Blackstar ht mkii

[productive regeneration]

So I've been looking at amps a lot and I think that the Blackstar ht 40 mkii was right for me.
The only problem is that I live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere and can't really try it out.
I'm going to be playing progressive metal, so I need the clean and distortion channels to sound good.
Does anybody have any experience?
And if you have a better amp at the same price range than I'd like to hear what it is as well.

 

[Petar Bogdanov]

Strongly consider a Laney Ironheart. Much better for prog metal, IMO.

 

[diagrammatiks]

gross. why not just get a valve junior and put a pedal in front of it. it's basically what the ht series is.

 

[productive regeneration]

Are 5 watts going to be enough?

 

[productive regeneration]

And just prog, it's more like prog death metal.

 

[Petar Bogdanov]

The Ironheart is richer, tighter and more articulate, aggression levels are about the same... For more death metally stuff, a 6505 or 5153 of some variety might be your favorite.

Blackstar is geared more towards heavy rock, and their "metal" range is just crap IMO.

 

[productive regeneration]

How are the cleans on the 6505 MH

 

[productive regeneration]

or the 6505 combo

 

[B.M.F.]

5 watts is enough for the home studio or recording - but do you plan to play live? Do you like the tone of the Blackstar better than anything else?
The 6505 and related are the go-to amps for any kind of metal tones in the studio. The low-wattage variants should make you happy if you like metal tube tones. Just use boosts and outboard EQs to tailor the tone how you want and consider a noise gate.

EDIT: I had a 5150iii combo and I liked the cleans on it because you could get a nice amp breakup to use with pedals. However I prefer solid-state or modeler cleans...

 

[productive regeneration]

just liked the Blackstar specks, I'm going to be using it for recording and live (if its possible), and I'm getting a noise gate anyways.

 

[shred-o-holic]

I actually like the HT series a lot. I am in the minority on the internet apparently. Tone isn't much the concern as is durability. I see a lot of these amps refurbished and resold. I am intrigued by the series II but sure the EVH amps are win all day long. Nothing wrong with the metal tone of Blackstar HT's to me...

 

[LCW]

just liked the Blackstar specks, I'm going to be using it for recording and live (if its possible), and I'm getting a noise gate anyways.

I have the HT20 MKII head with the 2x12 vert cab. I like it quite a bit. Check em out at your local shop if you get a chance. Works great with tubescreamer, RAT, Fortin Grind... also using a Fortin ZUUL with it.

 

[shred-o-holic]

I actually like the HT series a lot. I am in the minority on the internet apparently. Tone isn't much the concern as is durability. I see a lot of these amps refurbished and resold. I am intrigued by the series II but sure the EVH amps are win all day long. Nothing wrong with the metal tone of Blackstar HT's to me...

LOL.....………….and then I bought a Tremonti…………..way way way cooler for \m/