I've had this amp for around 6 months now, gigged it most weekends and I can honestly say my amp hunting days are over. You need to go and try one because the tones it gives you is both vast and quality.
Just bought mine I love it everything from reggae to blues to metal it does it all! I did my research and for the money it’s the best amp around period! Thank me later
Same here. From Gibson massive gain to clean channel STRATOCASTER with pedals. I put a DS1 on the clean channel and it's exactly the same distortion as the amp . It's incredible and monstrous
To get a really good driving sound, is it better to crank the master vol way up and dial back the channel, crank the channel vol and dial back the master, or have both equally up?
I've owned them all at one time. Yes the Marshall JCM 800 the DSL40...Marshall Lead 100. Mesa's as well. Blackstar holds its own. Although I have found some sound better than others. Easy fix...replace with quality Tubes and have the bias properly set. Love my HT Club 40.
Great amp and a lot of bang for buck. Looks good, sounds good and it's not very heavy either which makes transition to and from gigs less of a pain. Thumbs up
at 7:38 he says he turned up the master volume to max and is using the clean volume to produce more gain out of the clean channel. Can someone explain to me what exactly is happening? Is he overdriving the post amp tubes by doing this? Im thinking about buying this amp but I want something that can stay clean at a reasonable volume...
Has anyone had any success using the emulated output for recording? I just got this amp and whenever I try to record with it I get really bad feedback through my monitors. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I have the amp too close to my monitors but I'm not sure
Moe Moe This line of Blackstar amps takes drive pedals VERY well. My Fulldrive 3 (which can sound iffy in some amps) sounded incredible through this thing.
High Tension. Started of with the Blackstar tube based pedals, as they run at 300 volts internally (which is what tubes are made for), different from some other tube based pedals.
If you crank the gain it has the perfect tone for modern metal, if you have it around 75%-90% is for some classic metal or hard rock, but you can us a booster to have just a little bit more crunch and gain
James Hennessy /I own The HT club 40, Idcore stereo 100 combo and Id core TVP 100 head and I can tell you that the club 40 has so much more headroom , feel/response that the solid-state can't touch. When you turn them up they crap out, as where the HT 40 can get loud and still sound great. The only minus is if you're into effects, you'll have to add stomp boxes to the Ht 40. The solid-state amps from Blackstar sound good at low to medium volume. Just my personal experience
Chris Santi Thanks for the response! just curious, by crap out do you mean just not sound good? or do you mean it easily can blow? Also, do you find the id core amps to sound thin?
it is both. kind of a combination of sorts. marshal has a similar thing called valvestate and the artist series which is also a hybrid of the two. i think the reason they do it is so that you can achieve REALLY strong distortion sounds. I know a lot of metal heads like blackstar. it is not as sloppy sounding as marshal but lacks the tone and character of marshal. i think it's a bit of a sterile amp but there is something about it i like. has a cool dark sound to it. and the reverb on it is REALLY good. it's digital but sounds really really cool. so it has it's ups and downs.
It only has two 12AC7''s and one MUST be the phase inverter. They have to be using solid state devices to get that kind of gain. Probably MOSFET's or LED's. I think Blackstar should at least be upfront about that. I does sound good, but Blackstar is not giving full disclosure on this amp.
I agree! See the distortion is good but it's almost as as noisy as my old Peavey Solid state. once you really crank the gain . It sounds great with the Outlaw distortion pedal but honestly might as well get a DSL 40 or Mesa combo.
I like the distortion on this. I like this amp because you can find any type of overdrive, found in your 60s and 70s, to metal of the 80s and if u turn on the 2nd gain button with gain all the way upish, the rest of the knobs in a scoop fashion, ISF and reverb off, you get that modern metal sound. And I got it used for 360$ not including tax and not including 3 year additional warranty. But good Mesa or Engl is very expensive. Peavey 5150 is only good for metal and I don't understand what any of those knobs mean(yet). So for a versatile TUBE amp, blackstar ht club 40 is pretty much a gem to me.
I bought the Ht club 50 last year and have already sold that amp and bought a 90's model Ampeg VL502 -50 watt True All tube head! I thought the BS sounded great until I tried to change the pre amp tubes. The amp sounds absolutely the same with really good pre amp tubes or total junk tubes! The Output tubes makes a little more difference but not much. For some it may work great and may be just what yyour looking for but if your really into the total Marshall or fender tones thats true tube tones dont waste your money. Also the Ht club 50 is the same amp as the Ht club 40 combo. Don't believe the BS!! Also ZERO SUPPORT AFTER THE SALE! BLACKSTAR WILL NOT HELP AT ALL WITH QUESTIONS AFTER YOU HAVE THE AMP 3/6 MONTHS.
Hello!!!! I never said I changed the tubes after a Couple weeks!! You need to put on you listening ears! I had the amp probably 6 months before changing the Pre amp tubes and about 10 months on the power tubes. 10 months as most honest amp companies recommend changing power tubes. Thats pretty close to a year. I also wasn't ever expecting the amp to sound just like my 1968 Super bass Marshall. You Need to learn to except an honest opinion of a totally different amp that just happens to be built by the same company as yours. Learn to relax and hear the Good with the Bad. There's been several honest reviews by seasoned players that was way harder on BS than I was. Also what I was trying to get BS to tell me was there recommend Bias setting for the amp nothing unreasonable! ! Peace out.
Yes if your really into Vintage tones like old Fender or old Marshall tones thats probably where its at! I really wasn't trying to bash Bs but I think everyone needs to be honest about the tone of the Ht series! ! Now the other Amps like the Artisans would have to be better but for that kinda money it sure should be. Im looking at a Early 80's Marshall Jcm800 Combo but only the One 12 version and I think im gonna flip it upside down and make a head out of it... They are really made well and all the vintage tone you can Choke on!! Lol good deal!!
I've had this amp for over a year now and I can't dial in " the sound in my head" to save my life! This amp is very muddy sounding and doesn't excite me at all! I've tried everything! I ended up buying a Marshall dsl 40c and it smokes the blackstar, it's like a blanket was lifted off my ears! plus this amp does not take pedals well at all! I really want to get rid of this amp but the thing is I paid full price before they started lowering the price and I'll never get back anywhere close to what I got I got in it, so I'm kinda stuck with it! Don't waste your money on this amp if you're looking for clean crisp overdrive tones cause it ain't happening!
That's sad to hear, I have this amp and just plain love it, I Guess its a good thing there are so many different amps to choose from. I really like The EHV 5150 111 combo, but its twice the cost of the blackstar, The Marshall dsl is a real badass amp for sure!!!
Dude I’m sorry but I know fir a fact that the DSL 40 is more “ muddy sounding” blackstar club 40 is wayyyy cleaner then a Marshall come on what are you a weekend warrior? You might need to go the digital route and get a line 6 helix lol
I've had this amp for around 6 months now, gigged it most weekends and I can honestly say my amp hunting days are over. You need to go and try one because the tones it gives you is both vast and quality.
Do you have to mic or will it stand alone in volume?
does it take pedals well?
@@elmerfuddphd it'll stand alone. I don't mic mine
I bought it one month ago, awesome amp...perfect match with my Les Paul.
Just bought mine I love it everything from reggae to blues to metal it does it all! I did my research and for the money it’s the best amp around period! Thank me later
Same here. From Gibson massive gain to clean channel STRATOCASTER with pedals. I put a DS1 on the clean channel and it's exactly the same distortion as the amp . It's incredible and monstrous
I wish more people would demo amps like this. This is sincerely ideal
What I've learned from web or TH-cam reviews of amps is alot of people don't like amps from: Blackstar, Marshall, Fender, Peavey, Orange, Mesa, Fuchs. Vox, Diezel, Laney, Dr.Z, Tophat, BadCat, Quilter, Egnater, Crate, Ampeg, Hughes & Kittner,, Bugera, Two Rock, Randall, Supro, Line 6, Roland, Soldano, Fishman, Engl, Rivera, Splawn, Krank, Pignose, Acoustic, Hot, Magnatone, Matchless, Blackheart, HiWatt, Savage,PRS, Gibson, Suhr, Trainwreck,.. and nameless others.. geesh....
ContraBand Joe lol it cracks me up,but it's so true.
And the guy playing always sucks...or rocks...
fyi "a lot" is always 2 words
Buy a Traynor :D
Best guitar face ever at 6.41!!! Nice demo. Good sound. Think I might buy one.
Hahaha yes classic Lou guitar face! Glad you liked the demo!
Great vid! Just picked me up one of these today due in large part to this video. I played it in the store and that was that.
An SG through that over-driven clean channel is gunna sound sweet as a nut, pure ACDC.
To get a really good driving sound, is it better to crank the master vol way up and dial back the channel, crank the channel vol and dial back the master, or have both equally up?
great demo, i love the cranked up clean channel sound!
I've owned them all at one time. Yes the Marshall JCM 800 the DSL40...Marshall Lead 100. Mesa's as well. Blackstar holds its own. Although I have found some sound better than others. Easy fix...replace with quality Tubes and have the bias properly set. Love my HT Club 40.
Best review of this amp on YT
Great amp and a lot of bang for buck. Looks good, sounds good and it's not very heavy either which makes transition to and from gigs less of a pain. Thumbs up
very good demo! I think Im getting one!
at 7:38 he says he turned up the master volume to max and is using the clean volume to produce more gain out of the clean channel. Can someone explain to me what exactly is happening? Is he overdriving the post amp tubes by doing this? Im thinking about buying this amp but I want something that can stay clean at a reasonable volume...
+Jon D also if this is the case should I go for the 60 watt version instead?
40 watts on the clean should be enough headroom for most situations, but for a little larger gigging settings it wouldn't hurt to get the 60
Hi, how can you manage to have a good clean sound without any eq except for the tone control?this sounds a bit limited as option for live gigs..
it has a shard 3-band eq (bass, middle, treble)
Has anyone had any success using the emulated output for recording? I just got this amp and whenever I try to record with it I get really bad feedback through my monitors. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. Maybe I have the amp too close to my monitors but I'm not sure
The ISF is then on the preamp side, since it's alter the voice to have a british vs a american sound ?
How loud can you set the clean volume before it breaks up? I found a Fender breaks up after Volume setting on "3"
Hey Lou great review! any chance you can demo the Blackstar Soloist 60? Cant seem to find a good review on that one. Thanks!
how he has the master volume at 3 o' clock without breaking his ears?
It has a wattage switch goes down from 40 to 5 watts it’s awesome
Not one this model it doesn't
Where would you plug your stompbox into ?
I may be a little late to the party but does this amp take overdrive pedals well??
Moe Moe This line of Blackstar amps takes drive pedals VERY well. My Fulldrive 3 (which can sound iffy in some amps) sounded incredible through this thing.
Why so much buzz on the clean channel
Ht = hybrid tube ?
High Tension. Started of with the Blackstar tube based pedals, as they run at 300 volts internally (which is what tubes are made for), different from some other tube based pedals.
Does it work to play metal or post-rock?
Daniel hidalgo López it does metal and hard rock very well and it doesn't sound like shit if you crank the gain up
If you crank the gain it has the perfect tone for modern metal, if you have it around 75%-90% is for some classic metal or hard rock, but you can us a booster to have just a little bit more crunch and gain
eric692003 it has a great clean with a hint of reverb on too. I just bought the HT club 50
How much does this cost?
£500-600 new
Good amp
So it's like the Fender vibro champ then.
This or the ID core?
James Hennessy /I own The HT club 40, Idcore stereo 100 combo and Id core TVP 100 head and I can tell you that the club 40 has so much more headroom , feel/response that the solid-state can't touch. When you turn them up they crap out, as where the HT 40 can get loud and still sound great. The only minus is if you're into effects, you'll have to add stomp boxes to the Ht 40. The solid-state amps from Blackstar sound good at low to medium volume. Just my personal experience
Chris Santi Thanks for the response! just curious, by crap out do you mean just not sound good? or do you mean it easily can blow? Also, do you find the id core amps to sound thin?
Sounds overcompressed when playing on the overdriven channel
Hey Lou, what HT means ?
hybrid technology. because it has a solid state pre amp and tube power amp.
So it's not a real tube amp.
it is both. kind of a combination of sorts. marshal has a similar thing called valvestate and the artist series which is also a hybrid of the two. i think the reason they do it is so that you can achieve REALLY strong distortion sounds. I know a lot of metal heads like blackstar. it is not as sloppy sounding as marshal but lacks the tone and character of marshal. i think it's a bit of a sterile amp but there is something about it i like. has a cool dark sound to it. and the reverb on it is REALLY good. it's digital but sounds really really cool. so it has it's ups and downs.
but it's not a true all tube amp. def not.
bandawhat33
I don't know what HT stands for, or what this guy is telling you, but these are all tube.
taking out mids to get mesa sound? arent the punchy mids exactly what makes that sound? lol
It only has two 12AC7''s and one MUST be the phase inverter. They have to be using solid state devices to get that kind of gain. Probably MOSFET's or LED's. I think Blackstar should at least be upfront about that. I does sound good, but Blackstar is not giving full disclosure on this amp.
Phase inverter is solid state just like the old Ernie Ball music man amps.
+spiketheguitarist I wondered if that might be the case.
Forget the Line 6.
Paul Weatherby It's hard to beat the sound of a good tube amp cranked up to 10!
Her face is cracked from smiling
All the fears that she's been hiding
And it seems that pretty soon, everybody's gonna know
Yeah... I caught that. lol. Nice...you have good taste...(or at least similar!)
I'm so happy, I'm gonna join the band
Briddish? Briddish?
bri’ish
Hey to bad you don't show the dials better. Would have been easy and informative .
I owe this amp i have to say The clean tones are amazing. the distortion is fine. But ive heard better.
I agree! See the distortion is good but it's almost as as noisy as my old Peavey Solid state. once you really crank the gain . It sounds great with the Outlaw distortion pedal but honestly might as well get a DSL 40 or Mesa combo.
I like the distortion on this. I like this amp because you can find any type of overdrive, found in your 60s and 70s, to metal of the 80s and if u turn on the 2nd gain button with gain all the way upish, the rest of the knobs in a scoop fashion, ISF and reverb off, you get that modern metal sound. And I got it used for 360$ not including tax and not including 3 year additional warranty. But good Mesa or Engl is very expensive. Peavey 5150 is only good for metal and I don't understand what any of those knobs mean(yet).
So for a versatile TUBE amp, blackstar ht club 40 is pretty much a gem to me.
Go Canada !!!!! :D
I bought the Ht club 50 last year and have already sold that amp and bought a 90's model Ampeg VL502 -50 watt True All tube head! I thought the BS sounded great until I tried to change the pre amp tubes. The amp sounds absolutely the same with really good pre amp tubes or total junk tubes! The Output tubes makes a little more difference but not much. For some it may work great and may be just what yyour looking for but if your really into the total Marshall or fender tones thats true tube tones dont waste your money. Also the Ht club 50 is the same amp as the Ht club 40 combo. Don't believe the BS!! Also ZERO SUPPORT AFTER THE SALE! BLACKSTAR WILL NOT HELP AT ALL WITH QUESTIONS AFTER YOU HAVE THE AMP 3/6 MONTHS.
Hello!!!! I never said I changed the tubes after a Couple weeks!! You need to put on you listening ears! I had the amp probably 6 months before changing the Pre amp tubes and about 10 months on the power tubes. 10 months as most honest amp companies recommend changing power tubes. Thats pretty close to a year. I also wasn't ever expecting the amp to sound just like my 1968 Super bass Marshall. You Need to learn to except an honest opinion of a totally different amp that just happens to be built by the same company as yours. Learn to relax and hear the Good with the Bad. There's been several honest reviews by seasoned players that was way harder on BS than I was. Also what I was trying to get BS to tell me was there recommend Bias setting for the amp nothing unreasonable! ! Peace out.
Yes if your really into Vintage tones like old Fender or old Marshall tones thats probably where its at! I really wasn't trying to bash Bs but I think everyone needs to be honest about the tone of the Ht series! ! Now the other Amps like the Artisans would have to be better but for that kinda money it sure should be. Im looking at a Early 80's Marshall Jcm800 Combo but only the One 12 version and I think im gonna flip it upside down and make a head out of it... They are really made well and all the vintage tone you can Choke on!! Lol good deal!!
horrible amp
sounds noisy...
have you ever played in a band with any amp and with the bullets flying...they're all noisy. people won't hear any of it with a loud drummer.
you talk too much. people want to hear the amp.
I've had this amp for over a year now and I can't dial in " the sound in my head" to save my life! This amp is very muddy sounding and doesn't excite me at all! I've tried everything! I ended up buying a Marshall dsl 40c and it smokes the blackstar, it's like a blanket was lifted off my ears! plus this amp does not take pedals well at all! I really want to get rid of this amp but the thing is I paid full price before they started lowering the price and I'll never get back anywhere close to what I got I got in it, so I'm kinda stuck with it! Don't waste your money on this amp if you're looking for clean crisp overdrive tones cause it ain't happening!
That's sad to hear, I have this amp and just plain love it, I Guess its a good thing there are so many different amps to choose from. I really like The EHV 5150 111 combo, but its twice the cost of the blackstar, The Marshall dsl is a real badass amp for sure!!!
raze101 Try swapping the speaker to a Celestion V30. It drastically changes the sound of the amp.
Dude I’m sorry but I know fir a fact that the DSL 40 is more “ muddy sounding” blackstar club 40 is wayyyy cleaner then a Marshall come on what are you a weekend warrior? You might need to go the digital route and get a line 6 helix lol
Not for me the dirty channel sounds like a cheap stomp box. Too fizzy sounding
10 minutes of blah. 2 minutos of playing.