Blackstar amps

[magnifician]

Hi!

Is there anyone here that uses a Blackstar amp?

If so, what is your opinion about it and are you satisfied with it?
+ and - comments please :)

Im thinking of getting a Blackstar ID 30 TVP along with a Boss GT-100 since my favourite guitar player Richie Sambora now uses Blackstar. 

Sorry for my bad english, im Swedish, hope to hear some positive reviews about the Blackstar amps :D

[Brow]

I don't own a Blackstar and haven't used the specific 1 you're asking about but I have used the ID60 head and the ID260 2x12 combo for a few hours each in my friends shop and I'll honestly say they're the best sounding solidstate/modelling amps I've ever used. I really liked the cleans, the higher gain tones were pretty good after some tweaking, but where these let themselves down imo is with the lower gain and crunch tones, just like every other modelling/solidstate amp I've used. They're still lacking a bit in 'feel' in my opinion, but still alot better than others I've tried.

I'm thinking of getting 1 purely for the emulated line out for using on demos at home for when I can't be bothered to drag out a cab and some mics. I haven't used 1 at a gig though and that's the test of an amp for me.

Would I get 1 for home/gig/recording use or as a backup amp: Yes
Would I sell my other amps and replace them with 1 of these for fulltime use: No

[Slartibartfarst42]

I'm not really a fan of solid state modelling amps as they just don't have the same tone and dynamics of a normal valve amp and I really don't think I'd drop that much money on one. Buying this amp just because it's Blackstar and Ritchie Sambora uses Blackstar is a flawed logic as the amp he's using will be a billion miles away from this one. However, even if you do buy it, why on earth buy a GT-100 to go with it? Surely that's overkill as a lot of what it does is amp modelling that's done by the Blackstar already. What's more, the amp doesn't appear to have an effects loop, which means you'll never get the GT-100 to function properly.

On a more positive note, I use a Blackstar HT 60 Soloist and it's a great amp. They make some great gear so I've no doubt this will be good too even if I do find it a bit pricey but if you do get this amp, please drop the idea of the GT-100. It's overkill, you don't need it and it won't work as it should anyway.

[magnifician]

I don't own a Blackstar and haven't used the specific 1 you're asking about but I have used the ID60 head and the ID260 2x12 combo for a few hours each in my friends shop and I'll honestly say they're the best sounding solidstate/modelling amps I've ever used. I really liked the cleans, the higher gain tones were pretty good after some tweaking, but where these let themselves down imo is with the lower gain and crunch tones, just like every other modelling/solidstate amp I've used. They're still lacking a bit in 'feel' in my opinion, but still alot better than others I've tried.

I'm thinking of getting 1 purely for the emulated line out for using on demos at home for when I can't be bothered to drag out a cab and some mics. I haven't used 1 at a gig though and that's the test of an amp for me.

Would I get 1 for home/gig/recording use or as a backup amp: Yes
Would I sell my other amps and replace them with 1 of these for fulltime use: No

Aye, get what you mean! :)

Cheers for the input!

I'm not really a fan of solid state modelling amps as they just don't have the same tone and dynamics of a normal valve amp and I really don't think I'd drop that much money on one. Buying this amp just because it's Blackstar and Ritchie Sambora uses Blackstar is a flawed logic as the amp he's using will be a billion miles away from this one. However, even if you do buy it, why on earth buy a GT-100 to go with it? Surely that's overkill as a lot of what it does is amp modelling that's done by the Blackstar already. What's more, the amp doesn't appear to have an effects loop, which means you'll never get the GT-100 to function properly.

On a more positive note, I use a Blackstar HT 60 Soloist and it's a great amp. They make some great gear so I've no doubt this will be good too even if I do find it a bit pricey but if you do get this amp, please drop the idea of the GT-100. It's overkill, you don't need it and it won't work as it should anyway.

Thanks big time for the input, since im a newbie it feels good to see when someone that knows better talks you down to earth. If i just ignore your post and buy the stuff, i will probably do a big "doh!" knogging on to my head, and you'll sit there and say "I told you so" :D

After i've ready your post i looked alittle further into the GT-100, and yeah, it's really overkill to use the GT-100 with that kind of amp that i first was going for.
And since you do use Blackstar, my guess is that it won't be a waste of money, as long as i get a good one so my GT-100 comes fully to use.

Richie Sambora uses Blackstar now, yeah, and my thought was... "That guy knows what he's doing, and if he enjoys Blackstar, i will probably enjoy it aswell".

Anyways... Appreciate the input, it's a big help for me, and i will look deeper into what Blackstar has to offer. So when i DO buy one, hopefully i won't need to "doh!" myself :)

[Dr.Pain]

I have a Blackstar HT-5RH and a Blackstar HTV-212 cab.  It's a great amp for a small environment but it's a dark sounding amp.  I play metal so I'm pretty much living in the overdrive channel.  I boost mine with an MXR 10 band eq KFK before the amp and it pushes it nicely and with my 7 string with blackouts, it does death metal very well.  Get out my Les Paul and kill the boost it crunches up nicely.  I'm a bedroom player and it suits me and what I do nicely.  However if I wanted something bigger I'd get 5150 III 50 watt.

I can't speak for other Blackstar amps but the HT-5 is cheap and works for me.  It's loud enough without being too loud but it is dark and it's really only good on the overdrive channel.  It's a amped sized distortion pedal.  It's a simple little amp that I just plug into and play.  No messing around with settings, just on and go.

[magnifician]

I have a Blackstar HT-5RH and a Blackstar HTV-212 cab.  It's a great amp for a small environment but it's a dark sounding amp.  I play metal so I'm pretty much living in the overdrive channel.  I boost mine with an MXR 10 band eq KFK before the amp and it pushes it nicely and with my 7 string with blackouts, it does death metal very well.  Get out my Les Paul and kill the boost it crunches up nicely.  I'm a bedroom player and it suits me and what I do nicely.  However if I wanted something bigger I'd get 5150 III 50 watt.

I can't speak for other Blackstar amps but the HT-5 is cheap and works for me.  It's loud enough without being too loud but it is dark and it's really only good on the overdrive channel.  It's a amped sized distortion pedal.  It's a simple little amp that I just plug into and play.  No messing around with settings, just on and go.

Awesome!

"Bedroom player". You, headphones, the amp and overdrive channel. Cool to see that you found your "thing" :)

Im looking after my own thing, will take time and hopefully i'll get there someday.

Nice to see another person enjoying Blackstar :)

Cheers for the input!

[Slartibartfarst42]

We all make mistakes and God knows, I've made more than a few in my time. I have a Blackstar amp now but I've owned a number of others over the years and I've had a couple of multi-fx units over the years too, like the GT-100 so there are some things I'm pretty sure about:

1) IF you buy something like the GT-100 you either need a decent amp with an effects loop (series, not parallel) so you can connect to it using the 4-cable method, or you need any amp with an effects loop so you can connect direct to the effects return, or you need an amp that is largely a 'full range, flat response' system. The Power Engine from Tech 21 is good for that but any powered speaker would do the trick. NOT a modelling amp.

2) If you want to get the Blackstar, try that amp properly by itself first so you know what the core tone is and what it can do by itself. It may be you don't need anything else, in which case you've saved the cost of the GT-100. For all practical purposes you'll need a foot controller for the amp anyway and usually they don't come as standard. If you feel you still need some pedals to get the tone you want, make sure it has an effects loop.

3) Just because Ritchie Sambora likes HIS Blackstar doesn't mean he'd like yours as it's a completely different model. Zakk Wylde can get a great tone from his Marshalls but the Marshall MG is still cr@p even though he endorses it. He's paid to do it otherwise I doubt he would.

4) Look at the used market. You can maybe pick up a better amp for the same money by looking on the used market.

[_tom_]

I had a HT5 for a while and it was nice but I ended up preferring the sound of my Laney at the same volume I used it at. The thing that I didn't like was that it was cr@p at responding to guitar volume changes - I normally set my amps up single channel and adjust the level of dirt with guitar volume but I couldn't do it with the HT5. Great for high gain tones though and pretty versatile with the ISF knob :)

[Dr.Pain]

Awesome!

"Bedroom player". You, headphones, the amp and overdrive channel. Cool to see that you found your "thing" :)

Im looking after my own thing, will take time and hopefully i'll get there someday.

Nice to see another person enjoying Blackstar :)

Cheers for the input!

I don't use headphones with mine.  It's why I went 5 watt so it would be quiet enough that I wouldn't have to use headphones yet good enough to give me volume when I need it without blowing the house a part or hurting my hearing.

[witeter]

When I was hunting for a high gain head I did look into the Blackstar heads. On paper they sounded fantastic, they look great and have really good options and seem very flexible. However the sounds, for what I was looking for anyways, were very underwhelming. It was a shame as I like them as a company and how they try to add their own stamp and ideas onto their amps but they just werent for me. However I use one of their cabs (Artisan 4x12) and its fantastic, build quality-wise and sound-wise.

[Slartibartfarst42]

In the case of my Blackstar, I find it to have a sound that reminds me somewhat of a Marshall but with a more modern edge to it. The clean channel isn't the best but the distortions are excellent, at least for me. I'd buy it again and if I didn't, I'd buy a Fender valve amp for the awesome clean tones and then get my distortion from a pedal like a Blackstar HT-Dual. Best of both worlds then.