Anybody played a BlackSTAR amp?

rightintheface

Senior Member
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326
NOT a Blackheart.  :glasses9:

I'm looking at the HT-5 head, which is similar to the blackHEART little giant (5w tube amp, except the HT is a/b class and not a class), but with a clean channel as well  :cool01:

i was gonna buy a blackheart to run at the same time as my h&k, but need (read: want) the flexibility of the clean channel too.
plus i couldn't really be bothered buying new tubes/mods etc etc. or course, none of this "needs" to be done, but pretty much everyone here has said that it kinda DOES need some tinkering. and i would have a good time modding it i'm sure, but would possibly break something also (i have zero experience tinkering with amps)  :tard:

the thing is, i know you can get a "clean" sound the old-school way; by rolling back the volume, but this would also effect my H&K's sound too. also, i am the vocalist (as well as only guitarist) in my band, and it's WAY easier for me to step on a channel switch than play with volumes knobs mid-song/mid-riff/mid-melody :binkybaby:
i figure i'll position the footswitch next to my H&Ks footswitch, and hit them at the same time to go clean/dirty in one foul swoop  :evil4:

the blackstar is a bit more expensive, but not by any obscene amount. and i'm planning on a straight trade with my local music shop, trading in all the gear i don't use anymore.

only one review on HC and is pretty positive.  :guitaristgif:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Guitar+Amp/product/Blackstar/HT-5+Head/10/1

anybody tried/heard/bought/had one? opinions?
 
There's a review from Guitarist Magazine on the Blackstar site - HT-5 Review

Would love to see a couple of those stacks set up side by side - for the sake of 700 GBP, that might be worth a try  :toothy12:
 
My mate Wayne bought the 1x10 combo based on the review in guitarist and a couple of you tube videos. Let me tell you, it's a little beast. Great little amp. The shape (isr) control is quite effective giving a sweep from "British" to "American" sounds and various points in between. There is quite a bit of gain available on the 2nd channel but it's not mental. The cleans are quite plummy and nice. The amp does let the sound of the guitar through, so a strat sounds like a strat, les Paul like a les Paul etc.

A lot of amp for the money.

Blackstar's main guys used to work in the r&d dept at Marshall but got dissillusioned with the route Marshall were taking and so left to start up their own company. The "big" blackstar's are everything that Marshall use to be, but for whatever reason can't do now.

There at lots of pro people picking up on blackstar now. Seems like it's a good club to be in.
 
jimh said:
My mate Wayne bought the 1x10 combo based on the review in guitarist and a couple of you tube videos. Let me tell you, it's a little beast. Great little amp. The shape (isr) control is quite effective giving a sweep from "British" to "American" sounds and various points in between. There is quite a bit of gain available on the 2nd channel but it's not mental. The cleans are quite plummy and nice. The amp does let the sound of the guitar through, so a strat sounds like a strat, les Paul like a les Paul etc.

A lot of amp for the money.

Blackstar's main guys used to work in the r&d dept at Marshall but got dissillusioned with the route Marshall were taking and so left to start up their own company. The "big" blackstar's are everything that Marshall use to be, but for whatever reason can't do now.

There at lots of pro people picking up on blackstar now. Seems like it's a good club to be in.
Not sure what is "A lot of amp for the money" to you is, but to me a 30w 2x12 for $1799, is not a lot of amp for the money...

Now Crates Blue VooDoo 300w is a lot of amp for the money, I could get a half stack BV 300 for $1799.00.... :laughing7:
 
The Crate BV300HB is a 300 watt 3 channel all tube guitar amp. This amp is made for some serious ear damage and brain damage if you get too close. It's got plenty of low end and tone for even the most serious players.

The amp uses six (6) 6550 power tubes in an A/B configuration that puts out 300 watts RMS. The 6550 are great sounding tubes for metal because the sound they produce is very solid with a tighter low end than other tubes. The 6550 where used in the earlier Marshall amps back in the 80's as well as amps from Mesa Boogie and others. The preamp stage uses eight (8) 12AX7 tubes which can be found in most Fenders, Marshall, Boogie, and other amps. These tubes will distort sooner (at a lower gain) than the 12AU7 and 12AT7 preamp tubes.

This amp sounds good even at lower volumes because of the unique power amp section that puts out the same great tone at any level. There is also another reason other than massive volume to have used a 300 watt amp. The sound of the amp is better because there is more 'headroom' which allows for more dynamic changes to occur. This results in you being able to hear more things from your guitar than you've heard from other amps. This amp has a great consistent tone from 5 watts to 300 watts. Anyone who has run a concert PA system will tell you that you need an amp with plenty of headroom.

The preamp has 6 12AX7 preamp tubes and is divided between 3 input channels. Channel switching is done via momentary switches and is instantaneous and clean even when switching from a hot lead sound to clean rhythm sound. Channel 1 is used for Rhythm guitar playing which has a clean and punchy sound with a classic sounding EQ with a 5-position midrange selector. It has an overall maximum gain of about 80dB and has a three-band EQ that has a fixed low band at 50Hz (24dB overall range). The mid-band has a range of +10dB to -22dB that can be applied via the EQ Switch; 300, 700, 1k, 1.5k or 3 kHz frequencies. The High-band has 38dB of range and is fixed at 5 kHz.

The 2nd channel has a British Tone that has both a warm and crunchy sound from a naturally overdriven power tubes. You can really hear every detail of your playing while using this channel. It has a warmer sounding overdrive sound with some compression. It has an overall maximum gain of about 105dB and has a three-band EQ that has fixed frequency of 50Hz for the low-band with a 20dB range. The Mid-band uses the 5-way switch to select which frequency to use. The frequencies are: 250, 500, 750 or 1 kHz with a range of about 5dB. The High-band is fixed at 2 kHz with a range of 12dB.

The 3rd channel is for more aggressive playing. It's loud and forceful and is voice harder than channel 2. It has an overall maximum gain of about 105dB and has a three-band EQ that has settings for this channel is: 100Hz for the low-band with a range of 18dB; Mid-Band is fixed at 1.2 kHz with a range of 20dB. The high-band uses the 5-way switch with fixed frequencies of: 2k, 4k, 6k, 8k and 10 kHz and has a range of 25dB.
 
I'm talking 'bout the little HT-5 Doug, you cheeky monkey!!!

:icon_thumright:
 
jimh said:
I'm talking 'bout the little HT-5 Doug, you cheeky monkey!!!

:icon_thumright:
boogie.gif
 
I picked up a BlackStar HT5 the day it went on sale. Fantastic bit of kit and more than worth the price.

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DangerousR6 said:
Nice little set up you got there Dr. Z, the Futurama strat looks amazing....... :headbang1:

Thanks, i've been working away so haven't been online for awhile. I'll get the finished pics of the strat online tomorrow.......sorry to hijack thread.
 
hey hey, very nice looking mini-stack there

how does she sound? and how loud does she go? i need something that's gonna at least get close to my 50w combo which never goes past about 3 or 4 on the master volume. seeing as 5w is half as loud as 50w, i wonder how much difference there would be. theory would say that if the combo is on 3 master vol, the 5w head should be around 6 (of course many many many variables incl speakers etc etc, just simplifying it down). would this be a fair thing to say? or is it a little bit of wishful thinking?
 
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