Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

Karmadog777

Karmadog777

New member
ok so I love my Blackstar but I could hear ringing like begening of feedback under my playing and the things feedbacking pretty bad at moderately high gain settings, so I emailed Blackstar inquiring about tube change,they said return it to MF for refund or replacement....for a tube Im not going thru that hassle,...well since Blackstar says there are no user serviceable parts inside and hint that the universe will implode if you remove any screws,whats a guy to do? :nana:
FOR THOSE ABOUT TO VOID YOUR WARENTEE WE SALUTE YOU
info i found on the web said that the cheap chineese 12AX7 has to be accessed from the back pannel, i took off the front grill, hmm some kind of wire retainer I know nothing about
blkstr002.jpg

so I go in from the back,flip over the circuit board only to see 2 more circuit boards
blkstr004.jpg
flip it over ahh the tube
blkstr007.jpg

luckily I just happen to have a extra nicely balenced high gain JJ ECC83S laying around
blkstr009.jpg

there we go this looks better
blkstr011.jpg

guess u cant believe everything you read on the web,the crappy cheap chineese tube turns out to be a Russian Sovtek 12AX7WA, it had a very warm and round sound and slightly microphonic(I think)
blkstr012.jpg

The pedal back together sporting the new JJ valve
blkstr014.jpg

plugged it in the first thing I notice is the JJ glows about 50% brighter than the Sovtek did in standby,Plugged in my SG Prophecy and WOW difference in tone is night and day, the JJ has considerably more upper mids,alittle more grit(not bad though,B4 this pedal almost sounded too smooth and round especially with my blackouts) I think the treble response increased by like 25% ,the pedal does sound alittle"harder" now,not harsh or brittle thou and there is more than enough bass mids and ISF sweep on tap to compensate.
Tube change made all the difference in the world for tone, but this sucker still likes to start screaming if you get too close to the cab or point in the wrong direction,now I remember why I bought a volume pedal when I was in a band. Thinking about trying a truly cheap Chineese tube in here,I have a couple Tung-Sol 12AX7 in my hybrid, anyway I was bored, hope I didnt eat up too much bandwidth
Peace!
 
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Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

3 thoughts:

Yeah, my dad's amp came with a Sovtek WB, and just about anything sounds better than those Sovteks!

It looks like you could have swung the wire retainer up out of the hole after removing the chrome grill thing instead of removing the PCB's.

With anything super high gain, I donno why people expect to not get feedback without an isolation booth.
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

supernosher said:
It looks like you could have swung the wire retainer up out of the hole after removing the chrome grill thing instead of removing the PCB's.
Click to expand...

Yes Grasshopper you are correct, I tried but wasnt sure how the clip worked,I read online that it was accessable thru the back under the PCB, once I opened her up I realized that it was unnessicery :doh:

as for feedback this unit is alittle touchy,but the problem with that sovetek I could hear it faintly squealing under notes while I was playing,and inbetween notes, I normally only run the gain on this thing around 1'oclock
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

Well at least nothing broke!

Your feedback problem sounds bad... but different than I had thought. I have no idea re: that one...
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

cool read. I thought blackstar just made tiny amps. didn't know they had a tube pedal. hmmmmm.
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

yes they make a whole line of tube pedals http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation?q=blackstar+pedal
this is hands down the best Distortion pedal I have owned, I sold my Twin Mayhem pedal after A/B test, I was gonna post clips but both pedals had such a enormous amont of useable tones it would be useless, to me the SD TTM sounded like a fender amp tryin to do metal,..it was a great pedal but just not voiced for the music I play

UPDATE: I put a Tung-Sol 12AX7 in it and its perfect now. The JJ I think was too high gain and required a warm up period B4 I could get a steady tone from it....weird and like I said that JJ was glowing twice as bright as the sovtek or the tung-sol,..I dont know what that means,just a observation.

These Pedals operate at 300v,the tube does have alot to do with the tone,unlike many other "tube" pedals out there,the hiss at hight gain that was very annoying with the original tube is barely noticable with the Tung-Sol

Although I was originally amazed at how the JJ opened up the tone controls,it didnt seem to play nicely with the circuitry, I guess Blackstar designed this pedal around the sovtek tubes they would use in production. I would not Recomend putting JJs in one of these pedals it acted very strange until after about 5-10 minutes of use(originally I thought it was the footswitch acting up and did not mention bcoz It cleared up as I was fiddeling with the switch), but the Tung-Sol operates as it should,is way quiter than the Sovtek ,theres no audible microphonic mumbo jumbo going on underneath the playing...and most of all it sounds great.
 
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Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

Tried one of these Blackstar pedals through a JCM 800, think it Distx model. Pretty much sounded awesome. Still would love to try the mini-amp HT-5 or whatever it is.
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

i just picked one of these up for about 200AUD used, loving it so far

can you try any 12AX7 in there or does changing to a different brand of 12AX7 require an adjustment?
i've never changed a valve before...
:nervous:
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

Weird the Tung Sol sounded the best based on reviews of the HT-5 head where people didn't seem to like the Tung Sol. I have a Ht-5 stock and never bothered to swap in a Tung Sol. With some A-hole stealing my 2x12 cab, it will be a while before I use my Blackstar unless I get it back.
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

dr. ad said:
i just picked one of these up for about 200AUD used, loving it so far

can you try any 12AX7 in there or does changing to a different brand of 12AX7 require an adjustment?
i've never changed a valve before...
:nervous:
Click to expand...

Nope...just drop it in and start rockin.
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

I've just done this mod on my HT-MODULATION as it sounded a bit muddy. With Tung Sol its brighter but maybe a bit harsh. Should I try a different valve in it?
 
Re: Inside a Blackstar (HT DistX) pics/documented

Try a Ruby HG+ 12AX7. It's similar to the TungSol but a bit rounder, not as hard sounding. You should like it.
 
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