Blackstar ht1r , now the hype has died down
When these first came out I remember everyone raving about them but now they been around a while what is the general opinion. I played one in a shop the other week and thought it sounded good. Are there any long term reviewers out there.
I have the head, I put through the V30 in my Chubster.......its pretty good.Originally Posted by skoylie
Im selling it cos I simply dont use it..............and I want a THR
......"Bertie is pretty much a zen master..................."
I owned the Combo version with reverb. I personally would pick the combo over the head, because the combo sounds great for low volume practice and the speaker can be bypassed when you put it through a cab, and it sounds fairly decent through a good cab. Here is a recording I did with a Mesa 2x12 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR0ZAtwMAJE
Quick review of the combo through its own speaker
Pros
- Volume is about the right level for overdrive tones in the house, small enclosure means not too much bass which again keeps things family/neighbour friendly.
- Clean channel crunches nicely at max volume with humbuckers, nice bluesy tone.
- Reverb is great IMO, it has a nice tone and decay for making home practice sound nice.
- Not many controls, which mean you can set a sound quickly and focus more on practicing.
- Drive sounds are great for lead and the ISF means you can get a lot of high gain voicings quickly and they sound good. I personally did not miss separate EQ knobs for home practice.
Cons
- It is only 1 watt so very little clean headroom through its own speaker. Bear this in mind if you prefer cleaner tones, it is the main trade-off for the 1 watt design. I own a Roland Microcube which could get noticeably louder clean cleans even through its tiny speaker. If you are dead set on valve low watts the AC4TV (which I have owned) has more than enough clean volume for the home and it is cheaper but no reverb.
- Can only be run on mains, unlike some other solid state/digital practice amps which can be run on batteries.
- People wanting to do lots of high gain palm muting might find it lacks too much punch in the bass
My opinion: It is a good amp at what it does but I sold it and don't regret it. I also had an AC4TV (clip of it under gain http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIRFyfamQak ) and I sold that too and don't regret that either. I actually liked the AC4TV better than the Blackstar, but the tones are very different.
I think a Microcube (which I own) or a THR (which I have heard in person but not played myself) are better buys for low volume home play. They can be run on batteries and are much more versatile. None of these types of amps are going to be loud enough to play with a band without PA re-enforcement.
I've owned the combo for nearly two years. The emulated out is the best (affordable) solution to getting 'real' sounding big amp tones for home recording that I've found. It 'feels' like a real amp under the fingers, unlike any modeled alternative I've tried. As another poster pointed out, cleans are very limited in terms of headroom, but I can always use my big amp for those. As long as the 'all valve'/'Engineered in Britain' debacle doesn't bother you, I reckon its a great product, at a sensible price.
Interesting. Thanks for the replies. It seems that a lot of people have moved them on in favour of other things like the thr,s. what I d really like is an amp that responds to the guitar volume and pick attack.
My son has a HT1, and it certainly responds to those when I use it.
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