Tell me about Blackstar amps

[Qurarian]

I just found I can actually buy Blackstar amps and I a couple of tube combos "HT Club 40" and "HT Soloist 60" caught my attention, however since the brand is kind of new here nobody I know has used them but any of these could be my very first tube amp, last year learned more about amp tone and I liked this kind of brithis tone but also the clean channel seems to be fine. I have liked the demos so far but I would like to have comments from you: Are reliable or get defects often? Is it a good value/tone for the money? Do you even like them? They claim they have celestion speakers but no specific model.
Thanks,

[Wild_Rose]

Go to the nearest dealer and try one out. I think they're great and not super expensive!

[longi]

I've never had a problem with my HT-5 or ID15 OR 60 TVPs. They're customer service in the UK is excellent, however Korg in the U.S. have a terrible reputation for repair and warranty issues.

Personally I think the TVP's sound far better than The HT's. Although the HT-20 sounds far nicer that the HT-5.

[fender62]

i don't have a tube blackstar, but an id core 150, i have many brands of amps over 40yrs of playing guitar, and im very happy with blackstar
digital amps have come a long way tech wise and sound wise, blackstar have the insider software that i like, could use a tweak or two
but it's brilliant, there are things you can do now, that i only dreamed of once, example i do not need external pedals anymore
my id core has more than enough effects, although i do miss a wah pedal a little bit, but how much would it get used anyway.
i could add one if i wanted, but at the moment, im not really bothered, i have an fs-12 footswitch linked to the footswitch that
comes with the amp, it makes for great change overs during gigs easy peasy, i can program it to my hearts content, id say
go for it.. try a few out, not just the tube versions.

[dtjesus]

These are pretty much digital amps with a few tubes thrown in. Miy HT-20 died after working for a few months with the digital circuit failing and I have not found anyone to repair it since then. If you want to throw your money at an expensive future paper weight, then go for it.

[Sonofarich]

These are pretty much digital amps with a few tubes thrown in. Miy HT-20 died after working for a few months with the digital circuit failing and I have not found anyone to repair it since then. If you want to throw your money at an expensive future paper weight, then go for it.

Blackstar/Korg has service centers worldwide.

[dtjesus]

Blackstar/Korg has service centers worldwide.
[/quote]

With World wide, I am guessing you mean Chicago which is around 5 hrs flight from where I am in Canada and costs a few hundred bucks to ship there.

[fender62]

have you tried these guys in canada https://cosmomusic.ca/brands/blackstar

[Sonofarich]

Blackstar/Korg has service centers worldwide.

With World wide, I am guessing you mean Chicago which is around 5 hrs flight from where I am in Canada and costs a few hundred bucks to ship there.

Try this...https://www.korgusa.com/BlackstarDealers and select the Service tab, then enter HT-20 in the 'Select a Product' field and Canada in the 'Zip or City and State'.

I count 20 locations in Canada from the results.

Good luck.

[dtjesus]

Thanks for the suggestion. Canada is a country the size of a continent. Even though it will show 20 locations, there is only one location in my city.

Nevertheless, I took it to that location in my city. They took 4 weeks to diagnose and told me a whole long list of mumbo jumbo stuff that was apparently wrong with the amp along with a hefty quote, almost the same price as the amp itself. I asked them not to carry out the work and return the amp, since I could buy a new amp for what they were quoting. They charged me $50 bucks to return the amp, adding that they guarantee no one else will touch a Blackstar amp in town except them. I took the amp to another tech to get a second quote, and lo and behold, he returned the amp the next day saying he can't work on it. When i inquired, it turns out he had called that Blackstar tech already lol.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, after all this nightmare, I opened the amp up myself and fixed it for free

Blackstar/Korg has service centers worldwide.

With World wide, I am guessing you mean Chicago which is around 5 hrs flight from where I am in Canada and costs a few hundred bucks to ship there.

Try this...https://www.korgusa.com/BlackstarDealers and select the Service tab, then enter HT-20 in the 'Select a Product' field and Canada in the 'Zip or City and State'.

I count 20 locations in Canada from the results.

Good luck.