I own an ht5 and have recommended it to a number of players on a budget, and honestly I don't know what you're on about. The samples in this video sounded totally solid and I've used it in a bunch of situations. It's a flexible amp, it does a variety of tones pretty well,. It's not as metal as a 6506 or as rock as a jcm900, but for a home/backup amp with a lot of variety I have yet to see it's better. Don't like it, cool chase your bliss. I love mine. and as a front of house guy I've mixed a couple and have always had an easier time with it than most of the competition. I'm not trying to convert anyone who doesn't like it, I just kinda don't get why you wouldn't like it.
Agree not only that just a lot of talk of his opinions and no other amp to compare just talks loud with no proof people listen to this. Cancel him till he prepares better and not look to get rating to make you tube money
I like the clean channel on my HT5 but the overdrive is so ugly. There's a weird tinny reverb quality even with the reverb at 0. I just use my overdrive pedal.
When I first used this amp in a guitar store my mind was blown, it was amazing, especially for the price. I mainly play with Bias FX as of now but I also have a Randall RTC50, I wish I had gotten an HT5 over the RTC50, as I have no pedals the RTC50 is a lot more practical for me. As of now I'm sticking with Bias FX though.
I have a Blackstar HT5 but I'd never use it for metal. For rock stauff and practice it's fine. The emulated out on it is great, especially for late night practice. If you want to check out Blackstar for metal-heads try the HT-5 metal which is tweaked for that sound. There are also some version of that amp which came as a special edition with a Vintage V30 which'd solve your speaker woes. If you want to give Blackstar a serious rundown try something from their series one line. That's attracting a lot of top level artists. :)
I have a blackstar HT5 head and i can also say it's not for metal. With a tubescreamer it comes a bit closerer bur it's still a rock amp. The cleans are not so clean either because when you crank it loud enough to compete with a drum, all your headroom is gone and it starts to compress or even distort a bit (which I love btw). I like this amp in rock situations but you have to improvise something with pedals in order to make it a bit more metal. Also, maybe it's not made for a 7-string....just saying.
I second this. I've got the HT-5 Metal and the gain tones are much better. Some of the settings are kind of funky to get dialed in right, but I think at least half of that is my guitar being mahogany with EMGs, and therefore having very little mid-range, as well as probably the stock speaker. I have to keep the mids turned nearly all the way up most of the time, but aside from that, it gets plenty of good metal tones. Not anything incredible, but considering what it costs and the fact that, at the time, the Joyo stuff wasn't around yet, it's a pretty solid value, IMO, for the money. I've been really happy with it.
Yes, it might have been an idea for someone looking for metal tones to use the amp specifically designed for metal, perhaps? I have the HT1 Metal head specifically for those tones and it works well. Not really any point criticising an amp for something it was never designed to do: possibly the clean tones should have been a giveaway...
Even though I love my HT5 I agree with Glenn. The standard HT5 is really better for rock than metal in my opinion. It's not really cut out for modern high gain stuff, but for classic rock, punk, alternative and rock it's great. Which works for me because that's the kind of stuff I play
Glenn, you`re the best! I almost never see a straight up negative review on yt these days. Too bad you didn`t record the A/B comparison with Joyo Zombie though, cuz I own the Joyo amp, and would be really interested to hear such a comparison.
Glenn, I love your fearless gear reviews. Finally, someone cuts the shit and tells it like it is. No salesman nonsense, no fucking over the loyal customer. I worked for a music store 15 years ago (when brick-and-mortar was still a thing) and my goal was to always get the most affordable product for the customer, not up-sell them into garbage they didn't need. Beginner guitarist looking for a decent acoustic? Try a Yamaha FG-series, not the Martin HD-35. Thank you for continuing this concept of "musicians helping musicians" and "artists helping artists".
To be fair, the regular HT-5 isn't made for metal anyway. It's made for Rock and Hard Rock tones at max. That's why there is a dedicated "Metal" version to all the HT amps. Those have more gain, more clarity and more punch, exactly what you need for metal, though the speaker isn't better in the HT-5 Metal, but the Amp itself is way better suited for it. What I wanted to say, it was kinda not a fair game.
The only Ric-James If you put an Overdrive pedal in front of the amp, it actually sound pretty good for metal IMO. It tighten the mids and sound much better for metal. I use a cheap Joyo Ultimate Drive.
I know, I'm doing that for almost a decade now, but that has nothing to do with the topic itself. He used it without anything, and without anything, this thing is clearly not developed for metal. Sure, with pedals and other fx, but that wasn't the point of the video. With the right pedals I can make out of a twin reverb a metal amp.
Bit late to the party here. But yes I agree. THis is not a metal amp. Ive been using my ht5 head through v30s for almost three years now. I mostly record hard rock, and quite honestly, this is my go to amp for each session. I stray away from using my bigger marshalls now. This is seriously a cool little amp
Just got a blackstar 10w core amp. I love it. I mean for all the cool little effects it comes with and the sound hard to beat for $100 bedroom amp. It fulfills my needs albeit they are simple needs to begin with.
Hey Glenn, That was a disappointment. You should review the blackstar ht stage 100. I got it from sweetwater for $599.99 US and have been completely blown away with its results. By the way, is there a way to split your guitar signal so you are able to record live amps and send the other signal to your DAW for re amping later? To clarify I would like to do both simultaneously. Any Thoughts?
Any D.I. Box will do, the cheapest I'd recommend is the Palmer Pan 01, they have a "Thru" or "Link" or "Parallel" output, you can use the balanced out to record and the thru signal to your pedals/amp, but you'll need a re-amping box if you plan to re-amp through your amp.
I'm going to personally recommend the Radial Stage bug series DI. Either passive or active depending on your pickups. Active for passive and passive for active pickups. Cheers!
XxFeendogxX I own an HT 20 combo. I agree with Glenn. I could have spent my money better else where for a METAL amp. It's a great amp, but not really for metal.
Exactly. While I appreciate Mr. Fricker's efforts, reviewing a 5 watt practice amp isn't going to give people a broad indication of Blackstar's range. There's a reason it is called a PRACTICE amp, after all.
I've owned one of these for years, and it was my first valve amp. It's been outpaced by the market now, but when I bought it (second hand, certainly for a lot less than the dollar price tag you quote here so maybe the US market gets the bad end of this) it was *literally unique* (in the UK at least) in terms of size and functionality. There was not another realistic option that was: a valve combo; 2 channels; low enough wattage to play in bedroom etc, except, IIRC, the Marshall Slash combo that was also 5 watts. The back panel options, emulated out and speaker output, and the ISF function have made it continually useful for me and I haven't upgraded it, especially since the emulated out isn't at all bad and it essentially made recording guitar possible for me years in advance of having somewhere to mic up a cab. When it came out it almost totally filled a key gap in the market, and many of its functions which at the time were rare outside of really expensive amps are now very standard even in very affordable stuff, which is great. The only thing you need to get good metal tones out of it is a decent boost in the front; I don't think it's fair to play an extended range guitar through a tiny combo speaker and expect it to sound any good. It's clearly not designed for that use. That said, even when using an extension 4x12 it doesn't sound as good as the HT100 (and, I imagine, the ones in between in the range). There's now a huge wealth of better options than the HT5 for bedroom players, and the lunchbox and low-wattage technology has been refined and similar amps are being made a lot cheaper. The conclusion to this video shouldn't be that the HT5 is bad (though I understand that you may not have had that long to sit with it and fiddle around with settings and peddles), but that it needs updating because when you put that up against the Joyo, you have to realise that one is a brand new model and the other is more than 5 years old which, these days, is a very very long time in terms of guitar gear.
vintage amps from the early 60's totaly destroy today's best amps. the blackstar sounds like shit. try to compare it to an older amp and it will still sound like shit(even by itself). because of the people who built it-they didnt care about sound,didnt have a tradition to maintain . they aimed at making this a hit without worrying about sound qulity and they nailed it. i remember at first look i also thought it's great to have a versatile small amp with knobs i didnt see before until ive heard it. ide write "wtf?" instead of isf.
I put a Joyo Ultimate Drive in front of my HT-5R as a boost pedal (gain to 0 or very low, volume almost maxed out, and tone knob to whatever frequency you want emphasis on), it pushes the preamp tubes and it's night and day for playing metal. Tighten things up. Also, if not mistaken, Blackstar changed the speaker in the HT-5R version, it's now a 12" instead of a 10". I have the mini-stack version (small head with two 12" speaker cabinets). I think that setup sounds great, especially since I got the amp used in almost new condition.
I would agree that Blackstar's lower wattage amps aren't exactly the best, but their Series One range is outstanding. Of course, that's a lot more expensive as well.
I'm sure the head version with an overdrive in front of it will make it sound 100 percent better. I'm not the biggest fan of Blackstar amps, but with an overdrive, they can coax out decent metal tones.
There is simply no way that an amp like the 6505MH can produce the levels of gain it has, AND have a tube phase inverter, with only 3 12AX7's. There is simply no way. And Peavey have themselves confirmed that the PI in the 6505MH is solid state. Therefore it is a hybrid amp. peavey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44497 The reliability of the 6505MH is also pretty crap. It's a common issue for the amps to shut off mid-gig due to overheating and coming with shitty Chinese tubes right out of the box. I honestly think the 6505MH sounds really thin and raspy with high gain, especially when compared to the EVH LBX amps that directly compete with them. And the tone is nowhere near as huge or as full as the big boy 6505 heads. I'd rather save up $100 and get a real amp, like a EVH 5153 50watt used.
So glad you came to the right conclusion there, Glenn. People went nuts over the HT-5 when they first came out, but I honestly couldn't find a way to make it sound good even through a decent cab. The stupid thing is that 5W amps are too loud to crank at home, but too quiet to play with a band unless they have PA assistance (but even then, you have to use a super-cardioid mic just to keep out the noise, because everything around it is louder). Oh, and if you were wondering, the emulated out is balls. The conclusion I drew is that Jet City amps give you far more for far less money. You should really try one some time...
I have one of these, mainly use it for clean stuff. I also use the cabinet sim output for recording, and it's perfect for quiet recording at night. I get a clean recording and it sounds good for my purpose. Only downside is that there isn't a ton of headroom, you can easily push the clean channel to break up with a little boost.
Hey Glen, it's not actually a full tube amp. There are solid state components in the path that influence the sound... The first two gain stages are actually solid state before it reaches a dual 12ax7 gain stage. A lot of tube amps these days use solid state buffers, which are transparent. The HT5 does that but also uses them as distortion stages. The HT5 also has a solid state phase inverter before the 12BH7 output tube. I don't care for the tone either. It's definitely a unique amp though.
I'll tell you what I like about your channel in specific. You take the time out to record live drums when you're showcasing different gears etc. Most TH-camrs use drum programs to make their reviews (nothing wrong with it) but it gets monotonous after time. With your reviews, there's always something different about the mix. And one can capture an idea of how personalized it can sound if they choose to buy the gear that's being reviewed. Good job.
I found a used combo for $200. That might indicate they are not holding their value, but at $200 - $250, the amp is worth it. It has one pre-amp tube and one power amp tube. If you let this amp warm up you can get some very nice clean and moderately overdriven tones like a good tube amp. Blues and rock sound good, metal may be a different story but it can play AC/DC style hard rock well to my ear. I play a '67 Deluxe Reverb with Tubescreamer, so I am comparing the Blackstar to the DR. The 10" speaker makes this a great practice amp in an apartment. I was quite surprised with this review, this is not a bad amp at all.
They're really expensive in Canada. I used one as it happened to be in one of the test rooms of my local friendly guitar store, decided i liked the amp and it was cheap but it had been sold. I asked the owner about ordering one and he called blackstar (or their distributor) and was told there'd be a wait of at least 8 weeks before there was more stock. He mumbled something about putting the prices up because they were selling so fast. I looked on eBay and found a HT40 going really cheap. It moves adequate air and has some extra buttons: clean channel is either super clean or breaks up really nicely, although it has an unflattering vintage woof if driven hard very hard with a warm humbucker; dirty channel has a switch for classic and modern voicings both of which match the gain available, which on the modern voicing is all of it. The EQ knobs don't do much, enough to tweak a sound rather than major shaping, which is nice live as you can't really go wrong but it's not so good for extreme shaping. Master volume is controlled enough to let me play in my flat and not get evicted. In all honesty i think I'd do better with a head and cab, but I really like the bigger HT. It responds really well to the volume knobs on my guitars and my picking dynamic. I've used (quite dated now) rack shit for years and I'm really enjoying a simple amp again.
As someone who really likes Blackstar stuff, part of me is glad to see you show what happens when you take these small combo amps and try to use them like you do. I play an HT20 which costs literally the same, has more features, and has a proper FX loop.
Bugera 333 xl if you want a pretty good tube amp for not much money. You can get one used for less than $200us, and it's 120 watts. The cabinet isn't spectacular, but I really dig the head.
Man, this is how Line 6 fan-boys must feel (kidding). I'm actually a fan of Blackstar amps, but I (a) have never used the HT5 and (b) am not a metal player, so I can't speak to whether I've had differing personal experience. If I lived anywhere near you, I'd put up their Club 40 amp to the fearless test. It's about $150 more, but for that you get a 12" Celestion instead of the "Blackbird" speaker, which I think really would make a difference in the mic'ed up test.
I got the head and mini stack cabs through a trade long ago. I traded a Taylor acoustic that I wasn't using for it along with some other stuff. I had some fun with the blackstar, but ultimately, it just wasn't the sound I was looking for. That was many years ago. Speaking for the head alone, for just a bit more money, you can find an EVH LBX, which will blow this thing away for high gain stuff.
Good review. Have same amp and have always been ambivalent about it (even with a better cab). It's pretty good with hard rock and classic rock...but overall I find it has a papery cardboard midrange that absolutely begs to be scooped out. Once you set the mids to 0 it begins to sound decent if not still mushy on the lows. But I use greenback style speakers so YMMV. The headphone and emulated out are terrible. As in...how can anything sound so bad? It's sold as a practice and recording amp but I've never been record great sounds out of it. Cool sounds maybe (when cranked it has an odd warble) It's always those cardboard mids...
oooh you have to check the hughes and kettner grandmeister 40 deluxe ... that direct out is the best thing i ever heard ... but i still do not know why no company offers ir loaders in ther tube heads ... i mean AMT proved that it is possible in a very small space (check out the pangaea)... aber even when using a cab it would be great if the sound man live would always have the same signal without any bleed ...
False. The preamp tube is ran in 2 stages at starving voltages, causing it to distort quite a bit. If you think you can get that type of distortion from what's essentially a tubescreamer circuit, you're very wrong. You can verify this by sticking a volume pedal in the loop and cranking the clean channel. The preamp tube is the only thing distorting in that scenario.
+Richard Hunter You're forgetting that the phase inverter in all-tube amps does its own tonal colouration and adds its own distortion artifacts as well, which help to make a tube amp sound the way that it does. The phase inverter in the HT5 is SOLID STATE. So no. it isn't just the single preamp tube that's adding distortion character to the sound, *it's the solid state phase inverter that's adding distortion as well*. When you push your amp hard it is not as much the output tubes distorting as it is the phase inverter breaking down and distorting. Here's an article if you want to learn more. www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/files/Phaseinverter.pdf
The magic with tubes is the non-symmetrical transfer curve, which does not apply with phase inverters. Furthermore, they use MOSFETs, which are very similar in their characteristics to tubes. Also, at the volumes people actually perform and record at, there is NO WAY they are saturating the phase inverter, for any sort of modern metal tone. It's not a black and white issue, and you would be wiser if you stopped looking at it that way.
I would suggest that you're the one looking at is as a black-and-white issue as your original post is discounting the phase inverter entirely. I would agree that modern metal tones are created predominantly by preamp distortion only and not with phase inverter or power tube distortion, but past a certain level of volume, your statement that the preamp tube is the only thing that's distorting becomes wrong. So providing a bit of context to your original post would be a benefit to us all.
There is only so much context and rationale one can provide without losing the audience, so no. A good educator does NOT provide all the info up front, they read the audience. That's why we need teachers. My original statements were useful and accurate and I believe that's the best thing possible. It is widely believed among amp designers that the transformer is the main thing separating tube amps from solid state amps at non-clipping volumes. Hence, I don't think it's a stretch to diminish the importance of phase inverter distortion, unless we are talking about 70s and earlier era designs. Ultimately, the proof in a pudding is in the eating, and the HT5 sounds better when cranked, and that's that.
For metal tones i COMPLETELY AGREE. BUT, if you want a guitar that is a great pedalboard base, and has tonal variety for most OTHER genres, than a used HT-5r (with an upgraded speaker, although stock is not too bad) is one of the best amps for the money.
We have an HT-5 kicking around at my in-law's house that I mess with every now and then. To be honest, I think my Orange Micro Terror beats it out by a bit. Not awful, but there's certainly better out there. Nice review, Glenn!
Hey Glenn, ever played any krank amps? They are great metal amps. Even though the company fell off the map for a while, I hear they are slowly coming back.
Hey Glenn. Have you ever tried using Warehouse Guitar Speakers instead of the Celestion Vintage 30? I have their Green Beret (Greenback replica) and their Reaper, which is a much darker/fuller sounding version of the Green Beret. Running a Hughes and Kettner TM18 that will shake my walls with these speakers. Where as hooked up to a Celestion Super65, which I believe the vintage 30 replaces?, the Celestion sounds weak/thin in comparison. Could be the 65watt speaker vs the 30watt speaker being driven by an 18 watt head, or just a more efficient design? Great show, love the honest reviews and honesty in the industry. Coddling people will not help them become better musicians.
I pretty much agree with you. I have the 5 watt head in my studio right now, it's a fine practice amp, but it sounds like a small amp no matter what you do with it.
I love my zombie and i just bought a cheap peavey valve king 4x12 angled cab off a friend. Granted im not recording it but i have hada few buddies tell me they really like the tone.
Honestly I didn't think the sample sounded bad at all, and certainly bad ass for a 5W amp trying to power a giant cabinet. If anything I was quite impressed by the sound overall. Anyway regardless, appreciate your time making these videos, and shout out to southern Ontario! I grew up not far away (outside of Sarnia) and my boy Dave plays in Windsor on the regular if you ever find yourself down that way.
Glenn - give the emulated output a fair shake... it is one of the best I've heard... It's not something I'd use for final recordings... but for scratch tracks and other direct applications, it's really not bad. It actually produces a better direct out than my Mesa Subway Rocket.
Great review. Going to shop a Kat 100 Boss Head .....Add a HB G112 Glenn?? This is just for fun. For I play bass and will not know what to do with the five leftover strings.
Good review, but to be honest you should've at least function checked the reverb. You may not record it, but those who buy it may want to gig with it, and it'd be nice to let the viewer know if there is something horribly wrong with it.
Personally, I'm a HUGE Blackstar fan. The review for this amp is spot on, but it's not a metal amp. Their other combo amps are great, but their heads work better with a non-Black Star cab. Blackstar heads and Marshall cabs work surprisingly well together if you're on a budget. Does well in a bedroom studio mix and is really fun live. :)
Maybe 'cause i'm from the old country, but here a blackstar 5 combo goes for around 350 euro. It's the HT 20 that goes for around 500. EDIT: Ok just checked thomann. Probably they went higher in price since i bought the ht20, now the 5 goes for 469 euro (roughly 500 bucks) and the ht20 for 698 euro/750ish bucks (now THAT got a price increase for sure, mine i paid 520 euro 5 years ago) and im pretty sure the 5 went for around 350 as i initially said. But yeah, ht serie is not for modern metal (it's more for a hard rock/classic metal/classic prog thingy), that's why they reissued the 5 and the 1 with a metal version. Those are more suited for that kind of application. 'Cant speak for the 5 one (never owned/played one) but i had fun until i had my ht 20, great little thing imo. Sure, it's not a 5150 or a dual rec or a jcm800 but it did the job for me back then (i mostly play anything from fusion rock to dream theater). I remember it didn't take that well my 7 strings, that's the only "issue" i had with it (tbh tho, i think a pedal infront of it to tighten that low end might have worked,but i like to keep it as simple as possible when it comes to gear). Right now im GASing pretty hard for a friedman be100, but those are pricey as FUCK. But those things do everything, and imo, do better marshall tones than marshall themselves lol.
If you get the chance, test out an Orange CR120H. (If I didn't need mine I would send it to you on loan) I would love to hear one through a proper recording set up. Plus hear your thoughts on it. It costs a bit more than other solid states, but it is a heavy weight contender for metal. Great for doom on its own but gets mean with an overdrive in front.
Hi Glenn, you seem to have a very high opinion of your ENGL 4x12. I currently run the Powerball II though a Marshall cab with Eminence Governors and Swamp Thangs ( x pattern ). Do you think the investment is worth the upgrade to the ENGL pro cab?
Hey Glen, you're right on the regular HT series....The HT metal are slightly better! but Blackstar still falls sadly short in my opinion only....Track one of them down before dropping the anvil on Blackstar completely.
when i was younger and loking around for a replacement for my line 6 spider 2 30 watts, i always wanted to love the ht5. the head is really cute, it was super cheap, it has an effect loop, clean sound is great etc... but i never could. i just couldn't get myself to like the distortion. i always preferred the ht1 actually. luckily i found an engl blackmore for 750 bucks and got that instead, and it's been with me ever since. holy fuck have i gotten old. lunchbox amp cravings have never really ceased though. i've now accumulated an orange or15, an engl ironball, a jet city jca22h (it was 250 bucks, how could i say no?), and i'm on the lookout for a krank rev jr...
The Blackstar HT and HT Metal amps are not tube amps; they are hybrid amps: they use built-in distortion pedals as their “Overdrive” channels, as well as solid-state phase inverters (thus ensuring that cranking them will produce neither the sound nor the dynamic of cranking a push-pull tube amp, as phase inverter overdrive is a major component thereof).
Actually, those IC's you mention serve an entirely different function in this amplifier than what you're suggesting. According to a dude who works for Blackstar: "The circuit uses ICs for their very low noise (and low cost!) qualities but most of the gain (and dirt!) in the HT-5 pre amp comes from the valves." And according to someone with electronics knowledge who scoped the circuit of the amplifier: "I would admit that it does look like it from the schematic (or just a peek inside the amp really), you can clearly see the IC gain stage with 'clipping diodes' in the feedback loop, so it's easy to assume this is where the distortion is generated. This isn't true either. The bulk of the gain occurs in the valve. The IC stage certainly does add a lot more on the distortion channel, but really it's just pushing the valve harder - the 'clipping' diodes do not in fact start to conduct until the gain is set at least 3/4 of the way up, and at that point the valve is already a long way into distortion and the effect of the diodes is totally masked by it - you can see this clearly on a scope if you disconnect the diodes, the wave shape does not change. I *may* have been the first outside Blackstar to scope the circuit and find out exactly what's going on, but I still wouldn't take much credit for that! The purpose of the diodes is actually to limit the signal level and prevent the IC driving the valve so hard it goes into blocking distortion, which doesn't sound at all nice. This was very obvious with a guitar going into it and the diodes disconnected." Before you make an assumption about a piece of equipment, do the research on it first. While I do agree it's not a "pure" tube amp in that the phase inverter is solid state, and that that little factor makes the amp sound a little "sterile" to say that the bulk of the distortion from this amp comes from the IC's is ludicrous.
I bought HT-5 10" combo (with celestion speaker, later models had shitty 12" blackstar speaker) for 220 USD. It sounds great but it is not loud enough for a full band jam, needs 2x12 or 4x12 cab
Definitely not buying that one. What do you think about the Marshall DSL40? It's about $500 used and it has a ton of good reviews. Is it gig/studio worthy?
Want a cheaper alternative that sounds pretty damn good out of the box, but do not want to deal with tubes? Two words: Peavey Bandit. Personal choice is the Silver Stripe era (1994-1999 I believe), but the red stripe and modern ones are also rather sweet.
I used to have the head version of this. It sounded mediocre on its own- but I found that putting an EQ in the LOOP made a HUGE difference in the sound. Shaped the gain channel into something much better sounding.
I have one of these which I mostly used for practice. They are very versatile but don't actually nail any one tone. I got a pretty convincing plexi tone by putting a tc electronics spark in front of it. It just sits around gathering dust since I got my katana 100 head.
Is there a reason why you don't record guitars with reverb? Do they become too muddy?Harder to mix? pushed to much in the background? please let me know!
I bought a peavey 6505+ 60 watt combo 112 amp and I use it at my gigs and at home and I crank it to a reasonable appropriate volume and get really good tones better than my old peavey 212 vs deuce that amp I had to crank loud to get good tones
I picked up a Blackstar HT 50 head a few weeks ago, and i gotta say when paired with the right cabinet and with a tube screamer in front, i get some pretty sweet tones out of it. Its not the most incredible amp I've owned, but its definitely solid and they're are a lot worse amps for the $350 i spent on it.
Understandable that your channel's main focus is on metal. Though, from demoing the HT5 myself at a few guitar stores, I'd say this amp is pretty good with a lot of classic rock tones. The distortion surprisingly sounds better turned down to like an "Eric Clapton" setting. I feel like Blackstar should have marketed this to be more of a rock and roll amp more than a "metal" amp. For Blackstar brand products, I'd leave the "metal" to the Series One amps like the 104-6L6 or the 104-EL34. While some amps like the HT Stage 50 and 100 can get really high gain sounds, the tone of it falls a bit in comparison to the Series One amps. Nice review, Glenn.
I own an HT-5 and personally I think it is a great little amp. I agree it is not ideal for modern metal but more for rock/hard rock. Blackstar does have a Metal series of amps including the Metal HT5 so I'm wondering how that would do. If someone has one send it Glens way.
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I have one of those and even though I like it, you did a good job explaining why is not ideal for metal. I do like the overdrive channel with the ISF turned all the way to "british" for punk/classic rock stuff. For recording (not professionally, of course), I've achieved decent results with 2 mics, a SM57 coupled with a Shure SM137. I'm glad you didn't think it was complete shit. It's not as cheap as other amps in the same range but I think the build quality is a little bit better than other brands and comes with a footswitch included. Cheers and keep the reviews coming
A few years ago when I made the jump from software to real amps/cabs, the HT-5 combo was my first amp...I didn't keep it very long, it was ok through a 4x12, but the stock speaker just wasn't much IMO...Live & learn... For someone looking for best bang for the buck, IMO, Ceriatone makes great amps at waaay lower prices than the counterparts that they clone, I had a Chupacabra 50w head that was a hot-rodded plexi & sounded pretty damn close to the real thing, for a lot less $$$ than a Marshall, even used...
Recently I bought a Peavey Windsor 100w head on Reverb.com shipped, and a Peavey Valve King 4x12 cab from a local craigslist ad for almost half of what this thing costs and it sounds like a monster...save your money kids
Looking for a versatile tube amp for studio. The thing closest to what I was looking for in the price range I was looking for was the Blackstar HT5. They're very inexpensive. A pretty good value it appeared, but I couldn't find one goddam demo where I actually liked its tone, even though I acknowledge it's plenty aggressive, tubes in pre and post, it seemed like as good as it could get at that price range. Then I found your clip, where you actually apply some production values to make the amp sound as good as it could. I agree with you, it doesn't sound bad. This is the best demo out there for this amp, PERIOD. Then you mention the Harley Benton amp (which I couldn't find), but I did find the Harley Benton 15th Anniversary Amp, which is fucking amazing. You can get a real blues tone out of it, or hard rock or even great for death metal if you add a TS-808 and the way the gain channels blend produce amazing tones. Perfect amp for what I'm looking for at the right price. Thanks for the tip! Your videos are always top top
I own an ht5 and have recommended it to a number of players on a budget, and honestly I don't know what you're on about. The samples in this video sounded totally solid and I've used it in a bunch of situations. It's a flexible amp, it does a variety of tones pretty well,. It's not as metal as a 6506 or as rock as a jcm900, but for a home/backup amp with a lot of variety I have yet to see it's better.
Don't like it, cool chase your bliss.
I love mine. and as a front of house guy I've mixed a couple and have always had an easier time with it than most of the competition.
I'm not trying to convert anyone who doesn't like it, I just kinda don't get why you wouldn't like it.
Agree not only that just a lot of talk of his opinions and no other amp to compare just talks loud with no proof people listen to this. Cancel him till he prepares better and not look to get rating to make you tube money
I like the clean channel on my HT5 but the overdrive is so ugly. There's a weird tinny reverb quality even with the reverb at 0. I just use my overdrive pedal.
Its a good thing you reviewed the normal HT-5 not the HT-5 Metal, because that's probably what most people have
Actually, my ht-5 sounds just fine when used with a overdrive in front. I even use it for 7 string and it sounds awesome
i agree
When I first used this amp in a guitar store my mind was blown, it was amazing, especially for the price. I mainly play with Bias FX as of now but I also have a Randall RTC50, I wish I had gotten an HT5 over the RTC50, as I have no pedals the RTC50 is a lot more practical for me. As of now I'm sticking with Bias FX though.
I have a Blackstar HT5 but I'd never use it for metal. For rock stauff and practice it's fine. The emulated out on it is great, especially for late night practice.
If you want to check out Blackstar for metal-heads try the HT-5 metal which is tweaked for that sound. There are also some version of that amp which came as a special edition with a Vintage V30 which'd solve your speaker woes. If you want to give Blackstar a serious rundown try something from their series one line. That's attracting a lot of top level artists. :)
exactly.. who told him this amp is for metal? :/
I think a lot of Glenn's followers asked him to review it to see if it was good for metal in his opinion. :)
I have a blackstar HT5 head and i can also say it's not for metal. With a tubescreamer it comes a bit closerer bur it's still a rock amp. The cleans are not so clean either because when you crank it loud enough to compete with a drum, all your headroom is gone and it starts to compress or even distort a bit (which I love btw). I like this amp in rock situations but you have to improvise something with pedals in order to make it a bit more metal. Also, maybe it's not made for a 7-string....just saying.
I second this. I've got the HT-5 Metal and the gain tones are much better. Some of the settings are kind of funky to get dialed in right, but I think at least half of that is my guitar being mahogany with EMGs, and therefore having very little mid-range, as well as probably the stock speaker. I have to keep the mids turned nearly all the way up most of the time, but aside from that, it gets plenty of good metal tones. Not anything incredible, but considering what it costs and the fact that, at the time, the Joyo stuff wasn't around yet, it's a pretty solid value, IMO, for the money. I've been really happy with it.
Yes, it might have been an idea for someone looking for metal tones to use the amp specifically designed for metal, perhaps? I have the HT1 Metal head specifically for those tones and it works well. Not really any point criticising an amp for something it was never designed to do: possibly the clean tones should have been a giveaway...
Even though I love my HT5 I agree with Glenn. The standard HT5 is really better for rock than metal in my opinion. It's not really cut out for modern high gain stuff, but for classic rock, punk, alternative and rock it's great. Which works for me because that's the kind of stuff I play
Glenn, you`re the best! I almost never see a straight up negative review on yt these days. Too bad you didn`t record the A/B comparison with Joyo Zombie though, cuz I own the Joyo amp, and would be really interested to hear such a comparison.
It never ceases to amaze how most reviewers play the toys without checking out a full mix. Thank you for injecting some sanity into the proceedings.
But what does Fluff think about it?
But what does Corey Taylor think about it?
David Analfurz Beat me to it
but what does corey taylor think about what fluff thinks about blackstar?
The world may never know
I don't know if it's clean enough, for him.
Can we get a "Bring your own fucking cables!" T-shirt?
That sounds like "Rule Number 5" But is it meant for people who run venues or your bandmates? Either way, a niche market.
Glenn, I love your fearless gear reviews. Finally, someone cuts the shit and tells it like it is. No salesman nonsense, no fucking over the loyal customer. I worked for a music store 15 years ago (when brick-and-mortar was still a thing) and my goal was to always get the most affordable product for the customer, not up-sell them into garbage they didn't need. Beginner guitarist looking for a decent acoustic? Try a Yamaha FG-series, not the Martin HD-35. Thank you for continuing this concept of "musicians helping musicians" and "artists helping artists".
To be fair, the regular HT-5 isn't made for metal anyway. It's made for Rock and Hard Rock tones at max.
That's why there is a dedicated "Metal" version to all the HT amps. Those have more gain, more clarity and
more punch, exactly what you need for metal, though the speaker isn't better in the HT-5 Metal, but the Amp itself
is way better suited for it. What I wanted to say, it was kinda not a fair game.
The only Ric-James If you put an Overdrive pedal in front of the amp, it actually sound pretty good for metal IMO. It tighten the mids and sound much better for metal. I use a cheap Joyo Ultimate Drive.
I know, I'm doing that for almost a decade now, but that has nothing to do with the topic itself.
He used it without anything, and without anything, this thing is clearly not developed for metal.
Sure, with pedals and other fx, but that wasn't the point of the video. With the right pedals
I can make out of a twin reverb a metal amp.
Bit late to the party here. But yes I agree. THis is not a metal amp. Ive been using my ht5 head through v30s for almost three years now. I mostly record hard rock, and quite honestly, this is my go to amp for each session. I stray away from using my bigger marshalls now. This is seriously a cool little amp
I have the blackstar ht stage 60 and it sounds amazing... it isn't made for metal but it's still incredible!
Just got a blackstar 10w core amp. I love it. I mean for all the cool little effects it comes with and the sound hard to beat for $100 bedroom amp. It fulfills my needs albeit they are simple needs to begin with.
I got one used for 349. Solid amp, neeeeeeds a boost. the HT5 Metal is better for heavy tones, but there wasn't one for sale
Hey Glenn!
I bought a Peavey Windsor at a Pawn shop for $225 USD and I love it! Thanks so much for suggesting it to us! Keep up the good work!
Hey Glenn, That was a disappointment. You should review the blackstar ht stage 100. I got it from sweetwater for $599.99 US and have been completely blown away with its results. By the way, is there a way to split your guitar signal so you are able to record live amps and send the other signal to your DAW for re amping later? To clarify I would like to do both simultaneously. Any Thoughts?
Any D.I. Box will do, the cheapest I'd recommend is the Palmer Pan 01, they have a "Thru" or "Link" or "Parallel" output, you can use the balanced out to record and the thru signal to your pedals/amp, but you'll need a re-amping box if you plan to re-amp through your amp.
I'm going to personally recommend the Radial Stage bug series DI. Either passive or active depending on your pickups. Active for passive and passive for active pickups. Cheers!
XxFeendogxX I own an HT 20 combo. I agree with Glenn. I could have spent my money better else where for a METAL amp. It's a great amp, but not really for metal.
get yourself a di box. guitar into thr box then one cable from the box to the amp and another from the box to your interface
Exactly. While I appreciate Mr. Fricker's efforts, reviewing a 5 watt practice amp isn't going to give people a broad indication of Blackstar's range. There's a reason it is called a PRACTICE amp, after all.
I was actually considering the Blackstar so I appreciate this review. Thanks man!
I've owned one of these for years, and it was my first valve amp. It's been outpaced by the market now, but when I bought it (second hand, certainly for a lot less than the dollar price tag you quote here so maybe the US market gets the bad end of this) it was *literally unique* (in the UK at least) in terms of size and functionality. There was not another realistic option that was: a valve combo; 2 channels; low enough wattage to play in bedroom etc, except, IIRC, the Marshall Slash combo that was also 5 watts. The back panel options, emulated out and speaker output, and the ISF function have made it continually useful for me and I haven't upgraded it, especially since the emulated out isn't at all bad and it essentially made recording guitar possible for me years in advance of having somewhere to mic up a cab. When it came out it almost totally filled a key gap in the market, and many of its functions which at the time were rare outside of really expensive amps are now very standard even in very affordable stuff, which is great.
The only thing you need to get good metal tones out of it is a decent boost in the front; I don't think it's fair to play an extended range guitar through a tiny combo speaker and expect it to sound any good. It's clearly not designed for that use. That said, even when using an extension 4x12 it doesn't sound as good as the HT100 (and, I imagine, the ones in between in the range).
There's now a huge wealth of better options than the HT5 for bedroom players, and the lunchbox and low-wattage technology has been refined and similar amps are being made a lot cheaper. The conclusion to this video shouldn't be that the HT5 is bad (though I understand that you may not have had that long to sit with it and fiddle around with settings and peddles), but that it needs updating because when you put that up against the Joyo, you have to realise that one is a brand new model and the other is more than 5 years old which, these days, is a very very long time in terms of guitar gear.
vintage amps from the early 60's totaly destroy today's best amps.
the blackstar sounds like shit. try to compare it to an older amp and it will still sound like shit(even by itself). because of the people who built it-they didnt care about sound,didnt have a tradition to maintain . they aimed at making this a hit without worrying about sound qulity and they nailed it. i remember at first look i also thought it's great to have a versatile small amp with knobs i didnt see before until ive heard it. ide write "wtf?" instead of isf.
I put a Joyo Ultimate Drive in front of my HT-5R as a boost pedal (gain to 0 or very low, volume almost maxed out, and tone knob to whatever frequency you want emphasis on), it pushes the preamp tubes and it's night and day for playing metal. Tighten things up. Also, if not mistaken, Blackstar changed the speaker in the HT-5R version, it's now a 12" instead of a 10". I have the mini-stack version (small head with two 12" speaker cabinets). I think that setup sounds great, especially since I got the amp used in almost new condition.
Fantastic review mate! Love the brutal honesty, gives you credibility and consumer trust. Top man!
I would agree that Blackstar's lower wattage amps aren't exactly the best, but their Series One range is outstanding. Of course, that's a lot more expensive as well.
I'm sure the head version with an overdrive in front of it will make it sound 100 percent better. I'm not the biggest fan of Blackstar amps, but with an overdrive, they can coax out decent metal tones.
i had one of these last year, good for in house use but where it really shines is the emulated output!
For 500 USD i would personally just get a peavey 6505 mh
with no speaker because it's a head for 499
The 6505 mh sounds better with no speaker unless you are using a tuned down 7 string.
Why? The 6505MH sucks.
Get the EVH LBX amp instead. Sound way better and are actually all-tube amps. The 6505MH is a hybrid.
Hybrid? explain. I thought it was an all tube amp.
There is simply no way that an amp like the 6505MH can produce the levels of gain it has, AND have a tube phase inverter, with only 3 12AX7's. There is simply no way. And Peavey have themselves confirmed that the PI in the 6505MH is solid state. Therefore it is a hybrid amp.
peavey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44497
The reliability of the 6505MH is also pretty crap. It's a common issue for the amps to shut off mid-gig due to overheating and coming with shitty Chinese tubes right out of the box.
I honestly think the 6505MH sounds really thin and raspy with high gain, especially when compared to the EVH LBX amps that directly compete with them. And the tone is nowhere near as huge or as full as the big boy 6505 heads. I'd rather save up $100 and get a real amp, like a EVH 5153 50watt used.
Lots of great videos coming from Glenn these days!
I think of the ht5 as more of a rock amp. I really liked some of the tones I got for that style.
I use only the clean channel on my HT5 head, full volume OD in front. Sounds soooooo good
So glad you came to the right conclusion there, Glenn. People went nuts over the HT-5 when they first came out, but I honestly couldn't find a way to make it sound good even through a decent cab. The stupid thing is that 5W amps are too loud to crank at home, but too quiet to play with a band unless they have PA assistance (but even then, you have to use a super-cardioid mic just to keep out the noise, because everything around it is louder). Oh, and if you were wondering, the emulated out is balls.
The conclusion I drew is that Jet City amps give you far more for far less money. You should really try one some time...
I really enjoyed the extra camera angles and b roll that you added in the vid :)
I have one of these, mainly use it for clean stuff. I also use the cabinet sim output for recording, and it's perfect for quiet recording at night. I get a clean recording and it sounds good for my purpose. Only downside is that there isn't a ton of headroom, you can easily push the clean channel to break up with a little boost.
Hey Glen, it's not actually a full tube amp. There are solid state components in the path that influence the sound... The first two gain stages are actually solid state before it reaches a dual 12ax7 gain stage. A lot of tube amps these days use solid state buffers, which are transparent. The HT5 does that but also uses them as distortion stages. The HT5 also has a solid state phase inverter before the 12BH7 output tube. I don't care for the tone either. It's definitely a unique amp though.
I'll tell you what I like about your channel in specific.
You take the time out to record live drums when you're showcasing different gears etc. Most TH-camrs use drum programs to make their reviews (nothing wrong with it) but it gets monotonous after time.
With your reviews, there's always something different about the mix. And one can capture an idea of how personalized it can sound if they choose to buy the gear that's being reviewed.
Good job.
I found a used combo for $200. That might indicate they are not holding their value, but at $200 - $250, the amp is worth it. It has one pre-amp tube and one power amp tube. If you let this amp warm up you can get some very nice clean and moderately overdriven tones like a good tube amp. Blues and rock sound good, metal may be a different story but it can play AC/DC style hard rock well to my ear. I play a '67 Deluxe Reverb with Tubescreamer, so I am comparing the Blackstar to the DR. The 10" speaker makes this a great practice amp in an apartment. I was quite surprised with this review, this is not a bad amp at all.
They're really expensive in Canada. I used one as it happened to be in one of the test rooms of my local friendly guitar store, decided i liked the amp and it was cheap but it had been sold. I asked the owner about ordering one and he called blackstar (or their distributor) and was told there'd be a wait of at least 8 weeks before there was more stock. He mumbled something about putting the prices up because they were selling so fast.
I looked on eBay and found a HT40 going really cheap. It moves adequate air and has some extra buttons: clean channel is either super clean or breaks up really nicely, although it has an unflattering vintage woof if driven hard very hard with a warm humbucker; dirty channel has a switch for classic and modern voicings both of which match the gain available, which on the modern voicing is all of it. The EQ knobs don't do much, enough to tweak a sound rather than major shaping, which is nice live as you can't really go wrong but it's not so good for extreme shaping. Master volume is controlled enough to let me play in my flat and not get evicted. In all honesty i think I'd do better with a head and cab, but I really like the bigger HT. It responds really well to the volume knobs on my guitars and my picking dynamic. I've used (quite dated now) rack shit for years and I'm really enjoying a simple amp again.
As someone who really likes Blackstar stuff, part of me is glad to see you show what happens when you take these small combo amps and try to use them like you do. I play an HT20 which costs literally the same, has more features, and has a proper FX loop.
Bugera 333 xl if you want a pretty good tube amp for not much money. You can get one used for less than $200us, and it's 120 watts. The cabinet isn't spectacular, but I really dig the head.
Man, this is how Line 6 fan-boys must feel (kidding). I'm actually a fan of Blackstar amps, but I (a) have never used the HT5 and (b) am not a metal player, so I can't speak to whether I've had differing personal experience. If I lived anywhere near you, I'd put up their Club 40 amp to the fearless test. It's about $150 more, but for that you get a 12" Celestion instead of the "Blackbird" speaker, which I think really would make a difference in the mic'ed up test.
QuestWorthy the HT Club 40 is a seriously solid amp for clean and dirty tones, that's what I find at least.
Woah! Look at Glenn, with the fancy cinematography on the demo!
Thanks for the honest review! Keep up the good work!
Why does Glenn keep rattling on about how Patreon money goes to gear for Fearless Gear Reviews yet every video has him borrowing the gear anyways?
+Ian Conwell next one is a cash purchase :p
SpectreSoundStudios thank you for the clarification, glad to see you respond!
Hay Glenn thank you for taking the time to review this stuff. So we don't end up with crappy amps.
I got the head and mini stack cabs through a trade long ago. I traded a Taylor acoustic that I wasn't using for it along with some other stuff. I had some fun with the blackstar, but ultimately, it just wasn't the sound I was looking for. That was many years ago. Speaking for the head alone, for just a bit more money, you can find an EVH LBX, which will blow this thing away for high gain stuff.
Good review. Have same amp and have always been ambivalent about it (even with a better cab). It's pretty good with hard rock and classic rock...but overall I find it has a papery cardboard midrange that absolutely begs to be scooped out. Once you set the mids to 0 it begins to sound decent if not still mushy on the lows. But I use greenback style speakers so YMMV.
The headphone and emulated out are terrible. As in...how can anything sound so bad?
It's sold as a practice and recording amp but I've never been record great sounds out of it. Cool sounds maybe (when cranked it has an odd warble) It's always those cardboard mids...
Love you Glen love fearless gear reviews
oooh you have to check the hughes and kettner grandmeister 40 deluxe ... that direct out is the best thing i ever heard ... but i still do not know why no company offers ir loaders in ther tube heads ... i mean AMT proved that it is possible in a very small space (check out the pangaea)... aber even when using a cab it would be great if the sound man live would always have the same signal without any bleed ...
0:30
The distortion is actually solid state, the preamp tube is just a buffer.
False. The preamp tube is ran in 2 stages at starving voltages, causing it to distort quite a bit.
If you think you can get that type of distortion from what's essentially a tubescreamer circuit, you're very wrong.
You can verify this by sticking a volume pedal in the loop and cranking the clean channel. The preamp tube is the only thing distorting in that scenario.
+Richard Hunter You're forgetting that the phase inverter in all-tube amps does its own tonal colouration and adds its own distortion artifacts as well, which help to make a tube amp sound the way that it does. The phase inverter in the HT5 is SOLID STATE. So no. it isn't just the single preamp tube that's adding distortion character to the sound, *it's the solid state phase inverter that's adding distortion as well*. When you push your amp hard it is not as much the output tubes distorting as it is the phase inverter breaking down and distorting.
Here's an article if you want to learn more.
www.guitaramplifierblueprinting.com/files/Phaseinverter.pdf
The magic with tubes is the non-symmetrical transfer curve, which does not apply with phase inverters. Furthermore, they use MOSFETs, which are very similar in their characteristics to tubes.
Also, at the volumes people actually perform and record at, there is NO WAY they are saturating the phase inverter, for any sort of modern metal tone.
It's not a black and white issue, and you would be wiser if you stopped looking at it that way.
I would suggest that you're the one looking at is as a black-and-white issue as your original post is discounting the phase inverter entirely. I would agree that modern metal tones are created predominantly by preamp distortion only and not with phase inverter or power tube distortion, but past a certain level of volume, your statement that the preamp tube is the only thing that's distorting becomes wrong. So providing a bit of context to your original post would be a benefit to us all.
There is only so much context and rationale one can provide without losing the audience, so no. A good educator does NOT provide all the info up front, they read the audience. That's why we need teachers.
My original statements were useful and accurate and I believe that's the best thing possible.
It is widely believed among amp designers that the transformer is the main thing separating tube amps from solid state amps at non-clipping volumes. Hence, I don't think it's a stretch to diminish the importance of phase inverter distortion, unless we are talking about 70s and earlier era designs.
Ultimately, the proof in a pudding is in the eating, and the HT5 sounds better when cranked, and that's that.
For metal tones i COMPLETELY AGREE.
BUT, if you want a guitar that is a great pedalboard base, and has tonal variety for most OTHER genres, than a used HT-5r (with an upgraded speaker, although stock is not too bad) is one of the best amps for the money.
We have an HT-5 kicking around at my in-law's house that I mess with every now and then. To be honest, I think my Orange Micro Terror beats it out by a bit. Not awful, but there's certainly better out there. Nice review, Glenn!
But the Micro Terror doesn´t have a Fx loop and it only has one channel...
Hey Glenn, ever played any krank amps? They are great metal amps. Even though the company fell off the map for a while, I hear they are slowly coming back.
Hey Glenn. Have you ever tried using Warehouse Guitar Speakers instead of the Celestion Vintage 30?
I have their Green Beret (Greenback replica) and their Reaper, which is a much darker/fuller sounding version of the Green Beret. Running a Hughes and Kettner TM18 that will shake my walls with these speakers. Where as hooked up to a Celestion Super65, which I believe the vintage 30 replaces?, the Celestion sounds weak/thin in comparison. Could be the 65watt speaker vs the 30watt speaker being driven by an 18 watt head, or just a more efficient design?
Great show, love the honest reviews and honesty in the industry. Coddling people will not help them become better musicians.
Underwhelming? Have you tried the 20 watt version? It could easily compete with a triple rectifier imo. Give it try and tell me what you think
I really liked the amp but im having issues with it working properly and it hasn't been a yr yet.
Im hoping its just a tube replacement. Sounds muddy.
I got the ht club 40 black and blue. It comes with a vintage 30 and it sounds awesome
Great Fearless Review Glenn! Keep em coming! I'd like to see you look at the Series One 6l6 head ,thanks brother
You can also get the HT1 and HT5 as amp heads, with the HT5 having the option of a mini full stack.
I pretty much agree with you. I have the 5 watt head in my studio right now, it's a fine practice amp, but it sounds like a small amp no matter what you do with it.
I love my zombie and i just bought a cheap peavey valve king 4x12 angled cab off a friend. Granted im not recording it but i have hada few buddies tell me they really like the tone.
Love the reviews. Keep being honest!
Honestly I didn't think the sample sounded bad at all, and certainly bad ass for a 5W amp trying to power a giant cabinet. If anything I was quite impressed by the sound overall. Anyway regardless, appreciate your time making these videos, and shout out to southern Ontario! I grew up not far away (outside of Sarnia) and my boy Dave plays in Windsor on the regular if you ever find yourself down that way.
Glenn - give the emulated output a fair shake... it is one of the best I've heard... It's not something I'd use for final recordings... but for scratch tracks and other direct applications, it's really not bad. It actually produces a better direct out than my Mesa Subway Rocket.
Great review. Going to shop a Kat 100 Boss Head .....Add a HB G112 Glenn?? This is just for fun. For I play bass and will not know what to do with the five leftover strings.
Good review, but to be honest you should've at least function checked the reverb. You may not record it, but those who buy it may want to gig with it, and it'd be nice to let the viewer know if there is something horribly wrong with it.
Probably a fair review of the small blackstar stuff, Glenn. It's taken me ages to learn to extract the tones i want out of my HT Studio 20.
Personally, I'm a HUGE Blackstar fan. The review for this amp is spot on, but it's not a metal amp. Their other combo amps are great, but their heads work better with a non-Black Star cab. Blackstar heads and Marshall cabs work surprisingly well together if you're on a budget. Does well in a bedroom studio mix and is really fun live. :)
Maybe 'cause i'm from the old country, but here a blackstar 5 combo goes for around 350 euro. It's the HT 20 that goes for around 500.
EDIT: Ok just checked thomann. Probably they went higher in price since i bought the ht20, now the 5 goes for 469 euro (roughly 500 bucks) and the ht20 for 698 euro/750ish bucks (now THAT got a price increase for sure, mine i paid 520 euro 5 years ago) and im pretty sure the 5 went for around 350 as i initially said.
But yeah, ht serie is not for modern metal (it's more for a hard rock/classic metal/classic prog thingy), that's why they reissued the 5 and the 1 with a metal version. Those are more suited for that kind of application. 'Cant speak for the 5 one (never owned/played one) but i had fun until i had my ht 20, great little thing imo. Sure, it's not a 5150 or a dual rec or a jcm800 but it did the job for me back then (i mostly play anything from fusion rock to dream theater). I remember it didn't take that well my 7 strings, that's the only "issue" i had with it (tbh tho, i think a pedal infront of it to tighten that low end might have worked,but i like to keep it as simple as possible when it comes to gear).
Right now im GASing pretty hard for a friedman be100, but those are pricey as FUCK. But those things do everything, and imo, do better marshall tones than marshall themselves lol.
If you get the chance, test out an Orange CR120H. (If I didn't need mine I would send it to you on loan) I would love to hear one through a proper recording set up. Plus hear your thoughts on it. It costs a bit more than other solid states, but it is a heavy weight contender for metal. Great for doom on its own but gets mean with an overdrive in front.
Hi Glenn, you seem to have a very high opinion of your ENGL 4x12. I currently run the Powerball II though a Marshall cab with Eminence Governors and Swamp Thangs ( x pattern ). Do you think the investment is worth the upgrade to the ENGL pro cab?
Love the slow-mo shot!!
Well its been great watching your videos man! We will probably see your obituary soon haha
Hey Glen, you're right on the regular HT series....The HT metal are slightly better! but Blackstar still falls sadly short in my opinion only....Track one of them down before dropping the anvil on Blackstar completely.
when i was younger and loking around for a replacement for my line 6 spider 2 30 watts, i always wanted to love the ht5. the head is really cute, it was super cheap, it has an effect loop, clean sound is great etc... but i never could. i just couldn't get myself to like the distortion. i always preferred the ht1 actually. luckily i found an engl blackmore for 750 bucks and got that instead, and it's been with me ever since. holy fuck have i gotten old. lunchbox amp cravings have never really ceased though. i've now accumulated an orange or15, an engl ironball, a jet city jca22h (it was 250 bucks, how could i say no?), and i'm on the lookout for a krank rev jr...
Step 1. Get the Harley Benton cab.
Step 2. Save up and get a H&K Tubemeister Deluxe.
Step 3. ????
Step 4. Sell as lakefront property.
Step 5. Profit.
The Blackstar HT and HT Metal amps are not tube amps; they are hybrid amps: they use built-in distortion pedals as their “Overdrive” channels, as well as solid-state phase inverters (thus ensuring that cranking them will produce neither the sound nor the dynamic of cranking a push-pull tube amp, as phase inverter overdrive is a major component thereof).
Actually, those IC's you mention serve an entirely different function in this amplifier than what you're suggesting. According to a dude who works for Blackstar:
"The circuit uses ICs for their very low noise (and low cost!) qualities but most of the gain (and dirt!) in the HT-5 pre amp comes from the valves."
And according to someone with electronics knowledge who scoped the circuit of the amplifier:
"I would admit that it does look like it from the schematic (or just a peek inside the amp really), you can clearly see the IC gain stage with 'clipping diodes' in the feedback loop, so it's easy to assume this is where the distortion is generated.
This isn't true either. The bulk of the gain occurs in the valve. The IC stage certainly does add a lot more on the distortion channel, but really it's just pushing the valve harder - the 'clipping' diodes do not in fact start to conduct until the gain is set at least 3/4 of the way up, and at that point the valve is already a long way into distortion and the effect of the diodes is totally masked by it - you can see this clearly on a scope if you disconnect the diodes, the wave shape does not change. I *may* have been the first outside Blackstar to scope the circuit and find out exactly what's going on, but I still wouldn't take much credit for that!
The purpose of the diodes is actually to limit the signal level and prevent the IC driving the valve so hard it goes into blocking distortion, which doesn't sound at all nice. This was very obvious with a guitar going into it and the diodes disconnected."
Before you make an assumption about a piece of equipment, do the research on it first.
While I do agree it's not a "pure" tube amp in that the phase inverter is solid state, and that that little factor makes the amp sound a little "sterile" to say that the bulk of the distortion from this amp comes from the IC's is ludicrous.
Great vid Bossman. I'm just wondering, would a larger version make any difference? Please keep the awesome reviews coming. love your page. \m/
WHOA GLENN That snare sounded wicked! Did you mix your drum tracks as usual or there is something new that you're trying?
I bought HT-5 10" combo (with celestion speaker, later models had shitty 12" blackstar speaker) for 220 USD. It sounds great but it is not loud enough for a full band jam, needs 2x12 or 4x12 cab
I have this amp. Sounds great.
Definitely not buying that one. What do you think about the Marshall DSL40? It's about $500 used and it has a ton of good reviews. Is it gig/studio worthy?
Isn't there a "Metal" version of this amp? Would love a review of that too!
Want a cheaper alternative that sounds pretty damn good out of the box, but do not want to deal with tubes? Two words: Peavey Bandit.
Personal choice is the Silver Stripe era (1994-1999 I believe), but the red stripe and modern ones are also rather sweet.
I used to have the head version of this. It sounded mediocre on its own- but I found that putting an EQ in the LOOP made a HUGE difference in the sound. Shaped the gain channel into something much better sounding.
I have one of these which I mostly used for practice. They are very versatile but don't actually nail any one tone. I got a pretty convincing plexi tone by putting a tc electronics spark in front of it. It just sits around gathering dust since I got my katana 100 head.
Exciting new angles to see the stratocaster from.
Yes you did! And BTW I use Distrokid now and they're awesome.
From how the amp sounds my guess would be that the HT5 is mainly to be used as a Blues amp.
I used to have a Blackstar HT-5. and I loved it. It's not a Metal amp. If you're looking for a bluesy Rock amp however! :-)
Is there a reason why you don't record guitars with reverb? Do they become too muddy?Harder to mix? pushed to much in the background? please let me know!
I bought a peavey 6505+ 60 watt combo 112 amp and I use it at my gigs and at home and I crank it to a reasonable appropriate volume and get really good tones better than my old peavey 212 vs deuce that amp I had to crank loud to get good tones
You should try the Boss Katana, seems like a no bullshit amp that's a lot of bang for the buck.
I picked up a Blackstar HT 50 head a few weeks ago, and i gotta say when paired with the right cabinet and with a tube screamer in front, i get some pretty sweet tones out of it. Its not the most incredible amp I've owned, but its definitely solid and they're are a lot worse amps for the $350 i spent on it.
The combo isnt a great deal, but maybe the head is alright, that said there is Bugera and Jet City under that price range both do heads and combos.
Understandable that your channel's main focus is on metal. Though, from demoing the HT5 myself at a few guitar stores, I'd say this amp is pretty good with a lot of classic rock tones. The distortion surprisingly sounds better turned down to like an "Eric Clapton" setting. I feel like Blackstar should have marketed this to be more of a rock and roll amp more than a "metal" amp. For Blackstar brand products, I'd leave the "metal" to the Series One amps like the 104-6L6 or the 104-EL34. While some amps like the HT Stage 50 and 100 can get really high gain sounds, the tone of it falls a bit in comparison to the Series One amps.
Nice review, Glenn.
I own an HT-5 and personally I think it is a great little amp. I agree it is not ideal for modern metal but more for rock/hard rock. Blackstar does have a Metal series of amps including the Metal HT5 so I'm wondering how that would do. If someone has one send it Glens way.
I have one of those and even though I like it, you did a good job explaining why is not ideal for metal. I do like the overdrive channel with the ISF turned all the way to "british" for punk/classic rock stuff. For recording (not professionally, of course), I've achieved decent results with 2 mics, a SM57 coupled with a Shure SM137.
I'm glad you didn't think it was complete shit. It's not as cheap as other amps in the same range but I think the build quality is a little bit better than other brands and comes with a footswitch included. Cheers and keep the reviews coming
A few years ago when I made the jump from software to real amps/cabs, the HT-5 combo was my first amp...I didn't keep it very long, it was ok through a 4x12, but the stock speaker just wasn't much IMO...Live & learn...
For someone looking for best bang for the buck, IMO, Ceriatone makes great amps at waaay lower prices than the counterparts that they clone, I had a Chupacabra 50w head that was a hot-rodded plexi & sounded pretty damn close to the real thing, for a lot less $$$ than a Marshall, even used...
Man i have a black star ht20 and the emulated output works great for blending tracks if I'm not using a separate cabinet
I love these honest reviews. The HT5 is a nice amp for what it is, but it not a metal amp.
Recently I bought a Peavey Windsor 100w head on Reverb.com shipped, and a Peavey Valve King 4x12 cab from a local craigslist ad for almost half of what this thing costs and it sounds like a monster...save your money kids
Looking for a versatile tube amp for studio. The thing closest to what I was looking for in the price range I was looking for was the Blackstar HT5. They're very inexpensive. A pretty good value it appeared, but I couldn't find one goddam demo where I actually liked its tone, even though I acknowledge it's plenty aggressive, tubes in pre and post, it seemed like as good as it could get at that price range.
Then I found your clip, where you actually apply some production values to make the amp sound as good as it could. I agree with you, it doesn't sound bad. This is the best demo out there for this amp, PERIOD.
Then you mention the Harley Benton amp (which I couldn't find), but I did find the Harley Benton 15th Anniversary Amp, which is fucking amazing. You can get a real blues tone out of it, or hard rock or even great for death metal if you add a TS-808 and the way the gain channels blend produce amazing tones. Perfect amp for what I'm looking for at the right price. Thanks for the tip! Your videos are always top top