NAD - Blackstar HT40

[Lev]

Managed to offload a bunch of old gear including my Hot Rod Deluxe and replaced it with this....

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff250/plevins/IMG-20110715-00123.jpg

It rocks!!!! More to follow... need to maximise playing time while the kids are out of the house:D

[bcdon]

Awesome! Congratulations!! :dude

[Tig]

Happy new amph day!
Nice choice. Those Blackstars are quite GAS worthy.

[NWBasser]

Very nice score!
:thumbsup
FF's HT-5 sounds amazing and I'd bet that 40 kicks arse!

If I were amph shopping, the Blackstar would be on the short list.

[Lev]

This amp is great. Spent a couple of hours with it today, way too early for a review but just to say I couldn't put the guitar down long enough to hook up my pedal board. The sound straight to the amp without any pedals was so much fun. The dirty channel is amazing, every tone from slight breakup to classic ACDC to modern high gain is on tap here. The clean channel is great, not quite as shimmery as a Fender but lots of useable tones. Its great that you can crank the clean channel but still control the output with master volume.

So far I cant fault it and the build quality is amazing. Feels really sturdy, nice attention to detail with the metal corner protectors and heavy duty stitching on the leather handle. The footswitch is metal and very robust with a rubber underside to ensure it doesnt slide around on stage. All in all I'm very happy!

[Eric]

Cool! HNAD, and looking forward to your review after you've had some time to put it through its paces!

[MAXIFUNK]

Good for you enjoy!

[Monkus]

Happy New Amph Day, Looks great!!!! :thumbsup

[Duffy]

Congrats Lev.

I have played that amp at the music shop several times and it is one of my favorites. I agree that it produces some awesome sounds. I really like the overdriven sounds. It is a great sounding amp.

I played it without any pedals and really liked the sounds. It has enough power to rattle the rafters.

I could definitely see getting one of those some day. It produces sounds of amps I have been checking out that cost twice as much, but they have more than twice as many watts. I would be completely satisfied with the fourty watts of your amp. I like the way it roars.

I bought a Peavey 6505+ 112 combo that is also an awesome high gain amp and it is really fun to play thru. It has great overdrive too. Like you, I have a hard time putting the guitar down after I crank it up, and, like yours it sounds decent at low volumes but really rocks when cranked up about half way.

I must say that the Club 40 is one of the best sounding amps I've played lately, especially if you want to get some really nice overdrive straight from the amp. I played a G&L Tribute S-500 thru it and it sounded super super great. I also played a Schecter C-1 Plus dual humbucker thru it and it sounded really great too.

Have fun with that baby and I'm going to be watching for your further feedback, for sure.

[Lev]

....One year on.... after the love has gone.....
Well I've had this amp for a year now and done maybe 6 gigs with it so the honeymoon is well and truly over. The reason I wanted this amp was because it produced great rock tones on the dirty channel at home and gig volumes which it definitly does. But the reality is that my band play 60's, 70's, 80's covers and some current pop tunes and for 80% of the set I play clean. The clean channel on this amp sounds nice up to maybe half way on the volume but to get past a drummer I need it 75% on the clean channel with the master around the same. At that volume the clean channel loses any clarity and starts to sound harsh and brittle and has serious issues cutting through. I'm now starting to appreciate how good the clean was on my old Hot Rod Deluxe. I've come to the realization that a good clean channel is more important to me than having a second dirty channel. For the past few gigs I just run clean any way and get the dirt I need from my M13. The other thing that really bothers me now about this amp is the weight factor, it is seriously heavy and lifting it in and out of my car for every rehearsal and gig is become a real pain in the back.

I realize that I may be able to solve the clean channel issues somewhat with a change of tubes and speaker but that stuff is trial and error and in my experience you can quickly rack up the cost of a new amp with tube and speaker experiments. I am now seriously considering ditching the HT40. There appears to be a huge choice of tube amps out there at the moment but when you analyze requirements and read reviews you quickly start to eliminate the contenders and find that they all seem to have their faults, short comings and reliability problems. I'm seriously starting to consider a Mustang III as a versatile gigging amp. I do like the clean amp models on my Mustang I and I think the 12" Celestion with the open back cabinet should make a big improvement on the MI and from what I've been reading there appears to be lots of people gigging successfully with the MIII. I really just need a good clean sound that holds together well at band volume, I can use pedals or my M13 for the rest. In fact if the Mustang III was to work out I could even consider selling the M13.

[Duffy]

That's too bad that the clean sound isn't working out for you.

I wouldn't be surprised if you could trade that amp straight up for somebody's Hot Rod Deluxe or even a DeVille. You might try advertizing it for a decent trade. It is a good amp and might get the attention of someone wanting those nice overdrive channels and that hot sound.

You know what you want, but the Mustang III I don't know about, in terms of being a serious alternative. Reportedly the Mustang III and above have been exhibiting the "fizz" sound design problem, more often than not - if you can believe what you read.

I don't know how much the Mustangs cost around you, but Marshall is discontinuing the JMD-1 modelling amps and they are selling around here for less than half the original internet price. It might be a good deal by you. It models only Marshall amps and has four clean channels amoung its models. You might try it out and see if it gives you the clean you want. The deal is pretty awesome and the amp is intense. I have the two by twelve combo and like it. It has four EL34 power tubes to really shake the house, but sounds very decent turned down really low - quite different from the HRD turned down low. Can you turn the HRD down low? Mine is like a kill switch - from no sound to loud, with no low volume taper to the louder sounds. It starts out loud. It is a great amp though, none the less.

I guess if you like clean, a Fender is a real good choice. I would just be skeptical of the Mustang III, but that is just me. I was skeptical of the Vox "Chromies" for years and finally got one, a VT30 that I totally enjoy.

In the end it is probably best to do what you really want to do. That seems to be what makes people happy and motivates them.

Good luck with this. Too bad that Club 40 didn't cut the mustard.

Then again there is nothing, seemingly, like a nice Fender clean sounding amp. Get the Mustang if you want to, needless to say, but I would probably look around for a tube Fender more like the Hot Rod Deluxe that really has some reserve power to shake, rattle, and roll.

[Lev]

Thanks Duffy, the M3's real appeal is that it's light, has good cleans, is inexpensive and loud enough to gig with. I have read and listened to samples of the fizz issue, I just don't know how prevalent it is, the majority of folks using this amp either don't have the fizz issue or it's just don't notice it. It's funny I played with the HT40 again last night and it really shines at low and moderate volume but the clean just falls apart when it's pushed which is a real shame. I know lots of people love the HT40 and this is probably really subjective but the high volume clean sound just won't do for me. So here are my other options:

1. Fender Blues Jnr (great fender clean, small and light, probably won't have the headroom for me at 15w though)
2. HRD - if I go back to the HRD I think I'd want the new one (ver3) with the upgraded speaker and tapered volume pot. These new versions don't show up second hand yet and are a little pricey new.
3. Blues Deluxe - these do show up second hand from time to time, 40w plenty loud, look cool. Mixed reports on the sound I'd need to go try one for myself.
4. Egnater Rebel/Tweaker 40 - seem like great amps but no distributor in Ireland so wound be ordering from overseas and I read lots of reliability problems. Definitely would be contender if there was a local dealer but I don't want to have to ship to it back to the UK or Germany if I run into problems.
5. Try some new tubes in the HT40. Really I think it might be the speaker that's not cutting it and a good speaker is pretty expensive and you really don't add any value to the amp in terms of resale value.
6. A Peavey C30 or Delta blues.

Thanks for the info on the JMD's, they do look nice but prices over here are still quite high and I think I'm set on a Fender clean sound.

[Duffy]

How about a Blues Jr. with a more sensitive speaker upgrade? That will give you a lot more volume. A lot of people gig with them. I think they are cool little amps. Also I tried out the new III HRDx and the volume taper definitely wasn't much of an improvement and has almost no taper at all, like the original ones. Very minor improvement there. The Blues Jr. III amps are supposed to have that popular mod already built into them; the sparkle mod I think it is. This could be a cool amp in my opinion. You could probably also get some more clean volume by using a good clean boost pedal in front of the Blues Jr. Like I said, a lot of people gig with them and don't have a problem. If your drummer is post hard core metal slamming, you definitely will need a lot more power, but if your group is moderated I would think that it would make a light and really nice amp, with a few minor upgrades, like the super sensitive speaker. You can get an Emminence fairly cheap.

Also, if you haven't noticed, over at the Fender Forum that Bill M. guy has a big thread on the Blues Jr. and can answer most questions and has done a lot of testing of speakers and so forth. You should be able to determine from reading the huge Blues Jr. thread there if the amp is going to be loud enough to cut it in your band. You would definitely have a good Fender clean, especially with a recommended speaker if you need to upgrade it for more volume. I think that amp has a lot of clean headroom to begin with, and with a clean boost - who knows?

HRDx would be definitely cool, even the old one, in my opinion. Not much different with the new one that I could tell.

I have played a couple Blues Deluxe amps and I think they are really nice, have great tone, and I didn't miss the extra third channel - the "More Drive" one on the HRDX. I think this would be a super great amp. You would definitely be able to compete with any aggressive drummer and be able to knock the doors down with this amp. It is always good to have that reserve power when people start cranking up the volume competition.

I had the fifteen watt Tweaker and liked it but it blew up on me and I didn't want to go thru the warranty rigamarole. I was able to get a credit toward a new amp and got a Peavey 6505+ combo - definitely zero clean channel, speaking in Fender clean terms. A neat ultra high gain amp. The Tweaker was cool but had a complicated circuit with a lot to potentially go wrong. People like them though.

The Classic Thirty or Delta Blues would totally be awesome. The Classic Thirty might be a little more leaning toward a more clean tone. That Classic Thirty really cranks out some volume and nice tone. It seems to me to have a little more cut to it than my Delta Blues, which is a very nice amp in its own right.

Definitely good luck with this, and you definitely have a real good bargaining chip with that Club 40.

[Katastrophe]

I think the Mustang IV would be a better choice... 2x12 and plenty loud to get where you need to go... I'm all about overkill when it comes to amplification, though.

You may want to consider a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue... Classic Fender cleans, loud enough to gig with, classic cleans, sounds great when pushed, classic cleans, and did I mention classic Fender clean tones? Something to put on the list for sure.

[MAXIFUNK]

I do so love the sound & tone from a good Fender amp. My deVille has that great Fender clean tone and headroom in spades currently in the shop new tubes and biasing and whatever else it needs to get back up running. I like the Black Star clean but its not Fender clean. I was going to buy the Black Star 60 watt 2x12 but the clean on the VHT had more everything and was just more everything overall yeah it cost more but worth every penny.

I have come to find that a great Clean channel with headroom is the most important thing in a amp the empty canvas to start drawing your masterpiece add your favorite pedals and the rest is easy as your fingers can give.

If I was looking for a new amp where great Fender style clean was my objective I would get this
http://proguitarshop.com/fender-super-sonic-22-v-custom-ltd.html