BLUGUITAR AMP1 IRIDIUM EDITION £749

How good can a 100-watt four-channel amp at your feet be?

- Rob Laing

What a time to be alive – amps and cabs at our feet! Well, in modelled form, at least. But that counts for more now than ever, as the likes of Line 6, Helix, Kemper and Fractal have raised the game in recent years. BluGuitar’s first Amp1 impressed us on its release in 2014, but it was a different proposition than the modelling crowd in that it offered a tube-driven power section with an all-analogue signal path. It’s the brainchild of German pro guitarist and former Hughes & Kettner engineer, Thomas Blug. This is the latest edition of his Amp1, and it’s not to be confused with Strymon’s recently released Iridium amp modeller. The chemical element iridium is from the platinum group, and BluGuitar’s is unapologetically voiced for high-gain-loving metal players.

But not exclusively so, as we’ll find out. It’s important to stress this is a pedal amp – a multi-channel head at your feet – as opposed to a multi-effects unit with amp and cab models like the Kemper Stage, Line 6 Helix series and Fractal’s forthcoming FM3. It’s focussed on providing four preamp voices; three of them overdrive channels. There’s also a clean channel designed with humbuckers in mind. There is cab modelling here too, though. The Amp1 Iridium Edition uses loudspeaker models with impulse responses for recording direct, but they can be turned off if players prefer to use their own. The Amp1 offers an immediately clear setup to have in front of you – and that’s kind of refreshing in this era of do-it-all wunder-units with small screens and complex interfaces. The Amp1 is designed to take on the amp role only and to work alongside your pedalboard and multi-effects. So how well does it shine in its field of expertise?