bcaudioAmplifierNo.8Owner’sManual
SETUP
Opening and Removing the Lid (Models A8 and A8-240 Only)
To open the lid, lift up on the side latch, then pull the lid open.
If you place the amp on top of a speaker cabinet, I suggest that you detach the
lid and place it out of the way to avoid vibration noise from the handle. To detach
the lid, open it at about 90 degrees, then slide it sideways at the hinge. To put
the lid back on, align the holes with the pins and slide it on. This can be a little
tricky in a dark bar at 2am, so take your time.
Sometimes the small handle attached to the end of the can will vibrate. You can
eliminate vibration by looping your guitar cable through the handle.
Stage Placement (Models A8 and A8-240 Only)
I like to place Amplifier No. 8 on top of a speaker cabinet, but you may place it on
the floor next to your cab or rack, or even up front with your pedal board.
Place it on its side, controls facing forward and tubes vertical; or on its bottom,
controls up and tubes horizontal. The metal enclosure will remain a bit cooler
with the amp placed on its bottom. Heat rises, you know. The case may get
quite hot; this is normal.
Contact BC Audio for a rack mount kit.
PLAYING IT
Control Settings
There are only three knobs, so you won’t have a hard time dialing in your sound.
And like the great amps of yesteryear, you can’t really get a bad tone out of
Amplifier No. 8. Plug it in, set the controls just about anywhere, and off you go.
To really hear Amplifier No. 8 and what it can do for you, I suggest you start out
by plugging your guitar directly into the amp without any pedals, rack gear or
multi-fx units.
Amplifier No. 8 is a high-gain amp. But it also can produce stellar clean and
semi-clean tones. With other high-gain amps, you may have been disappointed
by their thin, weak, anemic clean tones. Sure, the massive, brutal distortion is
great, but you just can’t coax a good clean sound out of it to save your life!
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Not so with Amplifier No. 8. The DRIVE control features an original BC Audio
circuit that solves this problem. At low DRIVE settings, you will find a full, rich
clean sound, not thin or weak at all.
As you bring up DRIVE, subtle tube distortion enhances and enlivens every note
and chord with a velvety three-dimensional chime. This effect is even more
pronounced at high VOLUME settings.
You will find that the transition from clean to overdrive is incredibly smooth. With
just the touch of your fingers you can vary the harmonic complexity of each note.
Clean it up with a light touch, or dig in for blooming organic crunch.
By the time DRIVE is up to 5, you’re into serious heavy, thick tube overdrive.
Push on, my friend, and violin-like sustain awaits your lead explorations.
The octal 6SL7 preamp tubes have a very power-tube-like character, giving
Amplifier No. 8 a big-amp sound, even at low volume.
But wait, there more!
Now, we’ve just run through what happens with various settings of DRIVE. But
there’s more to Amplifier No. 8 - much more.
Like all BC Audio products, Amplifier No. 8 is was developed explicitly for the
gigging musician. It’s at stage volume that the 5881 power tubes add their own
character to the sound.
To hear the power tube magic, start with DRIVE low and VOLUME high.
Depending on the setting of DRIVE and the strength of your pickups, power tube
breakup will occur at VOLUME settings of about 7 and higher.
The GZ34 rectifier also comes into play at stage volume, providing just the right
amount of “sag” to the B+ voltage as the power tubes draw more current. The
resultant natural tube compression gives Amplifier No. 8 a “singing” quality.
Adjust PRESENCE for the desired amount of bite.
Tone Tip: Use your guitar’s volume controls! Set the amp for the most gain you
will need, then back off the guitar’s volume to clean it up. Some of the smoothest
clean tones you will ever hear can be had by backing off on an overdriven tube
amp.
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