BluGuitar AMP1 - Nanotube 100 review

Mark Gregory from Rich Tone Music shows you the awesome AMP1 from Bluguitar. In this video Mark demonstrates the versatility and flexibility of this innovative 100 watt amp in a variety of playing styles.
Gear used: BluGuitar AMP1 - Nanotube 100, TC Electronic Flashback delay pedal, Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah, Fender Custom Shop Strat, Fender Telecaster, Gibson Les Paul and Ibanez 7-string electric guitars.
Buy the BluGuitar AMP1 - Nanotube 100 watt Guitar Amplifier here: www.richtonemus...

[@ForViewingOnly]

This is an excellent demo of the Amp1. Thanks Mark!

[@elij.doummar4623]

this is the best demo for blugamp on YT.

[@chrsrans1]

Got the original one myself, it’s never made it out the the bedroom yet unfortunately but I love it. I hardly ever plug into my other amps anymore, sad but true .

[@bennettskb555]

Bought an amp1 from Mark on Wednesday, gigged with it Thursday night....the unit is very impressive......thanks Mark, Richtone and of course Thomas

[@kookypirate]

+Steve Bennett Pretty happy with how it sounded when playing out? So many amps sound a bit more harsh when you put them into a large room as opposed to the living room. Thoughts on this one? I'm really wanting to make the leap but they don't have one to demo anywhere close to me so have to ask questions! Thanks!

[@bennettskb555]

+John Brown hi John, yes I've been delighted with Amp1. I use it though a 1x12 cab at a regular 'County Rock' pub gig. The clean channel is nice and rounded, though I tend to use the Vintage channel all night. It takes pedals well, I use a TC G System 4 cable method, sound's real nice in the room.

[@bennettskb555]

PS, very loud, but totally controllable.

[@kookypirate]

***** Thanks. Appreciate your thoughts!

[@VelhosNovos]

Great tone!

[@rjbron3038]

Most important part of "Gear Used" in video is the type of speakers used … that info should be included.

[@anvil777]

Great demo guys!

[@johnsmith-sm6mh]

Great demo great sounds too , Mark is a very decent guy and great guitarist too , Rory "Shadow Play" always a winner mate 👍🏻

[@AlanScottBand]

Great demo! This is a truly convenient and tuneful rig and perfect backup rig!

[@yjmsrv]

I own one of these- I think I might own the first one imported into the US in fact. Best amp I own- and I own some really good amps. Marshall YJM, Marshall JCM 800, Fender Bassman, Fender 66 Super Reverb, Mesa Lone Star, Marshall 1976 JMP, Hatcher 50 Watt- so what I'm saying is I have some real vintage gear to compare it to. I like the Amp1 more than all my other amps- and it can do bedroom volume with my kids asleep right above me and still get that tone and low volume or at gig volume with the 100 watts. It's just a really, really musical sound, that nanotube is the real deal. When you look at the manual that comes with the unit (yeah, i'm that guy that reads the manuals) he talks about the Russian technology that is in the unit. Basically when the US went to transistors- the Russians stayed with tubes and even put people in space with tubes- by refining and refining their old-school technology. The result is sub-miniture tubes that are military spec-, soldered instead of in a socket , (bad for transporting when a tube is in a mechanical connection) and coincidentally- it's "characterized by it's lower noise levels at high input resistance and lower internal capacitance. This results in outstanding musical properties- and is clearly superior to conventional tubes in efficiency, energy consumption and reliability. Thanks to it's mechanical strength, it can be constructed without a socket- being firmly soldered in place- eliminating any contact problems with tube sockets. Sub-Miniature tubes in comparison to classic tubes, are almost "indestructible and require no maintenance". Take it from me- this thing is the most versatile, musical amp I own. It works in Russia's aerospace and aviation industries- it's strong enough for your gigs! But much, much more importantly- it produces spectacularly beautiful musical tones- is just as touch sensitive as classic tubes- but even more musical with better harmonics and noticeably more resistant to microphonics- running without all the heat of a traditional tube. This sounds like an EL34- but designed by a team of space scientists for a space program. The Vintage channel is every bit as good as my 1959 Fender Bassman and modeled after a JTM-45 (go figure), I tend to stay in the Classic channel- basically a good mid 70's era Plexi- think 1959 Super Lead four holes- and the modern channel is Mesa Rectifier all the way. I run mine through several Mesa cabinets- a 2x12 and two ported 1X12's depending on gig size. Terrific, tone and portability. A musicians dream... come true! By the way, I'm not associated with Mr. Blug or his company- just a huge fan of his playing and products!

[@archiviloria]

+yjmsrv I have an amp1 too, I'm not associated with Mr. Blug either and I agree with every word you said. This amp is absolutely fantastic. It is a mistake to think of it as a replacement amp. It is a real amp with a real tube, only different to what we are used to...It's real 100W of power. My rig consists of an amp1, the remote1 controller and two Line6 M5 that can receive MIDI commands from the remote1. The idea is brilliant. You can set the channel, the amount of gain and/or volume, turn the FX loop on/off, set the built in booster and reverb on/off for every preset. But you can also send a MIDI command to change the preset of your MIDI capable pedals (Line6 M5 in my case due to a not so big budget, but you can use strymons, eventides....) So, you can change it ALL in just one step on the remote1 while keeping a great valve tone. When I got the amp1 I was thinking in getting a good 2x12 with V30 but currently I'm using a 150W Marshall 1912 (1x12) and it is a beast of a rig....and very portable too. Thanks Mr. Blug!

[@marcelblade]

+yjmsrv another fan here, just can,t justify taking my 25kg tube amp to gigs now i got this amazing amp.

[@hammondsphoto]

There's something just great about the sound of it, which I wasn't expecting. I thought it'd be 'good for small gigs and for a backup' when I didn't want to lug too much stuff. My much-loved Orange OR100 would be my 'A game' option. But no! The AMP1 soon displaced that as my FIRST choice amp, and the Orange, for rocky tones at least, was probably the best amp I've owned. There seems to be a better 'tone to noise' ratio with AMP1 than my great valve amps so there's this extra punch and clarity, even at gainy settings. But it doesn't feel like a typical SS amp or modelling - it responds in a valve amp-like way. The Vintage channel is a joy. If AMP1 was single channel it'd still be worth having for this channel. At first listen it's in that early Marshall JTM45 territory but use hot pickups and a boost with it and you can use it for all but megagain stuff. I played loads of doom metal gigs pushing the Vintage channel and it felt just as good as my big Orange. The EQ section is very strong so you can darken things down for that 'Orange' sound. The Classic channel is good, but I prefer using the Vintage channel pushed as there's just something about it. Playing in my main band the Vintage channel covers everything well but there's a couple of songs we do where I had a more '5150' sound in my head. Flip it to Modern and have the global tone adjuster about halfway and you're instantly in that ballpark for heavy, heavy palm mutes. While I have a pedal board for my main band I really only need a delay pedal, so sometimes just put AMP1 in the guitar's gig bag and a Boss delay with a battery in a pocket. You can do loud rock gigs as easily as acoustic gigs. I'd have loved AMP1 when I was a car-less youngster and getting to gigs was sometimes a pain. 99% of new guitar tech consists of hype and gimmicks no one really needs. AMP1 is the other 1% - completely brilliant and changes everything about gigging.

[@plexilespaul1956]

if it breaks down who fixes it? Serious question. I know my amp tech can fix my marshalls

[@jorgeband1111]

I have the Mercury edition. Yes !!, it's a fantastic amp, but In my opinion, it does not sound as a good as a vintage amp: Plexi-Jmp-Vox-Orange .... or a good Fender, I have a plexi that sounds much better, any Fender from 70''s will have a much much better clean that this amp. Anyway, I like it very much, very portable, usable, totally recommended, but I don't agree at all that sounds as good as a classic tube vintage amp.

[@sirvicemanone]

fantastic review of this great new amplifier. I got one 2 weeks ago along with the Nanocab 1x12 and the Remote 1 and as others here have said and I agree it sounds and plays fantastic. Highly Recommended! Thanks for posting!

[@truthfactreality6814]

Just got me one of these. They are excellent

[@paulsguitarstudio126]

I use a 4x12 loaded w higher end Eminence. This is the best amp I have ever used. The real deal not a model not a mimic not a sounds like, it is a real amp. It responds to pedals just as any amp would do. The range of tones is vast and you can tweak in any EQ'd gain structure you like. You have to have the Remote 1 for even more features and control. It gives access to a 2nd master volume and a real internal power soak. What I am getting out of it makes most of these videos pale in comparison. If you want metal out of an amp and detuned what not you have to tweak it in for that, put the high gain channel in memory recall and move on the the other 3 channels of different tones. Or set up a really great sounding cleaner channel and use pedals. An overdrive up front helps increase and tighten the gain structure as most understand how to dial in that sort of tone. This amp is extremely versatile in gain structure, just drips tone from a range of glass to edge of breakup to uber gain. I am not up on using a single speaker and most of these cannot take the full 100 watt level so of little use to me. I like having a 4x12 w more watt handling than the amp can produce.

[@whatwouldhousedo5136]

Incredible engineering and technology and it does sound excellent- my one comment after watching all the demos and reviews of the Bluguitar is that it seems to lack its own 'character'- meaning all the voices sound great, but kind of generic. I've yet to hear one in person, but for those who own one, am I incorrect?

[@greentracktasmania5659]

WhatWouldHouseDo yes you are. I love it but I wish he had just designed his own tone instead of a box full of Marshalls :/

[@hammondsphoto]

The EQ section is very responsive. When I got mine I wanted to play a doom gig so sat with the AMP1 and my Orange OR100 and in a minute or two had got them sounding so close by darkening the AMP1 a little I was in business. Arguably the AMP1 had a little more presence and clarity. I'd agree that Mr Blug clearly sees 'vintage Marshall' as the gold standard and that's influenced the design but the Modern channel is quite different.

[@Stratblooz]

Great tones and great playing Mark :) Does it feel like a tube amp to play ?

[@RandyFricke]

How are these units in the low end? Amps in general seem so overly bright nowadays. I know it's subjective, but...

[@paulsguitarstudio126]

You have to learn to use the side panel EQ and levels adjusts to really fine tune the amp channels. While it uses just one set of EQ controls, genius engineering has auto tweaked the channel gain response so that each channel sees the EQ controls optimized just for it. So you can dial in the tone and it will be fine on the other channels and you can use the side panel, 2nd master and power soak to really refine your tones. I think it is an amazing product and I just sold my Helix to go with this and pedals and I could not be happier. Finally you can get back to playing and stop headphone noodling and buying IRs for models. I notice as well no matter where I set the gain structure the overall sound of my Les Pauls retain that woody tone quality and man it just plays like a optimized tuned amp. Dig it.

[@colinmortimore218]

Whats the noise in the background when you are speaking? Is the amp noisy??

[@dsaashley]

the metal 7 string sounds very muddy and muffled with little note clarity... would really like to see if this is worth it, but I wonder if it works for a band that's primarily metal

[@RichToneMusic]

Hi there,I know your comment is a few months old but I personally play a 7 string through a Blug and it sounds great. However, I don't set it up to sound very tight so it may have come across a bit muddy. Definitely worth a try as it is a very capable amp for this sound too!

[@kookypirate]

+Rich Tone Music Ltd Just curious... have you gigged with the Blug? I'm really loving the sound in the vids but so many amps sound so different after getting them in a large venue/outside, as opposed to the music room floor or my living room. I'm just curious about honest thoughts of playing out with it.. as I tend to do that weekly. Thanks!

[@rockwriter9054]

How many pedals can be used in the FX loop with out problems as the Amps site say less is more but should this not be a demo with FRFR speakers or Blu speakers not a Marshall combi which colours the sound and hasn't got the range?

[@RichToneMusic]

Hi Rock! The Blug Amp 1 is a guitar amp like any other Marshall/Vox/Fender etc and can be used with any guitar speaker cabinet without worry of colouration. The Marshall used is a 1936 Cabinet and not a combi (amp and speaker). This demo was done before the Blug cabs were available too so we used a standard guitar speaker. You would only use the Blug with FRFR if using the DI output (which uses cabinet emulation) and not to power a guitar speaker. Using the Blue speaker output to a FRFR cab would get you a lot of unwanted fizz! You can use as many pedals as you want in the loop but as is the case with any guitar amp effects loop, there are probably a limited number of things you would put there anyway. Eg Delay, reverb etc.