I have both. I prefer the Blackstar for its versatility and the fact that all three channels and the boost are all footswitchable without sacrificing one option or the other. And the boost can be set to pre or post. And the XLR out is more configurable and better than the Amp1.
It seems to be a really solid sounding unit from all the demos/reviews I've watched, even though I find the Amped 2 to be the more exciting one. Would be interesting hearing a shootout between the Amped 3, BluGuitar AMP1 Iridium and maybe the H&K BlackSpirit Floor. The Amped 3 is about half the price of those two, but it would still be an interesting comparison.
Man, that amp behind you the deluxe reverb head there is nowhere to be found. I was looking to buy one for more than 2 years. All in all, thanks for what you are doing is great. Great content.
Very cool demo + review ! Thanks Andy! .... but ... but.... WHERE is the Draft Beer Dispenser faucet ? You need to have a good beer when playing guitar !! Its a MUST !
I bought one earlier this year in an effort to downsize and was majorly disappointed. I sold my Blackstar Series One 104 EL34 to buy it and just couldn't get it to do what i wanted. It is quite loud and can keep up with a drummer even at 20 watt but boy does it get shrill when turned up even in the 100 watt mode. Ended up selling it at a massive loss and put the money towards a 6505+.
Holy shit, the riff you play at 12:27 is exactly something I'd written, but in drop G, way back in '99.. Is that from anything, and I didn't realize it???
Brittle and harsh is good. Think punk 1977. Love this ! - would love to to do a bit of Clash or Sex Pistols. If you did what would you use to get this sound ? Challange ! 😊
I have this thing. I only use it for power and clean tone. WOrks well with a modler but as a stand alone amp, it is trash. The crunch tones beyond break up are just harsh and chainsaw sounding. Just had to check a couple videos to see if it was me or this amp before I sold it. Thanks for confirming the sale!
All the cleaner sounds were decent I think, the other channels had that 'blackstar top end' that is something ive found some people can hear and hate, and some it doesn't bother at all. I fall into the I can hear it and don't like it camp lol
I'm curious who is after this, personally. Not that it's bad or even unwarranted. It feels like a very unique attack is all. I think you are and have easily become my favourite rig channel if only because you have a mix of talent, personality and a need for balance. You don't say "I love this brand, and this brand did a thing" and this goes wickedly far. It's just forward, does it work, gig or sound good. I love it. You just attack things at sound, and it's glorious. Please do not shift from this, because I know you will gain legs and grow with this.
Thanks for your intelligent and insightful words. I think there’s too much negativity around these days and even the stuff that isn’t perfect doesn’t need to be attacked too hard. I don’t wanna come across as a fanboy but so much gear is great these days, the bar has been raised
I have an Amp1 ME. I also have this one. They are nothing alike. The Blackstar is much more versatile with fully footswitchable 3 channels, a footswitchable boost that can be configured either pre for more gain or post for more volume, and an XLR out with fully programmable cab choices. I used the BluGuitar for about a year but was never totally happy with it because of the lack of footswitchable options and no footswitchable volume boost. This Blackstar is almost the perfect pedalboard amp. The only flaws I've found is that even though it claims to be a 100 watt amp, its max volume is nowhere near as loud as a 100 watt tube amp, but that's fine since at gigs I just set it to 20 watts and run the DI out through the PA. Also the volume of the clean channel is quite a bit lower than the volume of the overdrive channels.
@@guitarman3001 Hey, thanks for the user feedback, I found it useful. The reason I commented on the subject is I had recently seen an episode of Thomas Blug’s (Amp 1) UA-cam channel, where he directly addressed this range of Blackstar products. His position was a bit critical, as he felt (my impression) it was a potential copyright infringement, and inferior imitation. In any case, I like the design features, and would love to play one. Cheers~
@@BigMikeGuitar You can't copyright or patent a circuit. As for the name, an amp company using the word "Amped" in the name of one of their products is hardly worth even mentioning. Blackstar also has the Amped 1 and the Amped 2. Big deal. BluGuitar uses the word Amp, not Amped. Blug sounds like a real character. First he's the inventor of the pedalboard amp, now he owns the word "Amp" and any derivative of it. lol... While his product may or may not be superior, they are completely different amps. The Amped 3 is a solid-state pedalboard version of Blackstar's HT amp line. Is Blug saying that the Blackstar HT amps are also copies of his Amp1, just in a different form factor (which would invalidate his claim anyway)? Like I've said, the Amp1 has a whole bunch of great tones in it but it lacks the versatility and features of the Amped 3 or the HT amps, of which I have two. I also said elsewhere that when I first say the Amped 3 my first thought was "cool, a pedalboard version of my HT amps!", not "oh look... a clone of the Amp1."
lol... I have the BluGuitar Amp1. The Blackstar does a LOT more things than the Amp1. Hardly a copy of it. There are a million pedalboard/floor amps available on the market. I suppose they are all copies of the BluGuitar??
So I tried one out for a couple of weeks. It sounded great in the store and terrible outside. The difference was the cabinet and in particular the speakers. The display was with a St James 2*12 for $750 USD, which is pricey and on top of the $720 USD for the pedal. My cabinet at home is a 2*12 with Vintage 30s. The amp sounded harsh and brittle. It's a bad copy of the Bluguitar Amp 1. Then there's the whole fiasco of getting these serviced. You can't. There are zero authorized US repair centers, and I have extreme doubt any outside of the UK. Amp techs will laugh at you for most any Black Star gear as there are very few schematics and zero official ones. So just skip this and get a Tonex 1 and a Quilter Toneblock 202. Get all the sounds you need with something you know will be reliable.
I own this and a BluGuitar Amp1. Until I read the comments here it never crossed my mind that it was attempting to be a copy of the Amp1. I don't know how anyone got the idea that any pedalboard amp is somehow trying to be a copy of the Amp1. I also have an H&K Ampman Classic and if anything, that one is more of a copy of the Amp1, or maybe the Amp1 is a copy of the H&K..... Come on people, not every pedalboard amp is a copy of the BluGuitar, which may itself be a copy of the H&K.
@guitarman3001 first, how do you like the Bluguitar Amp1? Second, it's not about the form factor. MXR has been making a tiny pedal based power amp for decades. Thomas explains well what the ethical problems are. It's not about being sensitive, it's about ethics. BTW, Thomas worked for decades with H&K designing multiple products.
@@tommanseau6277 The Amp1 has some great sounds but it lacks a lot of features I need in a gig setting so I have it sitting on a shelf right now. Been using the Blackstar Amped3 and it works much better for me. I've had the BluGuitar for a few years now and the Amped 3 for 7 or 8 months or so and never, not once, even imagined that it was an attempt to copy the Amp1. Other than they are inspired by Marshall tones, like almost every other amps, and the fact that they are pedalboard amps, like a bunch of other pedalboard amps, they are as different to me as a Mesa Triple Rec is to a Supro. I have a couple of Blacktar HT amps and am familiar with their controls and layout. When I first saw the Amped 3 my first thought was "Oh cool, a pedalboard version of their HT amps", not "oh look...a copy of a a BluGuitar." And after owning and playing both, my impression is still the same. It's a solid-state pedalboard version of the HT amps. The BluGuitar does not provide full access to its three channels PLUS a footswitchable boost configurable for pre or post PLUS independent EQ settings for all three channels, PLUS different tube emulations, PLUS a wattage setting selectable on the fly, PLUS built in cab sims, PLUS two voices for each channel and an ISF control (a distinct feature of the HT and other Blackstar amps) and the list goes on. Sorry, not even close. They both do clean, classic, and modern tones. That's about as close as they get.
I agree it sounds crap , so many better options in this price range, i appreciate your honesty, can't figure why Cameron Cooper loves these so much , maybe he knows something i don't about how to get good sounds out of it but ..this is the last thing i'd drop my hard earned cash on
I have no idea what goes on behind closed doors at either of those companies but I own both the BluGuitar and this one and never in my wildest dreams thought one was a copy of the other. They are entirely different amps.
You would be 100% wrong. I've been gigging with it in two bands for about 7 or 8 months now and it does not get lost at all. It all depends how you set the EQ.
I have the Blackstar ID 30 TVP and without connecting it to my PA it's very difficult to get the right tone I'm looking for. So you are not wrong that's its taking you some time to dial in a Tone that's usable I'm very familiar with the struggle. $699.00 nope $299.00 maybe
some amazing extras , great power input , fx loop and 9 volt power outs , am crunch person , why did'nt they tweak the sounds at source re over drive / light gain , love Blackstar gear but not this
I never liked the crunch of Blackstar low budget amps , but at 500 £ definitively they have no excuse, I love the brand BTW, but my experience with Blackstar is not as good as my expectations 😔.
Can someone explain to me why I saw the thumbnail and said to myself “haha that would be wild if this was actually that big. Fun photoshopping done right there” and then I click on the video mostly to see how big the pedal actually is and as soon as I see the pedal I’m shocked that it’s smaller than the thumbnail. You know the obviously enlarged thumbnail…. But I’m surprised it’s not that large. wtf is wrong with my brain?!
10:49 wouldn't it make more sense to get a DSM & Humboldt Simplifier? Both the MKII and, if you want two amps in one, the DLX are 100 euros cheaper than this, both are analogue, both weight less than half a kilo instead of 2,5 kilos, and both are actually pedalboard friendly not like this ginormous thing haha
Didn't they rip off another company all the way to the point of stealing the name for this product. Also why do all the amp techs refuse to work on blackstar amps and say they suck?
I suspect being very dense PCB amps, they're just harder to work on, just like Mesa amps. This thing is probably all surface mount, which is an extra nightmare. But I think a lot of the Blackstar hate isn't deserved. I think some people on some forum somewhere decided a couple decades ago they're not a fashionable brand, and guitarists being guitarists, it just stuck. Marshall went through a period of being unfashionable, that was right around the time Blackstar got started up.
I got a Blackstar St James for cheap and wanted to change the tubes. For context, I have rebuilt or modified 15 amps. Changing tubes is not hard. Their PCB is insane. Multiple trimmers in random spots and no obvious bias points. I did ask Blackstar and they said “users can’t change their own tubes. Please go to a certified Blackstar amp tech.” Pass… sold it. It did not sound great anyways…
The other guitarist in my band uses an Amped 3, it sounds ok. It's not great, it's serviceable I guess. We play fairly heavy stuff. I use the smaller Amped 1 on clean with a Boss OD-200 for a variety of overdrives and distortions. IMO it's a much better option for a fly-rig as the cleans are pretty decent and it saves me lugging a head to gigs and rehearsals. It's half the size of the Amped 3 and allows you to add your own OD pedal.
"What Blackstar AMPED 3 Does Better than YOUR amp" Well, to be honest, nothing. The Amped 3 sounds horrible, my old ZOOM505 sounds the same or even better, oh my godness! PS: Why did you cover the "big G" brand name on your SG?
I don't think you like it because you're not interacting with the master, which I presume it relates to the poweramp section including the powertube options
That harshness you’re hearing is inherent in digital EQ’s and unfortunately, electronically speaking, there’s no way around it, which is why I don’t like products like this
No, it's not. I don't know if they stole anything from Blug but if they did, this amp isn't it. This is nothing more than a solid state pedalboard version of their HT series with a couple of additional options.
except for the fact that the gain channels are so quiet compared to the clean and crunch it makes it useless in a live application. i had 2 units and 1 replaced under warranty and the second returned immediately for the same issue. great design but flawed in execution. the amped one was better to run with my helix using it as a power amp mainly. until i fried 2 of them. blackstar isn’t responding to me to replace the second unit.
I don't claim to be a tone or gear savant, but this pedal amp seems pretty uninspiring. All the elements are there for it to be a really useful piece of gear, but it seems like you'll be spend more time tweaking the settings than playing it to get a sound you like out of it. You could get useful (or even good) sounds out of it, but there are other pedal amps with similar features that can get you there faster.
I've tried several of the others. Most recently an H&K Ampman Classic and the BluGuitar Amp1 ME. The Blackstar does a lot more than either of those and while some may prefer the tones from one or both of them to the Blackstar's tones, that is subjective. Personally I think that on a 1:1 comparison, the best tone achievable from the Amp1 is "better" than the best tone achievable from the Blackstar but the Amp1 lacks the features I need for my cover bands. The Blackstar has pretty much everything and it sounds good enough that I enjoy playing it. I consider it a working man's amp. Three channels, two voices for each channel, full-featured footswitching (something sorely lacking in the Amp1 unless you get an additional controller that's as big as my entire damn pedalboard...kinda defeats the purpose), switchable wattage that can be switched on the fly, footswitchable boost that can be set pre for more gain or post for more volume for leads, built-in and fully configurable cab sims and IRs, and a whole bunch of other stuff it can do. It did not take me more than 15 minutes to dial in the sounds I like. Took me a lot longer to dial in the BluGuitar. By far the simplest one to dial in is the H&K Ampman Classic but I stopped using it because one of the footswitches started going bad. But the Amped3 sounds decent enough and gives me all of the features I need, which is something the BluGuitar doesn't do and the H&K no longer does after one of the footswitches died.
Yikes, those high gain metal tones are cringy ... and don't think the problem is you Andy ... it sounds sterile and processed. Hard pass for me. The clean and crunch though sound quite good, so Amped 1 would be a better option because the high gain channel leaves a lot to be disered.
Your Blackstar HT Stage 100 is also a full sized tube amp. Different use case. My Friedman and Mesa are also better than the Blackstar Amped3 but guess which one I gig with 4 or 5 times a month and which ones stay home looking nice sitting on a shelf?
Class D has a gross amount of intermodulation distortion and harmonic distortion. Pulse Width Modulation should be relegated to industrial motor speed controllers and not for audio purposes. Sure it's light and small and loud but it just sounds like dog sh*t.
lol...why do you people keep saying this? I own both and other than the fact that they are pedalboard amps, like many others on the market, I don't find them even remotely similar any more than a Mesa Triple Rec is a ripoff of a Marshall JCM800.
I must defend Thomas Blug and say bluguitar amp1 mercury is the original and they stole his product into a shitty digital version ...amp1 mercury edition is absolutely amazing...
I must defend reality from the hysterical Blug fanbois. 1. Blug is not the inventor of the pedalboard amp form factor. 2. The Amped3 is simply a solid-state pedalboard version of the Blackstar HT series. I suppose you're going to claim that the HT design was also stolen from Blug? 3. The Amped3 has about a million more features and functions than the BluGuitar Amp1. 4. I own both of them and the Amped3 is exactly NOTHING like the Amp1. Their commonality is that they are pedalboard amps, just like a Marshall JCM800 head and a Mesa Mark V head are both amp heads. There are currently numerous pedalboard amps on the market with a full set of features like multiple channels, FX loop, etc. Sorry but Blug is not the inventor of pedalboard amps. He simply makes a couple of them. Like many other amp companies that also make pedalboard amps. Sounds like he's just pissed because someone built a better mousetrap and is outselling him. The BluGuitar Amp1 has some great tones but it lacks the features and functionality of other pedalboard amps like the Amped3 and the H&K Ampman series. Blug and his crazy followers would be better off spending their time figuring out how to redesign the Amp1 so it competes with the features of other pedalboard amps that are outselling it.
Don't believe everything you hear on the internet. Yes, I've seen the video where the bluguitar guy says he saw the Blackstar product and immediately knew they had tried to rip off something from the power amplifier circuit of his amp1 product. That's a bold claim to make without having seen the circuit. Let's set aside that their preamps are completely different, which should really be enough to settle the debate. Blackstar's modeling software is proprietary and has 0 in common with the amp1 preamp circuit. He says they copied something from his power amp circuit but didn't understand it and therefore it doesn't actually work how it was intended to. Ok, so then it's not a "ripoff" of his product if it doesn't do what his product does or claim to, is it? If he has a patent protected circuit design, I'd be happy to compare the two and determine if there is any infringement. Otherwise, it looks more like his feelings are hurt that his product wasn't as successful, which has little to nothing to do with its design. Fwiw, I think the bluguitar amp1 is a superior product from a performance perspective, but the business failed to sell it to a broader market. The Blackstar is a good product for what it is at the price point, but it doesn't appear to be a "ripoff" in any meaningful sense.
@@tonekilltech Couldn't have said it better. Sounds like sour grapes from a guy whose competition is outselling him. I have both the Amp1 and the Blackstar Amped 3. If I was looking to dial in one perfect sound I'd probably go with the Amp1 but as a gigging guitarist I need several sounds and the ability to footswitch between all of them without requiring an additional footswitch. The Amped 3 gives me all of that, the BluGuitar does not. Blug just sounds pissed that Blackstar built a better mousetrap even if his mousetrap is a little better at catching one particular species of mouse. A BluGuitar Amp1 with all of the features and functionality of the Amped3 would be a masterpiece. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist. But the Amp1 and Amped 3 are very different amps.
I'm still sold on the BluGuitar AMP1s. They're just SOLID.
Me too!
I have both. I prefer the Blackstar for its versatility and the fact that all three channels and the boost are all footswitchable without sacrificing one option or the other. And the boost can be set to pre or post. And the XLR out is more configurable and better than the Amp1.
Damn that thumbnail really duped me. I thought it was gonna be massive 😂
I thought the crunch you ended up with sounded really good!
It seems to be a really solid sounding unit from all the demos/reviews I've watched, even though I find the Amped 2 to be the more exciting one. Would be interesting hearing a shootout between the Amped 3, BluGuitar AMP1 Iridium and maybe the H&K BlackSpirit Floor. The Amped 3 is about half the price of those two, but it would still be an interesting comparison.
Man, that amp behind you the deluxe reverb head there is nowhere to be found. I was looking to buy one for more than 2 years. All in all, thanks for what you are doing is great. Great content.
Very cool demo + review ! Thanks Andy! .... but ... but.... WHERE is the Draft Beer Dispenser faucet ?
You need to have a good beer when playing guitar !! Its a MUST !
I bought one earlier this year in an effort to downsize and was majorly disappointed. I sold my Blackstar Series One 104 EL34 to buy it and just couldn't get it to do what i wanted. It is quite loud and can keep up with a drummer even at 20 watt but boy does it get shrill when turned up even in the 100 watt mode. Ended up selling it at a massive loss and put the money towards a 6505+.
I've heard good stuff about Masking Tape SG's are you gonna review it?
Holy shit, the riff you play at 12:27 is exactly something I'd written, but in drop G, way back in '99.. Is that from anything, and I didn't realize it???
Just something I jammed! We are RIFF BROTHERS
Brittle and harsh is good. Think punk 1977. Love this ! - would love to to do a bit of Clash or Sex Pistols. If you did what would you use to get this sound ? Challange ! 😊
I have this thing. I only use it for power and clean tone. WOrks well with a modler but as a stand alone amp, it is trash. The crunch tones beyond break up are just harsh and chainsaw sounding. Just had to check a couple videos to see if it was me or this amp before I sold it. Thanks for confirming the sale!
That pedal is basically for Hardcore music / Deathmetal ,thrash as well especially with another pedal in front of it if you want like a 33
All the cleaner sounds were decent I think, the other channels had that 'blackstar top end' that is something ive found some people can hear and hate, and some it doesn't bother at all. I fall into the I can hear it and don't like it camp lol
I'm curious who is after this, personally. Not that it's bad or even unwarranted. It feels like a very unique attack is all.
I think you are and have easily become my favourite rig channel if only because you have a mix of talent, personality and a need for balance. You don't say "I love this brand, and this brand did a thing" and this goes wickedly far. It's just forward, does it work, gig or sound good. I love it. You just attack things at sound, and it's glorious. Please do not shift from this, because I know you will gain legs and grow with this.
Thanks for your intelligent and insightful words. I think there’s too much negativity around these days and even the stuff that isn’t perfect doesn’t need to be attacked too hard.
I don’t wanna come across as a fanboy but so much gear is great these days, the bar has been raised
@@TheGuitarGeek I really feel the same way most of the time.
Some might be happier with the BluGuitar Amp1 Mercury Edition, which (allegedly) the Blackstar product imperfectly impersonates.
I have an Amp1 ME. I also have this one. They are nothing alike. The Blackstar is much more versatile with fully footswitchable 3 channels, a footswitchable boost that can be configured either pre for more gain or post for more volume, and an XLR out with fully programmable cab choices. I used the BluGuitar for about a year but was never totally happy with it because of the lack of footswitchable options and no footswitchable volume boost. This Blackstar is almost the perfect pedalboard amp. The only flaws I've found is that even though it claims to be a 100 watt amp, its max volume is nowhere near as loud as a 100 watt tube amp, but that's fine since at gigs I just set it to 20 watts and run the DI out through the PA. Also the volume of the clean channel is quite a bit lower than the volume of the overdrive channels.
@@guitarman3001 Hey, thanks for the user feedback, I found it useful. The reason I commented on the subject is I had recently seen an episode of Thomas Blug’s (Amp 1) UA-cam channel, where he directly addressed this range of Blackstar products. His position was a bit critical, as he felt (my impression) it was a potential copyright infringement, and inferior imitation. In any case, I like the design features, and would love to play one. Cheers~
@@BigMikeGuitar You can't copyright or patent a circuit. As for the name, an amp company using the word "Amped" in the name of one of their products is hardly worth even mentioning. Blackstar also has the Amped 1 and the Amped 2. Big deal. BluGuitar uses the word Amp, not Amped. Blug sounds like a real character. First he's the inventor of the pedalboard amp, now he owns the word "Amp" and any derivative of it. lol... While his product may or may not be superior, they are completely different amps. The Amped 3 is a solid-state pedalboard version of Blackstar's HT amp line. Is Blug saying that the Blackstar HT amps are also copies of his Amp1, just in a different form factor (which would invalidate his claim anyway)? Like I've said, the Amp1 has a whole bunch of great tones in it but it lacks the versatility and features of the Amped 3 or the HT amps, of which I have two. I also said elsewhere that when I first say the Amped 3 my first thought was "cool, a pedalboard version of my HT amps!", not "oh look... a clone of the Amp1."
Bluguitar Amp 1 is the ONE and only!
Flamps are cool.
Floor amps? Floor heads? If backline cabs are available why haul one?
Certainly does a better job at stealing technology, than my amps XD
Black star struggle with low to mid gain sounds. Very clean and mushy thrash seen to be their fortes.
My mkiii has the best low gain I've played through. The high gain is a little too hair metal for me but it's not bad.
Nice review. Seems really cool. Not sure it is for me.
Good old Blackstar, the company that ripped off Thomas Blug.
lol... I have the BluGuitar Amp1. The Blackstar does a LOT more things than the Amp1. Hardly a copy of it. There are a million pedalboard/floor amps available on the market. I suppose they are all copies of the BluGuitar??
So I tried one out for a couple of weeks. It sounded great in the store and terrible outside. The difference was the cabinet and in particular the speakers. The display was with a St James 2*12 for $750 USD, which is pricey and on top of the $720 USD for the pedal. My cabinet at home is a 2*12 with Vintage 30s. The amp sounded harsh and brittle. It's a bad copy of the Bluguitar Amp 1. Then there's the whole fiasco of getting these serviced. You can't. There are zero authorized US repair centers, and I have extreme doubt any outside of the UK. Amp techs will laugh at you for most any Black Star gear as there are very few schematics and zero official ones. So just skip this and get a Tonex 1 and a Quilter Toneblock 202. Get all the sounds you need with something you know will be reliable.
I own this and a BluGuitar Amp1. Until I read the comments here it never crossed my mind that it was attempting to be a copy of the Amp1. I don't know how anyone got the idea that any pedalboard amp is somehow trying to be a copy of the Amp1. I also have an H&K Ampman Classic and if anything, that one is more of a copy of the Amp1, or maybe the Amp1 is a copy of the H&K..... Come on people, not every pedalboard amp is a copy of the BluGuitar, which may itself be a copy of the H&K.
@guitarman3001 first, how do you like the Bluguitar Amp1? Second, it's not about the form factor. MXR has been making a tiny pedal based power amp for decades.
Thomas explains well what the ethical problems are. It's not about being sensitive, it's about ethics. BTW, Thomas worked for decades with H&K designing multiple products.
@@tommanseau6277 The Amp1 has some great sounds but it lacks a lot of features I need in a gig setting so I have it sitting on a shelf right now. Been using the Blackstar Amped3 and it works much better for me.
I've had the BluGuitar for a few years now and the Amped 3 for 7 or 8 months or so and never, not once, even imagined that it was an attempt to copy the Amp1. Other than they are inspired by Marshall tones, like almost every other amps, and the fact that they are pedalboard amps, like a bunch of other pedalboard amps, they are as different to me as a Mesa Triple Rec is to a Supro.
I have a couple of Blacktar HT amps and am familiar with their controls and layout. When I first saw the Amped 3 my first thought was "Oh cool, a pedalboard version of their HT amps", not "oh look...a copy of a a BluGuitar." And after owning and playing both, my impression is still the same. It's a solid-state pedalboard version of the HT amps. The BluGuitar does not provide full access to its three channels PLUS a footswitchable boost configurable for pre or post PLUS independent EQ settings for all three channels, PLUS different tube emulations, PLUS a wattage setting selectable on the fly, PLUS built in cab sims, PLUS two voices for each channel and an ISF control (a distinct feature of the HT and other Blackstar amps) and the list goes on. Sorry, not even close. They both do clean, classic, and modern tones. That's about as close as they get.
I wonder if the crunch with a different speaker would sound like the sound you are after.
I’ll wait for the real deal.❤ blug
the chime is now
What's up with the Warlock behind you? Nice.
You mean the stranger things Warlock that I play in this video? Nice isn’t it!
@@TheGuitarGeek had watched that far when I commented. Lol 😆
Just increase the gain on Crunch 1 and thick the tone up. Maybe it helps
Andy! Are you beefing with Gibson? :D
Could be the cab, but there definitely felt like a hole in the mid range which made me not like either the crunch or the OD channels.
great demo. i prefer the AMPED 2 though. This one just sounds too scoopy
I agree it sounds crap , so many better options in this price range, i appreciate your honesty, can't figure why Cameron Cooper loves these so much , maybe he knows something i don't about how to get good sounds out of it but ..this is the last thing i'd drop my hard earned cash on
so I heard how they made a bad copy of the Bluguitar product with the amp thing , is Blackstar just a rip off company ?
I have no idea what goes on behind closed doors at either of those companies but I own both the BluGuitar and this one and never in my wildest dreams thought one was a copy of the other. They are entirely different amps.
@@guitarman3001 would you recommend one over the other, or are they different enough that one could get both for different tones?
I'm no expert but I feel those Crunch and OD tones would get lost in a band mix with the high hats etc. Far too 'angry wasp'
No, that's just Andy not EQ'ing it for a mix, haha
You would be 100% wrong. I've been gigging with it in two bands for about 7 or 8 months now and it does not get lost at all. It all depends how you set the EQ.
I have the Blackstar ID 30 TVP and without connecting it to my PA it's very difficult to get the right tone I'm looking for. So you are not wrong that's its taking you some time to dial in a Tone that's usable I'm very familiar with the struggle. $699.00 nope $299.00 maybe
I'll give Blackstar this: their £500 all-in-one sure can do a pretty solid DS-1 sound.
some amazing extras , great power input , fx loop and 9 volt power outs , am crunch person , why did'nt they tweak the sounds at source re over drive / light gain , love Blackstar gear but not this
I never liked the crunch of Blackstar low budget amps , but at 500 £ definitively they have no excuse, I love the brand BTW, but my experience with Blackstar is not as good as my expectations 😔.
hey what brand is that sg guitar?
Gibson!
😂😂😂😂😂😂
Can someone explain to me why I saw the thumbnail and said to myself “haha that would be wild if this was actually that big. Fun photoshopping done right there” and then I click on the video mostly to see how big the pedal actually is and as soon as I see the pedal I’m shocked that it’s smaller than the thumbnail. You know the obviously enlarged thumbnail…. But I’m surprised it’s not that large. wtf is wrong with my brain?!
10:49 wouldn't it make more sense to get a DSM & Humboldt Simplifier? Both the MKII and, if you want two amps in one, the DLX are 100 euros cheaper than this, both are analogue, both weight less than half a kilo instead of 2,5 kilos, and both are actually pedalboard friendly not like this ginormous thing haha
Why do you have tape over the Gibson logo?
Didn't they rip off another company all the way to the point of stealing the name for this product. Also why do all the amp techs refuse to work on blackstar amps and say they suck?
I suspect being very dense PCB amps, they're just harder to work on, just like Mesa amps. This thing is probably all surface mount, which is an extra nightmare.
But I think a lot of the Blackstar hate isn't deserved. I think some people on some forum somewhere decided a couple decades ago they're not a fashionable brand, and guitarists being guitarists, it just stuck. Marshall went through a period of being unfashionable, that was right around the time Blackstar got started up.
Exactly, the amped is just a cheap copy of the amp1 and doesnt sound nearly as good
I got a Blackstar St James for cheap and wanted to change the tubes. For context, I have rebuilt or modified 15 amps. Changing tubes is not hard. Their PCB is insane. Multiple trimmers in random spots and no obvious bias points. I did ask Blackstar and they said “users can’t change their own tubes. Please go to a certified Blackstar amp tech.” Pass… sold it. It did not sound great anyways…
Who could say? Not a million miles away from the name of BluGuitar's AMP1 though...and from what I understand, similar design...
Hold my beer, Behringer IT BETTER ALL BE THERE WHEN I GET BACK…
Oh! Is this the ripoff of the BluGuitar?
I own both and I don't think so. Isn't the BluGuitar a ripoff of the H&K?
I found them quite harsh no matter what. That's why i sent my Amped 3 back.
It fI’m want sound right. It sounds broken or unfinished. Or like a beta prototype. The eq overall, like you said, is not set correctly.
The other guitarist in my band uses an Amped 3, it sounds ok. It's not great, it's serviceable I guess. We play fairly heavy stuff.
I use the smaller Amped 1 on clean with a Boss OD-200 for a variety of overdrives and distortions. IMO it's a much better option for a fly-rig as the cleans are pretty decent and it saves me lugging a head to gigs and rehearsals. It's half the size of the Amped 3 and allows you to add your own OD pedal.
I’m late!
You’re not the only one
"What Blackstar AMPED 3 Does Better than YOUR amp"
Well, to be honest, nothing. The Amped 3 sounds horrible, my old ZOOM505 sounds the same or even better, oh my godness!
PS: Why did you cover the "big G" brand name on your SG?
I don't think you like it because you're not interacting with the master, which I presume it relates to the poweramp section including the powertube options
I messed about with the master a lot but not always on camera. I’m satisfied with my verdict but it’s still usable
That harshness you’re hearing is inherent in digital EQ’s and unfortunately, electronically speaking, there’s no way around it, which is why I don’t like products like this
First impression…. You’re going to snap off those tiny toggle switches if you have this on a pedal board
Almost certainly not
@@TheGuitarGeek dark stage, big feet, late nights. Stomping buttons, yea. Tiny toggles are perfectly safe. 😂
How in the world would you manage to do that? You must have some very strangely shaped feet.
32 seconds in Channel 3. All the things the fear about gear like this. Sounds like a Metal Zone in a 5 inch tin speaker. Yuck!
Isn't this the one they stole the design of from Thomas Blug?
If so... maybe don't feature that exact product?
No, it's not. I don't know if they stole anything from Blug but if they did, this amp isn't it. This is nothing more than a solid state pedalboard version of their HT series with a couple of additional options.
except for the fact that the gain channels are so quiet compared to the clean and crunch it makes it useless in a live application. i had 2 units and 1 replaced under warranty and the second returned immediately for the same issue. great design but flawed in execution. the amped one was better to run with my helix using it as a power amp mainly. until i fried 2 of them. blackstar isn’t responding to me to replace the second unit.
Can of bees
🤣
on crack?
That’s our new band name
So, you're deaf then? Gotcha. You should get some hearing aids, man.
I don't claim to be a tone or gear savant, but this pedal amp seems pretty uninspiring. All the elements are there for it to be a really useful piece of gear, but it seems like you'll be spend more time tweaking the settings than playing it to get a sound you like out of it. You could get useful (or even good) sounds out of it, but there are other pedal amps with similar features that can get you there faster.
Yes BlueAmp
I've tried several of the others. Most recently an H&K Ampman Classic and the BluGuitar Amp1 ME. The Blackstar does a lot more than either of those and while some may prefer the tones from one or both of them to the Blackstar's tones, that is subjective. Personally I think that on a 1:1 comparison, the best tone achievable from the Amp1 is "better" than the best tone achievable from the Blackstar but the Amp1 lacks the features I need for my cover bands. The Blackstar has pretty much everything and it sounds good enough that I enjoy playing it. I consider it a working man's amp. Three channels, two voices for each channel, full-featured footswitching (something sorely lacking in the Amp1 unless you get an additional controller that's as big as my entire damn pedalboard...kinda defeats the purpose), switchable wattage that can be switched on the fly, footswitchable boost that can be set pre for more gain or post for more volume for leads, built-in and fully configurable cab sims and IRs, and a whole bunch of other stuff it can do. It did not take me more than 15 minutes to dial in the sounds I like. Took me a lot longer to dial in the BluGuitar.
By far the simplest one to dial in is the H&K Ampman Classic but I stopped using it because one of the footswitches started going bad. But the Amped3 sounds decent enough and gives me all of the features I need, which is something the BluGuitar doesn't do and the H&K no longer does after one of the footswitches died.
Marshalls are Nasaly and boogies have the bass
It is somehow sad to see how the guitar industry is being taken over by products that will spend most of their lifetime as electronic waste.
You're missing something. It's not the guitar industry, it's the entire consumer electronics market.
Jar of schizophrenic wasps 🧐
Yikes, those high gain metal tones are cringy ... and don't think the problem is you Andy ... it sounds sterile and processed. Hard pass for me. The clean and crunch though sound quite good, so Amped 1 would be a better option because the high gain channel leaves a lot to be disered.
My Blackstar HT Stage 100 MK1 is better
Your Blackstar HT Stage 100 is also a full sized tube amp. Different use case. My Friedman and Mesa are also better than the Blackstar Amped3 but guess which one I gig with 4 or 5 times a month and which ones stay home looking nice sitting on a shelf?
Class D has a gross amount of intermodulation distortion and harmonic distortion. Pulse Width Modulation should be relegated to industrial motor speed controllers and not for audio purposes. Sure it's light and small and loud but it just sounds like dog sh*t.
Amped 3 is just a rip off of a great product it hardly competes with : Bluguitar amp1
Good lord...no, it's not. It does a million things the BluGuitar does not do.
They ripped off Thomas Blug
lol...why do you people keep saying this? I own both and other than the fact that they are pedalboard amps, like many others on the market, I don't find them even remotely similar any more than a Mesa Triple Rec is a ripoff of a Marshall JCM800.
No thanks.
I must defend Thomas Blug and say bluguitar amp1 mercury is the original and they stole his product into a shitty digital version ...amp1 mercury edition is absolutely amazing...
I must defend reality from the hysterical Blug fanbois. 1. Blug is not the inventor of the pedalboard amp form factor. 2. The Amped3 is simply a solid-state pedalboard version of the Blackstar HT series. I suppose you're going to claim that the HT design was also stolen from Blug? 3. The Amped3 has about a million more features and functions than the BluGuitar Amp1. 4. I own both of them and the Amped3 is exactly NOTHING like the Amp1. Their commonality is that they are pedalboard amps, just like a Marshall JCM800 head and a Mesa Mark V head are both amp heads. There are currently numerous pedalboard amps on the market with a full set of features like multiple channels, FX loop, etc. Sorry but Blug is not the inventor of pedalboard amps. He simply makes a couple of them. Like many other amp companies that also make pedalboard amps.
Sounds like he's just pissed because someone built a better mousetrap and is outselling him. The BluGuitar Amp1 has some great tones but it lacks the features and functionality of other pedalboard amps like the Amped3 and the H&K Ampman series.
Blug and his crazy followers would be better off spending their time figuring out how to redesign the Amp1 so it competes with the features of other pedalboard amps that are outselling it.
Better than my amps? LOL ahahahahaha BS
I think it’s better than your amps because they’re not mine so of course it sounds better.
🤣
We found the dinosaur. 😂😂
Sounds like a tin can
This is a rip-off stolen from bluguitar thrash trash
No, it's a pedalboard version of Blackstar's own HT series. Are you really saying the Blackstar HT amps were ripped off from Blug?
Cheap clone junk.
BOOO!!! Blackstar ripped this product off. For shame. Thumbs down.
Don't believe everything you hear on the internet. Yes, I've seen the video where the bluguitar guy says he saw the Blackstar product and immediately knew they had tried to rip off something from the power amplifier circuit of his amp1 product. That's a bold claim to make without having seen the circuit. Let's set aside that their preamps are completely different, which should really be enough to settle the debate. Blackstar's modeling software is proprietary and has 0 in common with the amp1 preamp circuit. He says they copied something from his power amp circuit but didn't understand it and therefore it doesn't actually work how it was intended to. Ok, so then it's not a "ripoff" of his product if it doesn't do what his product does or claim to, is it? If he has a patent protected circuit design, I'd be happy to compare the two and determine if there is any infringement. Otherwise, it looks more like his feelings are hurt that his product wasn't as successful, which has little to nothing to do with its design. Fwiw, I think the bluguitar amp1 is a superior product from a performance perspective, but the business failed to sell it to a broader market. The Blackstar is a good product for what it is at the price point, but it doesn't appear to be a "ripoff" in any meaningful sense.
@@tonekilltech Couldn't have said it better. Sounds like sour grapes from a guy whose competition is outselling him. I have both the Amp1 and the Blackstar Amped 3. If I was looking to dial in one perfect sound I'd probably go with the Amp1 but as a gigging guitarist I need several sounds and the ability to footswitch between all of them without requiring an additional footswitch. The Amped 3 gives me all of that, the BluGuitar does not. Blug just sounds pissed that Blackstar built a better mousetrap even if his mousetrap is a little better at catching one particular species of mouse. A BluGuitar Amp1 with all of the features and functionality of the Amped3 would be a masterpiece. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist. But the Amp1 and Amped 3 are very different amps.
Can channels with different EQ be stored? or is the equalizer shared? Thank you
Yes, each channel can be saved with its own EQ settings.