Blues City Music News

Blues City Music celebrates 10th year anniversary and relaunches the Soldano 44 1x12" combo amp.

Hey guys/gals,

Thanks for stopping by this blog post.

Blues City Music celebrates it's 10 year anniversary this November 2015, and with that relaunches the legendary Soldano 44 1x12" combo guitar amplifier.  For a limited time, coming soon, you can get a Soldano 44 1x12" combo at 10% off street price (saves $235.00), have it SHIPPED for FREE, all within a 10 day window.  How's that?  We call it our 10 - 10 - 10 limited run special and we will let you know ASAP when we are ready, but it will be very soon.

James Burke, owner of Blues City Music, came up with the idea of a 50 watt small combo amp and within 2 years, he, Bill Sundt, and Mike Soldano hit a home run with it.  Single channel, no effects loop, TRUE analog spring reverb, 2nd master volume, pregain, and a standard EQ with Presence.  There has NEVER been a revision to this amp nor will there be.  It is perfect as it is.  That's the Soldano way. 

What makes the 44 stand out is YOU CAN GET IT IN A MULTITUDE OF CONFIGURATIONS.  Choose from a variety of 5881/6L6 output tubes, preamp tubes, speaker and reverb tank harnesses, tolex colors, hardware colors, speakers, and covers.  All the details are right here on this website at the Soldano amplifiers page.  EVERY option you choose comes at Blues City Music's COST.  We don't make a dime on the upgrades.  Good luck finding that elsewhere.

The Soldano 44 scored 5 out of 5 with Premier Guitar Magazine and an PG award of the year.  It also was perfect with Guitar Player Magazine, February 2010 issue, Music Pro Magazine, and The Tone Quest Report.  This amp is built for real players whether you gig as a professional or noodle at home.  Don't wast any more time.  STOP SEARCHING AND START PLAYING. 

Give us a call we can make it happen right now. 

GREAT NEWS: Blues City Music is an authorized dealer for Friedman Amplification

Blues City Music has recently added Friedman Amplification to its line of guitar amplifiers. We will add the flagship BE-100 head and Small Box head as our initial order. 

Friedman Amplification was founded by legendary amp builder and owner of Rack Systems Ltd., Dave Friedman.  His work over 25 years includes signature models with Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains, Steve Stevens of Billy Idol, and Phil X, seasoned touring guitarist and session player. 

All of Dave's amps are voiced for the individual player so whether you pick a full size head and 4x12" cabinet or a 1x12" combo, you will get the tone you want for the venue you play. 

Friedman Amplifiers use EL34's and 12AX7's as it's choice of vacuum tubes.  All amps are hand built in their North Hollywood, California shop and come with a LIFETIME WARRANTY for the original purchaser. 

For speaker choice, Dave opted for Celestion G12M 25 watt Greenbacks for the top two speakers in a 4x12" cabinet and Celestion VIntage 30's in the bottom two positions.  The 1x12" combo amps utilize the new Celestion Creamback which is a higher rated wattage Greenback style speaker. 

From clean to gain, Friedman has what you want in a hand built guitar amplifier and Blues City Music is the place to get it.  Even if what you see isn't in stock, we can get ANY AMP within 10 days.  How's that for service?

Dialing in your amplifier is easier than you think, here's how.

Hello from BCM, thanks for stopping by my blog.

A week never goes by that I don't get a call, email, or text about the best way to dial in a vacuum tube guitar amplifier whether a Class AB fixed bias or cathode bias amp.  I'll give you some pointers here in layman's terms that will make this task a lot easier for you than you think.

First and foremost, if you are running a solid state guitar amplifier, there isn't a lot you can do with this other than changing the gain structure, but feel, dynamics, and note blossoming won't be near as perceptible as it would be in a true vacuum tube amp. 

*** Only qualified amplifier technicians should ever open up your amp for any reason as extremely high and lethal voltages exist in guitar amplifiers.  Let the pros do it. This blog post just gives you some information to broaden your knowledge base ***

Fixed bias amps.  Fixed bias, means, you can physically make the idle adjustment of your output tubes.  This means there is a potentiometer i.e. bias "pot", that allows you to adjust the idle of the amp by raising or lowering the idle.  Remember a colder bias or idle of the amp may sound harsh and flat while increasing output tube life, but in contrast, a higher bias or idle of the amp may be sound good to slightly mushy while wearing output tubes out much faster.  Output tubes could be EL34's, KT88's, 6L6's, 6V6's, etc.  The perfect bias for your amp is somewhere in between these settings and only YOUR ears know where that is.  Marshall, Diamond, Soldano, Bogner, Diezel, Splawn, etc.. all make fantastic fixed bias amps.

Cathode bias amps.  Cathode bias, means you just pull the output tubes out and replace with a similar duet or quad.  The circuitry of the amplifier will handle the actual biasing of these tubes.  65 Amps, Bad Cat, etc., make some fine Cathode biased amps. Some mistakenly call these amps Class A versus Class AB, but that is rarely correct. 

Now that you have your amp biased, serviced, and checked out by your amplifier tech, now we can get down to the meat and potatoes of dialing your amp in.

1.  Be for real about where, how loud, and what gain structure you want in this amplifier.  If you are already opting for an attenuator, power brake, power scaling circuit, 1/2 power switch, 1x12" cabinet, or turning the speaker cabinet around, YOU have too much amp.  Dialing it in won't help.  Find a better amp choice for your gigs, recording, or home use.

2.  REGARDLESS of what you read via online or in magazines, I've proven the following MANY times in a daily working recording studio.  You will ALWAYS get more tone changes in your amplifier by changing the speaker cabinet or the speakers than you will ever get by changing preamp or output tube types.  At lower volumes there are some perceptible differences with tube changes, but once you open the amp up, there just isn't that much difference as GAIN IS NOT developed in the output section of a master volume amp.  Gain IS ALWAYS developed in the preamp section.  Don't get creative in swapping different tube types either as your amp MAY NOT allow such changes.  Contact your amp manufacturer for more info. 

3.  The secret of a MASTER volume amp is the fact that your gain IS ALWAYS developed in the preamp section of that amp.  This circuit uses some version of a 12AX7 or ECC83S type preamp tube.  If all you do is run the master way down and preamp way up, sure you can quietly shred for days like this, but you'll NEVER cut through in a full band setting.  You have to get the Master volume up high enough to let the amp breathe.  That is where your tone lies as well as sustain for each note or chord, feel, dynamics, and overall blossoming of notes. 

If your amp has a GLOBAL master volume, that means it allows you to set the gain and master volume of each individual channel, and then run the finishing or global master volume up for your total volume.  These work great when overall volume needs to be down some.  Just remember to turn the individual channel masters up to mid way or so otherwise your amp will sound asleep.  On amps like the Soldano Decatone 3 channel amp with a global master, if you don't run the channel masters up, you may not even hear the amp, why?  Answer - That is because running the amp on 11 is 100 watts or total amp output where at 8, you may only get 25 watts.  Then if you roll the global master volume back down too, who knows how much output you have, but it won't be much.

If you are running a NON-MASTERED amplifier like a 4 input Marshall Super Lead, JMP, or Plexi, then do you know where the best 2 sounding dial in points are of this amp?  Answer - Amp OFF or WIDE OPEN on the master.  Why, because the gain structure of this amp is best when the amp is pushed really hard.  Hendrix played on 10 and many other 60's and 70's major label artist's did as well.  I personally have a custom 2x12" ISOLATION speaker cabinet for my own all original 1969 Marshall Super Lead Tremolo 100 watt head, and can vouch for this very well. 

4.  Pros do the following on a routine basis, so you should all try this as well.  Roll your guitar volume back to 7-8 or so and leave it there when you dial your amp in for your rhythm licks or clean but over driven tones.  Then when you want to play that stinging lead riff, roll it wide open. 

5.  Start with the clean channel first.  Put all of the EQ, i.e bass, mids, and treble at 12:00 o'clock.  Set the gain if available where you like it, and then turn the master volume up.  Once you get a good tone even if way too loud, move each dial of the EQ from its lowest to its highest setting several times to hear the differences.  USE YOUR EARS, not the numbers under each knob, but just because you run the bass all the way up to 10 doesn't mean you are getting that.  The amp may be mushing out on you and unable to handle that much bass. 

When you feel good about your EQ, bring up the Presence control if installed for how much BITE you want your amp to have.  This will really help with how your amp "Cuts" or sound in the overall mix if in a band setting.  Then if you have a Resonance control or Depth control, bring that in as well if you choose, but remember most of these 2 controls use frequencies below the standard bass dial setting. You may not always want that.

Always remove the casters on any speaker cabinet if you can.  If not, you are losing bass frequencies.  Consider going to a semi open backed cabinet if you want less compression of your sound and a more open dynamic feel.  Vintage amps love cabs like this just like my own 1948 RCA 10 watt Tweed Bassman styled amp.  I had Soldano build me a custom one off semi open 1x12' cabinet for this amp and now that rig sings.

5.  Now we come to the over drive, lead, or hi gain channel whatever you want to call it.  You can basically do the same thing we did with the clan channel, but this time you can really spend that extra time on the gain structure.  Make sure you aren't over saturated or have too much gain so as you don't cut through the mix in a band setting.  You'll find that once you start getting good tube breakup and the grit is starting to come alive in your tone, you'll stop right there.  Remember a guitar is a MID RANGE instrument.  Remove the mids or presence and you'll fall out of this mix to where you may not even be heard.  I ran my own Soldano SLO-100 next to a buddy's Mesa Dual Rectifier with both of us at arena volumes using 4x12" cabinets at a gig.  He had his mids almost non existent.  My SLO tone with mids on 6 and presence at 7 put his amp to sleep.  I never even heard his amp. 

Now that you have the basics down, stop looking at the numbers under the dials of your amp, and always use your ears.  Put the settings where you like best, but NEVER cut the mids unless you are looking for that metal or hard rock tone from the 80's and 90's.  Cranking the volume to get back into the mix in this setting won't work either because any good Front of House sound man is going to back you right back down in the PA system anyway.  Then you'll look silly with way too much on stage volume. 

Give me a call any time you need some help dialing in your amp.  We'll get you dialed in right every time.

Now, TURN IT UP with a fabulous tone, and make some great music.

Lynn Burke

Blues City Music - Owner

So what's up with Diamond Guitars and Diamond Tactical weapon/gig bag systems?

That's a great question that I'd be glad to answer, but first understand, as the sole owner of Blues City Music, I personally own AND gig with 1 DBZ USA Custom shop one off Royale with P90's (only P90 guitar Dean B. Zelinsky ever made), a Diamond Maverick, Diamond Bolero, and Diamond Bird of Prey.  I also use a Diamond Tactical weapon system/gig bag with many of the MOLLE system strapped pouches.  I've used this bag many many times on around the world trips I fly with FedEx Express on the 777 in which I teach.  Never once has it failed to protect my guitars.  They are the best bags money can buy PERIOD.

Diamond Guitars and Diamond Tactical weapon/system gig bag systems are all part of the Diamond Amplification umbrella in Houston, Texas.  Diamond already makes killer USA custom shop and Vanguard import guitar amplifiers from the 18-22 watt Diamond Assassin to the  custom shop 100 watt line of Heretic's, Hammersmith's, Phantom's, Nitrox's, 327 SD's, and Spitfire II's, so why not provide a very affordable complete guitar line to compliment these amps?  Enter Diamond Guitars meticulously built in Korea at the same factory that builds PRS SE's, and high end LTD's, and ESP's, NOT MASS PRODUCED in China.  Once finished, they are sent to Diamond and are set up to be perfect before shipping to customers. 

So tell me about the range of guitars in this line?  Diamond has everything from blues playing Royale's and Imperial's to 6 and 7 string active EMG pickup metal guitars.  Diamond has you covered.  Best part of this entire equation is the fact that EVERY GUITAR from Diamond Amplification is UNDER $1,200 USD dollars.  Yep, you heard it right, under $1,200 bucks.  Good luck finding anything to compare with this.  In April of 2015, Diamond received 426 brand new guitars from the factory so chances are your dream guitar is in stock. 

So what kind of case can I get with my new guitar?  How about a Diamond logo'd hard shell case as good as any in the market, OR better yet, how about a Diamond Tactical weapon system/gig bag?  Remember you can build this bag system with a multitude of pouches that use the MOLLE military strapping system on the outside of the bag.  Pouches can fit pedals, strings, cell phones, you name it.  Don't forget these bags will also easily conceal your Colt M4, AR 10, AR 15, SA 58, FN FAL, H&K 91, AK 47, Galil, etc., so if you are a shooter like me, you'll doubly dig these bags as a guitar player. 

Just like you, I have original Gibson Les Pauls, Fender Strats, and boutique Tom Anderson guitars, etc., but there isn't a better made guitar and gig bag for the money anywhere than Diamond Guitars and Diamond Tactical products.  Best bang for the buck.  Give us a call, I'll hook you up and you'll ditch all those other box store train wreck guitars and bags you've spent a lot of money on.  I've done this exact same thing myself, so end the madness.

Diamond Guitars and Diamond Tactical.  Remember that.  You'll be glad you did.

Peace.  Rock on and TURN IT UP.

James Burke

Blues City Music owner

Should you buy new or used? That is the question of the week.

So should you save up more money, sell some unused gear so you can buy a new guitar or amplifier from www.bluescitymusic.com, or should you roll the dice and by it used and hang on to that cash?  Great question, and one I get on a weekly basis.  Matter of fact, I had a customer from New York call today inquiring about a used Diezel Herbert.  My answer was no, but that I have a BRAND NEW UNTOUCHED Herbert arriving Friday.  It's all his if he chooses. 

Yeah, no doubt, I get it, the overall economic scene isn't that great, but I have a different take on this question.  Tell me what you think.

You only go around once, you probably play music as a hobby or second avenue for income, and you are thinking, hmm, no one will really know that I'm running a modeling amp, transistor amp, full array of pedals, or backing tracks when I gig right?  WRONG.  You'd be surprised how many guys and gals are in the back of the room checking out not only your tone, but your mix, your feel, and your inspiration.  Can you get there with below average gear or even a host of used gear, maybe?  My response would be when you bought that amplifier, did you have any idea where, how, or when this amp was played?  Any mods done to it?  Don't forget, mods VOID any manufacturers warranty unless they perform the modifications.  Any idea how many times it's been plugged in but NOT to a cabinet?  This wreaks havoc on the transformers and the voltage shoots sky high. 

What about that guitar you can't live without?  Same thing, any mods, blemishes, defects that you didn't see before you bought it? 

Sure, it's a roll of the dice, but EVERY TIME I take in a trade and most of the time it is only for Soldano SLO-100's of which I know very well, I still send the amp to Michael Soldano at the Soldano factory to personally inspect, repair, and retube/rebias.  Yep, almost every time something isn't right, or some knucklehead wiz bang self professed amp genius made a mess of it.  Never fails. 

So, just be prepared for those unexpected repairs etc., or better yet, put all of your worries aside, do the right thing, give me a call a Blues City Music and I will make sure you get a PERFECT amplifier or electric guitar without worrying whether some 12 year old kid has been banging on it.  NONE of my for sale amps or guitars are EVER out for the public to see much less play unless it other wise noted. 

When you buy from Blues City Music, you are spending A LOT of money so buy NEW and let me handle all the logistics.  You have a valid warranty, plus you have service from Blues City Music before, during, and after the sale. Here is a PERFECT example of a guitar amplifier that you should buy brand new. 

Diamond/Soldano 327SD Black / Silver Stripes 100 watt Guitar Amplifier | Blues City Music - Boutique Guitars & Amps

Turn It Up LOUD.

Be safe out there.

Lynn Burke

Blues City Music - owner

Diamond Amplification 327SD guitar amplifier demo by Blues City Music is now available

Blues City Music is proud to announce that we have uploaded a killer new 1920 x 1080 HD guitar amplifier video of the Diamond Amplification 327SD.  You can find it on either the Diamond or Soldano amp collections here, the Blues City Music Face Book page, or on the Blues City Music You Tube channel.

We recorded this clip via a Yamaha 2 channel mixer with Darlington mic preamps, a Shure SM57 instrument mic mounted off center off axis into a Diamond Amplification 4x12" straight front cabinet with Celestion Vintage 30's in 8 ohms, and a Canon 5D Mark III full frame DSLR camera at 24 frames per second in Manual, F8 aperture, 1/50 shutter speed, and ISO of 800.  NO STUDIO TRICKS at all.  The video was edited with the latest version of iTunes 10 using an iMac with 10.10.2 Yosemite operating system. 

Enjoy.  This amplifier is available now, with predicted shipping of 30 April 2015.  Give us a shout for any more details or check it out here on the Diamond or Soldano amplifier pages.

Keep rockin'... and thanks to Sam Austin, Diamond manager for playing these killer riffs for the video.

Lynn Burke

Diamond Amplification/Diamond Guitars/Diamond Tactical visit 25 March 15'

Blues City Music will be in Houston, Texas, 24-25 March 2015, to meet with owner Jeff Diamant and shop manager Sam Austin. I'm hoping to shoot 4 videos.

1.  Introduction to Diamond Amplification and how, when, and where this company is going.

2.  Introduction to Diamond Guitars what the future holds as far as models and pricing.

3.  Introduction to Diamond Tactical gig bag, guitar, effects, etc. MOLLE system products.

4. *** Live video of the just released Diamond Amplification 327SD guitar amp.  Sam Austin will demo this amp for me covering all aspects including Clean, Crunch, and Overdrive channels.

I'll be bringing my portable photography and video rigs with me to capture both days visit.  I'll be using my Canon 5D Mark III DSLR camera with a 24/105 mm L lens, Speedlite 600 external flash, Manfrotto tripod, and IR shutter release for pristine pictures.  I'll be shooting in RAW and will edit later in Lightroom and Photoshop Elements 12.

For video, I'll use the same DSLR camera in Manual settings of 1/50 shutter speed, F8 aperture, and 1600 ISO +/-, in ALL AI, for stellar 1920 x 1280 HD video files.  Next will be a 1/8" or 3mm TRS plug from the camera to an XLR microphone cable to a Yamaha 2 channel mixer with Darlington mic preamps.  Out from the mixer will be an XLR cable to a Shure SM58 BLX wireless hand held vocal mic for narration during the videos, and another XLR cable to a Shure SM 57 for hookup to guitar amplifiers.  All will be monitored by a 19" LCD monitor to make sure audio and video is perfect.

Standby, I hope to have these videos edited and up on the BCM website, BCM Face Book, and BCM You Tube channel ASAP.