Guitar Gear Forum

So I am waiting for a Blackstar HT100 to arrive. From some wonderful results from the Google box, it tells me that some find it muddy, some think it isn't loud enough (K-Bizzle) and some other random, non-committal opinions as well.

From the research I have conducted on the YouTube (#1 source of clips equivalent to real life), it seems like it has a nice thing going, especially for a high gain channel switcher. I know it is probably manufactured in a 12th world country; but I rock a Bugera so I don't really care about that.

It has EL34s which I am excited about; though they will probably be stock sh*t 34s, which I won't be so excited about lol My Laney is massive but I am wanting a little more sizzle and the clips seem like that area will be covered. Any thoughts, experiences?

Good luck man. I've bought this amp twice and ended up returning it both times. I REALLY wanted to like it because the features/price are really awesome but the tone wasn't happening for me.

What Laney are you playing? If it's a GH/VH, it will bitchslap the BlackStar like there's no tomorrow

^it's the VH. I don't play it much tbh, it just sits on the Bugera. As pathetic as that sounds That's why it's in the spam section as I am jonesing for a set of keys. The reviews said that it the Blackstar is really dark and that it sounds like a$$ through some speakers, but that part is true for a lot of amps. I ended up trading my 5150 for it. There was like 50 steps from the DSL trade I pm'd you about to this deal. Pretty twisted path we walk trying to swap gear lol

I had the HT5 stack for a little while. I liked it at first but after the honeymoon was over I realized it was missing something in the tone. It was as if it had no real "character" of its own, I guess.

Good luck. You may like it but it just wasn't for me.

well I personally think the VH is a much better amp but if you traded it for your 5150 converted head, that was a good deal because converted heads can be hard to sell/trade. But I see another trade in your near future lol.. then again, I know some people that swear by the HT stuff, so it could be just my personal taste.

So, basically, I'm getting a Carvin lol?

guitarbilly wrote:well I personally think the VH is a much better amp but if you traded it for your 5150 converted head, that was a good deal because converted heads can be hard to sell/trade. But I see another trade in your near future lol.. then again, I know some people that swear by the HT stuff, so it could be just my personal taste.

My wife will love seeing another amp come and go at our house. She loves that sh*t

Anyone else with some bad news? Or good, hopefully ?

I've had and HT5, and a played a few more blackstars. They just.. don't do it for me. They're dark and lack any "bite". I've done a number of speaker swaps that provide an improvement, but not enough to make them anything special (or even keepable)...

<===LISTS IN THE SPAM THREAD BEFORE AMP EVEN ARRIVES

Aww man...All I can say is that my 5150 212 is my favorite amp ever. EVER. PERIOD. I would never trade it for an ht100.

On the other side of the coin...I tried the HT100 at samash once. It was pretty good, but it sits in the middle of a lot of tones, I think....meaning it doesnt really have a tone that it can call its own.

I wish I coulda bought your 5150

yes under normal circumstances I wouldn't trade the 5150 for a BlackStar either but seeing that it was a combo that was cut in half, I think it's an ok deal.

It's a good deal. Guy was great to deal with and it looks to be in great shape. I will play with it for a bit and flip it if I don't like it. I am always trying to find different amp flavors to use instead of the 5150 because I KNOW I love that tone I read a lot of "Marshall meets Mesa" hype from people about this and in a perfect world, that would be sweet. Probably won't be the case though

Good luck. Clips are required!

From the only clips I've heard of Blakstar- Series 100-I think that the Series 100 6L6 & EL34 sound pretty good, but IDK if they sound $2k good, but good nonetheless. Can't recall ever listening to an HT100.

If it sucks, flip it but keep your VH100!

Derek

Yeah, monetarily it was a good idea, but I wouldnt have done it because theres nothing Ive found that I like better, and Im done tryin ta fix wut aint broke.

I've been very interested in them myself, and if I could find one locally, I would have taken the plunge already.

ZEEGLER wrote:I've been very interested in them myself, and if I could find one locally, I would have taken the plunge already.

I will give a full report tomorrow evening. With any luck, the report will consist of \m/

Doesn't K-bizz love his HT100?

I'd rather have the 5150, but that's cause I haven't had a 5150 and aren't interested in the Blackstar.

Hope you enjoy it dude!

Congrats on the deal!

I have had the chance to gig with the HT-100 twice and to be quite honest, I'm glad I got my DSL over it.

It's not a crappy amp in the least but like others have mentioned, I found the gain to be lifeless and just pretty much meh.

But hey, you may just like it. Subjectivity and all that jazz.

I only spent a few minutes with an hT100 but did own the HT5 head....that was a cool little fucker but I never used it. so well, you know

I have a Stage 60 and a Studio 20 head and I love them both. I have had the 60 since they first come out and haven't had any trouble getting the tones I want from it. The main thing is to change the crap stock tubes and run it through a good set of speakers. Some say the amp is dark and I would agree. Its not mushy though. It just has a dark, kinda compressed character to it and I actually like that. I also run a couple of dirt boxes into mine and I can get just about any tone I want from it. Try it for a while and if you don't like it, flip it. Nothing wrong with that!

My HT100 reminded me of a boosted Recto. I liked it.

That said, it wore on me after a while. The only way I can describe it is ear fatigue.

I've never played one but always wanted to. If it's anything like a big ass HT-5 it should be pretty damned awesome


Speaking of Blackstar, the Artisan 100 is a friggin badass amp. That's one I'll own one day if I come across a good deal

jshaffer25 wrote:I have a Stage 60 and a Studio 20 head and I love them both. I have had the 60 since they first come out and haven't had any trouble getting the tones I want from it. The main thing is to change the crap stock tubes and run it through a good set of speakers. Some say the amp is dark and I would agree. Its not mushy though. It just has a dark, kinda compressed character to it and I actually like that. I also run a couple of dirt boxes into mine and I can get just about any tone I want from it. Try it for a while and if you don't like it, flip it. Nothing wrong with that!

My friend had the 40watt (I think it was 40?) combo that I played on for about 10 minutes. It was dialed in pretty dry but it sounded good I thought.

_ej_ wrote:My HT100 reminded me of a boosted Recto. I liked it.

That said, it wore on me after a while. The only way I can describe it is ear fatigue.

^This is the kind of news I want to hear (minus the ear fatigue part)
I have wanted a Recto for a long time so maybe this will scratch that itch?

Also, an EQ in the loop helps these amps tremendously. A trick I do is turn the master volume up around 1 o clock, then adjust the channel volumes to around 10 o clock. With the EQ in the loop you can drop the overall volume to where you need it. I found it helps the tone a good bit.

Here is a video of mine. Skip to 2:00 or so to miss me talking
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f2JGGD7fFg[/video]