Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII :)

[Erlend_G]

Hello,

I got a Blackstar HT-20mkII combo. The tubes are hidden between a "wall" that i got to unscrew at the back of the amp.

So I don't yet know what label/brand is on these tubes.

I hear some people say that cheap amps (like mine) often come with the cheapest of all chinese tubes, and the first thing to do is to upgrade the tubes to premium ones.

I think it sounds good? But one day, It might need a replacement set.

It has 2 x 12ax7 in the preamp, and 2x el-84 in the output section.

I tend to like a chimey, warm sound.

thanks
-Erlend

 

[devastone]

Re: Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII

I think those come stock with TAD tubes, which are Chinese. They tend to be brighter and are fine tubes IF you want a "better" tube that is still on the bright clear side, try a Tung Sol 12AX7 in the preamp, on the flip side, JJ tubes tend to be warmer with less high end. FWIW, Blackstars use a lot of SS circuitry in their preamps, again, not necessarily a bad thing, but I think they have one tube per channel (need to verify) for the tone shaping, then SS carries the signal through.

 

[Erlend_G]

Re: Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII

Yeah, I may guess that "HT" stands for "Hybrid Tube /Hybrid Technology" - but it's the best amp I could get-

being a broke musician on welfare-

I'm thankful they are producing this cheap, yet quality amplifier.

I think I'll buy "the best I can get" when the times comes to replace the stock tubes.

thank you.
-Erlend

 

[devastone]

Re: Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII

Nothing wrong with the Blackstars, they are great sounding amps, very high bang for the buck with those!

"best I can get" is very subjective, it's not like it ships with bad tubes if they are TADs - https://www.tubeampdoctor.com/en

 

[Erlend_G]

Re: Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII

When I win the lottery one day, I'll get a Fender Princeton

But until then, I'm stuck with my Blackstar. I like it. Could be livelier, have a spring reverb, and so on;
but it's great bang for the buck.

I think I'll spend some money on "upgrades", like maybe changing the speaker, getting a real spring outboard reverb,

and a nice amp stand.

Thank you all.
-Erl

 

[Gtrjunior]

Re: Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII

My house amp is a Blackstar HT-Studio 20. It’s a great amp. It came stock with Ruby tubes which are chinese. Right now I have a set of JJ 6 Ca7 in it. It sounds killer.
Just because a tube is Chinese don’t assume it’s garbage. The quality has improved tremendously over the years.
I also have a Marshall JCM 800 and a Splawn Quickrod. The Splawn came with Chinese tubes and when one failed, I thought I would upgrade with “better” tubes too.
I rolled in several brands but you know what sounded best....yup another set of Chinese tubes.
I also put a set in my Marshall but right now it is at a local tech’s house having some work done to it so I can’t really comment on their tone in that amp just yet.

 

[devastone]

Re: Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII

A speaker will be a huge upgrade, especially if it has a 70/80 in it. Not a bad idea to keep some spare tubes around either. Adding an external spring reverb, nah, I personally wouldn't do that.

 

[Mincer]

Re: Replacing stock tubes in a Blackstar HT-20mkII

I don't know if I'd ever bother with a real spring reverb unless I was a surf performer. A nice digital pedal, yeah, sure