In this video I said the bias was non-adjustable. A kind commenter let me find the secret hidden away bias adjustment circuit. A video on that will be up tomorrow, at which point it will be linked at the end of this video. It's a terrible bias adustment circuit, but it's there.
For a minute there I thought you were a Blackstar convert when I heard you say you were going to give it a "reach around". :) Here are some notes I ran across a while back when I was looking for some info on an old Blackstar Artist 30 I picked up for less than the price of the Celestion Vs that were in it. Channel 2 was weak b/c the previous owner never cleaned the loop jacks and he couldn't find anyone that would work on it. Your mileage may vary. Bias Procedure for Blackstar The following will show the bias test points, correct bias voltage(s), and bias balance procedure for the HT and Series One lines of Blackstar Amplifiers. Before starting, make sure you plug a ¼” cable into the input jack (**Except on the HT5**) Also, all volume and tone controls should be set to “ZERO” and all switches should be in their “OUT” position HT5 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 46mV across D20 HTSTUD20 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 12V across R221 HTCLUB40C - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across D36 HTSTAGE60C - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across D27 HTSOLO60C - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across TP1 and TP7 HT100H - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D27 S145 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across CON1 S1100 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across CON1 S1200 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D22 S1104EL34 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D22 S11046L6 -Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D22 Bias Balance Procedure 1) Set amplifier to CLEAN CHANNEL 2) If there is a tone control(s), set these to 12 o’clock 3) Set Channel and Master Volume controls fully clockwise 4) Using a 1kHz input signal, drive the output waveform into saturation (full clipping) 5) Adjust Bias Balance potentiometer so that the output waveform clips symmetrically
Man, I really appreciate your candor and objectivity in the commentary. You really seem to come at this stuff without any horse in the race, and form your perspective with neutrality. Thanks for making and sharing this content!
I have one and I love it. It didn't really start to shine for me until I got the 5 button footswitch as opposed to the 2 button that came with it. Haven't had a single problem with it. It's my second Blackstar amp and I like them better than any Marshall I've played through. They're a dream when recording with the DI out.
I had a blackstar ht1, ht5, ht20, and ht60, not all at the same time. I thought they sounded great well thats because i had no point of comparison back then. Using a Celestion V30 makes their sound ALOT better.
To set the bias on the mkll, you must use the trimpots and the led between the power valves and preamp valves, left trimpot is the balance and the right one is the bias. Red led is hot bias green in cold, booth led's off is "the sweet spot"
ISF is Blackstar's voice for the amp ranging from a 'British' to an 'American' voice I think, I have it on my 5W micro unit that I use for PC speakers and noodling on guitar whilst watching vids etc.
@@PsionicAudio I see a Black and Blue on sale at Sweetwater. I was leaning towards a Tone Master, something easy to move, can go direct out, or nail full stage volume. You really seem to see A LOT of issues with reliability. Compared to other tube amps (any price range), are they disproportionately unreliable, or are all of the Chinese, PCB driven amps kind of in the same boat?
Lot of bashing going around, but check a few videos around you tube! Many great videos with great tones and sounds so imo judging from a couple seconds of low volume, half assed playing isn't gonna be a very good video for anybody to really hear an amp bloom! I seen a guy from France I believe play a Les Paul and it blew my mind!!! Now I can agree it's a different situation on the fixing of these in the future but as many musicians told me, don't knock it until you try it, I tried it and loved it, bought it realizing new technology isn't necessarily the way to go. But the beauty of the amp, sounds of the amp is in my ballpark! So to each there own. Tube amps aren't meant to be played at 10 dB, there meant for 100 dB hehe. But remember to each there own and if I can get great tones out of it that's what matters to me!!!
"Decimals"? You meant decibels or dB. And nowadays, With good monitors and good PA gear and good sound men, 100 DB on stage is probably overkill for most players, most bands and most venues. Unless you don't care about the prospect of ending up with tinnitus.
@@goodun2974 I did mean dB, and what I was trying to get at was that tube amps sound better as they get louder. But I do agree we live in a different time than the 80's or 90's, when it was the thing to get as loud as you could lol
So can you upgrade the JJ tubes to another form of better quality 6L6 tubes is my question I got the standard black version with 6L6 in it. Sounds good might swap the speaker out maybe for a creamback
Had mine for almost six years...gig with it almost weekly...never had a single problem ( knock on wood). They are hard to beat for the price (if you get one that holds up). I tried to like the Marshall DSL...both the 40 watt combo and a 100 watt head. Just too much fizz and buzz for me. I actually liked the Marshall Origin 50 combo better but went with the HT Club because I can get the tones I want from clean to crunch to rock with just a footswitch and no pedals. They sound like a tube amp...just wish they were built better.
Man, thanks to your videos I decided on purchasing a VHT special 6 ultra as my first tube amp. Looking at the board is a dream compared to these. All eyelet, through hole components, tubes on all the amplification stages, the works. Can't wait to learn my way into repair and modding with it.
You're actually wrong about the amp being fixed bias. In the first shot, you can see two holes and four rectangle slots next to the power tubes. There are trim pots behind the round holes and LEDs behind the rectangles which are supposed to give an indication on wether or not the tubes are biased correctly. Blackstar does not release the service manual to the public, but you can find information on this in the official Blackstar forums.
Well, it’s still fixed bias. They just changed it to a nearly incomprehensibly stupid bias circuit. I mean, wow it’s crappy. Those trim pots are too fragile for the purpose. See every DSL 100… Nothing came up on this in many searches I did. Thanks.
Jannik19191, Fixed bias refers to having a negative voltage supply applied to the grids of the output tubes in order to bias them. A fixed bias amp might or might not be adjustable with trimpots; it can be adjustable, or it could be preset at the factory to a certain level using a particular value of resistor, *but it is still fixed bias circuit regardless of whether or not it has bias adjustment pots*.
@@PsionicAudio I look forward to the follow up video. I'm surprised you didn't measure the plate dissipation of the 6L6's just out of curiosity, even before you knew that there were "secret" trim pots hidden away.
Thanks for this great video. I've the black version of this amp (el34 and celestion seventy). Can I change the el34 to 6l6 tubes? I also want to change the speaker to Vintage 30 or Greenback. I know the ohm of the speaker can be 8 or 16 but I'm not sure the power rating is important or not (Vintage 30 is 60W - G12M is 25W).
Can't believe they charge eight bucks for a fuse holder. You can get them for about fifty cents apiece by ordering by part number. Same one is used on Oranges. I will dig out the part number tomorrow.
Ive never heard a club 40 sound that bad. I have the Kentucky version 6l6 and screaming eagle speaker. Easy to dial in a good overdrive for any guitar..
Hello you make very informative videos! May I ask you about Blackstar Studio 10 kt88, I like a lot how it sounds I near to buy it. Do I have a chance that Studio series made a bit better? Are you seen them? Thanks !!!
I have a 1/2 watt amp for home and gets louder than a singing voice. My other amp is seven or 40 and seven is very loud. Louder than my 10 watt blackstar i gave my sister. Its just what it is
I wanted to be a Blackstar die-hard, having owned several of their amps and pedals, but have to admit they have design flaws. They're the amps for the technocratic, rentier age (bad usage of PCBs, hiding the schematics, attitude to servicing & repair etc).
I have the black n blue new one - The drive isn’t good for Strats - as u can hear in this video- but it’s a damn good amp - plenty of time options - if anyone has a problem with this amp they’re just being picky or anal.. Go get one!!!
@@PsionicAudio , " Shove it in their faces, give 'em what they want/ gotta make it fast, it's a fast food restaurant....." Richard Thompson, "Fast Food"
This amp don't sound bad,but it's still a bad investment: the cheap labor and parts,will cost a lot of money, to keep the amp running after years of use and the reselling value will be low after years of use.
I had one of those amps and I loved the tone and features but the build quality of the electronics was cheap. It was unreliable; it would go one set and after that it would start crackling and popping and the output would go to hell so it’d be unusable. Sent it to be repaired under warranty three times after which I got a refund. Ended replacing it with an old Marshall JTM60.
I had a Marshall JTM60 before I traded it in for a Rivera R55-12 (also long since moved on). Have to say, I still have the fondest of fond memories for the clean tones of that Marshall - was the very embodiment of "sweet, glassy". Loved that, even if not so fond of the OD! :)
@@PsionicAudio Yep. Filled with opamps and diodes. Basically the distortion found in every solid state amp since the 80s. That's why they don't release their trade secrets in a schematic. :)
@@PsionicAudio Do not get me wrong as I am not a fan of Blackstar but some people seem to crap on them because it's not a real tube amp? The question is as soon as you put an overdrive OR any digital effect through a "Real" valve amp are you not basically doing the same damn thing that Blackstar is doing in this amp more or less? I believe the new EVH 5150 Iconic is not far from what Blackstar has been doing if I am not mistaken.
I get your point, but SS circuits vary in quality and musicality. The ones here are… ok. Ish. The tube circuits here are ok ish. Everything is ok. Ish. Not exactly Gilmour into a Cornish pedalboard into a HiWatt. The analogy doesn’t hold up.
@@PsionicAudio I will give you Gilmour BUT a Cornish pedalboard into a HiWatt would be 100 percent subjective correct? I did think you were able to get some ok sounds out of it until you went to the red channel (Whatever Blackstar calls it) well that's a different story as I thought it sounded like trash (Also subjective as some may love it.) People need to keep in mind what this Blackstar costs as it's NOT as well built OR even in the same league as say your example a 100 Watt HiWatt but it also costs much less as well. Who in the hell today will use a 100 watt HiWatt head with a 4-12 cab? 98 percent of the places poor musicians will play in today the FOH would not even let you bring it in the door let alone the PITA with lugging it around. Like it OR hate it we are going digital but I think Valve amps will always be around but just as an afterthought or something cool from the days gone. The whole Valve situation we find ourselves in today will only speed up this process. I enjoy my Valve amps and that's all I own BUT the writing is on the wall so to speak as it is nothing more than a matter of time and I think it will be sooner rather than later. I am old (Born in the early 70's) and the last time I played at a club (also a long time ago LOL) Half of the people were drunk and the other half just wanted to get laid and could care less what gear you had just as long as you entertained them. If I could of just had a little black box that got the job done it would have been a simple choice as 99.995 percent of the people in the audience would not even know the difference OR care. This is coming for someone that does not even like digital but I also am not stupid as it is the near future like it or not!
In this video I said the bias was non-adjustable. A kind commenter let me find the secret hidden away bias adjustment circuit. A video on that will be up tomorrow, at which point it will be linked at the end of this video.
It's a terrible bias adustment circuit, but it's there.
For a minute there I thought you were a Blackstar convert when I heard you say you were going to give it a "reach around". :)
Here are some notes I ran across a while back when I was looking for some info on an old Blackstar Artist 30 I picked up for less than the price of the Celestion Vs that were in it. Channel 2 was weak b/c the previous owner never cleaned the loop jacks and he couldn't find anyone that would work on it.
Your mileage may vary.
Bias Procedure for Blackstar
The following will show the bias test points, correct bias voltage(s), and bias balance procedure for the HT and Series One lines of Blackstar Amplifiers.
Before starting, make sure you plug a ¼” cable into the input jack (**Except on the HT5**)
Also, all volume and tone controls should be set to “ZERO” and all switches should be in their “OUT” position
HT5 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 46mV across D20
HTSTUD20 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 12V across R221
HTCLUB40C - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across D36
HTSTAGE60C - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across D27
HTSOLO60C - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across TP1 and TP7
HT100H - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D27
S145 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 50mV across CON1
S1100 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across CON1
S1200 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D22
S1104EL34 - Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D22
S11046L6 -Adjust bias control for a reading of 100mV across D22
Bias Balance Procedure
1) Set amplifier to CLEAN CHANNEL
2) If there is a tone control(s), set these to 12 o’clock
3) Set Channel and Master Volume controls fully clockwise
4) Using a 1kHz input signal, drive the output waveform into saturation (full clipping)
5) Adjust Bias Balance potentiometer so that the output waveform clips symmetrically
@@jbolt247 HA!
That clean sound is heavenly.
Man, I really appreciate your candor and objectivity in the commentary. You really seem to come at this stuff without any horse in the race, and form your perspective with neutrality. Thanks for making and sharing this content!
I have one and I love it. It didn't really start to shine for me until I got the 5 button footswitch as opposed to the 2 button that came with it. Haven't had a single problem with it. It's my second Blackstar amp and I like them better than any Marshall I've played through. They're a dream when recording with the DI out.
I had a blackstar ht1, ht5, ht20, and ht60, not all at the same time. I thought they sounded great well thats because i had no point of comparison back then. Using a Celestion V30 makes their sound ALOT better.
To set the bias on the mkll, you must use the trimpots and the led between the power valves and preamp valves, left trimpot is the balance and the right one is the bias. Red led is hot bias green in cold, booth led's off is "the sweet spot"
ISF is Blackstar's voice for the amp ranging from a 'British' to an 'American' voice I think, I have it on my 5W micro unit that I use for PC speakers and noodling on guitar whilst watching vids etc.
Not sure if I'm Lucky to have my ht club 40 mk1 for 14 years. I love it, great sound and takes pedals perfectly
Dude. That's great. I'm serious. And yes, you seem to be very lucky.
@@PsionicAudio I see a Black and Blue on sale at Sweetwater. I was leaning towards a Tone Master, something easy to move, can go direct out, or nail full stage volume. You really seem to see A LOT of issues with reliability. Compared to other tube amps (any price range), are they disproportionately unreliable, or are all of the Chinese, PCB driven amps kind of in the same boat?
I’m really scared of modern amps. They seem to try to do everything rather than 1 or 2 things very well. I can’t see how they will last.
I have the ht40 mk1 about 14 years. Great great sound
That's the precise business model.
Lot of bashing going around, but check a few videos around you tube! Many great videos with great tones and sounds so imo judging from a couple seconds of low volume, half assed playing isn't gonna be a very good video for anybody to really hear an amp bloom! I seen a guy from France I believe play a Les Paul and it blew my mind!!! Now I can agree it's a different situation on the fixing of these in the future but as many musicians told me, don't knock it until you try it, I tried it and loved it, bought it realizing new technology isn't necessarily the way to go. But the beauty of the amp, sounds of the amp is in my ballpark! So to each there own. Tube amps aren't meant to be played at 10 dB, there meant for 100 dB hehe. But remember to each there own and if I can get great tones out of it that's what matters to me!!!
"Decimals"? You meant decibels or dB. And nowadays, With good monitors and good PA gear and good sound men, 100 DB on stage is probably overkill for most players, most bands and most venues. Unless you don't care about the prospect of ending up with tinnitus.
@@goodun2974 I did mean dB, and what I was trying to get at was that tube amps sound better as they get louder. But I do agree we live in a different time than the 80's or 90's, when it was the thing to get as loud as you could lol
So can you upgrade the JJ tubes to another form of better quality 6L6 tubes is my question I got the standard black version with 6L6 in it. Sounds good might swap the speaker out maybe for a creamback
Had mine for almost six years...gig with it almost weekly...never had a single problem ( knock on wood). They are hard to beat for the price (if you get one that holds up). I tried to like the Marshall DSL...both the 40 watt combo and a 100 watt head. Just too much fizz and buzz for me. I actually liked the Marshall Origin 50 combo better but went with the HT Club because I can get the tones I want from clean to crunch to rock with just a footswitch and no pedals. They sound like a tube amp...just wish they were built better.
Man, thanks to your videos I decided on purchasing a VHT special 6 ultra as my first tube amp. Looking at the board is a dream compared to these. All eyelet, through hole components, tubes on all the amplification stages, the works. Can't wait to learn my way into repair and modding with it.
Those are incredible amps for the price.
A great video!
You're actually wrong about the amp being fixed bias. In the first shot, you can see two holes and four rectangle slots next to the power tubes. There are trim pots behind the round holes and LEDs behind the rectangles which are supposed to give an indication on wether or not the tubes are biased correctly. Blackstar does not release the service manual to the public, but you can find information on this in the official Blackstar forums.
Well, it’s still fixed bias. They just changed it to a nearly incomprehensibly stupid bias circuit. I mean, wow it’s crappy.
Those trim pots are too fragile for the purpose. See every DSL 100…
Nothing came up on this in many searches I did. Thanks.
Jannik19191, Fixed bias refers to having a negative voltage supply applied to the grids of the output tubes in order to bias them. A fixed bias amp might or might not be adjustable with trimpots; it can be adjustable, or it could be preset at the factory to a certain level using a particular value of resistor, *but it is still fixed bias circuit regardless of whether or not it has bias adjustment pots*.
@jannik19191 I do appreciate the secret information. Look for a follow up on the bias of this amp tomorrow. You get a shout-out. Thanks.
@@PsionicAudio I look forward to the follow up video. I'm surprised you didn't measure the plate dissipation of the 6L6's just out of curiosity, even before you knew that there were "secret" trim pots hidden away.
I did and I knew the amp was safe if a little cold. I didn’t put it in the video because I didn’t want to answer all the “how” questions.
Thanks for this great video. I've the black version of this amp (el34 and celestion seventy). Can I change the el34 to 6l6 tubes? I also want to change the speaker to Vintage 30 or Greenback. I know the ohm of the speaker can be 8 or 16 but I'm not sure the power rating is important or not (Vintage 30 is 60W - G12M is 25W).
1:52 ♫Red Lobster for the sea food lover in you...
You're welcome.
Awesome
Can't believe they charge eight bucks for a fuse holder. You can get them for about fifty cents apiece by ordering by part number. Same one is used on Oranges. I will dig out the part number tomorrow.
Grab a Tube 15. Use it for comparison. In the USA it's dirt cheap and twice the amp that is .
Cheers
Is this amp more or less a Marshall DSL40? The feature set and controls seem awfully similar.
I need an opinion. Should I trade my Laney LC30 with a Club 40 Blackstar?
What is the part number for the board? I am thinking about buying one in advance of mine going out. Also, are there any other part #'s I may need?
Ive never heard a club 40 sound that bad. I have the Kentucky version 6l6 and screaming eagle speaker. Easy to dial in a good overdrive for any guitar..
Hello you make very informative videos!
May I ask you about Blackstar Studio 10 kt88, I like a lot how it sounds I near to buy it. Do I have a chance that Studio series made a bit better? Are you seen them? Thanks !!!
Black and Blue? Does this amp have anything to do with Gary Clark Jr?
I have a 1/2 watt amp for home and gets louder than a singing voice. My other amp is seven or 40 and seven is very loud. Louder than my 10 watt blackstar i gave my sister. Its just what it is
I wanted to be a Blackstar die-hard, having owned several of their amps and pedals, but have to admit they have design flaws. They're the amps for the technocratic, rentier age (bad usage of PCBs, hiding the schematics, attitude to servicing & repair etc).
I have the black n blue new one - The drive isn’t good for Strats - as u can hear in this video- but it’s a damn good amp - plenty of time options - if anyone has a problem with this amp they’re just being picky or anal.. Go get one!!!
is it hybrid solid state / tube ?
Yeah. Most of it is SS.
@@PsionicAudio thanks👍🏻
Overdrive on this amp is not my cup O' tea, but many folks like this amp.😎👍
There's always a line at McDonald's. I'm a cook, so I'm never in that line. But it always exists.
@@PsionicAudio
Touche 🤣😎👍
😎👍❤🖖
@@PsionicAudio , " Shove it in their faces, give 'em what they want/ gotta make it fast, it's a fast food restaurant....." Richard Thompson, "Fast Food"
You can get a better overdrive on these amps , mine doesn’t sound anything like the video.
Even well built amps need maintenance.
You can run but you cant hide from Lyle's bench.
Ya know, they don't seem like bad sounding amplifiers. It's a shame they are poorly designed.
They aren't poorly designed, necessarily. The main issue is that their PCB assembly can be pretty sloppy.
This amp don't sound bad,but it's still a bad investment: the cheap labor and parts,will cost a lot of money, to keep the amp running after years of use and the reselling value will be low after years of use.
I had one of those amps and I loved the tone and features but the build quality of the electronics was cheap. It was unreliable; it would go one set and after that it would start crackling and popping and the output would go to hell so it’d be unusable. Sent it to be repaired under warranty three times after which I got a refund. Ended replacing it with an old Marshall JTM60.
I had a Marshall JTM60 before I traded it in for a Rivera R55-12 (also long since moved on). Have to say, I still have the fondest of fond memories for the clean tones of that Marshall - was the very embodiment of "sweet, glassy". Loved that, even if not so fond of the OD! :)
Okay... definitely wasn't the song I thought... but is that AC/DC in there?
Well... Maybe it is "You Shook Me All Night Long"
A little bit.
Do not want.🤣
Honestly, I think that amp sounds terrible. Its very harsh.
Like many, it sounds better in the shower.
@@PsionicAudio Haha!
@@PsionicAudio, Keith Relf already tried something similar to that; it did not go well for him.
He didn’t have it set right , it can sound pretty good , if you turn the dial’s properly.
Sounds like a very generic EL84 based amp
Eww. Grainy, harsh distortion, like a cheapo beginner's stompbox. Pass.
Totally unfair!
It's got at least three or four cheapo stompboxes in there!
@@PsionicAudio Yep. Filled with opamps and diodes. Basically the distortion found in every solid state amp since the 80s. That's why they don't release their trade secrets in a schematic. :)
@@PsionicAudio Do not get me wrong as I am not a fan of Blackstar but some people seem to crap on them because it's not a real tube amp? The question is as soon as you put an overdrive OR any digital effect through a "Real" valve amp are you not basically doing the same damn thing that Blackstar is doing in this amp more or less? I believe the new EVH 5150 Iconic is not far from what Blackstar has been doing if I am not mistaken.
I get your point, but SS circuits vary in quality and musicality. The ones here are… ok. Ish. The tube circuits here are ok ish. Everything is ok.
Ish.
Not exactly Gilmour into a Cornish pedalboard into a HiWatt. The analogy doesn’t hold up.
@@PsionicAudio I will give you Gilmour BUT a Cornish pedalboard into a HiWatt would be 100 percent subjective correct? I did think you were able to get some ok sounds out of it until you went to the red channel (Whatever Blackstar calls it) well that's a different story as I thought it sounded like trash (Also subjective as some may love it.) People need to keep in mind what this Blackstar costs as it's NOT as well built OR even in the same league as say your example a 100 Watt HiWatt but it also costs much less as well. Who in the hell today will use a 100 watt HiWatt head with a 4-12 cab? 98 percent of the places poor musicians will play in today the FOH would not even let you bring it in the door let alone the PITA with lugging it around. Like it OR hate it we are going digital but I think Valve amps will always be around but just as an afterthought or something cool from the days gone. The whole Valve situation we find ourselves in today will only speed up this process. I enjoy my Valve amps and that's all I own BUT the writing is on the wall so to speak as it is nothing more than a matter of time and I think it will be sooner rather than later. I am old (Born in the early 70's) and the last time I played at a club (also a long time ago LOL) Half of the people were drunk and the other half just wanted to get laid and could care less what gear you had just as long as you entertained them. If I could of just had a little black box that got the job done it would have been a simple choice as 99.995 percent of the people in the audience would not even know the difference OR care. This is coming for someone that does not even like digital but I also am not stupid as it is the near future like it or not!
I'll pull out my Rosary and pray for it. For they are designed by the devil imho.
God those amps are an abomination. I use to hate seeing one those amps of any model come. Worse than a Mesa Boogie.
Not true David. Not true.
They cost a lot less than a Mesa, so it doesn't rise to the level of a felony.
@@PsionicAudio lol, a great way to put it.