Tips on Blackstar HT-5R

[Twang Gang]

Been looking for a new practice amp. Have a nice Rivera for gigs, but it's pretty heavy with flight case to move around and load in an out of pickup. My other little amp is a solid state for acoustic guitar and mic. So been looking around for something (tube) loud enough to be heard over drummer and keyboard, but small and light enough to easily transport. After seeing a few reviews on this forum I stopped at the local shop today and tried a few small Fenders and Marshalls and ended up buying a Blackstar HT-5R. It seems to be geared primarily toward the gain channel, as that is the only channel with full EQ, the clean channel just has a "tone" knob and as you turn it up it gets brighter and more trebly. It does have a nice stereo reverb that gets a pretty full lush sound.

 

So when I got it home I tried all my different guitars through it. My Les Paul has classic 57 pups and it sounds good if I leave the volume down around 5. My Taylor has their own mini-humbuckers and while that guitar (walnut top) always sounds a little dark and woody it was real bright and hot through this amp. My Gibson 336 probably sounds the best through it which surprised me because I don't think this amp is really geared toward a semi-hollow archtop. Then tried my cheapy MIM Telecaster and that was good too as long as I kept the volume knob way down at about half.

 

So any tips you guys have about getting the best out of this little guy would be appreciated. I think the entire line is aimed more at heavy metal type music and that is not what I play. Obviously with only 5 watts there isn't any headroom to speak of. The gain channel has gain like crazy but I won't use it to it's extremes. But in side by side comparisons with the other amps I did like it's versatility and tones.

 

Band practice tomorrow so that will be the true test.

 

But if any of you have this amp and have any good tips I'd appreciate it.

[AXE®]

The worst this amp will ever sound it the day you pull it out of the box.

 

The speakers are not broken in yet and even though it only has 2 pre amp type tubes/valves in it they also need a bit of run in time.

[Blueblooded]

I tried this amp out with great expectations and couldn't get it to sound good to me either. I fortunately passed...

 

I'm playing Mesa's now. They're expensive, but for a good reason.

[Twang Gang]

The worst this amp will ever sound it the day you pull it out of the box.

 

The speakers are not broken in yet and even though it only has 2 pre amp type tubes/valves in it they also need a bit of run in time.

 

Thanks Axe, that's good news. @Blueblooded - I am not unhappy with the way it sounds, just a little surprised at how the different pups in my guitars reacted with it. For about $400 I think it will do for pratice and it is a lot easier to carry than my Rivera.

[Bender 4 Life]

The worst this amp will ever sound it the day you pull it out of the box.

 

The speakers are not broken in yet and even though it only has 2 pre amp type tubes/valves in it they also need a bit of run in time.

 

a Ruby ecc 83 sweetened mine up & took some of the "harsh" out of the tone.....tried an old Mullard ecc 82 and that was milder still....the Ruby is in it now.....the '82 took MUCH greater volume to break up.

it also loves a 12" speaker.

lots of folks also toss a Tung Sol power tube 12BH7A into it.

 

may want to look around at the Blackstar forum for more info.

[LarryUK]

I've got the HT5 head. It sounds great through a 4 x 12. I mainly use the gain channel. But my Les Paul doesn't sound as good as my Charvel through it. The Charvel suits the amp perfectly. I was going to try slaving it through a large amp to boost the volume, but it's loud enough anyhow. I just use a delay pedal with it. I'm going to try my MXR micro amp with it to push the front end. I always used it with Marshall's in my gigging days.

[Twang Gang]

a Ruby ecc 83 sweetened mine up & took some of the "harsh" out of the tone.....tried an old Mullard ecc 82 and that was milder still....the Ruby is in it now.....the '82 took MUCH greater volume to break up.

it also loves a 12" speaker.

lots of folks also toss a Tung Sol power tube 12BH7A into it.

 

may want to look around at the Blackstar forum for more info.

 

Thanks Bender I checked their forum and a lot of people seem to like swapping to the Ruby ecc83 in the pre-amp. I'll see how it works as is for awhile, but that sounds like something I might want to mellow the tone out a little. Scary part about their forum was all the people complaining about how the amp died after a few days, and a lot of people with resistors burning out etc. Hopefully they have solved some of those QC issues.