Blackstar HT-20R MkII - In-Depth Demo 

And playing it on the neck pick up also. I have no clue why people like playing clean on the bridge, always sounds terrible.

I'm sick of it.

Simply because the vast majority of guitar amps, whether tube or transistor, are largely capable of making very good quality cleans, whereas distortion is another story.

Yes totally agreed. That and the fx loop. I wish it was a tad smaller in size tho.

it can be a clean amp, it can be a blues amp, it can be a classic rock amp, it can be a metal amp. It can be whatever you want it to be.

Its the most versatile amp on the market....its got something for everyone metal, rock, blues or clean.

Is ht 20 the big brother of ht 5?

@@dimitris70yep

Will it keep up with a drummer? Or shd l be looking at the 40 or 60 wattters?

​@@baabaabaa2293 I used this amp with my band for two years and its so good for play with band (sorry for my bad english 😂)

Can you dial out the bassyness and low mids by cutting lows or is it always inherent?

I thought "everyone" used pedals in demos . . . I just want to hear the amp. It's true . . . just can't please everyone.

Go to pedal review channels mate, l wanna hear the amp. Valve/tube OD sounds better imo than pedals, esp from the power section.

Mark Kerns which greenback?

@@bmann792 Just the G12m 25 watt...That was a year ago now I have a Celestion V Type in it and I think it is perfect both clean and overdriven.

Greenback for the win . . . it's all I use.

@@markkosa1 how about now, a year later? Still happy with it?

@@pontus268 Yes.. and I have a Marshall DSL 20 combo and the Fender Bass Breaker 15 to compare. I also play the HT20 thru a 1x12 extension cab I have with a Celestial V Type in it and sounds wonderful too.

Scott MacDonald have you play around with the club 40 version of this amp? What is your opinion on that vs the 20 watt?

@@dannythorne9872 I have played them and indeed owned one. I ended up taking it back because of a problem with the 5 button footswitch. It's a logic switching circuit that uses firmware to control the switching. I didn't realize this when I bought the amp and when I plugged in the 5-button switch the LED's started flashing and the switching went braindead. I thought the amp was broken but as it turns out it was just that the firware was updating and I interrupted it. Had I just allowed it to finish the update it prob would have been fine. As for how they sound they sound great. It's a good gigging amp with a ton of versatility especially when u add the 5 button switch. They can emulate just about anything out there and the reverb is excellent. Mine was the MKII version, BTW - as is the 20 watt I have now. Of the two I prefer the 20. These have a new power amp section that uses true push-pull EL84 circuitry. They also added a 2-button footswitch that allows channel switching as well as the voice switch select. It essentially allows for 4 different channels or sounds. Plus it is more portable than the 40 and I also have a DSL40 combo so the Blackstar 40 would have been redundant. Of course the MKII 20 HT was not out yet when I bought the Venue 40 so more than likely I would have skipped the 40 entirely. Try them both is my advice.

@Luke Robinett haha, thats funny - interestingly enough my birthday was saturday and i found a used 5 watt markII combo at GC for $239 that was in like new condition so i nabbed me a birthday present!....lol It's smaller than the 20 watter and lighter, plus I have the 20 watt head version w/1x12 cab so i figured if I needed a little guy that sounds great to just grab and go this will fit the bill. As a bonus they gave me the "wrong" footswitch for it. These usually come with a plastic footswitch. The Mark11 40 has the same setup but the housing is metal. They gave me the metal one. Same thing happened when I bought the 20 watt combo that I didn't keep. I took that back and got the head instaed but kept the metal switch. My lucky day twice!....lol. I don't even know if they realized it or not. Anyways as for gigging with this amp IMO it will struggle to be heard over a drummer if he plays hard. In an intimate environment where you don't have to max it out it would suffice but headroom will be an issue if you have a loud drummer. The 20 watt combo would do a much better job and for only around $100 more than the 5 watter I think it is worth it if you can't afford to keep both. They are a little bit different in that the 5 watt has a different power section (one 12BH7 vs 2 EL84's in the 20 watt) and it only uses one 12ax7(ECC83) in the preamp where the 20 watt has 2. Each tube has 2 gain stages so not sure where they are using them but that's 2 tube gain stages in the 5 watt and 4 tube gain stages in the 20. These amps use diode clipping so my guess is the 20 watt uses a tube phase inverter for the power amp, hence the need for a second 12ax7. I dunno for sure but that'd be my guess. Anyways - all that technical mumbo jumbo aside bot amps are great. If you can afford to switch to the 20 watt version then that is what I would do. Or better yet, keep the 5 watt combo and get the 20 watt head with 1x12 cab like I did! .... LOL Good luck!

@Luke Robinett great choice and good decision, IMO. This is a great sounding amp and can't be beat for the $. I just Mesa Mark-V 25 and while the Blackstar doesn't have all the bells and whistles it absolutely holds it's own with the Mesa. The Blackstar should be plenty loud for a gig unless your drummer is John Bonham....lol It's very loud for 20 watts. I also own a Marshall TSL100 that is my main amp and I never use it on full power even at gigs. It's set at 25 watts. Tube amps produce more db per watt than solid state amps so a 20 watt tube amp will be just as loud if not louder than a 100 watt solid state amp. Most home stereo systems are 100 watts(solid state power amp). Not nearly as loud as a 20 watt tube amp. Anyways, enjoy the amp! I love mine....

@@scottmacdonald5605 I have to agree with everything you say. This amp is amazing value as is without anything else in the combo version. I tried it today and was very surprised. It's got a great and big sound for small amp and at very low volumes.

He’s actually the love child of satch and mark Lucas!

Definitely killer. The two watt setting surprised me. I think I have to have one. Uh oh! Gear lust.

Its just you.

Just tried one in Sam Ash today. It sounds terrific. 2W mode is KILLER.

Underrated and underpriced. Not much is these days so buy one

Could you brighten it with an eq pedal in the effects loop?

Did you watch the video? It sounds super sparkly

Really, so did I! The Fret House in Claremount CA said they purchased a few items from the NAMM show that were featured in the demo vids. He guaranteed that the HT20 Head was the video one. So my amp is famous too! Oh, Uuuhhhhh! WTF@!!!

@@BlowByMeToo lol - well who knows, that was what I was told and they had lots more stuff from the booth and I can testify that when I opened the box there was a NAMM booth sticker on the head so it was def. from NAMM. I can't prove the demo head is mine but thats what I was told. They do sell amps at NAMM so it's possible that we both bought amps that were for sale at NAMM and were left over. whatever, the amp sounds great so who cares! BTW - I ditched the 2x12 cab and got the 1x12 instead. They have the same speaker as the combo(50 watt Blackstar desgned). I use it open back and it sounds fantastic. Way better than the 2x12 IMO. Plus I added a second 1x12 for versatility and cool little mini stack and also have the 1x12 combo for a grab and go light weight amp. I love these things. best bang for your buck amp out there. Do you know what tubes are in yours? Mine has Ruby tibes in it - I don't think they use Ruby's normally and put these in for the show? I dunno - the combo has JJ's. just wondering

Hi Do you still play with it?

It is a custom speaker made by Blackstar. Not a 70/80

doesn’t come with the 70/80 it’s a special blackstar speaker but the HTvenue comes with the 70/80 and they suck

I seem to have the same issue. It makes my tele with p90s sound downright awful. For the clean channel, I have to put a tube screamer in front of it and turn up the treble. Have you made any new discoveries?

@@cosmiciron I'm leaving the tone of the channel clean, in 3 hours, it seems that it helped me a little. Strange that drive channel the bass is not that high. Another tip would be to change the speaker.

m stew absolutely

@@1DerekMiracle I needed up ordering the head. And absolutely love it. Haven't used it live, but the versality with the different voicing on each channel is fantastic.

@Luke Robinett happy Holidays Luke...how do you compare this to the 10 watt Studio Blackstar 6l6? for cleans Primarily/Reverb etc? thanks soooo much

Luke Robinett close call it does break up at 7 o’clock clean Channel

Put a greenback in mine killer..

Mark Kerns should I go greenback or cream back?

@@bmann792 I love the cream back for rock, you can't go wrong there. I already had a greenback laying around that I pulled from a 1x12 cab, it is classic rock tones think AC/DC, Led Zep or ZZ Top.

Well JJN said he’s had zero trouble after gigging most nights with his head amp version for a good 12 months. Can’t grumble at that and he come across as a pretty down to earth kind of fella.

ianA For what it’s worth I am currently try out the JJN head and cabinet at home. As per this video the overall tone out of the box is very rich and dark. So playing at low volume you still get a good deal of weight to the sound. Yes the 2 watt feature works really well. But as the tone is so rich you can also play on 20 watts at bedroom volume and still have fun. I play mine with both channels using the second voice option to get more texture/articulation given the push in upper mids. I also plugged the head into a Celestion Greenback G12M 25w and that opened up the tone. So I think you can use more crunchy and brighter speakers to good effect without the tone getting too aggressive. I would say Blackstar have gone for a very safe sound out of the box, but you can liven it up with a speaker change. I see in this thread that I’m not the only one who liked pairing the amp with a Celestion Greenback. Have fun on your tone journey 👍

...one more idea. If I owned this combo amp and wanted to build on my investment, I would buy a 1x12 extension cab to sit under the combo and get a new 16ohm speaker like a Greenback or brighter still. But I would take the softer sounding speaker out of the combo, put that in the extension cab and put the new more articulate 16ohm speaker in the combo. This means you would be using both the 16ohm speaker connections to get a room filling sound with your own personal sound signature. Keeping in mind that my JJN version of this amp is feeding a 2x12 cab at home, it’s still great fun at low volumes regardless of your 2 or 20 watt preference.

Ozzpocket Productions different tubes and voicing

Great question that’s what I thought originally

I'm pretty sure I read around 35 lbs, check sweetwater it has all the specs,

35.0535 pounds, 15.9 kilos

Alexandre Anonimous That’s a completely different kind of amp. This is way more versatile

Of course it's all up to individual taste and preference, but the difference between this amp and the Fender Pro Junior IV are night and day. The Blackstar has 20 watts, adjustable to 2 watts; has digital reverb; has 2 channels, clean & gain (with 2 voice options for each channel) and all 4 options can be accessed with included foot switch; and has a 12 inch speaker. The Fender has 15 watts (and can not be attenuated to lower wattage); does not have reverb; has just one channel, with no included foot switch, or even footswitchability, since there's only one channel and no reverb; and has a 10 inch speaker (although it is an excellent Jensen speaker). Not sure about the construction materials of the Blackstar, but I do know the Fender uses "particle board" (i.e. cheap and not real wood), which is something that bothers me about the Pro series and the standard Blues Juniors. The only real point of comparison between the Blackstar HT20 MKII and the Fender Pro Junior IV is that they each have the same 4 tubes. But it all comes down to different strokes for different blokes....

So many words..about another amplifier...Isn't it better to report on the model of which this video is?

@@peetrnos pretty much the same crazy amp