I've had an HT1R for a couple of years and it's perfect for what I need! I live in a very small apartment so I needed an amp that I can push but not piss off the neighbours. Although a great demo, you didn't mention that if you push the gain on the clean channel past 12 o'clock you start to get some lovely tube break up!
I had an HT-1 with no reverb and liked it so much I got a mkII. Both great amps, but I now use the mkII almost exclusively. I'm keeping the original because it produces tones that are slightly different from the mkII. Highly recommended amp. The best low-volume cranked amp sound for the $$, IMO.
The original HT1s are amazing. They have such a phenomenal tone that are so unique. I actually use two into a stereo 4x12 with one amp being ever so slightly delayed to the other, which gives it a double tracked sound right out of the cabinet (TC Mimiq pedal). I never use the gains on them, just blast the master volumes all the way and add a TS9 if I want more. But that full blast volume on the HT1 is the sound that I love from this thing, especially with single coils.
I love mine. Super convenient, super-tiny, and a great sound for an 8-inch speaker. I run it on the clean channel just gained enough to crunch (that's what your volume's for; back it off if you need to). But then I have a distortion and a Klon Klone in front of it for those "special moments". Highly recommend.
Buy the MKII, it is better and worth every dime, I have owned them both. Two cleans and two overdrives makes it a no brainer... I now have the 1,5 and 20 watt MKII amps, all fantastic. Hey the chicken head knobs on the MKII way easier to see also.
@@A.PGUITARS Buy the HT5MKII, one of the big name music stores should ship you one for that..has the .5 watt button so you can play low and still get great tone.
I bought a used one for $85 and I can tell you this amp kicks ass and is now my favorite amp. Clean channel sounds amazing as well as the distortion channel.
Best Amp for Home use I ever played. Love mine more and more each day. I changed my Tubes. Now there are TADs in there. Very warm and creamy sound. I would by this Version again and again and again. No need to buy Mk2. Greetings
Just got one of these for £80, great cleans, great reverb, easy to get a great metal tone on the OD channel on maximum gain through a 1x12" cab. Best bedroom amp ever for the price.
Thanks Jake, I might just get the one my friend is selling. 1 comment about your video, next time, please make sure we can see the amp knobs as you make adjustments. Now we just see your hand and have to guess what you turned. Thanks for the video.
I love mine. It's my main practice amp. I run it on the clean channel edge of breakup with my pedalboard. Did a few mods like different brand tubes and a Celestion speaker replacement. Blackstar HT-1R Combo (JJ Electronics ECC83S 12AX7S/ECC82 12AU7, 8" Celestion Eight 15)
I do have a left over VHT 12” Chromeback speaker (British voiced) because I replaced it with a Celestion V30 in my VHT Special 6 Ultra combo. I could build a cab with it. But then I’d like to get the HT1R head. :)
Just bought a non reverb one for £50. Having owned the mk1 head and cab in bronco tan before, it was a no brainier. Blackstar make some amazing amps…this one included
Hey! Great review, I'm considering picking one of these up used for about $100. Quick question though, how well does it take pedals? I have a couple pedals that make up my sound at the moment and would like to use them with this amp. Do you think it'd sound alright? Thanks!
I've bought some months ago this little amp for home use, and i'm really happy with it! A question: is it possible to use it like an amp simulator with an active speaker through the emulated output, for small gigs with a drummer and a bassist, when i don't want to use my biggest amp?
I am sold , perfect for my little room, I am tired of Modeling Amps , I just want to plug in and go, the negatives you mention, I think there has to be some give and take, for the money you can't beat it and mentioning not having to get it biased, is also a plus, I am looking at getting an interface anyway, but you mention the recording which is on the higher price model, an interface for argument sake is around $100 us or £80 pounds would not it be better to go for the higher up model, or would you still need the interface ?
Buy a ineterface regardless. One, because you'll need one down the line. 2, in the US most dealers are completely out of everything from Focusrite due to the pandemic. Buy one while you can! Who knows when stock will go back to normal.
I don't know this for sure. The new ones have a switch for two different voicings. With the older ones you can't put it into a bigger speaker too much Bass. But it's great with the 8 inch speaker. I think the new ones cut some of the bass on one of the voicings so it can be used with a bigger cabinet. Or maybe not.
I love the ht1 and the ht5. To me those are the cornerstones for BlackStar. I think all their other amps are just bigger versions of the same thing. For the price of an ht5 I think it's a perfect amp. Nothing comes close to it at that price range. And I was skeptical about the tubes. But the tubes are actually functioning. In most hybrids there just light bulbs.
Guitar Ocd They’re so good I only wish the HT1 had a footswitch although the settings used on each channel really don’t lend themselves to a footswitch anyway, I think with this I just run a tubescreamer and that’s all good. The HT5R is so versatile for practice and plenty loud. I’m considering an HT20 or 40 but really don’t gig so it’s hard to pull the trigger on more headroom. I considered adding a Katana 100 MK2 but again I keep coming back to the sounds out of my Blackstars.
I understand we are electric guitar players we like to buy stuff. I started focusing on my playing. We are gearoholics. A guitar and the HT 5 and you are set.
Woow thx for review ! I am planning to buy the same amp, but how does it sound with pedals or processor ? I have multi effect processor do you think it would sound good with it ? or pedals to boost like Boss MD 2 ?
Is it true that the output tubes on these go bad quickly as they are designed as pre amp tubes? Could you modify it to take something more suitable for long term use?
HI can you tell me if the emulated out will run on Mac Big Sur... insider software won't. I have an ID core60 as well. I want to use it into a DAW eg GarageBand...
Could someone help me with a little doubt? im planning on buying one of those for practice, want a brown sound tone, can it give it? and most important question, how it handles a delay and a chorus? would it sound bad directly to the input?
Ive had one for ten years...The clean tone is awesome but the overdrive / boost / distortion switch doesnt do it for me. But the natural harmonics and twang in the clean setting sounds are killer. Also i dont like the american setting on the isf, mid scoop but seems to scoop too many other freqs imo. Ive got the 1 x 12 cab too..it rattles like hell if u dont get a seperate cab..
yeah man i had the HT5 for a bit but it was a little too loud for the purpose i needed it for at the time and i sold it...i wouldn’t mind having an ht1 ~Keny
I need some help. I own a Marshall MG15 (first amp, transistor, i keep it for practice at low volumes) and a Marshall Bluesbreaker. The transistor amp seems to hide my mistakes, i'm in a perfect intonation and control when i play on that, but, when i switch on the Bluesbreaker, i find myself in a slightly sloppier playing. Obviously, i can't practice on the tube amp. So, i'm looking for a small practice tube amp (1-5 watts) that could show me my mistakes as well as the Bluesbreaker. Would this be a pointless buy, or is it for my case? PS: my tone is most of the time clean, blues crunch max.
Hope it helps. You can get great blues tones out of it. When you get one, please let me now if your enjoying this great little Amp. It's a whole athor world compared to MG. This was my first Amp too.
@@MALO-nf1qz Actually, i got interested in another amp, Bugera G5 (head), i read a lot of good reviews about it, it's 5 watts with a switch to 1 and 0.5 and it has lot of features such as emulated output for recording and full eq, so i want to try it and compare with the Blackstar and other amps. Have you ever tried it?
No, never tried it. Seems to be a good Amp. Check the Blackstar HT5 too. You can run 0.5 watt, Full EQ, line out, USB for recording. There are many great Amps out there. Maybe you check out Joyo Bantamps. Great little Amps with Tube in preamp sektion with many voicing. There is a bluestop too.
Just got a second-hand one. I don’t like the super scooped sound from almost everything from Blackstar. I’m planning upgrading the speaker to a Celestion Eight 15, but don’t know if it would help with bringing the mids back.
im new to playing the guitar and ive been looking at the yamaha thr and the boss katana air for a low volume amp that doesnt annoy the neighbours..i get the feeling you are paying for the gimmicks and 1001 ok sounds with them.they seem to sound abit poo with any gain....this seems to give a better tones and sound overall..its not the cost ..this doesnt come into it..i just want a high quality low volume amp
It’s sounds good but I can get these same sounds and more from my peavey vypyr. Plus the vypyr has a acoustic channel and a bass guitar channel. The vypyr is much louder. Also the vypyr has a heavier metal sound.
Amazing that you didn't show us all round views of the combo, or mention whether it's a closed or open cabinet. And you didn't show the settings on the controls as you played clean/ dirty etc. And you didn't demonstrate the onset of breakup etc etc. Keep learning how to present your "information".
Uhh he totally showed the amp while changing settings as he changed through them, and If you can't take 5 seconds to Google whether it's open or closed back, maybe you need to put more effort into thinking than commenting on vids
The peavey vypyr is your best bang for your buck. With effects built in it. You can also play base and acoustic through it. Won amp of the year awards. If it’s not a vypyr it’s crap.
I have a vypyr. It's awful. The effects are incredibly limited and it has a mega low bandwidth for effect mixing. It also handles effects pedals very poorly. You lose so much definition when you increase volume as well. I do not recommend.
I was out from playing electric for a number of years and when I got back in I bought Peavy Vypyr to just plug in and dial up a buch of varied tones. It was a decent practice amp, cleans were okay, the very higher gain emulations were okay and it had a number of decent effects. To me it was really lacking in the classic rock sort of crunch department, lacked warmth and definition. Maybe newer models have come a long way? I more recently replaced it with a Boss Katana mark2 100 watt, which sounds tonnes better to me and has been great for practice. It's still digital but it's not really an emulation type of amp, it sounds much more natural that the Peavy did, but again, not quite a tube amp. Recently I've got the JJN20 Blackstar (which is like a big brother to this amp) but am now interested one of these little HT 1 watts as a nice plug and play amp to hide in the corner of the living room.
JeffMacc I’ve had fender, marshals. It just has a variety of effects for the money. Unless your going to be playing in front of a 1000 people what else do you need? What? Are you going to spend a thousand dollars or more for a amp when you’re just a bedroom guitarist?
Purchased this amp HT 1 mkII In June 2020. 36 days ago, just started making popping noise when headphones plugged in. Check headphone cable. It’s the amp. Of course returning something after 30 days is a big hassle. Cheap Chinese junk.
