Blackstar HT-5H

[MikeW]

Anybody tried one of these out? I'm looking at swapping my combo for a micro head and cab and there's one of these available in my area. Thought I'd get opinions on the Blackstar before I spend the time/money.

Thx.
-MW

 

[Hbom]

I like mine. I play it through a stack of EPI vj & Blackheart 12" cabs with a crybaby. Works great! I would put it against anything in it's price range.

I should note that I have been accused of being tone deaf or at least majorally hard of hearing. And I worked long & hard to get here. arty07:

 

[Death by Uberschall]

I have the head and two cabs, sounds great for what it is, which is a practice sized set up. By itself it's pretty loud. In a band situation it would get lost, not loud enough. For home jamming it's great. To play out with, I would suggest the HT-20.

 

[Mattias Svensson]

Is there any way to mod the clean channel to sound more like a real Fenders clean? By changing tubes or something else? What i've heard the overdrive channel is really good in general.

 

[MikeW]

I have the head and two cabs, sounds great for what it is, which is a practice sized set up. By itself it's pretty loud. In a band situation it would get lost, not loud enough.

This was my initial thought on it as well. All the reviews I've seen sound good, but just not quite enough push to get through a live, unmic'ed mix. I'm considering the new Carvin V3M also since the 50-22-7 watt switch would make it more versatile.

Thanks for the input all.

 

[dmraco]

they are nice amps for the cash...good cleans and TONS of GAIN!  If you need cleaner clean...try the HT-20...much more headroom at 20W than the HT-5 at only 5.

The new Carvin V3 micro looks cool too.  I would love to have some hands on experiance.

 

[MikeW]

I've been following the Carvin boards for a bit after hearing about the V3M and it seems like the diehard Carvin guys are really excited about it. Since I'm not too far from the factory, I've been looking forward to playing around with one. It seems like of all the micros that are coming out that the V3M has the best combination of tone and flexibility, but I really like the thought of the EVH 5150 III micro too.

 

[ironeddie]

I LOVE MINE!  I put a BBE Sonic Stomp in my FX loop and it is MIGHTY.  If you want to jam or play live you need a HT20 or 60.

 

[MikeW]

I'm not too far from both the Carvin store in Poway and the factory in Escondido, so I took some time a couple weeks ago to try out the V3M. Man, what a nice amp. Lots of subtlety on the clean channel - from blistering high-end sparkle to low-end crunchy blues and it only took about 15 minutes of fooling around to get the sounds dialed in.

The gain channels are voiced more like a Mesa than like a Marshall, but with the mid boost off and the mids dialed up you can get some great brown sounds out of it. Needless to say that there's more gain on tap than anybody could rightly use, and getting a really great metal-ish sound was simple. Again, about 15 minutes of fooling with the tone controls and the EQX switch and I was able to get everything from Metallica to AC/DC.

The big selling points for me are the wattage cut switch (50-22-7) and the cabinet-voiced line out. That with the flexibility of the amp has me sold. So, I know what I'm asking Santa for this Christmas.

 

[DangerousR6]

Forget the 5, get the HT60.... :headbang1:

 

[ironeddie]

So out of curiosity, i took mine jamming.  We were playing rock but not hard rock or metal and it stood up alright.  The drums had dampening rings on it and it wasn't a super great kit and the drummer wasn't a hard hitter so that probably helped.  I'll be playing it at a gig in a couple of days and I'll take that one and I'll report back.

 

[NLD09]

So out of curiosity, i took mine jamming.  We were playing rock but not hard rock or metal and it stood up alright.  The drums had dampening rings on it and it wasn't a super great kit and the drummer wasn't a hard hitter so that probably helped.  I'll be playing it at a gig in a couple of days and I'll take that one and I'll report back.

What they say about micing a small amp is pretty much true. I've been gigging a bit in the local originals scene lately, and i've been playing with a blues junior. I get enough stage volume to hear myself and the sound guys all love me because I'm not bringing a big 100 watt marshall/blackstar/mesa out there like a bunch of other guys are.

And to actually contribute to the thread, I'd agree with everyone else and say get the HT-20.

 

[ironeddie]

Gig's over and the little blackstar worked great!  I posted on my Blog about how it went.

guitardedwebtrickery.blogspot.com