Where are the Blackstar Amps Made (Series 100/200)?

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romanianreaper

romanianreaper

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I know the lower models of the Blackstar amps are made in Korea but was wondering about the Series One amps. Are those made in the UK?
 
No amps are built in the UK according to the interview with one of the designers that's on their site.
Jerry

Was setting up the new factory in Korea a pretty major part of the whole job?
IR: “It was a fundamental decision not to produce anything in the UK. As for the quality, you can have amazing stuff made here and you can have amazing stuff made in the Far East. Ultimately it’s about how you manage your production facility, how good your communication is, building trust with your manufacturing partners and so on. All I’ll say is that given the right guidance, there’s no reason why a product made in the Far East shouldn’t be the of same quality as one built in the West. I think we’ve not only achieved that, I think we’ve surpassed it with the quality of product that we’ve got.”
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Weird. I thought the Artisan series were made in the UK. :confused:
 
killertone":3831gvrd said:
Weird. I thought the Artisan series were made in the UK. :confused:
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Even the HW models are made in the far east from what I remember, the gut shots looked nice but not sure about the quality of parts.

Played a Blackstar ht 40 combo the other day, clubster or something like that and it sounded like a pedal :thumbsdown:
 
JerryP":jkpipph1 said:
No amps are built in the UK according to the interview with one of the designers that's on their site.
Jerry

Was setting up the new factory in Korea a pretty major part of the whole job?
IR: “It was a fundamental decision not to produce anything in the UK. As for the quality, you can have amazing stuff made here and you can have amazing stuff made in the Far East. Ultimately it’s about how you manage your production facility, how good your communication is, building trust with your manufacturing partners and so on. All I’ll say is that given the right guidance, there’s no reason why a product made in the Far East shouldn’t be the of same quality as one built in the West. I think we’ve not only achieved that, I think we’ve surpassed it with the quality of product that we’ve got.”
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Well there you go. I know some people would say "well who cares?" where they are made but I've lived in Korea, and although they are doing better with music equipment, who knows who is working in those factories. I saw a Guitar World article once with an amp factory in China and the women working there looked like they didn't even know what a guitar amp is. It is like anything in life. If you have more of an interest in something, you will probably put a bit more work into it.
 
Personally I have no problem buying Korean made. Everything I've tried that's Korean made is of good quality.
 
The key is the QC. I have a Samick SG that absolutely kills. And the Reverend lineup is just awesome too. PRS SE series, too. All SoKo.
 
It sounds like you're not looking for something small or cheap, but I have the Blackstar HT-20 and I really like it. Great asthetics (for sitting in the living room), effects loop, reverb, and really, really simple to use. Real fun with pedals. I happened to get a chance to go to Korea a few months ago, and I was amazed at how "western" the country is. I was in cities that were far more modern and advanced than most places here in Kentucky!
 
madrigal77":fkgmlvl7 said:
Personally I have no problem buying Korean made. Everything I've tried that's Korean made is of good quality.
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+1.....Gretsch Electromatics, Reverends, Older 400 Series and up LTD's, and the Blackstars...no problem!
 
Digital Jams":2iu16a1r said:
killertone":2iu16a1r said:
Weird. I thought the Artisan series were made in the UK. :confused:
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Even the HW models are made in the far east from what I remember, the gut shots looked nice but not sure about the quality of parts.

Played a Blackstar ht 40 combo the other day, clubster or something like that and it sounded like a pedal :thumbsdown:
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I played one of their big channel switching 100 watt heads, nor sure what the model was called, and it sounded pretty bad. I don't care where it is made, if it sounds bad then buh bye.
 
glpg80":2a41diiz said:
answered the same question in your other post :aww:
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Yeah, sorry about that man. I started a new one before reading yours. :)
 
romanianreaper":33fbv4op said:
I saw a Guitar World article once with an amp factory in China and the women working there looked like they didn't even know what a guitar amp is. It is like anything in life. If you have more of an interest in something, you will probably put a bit more work into it.
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my wife use to worked at fender musical in Lake Oswego Oregon, mostly a bunch of house wives building them there
 
Marshall Law":1z5z0lb2 said:
romanianreaper":1z5z0lb2 said:
I saw a Guitar World article once with an amp factory in China and the women working there looked like they didn't even know what a guitar amp is. It is like anything in life. If you have more of an interest in something, you will probably put a bit more work into it.
Click to expand...
my wife use to worked at fender musical in Lake Oswego Oregon, mostly a bunch of house wives building them there
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Well there you go (part 2). :D

Damn. I guess my old high school fantasies of George Lynch and Warren DiMartini sitting down, having a beer in the Charvel plant while Mr. Charvel himself hand-painted the skulls on their axes is over. :)

I'm not saying people from every background can do this type of work. Just something special about knowing the amp builders here on the forum and elsewhere actually played guitar and put some of that knowledge of a great rock tone into their product.
 
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