The Cheapest 50W Gigging Amp - How Does It Sound?

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00:00 - Cleans
05:36 - Dirt
09:11 Pedals

[vstrum]

Beautiful demo! Never heard such powerful, crisp and clean tones. I'm getting one for myself right away. Thank you!❤

[dominicgibson]

That is quite the groovy combination. Always a good thing to see somebody give credence to equipment that doesn't break the bank...nice one, Leon.❤

[peterharvin]

I dearly wish inexpensive gear of this tonal quality had been available when I was a beginner decades ago. It would have made starting up so much more enjoyable.

[kmw]

It’s funny because this little combo (black version) is only arriving in Switzerland now. I’ve set up my 19 » rack with various post-effects and I’m going to order two Blackstar 50Rs for the left and right wet channel. The dry channel is an Orange Dual Dark with a 412 Mesa.
All this for doing wet/dry/wet in the studio.

[Coolbeans]

I think where they hit a home run here is that this amp applies to a wide number of customers. It’s a great entry level amp at a great price that sounds great. But it also works as a great grab and go amp for a pro or even as a cheap gigging amp that gives you a great sound. Most people don’t want to ruin their expensive stuff on gigs and so stuff like this that’s affordable and cheap is so worth it. Definitely a winner especially because the next closest rival to this would be the 60 watt orange crush amp which is way more expensive.

Around the 70-90s there were really great sounding solid state amps available and they were taken out of production. Today you’re seeing the emergence of good sounding solid state amps again that aren’t digital. Roland has always had the jc which is a fantastic pedal platform but companies like orange and hiwatt making great solid state stuff is promising. I wish Fender ditched their tone masters and champion line and just made a transistor deluxe reverb with high end parts and MOSFET transistors. They add two gain stages on tap and they have a winner but they will never do it. Marshall did it with the jcm back in the day and they were great amps. Would be nice to see them do it with either the 1962 circuit or the 1974x circuit.

[heavybrett-al]

I'm blown away...that clean with the reverb sounded great, and then you put the grecco in! And isf control...it's and all rounder..does old and new crunch and handles the single coil stuff....so many options...see this is why your channel is soooo informative. 🤘 Awesome brother

[JohnWellings-mzue]

Great video Leon, straight to the point, concentrating on the amp. So many of these type of video. I get the feeling the guitarist is trying to prove what a wonderful guitarist he is, of which iam not concerned or interested, just the amp. So many thanks

[Manuel-Burnett]

Man! These are some of the best tones I’ve heard out of a solid state amp. I’d love to see a 100(+) watt small box head version! It’d be killer with a vertical 2x12. 😉

[Foefmeis]

I am very interested in it. Started getting into lightweight stuff and love what Blackstar did with the Amped 3, which has become my main amp. Always looking for a grab and go rig and this might just fit the bill. Cheap enough not to really worry about and still a very usable tone. And well built.

[saulocpp]

I play at home on 5W and with friends/drummer at 50W. For those considering, the clean is clean as you expect and sounds very good for the price. The OD channel is exactly that: (over) drive. Gain maxes out at 50% and then it is mostly noise. You won't get 5150 distortion here, but it will solve your AC/DC, blues and general rock and roll needs. Keep the gain at around 10% and adjust your guitar volume for Angus/Malcolm sound, and play with ISF to the EQ you like.

[alanonline]

Yeah, that's definitely a great setup that'll set anyone on the path to Righteous Enjoyment ✊ It sounds like it's got a quite reasonable range of tones, even with the Falcon. You're right, today there is definitely such a narrower gap now between entry/affordable, to mid-range, to the seriously good stuff (and I guess today if you're starting off, the amount of things people are doing with plug-ins and all that too, it all definitely helps anyone trying to find their thing now - definitely a huge leg up).

As for the question below, "what was your first amp?" Well, if I don't count the Roland JC-55 which really was my bro's amp (that I used a lot before he kicked me onto the drums, pffft), that would be a 1972 HH 100W combo which I got when I was 16, it weighed a goddamn TON but it moved sound like a beast. Nobody had heard of the make back here in NZ (unless you were kinda really into this sort of stuff), and I truly regret having to let that one go. But I sure made it a workhorse over the next 20 years of hard, hard gigging, oh boy did I make it work for me! The guy who bought it from me appreciated it and knew what he was looking for, so that was cool. Last 10 years now I've been using a Hi-Watt combo. Which is... a dream.

[jacobfrantzmonster]

Just got this amp love the tips and think it's a great amp love the clean tone G'Day from Phoenix Arizona 👌

[DavidWright-zk]

Thanks for the great video Leon. Much appreciated Brother.

[OldGeezer]

We truly live in a time that is great to play guitar even if just starting. When I started I would have given anything to have this type of a equipment.
Great tones straight out of the amp.. One could gig with this and a couple pedals .. No problem..
I still would buy a Boss Katana, but this is a great sounding amp with no bells and whistles if that's what you want as pedal platform..
Man, I wish I could play like you with your great hybrid picking and your killer legato sir!
That black LP copy is killer! Just killer sir!
Be safe brother! I see you have a long sleeve pull over on.. It must be winter or fall there? I think it's fall right?
Spring here and it's been beautiful.. I have to help friend today and then taking it easy with kitties! My oldest cat is worrying me as she's about 10 now and although she still plays, etc, it's obvious she's getting old.. She was a stray and found her at a gas station crying when she was a kitten in 10`3 and have had her since.. She's a great cat named Patches!
Take care brother.. be safe, be well, and be happy my friend!

[vstrum]

I got mine.. amazing.. and great power.. the bright switch is amazing.. so is the reverb! I noticed one thing... the LINE IN works only when a guitar input is connected. All my other amps (Marshall, Hartke and Fender) can play standalone line in tracks. Is it meant to be so on a Blackstar? I experienced this for the first time. Anyway, absolutely love this amp!♥
EDIT: The OD channel is very hissy and noisy, even at low volumes.. would it make sense to add a noise gate in the effects loop?

[alvarezcanete]

I love it! I called my local music store here in the Philippines. It's out of stock, but they said new stocks will be coming next week. I'm getting this. It was either this or the Katana 100, but I don't need all the bells and whistles of a digital amp. This is cheaper and much simpler. I just love analog. Thanks, love your channel! May you have a million subscribers.

[EasyHeat]

As an 80's kid who cut his jib with a SS Marshall Lead 12 stack? I'm really excited about these all analog combos. No frills. No DSP latency phasing issues.
I mean, for $500 you could have two for a full stereo gig rig and never worry about being out of phase!
Wish Blackstar went with a class A/B power section personally, but that's no overall deal breaker IMO.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Fantastic demo my dude!
Cheers!

[kennyh]

Great Demo, this amp sounds amazing! My Korina/Limba tele w/Duncan Antiquity paf HB's needs this amp! Just bought one! it's the perfect party rig!

[willybilly]

I have this Amp..i love him..for me the best Solid State Amp since the 70's

[accentontheoff]

Hi Leon, and thanks. Any idea whether the send return at the back of this amp works well. I plan to use it with my Boss GX – 100.