike at the time when the Amp 1 was released, this is now an almost crowded market. Today you can chose between several pedalboard-friendly power amps of pretty much any size and price. Add whatever modeler floats your boat and you're there.
Plus, I don't think Amp X will exactly be cheap, more to the opposite. I mean, Amp 1 is around €870 already, Amp x would likely be at least 2, perhaps close to 3 times that. Money that will easily buy you a very decent modeler and a pedalboard power amp.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Ditch the hinge.

 

[timbuck3]

what happened to this? its already almost mid 2024 and its not out? hmm

 

[norminal]

what happened to this? its already almost mid 2024 and its not out? hmm

By the time it’s released, the hardware will probably be obsolete and [insert Chinese knockoff company here] would have released a comparable device for half the cost.

 

[timbuck3]

any new developements?

 

[GTR37]

any new developements?

Hopes to have in EU by end of year
So US likely Q1 2025 and he will be back at Namm w it again

 

[norminal]

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to see this succeed. Such a unique idea. I really hope it delivers.

 

[laxu]

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to see this succeed. Such a unique idea. I really hope it delivers.

Me too. A lot of companies are now pushing out tube preamps with IR loading built in, but that's just half the battle.

Whatever BluGuitar does, it works. Every time I plug it into a cab it sounds, feels and responds like a nice Marshall style tube amp, even at ungodly loud volumes.

I managed to scare myself the other day, plugging the Amp 1 ME into my Bluetone 4x10, cranking the Amp 1...and forgetting to turn on its powersoak to reduce volume.

So if the Amp X can be that, but even more versatile tones + good sounding fx...I'm down. But being used to effects from Fractal, Strymon, Source Audio...fx quality is going to matter. At least the H&K Replex delay they demoed in some live stream sounded really good.

I'm 0% worried about the amp and cab tones, those are already great with the Amp 1 and Blubox (which I really should have kept...), it all comes down to usability and fx quality.

I'd love to build a stereo or wet/dry rig with Amp X + Amp 1 + two BluGuitar 1x12 cabs.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Me too. A lot of companies are now pushing out tube preamps with IR loading built in, but that's just half the battle.

Whatever BluGuitar does, it works. Every time I plug it into a cab it sounds, feels and responds like a nice Marshall style tube amp, even at ungodly loud volumes.

I managed to scare myself the other day, plugging the Amp 1 ME into my Bluetone 4x10, cranking the Amp 1...and forgetting to turn on its powersoak to reduce volume.

So if the Amp X can be that, but even more versatile tones + good sounding fx...I'm down. But being used to effects from Fractal, Strymon, Source Audio...fx quality is going to matter. At least the H&K Replex delay they demoed in some live stream sounded really good.

I'm 0% worried about the amp and cab tones, those are already great with the Amp 1 and Blubox (which I really should have kept...), it all comes down to usability and fx quality.

I'd love to build a stereo or wet/dry rig with Amp X + Amp 1 + two BluGuitar 1x12 cabs.

 

[Whizzinby]

Curious to see if he can land the plane on this one. Interesting concept, but I’d like to see some more demos, particularly in different styles.

 

[laxu]

Curious to see if he can land the plane on this one. Interesting concept, but I’d like to see some more demos, particularly in different styles.

I'm sure there will be plenty when it actually comes out. I just hope that instead of Blug coming in on various YT channels to explain the Amp X, he just sends it to various people to demo.

He's a great player, but within his blues-rock genre, with a bit of that Van Halen or Gary Moore thing thrown in. But he's not really a metal guy, so someone else to showcase those tones would be better. I think Ola Englund's demo of the Amp 1 Iridium Edition is still one of the best demos of it...and also funniest when he gets scared by how loud it is when he cranks it.

Blug's style aligns perfectly with what I want so it's no wonder I also use BluGuitar and basically EQ on 5-5-5 through the BluGuitar Fatcab with the Amp 1 Vintage channel is spot on. I just use more humbucker guitars than he does.

I'm also sure Blug will have the same uphill battle as with the Amp 1. He needs to showcase that yes, this small little thing is actually a proper, high power amp, that sounds and feels like a nice tube amp, and gets loud AF too.

When I had a Bogner and the BluGuitar, I had some real personal dissonance because my ears said the Amp 1 ME sounded just as good as the Bogner, but surely the "real deal" tube amp that costs like 2x more must be better? Yet the BluGuitar was lighter, less noisy, and actually louder than the tube amp (by about 3 dB - the typical difference between ~50W vs 100W).

BluGuitar's amps are also not pretty, and don't look particularly "premium" compared to traditional tolexed boxes. I don't know what happened to it, but a couple of months ago Blug was showing a "limited edition" color for the Amp 1 ME in their live stream:

IMO they should take this color and use it for the Amp X because that immediately makes it look much nicer than the gray/silver.

 

[hemmelight]

BluBluGuitar!