Blackstar Amps

[Tawlks]

I think if you're going the Blackstar route, go with a Series One, they're awesome.

I came pretty close to buying an HT-100, but ended up getting a Jet City because it felt a lot more 'real' than the HT, and I didn't find the HT to be as versetile as it was advertised to be, one of the OD channels was really good, the other I really didn't like and the clean has no gain control.

I have yet to play the series one but I find both gain channels on the ht 100 to be very, very useable. The HT's are tight as hell and I know some guys don't like the fact that there is a bit of diode clipping going on but to my ears it is perfect. I remember when you were debating the two I thought you would go with the Jet City and I was correct. It is rare that someone that loves the feel of the Jet City loves the Blackstar stuff too. other than killer bang for the buck they have nothing in common feel or tone wise.

They are very different amps, that's certainly true but the JCA has much more of an organic feel. That's not to say the HT sounds SS, it doesn't but it does lack a bit of 'realness', to my ears anyway. I did actually really like both of them, and in a way I wish I went for the Blackstar beacuse of it's features but I think if you love a tone you should just go for that, instead of having loads of bells and whistles and shit.

I think if you're more geared towards metal then the HT is great, but the Jet City can produce lots of different tones just with the EQ and gain controls, I don't think the HT is really capable of that. I found the 'in between' tones to be a bit disappointing. That said, the ISF feature is cool. Hey, the HT is probably the amp with the best features around below the £2000 mark. I almost bought the HT purely for it's features.

 

[Tawlks]

There are many options I would go with over these.

In the same price bracket? If so, I'm intrigued.

 

[irondeth21]

When solid state feel is mentioned, is it kind of like a JVM or an Engl? JVM isn't so bad, but I prefer a organic feeling amp. I also will be going pretty much straight hard rock with my band, velvet revolver type stuff. We are also doing a 70's and 80's cover thing on the side, rock and punk... I really just need a good clean and solid JCM 800 type channel, but a high gain lead would be a nice bonus. Maybe I should look into jet city too?

 

[Audioholic]

Here is a recording I did with the HT-5 Amp when I first got it to test it out. Tight as hell is a great way to describe the blackstar, at least the HT-5, but I really really dug what I got from cheap amp for sure.

Personally I loved how the HT-5 felt. and rolling off the volume on the guitar really cleaned up well and sounded Killer. the clean was squishy when the volume was pushed up because of the 5 watts. but I thought the HT-5 felt great. can't attest to its bigger bros.

I currently have an Engl Gigmaster. and while the clean channel is much better on this amp, it does feel and sound slightly more Solid state then the blackstar did to me

 

[bigangryguitar]

When solid state feel is mentioned, is it kind of like a JVM or an Engl? JVM isn't so bad, but I prefer a organic feeling amp. I also will be going pretty much straight hard rock with my band, velvet revolver type stuff. We are also doing a 70's and 80's cover thing on the side, rock and punk... I really just need a good clean and solid JCM 800 type channel, but a high gain lead would be a nice bonus. Maybe I should look into jet city too?

To me it feels a lot like a JVM but a bit tighter. I have owned Marshall's and Engl's and prefer the feel of the Blackstar to both. I have had mine close to a year with no issues. Like I said there is a part of me that wants a hand built whatever but for now I am loving this amp.

 

[dawnofdreamx97]

i think blackstars best amp is the HT5, i think everything else honestly is MEH...just saying... and not trying to be mean...

 

[university81]

just thought i'd add i actually tried out a series one 200 recently through my rig (blackstar artisan cab with 4xv30s), expecting good things, and apart from the really nice clean and crunch, it just didn't do it, for some reason i couldn't get the definition i wanted out of the OD channels, despite EQing and what not my main complaint was the bass which wasn't quite tight enough or at least didn't react the way i liked it also,

also weighs more than any other amp i've had to carry with both trannies/choke etc.. on the same side of the amp making it really one side heavy

but i've heard others use it (Katatonia ) and it sounded huge, think Gus G is an avid user as well, so it would depend on setup too -

that being said I'd really like to try my pedalboard through one of the artisan heads, it looks to be a really nice pedal platform, and heard a lot of good things about them as well as the HT-100 to see how that performs

 

[bigangryguitar]

i think blackstars best amp is the HT5, i think everything else honestly is MEH...just saying... and not trying to be mean...

meanie!

 

[D-Rock]

I'm really trying to like my HT-5 again, after playing my Mesa and 6505 for 3 months straight.
I just can't seem to get into it. It does feel one dimentional and artificial to me. I also feel that it only sounds good with the volume at 1/10. It should get warmer with volume, but I seems to get colder and duller. It's great if you want to play very quietly at midnight, but even then it just gets by tonewise.

 

[Tawlks]

When solid state feel is mentioned, is it kind of like a JVM or an Engl? JVM isn't so bad, but I prefer a organic feeling amp. I also will be going pretty much straight hard rock with my band, velvet revolver type stuff. We are also doing a 70's and 80's cover thing on the side, rock and punk... I really just need a good clean and solid JCM 800 type channel, but a high gain lead would be a nice bonus. Maybe I should look into jet city too?

Have you considered the DSL? They're pretty good and at a similar price. The Jet City is a really good hard rock amp, it's not super tight like some amps, which is either a really good thing or a really bad thing. I found with my 5150 II that I only liked its tightness if I was playing metal for example. From what I see, the HTs tend to be popular among metal players.

The JCA 100H is great, it doesn't have a 'clean' channel, like the 5150 doesn't, but if you roll the gain/guitar volume down you can get some really nice cleans, it does the breakup thing well, it has tonnes of gain on tap. I set my normal channel with its gain pretty low and use that for cleans, works perfectly for me, the gain on about 4 on the lead channel.

Try some different amps, 'feel' is a very personal thing. I'd say go with a DSL if you're after a Marshall-esque amp with a clean channel at the price of the JCA/Blackstar. I've never heard the DSLs cleans (went straight to the lead channel. ) so I can't comment on them.

 

[bigangryguitar]

When solid state feel is mentioned, is it kind of like a JVM or an Engl? JVM isn't so bad, but I prefer a organic feeling amp. I also will be going pretty much straight hard rock with my band, velvet revolver type stuff. We are also doing a 70's and 80's cover thing on the side, rock and punk... I really just need a good clean and solid JCM 800 type channel, but a high gain lead would be a nice bonus. Maybe I should look into jet city too?

Have you considered the DSL? They're pretty good and at a similar price. The Jet City is a really good hard rock amp, it's not super tight like some amps, which is either a really good thing or a really bad thing. I found with my 5150 II that I only liked its tightness if I was playing metal for example. From what I see, the HTs tend to be popular among metal players.

The JCA 100H is great, it doesn't have a 'clean' channel, like the 5150 doesn't, but if you roll the gain/guitar volume down you can get some really nice cleans, it does the breakup thing well, it has tonnes of gain on tap. I set my normal channel with its gain pretty low and use that for cleans, works perfectly for me, the gain on about 4 on the lead channel.

Try some different amps, 'feel' is a very personal thing. I'd say go with a DSL if you're after a Marshall-esque amp with a clean channel at the price of the JCA/Blackstar. I've never heard the DSLs cleans (went straight to the lead channel. ) so I can't comment on them.

I was a metal only guy for the first 15 years I played guitar (well 90% metal anyway) so the feel of the Blackstar\5150\ENGL etc. is very familiar to me. But the Blackstar and a tube screamer can cover everything from sparkly clean, edge of break up, classic rock, 80's rock to modern molten metal. The DSL you mentioned is a killer amp as well but I would say the HT 100 wins in the clean category for sure there, lead channels are both stellar.

 

[FortinAmps]

Whats the consensus on these guys? I'm looking to get a cheap tube combo for smaller shows and the HT60 seems pretty cool, I liked what I heard on their site. Probably built in korea? Quality stuff or no?

Yes, the Blackstar stuff is made in Korea, designed in the UK by a couple of ex-Marshall engineers. They are currently distributed and supported by Korg USA. They distributed Marshall for over 42 years, so you can feel confident that you will have after sale service and support.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[OzStrat]

I have the S1 45. It is missing a few things, like a switchable effects loop, reverb & separate eq's. It is no big deal once once plugged in, and I can vouch for the Hardwire RV-7 reverb pedal. This amp provides every tone I need and have ever wanted. Completely different to the HT series, a higher quality and more transparent sound.
The other guitarist in my band just replaced his Mesa Mk 111 head with the new Blackstar S1 50 watt head. We are yet to play but I'm expecting a huge improvement.
The good thing is, I no longer lust over other amps.

Blackstar was indeed founded by two Marshall escapee's. They were frustrated by the shackles they worked under so left & did their own thing. Marshall must be regretting that now!