Zoner
Well-known member
I have been Boogie-less for a couple years now since I let my MKIIC+ go to a new home. I have been missing the punch that the MK series brought to the table, and found a suitable replacement today I think in the form of a Heartbreaker combo. I thought that I would be happy with a 20 watt el84 combo and while it was soooo much easier to tote around it still lacked something. I will call it "balls" for lack of a better term.
It was really a no-brainer for the price the local GC was asking. It had been marked down to $499 from $899 due to the "Bold/Curvaceous" switch being broken, but when I showed up to test it it would not fire up and only emitted a loud hum. The sales guy and I took a peek in the back and he declared it needed a set of power tubes - how I will never know. The manager came over and asked how much a new set of power tubes would be and sales dude said "$100". Manager guy said "blow it out for $399 then".
I happened to notice that the V1 preamp tube was not glowing at all and was about to say something, but then decided to just take a chance on it. I traded a bunch of cheap crap I never use and walked out with the amp and a fresh Mesa 12ax7. Got home, dragged it inside, popped in the new tube and "wham!" - it roared to life! It has el34's in the output section currently, and had no other noises or strangeness going on. The only potential issue is a slight lag in the switching between channels, but as it will be a studio tool/jamming rig this should not be a huge issue.
I spent a couple hours tweaking knobs and exploring what this amp has to offer, and I must say I am really impressed by the flexibility of this thing. I really like that each channel can be either clean or not so much, and the fact that one can use 6l6's or 6v6's too. I did notice it was a tad dark-sounding, but that is fine with me as my Laney with el84's can cover the super-bright, chimey realms. Seems like a really wide tonal buffet is at hand, which is perfect for the studio environment. It took me no time at all to get that fat, singing tone that I missed so much.
I feel extremely fortunate to have stumbled upon this fine amp. I was in no way looking to buy anything, but have been curious about this rig for over a decade now and have just never had the chance to sample one. They seem somewhat uncommon and I was surprised there was not even really a mention here in the categories! I assume that these were never a huge success, and recall that they were released at a time when many different Boogies were being tossed out there - some to survive and others not so much. Is there not much love for the Heartbreaker, or is it just too far from the "typical" Boogie categories to have ever found a big following, loved fiercely by those who clicked with it and looked at with puzzlement by the masses?
My new mini switch is on order from Boogie (less than $5) and should be here next week. The tolex is a tad funky in spots but really, I couldn't care less about cosmetics. I'm just stoked to have a "real" amp in the house again, and glad that it was made by my old friends in Petaluma. Thanks for listening and sharing my joy! It's great to be back in the family again.
It was really a no-brainer for the price the local GC was asking. It had been marked down to $499 from $899 due to the "Bold/Curvaceous" switch being broken, but when I showed up to test it it would not fire up and only emitted a loud hum. The sales guy and I took a peek in the back and he declared it needed a set of power tubes - how I will never know. The manager came over and asked how much a new set of power tubes would be and sales dude said "$100". Manager guy said "blow it out for $399 then".
I happened to notice that the V1 preamp tube was not glowing at all and was about to say something, but then decided to just take a chance on it. I traded a bunch of cheap crap I never use and walked out with the amp and a fresh Mesa 12ax7. Got home, dragged it inside, popped in the new tube and "wham!" - it roared to life! It has el34's in the output section currently, and had no other noises or strangeness going on. The only potential issue is a slight lag in the switching between channels, but as it will be a studio tool/jamming rig this should not be a huge issue.
I spent a couple hours tweaking knobs and exploring what this amp has to offer, and I must say I am really impressed by the flexibility of this thing. I really like that each channel can be either clean or not so much, and the fact that one can use 6l6's or 6v6's too. I did notice it was a tad dark-sounding, but that is fine with me as my Laney with el84's can cover the super-bright, chimey realms. Seems like a really wide tonal buffet is at hand, which is perfect for the studio environment. It took me no time at all to get that fat, singing tone that I missed so much.
I feel extremely fortunate to have stumbled upon this fine amp. I was in no way looking to buy anything, but have been curious about this rig for over a decade now and have just never had the chance to sample one. They seem somewhat uncommon and I was surprised there was not even really a mention here in the categories! I assume that these were never a huge success, and recall that they were released at a time when many different Boogies were being tossed out there - some to survive and others not so much. Is there not much love for the Heartbreaker, or is it just too far from the "typical" Boogie categories to have ever found a big following, loved fiercely by those who clicked with it and looked at with puzzlement by the masses?
My new mini switch is on order from Boogie (less than $5) and should be here next week. The tolex is a tad funky in spots but really, I couldn't care less about cosmetics. I'm just stoked to have a "real" amp in the house again, and glad that it was made by my old friends in Petaluma. Thanks for listening and sharing my joy! It's great to be back in the family again.