Genz Benz Black Pearl Pirate's Den

My gut instinct would be yes.....

The black pearl is pretty loud, and it has a choke, that increases the perceived headroom. It has, IMO a pretty impressive headroom, and the red fang alnico speakers, at a very impressive 103db sensitivity, really help there.

My struggle is the other way..... how to max out the dirt I get from it as cleans aren't what I shoot for.

I think it has more headroom than my Orange RV50 clean channel.
That said, if you dislike hairy cleans, you might want to try before you buy to avoid disappointment.

Do you have examples of amps that have failed/succeeded in your current setting?

 

I'm glad that there is a following for this amp. One of the most underrated around .

 

I recently picked up the 2x12 version of this amp, but quickly discovered the Red Fangs weren't working for my particular application. They sound cool clean, but when dimed they sort of collapse into a ragged, shrill mess. It actually sounds kinda like Rory Gallagher- it sounded great when he did it, but not so much for me.

So I scavenged some speakers out of other amps to try out alternatives, and I wound up with a Weber Blue Dog ceramic and an Eminence Swamp Thang. So far it's a massive improvement. The Blue Dog has a clear but not piercing high end, and the Swamp Thang gives it some punch in the lower mids and bottom. The first time I fired it up with these speakers I was disappointed that they sounded really muddy- I quickly realized that this was because I had the "top" control (a high cut like the AC30's "cut") turned almost all the way out from when I had the Red Fangs in it. Eventually I settled on roughly halfway. The clean tone isn't as chime-y now, but running it in "normal" mode with "natural" voicing and the gain and master flat-out, and adjusting the gain with my guitar volume (Les Paul Special w/P90s) is a much fuller experience. It doesn't sound as much like an AC30 anymore, but it's a great rock machine in its own right.

And to answer my earlier question, yeah- it's loud!

 

@beyer160 There’s plenty on tap of everything on the BP. I keep the eq fairly flat helps keep the top in check. I personally like the red fang. I like mine through the Celestion blues and greens too.

 

Congrats on scoring a black pearl!!!!


Firstly, it's good to know you found a speaker pairing that works for you!!!

Secondly.... I don't recognise your description of the red fangs at all. I'm wondering if there might be something else?
I play my black pearl with LP, SG with mini hums a Vigier Expert (strat) and an ASAT Special Tribute. Essentially, you run of the mill classic sounding guitars.

I've got a mix of RFT (V1 and V2), and Tungsram ECC83, and 6P14P EV valves instead of EL84.

I play more on the edge of break up, and use a SHO clone, a big muff pi/pharaoh clone, and a Digitech Hardwire CM-2 tube overdrive for extra dirt.
It sounds full, thick, smooth and cutting.

No ragged harsh break up there. I suppose I use the voice switch in the natural to thick positions mostly.


At the end of the day, the red fangs are pretty pricey speakers, and so long as you're happy with the amp, you could get a decent chunk of money back selling the red fangs on, but it leaves me wondering.

What's your set up like? How old are the valves?

 

I’m definitely not experiencing the same from my red fang speaker.

 

I'm playing an SG with humbuckers straight into the amp, "Normal" mode, volume and master both dimed- the idea is to ride the volume knob on the guitar. I'm using Soviet surplus 6P14P EV power tubes. In testing this works pretty well with the Blue Dog/Swamp Thang combo, but the Red Fangs collapsed under the assault. Hopefully I'll know more next week when my band's schedules align and I get to try it out in a band context.

 

I'm aware of the 'crank the amp volumes and control everything from the guitar' school of tone, I'm more of a fan of not going to 11.

What about volume and master at 3:00? better or worse?

I find the BP can get a little wooly with things cranked - but much more to my liking (tonally) elsewhere on the dials.
I will admit to setting my highest gain with the guitar full up - and using that often. I imagine with a lot of amps, there's plenty left on the guitar volume pot when things go over the top.
I played mostly bigger Fenders and 50 Watt Marshalls.

 

To get the volume/gain I want, I had to crank 'er wide open- I could go lower in "boost" mode, but it wound up sounding basically the same, maybe a little more compressed. On my Traynor YBA I can do this with the channels jumped and volumes around 3 o'clock, but the BP needs to go balls to the wall.

 

Damn man! That’s rockin!

Maybe goose it with a Timmy and roll back the freq’s you don’t like?

 

****..... that's a seriously loud amp to start with.... !!!!!

I've never totally maxed mine out.....
By the way, it sounds like that might be of interest to you if you need all the gain the amp van offer.

I've switched V1 and V2 to RFT ECC83. They break up earlier and harder than other valves I know. They don't work I every amp, but in the Black Pearl, it a perfectly for me.

I run the volume to the edge of break or just above, and the boost is maxed out. But I rarely have the master above 1/2 way up unless I use my EBTech line level shifter to use the fx loop with regular stomp boxes. It drops quite a lot of volume as it's a passive device using transformers to bring the fx send down to instrument level and the return back to line level.

That little box works quite well for me - It's the only way I get to crank the master up a bit!!!

 

Who has some recommendations for replacement speakers? Not because I want to but because the BP that I picked up has mismatched speakers. Red Fangs are long gone.

 

Considering this is a AC30 based amp, British speaker in the vein of the green back should be a good option if you cannot get alnicos replacement.

Depends on your music style too. I'm pretty sure, to stay with Celestion, that G12H30 or V30 would work well too, though pretty differently.

 

I've just been reading thru this thread and decided to do some online browsing for a Black Pearl.
There are none.
Are they discontinued?

 

yes, out of production for a few years at least. I believe FMIC bought them out, and killed the brand.

 

So glad I got mine when I did .... got it used. There are so many great tube tones in this beast. Today I had my Rickenbacker 330 6 string with some aggressive compressor boost into it... a great The Jam sound.

By the way I recently had John Dickinson (amp maker to Muse and great local guy to me) tweak it and make the reverb much brighter and longer. Fab tones!

 

I have had a Black Pearl for years now and am working towards getting a second one. I absolutely love this amp. Every time I plug into it it does exactly what I want. I have always had a thing for the Dumble Robben Ford responsive amp, which is funny because the Pearl doesn’t sound Dumble-ish at all but it responds like no other amp I have played.
I love my 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb but I lean more towards what the Pearl can do.

 

Shhhh

 

I've been very impressed with mine too.

I really like the warmth and responsiveness of the amp. You may find, if clean headroom isn't what you're after, the Orange AD30 has a different but similar feel. They are different, but can cover the same blues to classic rock to Indy rock ground.

The Orange AD30 probably has a sweeter edge of break up too. Both are great amp for sure.

 

I just picked up 2 one with a 12 inch speaker and the coveted 3 10 inch speaker combo I’ll be running stereo they freaking rock