BLACKSTAR HT VENUE MKIII - Metal

[@mattwilliamsonguitar]

I have this amp in the 40w version. The MKIII and all. I think it's pretty darn good on its own, and then straight up excellent with a boost of some kind. It has all the features I want and a very good low end. 🤘

[@Viking_guitarist]

Cab ir 2 sounded phenomenal but it sounds great overall!

[@lucchettful]

This amp came straight from the 80’s! Its classic british tone in the beginning of the video it’s awesome! It reminds me of the glam metal sound of the 80’s like Cinderella or Britny Fox

[@ThomasMetal75]

"Have you ever been to thrash town? Well, you need to go there." Freakin yes! 😝🤘

[@donsmith5385]

Born there, live there, going to die there!

[@theonly_ajbooker]

Definitely agree with you Ola, voice 2 is the way to go. Not blown away by this iteration of the amp.

[@richardsmith9615]

Clean sounded amazing, honestly. Given that Ola downtunes so much, usually his cleans sound quite sterile, but it still seemed to generate a bit of sparkle.

[@quigonjinjer]

As someone who just bought a Blackstar HT20 Mkii combo (with EL84 tubes), if you want a good metal tone then I'd recommend getting an OD and an EQ. My amp without pedals has a solid tone, but the pedals turn a solid tone into an incredible tone, imo. I bought an MXR 10-band EQ and a JHS Bonsai OD, and it's hard to put my guitar down and stop playing because it sounds so good. 👍 Ola, if you're looking to try a new OD pedal, give the JHS Bonsai a go! It models nine of the most popular OD pedals, including I think three of the Ibanez TS pedals (808, TS9, TS10). Its my first OD pedal, but it might be the only one I ever buy!

[@Siam_Thai.]

I agree with you! Anyone who uses a Blackstar amp One thing that cannot be missing is the MXR 10 BAND EQ pedal.

[@enacku]

Hey bro, great advice. I just bought the JHS Bonsai, and a Fulltone OCD Obsessive Compulsive Drive Pedal as I thought I would need them both. Should I get rid of the Fulltone OCD as the bonsai will be good enough with the amp's gain? Thanks for the help!

[@quigonjinjer]

@enacku well, I'm no expert, but you basically have two drive pedals. An overdrive like the Bonsai will have a higher output than a normal drive pedal (hence "over"drive). If you want high gain, the Bonsai delivers that. I think the T7 and JHS modes on the pedal have the most gain. Personally, I'd swap out the OCD for a noise gate if you don't have one already. The Bonsai is pretty noisy, so a gate will take away all the hiss and noise. Hope that helps. 👊

[@enacku]

Thank you. @@quigonjinjer

[@erikl6988]

It's a Blackstar. Jack of all trades, Master of None.

[@tankerbrigade]

Actually they make very good sounding amps. Series One are mean amps and I like their digital Silverline too. Lots of good tones there. And their ID:Core small amps are maybe the best at the moment in comparison to any other make.

[@erikl6988]

Not saying they don't sound good. I used to own one (needed service quite a few times though). They just don't have their own sound or character. @@tankerbrigade

[@kaytrell]

​@@tankerbrigade What you described has nothing to do with HT Venue 😀but you are right - early models had more something but this is utterly disappointing.

[@tankerbrigade]

@@kaytrell To me HT-Venue MKIII is way better (sounding) amp than MKII. The only thing I don't like with Blackstar is their (looks like) over-engineering but they are not the only one out there doing it.

[@PinkFloyd28394]

Agreed you want a versatile amp this is the way to go!

[@nigelbishop8108]

For the price, I think they sound pretty decent and are super versatile. Big plus for the 100 watt is the independent volume controls for OD1 and OD2. The 50 watt has a shared volume and there is a HUGE volume drop switching from one to the other. I was considering because I wanted a 3 channel amp where I could set up OD 1 for heavy crunch and OD2 for the chugs and switch between the two live, but the volume drop makes this impossible on the 50 watt.

[@TheCyberMantis]

Always try a Tubescreamer and a Boss SD-1. I think this amp would sound better with a Boss SD-1 in front of it. This amp is in the same category as the EVH Iconic. It's an amp. It works. Throw pedals at it. Make your noises with it.

[@Antjohns89]

From this demo seems like Blackstar stepped it up with this iteration you made it sound good man

[@ThatIrishCowboy]

I'm really liking this getting some mean badlander vibes from this also!

[@kjguzman23]

excellent demo and input. Thanks Ola!

[@rocklives8251]

I have the mkII venue. With the preamp volume at 6 or higher it really comes alive. It doesn't sound great at low volume. Mine likes the tube screamer the best.

[@benjimusicandgamimg9773]

They need to bring back the metal already. My HT metal 1 rocks.

[@philipbeasley72]

Once dialed in. Sounds good

[@TheTV5150]

Cool Ola, thanks for another video!!! I have this amp for almost two months now and play it in a dual setup with the JCM 800 Zakk Wylde top, each with a 4x12 cabinet. The Blackstar is absolutey georgous on its own and the PERFECT partner (at least for me) for the Marshall! The ISF to the left is acutally "Modern U.S." sound and to the right "British". Together with the EQ and the second voicings you get a ton of good sounds. Use all the knobs and switches...it really does a lot more than you could put in a quick tryout video. You can load different IRs and I changed the reverb over the software...awesome. If you have the chance to test this amp: knock yourself out. Love you Ola and cheers from Germany Dan

[@bigmike9527]

LMAO Ola always gets the isf feature backwards lmao

[@Pointsbeingmade]

Haha wow seems like this amp can do better.

[@JoesStyle]

I am waiting for you hit 1 milliion subs man. You are awesome! Keep up the good work.

[@williamdickson3409]

I can't wait until this channel reaches 1 million subscribers next year!

[@GonJilman]

Ola can make anything sound good!

[@steveweilhart2359]

great demo - very good sounding amp - good job Blackstar

[@MrJeffrey812]

Best sounding Blackstar amp so far.

[@RonnyMims]

I like blackstar because it's very neutral. Very good for metal. Cheers!

[@twomuchworth]

Sounds like a good 80s style amp

[@clowncorpse7230]

I have used a few Blackstar amps over the past decade I find ISF at 11 O'clock works best for metal and I agree channel 2 for sure👍

[@3star2nr]

Agreed i keep mine clocked 😂 even with the gain low it sounds way better more of a marshall jcm sound

[@Ryan_Messenger]

I like Blackstar as a company but this amp/cab/mic combination isn't my favorite. Once you put an overdrive in front of it, it came to life. Not sure if it's my speakers but the amp's distortion didn't excite me like it should. The built-in IRs sounded great, it's cool to see that included.🤘

[@MattDTN]

I have the 50watt version and It’s so great

[@irmasil3]

Sounds good. And the price is always competitive.

[@molotovbatradio]

I like thrash town, it’s nice this time of year 🤘🏻

[@coldworldmelancholy]

You know when Ola is not impressed and goes full on business review mode.

[@RonnyMims]

Hi, I have a kustom cabinet with celestion super 65's and I'd put 2 celestion g12 65 heritage speakers in it. Sounds great. Thanks again!

[@enemybeforeyou]

I have the studio 20. It's good I'm my apartment gets no noise complaints and I paid 350 used. I don't dime it but need to eventually. Playing with a tube screamer cleans it up

[@Rocktalk101]

I am personally a big fan of blackstar amps and I own a few of them.

[@DaveViner]

I never really understood the Blackstar hate, I always thought they sounded decent, had great features and were well priced.

[@brettphillips2309]

I have this amp. Just got the 60 combo . It’s definitely bassy. Gotta turn the bass down a smidge. But once you do that it gets real tight and aggressive on channel 2 with the voice switch

[@gibsonfan159]

I have the 50w mkIII and the "voice" switches are nothing more than a gain boost. So when used with the foot switch it functions like stepping on an OD pedal or volume boost.

[@johnyang799]

It looks pretty cool. But doesn't sound very good to my ears.

[@ProjectCreativityGuy96]

It sounds like Ola has the pick up switch to that thick vubby sounding tone!

[@thisguy2973]

It’s the EL34 tone. A lot of people don’t like that sound.

[@shreder75]

​@thisguy2973 that's not it. A lot of great amps is 84s, from mesa to engl. Blackstar amps just suck.

[@Ottophil]

Agree, hard agree. That is unfixably bad

[@thelowlifex9437]

I think it is because of their own cab , i watched other videos on this amp and it sounded pretty decent

[@MASTERRIFFS]

☠️☠️☠️COOL Blackstar ⭐⭐⭐

[@amandasnadel]

you got the ISF wrong

[@bwdc8532]

I've been proudly playing the HTCLUB50 for almost a decade now, and it's been amazing. These amps take some time to genuinely break in and sort of smooth out. Mine has the early edition of the Cab IR, but through the matched V30 cab its amazing. Blackstar is highly underrated IMO, as most players are looking for an immediate option and 600 presets. To each their own!

[@visualdarkness]

Amp break in?

[@Pointsbeingmade]

Amp break in?

[@bwdc8532]

I second this. I've been playing my Club 50 for almost a decade and there is time needed to let these amps settle in IMO. Nothing more than my ears, I don't know enough about the science of amps. I just know how I feel when I play.

[@ChainsawSlammer1.3.8]

In my hands it's will be great

[@bethesdafalcoyamaoka5483]

The Mothership!!

[@mrperson6773]

whoa this one sounds great

[@markolivares6943]

I own this amp and I love it. I use it with an engl 2x12 and a evh 2x12 as well and sounds awesome. I don’t think the matching cab sounds very well with the HT3

[@Jollyollydude]

They keep on making upgrades to the amp but never address this. The Celestion Seventy 80 is just not the speaker for these amps. I've experiences this since their inception. I was working at a guitar store and liked the amps plenty but whenever someone wanted to try with a different cab, it was always night and day. Just generally blah speakers that they keep on putting in every HT amp cab and combo. Any of the special edition combos that have had a different speaker have always sounded better then the standard editions as well. They could probably get a better non-Celestion speaker but then they can't use that in the marketing.

[@Andy_Yates]

Celestion 70/80, the cheapest OE Celestion so makers can advertise Celestion speakers in their cabs. Not that I am in the market for this head, but I have to wonder how much better it sounds through a closed cab V30 loaded cab or cabs

[@Mrjrose01]

Would love to see you demo a Quilter Mach 3 head! No good videos for it anywhere beyond the usual lame blues rock. Love your channel!

[@bassdaddy7293]

Wondering what it would sound like with different speakers. Got to quote Glenn from Spectre Sound. “You want to change your tone? change your speakers.”

[@Durkhead]

What speakers are in the cabinet?

[@Pointsbeingmade]

Yup

[@cbrauncbraun]

Speaking from personal experience with a MKII. Switch to KT77 Tubes and swap half of the speakers to vintage 70 and it’ll deliver that heft left to be desired for metal. I used gold lion tubes for preamp and power amp.

[@shanewoodman]

Sounded really nice and open, punchy, dare I say Marshall-like on OD1 and the first voicing. The higher gain settings were pretty dull and stunted.

[@DadoSimicStudiostriver]

He used second voicing on OD2 channel which is actualy the od boost built in, so he literaly played the amp through 2 ODs adding ts808, thats why it sounded like it sounded.

[@albinoviper2876]

EQ seems more fine tune tone than what they are normally

[@antoinelaliberte5]

Tried one with my 7 strings Guitar and it can chug Deathcore. for sure add EQ and an OD.

[@steveharrison8044]

As usual, very mixed opinions on this one from everyone. Its a similar situation to the metalzone; you've got the crowd who hate them and wont even give them a chance and then you have people who understand that alot of their stuff is actually pretty decent. I think its a great sounding amp!

[@megahurtz30]

I would say a better name for the title would be: HT Stage 100H MK III. "HT Venue" seems to be the name of a series of amps

[@jconner3891]

Just remember if you had a mesa cab with it would sound great.

[@mike_likes_sludge]

My wonder years were spent growing up in Frashtown! Frash metal, Frasher magazine \m/ :D I'm actually prefering the tone of voice 1 and the isf seemed more low-mid stoner focused at max than scooped. For a grand, it might cover a lot of ground if it takes pedals well. I'd like to see a more in-depth review after you had some time to fiddle with it.

[@metaltrucker97]

Sounds like a Blackstar, which is pretty good but theres a subtle "squish" in the mids I'm not a fan of. (I prefer the harsher/grittier sound of a Marshall better) But they are sonically versatile amps, and I like how you don't need any effects or overdrive pedals to have a good tone to fit most situations. I wonder what speaker they use in the cab.

[@Pointsbeingmade]

Good points.

[@ronnmims7696]

I think a good combo with blackstar.....celestion super 65 and g12t75

[@wenchieboy8530]

Blackstar 😱😱

[@MilkoOfficialChannel]

A Wizard MTL review would be cool

[@doctoribanez]

Seeing Jared nickels guy get his tone would be interesting

[@ThomasMetal75]

He was on Ola's channel recently.

[@marcusaurelius4360]

This actually sounds massive to me, wow. So many modern and more expensive amps sound so sterile compared to this, just my opinion though.

[@vapingcringe]

lets gooo

[@markkinney5030]

I have the ht venue 2 its okay i like better now in my 4x 12 cab i have 2 v30/s and 2 greenbacks also the tone is much better! Would i buy this amp or new one? No!

[@andyfaber8044]

$1k for that seems very reasonable. No, it’s not a Mesa or Marshall or Deizel but those would be double the price at least, maybe more.

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

I have the mark 1 version, to be totally honest, I don't see the point in upgrading, it's the best amp I've ever owned.

[@Namelessforever_]

I have the mk1 as well and to me it honestly sounds just as good if not better than mk 3.

[@Durkhead]

Ola have you used the chug pedal as an overdrive/boost?

[@goatsurgeon]

Okay so if that’s not the most exciting metal tone, I wonder what is?

[@patrickgiles2700]

They should have evolved the Series One platform, those amps had a lot of potential and looked really good. I don’t care for any of the Blackstar stuff now. Not even a consideration.

[@BillyTheKidsGhost]

I'm the mayor of Thrash Town...😎

[@RobbDizzl]

Maybe it’s the cab and/or the mic placement but it’s got a weird crackly fizzy distortion. The impulses didn’t improve on that as well. You didn’t seem all to excited either. 😅

[@dougappel5924]

Seems kinda brittle. I'd like to hear it through a more conventional cab. Treble and Presence control position seems to affect tone most?

[@numbersabcdefg]

4 direct out, that's amazing!!! 🤩. What's the latency though?

[@Alcotoxic]

So cool !!

[@JamesFlorio-ti8gc]

Isn't there a 6l6 tube option like before on these ....those actually do slay on the mk ii ones

[@maddoxmay611]

They don’t offer one, but blackstar’s video on the amp said that you can definitely swap them out for 6l6s with a slight bias adjustment

[@Metaldad87]

It's a cool idea but to me black star amps have always sounded too muddy and bassy to me, but that's just my ears maybe

[@gabrielstevens41]

Diego Cavallotti has one of these and it sounded way better in his demo video.

[@lincolnbroke]

Ola Hola! What was the cabine please?

[@Bcwilderness]

if nobody knew the name and it was in a great song, 50 percent of nayers would be lapping at the shoreline going wow amazing guitar sound, eyehate is a sonic shitslide unfortunately, sounds cool gets it done and cheaper than the tuther brands, best looking mesa clone yet lol

[@ronnmims7696]

Another I could think of maybe....2 v type and 2 seventy 80

[@toneconsultant]

I've owned a few Blackstars, Oddly, the only one that really gets METAL tone is the ID. Core models, Oddley, these inexpensive amps get Dimebag tone quite easy. The other Blackstar amps, not so much.

[@snowandcoal]

It looks cool. Is that real leather?

[@violetmassacre94]

REVIEW THREE BOSS IR-2 PLEASE! 🙏🏼

[@p2fyre]

What’s that riff at 5:12 ?

[@MetalZoned]

It's from The Haunted but I can't remember which song

[@Pointsbeingmade]

First haunted album.

[@kristiancarlsson7164]

Bullet Hole

[@Thomas-h8j]

I like voice 2 ,, and switch over too voice Soldano

[@Thomas-h8j]

Ola will it chug

[@patrickwilliams3087]

Shoulda tried a 7 string

[@TheDeedeeFiles]

Awesome

[@tnourse]

I’m not a fan of how the Blackstars sound. Will you test the new Soldano amp?

[@BM5556]

little bit of 99 from the haunted right there XD

[@kirillstolerov6899]

alone it seems just not impulsed but in mix I guess it might be already saturated and coocked

[@JohnSheehan72]

aright about 3:16 it sounds like SoD lmao. love it

[@youWoNtLikeMe04]

I want to like blackstar... but they always seem to be missing something to me.

[@alastairtilley3585]

The second hand value of these will plummet, just like the previous versions.

[@yargnad]

Does that matter if you plan on keeping it? I never buy gear with intent to sell. Used value means nothing to me. I would never buy a Blackstar anyway. They're terribly made.

[@georgemcgnarly3144]

Still no midi? Is it still a hybrid ?

[@ronnielobosmith4870]

IR#2

[@StevenAMckayAuthor]

Why don't all new metal amplifiers come with an OD pedal built in? It would save us all buying one then arguing over which works best.

[@tommilitello198]

A good metal amp doesn’t need an overdrive

[@BA99253]

Ola’s English is great but the way he says reverb always makes me laugh.

[@1dragon9447]

Ola can make a Hello Kitty sound Metal!

[@LewisCreamer]

Would've sounded better in a different cabinet cos their speakers are a bit sharp, a bit too bright similar to Marshall's Seventy-80 speakers or Jensen. If was through a Creamback or Greenback, that would've been cooler and nicer.

[@demitrygavin911]

Yeahhhh blackstar mentioned