Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: hunter on July 22, 2009, 06:23:16 PM

Title: GAS!
Post by: hunter on July 22, 2009, 06:23:16 PM
Oh my ...  :o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiP4_4XBJyU
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: gwEm on July 22, 2009, 06:26:38 PM
my days! i'm not sure who has the biggest GAS - you or twinfan..

>shakes head in disbelief<

(says the guy with 13 flying Vs)
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Philly Q on July 22, 2009, 06:28:09 PM
After that brief phase when you thought the Axe-Fx was all you'd ever need..... you seem to have gone totally amp crazy recently!  :lol:
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Philly Q on July 22, 2009, 06:29:57 PM
(says the guy with 13 flying Vs)

That's bad luck!  Wanna buy another one?
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: hunter on July 22, 2009, 06:43:44 PM
After that brief phase when you thought the Axe-Fx was all you'd ever need..... you seem to have gone totally amp crazy recently!  :lol:

Good thing I am posting this stuff here, coz in every other forum people would go "darn this sounds great, I need one".

You guys help me cooling down.

Being without a job still, I should f$&/ing stop acquiring gear, but it's so difficult.

13 Vs??????

Sell me one, makes it a round dozen :O)
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: gwEm on July 22, 2009, 06:54:21 PM
13 Vs??????

Sell me one, makes it a round dozen :O)

no ;)


regarding the amp - i'm sure its great 'for the money' but we already identified here that blackstar as a little cheap construction-wise. and you have an axefx+power amp and the ecstasy.

i know how hard GAS bites man, but this time i think its better to resist

edit: this video is very good practise for my rusty german though. i'm happy you posted it. "ja, sehr lecker"
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: ailean on July 22, 2009, 07:06:53 PM
I'm very tempted to try one of those, but I'm also tempted by a Herbert :)
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Twinfan on July 22, 2009, 07:25:15 PM
my days! i'm not sure who has the biggest GAS - you or twinfan..

Not me any more!  I'm GAS'ing for nothing.  Nil.  Nada.  I have a some superb amps, and some fantastic guitars.  I'm done.

On the subject of the Blackstar, it's sounds OK I guess?  I'm not blown away though?
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: dave_mc on July 22, 2009, 07:43:12 PM
i don't trust these blackstars. they've been way over-hyped. I thought the artisan 15 i tried was very average. a decent amp, sure, but if you'd read the reviews you'd have thought it was going to be the next dumble.
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: _tom_ on July 22, 2009, 07:45:57 PM
It sounds ok, it just sounds like a HT5 really! I think The Series ones are very overhyped and they sound pretty much the same as the HT5 (this is just judging from clips obviously I havent played one). Not a cr@p sound but not amazing either.. I've gone off my HT5 though so am a bit biased :P

Hunter, you should get a Laney GH50L or Vintage Modern head instead :)
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Jonny on July 22, 2009, 08:15:02 PM
They're really expensive but made in Korean are they not? Kind of pops my balloon.
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Copperhead on July 22, 2009, 08:25:35 PM
Does he ever play it or just fiddle with the knobs all day? I gave up after a coupla minutes.
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Lew on July 22, 2009, 08:30:15 PM
I lived with the guy doing the demo for about 6 months back in the day when we were at college in London
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: ailean on July 22, 2009, 09:17:33 PM
They're really expensive but made in Korean are they not? Kind of pops my balloon.

There is quite a lot in these amps as I understand it, they'd be a lot more if they were made in the UK.

i don't trust these blackstars. they've been way over-hyped. I thought the artisan 15 i tried was very average.

I could be completely wrong here but I think the artisan was made by a very different design team. Guitarist magazine really liked this amp, so I'm prepared to give it the benefit of a doubt, maybe I'll hate it, but I'd like to try one properly, and the only way to do that is to take one home (but not for a while, my bank account is still recovering from the Diezel rig )
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Matt77 on July 22, 2009, 09:19:41 PM
Just sounds like a Marshall to me.
I like my HT-5 for playing late, but to be honest the biased press they get in magazines like Guitarist is really starting to put me off
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Twinfan on July 22, 2009, 09:45:00 PM
What I want to know is, where have Blackstar got their money from?  Two guys who used to work for Marshall won't have the kind of cash they've been spending on R&D, production, advertising, trade fairs etc.

I reckon there's some behind the scenes investors with a 3-5 year plan.  If Blackstar don't make enough money, in the right timeframe, they'll disappear........
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: gwEm on July 22, 2009, 10:02:12 PM
What I want to know is, where have Blackstar got their money from?  Two guys who used to work for Marshall won't have the kind of cash they've been spending on R&D, production, advertising, trade fairs etc.

I reckon there's some behind the scenes investors with a 3-5 year plan.  If Blackstar don't make enough money, in the right timeframe, they'll disappear........

thats usually how it works.. good luck to them i say!
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Philly Q on July 22, 2009, 10:24:00 PM
What I want to know is, where have Blackstar got their money from?  Two guys who used to work for Marshall won't have the kind of cash they've been spending on R&D, production, advertising, trade fairs etc.

I reckon there's some behind the scenes investors with a 3-5 year plan.  If Blackstar don't make enough money, in the right timeframe, they'll disappear........

Yeah, they do seem to have appeared from nowhere with a surprisingly big (and rapidly growing) product range.

I suspect they'll vanish just as quickly.  Which isn't meant to sound sarcastic or critical, but I can just imagine in 15 years the next generation of BKP-ers will be sitting here going "does anyone remember those amps, Black-something, I think they may have been British...."
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: CaptainDesslock on July 22, 2009, 10:47:15 PM
i don't trust these blackstars. they've been way over-hyped. I thought the artisan 15 i tried was very average. a decent amp, sure, but if you'd read the reviews you'd have thought it was going to be the next dumble.

err.......pardon my lack of knowledge but what's a dumble?
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: gwEm on July 22, 2009, 10:49:09 PM
i don't trust these blackstars. they've been way over-hyped. I thought the artisan 15 i tried was very average. a decent amp, sure, but if you'd read the reviews you'd have thought it was going to be the next dumble.

err.......pardon my lack of knowledge but what's a dumble?

its a boutique amp - one of the first:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumble_Amplifiers
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: dave_mc on July 22, 2009, 10:49:22 PM
^ ^ really expensive custom-made amps. i haven't tried one or anything, just heard of them. they go for silly money.

I could be completely wrong here but I think the artisan was made by a very different design team. Guitarist magazine really liked this amp, so I'm prepared to give it the benefit of a doubt, maybe I'll hate it, but I'd like to try one properly, and the only way to do that is to take one home (but not for a while, my bank account is still recovering from the Diezel rig )

oh yeah, i realise they're completely different types of amps, i just meant that the artisans had been similarly hyped, and didn't live up to it, in my opinion.

but to be honest the biased press they get in magazines like Guitarist is really starting to put me off

yeah, that's what gets me- and also what twinfan is saying, they've got way too big way too quickly, which also makes me suspicious.
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: hunter on July 22, 2009, 11:12:00 PM


Hunter, you should get a Laney GH50L or Vintage Modern head instead :)

Hmmm, I was actually tempted to get the GH100L of the other guitarist in my Metal Band (the guy who just got the Ueber). He sells it for 350€

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm *scratchscratch
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: JDC on July 23, 2009, 06:09:30 AM
wouldn't it be cheaper to just dial in a laney tone on your axe-fx?
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: ailean on July 23, 2009, 06:14:57 AM
oh yeah, i realise they're completely different types of amps, i just meant that the artisans had been similarly hyped, and didn't live up to it, in my opinion.

Fair enough :)
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: gaex86 on July 23, 2009, 09:06:59 AM
just for your knowledge the artisan series is different than the other blackstar-series. The artisan are hand-wired point-to-point construction.
And yes they're made in korea, licensed and engineered in UK!
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Plexi Ken on July 23, 2009, 10:41:51 AM
I always take reviews in the guitar mags with a pinch of slat. When was the last time you saw them give a bad review? Most stuff gets 4/5 even the stuff they're not too keen on gets 3/5  :roll:

Blackstar must have a backer(s), who will look to sell it on after the '5 years plan' is complete. If they can't get a suitable price (low profits, no growth potential), they'll wrap it up. Dave may not like the Artisan but there are a few 'pro' players using them and I think Twinfan and MJW checked then out and thought they were good. But not up to the standards of Martin's own amps  :wink:
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Twinfan on July 23, 2009, 11:11:14 AM
The Artisans I've tried were OK, but they have the "Blackstar problem".  It seems to apply to their pedals and their amps.  The pre-amp is so crammed full of circuit, and some solid state stuff, so the differences between guitars gets lost.  You just get the Blackstar sound.

I disagree with their tagline - "Blackstar - the sound in your head".

It should be "Blackstar - the sound in OUR head"  ;)
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Lew on July 23, 2009, 01:17:02 PM
Yea I agree, but I think that can be said about pretty much all uber high gain amps in general.
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Twinfan on July 23, 2009, 02:00:42 PM
But the Artisans aren't Uber high gain...
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Lew on July 23, 2009, 02:14:32 PM
ah I see :p not familiar with Blackstars, I assumed that's what the Series One is  :lol:
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: dave_mc on July 23, 2009, 08:57:04 PM
oh yeah, i realise they're completely different types of amps, i just meant that the artisans had been similarly hyped, and didn't live up to it, in my opinion.

Fair enough :)

:)

Dave may not like the Artisan but there are a few 'pro' players using them

hmmm, i wonder why... ;)
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: Dreichlift on July 23, 2009, 09:23:59 PM
I really quite like Blackstar, my HT5 does everything I want it to. These new amps are interesting and their power scaling feature is very appealing, from the descriptions I've heard it sounds like power scaling rather than attenuation so shouldn't leech tone when adjusted. Only a test drive will tell.

I loved the big 100W Plexi type head but my quibble with the amps is that they seem to use too much technology to do relatively simple things and so it can take ages to get the sound right. When it is right though it's fantastic. I feel they're concentrating too much on doing it all and not enough on doing the important things properly, some one needs to teach them the K.I.S.S. principle.
Title: Re: GAS!
Post by: HairyChris on July 23, 2009, 11:19:58 PM
The HT-5 is about the only one of their amps that I've been interested in, to be honest. The other stuff... always got the impression that they're trying to be too many things at the same time!