New amp range coming from Blackstar?

Lebarque

I like the lit-up logo, but how many people need 50w amps these days? 10 watts is the new 100 watts.

Lebarque

allen

Lebarque said:

I like the lit-up logo, but how many people need 50w amps these days? 10 watts is the new 100 watts.

There seems to be a 2W switch on there.

ICBM

CaseOfAce said:

I've always been a bit sniffy about Blackstar myself - everyone I've tried just seemed dead to me tonewise...

Having said that Waddy Wachtel went on the road with Stevie Nicks using an Artist 30 (after Leslie West recommended them to him) and he cranked channel 1 with master volume to taste.. 

It's the indian not the arrow right?

You can probably find good examples of famous players getting great sounds out of any gear that just doesn't work for you - classic SSS Strats, Fender 5E3 Deluxes and and Dr.Z amps being good examples for me.

All the Blackstars I've played (which is far from all of them) have sounded overly dark, stiff and unresponsive to me - some absolutely awful.

Kalimna said:

I do like those aesthetics. But i need another amp like a hole in the head!

I agree that the new logo looks cheap. It also appears to be fan-cooled, which is a black mark. (I admit a couple of my favourite amps are too.)

To be perfectly honest I have next to no interest in any valve amp now, anyway. That ship has long since sailed for me...

Grumpyrocker

ICBM said:

To be perfectly honest I have next to no interest in any valve amp now, anyway. That ship has long since sailed for me...

Same. I'm so satisfied with my Orange Super Crush 100 that I can't imagine going back to valves.

I've still got my HT5 Mk2, but it's sat in a cupboard. 

sweepy

It didn't sound exactly inspiring in the Demo, who knows

RandallFlagg

• Ultra-lightweight 50-watt combo 
• 2x ECC83, 2x 6L6 
• Two footswitchable channels 
• Footswitchable Channel II Voice (OD 1 / OD 2) 
• 50W / 5W / SAG / Power reduction  
• main volume 
• Digital reverb 
• Effects loop with effects level switch 
• USB audio output 
• Advanced Cab Rig XLR DI Production DSP Speaker Simulator 
• Exclusive 1x12" Celestion G12Z-70 'Zephyr' Custom Designed Lightweight 8 Ohm Speaker 
• Footswitch included 
• Stunning boutique look with illuminated logo.

https://hurricanemusic.fr/391785-blackstar-st-james-50-6l6-1x12-50w-6l6.html

thecolourbox

I would like to retract my negativity as it is becoming clear I'm not the target audience, and thus my opinion is completely irrelevant.

ecc83

"I agree that the new logo looks cheap. It also appears to be fan-cooled, which is a black mark. (I admit a couple of my favourite amps are too.)"

Me too., Bruce, the designer of most of the early range including the Series Ones, was dead against them. He had me rigging a temperature test rig for the heat sink for the power control circuitry.When I asked "why not a fan" I got about a 20 minute lecture on why they are inventions of the devil!

If they don't fit a filter the amp will clog up. IF they fit a filter, no fekker will clean or change it.

Dave.

StefB

ICBM said:

ecc83 said:

It is an even bigger schlep for ICBM which is a pity coz he might JUSt find a Blackstar he likes!

Controls on top. Fail.

Even better, all the jacks are hidden vertically on the rear of the combos too just like the Artist range.

Total pain in the arse rooting around the back trying to get to the footswitch & effects loop jacks on a dark stage once your amp is already in place.

Grumpyrocker

StefB said:

ICBM said:

ecc83 said:

It is an even bigger schlep for ICBM which is a pity coz he might JUSt find a Blackstar he likes!

Controls on top. Fail.

Even better, all the jacks are hidden vertically on the rear of the combos too just like the Artist range.

Total pain in the arse rooting around the back trying to get to the footswitch & effects loop jacks on a dark stage once your amp is already in place.

That's the one thing that pisses me off about my Orange Combo. You more or less have to lie the amp down flat to see what the hell the rear jacks are. 

roberty

Built in direct out with cab sim is cool. Presumably you can carry a combo to the venue and then kick out a 4x12 through the PA

ecc83

Grumpyrocker said:

StefB said:

ICBM said:

ecc83 said:

It is an even bigger schlep for ICBM which is a pity coz he might JUSt find a Blackstar he likes!

Controls on top. Fail.

Even better, all the jacks are hidden vertically on the rear of the combos too just like the Artist range.

Total pain in the arse rooting around the back trying to get to the footswitch & effects loop jacks on a dark stage once your amp is already in place.

That's the one thing that pisses me off about my Orange Combo. You more or less have to lie the amp down flat to see what the hell the rear jacks are. 

Maybe they have built a LED lamp in it? Not so bad if the legends are duplicated on the rear panel. Some companies even print legends upside down! Not something you are likely to get in the 'stick of chalk and ball of string' world of guitar amps tho'but.

Dave.

ecc83

impmann said:

StefB said:

A quick Google search suggests £999 for the 6L6 head at Bonners, but there's nothing there yet when clicking on the link.

Could be a tough sell at those prices for what, on the face of it, looks like an facelift of and extension to the Artist range, much like Silverline was to the original ID combos.

Nope - nothing even remotely similar to the Artist range. All will be revealed tomorrow (17 May) but honestly, I can confirm that  not only is there not a single carried over part from that range (valves aside) but the design is not even in the same ballpark. Its not a re-spin of a previous product *at all*

Ooo! Any chance of a schemo?

I jest.

Dave.

hywelg

Please tell me how its got clean and o/d with only two pre-amp valves? Non LTP PI? Or does it have some solid state gain stage somewhere in the circuit?

ICBM

hywelg said:

Please tell me how its got clean and o/d with only two pre-amp valves? Non LTP PI? Or does it have some solid state gain stage somewhere in the circuit?

I'd guess it will be a hybrid like the HT and Artist series.

Which there is nothing wrong with, *as long as they don't claim it's all valve*.

jeztone2

Lebarque said:

I like the lit-up logo, but how many people need 50w amps these days? 10 watts is the new 100 watts.

Not with my drummer it isn’t. He plays like a man beating someone to death in a murderous rage. I once asked his wife to w*** him off before a gig just so we got normal volume out of him.

The weight thing will be interesting. But it needs to be Tonemaster light. Also I don’t get why amp makers aren’t doing a flat response in for modellers. 

A decent sounding 2 x 12 combo with a variety of routing options is what most people would want. Surely? 

Grumpyrocker

hywelg said:

Please tell me how its got clean and o/d with only two pre-amp valves? Non LTP PI? Or does it have some solid state gain stage somewhere in the circuit?

Plenty of valve amps have 2 preamp valves before the 3rd acting as the phase inverter. Whereas Blackstar usually do a solid state PI. 

You've got four gain stages in two valves. 

ecc83

We shall just have to be patient I suppose but I do hope B's 'come clean' about the circuitry.

The "All valve" claim was I still believe an unfortunate statement by a non-technical person many years ago and anyone that cares to search Google for schems will find many 'famous' amps with solid state stages including a VERY famous brand with an emitter follower in its graphic! Kept that fekker quiet.

Two triode stages and a LTP PI could give enough gain but it does not leave a lot for tone stack losses.

Can we forgive an op amp FX loop? I think so.

Dave.

Grumpyrocker