Mercury Rising

BluGuitar reboots its award-winning portable head with an extended range of sounds and a studio-worthy new reverb.

- Nick Guppy

While the big head is still alive and kicking, there’s been a renewed trend toward small units in recent years, fuelled by a number of different developments. Guitar-friendly Class D power amps, next-generation digital modelling, and the modern quiet stage (which banishes backline and replaces it with in-ear monitoring) have all moved the goalposts for modern guitar amplification in the professional environment. Some exciting and innovative products have arrived on the scene as a result, but only a few have really taken up the challenge and hit the bullseye. One of the earliest was the BluGuitar Amp1, which we looked at back in late 2014.

BluGuitar is the brainchild of Thomas Blug, whose dual career as a top performer and designer/collaborator with Hughes & Kettner gives him a unique approach to product design. While the majority of the competition employs digital modelling technology, the Amp1 is mostly analogue, with a solid-state preamp driving a subminiature twin triode valve that powers a beefy 100-watt class D output stage, and a smooth digital reverb in the sidechain. It’s proved to be a singular success. Now, after four years, Blug has rebooted the Amp1 with a revoiced version called the Mercury Edition. Does it still excite as much as the original? Let’s take a closer look…

Externally, the new Amp1 doesn’t appear to be any different, apart from the words ‘Mercury Edition’ under the fan grille indicating this is the updated version. It’s compact and very light, with a footprint about the same as a standard iPad. The electronics live inside a robust stamped aluminium sub-chassis, with a thick aluminium faceplate that curves over at the top and bottom edges. The controls are logically laid out, with a voice/channel selector switch on the left and a big master volume knob on the right, either side of the Amp1’s so-called Nanotube, a subminiature Russian twin triode.