I got to pick up my Blackstar HT-5 today and the only thing I can say about it is WAY COOL! This little 5 watt fucker packs a mighty punch.
When I got it home today I was a bit disappointed at first with the amp as it seemed to really lack some balls and grit on its own. So I popped the good ol TS in front of it and it was like night and day. I will say this I do think the amp sound 1000x better with a DS-1 in front of it but for some reason I was getting a shitload of noise when I tried to reamp with the DS-1 so for now the TS will have to suffice. I will get some clips up in the next few days with the TS vs the DS-1 up front once I work out the noise issue.
I really think passive pup's sound best through the head as I tried it with many different guitar / pickup combination's. Ibanez w Dimarzio Paf's, Strat with Single Coils, Schecter with EMG's, and my 7 string with Bare Knuckle Miracle Man 7's. The active EMG's I think drive the input too much and you get too much clipping. I havet tried backing off on the volume yet with the EMG's but I will give that a shot in the next few days and see how it fares.
The amp is very very unforgiving when it comes to playing technique and picks up every little nuance, which I really think is going to kick ass in the lead guitar area. I think it has extremely usable tone for both rhythm tones and lead sounds. It gets really buttery with the mids up and leads just jump out at you with it.
I do find the amp sounds best when the ISF control is in the 9:00 position and the mids turned all the way down. When the amp is set anywhere with the ISF control turned past noon the amp gets very woofy.
Here is a little clip of Jeffs all to famous Rose of Sharyn, Its not a 5150 for certain, but its got a nice little growl to it that's very, dare I say British. Its definitely usable.
www.jasoncohenitservices.com/blackrose.MP3
When I got it home today I was a bit disappointed at first with the amp as it seemed to really lack some balls and grit on its own. So I popped the good ol TS in front of it and it was like night and day. I will say this I do think the amp sound 1000x better with a DS-1 in front of it but for some reason I was getting a shitload of noise when I tried to reamp with the DS-1 so for now the TS will have to suffice. I will get some clips up in the next few days with the TS vs the DS-1 up front once I work out the noise issue.
I really think passive pup's sound best through the head as I tried it with many different guitar / pickup combination's. Ibanez w Dimarzio Paf's, Strat with Single Coils, Schecter with EMG's, and my 7 string with Bare Knuckle Miracle Man 7's. The active EMG's I think drive the input too much and you get too much clipping. I havet tried backing off on the volume yet with the EMG's but I will give that a shot in the next few days and see how it fares.
The amp is very very unforgiving when it comes to playing technique and picks up every little nuance, which I really think is going to kick ass in the lead guitar area. I think it has extremely usable tone for both rhythm tones and lead sounds. It gets really buttery with the mids up and leads just jump out at you with it.
I do find the amp sounds best when the ISF control is in the 9:00 position and the mids turned all the way down. When the amp is set anywhere with the ISF control turned past noon the amp gets very woofy.
Here is a little clip of Jeffs all to famous Rose of Sharyn, Its not a 5150 for certain, but its got a nice little growl to it that's very, dare I say British. Its definitely usable.
www.jasoncohenitservices.com/blackrose.MP3
