Played a Blackstar today

[Eclectifish]

Actually, I played a couple of them. I played on the 5 watter and the 20 watt combo.

The 5 watt would be a pretty good studio amp and home practice amp. At $500 new, though, I'd think a bit before jumping on it. On the other hand, the 20 watter has plenty of headroom for many different styles at only $600. This may be one of the better midrange tube amps I've played. It's very versatile and in that range, I think only the Peavey Classic and Epiphone Blues Custom compare.

It's a very straightforward amp but has plenty of harmonic content. The overdrive on the amp is pretty sweet and the amp has a circuit which allows you to move between a Fenderish tone and a Marshall type tone (or anywhere in between). This really didn't make a lot of difference when playing clean but was pretty cool when you added some gain.

The amp is pretty responsive for the price too. Not at the level of a true boutique amp, but for around half the price of the lowest end boutique rigs, that's not bad at all.

Now, as nice as the amp was, I also played on a Blackstar overdrive pedal. IMO, this pedal was a lot more versatile than the amp. At under $200, that's a heck of a deal, especially if you already have a decent amp. The pedal also has a modeled output jack to go direct into the board that isn't bad at all. The only complaint I have about the pedal at all was that it wasn't as responsive to picking changes as going direct through the amp. FWIW, I've yet to see a pedal that is as responsive as an amp. Overall, though, this is one heck of a pedal.

[bobbyswamp]

Cool review, fish! I've been wondering about those Blackstars. The 20 watter sounds nice. I gotta try one myself, soon...

[Eclectifish]

Originally Posted by bobbyswamp

Cool review, fish! I've been wondering about those Blackstars. The 20 watter sounds nice. I gotta try one myself, soon...

It's kind of funny. In general, Blackstars don't compare, cost for cost, with other amps. The 5 watter is way overpriced, IMO. Once you get up to the 30 watt plus models, you're nearing that $1000 mark where you can find amps which are far superior. But that 20 watter is really priced to sell and a good amp.

It's the pedals which are killer, though.

[m3k]

I played a HT5 combo and I though it was killer. And very loud for a 5watt amp.
Very nice if you're into metal and want a good small tube amp. Or any style for that matter.