BlackOut British Head
In the world of rock tone, the “Marshall sound” is truly all-encompassing. It’s the stuff guitar-god dreams are made from, and both the sweetest and most aggressive way of getting your message across. And in far too many cases, these days it’s also just way too loud for most of us to use in any practical gig or studio situation.
Enter the BlackOut British amplifier, Mojotone’s entirely new and yet utterly simple approach to achieving that legendary British guitar tone in a portable and club-friendly package, which nevertheless drips with dynamic, compelling, expressive, hand-wired, Brit-inspired tube tone. From the team that brought you the popular BlackOut Tweed Select, the BlackOut British cuts straight to the heart of rock ‘n’ roll circa London ’67, and ports it forward to your diverse and demanding playing requirements circa 2020.
After the guitar world went wild for the sounds of the JTM45 and Plexi in the late ’60s and early ’70s, plenty of guitarists discovered you could achieve that classic crunchy, singing, dynamic Marshall tone in a much more portable and decibel-friendly package via the so-called “18-watters," officially known as Models 1958, 1973, 1974 which were made between 1965-’67. Everyone from Gary Moore to the Pretenders to AC/DC and many, many more discovered the juicy goodness of these smaller, 18-watt dual-EL84 Marshall heads and combos, and they became a secret studio weapon for countless artists.
As much as we dig the 5E3 circuit that inspired the BlackOut Tweed, we here at Mojotone have long had a soft spot for the delectable 18-watters and, on the heels of that first special BlackOut project, we wanted to indulge our love of this British twist on the club-sized amp. While original-spec 18-watters can sound great, however, the Mojotone amp team decided to make the Blackout British the 18-watter to end all 18-watters; thus the mod-fest ensued.
We started by replacing the often-ignored (and, frankly, not great sounding) tremolo with a classic British three-knob tone stack driven by its own ECC83 (aka 12AX7) preamp tube. We fed this with a single-input lead channel derived from the JCM800/2204 platform for a mean, hot-rodded gain sound. The team also integrated a master volume control so this monstrous sound can be harnessed and used in any size room. The normal (clean) channel stays truer to 18-watt form with just a volume and tone control, along with Hi and Lo inputs.
Departing from tradition, the team coupled this front end to a dual-6V6 output stage in place of the usual EL84s. This tube complement provides ample power and an abundance of headroom. It has gives the amp more bottom end than your average EL84 output stage and an impressive ability to sound like “baby EL34s." The results, on the dirty channel, are heard in screaming lead tones perfect for everything from dirty grunge all the way to saturated hair-metal sustain!
To top it all off, this hot-rodded rock 'n' roll machine is housed in a classic 18-Watt British Style Head Shell and covered in the Mojotone BlackOut Tweed with the Mojotone BlackOut Grill Cloth for a distinctively classy-looking amplifier that will knock your socks off.
Warranty: 1 Year Limited Warranty on amplifier to be free of technical defects. 90 days on tubes and speakers.
Technical Specs:
- Number of Channels:Two Channels/ 3 Inputs
- Channel #1:Clean Channel with Hi-Lo inputs
- Channel #1 Controls:Volume and Tone
- Channel #2:Gain / Lead Channel
- Channel #2 Controls:Gain, Treble, Middle, Bass, Volume
- Class:A/B Cathode Biased
- Power:18 Watts
- Output Tubes:6V6 (2)
- Preamp Tubes:ECC83 (3)
- Rectifier:EZ81
- Capacitors:Mojo Dijon capacitors
- Resistors:Carbon composition resistors
- Wiring:Hand-wired turret board construction
- Transformers:Heyboer transformers
- Covering:Blacked Out Tweed
- Built:Handwired and made in Burgaw, NC, USA.
- Weight: 19.95 lbs
- Dimensions: 20" W X 8" T X 8 1/4" D
Matching 1X12 Extension Cabinet Sold Separately - see related items on right hand side of page.
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Ratings & Reviews
3 reviews
Great classic British tones
by Doug -
If you like old 50 and 100 watt Marshall’s but want something smaller with the same tone and feel this is the amp for you. The single volume channel is like a Plexi and the master volume is like a very good JCM 800. I like the headroom of 6v6 tubes but they clip like EL34’s when you push them. The amp sounds so good on its own I don’t use any pedals with it but it’s an excellent platform if you want to throw something in front of it. The note definition is excellent. Some amps mush out but this one let’s all the notes through even when it’s distorted.
Compact tone machine
by Joel -
I play in a classic rock band and this head with its companion 1x12 are just fantastic. Put a couple of good pedals in front of it and you are ready to go. Very smooth and punchy even at lower volume levels. Thanks Mojotone!