Which clean do you prefer? BluesMaster or Skyliner

[mlp-mx6]

If you own or have heard both, which do you prefer, and why?

[mlp-mx6]

Anyone?

[ayan]

Anyone?

I have not even wired a BM yet, but from what I have heard from friends that have, the BM's clean is "much better" than any other Dumble clean, bar none. The OD is another story, though.

Gil

[Anaconda1126]

Which clean is closer to blackface?

[Funkalicousgroove]

neither, the blackface has no mids.

[Normster]

I MUCH prefer the BM cleans to the HRM. The BM has a softer bass and more sparkle on the top. Is it BF? Not really, but definately more Fendery than the HRM. The HRM tends to be very percussive with a lot more emphasis on the mids and a tight punchy bass tone.

As for the OD, it depends on your touch. The HRM is a lot more forgiving when you dig in. The BM is incredibly touch sensitive (at least in my build). If you really hammer it in "rock" position, the bass falls apart. OTOH, the BM has a very useable "jazz" position...much better than the useless jazz/rock in other builds I've done. The jazz position gives it a little more punch and a sweet woody tone with humuckers. Slightly overdriven, the BM may be the warmest amp I've ever played.

Still a bit of tweaking left, but those are my initial impressions of the circuits as I've built them. More later as I get more familiar with the circuit.

[mlp-mx6]

Normster,

I'm confused. Were you comparing BM with Skyliner? For me, those two terms describe the types of tone stacks (and the PI, in the case of BM), but HRM is the presence or not of the OD tone stack.

Can you clarify, please?

Thanks,
Michael

[Normster]

I guess I should have read the question more carefully. I have an HRM w/Skyliner TS and a Bluesmaster with post-OD TS. Same basic amp topology but different values. I haven't tried the BM stack in a non-HRM amp.

[dogears]

Sorry Mike, the confusion is partly because we can't talk about all the differences between BM and non-BM HRM amps. Such as the secret stuff that I discovered. There are individuals who lurk here that have still not thanked anyone on the forum for the invaluable info that has enabled their commercial pursuits. All it takes is a thank you!!

Not pertaining to you of course.....

Normster,

I'm confused. Were you comparing BM with Skyliner? For me, those two terms describe the types of tone stacks (and the PI, in the case of BM), but HRM is the presence or not of the OD tone stack.

Can you clarify, please?

Thanks,
Michael

[ayan]

Normster,

I'm confused. Were you comparing BM with Skyliner? For me, those two terms describe the types of tone stacks (and the PI, in the case of BM), but HRM is the presence or not of the OD tone stack.

Can you clarify, please?

Thanks,
Michael

Perhaps contrary to popular belief, the schematics for the HRMs and BM have been around for at least 7 years, since the good old days of Ampage and Blue Guitar. Back then we all didn't have our terminology straight, and there is a chance we still don't. At any rate, Skyliner refers to the preamp with a MID switch and the .01uF midrange cap, etc., while Blues Master has the Fender/Marshall tone stack and the Marshall PI/presence control. The HRM amps, whether with the Sky or BM preamp, sport the post OD EQ, which most frequently is wired a la Fender, but with Marshall values: 33K slope, 500pF treble cap and .022 bass and mid caps.

In terms of clean sounds, obviously the HRM plays no role since it applies to OD mode only. The Skyliner amps with HRM, however, don't have NFB around V1B, so their clean sound is significantly "bigger" than that of the Skyliner amps with no HRM, most of which did have the V1B NFD. To confuse things even more, the BM PI uses less NFB around the power amp, so it also surely contributes to make the sound of those amps "rawer." Hope this makes thing s abit clearer.

Gil

[dogears]

Gil, just to clarify, Mike has built a few of these and has a BM in the works.... I think there was just a bunch of stuff confused in the shuffle....

Normster,

I'm confused. Were you comparing BM with Skyliner? For me, those two terms describe the types of tone stacks (and the PI, in the case of BM), but HRM is the presence or not of the OD tone stack.

Can you clarify, please?

Thanks,
Michael

Perhaps contrary to popular belief, the schematics for the HRMs and BM have been around for at least 7 years, since the good old days of Ampage and Blue Guitar. Back then we all didn't have our terminology straight, and there is a chance we still don't. At any rate, Skyliner refers to the preamp with a MID switch and the .01uF midrange cap, etc., while Blues Master has the Fender/Marshall tone stack and the Marshall PI/presence control. The HRM amps, whether with the Sky or BM preamp, sport the post OD EQ, which most frequently is wired a la Fender, but with Marshall values: 33K slope, 500pF treble cap and .022 bass and mid caps.

In terms of clean sounds, obviously the HRM plays no role since it applies to OD mode only. The Skyliner amps with HRM, however, don't have NFB around V1B, so their clean sound is significantly "bigger" than that of the Skyliner amps with no HRM, most of which did have the V1B NFD. To confuse things even more, the BM PI uses less NFB around the power amp, so it also surely contributes to make the sound of those amps "rawer." Hope this makes thing s abit clearer.

Gil

[dogears]

Oooh.... Mikey is cool..... Just sayin'

[mlp-mx6]

I guess I should have read the question more carefully. I have an HRM w/Skyliner TS and a Bluesmaster with post-OD TS. Same basic amp topology but different values. I haven't tried the BM stack in a non-HRM amp.

That's cool - so you prefer BM to Skyliner. Excellent...

[Ed de Jager]

I am totally in the dark about the BM.Any links?PM perhaps?

Thanks,Ed

[mlp-mx6]

I am totally in the dark about the BM.Any links?PM perhaps?

Thanks,Ed

Look in the Dumble Files section for this thread:
https://tubeamparchive.com/viewtopic.php?t=3344

You'll need to scroll thru quite a bit to get to the latest schem.