First off I really like their HT line! This one has more user features than the mk2 of which I own a couple. I do wish the mk2 had the foot switchable voicing like this one does. Also, power reduction is useful, which the mk2 also doesn't have. I might have to get me a mk3 !
In fairness, I shouldn't be listening to this demo via my laptop speakers, as I can't hear the lower-end nuances. But from what I'm hearing, this is a really delicious amp -- no need to apply more awesome sauce on it! 🙂 It would have been cool to see the software you're recommending, even though one could probably extend the demo by another ten or so minutes -- and that would be just to start! Full disclosure: I have a few different tube amps, but now that I'm in my 60s, lugging around that Fender Quad Reverb (because apparently two 12" speakers wasn't either loud enough or heavy enough!) is really starting to get me down. In looking for another option, I have to grudgingly admit that these new waves of digital amps are AMAZING in their sound and abilities! And they weigh significantly less than the old tube amps, yet produce a very, very convincing sound! On the laptop speakers, it's hard at times to hear the nuances, such as the American to British stack sound, and I would love to have a couple more explanations as to what I'm listening for in those changes. No doubt, the Marshall and Vox sounds can't be beat, but to have a Fender sound included with the other sounds and possibilities makes my back feel better already! I am convinced that this amp would be better for my back (lots of features), and certainly better for my pocketbook (as vintage amps are *stupid* expensive these days). Enjoy making music with great gear, y'all!
I agree@snickpickle.. However, just to be informative, I'm not sure if you knew or not, but this amp, is actually an EL34 tube amp.. Maybe I'm also missing that it might have a digital pre amp? But I read the specs and it's definitely EL34 power tubes.. But, I'd def like to TOTALLY agree with you on the moving and gigging with heavy tube amps.. I turned 50 last January, and relocating to start anew with my amazing lady, I decided to sell my Marshall 100 watt dual super lead head(heavy lol) and my Carvin Steve Vai legacy 412 cab, the main setup I gigged with for several years, although being Birch or poplar, the big cab was lighter than many other 412 cabs, I sold them to ease my moving and such.. After a short time here, I needed a loud amp..I came here with just a tiny Black Star Fly 3, if ya haven't seen em, they're smaller than an old school metal lunch box, 3 watts of power 😜, but louder than ya think, and it's AC adapter or 6AA batteries, so to shorten this story, I checked the local Craigslist here and came away with a mint condition Line 6 75 watt Spyder4 combo.. It's loud enough for the decent sized club I've been playing, and it's all digital, tons of presets, or you can use it as you would am old school amp, just turn the main knobs, but my rambling points here, it's about 35 pounds, like my Marshall head was alone.. Except I have a speaker all in one cool little unit.. Now that I'm getting older, I def am amazed at how just a couple of years ago I lugged a big half stack to every rehearsal, jam session, and gig at least twice a week.. I def will have another tube head and cab but , man, I've become pretty convinced , as you said, these digital and hybrid amps REALLY do sound great, and they're lighter, zero maintenance, and sooooooo versatile.. I can even get twangy tones on my Les Paul thru this thing.. Sorry for the long winded jibber jabber, but I related to everything you commented and had to give a shout back.. Also, a cool little recommendation, is the Valeton Dapper Dark mini pedal, I used one last week at an open mic blues jam, a cool local new friend of mine let me use his because my shoulder was hurting me from doing some strenuous loading heavy boxes, and man, look into those or the new Black Star pedal board amps.. The Black Star ones are 100 watts, and let you use a PA or a cabinet if you choose, and they're double pedal sized, very cool.. The Valeton Dapper Dark is like that except they aren't powered, so you have to use them thru the board or an amp.. But they're nice to just bring in and plug up and go
@@jasonmorris3533 My main bass amp (which is more my instrument than guitar) is a Music Man HD150 (150-watts), going through a matching MM single 15" cab with JBL speaker (no tweeter). It is heavy as you-know-what, but it delivers! And for what it is, it's great for any bass sound up to about 1990, in which case I get out my Gallien-Krueger wedge with tweeter and XLR-out. Where I was initially going with this is that the MM is a hybrid as well (and I didn't know that the Blackstar was a tube amp!), but "backwards-hybrid," compared to so many other amps: the preamp is solid-state, while the finals amp is 4-tube powered (and for the life of me, I can't think of what type tubes are used -- I think EL-34). What really gets me pumped is that when I turn up the master and the pre down, it has this gorgeous clean sound. But when I put the pre and the master at about 5 (+/- a notch or two), there is a kind of saturation that I have never been able to get with any other bass amp! Just great for my fretless, or for my upright bass. I still await a solid-state bass amp modeler I can trust to deliver the goods. Lots of terrific solid-state amps that emulate older amps, however! I just tried a couple of Fender bass amps the other day, and was amazed!
@@snickpickle oh yeah.. The first decent amp I ever played thru was, well terribly, but the amp was an old music man ,210 or 212 combo in the late 80s, and it sounded killer..a rockabilly friend of mine plays one and he sounds great thru it..I think he said his was solid state..I have had and liked a couple of the Marshall Valve State series, one from the early 90s,80 Watt 112 and the other was an Marshall AVT 212 combo , damn loud, 75 watts per speaker, and they both only had one tube in the pre amp, but they're still great and affordable used.. But , this black star ht 40 combo is prob heavy too.. My smaller line 6 75 watt 112 is just under 40 pounds.. And it feels heavier lol.. But I paid 75 bucks for it, in mint condition,.. Check out the black star St James tube heads and combos.. They're killer, all tube and apparently they're way lighter weight than pretty much any comparable tube heads and combos
@@jasonmorris3533These amps are actually all tube (ECC82, ECC83 and EL34 typically) with some additional shaping circuitry somewhere in between the preamp and power amp sections... and they are still quite heavy. I have the Mk2 60 2×12 combo and it weighs somewhere in the range of 60-70lbs.
This is well thought out n designed circuit!! I was impressed with its response to a 5k volume pot any guitar really, its in the amp!! I was able to get enough tone to solo and have a clean tone!! From very low volume on the guirar to full blast!! Then its asking fer an overdrive pedal like a Blues Driver n a Wah like Cry Baby!! But its a straight in amp that needs nothing straight outta its box!! Like any Marshall a 30 min tube warmup is ideal before a jam!!
Ht5/20 questions blackstar: I m Sorry DO I NEED A LOADBOX FOR LISTENING the sound' s amp THROUGH THE HEADPHONES IN A HEAD HT 5MKII?AND WHAT DOES IT CHANGE WITH NEW VERSION mkiii? I d like tò know if i can buy a head and listen without buying a CAPTOR for the load because i know tube amp broker themself .
Ht5/20 questions blackstar: I m Sorry DO I NEED A LOADBOX FOR LISTENING the sound' s amp THROUGH THE HEADPHONES IN A HEAD HT 5MKII?AND WHAT DOES IT CHANGE WITH NEW VERSION mkiii? I d like tò know if i can buy a head and listen without buying a CAPTOR for the load because i know tube amp broker themself .
It would be nice to hear more of the CabRig options. It's not that the CabRig demo sounded bad, because it really didn't. But, to my ears, it sounded pretty bad when compared to the live mics on the speaker. Overall, the amplifier sounds quite good and if it's within Blackstar's usual price points, it represents an incredible value. It's excellent that Blackstar has obviously worked on how their amps take pedals. I have one of the white, limited-edition HT-5R models and it did NOT take pedals well. The overdrive channel also had a habit of going into uncontrollable feedback when maxed out. After trying out a 12au7, I landed on a 12ay7 preamp tube and everything was resolved. Max overdrive gain is right where I want it to be, with no feedback issues, and it also takes pedals quite nicely. Anyway, it's nice that Blackstar has made the effort to resolve those issues.
it sounds pretty much the same but they didn’t do it with distortion though I use pedals straight into my PA system for rehearsal which have bass and treble controls i cut a lot it helps making them sound like real amps and less feedback on the vocals
Nice review of the amp. Im not that thrilled with the tones from the amp. I use Fender, marshall and Boogie. All I need is good warm clean tube amp and my pedalboard.
I feel like with most Blackstar videos I watch, the word that comes to mind to describe their sound is “generic.” They just don’t have much of an interesting character to my ears.
Im sceptical. This doesn't sound really at all that good to me. Looks like I will be heading over to To my nearest guitar center to see if this amp is really what it claims to be. I'm not convinced.
I’ve never heard anyone call even clean boost pedals help-me boxes but that should be a name of a product like maybe boss because I don’t think they have a pedal like that except the eqs though the hm acronym is already used for the heavy metal pedal that Swedish melodic death metal popularized
the features don’t really seem that different the wattage selector is a switch not a button I didn’t think the tone was better but the mkii had more mids than the original though more processed sounding
@@acutemadness I have listened and finally tested the MK III, I will be staying with the MK II no real difference in tones. Just some added studio features, which is not really of interest to me. They updated the front. Also I am now using the 6L6 MK II now, which I like a lot.
@@PinkFloyd28394 the Mesa mark iii also in person i didn’t think really justified the even more cost I came across the ngw 20 it’s pretty loud for only being 20w solid state and a tiny speaker magnet you can still hear it with a loud drummer in a rehearsal space idk about an indoor venue the echo a lot of them have seems to amplify drums more than anything
Yeah, man...just keep running your MKII; you're not missing anything special in the MKIII. I personally hate all the computer crap they've added...really cheapens things up to me.
@@michaelyolch79 I went and tried the MK III , you are right tonality wise there is absolutely no change, they changed the computer ports to the “C” and did more for the cabinet choices for the computer. Those features really don’t do anything for me. I am staying with the MK II.
I think your speakers or headphones might be broken. If there's one thing Blackstars are definitely NOT, it's brittle and fizzy. I think you've mistaken it for a Marshall DSL40 or DSL20. Those are brittle and soooooo freakin fizzy!!! If there is any complaint to be made about the older Blackstars like the original HT series, it's that they were too dark, not too fizzy. The new MKII and MKIII fixed the overly dark thing without becoming fizzy like the Marshalls.
What do you think of the new Blackstar HT Club 40 MKIII? Let us know in the comments below!
First off I really like their HT line! This one has more user features than the mk2 of which I own a couple. I do wish the mk2 had the foot switchable voicing like this one does. Also, power reduction is useful, which the mk2 also doesn't have.
I might have to get me a mk3 !
Sounds Awesome and feature packed! Great job on the demo video Guitar Center! I want one
Glad you liked the video, Steve! And yes, the amp sounds awesome! 🎉
It really is a dope amp!
I have a HT 100, HT 100 MKII , and HT 20 I love them all The ISF lets me dial in any tone thats in my head at the moment. No other amp can do that!
Great amp and demo. Blessings
In fairness, I shouldn't be listening to this demo via my laptop speakers, as I can't hear the lower-end nuances. But from what I'm hearing, this is a really delicious amp -- no need to apply more awesome sauce on it! 🙂 It would have been cool to see the software you're recommending, even though one could probably extend the demo by another ten or so minutes -- and that would be just to start!
Full disclosure: I have a few different tube amps, but now that I'm in my 60s, lugging around that Fender Quad Reverb (because apparently two 12" speakers wasn't either loud enough or heavy enough!) is really starting to get me down. In looking for another option, I have to grudgingly admit that these new waves of digital amps are AMAZING in their sound and abilities! And they weigh significantly less than the old tube amps, yet produce a very, very convincing sound!
On the laptop speakers, it's hard at times to hear the nuances, such as the American to British stack sound, and I would love to have a couple more explanations as to what I'm listening for in those changes. No doubt, the Marshall and Vox sounds can't be beat, but to have a Fender sound included with the other sounds and possibilities makes my back feel better already!
I am convinced that this amp would be better for my back (lots of features), and certainly better for my pocketbook (as vintage amps are *stupid* expensive these days).
Enjoy making music with great gear, y'all!
I agree@snickpickle.. However, just to be informative, I'm not sure if you knew or not, but this amp, is actually an EL34 tube amp.. Maybe I'm also missing that it might have a digital pre amp? But I read the specs and it's definitely EL34 power tubes.. But, I'd def like to TOTALLY agree with you on the moving and gigging with heavy tube amps.. I turned 50 last January, and relocating to start anew with my amazing lady, I decided to sell my Marshall 100 watt dual super lead head(heavy lol) and my Carvin Steve Vai legacy 412 cab, the main setup I gigged with for several years, although being Birch or poplar, the big cab was lighter than many other 412 cabs, I sold them to ease my moving and such.. After a short time here, I needed a loud amp..I came here with just a tiny Black Star Fly 3, if ya haven't seen em, they're smaller than an old school metal lunch box, 3 watts of power 😜, but louder than ya think, and it's AC adapter or 6AA batteries, so to shorten this story, I checked the local Craigslist here and came away with a mint condition Line 6 75 watt Spyder4 combo.. It's loud enough for the decent sized club I've been playing, and it's all digital, tons of presets, or you can use it as you would am old school amp, just turn the main knobs, but my rambling points here, it's about 35 pounds, like my Marshall head was alone.. Except I have a speaker all in one cool little unit.. Now that I'm getting older, I def am amazed at how just a couple of years ago I lugged a big half stack to every rehearsal, jam session, and gig at least twice a week.. I def will have another tube head and cab but , man, I've become pretty convinced , as you said, these digital and hybrid amps REALLY do sound great, and they're lighter, zero maintenance, and sooooooo versatile.. I can even get twangy tones on my Les Paul thru this thing.. Sorry for the long winded jibber jabber, but I related to everything you commented and had to give a shout back.. Also, a cool little recommendation, is the Valeton Dapper Dark mini pedal, I used one last week at an open mic blues jam, a cool local new friend of mine let me use his because my shoulder was hurting me from doing some strenuous loading heavy boxes, and man, look into those or the new Black Star pedal board amps.. The Black Star ones are 100 watts, and let you use a PA or a cabinet if you choose, and they're double pedal sized, very cool.. The Valeton Dapper Dark is like that except they aren't powered, so you have to use them thru the board or an amp.. But they're nice to just bring in and plug up and go
@@jasonmorris3533 My main bass amp (which is more my instrument than guitar) is a Music Man HD150 (150-watts), going through a matching MM single 15" cab with JBL speaker (no tweeter). It is heavy as you-know-what, but it delivers! And for what it is, it's great for any bass sound up to about 1990, in which case I get out my Gallien-Krueger wedge with tweeter and XLR-out.
Where I was initially going with this is that the MM is a hybrid as well (and I didn't know that the Blackstar was a tube amp!), but "backwards-hybrid," compared to so many other amps: the preamp is solid-state, while the finals amp is 4-tube powered (and for the life of me, I can't think of what type tubes are used -- I think EL-34). What really gets me pumped is that when I turn up the master and the pre down, it has this gorgeous clean sound. But when I put the pre and the master at about 5 (+/- a notch or two), there is a kind of saturation that I have never been able to get with any other bass amp! Just great for my fretless, or for my upright bass.
I still await a solid-state bass amp modeler I can trust to deliver the goods. Lots of terrific solid-state amps that emulate older amps, however! I just tried a couple of Fender bass amps the other day, and was amazed!
@@snickpickle oh yeah.. The first decent amp I ever played thru was, well terribly, but the amp was an old music man ,210 or 212 combo in the late 80s, and it sounded killer..a rockabilly friend of mine plays one and he sounds great thru it..I think he said his was solid state..I have had and liked a couple of the Marshall Valve State series, one from the early 90s,80 Watt 112 and the other was an Marshall AVT 212 combo , damn loud, 75 watts per speaker, and they both only had one tube in the pre amp, but they're still great and affordable used.. But , this black star ht 40 combo is prob heavy too.. My smaller line 6 75 watt 112 is just under 40 pounds.. And it feels heavier lol.. But I paid 75 bucks for it, in mint condition,.. Check out the black star St James tube heads and combos.. They're killer, all tube and apparently they're way lighter weight than pretty much any comparable tube heads and combos
2 ec883 (12ax7) preamp tubes and 2 EL34power tubes
@@jasonmorris3533These amps are actually all tube (ECC82, ECC83 and EL34 typically) with some additional shaping circuitry somewhere in between the preamp and power amp sections... and they are still quite heavy. I have the Mk2 60 2×12 combo and it weighs somewhere in the range of 60-70lbs.
badass amp!
I have the 50w head showing up tomorrow - the new version III.
This is well thought out n designed circuit!! I was impressed with its response to a 5k volume pot any guitar really, its in the amp!! I was able to get enough tone to solo and have a clean tone!! From very low volume on the guirar to full blast!! Then its asking fer an overdrive pedal like a Blues Driver n a Wah like Cry Baby!! But its a straight in amp that needs nothing straight outta its box!! Like any Marshall a 30 min tube warmup is ideal before a jam!!
The HT preamp is one of the best out there. That's why Blackstar keeps using it in their amplifiers.
Wow! What an impressive review! Well done sir! Any info on colour of LP standard? Year? Love it with that amp! Cheers and thank you! 🙏🇨🇦✔️
Damn throating tone
when using blackstars I have the isf at half I want the best of both worlds like Van Halen and Hannah Montana lol
Ht5/20 questions blackstar:
I m Sorry DO I NEED A LOADBOX FOR LISTENING the sound' s amp THROUGH THE HEADPHONES IN A HEAD HT 5MKII?AND WHAT DOES IT CHANGE WITH NEW VERSION mkiii? I d like tò know if i can buy a head and listen without buying a CAPTOR for the load because i know tube amp broker themself .
How much one of these? I’m just looking a great small amp, to play in my house.
$999
Ht5/20 questions blackstar:
I m Sorry DO I NEED A LOADBOX FOR LISTENING the sound' s amp THROUGH THE HEADPHONES IN A HEAD HT 5MKII?AND WHAT DOES IT CHANGE WITH NEW VERSION mkiii? I d like tò know if i can buy a head and listen without buying a CAPTOR for the load because i know tube amp broker themself .
God of Thunder- Kiss riff made more modern
did that ISF knob do didley squat or was it just me.
It's a subtle effect, but it does work. It shifts the mids/highs, which will change the character of the clipped signal.
@@upliftmofo00 yah hard to hear even with good headphones or its just my bad hearing 😜 but hey seems like a great amp 👍🏽
i own it, its very much so easy to hear in person, it makes it go from a bright to darker tone.
The ISF depends on where the midrange knob it. It even states this in the documentation.
I'd like to hear it opened up, volume turned up, to hear the real sound out of it. This low gain/volume sounds like a bedroom practice amp.
This is an upgrade from my MK 1
Definitely! The MKI family came out in 2010...Lots of great new features since then.
@@guitarcenterI used to not like them but I think they have enough gain for metal though the mark iis are voiced better for a live mix
@@acutemadness
Is the mk2 good for metal?
It would be nice to hear more of the CabRig options. It's not that the CabRig demo sounded bad, because it really didn't. But, to my ears, it sounded pretty bad when compared to the live mics on the speaker. Overall, the amplifier sounds quite good and if it's within Blackstar's usual price points, it represents an incredible value.
It's excellent that Blackstar has obviously worked on how their amps take pedals. I have one of the white, limited-edition HT-5R models and it did NOT take pedals well. The overdrive channel also had a habit of going into uncontrollable feedback when maxed out. After trying out a 12au7, I landed on a 12ay7 preamp tube and everything was resolved. Max overdrive gain is right where I want it to be, with no feedback issues, and it also takes pedals quite nicely. Anyway, it's nice that Blackstar has made the effort to resolve those issues.
it sounds pretty much the same but they didn’t do it with distortion though I use pedals straight into my PA system for rehearsal which have bass and treble controls i cut a lot it helps making them sound like real amps and less feedback on the vocals
Nice review of the amp. Im not that thrilled with the tones from the amp. I use Fender, marshall and Boogie. All I need is good warm clean tube amp and my pedalboard.
I feel like with most Blackstar videos I watch, the word that comes to mind to describe their sound is “generic.” They just don’t have much of an interesting character to my ears.
@@Prossdogsame here. Their amps have great features but the tone is meh.
Im sceptical. This doesn't sound really at all that good to me. Looks like I will be heading over to To my nearest guitar center to see if this amp is really what it claims to be. I'm not convinced.
Architect software yeah I know what that is 😂
why demo an amp and use help-me box's ?
All amp except for the one demo of the clean channel with a simple overdrive. Most people use at least one and want to hear that.
i see. i think.@@michaeleisenstein8511
I’ve never heard anyone call even clean boost pedals help-me boxes but that should be a name of a product like maybe boss because I don’t think they have a pedal like that except the eqs though the hm acronym is already used for the heavy metal pedal that Swedish melodic death metal popularized
i see.@@michaeleisenstein8511
A year ago I purchased the MK II, if I knew they were going to release the MK III, I would’ve waited, I should trade in the MK ii for the MK iii
the features don’t really seem that different the wattage selector is a switch not a button I didn’t think the tone was better but the mkii had more mids than the original though more processed sounding
@@acutemadness I have listened and finally tested the MK III, I will be staying with the MK II no real difference in tones. Just some added studio features, which is not really of interest to me. They updated the front. Also I am now using the 6L6 MK II now, which I like a lot.
@@PinkFloyd28394 the Mesa mark iii also in person i didn’t think really justified the even more cost I came across the ngw 20 it’s pretty loud for only being 20w solid state and a tiny speaker magnet you can still hear it with a loud drummer in a rehearsal space idk about an indoor venue the echo a lot of them have seems to amplify drums more than anything
Yeah, man...just keep running your MKII; you're not missing anything special in the MKIII. I personally hate all the computer crap they've added...really cheapens things up to me.
@@michaelyolch79 I went and tried the MK III , you are right tonality wise there is absolutely no change, they changed the computer ports to the “C” and did more for the cabinet choices for the computer. Those features really don’t do anything for me. I am staying with the MK II.
Sounds truly horrible, brittle and fizzy.
You new to British style amps? This thing dumps on the Marshall dsl40 and orange rocker 32
I think your speakers or headphones might be broken. If there's one thing Blackstars are definitely NOT, it's brittle and fizzy. I think you've mistaken it for a Marshall DSL40 or DSL20. Those are brittle and soooooo freakin fizzy!!! If there is any complaint to be made about the older Blackstars like the original HT series, it's that they were too dark, not too fizzy. The new MKII and MKIII fixed the overly dark thing without becoming fizzy like the Marshalls.