What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

devastone said:
FTR, the Engl Gigmaster is the same idea, it only has 1 12AX7 so there has to be a lot of SS going on in the preamp.

I really don't care if an amp is SS or tube if I can get good sounds out of it. If I found an affordable SS amp with a sound that I loved, I'd buy it in a heartbeat and be thankful that I don't have to worry about tubes anymore.
Click to expand...

I've had my ENGL Gigmaster Head for about 6 months now and its been great. The Power Scale knob (15w/5w/1w) on the back gives it so much versatility. I wish there were more Low Watt heads with that feature. There are 2 EL84's and 1 12AX7 with SS preamp re-enforcement. Also has a Mid Boost button which easily pushes your leads in front. However the one thing that bugs me though is that the Input Gain is shared for the clean & lead channel. If it had dedicated Input Gains for each channel IMO It would be the Perfect Practice/Small Gigging Amp.

The Blackstar HT5 is awesome as well. The ISF Knob really gives you great tone shaping capabilities. I've thought about selling the Gigmaster for the HT5R Head.....I'd have money left over for a couple pedals:scratchch
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

SirJackdeFuzz said:
Hey UberMetalDood, do you know that Mat Pike is also now involved with BlackStar ?
Click to expand...

High on Fire rocks pretty heavy. I read that Pike's amps were across the board from Hiwatt to Soldano and Marshall. Has he recorded anything using a Blackstar yet?
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

UberMetalDood said:
High on Fire rocks pretty heavy. I read that Pike's amps were across the board from Hiwatt to Soldano and Marshall. Has he recorded anything using a Blackstar yet?
Click to expand...

Nope nothing yet, afaik.
He moved to the Blackstar camp quite recently. Within this year.
So look out for the next album.
It was because of SLEEP (his most famous project yet) that i got to notice Electric Amps. (and Matamp's GT1)

http://imageshack.us/f/23/sleepsm1.jpg/
http://www.highonfire.com/matamp-equipment.html
http://media.photobucket.com/image/matt pike with amps/Buzzzd03/IMG_4193.jpg - W O W !
The 120W MVU from Electric USA is still my dream amp.

In an interview Matt said with the recording of Jerusalem, they had 75K worth of amps in the studio.



108434600.jpg


http://www.thegearpage.net/board/showthread.php?t=831902 - post #7
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

JOEBACCA said:
The Blackstar HT5 is awesome as well. The ISF Knob really gives you great tone shaping capabilities. I've thought about selling the Gigmaster for the HT5R Head.....I'd have money left over for a couple pedals:scratchch
Click to expand...

Does the ISF REALLY change the character/voicing from US to UK sound ?
Not on any YouTube clip does it seem to work as advertised :scratchch
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

SirJackdeFuzz said:
Does the ISF REALLY change the character/voicing from US to UK sound ?
Not on any YouTube clip does it seem to work as advertised :scratchch
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it runs from UK to US, or Marshall to Fender...no way. But it *is* a dramatic voicing change.

The ISF is exactly like the contour control Marshall was putting on their MG & Valvestate lines at one time. It's more of a mid scoop/mid focus control. The extreme "US" setting is just all bass and treble, and the extreme UK setting is punchy up front mids with less bass and treble.

As to the general convo- :doh: I do see now the HT1/5 is based on a pedal circuit, probably why I got annoyed with it. It kinda reminds me of some of the sounds I was able to pull out of the old Radial PlexiTube that I had.
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

JeffB said:
I wouldn't say it runs from UK to US, or Marshall to Fender...no way. But it *is* a dramatic voicing change.

The ISF is exactly like the contour control Marshall was putting on their MG & Valvestate lines at one time. It's more of a mid scoop/mid focus control. The extreme "US" setting is just all bass and treble, and the extreme UK setting is punchy up front mids with less bass and treble.

As to the general convo- :doh: I do see now the HT1/5 is based on a pedal circuit, probably why I got annoyed with it. It kinda reminds me of some of the sounds I was able to pull out of the old Radial PlexiTube that I had.
Click to expand...

Thanx for the honest info Jeff ;)
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

Guys, what is the score with the 20W Jet City ?

Are they also assisted via those 'lil sneaky SS-things ?
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

SirJackdeFuzz said:
So my brother told me a few days ago, he wants to sell his Vox AC15, and get another amp, in the 15-20W range.

I started to look around, and looks like the Blckstar amps, as new as they are, are very popular.
Some guys that left the Marshall factory to start their Co. according to what they feel an amp should be like, or soemthing like that.

Is there any Blackstar owners in here ?
Ever tested/demo'ed one ?

All info very welcome guys !
Click to expand...

I have a HT-20, and it sounds amazing. You can get so many sounds out of it, I freaking love it. Every where from slipknot-like crushing distortion to nirvana-like brit-esque crunch. I highly recommend it.
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

SirJackdeFuzz said:
Guys, what is the score with the 20W Jet City ?

Are they also assisted via those 'lil sneaky SS-things ?
Click to expand...

nop only rectifier is SS, but that is VERY common, wait for the new 2 channel version JCA22 it's the name I think, lead channel is the same circuit as the SLO
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

SirJackdeFuzz said:
Does the ISF REALLY change the character/voicing from US to UK sound ?
Not on any YouTube clip does it seem to work as advertised :scratchch
Click to expand...

I think the ISF really does change the voicing of the amp more so in the

midrange frequencies. IMO it isn't a gimmick at all. Does it sound exactly like

a Marshall?? No. Does it sound exactly like a Mesa?? No. Does it give you the

feel of a High Gain amp running full throttle at conversation volumes?? Hell

Yeah!! You have to consider that where you run the Mids on the EQ

determines how dramatic the change in mids on the ISF knob as well. For

Instance if you have the Mids on the EQ almost dimed and then proceed to

turn the ISF Knob the change is very subtle. But if you have the mids on the

EQ at or around noon the ISF's voicing will change dramatically. I wouldn't let

the fact that there is SS rectification steer you away either. If it sounds

good it is good whether its Tube Rectification or SS.

Youtube vids are hit and miss....some demos are good and others are a

complete waste of time. I'm gonna assume you saw the latter of the two. I'd

say go to your local Music Store and try one for yourself.
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

Joe Bacca nailed it. I've got both the HT-5 and the JCA20, both in head form.

The JCA20 has more of a gritty tone to it, and it responds in a much more pronounced fashion to tube changes. I've been through most of the new production tubes in the HT-5, and the change was very, very subtle.

All in all, the ISF is definitely NOT a gimmick, and the change is quite noticeable.

Here's my quick comparison of the two. If you want more of a vintage, higher gain, crunch machine, the JCA20 is what you want. And you can basically forget about cleans. If you go below that edge-of-breakup area, it just gets sterile and bland sounding. Once you're there, it's a decent tone, but a touch too much picking gives you a good bit of breakup.

It's ironic that the 5-watter has better cleans. But it does. They're nothing to write home about, but it really can sound good to get a tiny bit of power tube compression at something well below stage volume.

As for the overdrive, you've got your pick. The HT-5 is a modern, high-gain little animal. It compresses quite a bit, but it doesn't lose clarity at any point. You do not get any real graininess, and you don't get the same crunch as the Jet City. If you want versatility, this is your choice. It's also got an effects loop with adjustable level and a line-out for recording.

The Jet City is a real one-trick pony. But boy is that trick good. It's a crunch machine. Once you get the master volume above 3, it really takes on a life of its own. And the stock tubes are garbage. If you plan on picking this one up, plan on putting at least fifty bucks into new tubes. My ears and my amp like Tung-Sol pre and JJ power tubes. When it comes to hot-rodded, lower volume Marshall tones, this is what you want.
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

Thank you very much for the indepth posts Joebacca & Misterwhizzy.
Much appreciated ;)

I deff think the Jet City will be another option for my brother to look into.


"The Jet City is a real one-trick pony. But boy is that trick good. It's a crunch machine
When it comes to hot-rodded, lower volume Marshall tones, this is what you want."
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

JOEBACCA said:
the fact that there is SS rectification steer you away either. If it sounds

good it is good whether its Tube Rectification or SS.
Click to expand...

Just to be clear, lots of all tube amps have SS rectification (including old Plexis), the Phase Inverter section, as well as most of the drive in the Blackstars is SS also.

But yeah, great review, I totally agree. They are great sounding amps, and their build quality if very high. Made in Korea FWIW.
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

I think somebody got confoosled in the convo- SS rectification, and SS/diodes, etc used for pre-amp clipping are very different things.
 
Re: What do you know about Blackstar amps ?

I just got an HT-5. The preamp 12AX7 seemed a little microphonic (it was a Sovtek), I was getting too much feedback, so rather than returning the amp I replaced the preamp 12AX7 with a Groove Tube 12AX7.

The difference in tone was dramatic, the ISF control worked alot better, I had more gain, clarity and versatilty. I'm running the HT-5 through a 2x12 with a Celestion V30 and GT-75, and the amp just plain rocks now. The ISF control I keep at around 2:00. With my Les Paul with Slash A2P pickups I can easily get the AFD tone. For bedroom levels it definately sounds better than my JCM800 100 watt head. The amp's very responsive to the volume controls on your guitar, almost as if your volume control is a pre gain control and the amp gain is post gain.

I can't really saw it does the Mesa thing too well- it can sound similar to the Mark IV's and Mark V's I tried- but it doesn't do the Dual Rec Crunch that my Carvin V3 does- which IMO is since it's only 5 watts.
 
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