I’ve been looking for a high gain 100 watter. Enter the Blackstar HT Stage 100 Mk III…

[@NateTheMeh]

Amazing work Justin! I actually use the little HT1 for my guitar recording!! It has a cab sim on the headphone out and has been my go to for silent tracking! Blackstar are really making some killer killer stuff

[@JustinOstrander]

I had been thinking about buying a Mesa or Diezel just for that high gain 100w sound. It is all over lots of Nashville records you hear these days. I’m glad they reached out because this fills that void for me and it’s a great option for home players with volume constraints. They make smaller versions, too.

[@chrisrussoroos6091]

You are a natural teacher Justin- as well as an amazing musician. Thank you!

[@DamianS1893]

Well Justin, When I heard You and Pete Thorn playing through this MKIII Amp... I had to have one.... So, I ordered the HT 100 MKiii today. Greatly appreciate Your Channel because it's more down to earth... And Not Just Chugging High Gain... You and Pete Thorn know how to deploy the diversity of this Amp... God bless ✝️🙏 Merry Christmas ✝️👍🤙✌️

[@BlugubriousMusic]

I can't imagine the creators of the Jazzmaster could have ever forseen (forheard?) those gainy sounds with that guitar. Good stuff, JO - Hey Blackstar... I would not have seen this amp if it were not for this demo

[@JustinOstrander]

Right? The JM can rock when called upon 🤠

[@OTCRock4one]

@JustinOstrander, Great video! Most videos I see on amps, they use load boxes and all kinda stuff...so we the viewers really don't know what the amp will sound like. In contrast, your video is straight-up sound, love it! I'm currently purchasing the: Blackstar HT Club 40 MkII 1x12 inch 40-watt Tube Combo Amp from Sweetwater!

[@petemontemorra4605]

Sounds great. Nice to see someone who can actually get great sounds out of an amp thats not being compared to an engl or evh. Just bought one and its my choice over my high gain heads. Love the demo and the great tones youve shown. Thanx

[@timrieben8930]

Bought my son a Blackstar head and 4x12 cab YEARS ago...I don't think he has figured out all the knobs on it yet....he just cranks and goes...great demo!

[@JustinOstrander]

It’s super easy to dial in great sounds.

[@TomCPlus1]

For my uses, I found the Blackstar St James 50W/2W combo with EL34 tubes and a 12" Celestion speaker. It sounds great. I'm glad that Blackstar found you to demo some of their products -- I'm watching. :)

[@brutallyremastered4255]

Omeguurd-that '69 Custom is beautiful I think the ISF was meant to be more tight MESA (scooped Mids) to the left and loose Marshally to the right. Least it was with the first HT5's which were really good for recording to DAW.

[@TexasJackdaw]

Really nice sounding amp. It’s great that you demonstrate it inside a mix.

[@JustinOstrander]

Thanks! I am ok with demoing a few things here and there, as long as it’s something I use at work

[@UnitedEffect]

Great tones! Extremely versatile amp. After this video, Blackstar will remain on my radar of amps worth purchasing. So glad the company got in touch with you ....congrats!

[@LenLynch]

Clean channel, no boost With a compressor in the effects loop, and then play with the on-amp reverb... Oh is the reverb pre-effects loop? The algorithm brought me here. I really love your channel, Justin!

[@rokrowl_diy_dad9543]

I really enjoyed watching you play with the inspiration you were getting from the different tones, especially when you let the tone lead the way. Your a great guitarist. Thank you for sharing.

[@BoyceWorship]

Such a good sounding amp! Thanks for sharing!

[@seanzinger]

Man that Jazzmaster is so open and articulate. I love it so much! Fantastic sounding amp too, and of course your playing is stellar as always.

[@christopherguzzi1316]

Loved the first tone you got when plugging in th Tele. Reminded me of the song "Rock On" by David Essex.

[@73prd]

Bought this amp and love it, excellent work blackstar....important note tho, if u buy the fs14, 5 button footswitch it will sometimes mute the amp and lights will flash on the amp, this is normal as it actually formats itself to the amp, takes between 2 to 5 mins then your sweet to rock

[@tristanavakian]

Sweet. I have a Suhr PT15 IR, I take it direct. 16 built in cab models, assignable to each channel. Very versatile. But this is a good deal more affordable… and of course a 100 watt head is a different animal from a 15 watter. Kinda wish I had seen this first.

[@abstractvisions]

This sounds like and has features like the Blackstar Amped 3. Their pedal amp thing that they make. Also surprisingly useful sounds. Really enjoy your content. Thanks for the review.

[@davidmajor4484]

Finally a demo in context of backing Does sound great

[@gnormmusic3172]

Damn! I was thinking that last clip sounded like Chris Isaak, and then you went there... 😃

[@DamianS1893]

Most Excellent Presentation I've seen for this amp

[@jameshocking1188]

As an artist its nice if not essential to have as many tools at your disposal. Each one brings out a different creative turn that the muse may not direct you towards. It helps open up yourself to different styles and explore different passions. Nice show.

[@timkempisty258]

At the same time, being spoiled for choice can cause crippling indecision. It’s so easy to go down a rabbit hole chasing the most perfect tone, especially with today’s amp and cabinet modelers (which I loooooooove! So many toys!!!!) I think it’s really important to have a small handful of signature sounds dialed in. You can just pick the one that’s good enough for government work, and get down to the business of playing the music. Don’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good”. It’s not unlike looking at a beer menu. 10 bottles to choose from? I’ll find the right one in seconds. 150 bottles to choose from? I’ll spend 20 minutes agonizing over which is the exact ideal choice.

[@Mark-fs5fq]

Bought one of the ht stage 60s several years ago looking for more of a Marshall sound but these amps are very versatile they do many things well. Mine has built in light and dark reverb. You do wind up playing with the eq quite a bit while you’re playing it is very touch sensitive

[@PhilipReevesMusic]

Amp sounds fantastic. I have used a smaller model Blackstar for recording. Just a note regarding the emulated speaker output according to the Blackstar website: This model can be operated in standby mode without a speaker connected. Some other Blackstar models and other brands with emulated output require that a speaker cabinet or load box always be connected when operating the amp ... even in silent / emulated speaker output mode. Best to check to avoid damaging the amp.

[@JustinOstrander]

Yep, I discuss this in the video. The modeling output works in standby.

[@SeanKerns]

I loveLoveLOVE Blackstar for higher gain stuff. I've owned an HT-100 and a 50, as well as some of the smaller combos, and I've got a couple 5-watters. The voicing and ISF make them super tweakable, and even the clean tones are super nice, even though that isn't why I buy them.

[@JustinOstrander]

Very cool. I was impressed with the cleans as well. Lotta firepower here

[@BillDutton]

Man that sounds good!

[@JustinOstrander]

I was pleasantly surprised myself

[@TonyThomas10000]

Looks like a nice value-priced head. Great demo!

[@chrisdaviesguitar]

I have a mark one and it's the best sound I've ever had.

[@jessetate9701]

We call him Jared the giant but he plays guitars with one p90 in it or just guitars with p90s in general! And Blackstar makes them sing! Now Doug of dead daisies/whitesnake/dio uses blackstars and les pauls

[@bobdimartino6738]

you have to plug it into a computer to adjust the reverb decay plus there's an effect on that guitar like an echo

[@tedc6694]

I liked the demo. Love hearing you play

[@acbenitez3614]

I enjoy your vids, dude. Reverb that I prefer is an amp in a bathroom with tile flooring.

[@johnpannella]

I've been thinking about a high gain amp for the studio. This was a very timely video.

[@DominicHudson79]

Taste the biscuit, taste the goodness of the biscuit

[@garygreening2799]

Sounds great. Price is very reasonable on Sweetwater. Of course I’ll wait for MBritt to profile it for me. 😉

[@nohillforahighstepper]

Sweeeeeet. I have a recommendation for an inexpensive vintage 20ish watt tube amp. I got a Bugera V22 a few years ago. I had to replace all the tubes and rebias the amp because the stock tubes sucked. I put JJ's in the power stage and Golden Lions in the preamp stage. Plus a balanced output tube in the gain stage (T2). It uses 12ax7's for the preamp. After re-tubing, I had about $500 invested. It has an excellent tone now. I have guitar pickers ask me what my amp is at almost every show... A definite "sleeper". 😊😊😊

[@2dazetake]

You could spend an hour, just dialing in all the voicing that amp has,sounds amazing and makes a great practice amp, I'm sure the 100 watt mode would kick even more butt, every time I see someone playing a black beauty, I want one,think I'm going to get a chinese knock off,I want a custom,not an investment, thanks for the cool review. 🤣👍

[@JustinOstrander]

For cheap and good, check out the old Greco LP Custom copies 👍🏼👍🏼

[@garygreening2799]

I haven’t read the literature yet but I bet you can add your own IRs as well. Celestion has created some great ones on their web site. I love that several of the amp manufacturers are adding this direct out feature to their amps. Rhonda won’t let me dedicate the garage as a speaker room. Too close to the kitchen.

[@JustinOstrander]

Agreed on the direct sounds. The cab modeling, just like with the Ox and the Revv D20, is great. I find that if there’s still a real tube amp cooking, I don’t mind the modeling happening after the fact.

[@GuyNarnarian]

Glad you got the 100 watter - sounds fantastic. I got myself a Mark V:25 combo to cover my high gain (rather than a Princeton with pedals) recently. Loving it so far, Haven't tried the DI Cab Clone yet but it has a similar feature, but you can turn the speaker off rather than going into standby mode. I guess that way you don't need a load box?

[@JustinOstrander]

Yeah no load box needed here. Full 100w into my 212 in cartage. If I want to run it through my 112 cab at home, it goes into 10w mode. Still has that tight punch of a 100watter in 10w mode. If it’s after 9pm (my self-imposed noise curfew), then I plug an XLR in the back and run direct. Ultra versatile.

[@GuyNarnarian]

@@JustinOstrander Sounds great too! Wish I had the setup to put my cabs/combos in the garage or cellar. The cellar takes a little water sometimes so that's not gonna work and the garage is actually closer to the neighbors with less sound protection.

[@Stratcat1967]

Gotta love that "Gain-Grin".... 😊

[@Matthew_Scan]

You can edit the reverb via the cabinet software I believe and store it to them amp the

[@dusty_dustbin_basementjamh4827]

Well done Justin, thanks!

[@patrickwarnshuis8344]

Very cool stuff as usual 🤘🏼👍😎

[@steves258]

Justin, fabulous work and thank you. For home players like myself, is there a method (i.e. tabs) available to learn some of the great licks that you roll off so effortlessly. Thoughts? Thanks Steve

[@ArticLight14]

I’m pretty sure you could take any high gain amp and make it sound excellent.

[@vizun]

Sounds pretty good. Love how the different cabs inspire different playing. Does the direct mode model just the cab, or amp and cab?

[@JustinOstrander]

Just the cab and microphone. You’re still playing through a tube amp.

[@rhymeswfamous]

Hey! Can you do an episode about closed back vs open back amps in general? There are a few videos up but I don't think they are good as the videos you do.

[@graemero5532]

Killer amp Justin

[@robertmellang6998]

Lots of options.

[@kevinmusso2397]

Hot diggity … that sounds great

[@mikemalone9404]

Justin, I just bought a 59 Gibson ga20t. Have you used one of these, and what's your take on the old Gibson amps, esp compared to a tweed Deluxe?

[@JustinOstrander]

I have a 53. I love it. Original speaker and transformer. It’s a great amp. I don’t have any experience with the later 50s models

[@PhoShzel75]

Sounding killer Justin! When you use slap back, do you have reverb on at the same time? Or, is it one or the other?

[@JustinOstrander]

I was dialing the verb in and out while the slap was on

[@PhoShzel75]

@@JustinOstrander By the way, since I got the Ox, I'm hearing my tweed deluxe and deluxe reverb like never before. Thanks for all your help!

[@DieselWeazel]

Can’t say I need one but I wouldn’t mind one. Imagine if people had a Brit/American knob? Lol

[@brutallyremastered4255]

Ha ha.

[@GreggRoberts]

I had an HT 100 but I don't like hybrid. Plus no midi.

[@robertmellang6998]

Yer in the market for a 4x12 cab😁

[@JustinOstrander]

My 212 should handle it (65w speakers), but yeah a good 412 is tough to beat.

[@robertmellang6998]

@@JustinOstrander Make an iso box like Tim Pierce, sick a 4x12 in it. That’s a cool Les Paul custom. I like it through the black star.

[@devilslide01]

Uhhh, that’s an ISF knob (infinite shape feature ) pretty much standard on most Blackstar amps

[@JustinOstrander]

Yep 9:38

[@devilslide01]

Yeah , you called it ISP

[@JustinOstrander]

@@devilslide01 Yes I already corrected myself in the chapters

[@douglascrawford4791]

Takes up a lot of real estate

[@JustinOstrander]

Yeah 100 watters are big amps

[@markolivares6943]

Having issues with the wattage switch. Only works when the first gain stage is engaged however if you have the second gain stage engage it does nothing. Cannot find a solution for this

[@JustinOstrander]

Sorry to hear it. Mine does not have this issue.

[@martinlahaie6012]

Great guitar axe man... Just ok amp

[@JustinOstrander]

It certainly doesn’t have the boutique or vintage pedigree we are used to here in town, but I used it all day in frontstage on a record a couple weeks ago, and it was awesome.

[@martinlahaie6012]

@@JustinOstrander always the dilemma...what sounds good on a stage and sound good in your room...two different thing i suggest... Kinda go back to the discussion about the Celestion 70-80's speakers...at home i love them...even after a bought 2 Vintage 30 i've return to my my old 70-80'

[@steveh1273]

Yes, sounds good and low price, but reliability, and service outside Nashville?

[@JustinOstrander]

There are great amp techs outside of Nashville. I took stuff to KC and Wichita when I lived in Kansas.

[@chosenone2964]

What speaker u using in your 1x12 ?

[@JustinOstrander]

ET65

[@darrylweller6143]

Cool channel

[@mikeanthony5581]

Wen you record a track, do you record in a mono or stereo track?

[@JustinOstrander]

Almost always mono

[@mikeanthony5581]

Thank You @@JustinOstrander

[@alexandremanaia8642]

Hi, are you using the delay in front of the amp? You Rock!!!🤟

[@BlugubriousMusic]

He said he had a short slapback

[@alexandremanaia8642]

@@BlugubriousMusic yes I ear it. The question is if he is using it in the FX/loop or, in front of the amp? ✌️

[@JustinOstrander]

The Timeline and Mercury7 are in front of the amp. Thanks!!

[@alexandremanaia8642]

@@JustinOstrander Thank you so muxh for your answer! Big Fan here!

[@alafenetre81]

Who needs 100W nowadays?

[@JustinOstrander]

That has always been my perspective but it really does hit different.