Blackstar's new FLAGSHIP High Gain Amplifier is.....

[@rocco575]

man blackstar has come a long way since they started the company. sounds really good!

[@UseTheSupeRsonic]

Always had mad respect and love for the Series One. I had the 100watter in 2020 and it did phenomenal modded Marshall tones on Super Crunch and Soldano style tones on OD1/2. Highly recommended amps

[@supersonicnomad8437]

Bro. That was THEE SICKEST intro I think I've ever heard! Damn! I've had a few Blackstars, a Club 40, ID core 10 & 20 watters. But nothing of this level. I'd REALLY like to have this head. It's the tone I've been looking for. Brutalize on! \m/

[@jconner3891]

If it had a mesa logo or any other brand name on it. People would love it.

[@TheStinkyDinkyBand]

Not the price, no matter what it would be. They’ll be waiting for people who can afford one and bug them to capture it for their budget modeler.

[@ItalianAvalanche]

Blackstar Series One is a sick amp. I’ve been using one in metallic hardcore band and it sounds sick and has great features. The DPR is really clutch when the sound tech wants you to lower your volume. The selectable impedance is very nice. Overall a great modern amp with well-executed modern features.

[@27retrodaze]

Leave my grandma's bank acct alone... Ill never leave a video before its over ever again... 😂 Nice work, KB. I really love the look of it. Simple, yet metal af.

[@chrisdover8507]

This sounds like it would record really well. Need one for studio I reckon.

[@jacktaromino6324]

Thanks Kyle the demo on this amp was absolutely ,great job I will be getting one. I own the the MT 100 Stage MK lll. This amp takes it too the level of the 3-4k amps and this model does what all the others cannot do is produce tones of each guitar played differently sound wise giving it's a versatile tone range that's wide range. I do like the bottom end and it's clarity even at high gain at upper settings. It's the best Blackstar has ever done and it's price is incredibly reasonable compared the the competition priced at almost 2x what this costs great job to the team at Blackstar !!!

[@blakeanderson7906]

I have never played a blackstar and i have heard so many people say that blackstar is crap but this doesn't sound that bad. I don't know shit, so who knows, but i would rock it.

[@JohnWiku]

Definitely sounds less crappy than it ever did 😂😂😂

[@CalanReichel]

they break and are near impossible to fix. They have always sounded ok

[@belligerentamateur]

Luckily this one has a double sided pcb and can actually be repaired!

[@joefh1985]

I’ve played a few at rehearsal spaces, and seen local bands that used them and I’ve always thought they sounded pretty decent, so I don’t think your ears are ‘wrong’. I can’t speak to the reliability issues, but they are worth trying out.

[@jamesrouse3466]

My Blackstar HT Venue Stage 60 Mk II 2×12 combo sounds pretty decent, but it certainly can't hold a candle to my ENGL Fireball 100 half stack. On another note, Kyle should definitely demo the new Blackstar St. James 100 for us. The price tag has me shook, though... $2,499.99 for the 2×12 combo and $1899.99 for the head... that puts it withing range of a new ENGL Fireball 100 head and a new Mesa Dual Rectifier head.

[@davidscafidi]

sounds rad right off the bat

[@personalacc290]

After hearing a Coheed riff, this became my favorite guitar channel.

[@douglaswicker]

The reflective face a guy makes when playing Coheed riffs is something to behold

[@krustdogg131]

This amp does nu metal very well, but actually really like the openness on the crunch channel with heritage. Also that intro riff was killer

[@resington]

When the plugin is out I'll try that.

[@Edika12]

First of all, this sounds great. Nice mid gain sounds and really aggressive metal sounds. At least on the recording, it seems it'll cut through well while sounding big! I had the Series One 200. It had a lot of gain but not much saturation na compression. The low end was fuzzy and boosts helped but not that much. The crunch channel has a super crunch mode that actually sounded better for metal that OD1 and 2. I now have the S1 1046L6 which is the MKI 6L6 model. It sounds a lot better than the S1 200 for metal. The Super Crunch mode has even more gain. And while I like the OD1 and 2 better, the Super Crunch still sounds better for rhythm. OD1 and 2 are also more fussy with guitars and pickups, while the Super Crunch is less picky. Great amp that can cover a lot of ground. If the MKII gets more popular, it'll be interesting to see a comparison with the S1 1046l6 to hear the differences!

[@s.e.n3264]

All my grandparents are already dead. But I'm staying anyway because I live for the Belligerence!

[@Qwik14]

Compare it with the HT Stage 100 MK3

[@PhyrestorM13]

"Brutalize it with my belligerently bad guitar playing" you crack me up Kyle 😂

[@auzzielosborne1336]

Emulated out was lacking compared to the cab sound, like most amps... This amp is a beast. Thumbs up!!!

[@off6848]

The drop C black explorer sound reminds me of old In Flames

[@TheTwistedChristian]

I love it! I'm gonna have to add it to my wish list, which has 3,842 items in it. lol

[@redtwox9708]

Diggin' the "Totally Not Poison's Fallen Angel" riff. Good stuff. Thanks for the review.

[@mikekashouty516]

I thought I was the only one who ever knew 🤣

[@guudbyenme3399]

The riff he plays on the Heritage? That's Coheed. It's the song "Feathers."

[@mikekashouty516]

@@guudbyenme3399 man I just had to check that out for myself. I never knew. But that’s definitely very similar to that poison riff lol. I don’t listen to coheed so I didn’t know until now. I don’t know a lot about them but I’m not sure if the intention was there but it’s very similar.

[@guudbyenme3399]

@mikekashouty516 see, and i didn't know the Poison track, so I had to A/B them both before I commented. Haha. I would not at all be surprised if Feathers was inspired by Fallen Angel. They do a lot of homages in their music. Welcome Home is Kashmir. A lot of stuff on their most recent is album has The Police vibes.

[@redtwox9708]

@@guudbyenme3399 Hmmmm... I need to listen to more Coheed and Cambria. Thanks for that.

[@The_Bass_Stunters]

I’m have an old school Blackstar HT100 had it completely gone through with all Tung Sol EL34 and 12AX7s and BRO!!!!! I get every tone you can imagine!! Amazing amp!!! Not sure why they get hate?

[@1thess523]

I got a HT 50Mkii, it's nice and tight with my Tele and an OD pedal but with my Epiphone Les Paul Standard with a DiMarzio Super Distortion Bridge it's kinda thick. I play skate and pop punk so I don't need belligerent gain but I do like a tight sounding amp, just saw a demo on the Walrus Fundamental Drive and I think that might help from the demos I've seen.

[@RedCGhost]

HT5 was my first tube amp technically, as im older now I dont really gel with it but i keep it for nostalgia, definitely dark and the mids are in an odd spot

[@dynamandan467]

excellent sounding amp, the emulated sounded bad - in my opinion. With that said, I love the sound with the 1960 marshall cab!

[@DanAlterGuitar]

I like the Easter egg of hearing the riff from The Hammer!

[@patrickshannon4516]

WOW that sounds really good has a ton of gain...

[@signal_rr]

Sounds pretty good!

[@BaritoneGoatStudio]

I thought the St. James 6L6 was a pretty solid amp when I had it. They have 100 watt version now. This one sounds similar to the 2nd gain channel on that. I think Blackstar amps do well with boost pedals and they have dialed in the mix of SS clipping circuits and tubes in their preamps. The pedigree of Marshall amps coming through and seeming to improve upon what is available from Marshall these days.

[@travisschuster4676]

When I saw the descendants a few months back Steve edgerton was using a series one. The original one. And I think the other time I saw him he was using a 100 watt HT.

[@CosmicDiamond999]

Intro tone was pretty dope.

[@belligerentamateur]

I thought so too

[@Smittz]

Was thinking about getting a 27" Balaguer made, do you like them? How do they compare from any other $1500-3000 american made guitar?

[@Creature1009]

I have one, it’s on par with Ibanez prestige, high end Jackson concept series guitars. Very high quality and even their proprietary pickups sound awesome

[@TheOtherJohnBrowne]

This looks like a sick amp! Wouldn't mind having one of those

[@1Thess312]

I just checked at Blackstar's website & they've issued a recall on some amps

[@vanespedals1023]

This sounds pretty good!

[@guudbyenme3399]

Didn't know bro was a Coheed fan, but that's the Feathers riff on the Heritage. Nice!!

[@belligerentamateur]

One of my favorite bands!

[@jwrocks83]

Blackstar sounds great!

[@GabrielMateo-rb8mf]

The marshall cab with the greenbacks sound so punch more muddy and ooze

[@adamwatson6916]

Sounds like most other Blackstars but that's not a bad thing .

[@belligerentamateur]

Yep, they definitely have a signature sound

[@Sacrifice-Paid]

I know it’s each to their own, but why are some channels so against demoing the clean channel 🤷🏻….. Anyway, so I’ve had a few Blackstar amps, can’t actually remember the 1st 1 I had, but I have had the Blackstar BEAM which was an awesome little thing, until recently I had the HT club 50 mk2, which I was using mainly the epiphone LP slash edition thru that amp, but then I bought a new guitar LTD EC 1000 with EMGs which was still great thru the HT, but then I swapped those PUPS for the Hetset EMGs and my HT head couldn’t handle them on the clean channel…….., which brings me to the Blackstar St James 6L6, which in my opinion is a beast, my LTD EC 1000 with the Hetset pups going thru the St James on clean, crunch and OD is amazing, although I could do with a boost for doing solos and a noise gate

[@robertrogers7939]

Sounds like a transistor radio from the 70s.

[@cblizard6850]

I like blackstar

[@roryt1985]

As always it depends on who’s using it. John Browne from Monuments makes every amp / plugin / guitar sound incredible.

[@NotAnotherSatchFan]

I miss my Series One, now this give me reason to buy again. I'm curious what are the "upgrades" besides my old Series One was EL34. Did they fixed the weight imbalance of the chassis? Is it still weight a ton?

[@ElectromagneDikk]

I'm still confused about what you did and what you didn't think it could do however is that aside I will say that that amp sounds awesome. There might be a couple of amps I choose before it but overall if I was stuck playing through that amp for some reason I would not be unhappy. And I do like gigantic transformers I bet you that head weighs a million pounds. Good vid bro

[@a_cautionary_tale]

@blackstaramps If Blackstar made a 1-knob pedal that was just the ISF function, I'd buy five of them.

[@neighbourhoodmusician]

I love Series One amps. They're ludicrously cheap on the used market (like $300) but totally awesome for any kind of hard rock/metal stuff. I've had several over the years. The thing is, with this new one, I honestly can't see what they've changed, like at all. It's a lot of money for a nebulously 'revoiced' preamp section. Especially when Blackstar refuses to actually say what these circuit tweaks are or do.

[@KHGuitarFreak1988]

Not sure why, but it reminds me quite a bit of the ENGL E530 preamp tones :D

[@SenseiKreese]

Do the new St James 100w. Test out the reactive load and cab sim in it, dying to know what it's like, considering it.

[@Bret_Sanor]

My tech won't even work on a Blackstar because they're built so cheaply. They are junk. When he is not building/repairing amps he's touring. He knows what is good. Just a word of caution for anyone who is considering buying one.

[@jszot1985]

Those are some crunchy mids.. spicy 🔥

[@Deathcorp666]

lol.. good video. But I’ll pass on the blackstar. after playing an ENGL savage and fireball Thu the XL ENgL cab.. that blackstar It doesn’t even compete with ENGL. but you know that already. lol. Again .. another great video man✌️🤘

[@samizdat113]

Miss you Gam Gam 😢

[@TheStinkyDinkyBand]

What’s that Les Paul style guitar you’re playing? Beautiful top!

[@mikekashouty516]

What does fluff think? 👀

[@maraudermusic2714]

The black EX guitar for Drop C, what guitar is that!?? Love that thing!

[@tPostee]

What is the schecter solo with 4 knobs at 14:17?

[@belligerentamateur]

It's a Hellraiser Extreme! They only made it for one year, but it came in 6 different configurations

[@bread6085]

Still don’t get the hate for blackstar they sound great based off what I’ve tried/heard

[@timmattisson1318]

nice All out war riff at 15:00

[@deadheadbetty6663]

Is this the black fire amp

[@TheZombiedna]

Grandma said that 50 bucks was for my christmas present of socks and underwear.... how dare you!!!!

[@RyanCowley_]

Does anyone know who makes that matte black swamp ash explorer?

[@doctoribanez]

Sounds great

[@saltpeter7429]

I have an HT club 40 mark 1. I bought it used about a year ago. The stock speaker wasnt that hot so I put a celestion gk-75 in it. So far so good. The negative I have read online concerns the nature of repairs. Apparently they are not tech friendly? This is the general consensus concerning the ht series as I recall. So I will rock it until it burns out.

[@88Nyman]

How about duel agaist 2 differend blackstar amps S1mkII and HT100MKIII😎

[@belligerentamateur]

Maybe a video for the second channel!

[@DeeplySceptical]

I had a Series One 100 and also the 200 watt version but couldn't warm up to them. I thought they were anaemic and lacked depth. The recordings in this video tells me it's still the case. The other issue is build quality and resell value. For the price these things command new, they're just not on the level in my opinion.

[@clydebillingsworth8574]

Stealing from my deceased Gma might be the most metal thing blackstar has ever done. Much approved.

[@scotttower5115]

I'm always curious as to what the amplifier sounds like with the 412 it was designed and voiced for. Does blackstar make a 4x12 for this model? And by the way the Mesa makes everything sound good lol in my humble opinion

[@adamwatson6916]

There is nothing special about the cabs . They are 4 by 12s with V30s so any decent 4 by 12 with V30s will work. Kyle played the amp through a Marshall 4 by 12 with Marshall vintage speakers which are a tweaked V30 so that should tell you what it sounds like with the matching cab . The amp already has a load of midrange so I'm not sure the V30s are the best choice .

[@brucegasiorowski8957]

I was like…is this one sped up????

[@TheToecutter69]

New St.James model also. Would like you to review that too👍 🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@samizdat113]

The emulated output is yuck. But a decent sound guy can help it out with EQ.

[@CryptToneMusic]

I don't think black star sounds bad at all. Theyre not amazing but perfectly usable tones. My issue is reliability, when they break you cant fix them. No schematics, bad layout and build quality etc. They're usually hybrid designs in the preamp and the heat over time ends up cooking the solid state components. And the fact its hybrid makes it much harder to trace out without a schematic. Unfortunately it's less time and money to just buy a new one or buy something better. Maybe this higher end model is different but I'm still apprehensive about buying anything Black Star that isn't like a pedal or something

[@belligerentamateur]

I've definitely heard this about their lower end models! Apparently the higher end stuff is supposed to be more standard construction and more easily repairable. As far as schematics, that I don't know.

[@TheStinkyDinkyBand]

Did they steal recently a pedal platform that was called the Iridium by Blu amplifiers? It’s basically an amp that you can choose different “nano tubes” for voicing. Like 6L6, EL34 etc. they have 3 models, each with a different set up. I have the 3, and I don’t know if I like it or not. It’s about the size of a quad cortex, but a bit longer. And it’s analog, no touch screen. It can do 1 watt, 20 watts, or 100 watts. Clean mode, crunch, crunch OD, OD1 and OD2. I really don’t know what to even do with it. Read the manual again I guess. Because you can store different presets so you aren’t having to constantly tweak the EQ for the channel you’re on. That’s the only time I’ve tried anything blackstar

[@TheDeedeeFiles]

Awesome

[@NaceK84]

Just when you thought the Peavey Valve King and the Crate amps were shit....

[@brettphillips2309]

I like blackstar sound. What I don’t like is the dependability and customer service on blackstars end. I have the new Blackstar mkiii and got it in March or April this year from samash and it has problems already. And it doesn’t have heavy usage. Just home jamming. That leads me to the next thing I don’t like about blackstar. Contacted them about my amp and they got back to me weeks later and told me to take it to a korg authorized repair shop and that’s nowhere near me. I’d have to ship it to them and that’s nowhere near would costs 100s of dollars. So my amp is under warranty but I can’t get it fixed or looked at because I can’t afford to get it to a place to be fixed . Now I had a prs mt 15 and it had problems and prs paid for shipping there and back and fixed it in a day. So there’s that.

[@LateNightYinzer]

What kind of problems? Is it solved just by swapping tubes? Could be a simple fix if it's just crappy tubes.

[@brettphillips2309]

@ if I plug anything into the effects loop, I will lose sound completely. Also when I am playing an not using the effects loop, the front power lights will act like it’s powering down and volume will drop and then it goes back to normal. And now the amp has a lot noise also now. And it should be having these issues. It’s less than a year old and really doesn’t have that much playing time on it.

[@LateNightYinzer]

@@brettphillips2309 Oh.. That could be a lot of things..

[@TheStinkyDinkyBand]

Well it has to be you, it can’t be their amplifier. I should call them and tell them what’s wrong with mine and name off basically the same stuff you did. Eventually having everyone calling lol

[@brettphillips2309]

@ none of that makes any sense at all lol speak clear English next time you want to try and insult someone bucko

[@4142Wilb]

@belligerentamateur have you ever tried Blackstar’s Metal 100 head?

[@Simple5.0]

I like the ht line more. I don’t like any part of this amp and I thought I would love it.

[@mazklassa9338]

There's something almost too tame about the gain structure of this attractive looking chassis. Like there's too much compression across the frequencies. 🤔

[@patriknessboLemoran]

this or mesa roadster?

[@BOBANDVEG]

What solid state amp would you recommend? In the 100 watt area

[@jconner3891]

I’ve heard good things about the orange crush pro.

[@smolski666]

Bluguitar Amp1 Iridium

[@shawnbeaghan9809]

The old S104 models sound better than the S100 model.

[@21stcenturymetal31]

Heard nato was looking for a signal (mos). I think you might qualify

[@samizdat113]

Shouldn't it be an International Shaping Filter? It's not really infinite.

[@natebeatyguitar]

more All Out War and Hatebreed riffs!!!

[@belligerentamateur]

ALWAYS

[@Folk661]

Sounds great. Very JvM esq

[@ronnywebster7391]

My grandma's dead, so it's not like she needs the money

[@samizdat113]

@9:20 Hell yeah

[@totalbullion5882]

Sounds sick but so does the price 😂

[@GregSobek]

First! Great amp!

[@samizdat113]

EMG 81 > everything else

[@toneconsultant]

I have owned five Blackstars and I'm looking for a very tight base and high gain tone. There's only one Blackstar that can get that tone and that just happens to be for bedroom volumes. All the other amps they have are more for rock music like The Rolling Stones or Pat Benatar; not metal.

[@belligerentamateur]

Unfortunately super tight does not seem to be part of Blackstar's sound signature, so you may want to look at something like a Peavey 6505+

[@riverstone5994]

I’d be keen on this as a cheaper alternative to the mainstream amps but it’s more $$ than like an orange or something lol wth

[@fr1g1db1tch]

Kyle.. Either you have finally learned how to play all those fukkin guitars you own OR that amp is just that good. My money is on the amp ;)

[@putontheseglasses8809]

My dead grandma has a bank account?

[@FabianE.Dorion]

Those Blackstar amps are a Nightmare to repair. They do sound good though.

[@belligerentamateur]

Apparently this one has a more standard PCB that makes it easier to repair. Can't confirm though as I wouldn't know. Lol

[@FabianE.Dorion]

@@belligerentamateur That's okay. I don't expect you to take it apart & inspect every part. unless you plan to at another time.

[@arthurreid6108]

Considering she's been dead 10 years, raiding her bank account might be challenging...

[@belligerentamateur]

I have my ways

[@chopperdeath]

Who needs 200 watts?

[@Bsaunders17]

Eh. Sounds pretty good but I’m not buying it for $2k. You can get a brand new rockerverb 100 or any other amp that isn’t slapped together in china next to amps that are sold on temu for like 300 more dollars.

[@JamesRussle365]

Didnt hear a single difference with the different pickups. Only heard a difference with the Marshall.

[@belligerentamateur]

Glad I don’t have your ears

[@TheStinkyDinkyBand]

My grandma is dead. Thanks.