Blackstar HT-5. Very impressive.

[TimeSignature]

I finally got a chance to play a Blackstar HT-5 and I was VERY impressed.

Ive asked some other BoogieBoard members about this amp and Ive only heard good things about it.

Im thinking about picking one up after the holidays. Blackstar HT-5 owners, what do you think about this amp? Im not too concerned about the cleans. But I am concerned about features, quality, and of course ... the distortion!!! :twisted:

I thought the gain sounded awesome! The ISF thingie seemed pretty cool too. The price seems fair. About $400 for the head, 2 ch fx loop.

 

[JimmyB]

I'd love to be able to try one of these as well, but there are NO Canadian dealers yet!

 

[Elpelotero]

If I remember correctly, James Hetfield is using one of these in the practice room before gigs.

 

[user 16490]

The price seems fair. About $400 for the head.

It was "fairer" a few months ago when it was $300. When I saw you say $400 I thought you must have made a typo, but I just checked some online sites and it's indeed $400 now, so they've jacked the price $100. Perhaps it was selling too well?

 

[derekjason]

If I remember correctly, James Hetfield is using one of these in the practice room before gigs.

hes def played a Blackstar Series One 200 backstage at some point. id love to try one out.

The price seems fair. About $400 for the head.

It was "fairer" a few months ago when it was $300. When I saw you say $400 I thought you must have made a typo, but I just checked some online sites and it's indeed $400 now, so they've jacked the price $100. Perhaps it was selling too well?

i think thats exactly what happened. i personally love mine. i happened to get lucky and didnt pay much at all for the whole mini stack. ill probably sell the 1/10 cabs at some point and get a 2/12 cab for it.

 

[TimeSignature]

****, I thought the head was $299 about a week ago!! But I thought I was just losing my mind because it was $399 everywhere. Grrrr.

I wont pay $400. I think it was a bargain at $299 (minus whatever discounts you could have got at the time.)

Its just a matter of time until the new Jet City 333 head is $399 I can GUARANTEE that, especially since the VOX Night Train is $499.

 

[TimeSignature]

GC just jacked up the price of the HT 5 ministack within the past few days from $479 to $499.

 

[droptrd]

GASSIN hard for one of these :mrgreen:

 

[TimeSignature]

Better get one soon, they raised the price to $599 for the mini stack. Ive never seen an amp go up in price like this... well... except for when Fender pulled their 30% across the board increase BS a year or two ago.

 

[TimeSignature]

OK, I couldnt resist and bought one of these head. Im hitting the front end with a TS9 and it sounds like a really really cool little practice amp. Nice tone. No thump, no bottom end or anything like that but really nice saturated tone. Perfect for practicing scales or just noodling around.

At first I had it running through my Marshall 1936 Cab but the high notes sounded to shrilly.... Im running it through my 2x12 c90 cab and it sounds a LOT better.

Not bad for 300 bucks. (Blemished at GuitarCenter.com and then minus another 15 percent (coupon.)

 

[Heritage Softail]

****, I thought the head was $299 about a week ago!! But I thought I was just losing my mind because it was $399 everywhere. Grrrr.

I wont pay $400. I think it was a bargain at $299 (minus whatever discounts you could have got at the time.)

Its just a matter of time until the new Jet City 333 head is $399 I can GUARANTEE that, especially since the VOX Night Train is $499.

So is the Jet City 333 any good? I am using a line 6 little amp for my practice amp early in the morning. It is not my fav. Not that I am looking for ways to pummel the cash supply but a good little practice amp could be sweet. Would you piss on that little Peavy Viper if it was on fire?

 

[emperor_black]

I'll see if I can make some quick clips soon. To my ears, the HT-5 sounds simply monstrous. The first thing you should do, swap out the stock preamp tube with anything else. I tried a JJ and then a high-gain (?) version of a Sovtek I had lying around and that really brought the amp back to life.

Just put a Boss GE-7 or some simple eq pedal in the loop and scoop out some more mids. I think its like mesa amp in that it has a lot of mids. I also have a bad monkey with gain at 0 and everything else at 1 o'clock.

And oh, I got it MINT at $250 shipped. The headphone out is simply awesome! And there's enough gain for metal. In fact, I have the gain at only 3/4th and there's plenty for all your legato runs and sweeps and what not. :mrgreen:

 

[TimeSignature]

The Jet City is OK. I like the tone but it has no fx loop or reverb which is a deal breaker for me.

I'm going to look into swapping the tubes on the HT5! Thanks for the tip!

Oh... and if you order the "blemished" HT5 from GuitarCenter.com it will tell you what condition it is in... mine was mint. Go figure. I guess as long as the box is not sealed it can not be considered "new." Interesting how at the actual GC stores pretty much nothing is "new" but they have no problems trying to sell the items to you at full price.

 

[emperor_black]

Did a quick clip of the tone I get from the Blackstar. I'm happy with the tone.

http://www.netmusicians.org/index.php?section=user&[email protected]

 

[derekjason]

Did a quick clip of the tone I get from the Blackstar. I'm happy with the tone.

http://www.netmusicians.org/index.php?section=user&[email protected]

nice!

 

[bryan_kilco]

my friend has one of these heads with an Orange 1x12 cab and I was pretty impressed myself. the tone he was getting sounded much tighter than the clip emporer_black posted, in my opinion. Very tight and chunky and full. I tried a few different guitars thru it, and one of them was EMG loaded and to my ears, that sounded best.

 

[emperor_black]

Yeah, I was using a dimarzio X2N and overdriving it with a clean boost. If you lose the clean boost and go with a medium gain pickup, you can get it tight sounding. Also, turning the ISF all the way to the right gets you a tight mesa type tone with sort of mid-scooped tone. BUt turning all the way to the left gives you a loose marshall type tone. And the eq's are very different too. Turn up the bass all the way and it becomes tight. Different settings.

//S