Blackstar MKII Models

[Chris6870]

I saw one in GC and went to try it out, but it was broken. Played with the knobs and buttons trying to get some sound out of it, they felt pretty flimsy. Not a good sign that a floor model is broken.

 

[RaceU4her]

i just watched this demo, to me it sounds like most blackstars.. kind of good and kind of meh at the same time. totally usable but nothing exciting. they seem to have a weird compressed top end i always hear

 

[controlled_voltage]

i just watched this demo, to me it sounds like most blackstars.. kind of good and kind of meh at the same time. totally usable but nothing exciting. they seem to have a weird compressed top end i always hear

a kid i teach has one of these and you nailed it
meh
on the other hand i saw uli jon roth in may and he had a blackstar full stack and his tone was good
but then again it's uli and he is beyond gear so.......

 

[gbsmusic]

I got mine last week and love it! Had the MK1 a little dark for my taste but it wasn't bad. The MKII blows the 1 away. More mids the clean channel is incredible. I bought the 5 footswitch also. I'm just a home player and this amp great and thats with the Shit 70/80 speaker. I have a 65 creamback I'm going to put in it. So far great amp!! They made some great improvements. Its all I need.

 

[Zado]

i just watched this demo, to me it sounds like most blackstars.. kind of good and kind of meh at the same time. totally usable but nothing exciting. they seem to have a weird compressed top end i always hear

a kid i teach has one of these and you nailed it
meh
on the other hand i saw uli jon roth in may and he had a blackstar full stack and his tone was good
but then again it's uli and he is beyond gear so.......

Uli plays an artisan unit iirc, entirely different beast, more like a ptp voxplexy

 

[skullfxr]

i just watched this demo, to me it sounds like most blackstars.. kind of good and kind of meh at the same time. totally usable but nothing exciting. they seem to have a weird compressed top end i always hear

a kid i teach has one of these and you nailed it
meh
on the other hand i saw uli jon roth in may and he had a blackstar full stack and his tone was good
but then again it's uli and he is beyond gear so.......

Uli plays an artisan unit iirc, entirely different beast, more like a ptp voxplexy

They as well as the Series One are a different breed. The Series One aren't bad for the price used, but you can get a Rivera K-100 for less, which I prefer.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

That demo and a lot of Blackstar stuff sounds bass heavy to my ears. They need more mids and more bass cut IMO. That's why i play a boring old 800. Nothing beats it!

 

[VH4_BigRig]

I don't think anyone really has any problems with Blackstar's sound quality; it's their reliability that might be scaring people away. I found their tube based pedals after people on this site were raving about the HT-5 as a practice amp many years ago; I really liked the clips I heard, so I got a DISTX. Loved the sound of the pedal, but it started acting funny (sound cutting out, static when turning knobs) and needed repair. I got it fixed and gave it to a friend who loved it as well, because he couldn't afford a quality rig, and got a DUAL. Then the dual's footswitches stopped working, and I had to get it repaired too! Ever since, I use the dual as a practice/recording tool and not a live/jamming tool.

So while Blackstars sound great and look constructed well, the internal components are obviously where corners are being cut to keep the price down. If you can use one with no problems, rock on, I'd just personally have a backup ready! Cheers

 

[Racerxrated]

If you are going to drop a grand you can do a lot better though IMO. You can find used Mesa Mark and Rec combos for far under that.

I appreciate the tip, but I’m not a mesa kind of player.

For that kind of money you can also get into a used JCM 800(2205/10, 2203/4 are going for more atm). I have played a few Blackstars at GCs over the years..they sound good enough for me..but as I turned them up they lacked that "bloom" or better tone that I get from a vintage Marshall or other. I think the tone is nice but I'd worry about reliability, as I've heard more than one person complain about issues.
I'd consider one for low volume playing though, practice amp.

 

[Racerxrated]

If you are going to drop a grand you can do a lot better though IMO. You can find used Mesa Mark and Rec combos for far under that.

I appreciate the tip, but I’m not a mesa kind of player.

I have a feeling that there are a lot of mesas that you haven't tried

Get out there and play some more stuff. If you get the experience you will find something better than that at $1.1k.

One really affordable Mesa option that you may like is the Stiletto series..can be had all day long under a grand and it's more Marshall than Mesa, Mesa's attempt at a modded Marshall. I haven't played one but there are some really nice clips out there on youtube. I've read to get series II, you can tell by looking above the input jacks on what series it is.

 

[skullfxr]

If you are going to drop a grand you can do a lot better though IMO. You can find used Mesa Mark and Rec combos for far under that.

I appreciate the tip, but I’m not a mesa kind of player.

I have a feeling that there are a lot of mesas that you haven't tried

Get out there and play some more stuff. If you get the experience you will find something better than that at $1.1k.

One really affordable Mesa option that you may like is the Stiletto series..can be had all day long under a grand and it's more Marshall than Mesa, Mesa's attempt at a modded Marshall. I haven't played one but there are some really nice clips out there on youtube. I've read to get series II, you can tell by looking above the input jacks on what series it is.

Mesa has done well with a lot of different tones. Mine are great. The Nomad is surprisingly awesome 100 watt 2x12 combo for the $400 I bought it for. My least favorite of mesas that I own but would crush an HT.

If you ever try a Nomad go to EL34 and throw a t75 in the cab. It sounds so much better that way. Get used to it and use the knobs AND the GEQ and you are set.