Why I Hate Blackstars

Recently repaired.
Comes back with other issue unrelated to first.
I have to fix it for free because I touched it last.
Yay.

[@thornev]

"It's too complicated an amp"...I love it. I just found your viddies because I have a Blues Jr III and was looking for info about its internals. I'm enjoying the way you speak your mind, flow of consciousness. Good stuff. Rock on. Thorne from NY USA.

[@petedazer3381]

I like your style Brad, brutally honest, straight to the point! That amp looks like $120.00/hr bench charge to me......what a nightmare

[@joemcgraw5529]

I bet the Fire Channel is very enlightening LOL at least they tell you what may happen if you buy the amp

[@ghostface_grilla1155]

I really respect this channel

[@donciseau]

I'm not getting a blackstar amp! Very educational video!

[@ringostarr4520]

Perhaps solder the 4 pins hardwired only on the one connector that was intermittent. I have done that on Fender amps from the 80's where the ribbon cable goes bad only on one side. So you can still dismantle the boards if needed later. So one side hardwired and then you only have one of those connectors to worry about. A dab of silicone on the other connector and it would probably be more reliable over time. Amps with KT88's should not be wired up using computer like terminals in the first place. Sad day and age we live in that they even design this stuff like this. BTW just found your channel tonight and just have to say I like your content very. Keep up the good work 👍

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

All the high voltage and high current stuff is hard-wired, so at least they got that part right. But the bias voltage makes its way through half a dozen connectors before it makes it to the valve sockets, which is a big no-no!

[@rayhopcraft7922]

Hi Brad, just came across this video and hope you can help me. I have a customer's Blackstar series 1-104 6L6 on my bench. It looks identical to this 200W amp. The only difference are the 6L6 power tubes instead of the KT88s. The customer just wants a new set of power tubes so I need to check / adjust the bias. There are 2 preset pots on the boards, one near the large aluminium heatsink and one closer to the power tube board. I suspect that the one near the heatsink is the bias adjustment and the one closer to the power tubes is the balance. Can you confirm if I'm correct. Needless to say Blackstar would not give me any info at all despite me telling them that I am the tech for a small independent music store here in the UK (true). The store sells Blackstar amps and they also contacted Blackstar and got the same total lack of support. Thanks in anticipation. Ray

[@CageLeone]

I don't see anything plugged in . Don't these amps kill the output power until something is plugged into the input?

[@mattgilbert7347]

200 watts! Oh FFS. As Monty Python said: "Stop that! It's silly. Very silly indeed".

[@user-jq4fz6co8b]

It’s not silly because people don’t use 200watt amps for the volume, like some of you boomers think it’s for. It’s so the power amp has the least influence on the tone. Higher wattage in the power amp means more headroom. More headroom means a cleaner, tighter response, which is what metal musicians would use a 200 watt amp for. Also that headroom means instruments like 7 strings don’t fart out on the low end.

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@user-jq4fz6co8b I'm not a Boomer.. Ok, Boomer? I know what headroom is you Muppet. But nobody needs fkin 200watts these days unless they're playing arenas

[@Da_Publick]

​@@user-jq4fz6co8bYou do know the so-called 'Boomers' were the first to use high wattage that way. And by Boomers, I mean Baby Boomers.

[@user-jq4fz6co8b]

@@Da_Publick don’t talk shit if you don’t want it thrown back at you. And by the a very small subset you used 200 watts for headroom. Like…VERY few. At the time 200 watt Marshall’s were being made, most people were trying to get MORE overdrive out of the power amp, not less.

[@Da_Publick]

@@user-jq4fz6co8b First of all, take your Prozac, your Ambien, or whatever, and relax. Secondly, I could reel off a long list of players who just wanted that headroom from your 'Boomers.'

[@tedmich]

A GUS G sig amp!!!! Easier to spell than Konstantinos Karamitroudis. He's played with Ozzie, and named his band Firewind so hes cool. Silly amp though!

[@Da_Publick]

But I'm supposed to trust their SS amps?

[@WiseedE]

Hi! Brad! I already know what you think about Gus G's Blackstar Signature Series 200 Watt Amp. But I wondered what you thought about Blackstar's 100 Watt Hand Wired Artisan Amp. Thank you in advance for your time and consideration. Cheers! Ed.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

I haven't had one in the flesh, but Lyle @ Psionic Audio did some upgrades when he took a close look at one a while back. Check out his videos.

[@russellesimonetta3835]

Hey the black stars are bad. What about messy boogers! They can be a nightmare to get going again. Who would want a 200 watt amp?? Does the owner play in a mountain or AC/DC cover band.

[@jamesonjabiru]

Tell me your a knuckle shuffler without saying youre a knuckle shuffler. "Check out my Blackstar 200 watter. Never left the bedroom".

[@EdBenji]

That's a wankers amplifier!

[@Jesuswinsbirdofmichigan]

✝️

[@SirLoinMagroin]

Take a high power tube amp then ruin it with a plethora of add-ons and extras to make it impossible to work on. Then call it a Blackstar because it makes perfect sense. Otherwise, it would be a Black Hole. Which of course it is. But hey, who gives a shit. Only some guy named Brad would even try to save a POS amp like that.

[@brutallyremastered4255]

Wow, so serious.

[@MrAletube]

my motto:"you play a Blackstar,you'll never be a rockstar!"

[@BourneAccident]

Here's a fun fact: When they originally were considering names for this amp there were several choices... Total Piece of Crap...Unrepairable Nightmare...Complicated Pile of Garbage... but in the end they named it Blackstar.

[@BradsGuitarGarage]

To their credit, they seem to have addressed a lot of the issues in later models as they seem to be a lot more reliable recently.