Greg Jacob Posted April 15, 2013 Posted April 15, 2013 Just ordered a new toy; MF had a killer deal. Anyone have experience with this product? It is the first musical product I've ordered blind in many years. http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/blackstar-ht-5-series-mini-stack-guitar-amp It sounds sweet on YouTube which doesn't mean much.
Greg Jacob Posted April 15, 2013 Author Posted April 15, 2013 Kn0bs on the front, kn0bs on the top! rct Yea, I saw the same. They also have it in the Solid State category and the first line of the description is "All Tube". You just cannot trust anything you read or see from Guitar Center or Musicians Friend. They always get specs wrong.
Ryan H Posted April 15, 2013 Posted April 15, 2013 Yea, I saw the same. They also have it in the Solid State category and the first line of the description is "All Tube". You just cannot trust anything you read or see from Guitar Center or Musicians Friend. They always get specs wrong. The amp uses clipping diodes before the preamp tubes to achieve their super saturated tone. There is some "solid state" tech in there. -Ryan
Pin Posted April 15, 2013 Posted April 15, 2013 I've got one of these HT5 stacks and it isn't at all bad but it is not in the same category as an amp that uses a Valve Rectifier IMO (or even better the option of valve recitifier and solid state). My favourite amp nowadays is a 5, 2 , 1 watt option RAT "hot rodded" tri-rectifier V5 Bugera customised by Andy Talbot in Cornwall, England. Absolutely fantastic little amp. EDIT: Here is a link to RAT amps: http://www.ratvalveamps.com/
Twang Gang Posted April 15, 2013 Posted April 15, 2013 Don't have experience with this particular one - but just a couple weeks ago picked up a HT-5R combo that really kicks butt. And the price seems unreal - just the two cabinets alone with Celestian speakers make it worth it. I did put a different pre-amp tube/valve in mine still a ECC83 12AX7, but swapped out the Sovtek for a Ruby and it gave it a little more headroom in the gain channel before it breaks up. And the emulated speaker out is really cool. For practice when volume would disturb others you just plug headphones into the emulated out jack and leave it on standby and it really sounds great - also available as direct line for recording. I think you will be very happy.
Bender 4 Life Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 had my HT5 head for at least 3, maybe 4 yrs now......issue free, loves to be pushed. having 1x ecc83 + 1x 12bh7 makes it REALLY easy to change the amps entire sound with a simple tube swap. mine likes a (Russian)Ruby '83(preamp) & NOS Tung Sol 12bh7a(power). it'll sound better if you can trade the 2x10" cab set for a 1x12".
LarryUK Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 I have a HT5 head and run it through my H&K 4x12. It sounds great.
CoreyT Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 After watching a few YouTube vids and the one on Sweetwaters page, I am about to pull the trigger after my first cup of coffee here at work :D I can run it through my Carvin 2x12 cab that I have my Orange Micro Terror hooked up to. Have a 4x12 cab too, but the Carvin V3m is on that. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HT5RH PS, the reviews on this look great at Sweetwater. Read the first one if you do not feel like reading them all, it is titled "Now I'm a Believer", and very long.
Greg Jacob Posted April 16, 2013 Author Posted April 16, 2013 Thanks for the replies, it's on a truck from Kansas and will be at my door tomorrow. Can't wait to plug the lester into it.
CoreyT Posted April 16, 2013 Posted April 16, 2013 Cool, waiting to hear your review on it. Mine will arrive Monday, did not feel like paying $43 extra to have it by Friday. My rep from Sweetwater emailed me thanking me for the order, I asked if he could "push" it to me quicker :D
CoreyT Posted April 19, 2013 Posted April 19, 2013 There is a new 5 watt head now, but not quite available just yet. It was rolled out at the Musikmesse '13 German show. Metal head: http://www.blackstaramps.com/products/ht-metal-5h/ Cannot find any YouTube vids yet, but I bet since Premier Guitar was there for the show they will have a video up on it later. Once more day for my my HT 5R to show up...
BobF_ Posted April 19, 2013 Posted April 19, 2013 Order pending on an HT5RH ... Supposed to arrive today. I took a demo with full warranty for $100 discount ... I'm going to try it out with powered monitors and also to a PA until I get to civilization to try out cabs with it. It will be interesting to see how well the tone holds up across the volume range with a regular cab.
Greg Jacob Posted April 19, 2013 Author Posted April 19, 2013 Worked out the amp last night. It came (from MF) with a GC hang tag of $599 (I paid $399). After playing it, I think I got a good deal as it is the best $400 amp I've played. Period. At $600, it's still pretty good but there is more competition, like Egnator, VHT, etc. The good: the amp has awesome tone. I cannot say enough how good this sounds, much richer than the digital amp modelers out there. You can really use the volume on the guitar itself to rollback the gain without the sound getting really thin (like my SS amps would). The clean channel is clean but does not have a ton of character. The amp gets pretty loud but also sounds great with the volume at 3. The bad: no reverb blows, especially on clean. But I plan to get a Cathedral Reverb pedal to put in the effects loop. The 10" speaker cabs are perfect for my purpose as a was looking for something that will keep the cops away, but if I were to mic this for a gig, I'd want 12's with more bass. Don't get me wrong, they sound good and the closed cab gives them a tight sound. The ugly: could it come with cheaper speaker cables? They have Radio Shack quality. All in all, I'm very happy and I'm going to use this to simply my sound to retain this excellent tone. Anyone need a RP500 effects processor and a Mustang III amp? They're going on Craigslist. A compressor, reverb, wah and this amp can do everything I need.
BobF_ Posted April 19, 2013 Posted April 19, 2013 Wow ... I hope I'm that happy, although I'm not looking forward to selling my RP ... what a hassle!
CoreyT Posted April 19, 2013 Posted April 19, 2013 Here are some settings from their site. http://www.blackstaramps.com/products/ht-5rh/ Warm clean and US blues crunch Bright clean and UK high gain overdrive
CoreyT Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 Got mine, I dig it. Running it through a new Orange 1x12 with a Celestion Vintage 30. Cleans are nice, and the dirt channel oozes a great dirty sound.
Pin Posted April 21, 2013 Posted April 21, 2013 Got mine, I dig it. Running it through a new Orange 1x12 with a Celestion Vintage 30. Cleans are nice, and the dirt channel oozes a great dirty sound. That Orange cabinet and vintage 30 wil show the amp off at its best.
Bender 4 Life Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 didn't drop in a pic of my rig....here 'tis it has a Jensen C12Q Vintage series spkr in it...sounds really good.
CoreyT Posted April 22, 2013 Posted April 22, 2013 Something I have noticed with these new low wattage amps. Back in the early 70s I had a Fender Bandmaster 45 watt head (I think that was the wattage) plugged into a tall Fender cab with 2x12 Eminence speakers. Plugged directly into the input jack on the head I used an EHX LP-1 which made it really loud. But I think these low wattage amps are just about as loud as that old Bandmaster of mine. I can barely have the volume up on this thing, it is loud.
CoreyT Posted April 24, 2013 Posted April 24, 2013 Found an old vid from the Captain and Chappers on the combo one. Getting some nice tons later in the video on the gain channel with a Les Paul.
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