The REAL Reason to Hate Blackstar Amps (and others like them)

[@az8999]

Most MusicMan amps were hybrid. Did Leo or any of his engineers have the insight to not install power tubes close to potentially vulnerable board sections? I've had a 112RD 65 since 1982 and never had a problem with it gigging 5+ nights a week. Any technical folks know or am I just lucky?

[@TheGuitologist]

Your amp is a BEAUTIFUL example of how hybrid amps should be done. Tube sockets are chassis mounted and away from main board. ICs are socketed and easy to replace. There’s room to solder. It’s very well made. It’s a lifer amp! Your grandchildren will inherit and enjoy it. images.app.goo.gl/HLWaaZKyNhp4Myze9

[@TheGuitologist]

“Hate” was just echoing a headline.

[@williamolsen20]

Those MusicMan amps are cool.

[@swimasfastasyoucan]

@@TheGuitologist best intelligent response ever..go Brad

[@tenlittleindians]

Everytime you listen to a great Credence Clearwater Revival tune on the radio your hearing a guitar tone straight out of an early hybrid amp. Kustom amps like John Fogerty used were hybrids too.

[@andrewkoastephens210]

Holy crap!!! That took FOREVER to get to the point. Condensed version here: 1.KDH, is missing the point, Blackstar amps may or may not sound good, that’s irrelevant. 2.They’re poorly designed amps and prone to failure. 3. The company has no support centres in the USA (or maybe anywhere). 4. The company provides no resources to amp repair people to provide service to your amp. 5. Repair shops will not take them due to lack of resources (like schematics) 6. If you did eventually convince an amp repair person to work on it, it’d cost you more than the price of a new amp. 7. The guitologist has never actually phoned the company and we are not sure how much effort he has put into contacting the company besides scrolling their website and internet browser searches. Maybe he said he emailed once. We don’t know. 8. Take away, if Blackstar makes it hard to work on their products by such bad customer service, you’re better off investing your money in something that is more likely to be serviceable. There you go, I just extended your life by a half hour.

[@todoelmundoapesta]

I think i can do even better Ehem!... Don't buy blackstar amps bc you can't fix them, there hahaha

[@commisargamerson1666]

Legend

[@CaptainRon1913]

There are 10 service centers in the UK listed on the Blackstar website. And KDH was talking about his Series One amp, which doesn't have tube sockets soldered to a circuit board. Service in the US is done through Korg-US.

[@todoelmundoapesta]

@@CaptainRon1913 would you mind providing some links? I'm really interested

[@CALIBA88]

i know a company that produces crap, overprices it bc they invest money to cribble a functioning product down to a paperweight, they FIGHT repair, not like not caring of making it possible, they will get after you just for talking about repair, they have service centers but you could throw 500-1000bucks in a river and watch it flow, that is less expensiv and more productiv and ppl still LOVE it. so this sounds a little bit harsh, they are just not good not intentionally bad just for jerking off to ripping customers. but i am not a guitar guy, i do not even knowb how i ended here.

[@BrandonBames]

I called Peavey and spoke with a gentleman with a strong southern accent who told me step by step how to modify my 20+ year old Bandit. And that’s PEAVEY.

[@TheGuitologist]

What year was that?

[@BrandonBames]

@@TheGuitologist probably 2013-ish. I meant to say repair not modify, not sure where my head was at.

[@christopherallen5603]

They did the same thing for me 10yrs ago about fixing the efx loop on my 6505+. Same thing, guy with a heavy southern accent. He was cool, gave me a few other tips too on modding that amp

[@BrandonBames]

@@christopherallen5603 That's what I call End User Support.

[@fongy200]

they emailed me a Valve King diagram in about 2002 i think they sent me my diagram / schematic not that it helps, quite happy to email a copy on to you buddy but i expect you already have Valve King schematics. Nice one Mr Lindsy.

[@donaldmccoy49]

i have a HT 20 combo....has been bulletproof for over 10 yrs...BUT, I never play it more than 2-3 hrs a day, has an amazing sound clean or dirty, and the FX loop is awesome... but I understand why it would be rather tuff to repair.... thanks for the video... Kentucky proud here brother!!

[@zs8784]

Bashed in the gain pot on my Victory. Their customer service got me in touch with their tech guru straightaway, I had full schematics and they even shipped me replacement pots from England for free. Definitely a fan.

[@wildskel6350]

All I can say is I bought a second hand Blackstar HT 50 and 4 x 12. I thought they were an American company but found out they were British, moreover they are based in my home town. I contacted them, they couldn't have been nicer. I took amp and cab up to them, they took 'em in, serviced both for a very competitive price and I'm really happy with the rig. Now, I realise I got lucky in their location but they were great for me.

[@redstrat1234]

I bought a pristine 2nd hand Blackstar HT Club 40 last week - absolutely love it. Played in bands for 30+yrs. Retired from it all now and play for my own amusement and at family doo's. I play only clean and the BS clean channel is superb, to my ears anyway.

[@deanmlshredder]

@@redstrat1234 I miss my ht 100 for the clean channel alone. Especially the class a voice. None cleaner.

[@J8D2]

The thing about them is, they like to play the whole British angle and align themselves with the Laneys, Marshalls, Oranges of this world but dont actually build in the UK. im sure theyre great guys and the products decent and that where somethings made doesnt matter et al. but...why play the British company angle so hard but not actually build your gear here?

[@JunkBondTrader]

They have repair centres everywhere, this video is just bad information.

[@J8D2]

@@JunkBondTrader good amplifiers don’t need to be taken to authorised repair centres.

[@tommynoisemusic]

I've been playing the shit out of my blackstar amps for years with no issues.

[@ChristopherStandardTime]

same. gigged mine hard, too. no issues other than standard maintenance/tube replacement. ten years old and love it.

[@andrewtolson2566]

I've been playing a ht60 mk2 and love it. It came recommended by a friend of mine who has 10+ blackstars. I asked him about this video and he just laughed and said he hasn't had any problems. He told me he had one serviced awhile back and doesnt remember it being an issue. This was click bait and we all fell for it.

[@nickg2431]

@@ChristopherStandardTime There you go Christopher that’s your answer please see my comments above.

[@slimbodynomite5701]

You will learn the hard way. I bought so much stuff that worked for years and now I just throw 1500.00 amps in the trash because of 350.00 ,350.00 and 350.00. Maintenance charges.

[@JeremiahDaniel1995]

Yeah fuck this guy 😂

[@Trevenclaw]

Jared James Nichols would like a word.

[@Mark-iq6hi]

Cost money for a word.

[@watcherzero000]

Jared has direct access for all the troubles he has with his amps.

[@davidjohnson9924]

I think KDH did a fine job of describing, from a very high level, the difference between amplifiers. He expressed an opinion. Your video also is expressing an opinion. Personally I enjoy Blackstar amps and have 3 Blackstar tube amps and one of their modeling amps. The bottom line is if you like Blackstar, buy Blackstar and if you don’t, don’t. For the record I own a variety of amps from Vox, Fender, Marshall, Orange, Laney etc.

[@EbonyPope]

This isn't just about taste. But Scott planned obsolescence. You can still buy it but I think you should be aware of that before you do so. That's the whole point.

[@timothyb1559]

Look inside an old Hiwatt. That's what an amp should look like!

[@torahwarrior2442]

A DR 100 you mean?...still trying to find one

[@JInfinity7]

@@torahwarrior2442 check out Ceriatone. Hand wired replicas for about 1k usd. They have the 103 and the 504. The mil spec wiring is there looking at their circuit. The guy who builds them is a Malaysian electrical engineer who went to college in the U.S.

[@DeCasoU1]

@@torahwarrior2442 DR103 or DR504. Have a look at the Mark Huss Hiwatt Amplifier Pages.

[@TheNocturnalEvil]

That's the gold standard bud. The only amp makers other than HiWatt who match that standard are HiTone, and Harry Joyce.

[@mattgilbert7347]

We don't have those in Australia.

[@Gutch220]

when searching for locations of service centers, you need to input a search. I did a default search of 'London' within 25 miles and got three locations

[@MichelleTaylor1]

He didn’t want to find anything, he was simply out to trash the brand.

[@erikGuitar]

It's also not hard to find the USA Dealer/Service centers on Blackstar's website, but hey, navigating websites is hard for some people.

[@vicangelo4430]

Ditto.....I did same. I live in Northampton and found a service center within 20 miles of my home. Doing a 200 mile nationwide search I found 18 service centres. Brad, I can understand why you dont like Blackstar, but you are no better than the guy you are critisising by spreading untrue info about their service centres.

[@expletivedeleted]

Can't use the internet but fixes amps? I'd hate to see him near a wall socket with a paperclip.

[@expletivedeleted]

@@ProjectBlackweather LOL!

[@ryanthenormal]

Funny thing about that service centre map is that once you put a postcode and search radius into the form and submit it, you get markers for all the service centres. Including three in London (or at least inside the M25).

[@GRINNERMETAL]

I’ve a Blackstar HT 100, had it years. Bought it second hand. Gigged and recorded it for years, gigged loud with it too. Yes I had it serviced just because it’s good to have valve amps serviced. Never had an issue. Don’t be put off by this video if you have one, they’re fine.

[@darylbaker5620]

I have a blackstar Id core 100 and love it my fear with buying a blackstar tube amp is the two hour drive to the closest guitar store and there are no electronic repair shops where I live when you say serviced I’m assuming you meant like tube replacement and general servicing no major work was ever required I’m asking because I like the blackstar tone and they’re affordable

[@trillrifaxegrindor4411]

@@darylbaker5620 tubes arent light bulbs,ive owned 20 tube amps,never had a tube fail in 35 years

[@darylbaker5620]

That’s what I was asking grinned what he meant by servicing what is it that needs serviced I’m not fuckin stupid I know tubes aren’t light bulbs I’m asking because I live a long distance from any guitar retailers not convenient for me to take an amp in for servicing

[@GRINNERMETAL]

I had the valves checked but they did not need changing last time around. I’ve not had them changed in all the time I’ve had the amp.

[@cirenosnor5768]

_GRINNER_ I’m a amp tech for 35 years in New York. I can attest that those amps are *not* fine. Sounds like you did basic maintenance on the amp by changing the tubes and your amp wasn’t dysfunctional.Very easy to pull out the tubes and replace them in even the worst built amplifiers. When the time comes to actually replace other components in those amps, will be a different story for reasons including what was mentioned in this clip. For example, the pots are soldered directly to the board. If you break one, that board will have to come out and that means complete disassembly of the amp. There’s also components on the board in amps built like that where the components really aren’t made to be unsoldered. Thus the board will be replaced instead. Most manufacturers of amps like this only release boards to authorized techs. If the nearest authorized tech is in another state, how far is that from where you live. You might be shipping the amp to a authorized tech or trying to get it fixed locally by a unauthorized tech. As mentioned in the clip, they don’t released schematics to unauthorized techs. You can probably see where gettin those amps serviced when the time comes to replace more than tubes could be a nightmare. Beyond tubes and maybe broken pots, I won’t work on them

[@eldritch6871]

Hey Brad, just giving you the heads up for fairness- if you actually type in the name of a town or city, the pins on the map will show up

[@TheGuitologist]

I figured that might be the case, but it was asking for a post code, which I didn't have one offhand.

[@pir869]

@@TheGuitologist G73,try that,it's Glasgow south and your local service centre will be shown,or not.And the whole thing sucks ass.

[@topfacemod]

Same reason my dad had 3 Chevy C10's from the early 70s up till the day he died in 2010. Easy service and pretty damn reliable.

[@TheGuitologist]

Smart man.

[@johnsalaman503]

Smart man your dad was.rip fine sir

[@guitarprepnplus1]

Got a 79 .. Love it.

[@emoboi311]

I’ve owned blackstar amps since 2013, never ever had a problem with any of mines. Had a series one 100 6L6 head, have my combo amp. Neither of them ever caused me any problems. I love how saturated and versatile blackstar amps sound.

[@blakjack3053]

Yeah same here pal,, I've owned a pair of Club 40 mk 1 amps for 6 years been using them on stage with zero problems just occasional tube change and bias that's all.

[@emoboi311]

@@blakjack3053 my club 40 combo has never let me down either

[@emoboi311]

@Baldspot they’re all great

[@megafauna7]

I guess you're missing the point. When they go down, you'll be shit out of luck unless you send them to the UK. They will eventually break. It might be in 15 years but it will. These aren't like the old amps you can easily service and keep going for eternity,

[@emoboi311]

@@megafauna7 the point is I’ve had my blackstars for years and years, they have never failed me. They are built like tanks. I’ve had my combo amp on for hours, it doesn’t get as hot as this guy says it does.

[@RPGOverload]

I'm an engineer, not an amp tech, and the only amp I've ever repaired was a Blackstar HT-5 a friend asked me to peek into. Luckily, the schematic for that is pretty easy to find, or was for me, and there are tons of forum posts about their known faults. Turns out some of their transistors are positioned so close to each other they eventually burn a hole and bridge contacts, leading to no output. Newer ones already have sinks tapped into the board between those two pins, but still shows that there are some egregious problems in their design. The HT-5 I worked on just had the pre-amp tube in the power section, and was missing the pre-amp, so it turned on, and both tubes are dual triode with the same pinouts and similar tolerances so nothing was damaged. Never touching one again.

[@Jimbodaddy74]

I've been gigging and rehearsing for about 5 years now with my HT Club 50 half stack.

[@thestratman9]

Love my Mark 1 HT Club 40. Still running strong.

[@dvaoa]

@@thestratman9 Same here, man.

[@mikep6967]

Right to repair needs to happen!!!

[@xenophagia]

Agreed. Across all forms of tech.

[@factorylad5071]

Every journey needs a first step. Like if you had replacement chassis for combo amplifiers would be a start , really there is no need in cutting down trees to make new 2x12 s when there must be so many out there?

[@goodheartmedia]

I have owned 7 Blackstars over the years and they have all been rock solid. I love how they sound and after hundreds of hours of practicing and gigs they have had no issues. Some of my friends playing hand wired Marshall, Fender and boutique amps have had a failure here and there, sometimes during gigs. Just sayin'.

[@EbonyPope]

That you didn't have a failure is good for you. But everything failed at one point and what then? Also you might just have been lucky. His point still stands. If it fails you'll have no means to repair it. I hate planned obsolescence.

[@howabouthetruth2157]

What's the name of the band ( or bands ) you were gigging with, and what clubs/establishments did you gig, and when. Honest question........nothing more.

[@jbmw16]

That does not change that fixing a blackstar properly if the ic breaks its impossible. When ICs fail you are up to the help of the manufacturer, even worse if it is a microcontroller, then you need the partNO and the firmware. The tube amps can be fixed 100% of the time, the ICs can't, and are much more difficult to trouble shoot. Digital logic is much more complex than your basic analog signal path trace and replace.

[@KingKong-mp6gj]

@@jbmw16 most ICs in this kind of amps are cookie cutter opamps or maybe switching logic. Easy to find and dirt cheap. Unless manufacturer is an ass and grinds off the label you are good to go.

[@jbmw16]

@@KingKong-mp6gj I am more concerned with microcontrollers being used for menu functions. That makes repairs a pain.

[@songman68]

I have an HT5 with Reverb and I love that little amp and it sounds great.

[@trillrifaxegrindor4411]

had one ,one week....bland as f

[@bradharris1110]

We have the same amp and the same name.

[@voa.aquino]

@@bradharris1110 lol

[@Chaps_Jr]

That's all that matters, man. If it makes you happy, use it.

[@factorylad5071]

Hope you enjoy the chips!

[@fredchatham6680]

Great video! You mentioned old Peavey amps, I played a club for 3011 consecutive days. It was so rough we (really) had the bar Logo on our issued Kevlar vests, the restrooms had no sinks or ceramic toilets, BOTH the men's and ladies restrooms had horse troughs to go in. Needless to say, we didn't take our vintage gear. I had a Peavey T-60 that kicked ass, and I played thru a heavily nodded first issue Peavey Bandit 50, by the time that place closed I could get any tone I needed from that gear. Of course I had a LOT of hours to tweak that tone. One night the security beat a guy to death (died on the way to hospital), the place was closed.. That gig ended in the late 80's, and I still wake up in a cold sweat dreaming about it. Wish I'd kept both guitar and amp.

[@TheGuitologist]

Holy shit, what an awesome war story. From the working musician trenches.

[@geoarthur6593]

Pfffttt, only 3011, wait til ye have ... ah don't matter 🙄

[@misterknightowlandco]

Lol so it took you 3k gigs to get a good tone out of peavey bandit?

[@ericmdk]

@@TheGuitologist or.. the troughs even ; )

[@fredchatham6680]

Actually it took a few months to fully mod that Bandit. Had push pull pots and we played a variety of styles, I could see next song on set list, turn around and push/pull and twiddle knobs and have a totally different amp. I moved away from Florida back home to Alabama, looked high and low for a first generation Bandit 50, found one broken for $40, did most of the mods I'd done to the other one. Went to a blues jam at a harmonica players house, he was an amp collector, had a wall full of tube amps. He saw that Bandit, insisted i plug into one of his amps in his collection. I told him I was set. He insisted use one of his, I insisted he STFU because he was getting obnoxious. At the end of the day, he bought that Peavey Bandit from me in 1999 and continues to use it live for his harp. I bought a Bandit 65, not same circuit with that TRANSTUBE crap. Still looking for another first generation Bandit for a reasonable price. After the mods It sounded surprisingly good and I used it for everything from bluegrass to metal, and it handled it.

Just checked the Blackstar website and there would appear to be 20 in the UK. You do have to put a location in, though. So I did a search on their US/Canada dealers, too, and you can find service centres by specific product. On one I picked, there were two in Louisville, Brad. So, it would suggest there are places to get products serviced. But, that said, some models showed no service centres at all. So it looks like if you buy a cheaper model, you may struggle to find someone to service it. Think of all the Blackstars that could be coming to you, Brad!

[@hbo001]

IC designer here. There are different temperature rating the circuits can withstand. For instance automotive compoments. However, I dont think they use these as they are more expensive. Anyway, mixing tube sockets and solid state component on a single board is IMO not a good idea. In general, a double sided board with tiny smd components is hardly servicable. It is just meant to be replaced with a new one. On the other hand the products using them are quite reliable in compare to things like tube amps:)

[@TheGuitologist]

I have had several direct experiences with PCB becoming conductive. The other problem mixing ICs is the voltage tolerances involved usually means they'll fail even quicker than an all tube design on the same board.

[@hbo001]

@@TheGuitologist Yeah, some cheapo board. But in general modern PCBs are way reliable than any Tube design can ever be. Just do this test take any electronics that have been collecting dust over 40 years (VHS, 8-bit computers, etc.) and turn it on. It will probably work. The same can't be said for tube amps. Moreover, you don't have to replace any IC components over 10years of usage. The same can't be said for tube amps and power tubes particularly. The cost of replacement is just equal to a decent practice combo like Boss Katana. So everything comes down to price. I also don't like that things are made disposable but they are dispose now before their actual end of life. For instance, cell phones. My daughter still has an old iPhone(second gen. with the same battery) and no issue. I have Certina watch where I have not replaced battery since 2005 I bought it. It has an ultra-low power chip I was working on its design. Your last comment about voltage tolerance is not accurate. The analog ICs like op amps can have really big voltage tolerance in compare to digital circuits. Anyway, you can have good voltage(current) regulators for both to always provide correct voltage. Just look what are the voltage steps for controlling the CPU when you want to overclock it. The voltage is always there no matter the voltage in power socket (no extremes like blackout of course;). On the other hand, the rectified voltage on the tube anodes is changing way more with the voltage fluctuations from power mains. And as you know it has an impact on bias thus the sound. Nothing critical but good to know when you want to have a consistent sound for each gig.

[@alexchoquenina3032]

Im having troubles with a Blackstar ht stage 100 mk1. I went to the blackstar amp aprecciation group and contacted Paul Stevens, main desing engineer of blackstar amps and he told me to change tubes. When the problem is the IC11 that manage the clean and distortion channels. I h4te blackstar costumer Service, they build things and dont even know how to repair them, sell and forget is their message they are spreading to the World.

[@CelticAndyTheBard]

My Blackstar has been rock solid. Sounds fantastic and never a problem. Granted I do use it as a practice amp and gig with something else, but I also practice all day on and off and leave this thing on for hours on end, and have even left it on overnight several times after too many whiskys. Never an issue. It gets a ton more use than my Firehawk/Headrush gig setup. Don't know about working on it - not my jam, but I do know I've never had to have it worked on so there's that. I even bought a second, smaller, more portable BS so when I vacation I can take it with - again no issues. I don't doubt this guy knows a lot more than I do about amps - but seems to be a bit of a hatchet job here. I'm sure faults can be found in any piece of gear or the company behind them. Do Blackstar sound good? Hell yes. Are they easy to work on? Apparently not. Are they reliable? So far yes, absolutely. Would I buy another? Yes. Would I like something better and more expensive? Yes. Can I afford that? Fuck no.

[@PierreLewin]

I had the same problem with a big Bugera amp, 333XL. I had it on my bench for a week... I gave up. The pedal logic circuit was cooked by the heat of the valves (apparently a frequent issue). The customer support was useless. They sent me back 3 emails with no help at all. No schematic available and so on... A situation very similar to what you describe in this video.

[@TheGuitologist]

I don't take those in either!

[@countzero5150]

I didn't have any issues getting a schematic for my 6260. Of course it's an older one and they now use that odd auto biasing and tube life system and I won't touch that with a ten foot pole specifically because I can't fix it if it breaks.

[@Superjet113]

I said Blackstar was like Bugera in the live stream of this video... So true. Good luck man!

[@mikepalumbo4362]

a buddy bought a Bugera and couldn't use it for months waiting for repair

[@countzero5150]

If you want to go down the rabbit hole google egnater amp repairs and the absolute nightmare a lot of people are having keeping their amps running.

[@TheZombie4u]

My Blackstar HT 60 Soloist has been running strong for over 11 years now. When it dies it dies but I've gotten good use from it. Enjoyed your perspective and education on the Blackstar build.

[@AngusNB]

Blackstar and every other amp builder is doing the same thing. Most newer designed amps are disposable. If we're lucky we'll get 10-15 years out of them. It's no different than appliance and other electronics manufacturers. A fridge doesn't last 20 years any more and you can't buy the parts to fix most of them. None of this is great but seems to be normal now. The old designed valve/tube were built with components you could, and still can, buy off of the shelf.

[@TheWelhaven]

Never heard anyone hate on Blackstar before these two videos. I was stupid and sold my Artisan 30 in May, when my band lost our rehearsal space, but luckily the buyer has agreed to trade it back for my Vox AC30. So not only did my band get a new rehearsal space, but I’m getting my Blackstar back 👌 It’s now about 13 years old, changed tube once. Now I don’t know if the Artisan series is different, since it’s handwired. This is from a review in Music Radar: «The electronics live inside the cleanest chrome-plated chassis we've ever seen. It's tough, heavy-gauge steel and it needs to be because the transformers are substantial - in fact, considerably larger than those used on some manufacturers' 100-watt models. The rest of the electrical components live on a long turret board that runs almost the full length of the chassis. Turret board construction is typical of many early British amps; you start with a long strip of insulating material, such as Paxolin or GRP, and drill holes in it along both edges. Into these holes you hammer the turrets - small nickel silver posts about 10mm high. The components are attached to the turrets, with link wires between to make up whatever circuit you need. It's relatively easy to service and, if done properly, very robust. The standard of wiring is exceptionally high - the turret board itself is fixed to the chassis with metal stand-off bolts, all the components have two or more turns around each turret post, and all the wires are properly laced together and pushed into the chassis corners in order to minimise mains hum. It's also worth pointing out that the soldering is remarkably consistent; not including the valves there are about 70 resistors and capacitors on the A30's turret board, which means a total of around 250 solder joints, and every single one is perfect with the last just as good as the first».

[@retrobrw919]

A lot of companies are "innovating" by making things cheaper for them to produce so they can sell them for larger profit margins while pushing out an inferior product. This is true in ALL areas of electronics currently. I want to make an amp company, but I'd for sure be making hand-wired amps the way vintage amps were made, and if I used PCBs I wouldn't be putting tube sockets on them. I think a lot of these modern amps are also way too complicated both inside and out. Makes troubleshooting a complete pain in the ass, especially when most of the companies refuse to give schematics for the things. Kind of hard to make any money on a repair also when you have to spend a 40 hour work week just tracing a circuit and drawing out a freaking schematic before even troubleshooting the thing. What's a tech supposed to do? Bill the customer the entire cost of labor for drawing the schematic? Would cost more than rebuying the stupid amp!

[@stevelueb7787]

I asked Laney for a Schematic & they emailed it the same day

[@MidlifeRenaissanceMan]

Same here with the Aussie Casio important....

[@TheGuitologist]

That's always a good sign, and it's the MINIMUM of what we should expect as consumers.

[@SakariKempas]

Solid company from what I've heard. Used to have a VH100R. Loved it.

[@TheNocturnalEvil]

@@SakariKempas The Laney VH100R was an excellent but poorly marketed amp. It was everything the JCM900 should have been.

[@superspeederbooster]

Good to know , thanks.

[@MichelleTaylor1]

Hey guys, just trying to help out with some useful information as I’ve used most brands on international tours over the years and Blackstar for the past 7 or so and they have been more reliable than anything else so I was surprised to watch this video. But here’s some useful info for you. Blackstar has a global network of authorised service centers, these are accessible in every country that the brand is distributed in. As amplifiers tend to have dangerous voltages inside Blackstar do not publish circuit diagrams in the public domain, Blackstar don’t want to encourage end-users to open the equipment. As part of global safety approvals, all Blackstar products are sold as having no self-serviceable parts and therefore for safety reasons they advise you get your amp repaired at an authorised Blackstar service centre. If you are based in the UK, enter your postcode or city into the box within the UK service center section of our website and hit search. This will identify a list of local service centers. If you are based outside of the UK, you can contact your point of purchase (i.e. dealer, online retailer) who will advise where your local service center is located. Alternatively, you can contact the Blackstar distributor in your territory who can advise your local service center. www.blackstaramps.com/uk/distributors. To quickly locate USA service centers you can use the ‘Service’ section of this tool from Blackstar’s distributor (KORG USA) website www.korgusa.com/BlackstarDealers Blackstar is a small, owner managed company with 35 hard working staff based in the UK who are committed to customer satisfaction and from my personal experience always welcome all feedback. Just contact them at [e-mail]

[@mikewilliamson4349]

Exactly 👍🏻

[@davidcaine7563]

Great amps never had problems with any of mine

[@TheGuitologist]

This reads like a press release. Blackstar should make US service location easier on their own website. And they should drop the ridiculous protectionism on the schematic front. Cloaking a company policy in a non-existent legal rationale doesn’t fly. I will continue to persuade my audience to avoid products from manufacturers who do this. People have a right to choose to assume the risk of repairing their own products or making the decision to take those products to their technician of choice. I see you're a Blackstar artist. Nothing wrong with that. (You are a great guitarist, by the way!) But you do realize they are going to give you gold star service as a result of this? www.blackstaramps.com/uk/artists/profile/michelle-taylor

[@MichelleTaylor1]

@@TheGuitologist I simply put together info that people that I felt people should know and not just the false picture you are painting from your armchair. I actually use these amp regularly and have done for years.... do you?

[@andymusician1427]

@@MichelleTaylor1 Very well said. He fails to mention that these amps won many industry awards for design and innovation not to mention retail awards etc he obviously has some grievance with the brand.👎🏻

[@TheRichardrobert]

Love my Blackstar, never had any issues, from my HT1,HT5, IDtvP 60 and MK2 Club 50. How many Blackstar are ruin by tube heat ? Any formal info on the subject of failures or is it you're professional opinion?

[@AMSOfficial79]

I just don't like the sound of Blackstar amps, to be fair. Problem avoided, then....

[@Gtrtech]

I've worked on a few. Not that big of a deal if yer used to t-shooting SS stuff. I seem to remember the transistor based phase inverter being prone to cause problems.

[@madcowamplification2263]

The Achilles heal of most Blackstar designs is the phase inverter design. The early HT5 series were so catastrophic that the only 100% guaranteed fix is complete pcb replacement.

[@rickyrockster1]

Had a black 2 star about 5 years ago, really like both it at first. But a few weeks into owning each I dumped it and bought an Orange. I love my Orange. I thought the Black Star sounded brittle and thin for my tastes. With all the controls it had, you’d think I could dial in a tone. Can’t recall which modeling can’t recall which model that all tube one was, so then I then tried their hybrid one, the one with the Tube emulation and it actually sounder better than their actual “all tube” amp. So I don’t know, I guess trust your ears and don’t fool yourself. Ive had JCM 800, 900, triple X, mesa mark4, orange, liked them all better than black star lol

[@iaincoote5846]

Wow. The level of ignorance is astounding! Brad, just a few things. I'm an owner of blackstar amps, two in fact. I quite like them. Therefore I'm not here to validate nor defend my purchases. I'm here because of the bullshit you espouse. You begin by showing some random picture you got from the Internet of a lower range model, arbitrarily count the number of IC's and profess it unworthy of the rigours of the road. First of all, why don't you have your own pics of blackstar amps? Have you ever worked on any? Surely being an amp guy, you would've seen inside your fair share of blackstar amps? Secondly, it's a lower range model. The HT20, I believe. I don't think it was built with world tours and heavy-handed roadies in mind. You couldn't find any Blackstar service centres in the UK? Try entering a post code. You easily found a schematic for a JCM900. Well done. It's been around since the 90's.You also noted that it too had quite a few IC's, but because you had the schematic, you would work on it. Then you found what you thought was a Blackstar schematic and shit-canned it. But after realising it was a Peavey schematic, it was fine and you'd happily take on the job. Seems a little biased (pardon the pun) to me. As for getting schematics from Blackstar, I'll tell you a story: A few years ago, I had my amps shipped from London to Sydney. After spending three months in a shipping container, I thought they could use a service. I contacted Blackstar to see if I could get a schematic, as my amp tech had never worked on them before. They politely informed me that because I was not an authorised service center, they wouldn't be able to provide any drawings due to patents and that type of thing. Seems fair. They were however, more than happy to provide my tech with all the info he needed. Just saying. It's OK to not like a brand or company. It's not OK to be dishonest and misleading. Maybe get one on the bench, do some real world tests. After all, Gus G and Phil Collen seem pretty happy with theirs.

[@nobodyhere4860]

Blackstar like alot of cheap amps out there are great bedroom amps! When it comes to troubleshooting shipping and cost of repairs, throw away and buy another! It's a throwaway amp! *UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE* Hello folks! Ok so I wrote this over a year ago, and after watching several videos it peaked my curiosity. After a little searching I picked up a used Blackstar HT40 combo for roughly $300 I figured what the hell! It was a nice sounding amp. Worked great for roughly 3-4 months. First issue was I had to replace tubes but thats normal, tubes go out. Well then it ate another set of tubes a month or so later🤤🤔 afterwards it started randomly making unholy noises like it was shorting out this made it unplayable. Anyway long story short im not a tech so besides fuses, tubes and pulling out the chassis and looking for obvious burnt spots or shorts I was at a loss. I ended up selling it to my buddy for $40 who wanted to take on the project. So ya what I originally wrote came to fruition. Kind of funny actually👍🤙 anyway it was worth a shot I had fun while I had it overall it wasn't a bad amp for it took a crap.

[@mahoganymarco9199]

Absolutely bullshit

[@rogerandes8]

@@mahoganymarco9199 Agree

[@williambrotherton9388]

I have designed PCBs for 40 years. I completely aware with Brad. Avoid any company that will not provide a schematic.

[@fongy200]

I have to for a big American corporation.

[@thesojourner7722]

And did you see when he ate his words and found a schematic first attempt ... are you in reality ????

[@Heartsdale111]

@@thesojourner7722 Apparently you didn't watch the whole thing. It was labeled Blackstar but it was a Peavey.

[@thesojourner7722]

Apologies... just didn't enjoy this dudes energy ... all the best and peace to you :)

[@irishRocker1]

@Undercoverbus agreed. A lot of these comments are clearly worth fuck all. The rest are people saying they have blackstar amps for years and not had any issues. It's not exactly common practice for Marshall and fender to publicly release schematics either so that's a bs argument too.

[@joebryant8500]

"So he's asking why do people dislike Blackstars" This is why I hate these videos. We know. We just heard him ask why do people dislike Blackstars. Yes. The KZbin reaction video. The #1 outlet for people in love with the sound of their own voice. Stopped watching within five minutes.

[@ToneGuy007]

To be fair ... If you enter London in the postcode and expand the search to 200mi then a number of repair centers come up as available.

[@dvaoa]

Huh...imagine that.

[@YouTubeHandlesAreMoronic]

Yes, he was being intentionally deceitful, in this regard. Also, the website links clearly lead you to your service options outside the UK. In the US, that's through KORG USA. Intentional inaccuracies, like these, should cause viewers to question the veracity of all information provided by this channel.

[@acexxxoasis]

The subtitles said hey there brad the catologist. I love it

[@TheRealCaptainFreedom]

Brad The Scatologist.

[@BustedJunkStudio]

I'm glad I'm out of the repair business. I don't like messing with anything made after 1980. There needs to be Right to Repair legislation. It's financial suicide to spend time reverse engineering a piece of equipment because the documentation is top secret, then, just to find that the problem is with a proprietary chip or worse yet, serialized or needs to be programmed with code that is also top secret. It just is not worth the effort. Just walk away. They all wind up in a landfill anyway, that's the manufacturers intention from the get-go.

[@TheGuitologist]

serialization is coming to everything. Apple and John Deere are just the beta test for this.

[@TheGuitologist]

@@joepeezy4sheezy They will put serial numbers on every part in a device and have a central CPU or basic BIOS chip to which everything has to be factory matched. Apple makes it so if you buy an iPhone now, a new one, and you try to have the screen or some other part like a jack replaced, the phone won't fricking work! Look up Louis Rossman's channel and "Right to Repair". They also do this same crap with John Deere farm equipment and it's becoming a huge issue for smaller farmers.

[@bassax7045]

@@TheGuitologist i believe the EU just passed legislation about spare parts beeing mandatory available for a 10 year period ,not sure if they only had computers and parts in mind but it applies to other tech products ,and i hope they can adjust this and lengthen that period for things like Amps

[@duanecook4227]

I think you are right from an old school amp tech and guitarist point of view. There has always been a big divide between tube guys and guys who go all in on solid state. Very similar to old car guys and new car guys. The newer stuff is technically better, but you have to reverse engineer the design to repair or modify anything. I'm an electronics designer, and I work on or high density electronics every day of the week. I'm not scared of the complexity or density. The real issue is right of repair, access to parts, schematics and troubleshooting guides. Up until the 90s or 00s it was common for industrial and professional electronics to have service manuals with full schematics. Seems like Blackstar and others are just like Apple and make consumer electronics that isn't designed to be repaired. They will function fine, until one day they don't, then into the bin.

[@irishRocker1]

The point here is the schematics were included in service manuals. Those were only distributed to licensed servicers. If you google a Marshall schematic for example, it's not there because the company released it publicly. someone else put it online. There was a website collecting Marshall schematics and some were missing because they relied on people getting their hands on them and posting them. Same as blackstar do now. Sometimes companies will give schematics but mostly because the product is not in production anymore. Only releasing schematics to authorised repair techs doesn't violate right to repair. You can still get it repaired. But releasing schematics to people who don't know what they are doing but want to stick their hands in an amp to save money is understandably a risk.

[@factorylad5071]

@@irishRocker1 I go one step further in hating blackstar amps , I hate the people that shill them too. To me they are nothing but greedy tossers fueled on cocaine or alcohol or both.

[@AT-wl9yq]

"Seems like Blackstar and others are just like Apple and make consumer electronics that isn't designed to be repaired. They will function fine, until one day they don't, then into the bin." If that isn't bad enough, they've actually done worse. Apple got caught putting software in iPhones that after a certain amount of time, it would slow the phone down so people would thing its just getting old and buy a new one. I don't know what the laws are, but in my opinion, its absolutely criminal. Apple is taking someone's personal property and damaging it in order to create a new sale. That's like a tire store throwing nails in the street to drum up business.

[@devinj]

I got a HT club 50 10 years ago as a back up. It’s outlived my other amp and still going. I thought it was reliable, but now you got me worried!

[@Douglas_I]

Don't worry! This is the same guy that got drunk and made a video at 3 in the morning claiming Rick Beato is an industry plant. My Blackstar is 10 years old and never had a problem.

[@Douglas_I]

After watching a couple more of his videos I feel my comment was unnecessary and very negative. I was making some unfair assumptions and have since realized this is a good guy with a big heart. I'm leaving my original reply up in hopes that if he read it he will read this and see my realization that I misjudged the situation. Please know I'm sorry for making the comment. I don't agree with the thoughts on Rick B still but that doesn't mean he's not a good guy. I do think his issues with blackstar amps are fair as well but I still think they're good amps. We can disagree and still be respectful of each other.

[@theguitaramptech]

Yes, Brad. I completely agree with your Blackstar observation. I was working on a S100 head. Painful, but at least I had a schematic. I got the f**ker going ... but to put the chassis back into the head cabinet nearly caused me a meltdown. Why? My normal-sized arms could not fit in the cabinet to attach the screws. I had to wait for my (petite) partner to get home for me to guide her through the assembly process. WTF!!! I have never heard of this shit before in my life. Another loss of income repair. I am almost at the point where I will ask "does this amp have ribbon cable?". If yes, throw it in the corner with Triple Rectifiers, 410's, TSL's and strike a match.

[@TheGuitologist]

Yep. Problem with where you live, Oz, the prevalence of old, good amps is probably not high enough these days to rely on only those repairs. Or am I mistaken?

[@theguitaramptech]

@@TheGuitologist Pretty damn close, Brad. We have quite a lot of old Fenders from Blackface onwards. A reasonable selection of Marshall and Vox. Unfortunately, too many Mesa's. Very few old Gibsons amps. In short, we thank God for the Hot Rod series, and Bjr's for their contribution to cash flow. :-)

[@TheGuitologist]

@@theguitaramptech I've had both of those on the channel.

[@allansmith6140]

Orange is the same. I recently contacted them for a schematic for their Dual Terror and I got the same answer, that they will not provide schematics on any of their products to anyone.

[@TheGuitologist]

Stop buying their shit. If we don't punish companies that do this it will become the industry standard before we know it and guess what! We'll be screwed forever after that.

[@allansmith6140]

@@TheGuitologist I agree.

[@drivenmad7676]

@@TheGuitologist I play blues and rock. what amp should i buy for practice?

[@hadleymanmusic]

Then their product is inferior

[@allansmith6140]

Here's their email to me. Orange have passed on your enquiry to us as we are the Australian Distributor for Orange products. As per our company’s and the suppliers policy, service information is not available for public distribution. Please let me know if we can be of further assistance.

[@jensk4140]

I've bought myself a '66 Fender showman head ten years ago and never looked back. In fact my tech loves to service the thing and always offers me a cup of coffee whenever i'm around.

[@matthewJ142]

Tone Master in my opinion are the best. And Fender Twin Amp. Best

[@cryodemic]

I had the HT-60 as one of my first amps before I learned any better. One of the pots broke off the front and Sweetwater ended up replacing the whole circuit board to fix one pot. It was covered under their warranty, but I soon sold that BS to get a Marshall and never looked back.

[@joshuamichael4312]

My first bigger tube amp was a blackstar ht-40. I played it and a few others at the guitar store. I was still fairly green, but my ear was telling me the Egnater Tweaker (yes, they have their own issues too) sounded better, but for some reason all the Blackstar hype and the salesman sold me on the Blackstar. I regretted it afterwards and still kind of do. I can dial in some great tones with Blackstar, it's got some decent gain voicings, but I never really liked it all that much. Had to throw an EQ pedal in the FX to shape the tone at all really.

[@gooseabuse]

Blackstar makes one "handwired" amp. I played one time and really liked it. I usually try to judge individual products as most brands tend to make amps in range of quality but the lack of support you pointed out seems more like neglect than liability protection.

[@TheGuitologist]

The support issue is a biggie. The MINIMUM we should expect as consumers is to be provided with service information on our products when we request them so that we can work on them ourselves or find a qualified tech to do the work for us. Bare minimum.

[@gooseabuse]

@@TheGuitologist Maybe its Blackstar's way of telling tech's not to even bother trying to repair this monstrosity.

[@johnsalaman503]

@@gooseabuse that should be the tecks call.

[@gooseabuse]

@@johnsalaman503 yeah I was making a joke.

[@johnsalaman503]

@@gooseabuse I got ya..and you are correct..rock on...

[@sohosteveuk]

Even the supposed 'all valve' 100 watt heads are shite. A rehearsal room I use has a mix of (mainly) Blackstar and some Marshall 100 watt heads and 4x12 cabs. As part of my pedalboard I use an old MXR Micro Amp after my OD & Fuzz boxes to goose the amp's input stage for lead solos. When I use this with any decent valve head there is a large jump in level and extra saturation from the extra signal hitting the input. Except with the Blackstars! At first I thought it was a faulty head as I couldn't work out why my guitar disappeared during solos. So we swapped it out for another. And another! Basically there was actually a volume DROP with the Blackstar when fed a pedal with big output. The sound totally collapsed in on itself - something I'd only ever encountered before with some poorly designed fuzz boxes when used with an high output humbucker - a loud volume boost if you back off the guitar volume and play gently, but as soon as you dig in, a volume drop, rather than rise. So yeah, AVOID BLACKSTAR AMPS LIKE THE PLAGUE BECAUSE THEY ARE TOTAL GARBAGE! And no, my caps lock wasn't broken, I was fuckin SHOUTING!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@SlimeyGuitarStrings]

Just going to throw out there that I asked Marshall if they provided schematics when I was looking at several amplifiers last year and was considering the SV20H. They told me they don't give them out unless you're an engineer registered with them.

[@pcbullets8726]

I owned an HT 60 and gigged out with it for about 3 years regularly. Loved the different tones and the fact it was a 3 channel amp. Until the night it quit on me before a gig, luckily had a back up. When I took it to get it fixed, they could do nothing for it, the only way was to send it back to the company because blackstar wouldn't send the part and it would have cost more than what the amp was worth to ship it back to the company. Lesson learned and I bought a Marshall and have had it for 10 years now. Tube is the way to go, much cheaper to fix! Great video Brad!

[@CaptainRon1913]

Brad didn't show "KDH's Series One tube amp" as an example. KDH's tube amp circuit design picture is right on the front home page of Blackstar. There are NO tube sockets soldered on a circuit board.

[@lroy730]

It's the Apple Biz Model 💩

[@THEROLLINGROAD2010]

There appears to be 14 service centres for Blackstar in UK and looks like Korg USA look after Blackstar products there.

[@gowithgroove]

That was my conclusion, too, but I tend to prefer simplicity when possible, so I agree with his fundamental point. Too bad he wanked out there at the end.

[@TheMassdistortion]

Subscribed and liked. I bought a 1987 JCM-800 #2204 at GC that they worked on and couldn't fix. i downloaded a schematic, printed it, I put it on the tailgate of my pickup, de-energized the caps, and found the fuse-holder on the back of the amp, somehow shorted out on the chassis. Anyone that tours with those blackstars better bring plenty of extras along. Thanks for an excellent video!

[@dave5655]

For UK Service centers to show up you have to type in a city. There are 3 in the London area.

[@Buckers50]

Not rocket science, is it !!

[@frigglebiscuit7484]

only 3?

[@dave5655]

@@frigglebiscuit7484 there’s other in the UK. If you’re in the US you don’t real understand how small the UK is. London is big by their standards, but if you compare it to say DFW, NYC or LA among others it’s not very bigArea wise.

[@SirEnVo]

Yeah we have a repair centre in Milton Keynes. Not a Blackstar fan myself but yeah there is plenty of places for repairs in the UK.

[@chatter7653]

I loved my 'lil HT-5 amp head. Perfect at home amp for me. Never failed, but like most gear I acquire , the shelf life in terms of using it and getting maximum enjoyment from it starts to wan , ... a couple 2-3 years at the most, then I like trying other stuff, so serviceability of it , etc is a moot point more or less. Probly think differently though for a gigging , bigger amp and be more concerned with it's realiability etc.

[@Siam_Thai.]

I currently own a Blackstar HT5R mkii combo amp.

[@stevecerri973]

Hey man, love the channel! Just stopping by to say you actually CAN get schems for these. I work at a pro audio service center as a tech and (unfortunately) we do take Blackstars in. Not a fan of them myself... it's a tough call between Blackstars and Mesas for my least favorite amps to work on. Blackstar is distributed by Korg in North America and if you are authorized by Korg, you can get field support. There are a few failures with these that aren't too bad to fix at component level, but if you gotta go deep into troubleshooting, you're gonna dump lots of time into it and get a lot of headaches. They can be very difficult and it's just not worth it. It's usually more cost effective/quicker to swap boards

[@rustynales4597]

Same reason my dad wouldn't let me get a Mitsubishi back in the 90s. Nobody in the USA could fix them and it was nearly impossible to get the parts.

[@jasonlee8497]

Just give me a loud, clean and old tube amp....I’ll do the rest.

[@konanarcher]

Like what precisely?

[@Chrispy_tV]

Exactly. You can pick up a silver faced fender from the 70s for half the price of one of these black stars or bugeras (Chinese made IC trash) and it will put them to shame. And that’s when fender wasn’t even building very good amps!! 🤣 My blackface fenders have no equal.

[@codpug]

I made a 5e3 amp for under 300 with speaker and cabinet. And to get it more clean I used rob robs negative feedback circuit to give me all the clean headroom for me to use my pedals. And with a flick of a switch I am back to my tweed distortion. Best amp I've ever used.

[@JInfinity7]

@@codpug Just ordered a handwired 5e3 from Lil Dawg. I can't wait. I've been scouring Robinette's site and will be doing some mods.

[@codpug]

@@JInfinity7 I did a ton of mods but after a few years removed them all but a few. I left the diode to protect the 5y3 tube. The switchable negative feed back so I can have more clean to use my pedals . I separated the grounds from the preamp to their own. And I highly recommend a humdinger for the heater wires if they dont have it on yours, Makes night and day difference in noise reduction. Other than that I just plain love the tweed amp sound.

[@DeadKoby]

I've had to fix some Blackstar amps. They sounded OK, but I didn't appreciate the "Value Engineered" Build quality.

[@samiam5557]

The value is in Blackstars pocket not the customers.....LOL

[@dbriddie9525]

@johnny rotten there's a market for everyone. not everybody gigs, for some its just a hobby. You can keep your Marshall 100 watters, been there done it son. think of other peoples opinions for once instead of your lonely old self! I bet you have NEVER had a Blackstar amp!

[@DeadKoby]

@johnny rotten Some models yeah... but there's some that are loud enough for stage. Loud enough yes.......reliable enough.....not really.

[@nick1fenton]

To be fair, no service centres will show up until you enter a postcode. Friends of mine (who also live in the UK) tell me they do good after sales care. Best thing you can do is google a physical shop address, any shop. A shoe shop or something. I do that when I want to use a Zip code for US maps. I had a HT100 for a while to pair with my JMP2203. And yeah avoid em like the plague. It sounded terrible and when I maxed it, which I do with all my amps, two of the EL34's blew, the bias resistors blew. And the B+ fuse holder shot out the back of the amp.

[@Ricky-Jones-1979]

Hi Brad. Firstly I will say that I love your channel, but as a musician I know very little about the workings of valve amp's. I have learned loads from your videos but that doesn't make me anywhere near an expert!!! I will add that I mostly use mk2 Marshall 100 watt & 50 watt head's, which for over 40 years have been great for me (still are!!) & I am talking as a gigging session musician (YES live work on stages!!!) but I have also been using a few Blackstar Artisan 100 heads which I find FANTASTIC!!!! What I am saying is "if it sounds good too the players ear then it is good"!!!!! I have always used pedals like millions of people & this has ALWAYS worked for me!! I also love EMG pickups (89 bridge & 2X SA'S h,s,s) as they sound good for me!!! If an amp doesn't sound good too your ear as a player then DON'T go there!!! I myself don't like the sound of Fender amp's, & anything like Peavey 5150's etc I don't like either! I know millions love what I don't like, so that's why we have a choice like confectionary (I love Bournville dark chocolate but don't like boiled sweets!!) so rather than looking at what somebody has written about a product, get out there & try it for yourself with your guitar(s) & pedals etc... & let your own ears guide you!!! I hope I haven't upset you or anybody? I keep learning about the workings of valve amp's by you, but I will NEVER be a tech!!!! Cheers Rik.

[@xx_JARETH_xx]

I wish you had released this a couple of years ago, but too little too late lol. I have purchased a Blackstar HT5RH and you are absolutely correct in the heat killing the integrated circuits. I bought it used but paid for the 24 month repair plan through a dealer. About 5 months after I bought it my effects loop quit. Thinking it may have been just a dirty jack or something of that nature as the problem was intermittent, I pulled it apart and saw the hell that's contained inside. I noticed staring down into the boards that there was a lot of heat coming from a resistor (they're all pretty much direct mounted to the board) that appeared to be cooking some ICs near it. I called the repair number and they had me send it to them. After a month I received another used Blackstar HT5RH with a notice that they were unable to locate a service representative in the USA. So I played that amp until the VERY SAME issue occured approximately 9 months later. I again contacted the repair plan people and this time they found a service center in upstate New York who would do the repair. I sent the amp off to them and 3 months later received the amp back repaired but not before the service tech called me 3 times to apologize for the hold up because he was having great difficulty getting the correct schematic himself, and he's supposed to be an authorized service center for Blackstar. Now I think I'll just play the damned thing until it quits again and I'll go find something else for a practice amp around the house. The service tech said he did what he could to keep the issue from happening again but said it would likely occur again later. He said that the way the amp is made, just like you very well noted, the heat will continue to kill components. He also told me that over time the board itself will likely become conductive with all the heat. Lessons learned but at least I've only got $230 including the cost of the repair plan in it.

[@TheGuitologist]

Experienced repair techs know exactly what I and your tech knows. Most of us stay far, far away from these things. The replacement cost is usually lower than the repair cost.

[@joedirt7640]

It took me 2 months to get a transformer for a Fender Bassbreaker 007. I don’t know if Fender is any better these days. Also, no Schematics, same story as Black Star.

[@JInfinity7]

All their pots are placed on a single PCB. With so many boutique Fender builders providing hand wired top notch circuits at about the same price, I would never buy an amp from Fender nowadays.

[@JackBealeGuitar]

What other brands won't you touch, you mentioned vintage fender, does that mean modern fender is too hard to repair?

[@DeCasoU1]

Someone posted a repair of a Bassbreaker 15 combo, compare this to a Fender 5F6-A, one is landfill the other was and is a long term serviceable purchase.

[@TheGuitologist]

Modern Fenders are much like other modern amps. Like said above, they’re glorified landfill, in large part. Built to a price point rather than built to last.

[@JackBealeGuitar]

@@TheGuitologist thanks for your reply, it leaves me with another question what amp do I get next time? Do I just suck it up and keep replacing amps every few years? What era of fender can I go back to (I like the fender sound) 80s stuff, 50s/60s is far out my price bracket

[@Hillbilly_Papist]

I asked a question on a fan page regarding a bass amp I had that was having issues. Within 4 hours the owner of the company got in touch with me, he then got me in contact with the head of engineering. Within 3 days I had a full set of schematics to help solve the problem.

[@Ian_Hay]

Little unfair, Brad, on the search for UK service centres. There aren’t none. If I plug in “London” into the “postcode” search field, I get three results. Another one in Manchester.

[@TheGuitologist]

That was not an attempt to be unfair. I said I probably had to enter a post code, but I know UK post codes are not like ours and didn't have one at hand.

[@nielsloffler4008]

@@TheGuitologist Actually it says "town/postcode" in the search box, just put in London for example, and it shows up. For service centers in the US, you have to go to "Dealers" - "US and Canadian", then you'll be redirected to a Korg USA website, their US distributor, I assume. There you can search for US service centers. This might be bad website design, but in general I don't have had better experiences with some other Amp manufacturers. Furthermore many manufacturers don't seem to hand out their schematics for recent or new products. I'd like to know if you can easily find schematics for Marshall Amps that came out in the last 2 or 3 years?!

[@madcowamplification2263]

@@nielsloffler4008 the answer is no. Marshall USA (IE JAM / US Music) will only supply service materials to authorized service centers as well. This policy is more typical than not across most electronic service industries.

[@fandangodrive4310]

I have a Blackstar Series one 45 combo and IMO it's a great amp had it for years and never had a problem with it.

[@brucethornton4010]

I couldn’t get my line 6 LD15 fixed because my local amp tech said he can’t get schematics for line 6. Recently found out my super champ xd has an obsolete dsp card so when that goes it’s also only fit for the bin. Joy! Cool channel Brad. I like the mix of video types like work bench, guitar news, and shopping. I watched your guitar fair & pawn shop vids before discovering you’re an amp technician. I’m currently using your channel to work out what serviceable, well designed amp I should look at to replace my super champ xd. Probably something more crunch happy without modelling and has a 12” speaker. Keep up the good work dude. 👊😎👍

[@FedericoMemme]

Totally agree with you!! same problem with my Brunetti few years ago, it was a pain in the as$$ amp, i need to send from turin to modena ( 300km ) beacause my tech couldn't figured it out how to fix it and Brunetti didn't want to send the schematic... For me obviously the tone is the most important thing, but i really want that the amp is reliable and well built, i've a Soldano HR50 that is a tank and inside it's so clean that you can eat in it, and also my 1978 Princeton reverb is a hell of a simple circuit and a monster of tones!! with both my tech didn't have any trouble to fix them when i had troubles. Can i ask you in your opinion and experience what are the most well built and reliable ( and easier to fix ) amps?? tnx in advance. Ciaoooo

[@TheGuitologist]

I might make a follow up video to address your question.

[@FedericoMemme]

@@TheGuitologist Great!! thank you!!!

[@hbo001]

Soldano(I prefer SLO) is great but lets be real. You compare one of the best and very expensive amp with like the cheapest entry level stuff. You get what you pay for. But you also mentioned you had some issues with them. They are easier to repair for sure.

[@FedericoMemme]

@@hbo001 no issue with Soldano , i blow up a tube one time ( my fault, i didn’t change them), and another time it burned an eminence 1x12 speaker ( always my fault) , Soldano declares 50w but mine i measured with my tech is 80watt... so it burned the coil of the private jack... with the princeton ( always my fault ) during a rehearsal i take to 10 and i f&@d up the main capacitor in a 40 years old amp it could happen...In both case i’ve seen the amps opened and in half an hour i’ve them back. All the techs that i speech were pretty amazed by how good are both amps in terms of sound and circuit. Really a good construction and schematic is almost a work of art to see... For me , reliability is important almost ( if not most ) than the sound. I’ve to trust that the machine works, but every every every tube amp Will have some problems one time, it’s part of the game like the guitologist said in the video!!! they’re like cars, you can buy a bmw or a Ferrari and you can say that not now, not tomorrow but one day you will have to service it ( hoping for sonething not so serious) . The problem is not the failure but the chance to fix it, the brunetti MC2 is not a cheap amp ( i paid it almost like the used hr50) so i was very angry and i’ve to send it to the factory.. and the fixed failure last for 3 month. I’m always sceptical with amps made by big manufactures because they think only about money, hot rod deluxes, devilles, marshalls, peaveys ( all mainstream amps i think) they sound good but they’re built ( now) like Sh€&7, for example i really like the clean platform of a fender hot rod, i like they’re sound but i don’t trust them. Same thing about Marshall.:. I’d like to have a plexi but I’ve seen the interior of modern 1987 or 1959 plexi and they ‘re a mess... Otherwise it’s not explainable why great builders like Soldano, Bogner, carr, friedman, victoria, lazy j, metroupolos..feel the need to build newer version of already existing amps.. because the classic manufactures don’t built the amps like 40 or 50 years ago ( I know I’m old inside.. 😉) ... sorry for the long answer 🤗

[@vayabroder729]

I had an HT40 that I absolutely loved. The sound was there but the reliability was not. It would start losing volume and crackling and popping after the first set during gigs. I sent it back under warranty three times to be serviced and it wasn’t fixed. The circuit was great but the build quality was not. I ended up getting rid of it and replacing it with an old Marshall JTM 60 combo.

[@cantyouhearmeknocking1961]

I have JTM 60 and 30 watt combo amps. They are great amps in my opinion. They do need a small fan in back to help keep them cool because of a bad design, but they sound fantastic! They have started to go up in value because people are starting to find out great they sound. About 20 years ago, I paid $185 for the 30w, & $200 for the 60watter. They are worth about 3 times that now.

[@vayabroder729]

@@cantyouhearmeknocking1961 There’s another mod in lieu of the fan; just a shield between the tubes and the chassis. It’s because the tubes are sideways and under the chassis so heat radiates upward.

[@cantyouhearmeknocking1961]

@@vayabroder729 Exactly. I have that mod on both as well. I did that first, but I ended up installing a 'computer fan' in each amp ,& I have never had an issue. I used to play in the Alabama/Atlanta areas quite a bit, & it is just soooooo hot & humid, that I installed the fans just for extra protection. Thankfully, I never had an issue with either one!

[@peterday7077]

I think all amps today are too complicated. People seem to think the more channels and the more options the better. For example they want effects loops and reverb. And all kinds of buttons, knobs and switches. They don't understand that these all take up room and can add noise. And they can be a source of problems.

[@TheGuitologist]

You want simple, well-made, non-proprietary, and classic tone.

[@vayabroder729]

This is EXACTLY the same situation with cars. They are now disposable.

[@valvenator]

Some years back I did some guitar work at a studio for a friend. I was told they had every amp you could think of to use. They weren't lying. All huge heads with a million knobs. I spotted a Dr. Z Ghia amp. Two knobs. Plugged in and seconds later said that's the one. Didn't even have to touch the amp for the whole session after that.

[@joshuamichael4312]

I personally like an fx loop for running my time/modulation pedals through. I don't like my delay in front of the amp. I don't see any issue with that.

[@JInfinity7]

A simple turret board circuit with 3 or so knobs and an effects loop isn't a problem.

[@mk7073]

You make some interesting points and I do sympathise to an extent. That said, I'm not aware of the return rate of Blackstar products being significantly worse than other brands. My guess is that the service centre itself will take a broken amp, remove the valves, pull out the ribbon cables and swap out the dubious board. Fixed in 15 minutes with the failed parts sent back for root cause analysis to fix ready for next year's NAMM product line-up. That's been the model for most consumer electronics (particularly computers) for decades now. I can't honestly say I'm a fan of such non-user servicability and the ensuing landfill it generates, but then again I'm not really a fan of inhaling solder vapour and burnt fingertips either. You pays your money and takes your choice, and Apple's current valuation suggests that this model of higher integration works best for the majority of its consumers. Interesting times I guess. With the software modelling revolution in full swing, my guess is that in another 30 years time, current hardware will look as quaint as the chrome bumpers on a 1957 Chevy. Interesting times...

[@Chabub]

I'm from the UK - I entered my postcode in the service centre map - looks like my nearest service centre is in the central Pacific Ocean - pretty much half way between Australia and Mexico. Good to know. I'm pretty sure that the weather there would be better than here.

[@kekyko9951]

Ive owened an ht 100 for about ten years and luckily haven't had any major issues. Ive changed the tubes twice and it was a chore to find out info just on biasing.

[@johnsalaman503]

Same here with a club ht 40..also my dark/ light reverb switch never worked right since new.i had to replace that.found a hand drawn schematic some one took the time to do.i imagine this is only going to negatively impact blackstar, mb they will change their minds, and give us the darn schematics..

[@jfrankcarr]

It makes me glad that I got my 1973 Princeton Reverb refurbished instead of buying a relatively inexpensive modern tube (ish) amp.

[@johnsalaman503]

You did the right thing..for. sure..Great amp

[@FedericoMemme]

I’ve a 1978 Princeton rv, t’s a monster amp. I’ll never sell it. Do you ever try to crank it? With a friend that has a two notes captor we use 2x12 sim IR with greebacks and the amp sound terrific!!! Almost like a Bogner, plenty of gain on tap, I was astonished , I’d never expect that... enjoy your amp 🤗

[@jfrankcarr]

@@FedericoMemme If I crank it, I usually do it with a load box and a separate IR Cab pedal (OwnHammer EVM 12L IR). That way my wife won't complain (too much anyway).

[@alexmurphy5289]

Princeton doesn’t have overdrive unless you absolutely crank it though. That won’t be your only amp...

[@FedericoMemme]

@@alexmurphy5289 i never said the opposite!! if you read, i said that i've cranked it, but not every amp sounds good when cranked , some of them are muddy and sloppy when dimed...and mostly i' didn't expect that level of gain from a princeton, at home i use it clean with some pedals. Ciaooo

[@SixString_J5]

In KDH's perspective, I can see how he perceived the hate to be rooted in the reasons listed. As primarily a player, he's going to focus on tone arguments and hate in that category is going to stand out. I can also see how the guitologist, who has experience repairing amps, would have a totally different take on an amplifier's merit. I have repaired several of my home appliances and I know when I have to break down and replace vs repair, I look at the components I've had issue with before and attempt to make a more informed selection. I imaging KDH has zero experience repairing amps and he could never truly understand the perspective of someone who does. When he goes to buy an amp, he only cares about tone, features, and output level. Blackstar meets all of his requirements and tastes in those 3 categories, so he is confused when others don't like what he likes. Now if/ when his Blackstar dies and he can't find anyone who wants to fix it at any price, he might understand your perspective.

[@tosh-jakefinnigan1356]

Hi Brad, just thought I'd point out to you that Blackstar is distributed in the United States by KORG USA, so if anyone needs product support/service for Blackstar products in the United States, KORG USA should be their first point of call. I'm guessing this kind of setup (though extremely common in Australia) isn't one y'all come across often in the US MI scene. I'm a fan of the original HT-1 and HT-5 heads, but don't delude myself that they're "all tube/valve" in the traditional, or even modern sense. That said, I think they sound rad as all hell. I should point out for disclosure's sake that I used to work for the Australian Blackstar distributor (CMI), and now own a small music store, but am not a Blackstar dealer.

[@BananaManPL]

"There are no schematics!" *finds a schematic* "Well that doesn't count, that's not an amp, I might not WANT to repair this, and this is for headphones..." It took me less than 15 seconds to find a schematic for the HT Studio 20. The official one. If you're so scared of touching anything that has surface mounted parts and ICs ("omg, there are like 20 transistors in there!?!"), I bet opening a laptop will give you PTSD. Pathetic. Also do you have any failure rate stats about these amps or is it just speculation? Again, have you ever seen, designed or repaired a modern PCB based device? Both your and KDH's videos are fueling a petty argument over nothing. Guitar community in a nutshell. Bra-fuckin'-vo, you guys.

[@TheGuitologist]

Over 700 videos in my channel. How about yours?

[@BananaManPL]

@@TheGuitologist by that logic any gaming youtuber is a more credible source than Les Paul himself, since he didn't have a channel. Unless you provide any aforementioned stats or a VALID argument, I see no reason to believe your 700 videos aren't total BS.

[@TheGuitologist]

This is the first one you’ve watched obviously.

[@BananaManPL]

@@TheGuitologist I'll take it as you don't have any stats and your argument is just you extrapolating from your experiences with 40-year-old gear. Disappointing. Protip: if you want your point to be taken seriously, stay on it. Prove it with facts, not "I know what I'm talking about".

[@TheGuitologist]

@@BananaManPL There is no way to obtain such stats. What am I "Magic Stat Man"? How disappointing someone would "extrapolate from personal experience". :D

[@PatternAgainstUser1]

Still using a HT Club 40 from 2010 with no issues. Brilliant amp

[@thestratman9]

Mine is from 2011. Still going strong.

[@threepe0]

Come back when you DO have an issue, and have it successfully fixed.

[@PatternAgainstUser1]

@@threepe0 Would be totally redundant at that point considering me and many other Blackstar buyers have got more than our moneys worth and had it over a decade. If it breaks now its not even worth getting repaired

[@rogerandes8]

@@threepe0 My HT100 was dropped off the back of a truck, in a road case. Took it to a repair shop that they fixed right up. Been playing it for years with no more issues. The case needed to be bent back into shape tho. Don't understand all the self righteous whining about BlackStar. I have more than one and in nearly a decade thats the only problem I'jve ever had.

[@pb12661]

@@threepe0 considering what it cost and how long it lasted it was money well spent. IMO

[@TomVernonUAP]

Very well put man.It was great to see you clarify and add perspective without dunking on KDH. I'd love to hear your honest opinion on the Randall V2. I love the sounds it makes but i'm just waiting for it to blow up.

[@russellhltn1396]

Question: how are the tubes in a Blackstar mounted? Isn't it "base down" meaning the heat goes away from the PCB? My biggest concern about directly mounting to the PCB isn't the heat, but the mechanical stress when you go to change the tubes.

[@misterknightowlandco]

I’m starting to think vintage amps may just not be all hype after watching this. The inside of that black star looks like the inside of a DVD player and not an amp lol. Can you recommend a good 1x12 that won’t get me divorced due to volume or how much I have to spend on it? I prefer fender tones.

[@TheGuitologist]

Of course they aren't. It isn't about "collectibility" for me. It's about the longevity of the product. A vintage amp properly cared for will offer MULTIPLE lifetimes of use.

[@joshuamichael4312]

Fender Supersonic 22 sounds pretty good to me, if you're into the higher gain side of things.

[@frigglebiscuit7484]

thats what i thought lol. it looks like those cheap sears audio centers with the radio, casette, record player,etc all stacked on top of each other xD

[@factorylad5071]

Build one. A box is too easy to build and then a small tube amp to go in or on top dunno.

[@factorylad5071]

You couldn't get cheaper than that and you could "bring up" the gain as you build it and avoid any unnecessary litigation.

[@ralfhedstrom]

Very interesting and consumer worth video. "My local amp guy" :) said that mounting tubes directly on the PCB-board with IC's/transistors is like filling petrol in a diesel car, It's just a question of time before they "explode". I didn't buy that metaphor straight off, but took it more like a clarification of NOT doing it if longevity is an important factor to You. Of course it is a question of how much You use it. In the garage/bedroom they last a long time but as band-amp/practice and/or on tour it's a no-no amp. And if You buy one, they better be dirt cheap. (look at Chinese and/or 100-300 dollar - early SubZero/Bugera for example). Otherwise, save up and buy one with the tubes mounted in the chassis, separated from the PCB-board. And if You want to know how much of a risk it is for your money to buy these "densely packed" amps, just count all them Fender Mustangs I-III with a 3,5 mm headphone jack that is useless today. Well, You can build a speaker cabinet of it. Don't ask me how I know :)

[@hadleymanmusic]

As is this crate tv 6210 I have it gave up the ghost, the pilot lights out and all the tubes are out but the led and channel switching work and both transformers come on you can feel so Im wondering is it fused through the pilot light?

[@search895]

I guess you are referring to amps with a bunch of tubes. I have had two or three Marshall valvestates for decades, one of them toured with me a lot for the last 9 years and been working for more than 20 years. It only has one tube in the preamp, and the seat for it is on the pcb. I guess that doesn't mean the thing about tubes vs pcb it is not true, but, as i said, doesn't apply to these hybrid amps in particular.

[@ralfhedstrom]

@@search895 Nope, it's not the number in itself, it's the way they are mounted. Directly to the PCB-board. And correct me if I am wrong, but aren't those Marshall amp tubes mounted both in the chassis and the PCB-board, not directly and only to the PCB-board?

[@colinricgmailcom]

I've just done a search for service centers and I have found 19 in the UK and 2 within 25 miles of my postcode.

[@pigdick2233]

I personally like a dark tone. Too many metal bands going for a tight sound turning the bass down and further thinning out the sound with overdrives and and eq pedals. The orange or series and matamps are very dark amps and they’re very sought after

[@brpadington]

I bought a Marshall a few years ago and I can find a schematic for it easily. I even found a schematic for my 40+ year old Peavey.

[@tenlittleindians]

No schematic is indeed a problem. The bigger problem is when these companies start using programmable integrated circuits and won't open source the code for these chips. At least you can still find replacement tubes and common transistors and other common electronic parts. 20 years from now when these amp companies have been bought and sold or merged a dozen times where are you going to get a programmed IC or the source code to make your own?

[@TheGuitologist]

I think this will hit the guitar gear market within the next 10 years.

[@IcedForce]

@@TheGuitologist I believe it already has hit the guitar gear with all modeling amps, Line6 stuff with built-in wireless receivers, everything with USB in it and other mostly gimmicky stuff. Worse even if something needs PC or even shorter living phone to do something and you can be sure after 10 years you can say at least those gimmicks bye just because the softwares have died years ago and don't work in then modern devices. So, good luck using that Spark Amp decade later when either your phone is too new to use their then abandoned old app or your amp is too old for them to care to support it (leave alone trying to fix it 50 years later).

[@BananaManPL]

Imagine working as a programmer and having to give away your code FOR FREE TO THE PUBLIC because some dude out there might use a power jack with wrong polarity or kick a pedal one too many times, 20 years after your product was released. Oh yeah, Behringer and Nux would love to take a peek and copy your design. You'd be out of business in a year.

[@IcedForce]

@@BananaManPL Cruel fact in any industry is that everybody will take a look if they see profit in it, no matter how you try to stop it. Someone releases an amp with some new feature that might be groundbreaking and everyone with R&D team and enough money have already started to reverse-engineer it, no matter are you giving the schematics and/or code to the public. Only things you really cut-off with not giving the schematics and the code are the tinkerers, repairers and preservists because they rarely have the time and resources to reverse-engineer your crap.

[@tenlittleindians]

@@BananaManPL If you are not going to provide replacement parts and your not willing to sell or rent the code to third party manufacturers that are willing to provide the needed replacement parts I don't understand your position. Forcing products into the city dumps because you want to sit on formally mass produced code would be like having an expiration date on your great grandmother's silverware. Rather than pass it down and use it through the ages you wish to say it can only be polished so many times and then melted for scrap.

[@drewwatkin6356]

Love my HT40. Do a blind sound test of a blackstar against a tube/valve like for like amp and you'll struggle to find a difference in many cases.

[@TheBigGuppy]

Blackstar support sucks. Someone brought in $400 Blackstar drive pedal for repair and Blackstar couldn’t support it. Then later the rep wants the shop to be a dealer. LOL. Why in the hell would the shop be a dealer in a company that won’t supply proprietary parts. I have a Blackstar 5 watt 1-12 combo I traded an old keyboard for. It’s handy. But I wouldn’t have paid money for it.

[@Axldeziak]

On the midboost dot com website there is a complete breakdown of a Blackstar Fly 3 where the guy went through the entire amp drawing schematics for each and every section as well as trying to figure it all out. Just raw smd insanity! It's worth checking out.

[@TheGuitologist]

Thanks. I'll look for that! I'm sure it was a goddamn nightmare.

[@Chrispy_tV]

And the fly 3 is basically just a 3” speaker in a spam can! Imagine one of those 100 watters.

[@vanlaeresven]

@@Chrispy_tV I believe you also have to compare the product with its price point. Extrapolating the Fly3 case over the complete product range is just not realistic. There are a lot of companies that, for certain volume driven price points, get an off the shelf solution made by an OEM manufacturer, but that does not necessarily mean that they do the same to their high end products. If you would open one of those gimmick small Marshall micro amps, and see all that crap inside, would you also believe that they do the same in their high end stuff?

[@amphetamineblue4172]

I still remember the days when a new amp would come with a schematic as well as the owners manual ! I did buy a hybrid amp, a Fender performer 1000. Sounded good, but developed a fault after a couple of years. Phoned Fender UK and they said 'no problem, drop it into your local dealer ( which was only a couple of miles away, and not who I had bought it from originally ) and had it back working a week later

[@TheGuitologist]

Yep, but we’ve got trolls stumbling in as we speak trying to explain to me how that’s somehow acceptable, or even better! After all, so many others are doing it too. Consumers should demand better.

[@amphetamineblue4172]

@@TheGuitologist Definitely! At the time it cost me around £500 ( probably equivalent to $1000 today ) so for spending that much customers should expect decent service for faults. With mine was just a cap had gone bad, but it was a non electrolytic so would have been a pain to diagnose!

[@davidshafer6388]

Fender still supplies them with the tube amps. I think I got one with my Supro also.

[@fongy200]

GEE Electronics in Warrington, Cheshire , UK is a Blackstar approved warranty service center for their amps, Not that it matters Brad but you were right about the postcode and it was in the north west far from London.

[@grimace3833]

Don't have a horse in this race as far as Blackstar, (Running Marshall, Egnator, Vox and Laney amps). Good video and I fully support right to repair. The only critique I have is the support service center section of your vid is a tad misleading, you need to input a town or zip before it populates. I pulled up london and shows 3 service centers. Sucks if you are in the US. Not providing a schematic upon request is dumb, if i can get one for a washer or dryer, give me one for an amp, and make me sign a waiver or say that you accept no liability if you break it. But give us a chance.

[@TheGuitologist]

They hide behind an excuse that "electricity can kill you" for not providing a schematic, but your example of a washer and dryer is a good one. I can get exploded parts diagrams for washers and dryers that can rip your arms off WHILE electrocuting you. The excuse is bunk. It's a way of protecting their silly IP when no one even wants to steal it in the first place, and protecting their control over repairs and a cut of that revenue stream.

[@FormulaXFD]

Blackstar probably takes the MadeInChina approach: service is tossing out the old board and replacing it with a new one. "F**k debugging it."

[@TheGuitologist]

And what happens when the boards run out? Or the factory folds?

[@FormulaXFD]

@@TheGuitologist as you called it, "Just buy a new amp!" As a salty, seasoned, Electrical Engineer, I am truly starting to believe the dark consequences of parts getting super cheap is that the quality of design has plummeted. Looking at those BS amp boards, they reek of "we did it this way because it got the job done and the parts were cheap."

[@johnsalaman503]

@@TheGuitologist use the box,and build an amp for that cab,great channel..thanks a bunch

[@PrinceWesterburg]

I'm 12mins in and have had enough - the Irish guy clearly knows nothing about electronics! If there are transistors in the signal path then its hybrid, However if the silicon is switching, in the power supply, regulating voltage or not int he signal path then it isn't a hybrid amp. Diode clipping? Well, there are tons of diodes that aren't silicon FFS! I have an HT-1 and HT-5 among my collection and they are superb amps but my 1983 Fender Vibro Champ pisses on them for tone. The whole point is its 'The Sound in Your Head' i.e. What you hear on a finished record - Something thats been through an entire recording chain or a million transistors. Whereas a raw valve amp is like raw pigment. Most people want a nice picture at home, not raw pigments. Its as simple as that! :o) Lastly, I like BlackStar a lot but I only have their bottom end amps and they are great for recording and I've got a lot of way more expensive kit. Beware they are built down to a price and the valves they fit are awful - upgrade them and upgrade the whole amp big time!

[@DeWittPotts]

Back in the early days most guitar amps were built using an eyelet board and hand wired components. Today there are very few amps that fall into this category. Dr. Z amps use a turret board and hand wired components and I believe there may be a couple others in this category. Other than these few companies most guitar amps today are built using a circuit board with some hybrid components.

[@rm_0605]

If the integrated circuits are soldered onto the board, it will be tough to replace them. If the IC was plugged into a holder socket, you could pop it out with a screwdriver and plug another one in.