The NEW Blackstar HT Amps Are AWESOME! BUT....

Рет қаралды 21,323

Күн бұрын

Thanks for checking out my review and demo of the brand new Blackstar HT Venue MK III amps! In this video we check out the HT Club 50 MK III and the HT Stage 100 MK III! Let's take a look at all the features and see how they sound with various genres and guitars! Let me know your thoughts in the comments! Cheers!
Blackstar amps: blackstaramps.com/
Gear used in this video:
- Blackstar HT Club 50 MK III
- Blackstar HT Stage 100 MK III
- Gibson Les Paul Standard 60s
- ESP LTD SC-20
- ESP LTD EC1000T CTM (Violet Shadow)
- ESP LTD EC1000T (Charcoal Burst)
- ESP LTD EC1000T CTM (Vintage Gold Satin)
- ESP LTD Phoenix Black Metal
- ESP LTD SCT-607B 7-String Baritone
- RedSeven Amplification Amp Central reactive load
- OwnHammer RockBox impulses
- Fractal Audio Axe Fx III (For noise gates, DIs etc.)
- Cubase 12 Pro
- Steven Slate Drums 5.5
Thanks for watching! Please subscribe along with the bell and follow SDS at:
/ sonicdrivestudio
/ sonicdrivestudio_official
/ jon_symons
#blackstar #htclub50mkiii #htstage100mkiii
Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
00:45 Heavy Rock Demo (HT Stage 100 MKIII & LTD SC-20)
02:23 Thoughts On The Tone
02:56 Signal Flow Details
03:08 About The Blackstar HT Venue MKIII Amps
03:49 Feature Overview & Walkthrough
09:55 Details On The Clean Tone Settings
10:37 Clean Tone Demo (50w & 100w With LTD EC1000T)
12:16 Thoughts On The Clean Tones
13:06 Dialing In The Clean Channel
14:41 Details On The Crunch Tone
15:37 Classic Crunch Demo (50w & 100w With LTD EC1000T CTM)
17:12 Details On The Hot Rodded Crunch Demo
17:51 Hot Rodded Crunch Demo (100w With LTD EC1000T CTM)
19:31 Thoughts On The Crunch Tones
20:03 Details On The Metal Tone
20:33 Metal Tone Demo (50w & 100w And LTD Phoenix Black Metal)
22:05 Thoughts On The Metal Tone
22:22 Details On The 7-String Metal Tone
23:03 7-String Metal Demo (100w And LTD SCT-607B)
25:06 Dialing In The Overdrive Channels
27:34 Conclusion
Disclaimer: this video is not sponsored but I do get to keep both the amps. As always all thoughts and opinions are 100% my own!

Пікірлер: 139

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Thoughts on these new Blackstar amps?

@Nitrav. 10 ай бұрын

Let me buy it as my 14th amp😂

@JohnWiku 10 ай бұрын

@@Nitrav.Those are rookie numbers, gotta pump them up 😂😂😂

@TVoltG 10 ай бұрын

I have always thought their Venue amps were very good for the prices. I have played through a few of them but never owned one. I think before the year is up, I will be getting a 100 watt one..

@markdoolan3424 10 ай бұрын

Pretty cool iam still rocking a HT-5 and 1x12 cab from 2011 and it still sounds great at lower volumes!

@dvaoa2910 10 ай бұрын

Surprised how boxy the 50 sounds compared to the 100. The 100 sounds absolutely killer.

@fromthe4gotten 10 ай бұрын

This is probably one of the best most well thought out reviews I've ever seen. Most excellent job!!

@ThatIrishCowboy 10 ай бұрын

Whoa! That sounded really really good! I really liked those riffs you were playing too. This is the first time I have liked a black star amp

@hecmeister 5 ай бұрын

I just recently found your channel and am blown away by your honest positivity. I am in the market for a tube amp head to use for gigging. After watching several videos, many of them yours, I think this has made up my mind! I was all set to get an MT15; but, for $150 more, I can get this beast! I've used Blackstars before and like them. This will be a great addition to my rig. Thank you for the thorough reviews and the great riffs along the way. You've made another fan!

@CraigCrider 10 ай бұрын

Very nice and a great showcase for all the new LTD's.

@cunjoz 10 ай бұрын

The amps sound awesome, but your riffs are always so so good! You should definitely think of making some full length tracks!

@x-Gingerbeard-x 10 ай бұрын

The OD channels on the Stage 100 reminds me of a smoother Recto with some Marshall flavor to it, pretty cool sound! The EQ also seems really flexible, which is always nice!

@danielpatrickswain4338 9 ай бұрын

Just watched the whole thing. I used to have a Blackstar Ht Club 40 the original and loved it. Now this has come along I think I going to go with this one. By far the most good looking amp they have made too. Really loved the video as usual man. Amazing work.

@picksalot1 10 ай бұрын

Great sounding guitars and amps, all recorded to perfection. This Channel is awesome!

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@Brennosguitarsandgear 10 ай бұрын

Another awesome amp demo video mate 👍🏽

@dvaoa2910 10 ай бұрын

Those HT amps definitely have their own sound. I love it...I have the HT Club 40 (Mk I)

@BradRocker 10 ай бұрын

Great demo on these two new beauties !

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@Gautier_14 10 ай бұрын

Great test. I love your sound and your heavy riffs. I don't know if I'm making the right choice in wanting to change my Laney Ironheart for this new Blackstar HT mkiii.

@MRxr400 10 ай бұрын

sound pretty bloody good to me. definitely a mesa flavour to my ear. especially the hot rodded and metal riff section with slightly different mids, very tight.

@piptyson5512 10 ай бұрын

Sounds very good, and the feature list is nice. Interested to see what they'll sell for at Sweetwater.

@jellomarcelo1123 10 ай бұрын

Great video as always! Aside from the cab rig, what are the differences between the previous HT series?

@ParanormalResponse 5 ай бұрын

I do not and never had a Black STar head, But I did just grab amped 3 and I love this little thing!

@jonyocum5622 10 ай бұрын

50w all tube hi gain head for around $700 is great! I hope other brands take note

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

That's a good price!

@michaeljohnson8058 10 ай бұрын

yeah, perhaps Bugera can catch up to Blackstar 🤔

@tj1486 9 ай бұрын

I think these are hybrid circuits.

@clemguitar63 8 ай бұрын

Blackstar HT Club 50 MK III 50-watt Tube Amplifier Head $849.99 USD.

@DamianS1893 7 ай бұрын

Merry Christmas!

@davidcaro8217 2 ай бұрын

I love my HT club 40 combo!

@tractorgt 10 ай бұрын

Great video! Would love to see your opinions on a Strandberg guitar. 👍

@MrIvancy 10 ай бұрын

To be honest you sound awesome with every gear you touch so your reviews are starting to lose its purpose as I can’t make any decision about what is better and would buy it all 😂

@jonyocum5622 10 ай бұрын

Kind of like Ola's gear demos 😂

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Haha! To be fair, this is just how the amps sound, I didn't do any post-processing on the guitars as usual.

@soundhealer8661 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudioI guess he means you are so good at dialing great tones that even and old shitty amp sim would sound great. It's your riffs and skill at dialing tones that makes at least 70% of the sound.

@ZacharyMoonshine 10 ай бұрын

I often find myself thinking the same thing on this channel and some others. i think the technology has gotten so good in the last few years that you really cant go too wrong with any of these newer amps. It is a great time to be a guitarist! This was a good video. I like how they mixed the sound of a Marshall with a Mesa on this amp.

@rmTheWalrus 10 ай бұрын

😂😂

@woochyna 10 ай бұрын

Both amps were neck to neck until the metal tone demo started where the 50W decided to cover itself with a blanket. I'd assume that's the presence control doing its magic. Don't know if the 50W could be pushed into the 100W head's territory with an eq in the fx loop, but to my ears the big one takes the cake today.

@tjborekvideo 10 ай бұрын

Seemed like the low mids are also more present in the 50W, giving it a sort of "boxy" tone.

@claire6650 10 ай бұрын

This looks amazing, when you plug the USB to computer to use it as an interface, can you play with it via the audio monitoring like if you were just playing with headphones on it ? it looks super interesting if that's the case, i love pluggings for that, but i'm missing the knob feeling of a real amp, if this one allows me to do that, i'll sure buy one right away.

@joshrexben 8 ай бұрын

Everything sounds great, but what I’m most surprised by is how much I like the crunch. I’m a metal dude, but I think boosting the crunch channel into higher gain would sound nice.

@fusixstudio 10 ай бұрын

Sound really, really good 😮

@obedmccalip9449 10 ай бұрын

You’re making me want an LTD. I want to do some heavy stuff. Trying to decide baritone or 7 string. What should my first LTD be???

@jantelega9310 10 ай бұрын

Hi John. You did a review of HT 50 mkii in the past as well as some comparisons with other amps like Orange and Laney. Maybe You could do an A/B between mkII and mkIII versions? I have HT20hr mkII and wondering how different they are in terms of tones? All these new features are cool, but you know ;) From YT reviews I 've got an impression that mkIII is more metal oriented amp then mkII. What is Your impression after playing them both?

@gangrenebob7281 7 ай бұрын

I have the stage 60 212 mkii and IMO there is maybe a 2db perceived volume difference between voices within the same channel. Did they balance that more on this new version? It's a PITA.

@asipu1234 10 ай бұрын

Cool! It would be nice if you compared it face to face with another amp heads, with a rectifier too.

@romanshredz 10 ай бұрын

Awesome video Jon 🤘 your my goto for amp tones 👍need your help… I keep racking my brain over getting the 50 watt MK3 head or the 100watt head. I’ve watched this video a bunch of times, the metal part, the extra resonance/presence and extra OD channel on the 100watt look enticing … I have the Marshall DSl20, Badlander 25, EVH stealth 50, peavey invective MH… love all of them and this sounds like it would be a great edition. I’m happy with the smaller lunchbox/50watt amps. I don’t even own any 100watt amps 😂 I have the Guptech PDEQ pedal to dial in the resonance/presence. I love the sound of these new Blackstar amps 👍 never tried one before Question… I love boosting the blue channel on my EVH Stealth… because the 50watt club only has the one OD channel … is it still possible to do this on the 50watt head ? You mentioned there was more gain on the sole OD channel. This is what I’m trying to decide if buying the bigger MK3 100watt is worth it 🤔 (home player)

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Highly recommend the 100 watt! It's hard to beat and just more flexible

@romanshredz 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudioThanks ! The part you have at 25:09 dialing in the OD channels … pure gold !!! Thanks dude

@JohnnyOskam 10 ай бұрын

I’m hoping we get an updated Marshall jvm with IRs and a fixed effects loop

@andrewslads 10 ай бұрын

How do these compare to the MK2 series in terms of Sound ?

@hawg427 10 ай бұрын

I used to own a 100 watt Blackstar Venue . Not their Series One but the basic line. Not enough Balls for me, I sold it and got a Mesa Boogie Roadster head.

@stiman1 10 ай бұрын

Would be awesome to see you compare the Iconic to 6505 and 5150

@killerindustries49 10 ай бұрын

So off topic but do you have any 6 string baritones? I'm looking into getting a Gretsch g5260 not sure if it's a good choice. Would like to hear your thoughts on baritones in general 🎸 cheers!

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Yes, I love baritones! Video on a cool baritone coming up next week!

@joeywilder9708 10 ай бұрын

Jon I hope you’re doing great man! Maybe you could help me out with this. I just got a new Gibson slash les Paul the guitar plays great and is excellent. The alnico ll burstbucker is a bit too weak and spongey for me. I love your custom and am considering a 498t for mine. I want to still retain some of the les Paul vibe but be able to do heavier genres and riffs. I’m also looking at the Duncan sh-5. What would you suggest for a more rocking les Paul tone that can do classic les Paul sounds up into modern high gain territory?

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Can't go wrong with the ones that are in the Customs

@Naughtforeye 5 ай бұрын

Also can't go wrong with the Seymour Duncan JB in the bridge and 59' in the neck. I have 2 LP's both customs and one has the stock 498t/490r pup and the other the JB/59' they are awesome.

@patriknessboLemoran 9 ай бұрын

Can it do a metallica / tremonti / wall of sound type tone ?

@marcorios4886 9 ай бұрын

I like the HT seems to have a little more focus in the high mids

@kralas111 10 ай бұрын

hello, what is the OD on the HT 50 please? Is it like OD1 or like OD2 on HT 100? 25:06 Dialing In The Overdrive Channels is only on HT 100. Thank you

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Good question! It's not exactly the same. The led off voicing sounds similar to OD1 with the led off voicing and with the led on voicing it sounds similar to the OD2 with the led on voicing as you can hear in the video, but not 100% the same. The led off voicings sound much more similar

@kralas111 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio Thanks for the reply. I'm deciding between 50 and 100. I like OD1 on HT 100. That's why I wanted to know more about OD1 or OD2. Thanks again.

@gangrenebob7281 7 ай бұрын

It might be the same as the mkii difference between the stage and club amps. The OD1 voices (especially LED on) for the stage mk2 was awesome. The OD channel on the club mk2 was the same as the OD2 on the stage mk2 I believe. IMO that club mk2 would have been an awesome package with the OD1 stage mk2 channel instead of the OD2 setup.

@markolivares6943 10 ай бұрын

Black star is always in the dark when it comes to hi gain amps. They are some of the best sounding amps out there. I use my HT 50 wat head more than my badlander or 6505

@justinerb3669 8 ай бұрын

How do those ltds compare to your les paul?

@paulodantas1492 10 ай бұрын

Great amp, but that Metallica Load shirt is just as great too haha

@SHvayger 10 ай бұрын

Hi, there is no Krank amplifier on the channel. I would like a comparison with EnGL if possible

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Wish I had one... but I don't

@johnherreshoff436 10 ай бұрын

Sick.

@willraven7 7 ай бұрын

This vs the Marshall DSL100HR??

@Turbo-D 10 ай бұрын

available at thomann germany for 999€ since today..blackstar amps have so much amazing features and tweaking options, i got the series one 200 and the 104 6l6 heads and both had a kind of harshness/ high end fizz and overall very noisy that i was just never able to deal with it. maybe the new MKIII is doing better here, i have seen a review today done by cameron cooper where he said that it is "better" than his 5150, I would be very interested in your opinion on this! cheers 🎸🎸

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

With what speakers were you using yours? I don't know man, mine don't sound fizzy or overly noisy at all. Just gotta be careful with the presence/treble and pair them up with the right cab

@Turbo-D 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio mesa, orange, marshall and hughes&kettner cabs, thats not the problem..i sold them long ago, the "blackstar harshness" is (or was) a known issue, maybe the stage series is doing better here 🙏

@BigLenny. 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio the series one amps can really make your ears bleed even with presence at 0 and the feedback is also very hard to control! the new stage amps have a different sound design and maybe worth another try, 1K is a great deal for a full tube design head with that many options!

@Turbo-D 10 ай бұрын

@@BigLenny. i talked to the blackstar support back then and we were able to tame the harshness down a bit by using jj preamp tubes, they sound a bit darker more "brownish", less high end fizz, no mid honk and lower noise..

@adamwatson6916 6 ай бұрын

If I don't need the new features on the MK3 HT 50 is their any reason to buy the MK3 over the MK2 ? Has the tone been altered on the MK3 50 . I want to purchase a Blackstar HT 50 and my local shop carries both the MK2 and Mk3 HT 50 and the MK2 is 200 dollars cheaper . I dont need all the features on the MK2 let alone the MK3 and with either one i will be setting up for a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal/Motorhead/Master of Reality era Black Sabbath and won't be bothering with the American souding aspect . If the British tone is the same in both i will get the MK2.

@MrBurnzz. 9 ай бұрын

I just have the regular ht stage 100 and I can’t get it to sound anywhere near as good as you mkll, do you think I’m just dialing in wrong or is the mkll just that much better

@talhafatihuzun 8 ай бұрын

I used to own the Mk1. Mk3 sounds better.

@MrBurnzz. 8 ай бұрын

@@talhafatihuzun yea man this mk1 honestly doesn’t sound the best 😂 I’m working on it tho not gonna give up on the tone just yet, still wishing I woulda just bought a 5150

@talhafatihuzun 8 ай бұрын

@@MrBurnzz. I think you already have a pretty solid tone with that Marshall amp and Crate cab. If you are not going to play blues or thrash metal, there is no need to spend too much time and money going down the rabbit hole, just spend time on making music.

@DamianS1893 7 ай бұрын

I prefer the Clean Channel, Driven Sounds of the Clean 2 voice, and the Crunch Sounds... There's only so much Gain that sounds good to me. I'm waiting for the HT 100 MKIII HEAD to be Delivered. Going to give it a Test Drive myself.

@Plextortion 10 ай бұрын

How about a REVV Generator 120 MKIII?

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

Would love to!

@azathothic 10 ай бұрын

Front of that amp looking clean tho

@jarushin 10 ай бұрын

Sounding nice. What was the "but.." though?

@bengirard1984 9 ай бұрын

''Do they rock?'' It's in the thumbnail haha

@richpryor9650 10 ай бұрын

Okay, is this one also cheaply built and probably break after 6 months of owning it?

@Clinthopanonymous 10 ай бұрын

that green on the LTD is sexy as hell

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

It's awesome!

@metalmeister3054 9 ай бұрын

I like lead channels and lead pencils. I also like Korn's album Follow the Letter.

@SonicDriveStudio 9 ай бұрын

It's how we say L.E.D. here in my country

@metalmeister3054 9 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio I gotcha I was only joking just being an annoying American great review by the way

@kiethlewis4657 5 ай бұрын

The guy from Rascal Flatts plays the 100 head.

@Jbeland1 10 ай бұрын

100 watter all day. But they both sound great for the money

@waynetowers5046 10 ай бұрын

Nice amps, but Blackstar really need to sort their cabs out. The new ones for these amps look great, they're made from MDF and have Celestion Seventy 80 speakers, however they're quite expensive considering they're made in China. They should just go for installing V30s and be constructed from birch, I don't think people will mind paying around the same or a little extra even if they're still made in China.

@ahmetayaz41 4 ай бұрын

What was the but ?

@SonicDriveStudio 4 ай бұрын

Do they rock?

@ahmetayaz41 4 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio ha ok )) i thought you meant some cons

@user-jq4fz6co8b 2 ай бұрын

Im glad they ditched the ISF thing. I always said it was a feature that really didn't serve their higher tier amps and just made them harder to dial in.

@SonicDriveStudio 2 ай бұрын

They didn't ditch it

@user-jq4fz6co8b 2 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio My bad, when you did the close-up, I was looking for it and didn't see it because the writing was so small.

@88Nyman 3 ай бұрын

These Are allways Be "poor man's marshalls" but i have HT-5Mk2 combo and IT IS AWSOME👍🤟🔥i prefer it over a DSL series 1w or 5w marshalls eny given day

@threepe0 10 күн бұрын

what's the "but?"

@LeeGee 10 ай бұрын

Sounds great, but unless it is made in the UK, EU, or US, I'm not interested. Checked their site but these amps aren't listed.

@Deckardkane420 10 ай бұрын

LOL, you said "The NEW Blackstar HT Amps Are AWESOME! BUT....", but what? what is the but? I only ask because the "but" is never mentioned, so i would love to know what is the meaning behind "But.." as its not clarified/elaborated upon in you conclusion portion of the video.

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

But, do they rock?

@Deckardkane420 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio sounded like it to me, lol, i say blackstar IMO is deff shaping up and the new mk III series has some player BIAS obstacles to get past but this is deff a start for them IMO to get back out there. But in your opinion, do they rock?

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

@@Deckardkane420 they do! :)

@ciggs5649 10 ай бұрын

Amp sounds good but only $999 for a 100 watts with all those features tells me it is full of cheap components. I'm going to wait it out and see if it's going to hold up for people before I consider buying one.

@IZE83L 8 ай бұрын

My ht50 mk1 still holding up... replaced some fuses and 2 tubes since 2014

@redcomn 10 ай бұрын

Ah yes fluff fav amp

@michaelstankiewitch5391 10 ай бұрын

All tube path or hybrid solid state ? U never said

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

I haven't looked inside. I personally don't care as long as it sounds good

@michaelstankiewitch5391 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio I knew u wouldn't using digital instead of speakers and mics.

@narvul 9 ай бұрын

I'm not sure from with planet someone comes thinking he needs a tube amp for that kind of sound.

@joshuadillon4396 4 ай бұрын

Two things. Why are you saying led vs L E D? But hey whatever I guess it’s a weird way of saying it but to each their own. Ok. Next up- these amps have a cab sim. Why aren’t you showing it with that?

@Ramo_Baramia 10 ай бұрын

fuck the amp im here for the riffs.......

@tomix1970pl1 10 ай бұрын

Clean is not so good.Crunch is very good for hard rock.And highs are not killing ears.For high gain a very good amp.There is an old model 50W.I have never like that one.THis on is cool.

@SonicDriveStudio 10 ай бұрын

What don't you like about the cleans?

@tomix1970pl1 10 ай бұрын

@@SonicDriveStudio kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l5ucYJlirdaRemQ.html