Blackstar HT Venue Series Club 40 MKII 1x12 Combo 40w w/Celestion 70/80 Speaker

Falls somewhere between Fender and Marshall tone, but more versatile than either. I also have a DSL-40 and a Hot Rod Deluxe, but this is my yo go amp most of the time. Well built from good material, very sturdy and good looking at the same time. The only complain here, the ISF doesn't seem to be a whole lot. If you are looking to owning your first tube amp, this will be perfect for you. Highly recommend

This amplifier is sloppy and cheap. The overdrive gain control on the overdrive channel produces scratchy noises when operated and goes from zero distortion to massive distortion instantly when turning the gain knob from "0" to just one millimeter rotation. There is no way to moderate the level of distortion. Blackstar would have been more honest to simply install a gain on and off switch. That is all the overdrive gain control knob does. You either have zero gain or massive gain. The power tube bias / balance adjustment controls are hidden. You have to send the amp to Blackstar or a "Blackstar certified" tech just to install new tubes. Tubes must be biased to function optimally and last. But do not trust Blackstar to adjust the gain properly or install matched tubes as required universally with all tube amplifiers. The bias was not adjusted properly when I bought the amplifier new. Either the power tubes Blackstar installed were not matched or they were not biased properly at the factory. This is at least one condition that contributed to premature frying of tubes. I contacted a former employee of Blackstar who sent me instructions on how to adjust the bias / balance for the power tubes myself. The bias / adjusting pots produce scratchy noises when adjusting them because they are low quality pots like the low quality overdrive gain control knob. The overdrive channel amplifies the 60 cycle power buzz from any buildings electrical 110VAC power supply circuit so loud it interferes with the music you play. The only way to avoid that problem is simply never play the overdrive channel. This problem also occurs on the clean channel if you turn up the the volume any louder than what is approproiate in your bedroom or very small venues. Blackstars instruction manuel is very lacking. It does not include the facts that you should warm the amp up for 15 to 20 minuets before playing and that the "standby" position of the "standby" switch should never be used to silence the amp for rmore than a few minuets. Blackstar, for some reason, does not want you to know how to properly operate a tube amp or they are too cheap to provide a comprehensive owers manual. While warming up in "standby" mode, 2 to 3 minuets after turning the power on, a scratchy loud pop noise comes from the speaker with no controls being operated or the guitar being plugged in. It occurs with nothing being touched. This occurs randomly. The "voice" control buttons operate like toggels between "voice" and no "voice". Sometimes the amp retains the "voice" setting last used, sometimes it does not. This occurs randomly. Blackstar built this amlifier with the least expensive Celestion speaker avalibale for its size. This fact alone proves Blackstar designed this amplifier with one thing in mind... maximum profit using the lowest quality products an labor to undercut the average market price while appealing to the widest range of musicians possible. This is the lowest priced amp in its class and size and is a waste of money for any serious musician.

Great amp for small clubs or practice sessions at home with band. Play a 2019 Gretsch 6609-TFM and a 1976 Martin D-35. It’s great for the Gretsch and sounds excellent from clean to dirty. Better than expected with the Martin D35 using a Seymour Duncan SSA6 pickup. The pickup has a built in mic so playing thru the clean channel with the Martin D35 I get excellent reproduction of the D35 resonance. I needed a well powered amp that was versatile to work with the Gretsch and Martin. It’s more than adequate for both. I didn’t want to haul around separate acoustic and electric amps so this is better for my Gretsch but still does a great job for acoustic tunes. It does allow you to switch the output from 40 watts to 4 watts for at home practice.

Hobbiest player with some gigging experience and was looking for something more portable than my 4x12 with head set up. This thing is very versatile and you can't beat the dirt variaty you get. I use it for home playing and bedroom volumes, does great with both and would definitely hold up in a bar/club setting. I tried out multiple amps including the Marshall DSL series, fender blues Jr, bit kept coming back to this. I will admit I bought it from a local music store with a 40% discount sale so payed $623 out the door. Love this thing though but it does weigh just over 50 lbs so not loving hauling up stairs to the garage but that wasn't even an option with my other set up.

I bought this amp 5 months ago and was dead within 2 months. Parts, service and repairs don't exist. This product should be removed from here.

I bought mine at guitar center but i want to let people know that this thing sounds amazing, I am extremely happy to own one.

Really nice cleans and OD. Love it and easy to transport. Perfect for club gigs. I don't need anything else

Very versatile amp. Good for gigging and home use with the power soak. Different voices for each channel plus the isf knob means you can get just about any type of style out of this amp. The clean channel is also good. I have used with Gretsch, Fenders, PRS custom 24 and Ibanez and the amp suits all of them but you may have to adjust the controls to get the best results. Very impressed so far.

Amazing amp for the price. Great clean sound on the clean channel with plenty of headroom. Love the fact you can change the tone of distortion from 'US to UK' and anywhere in between. Solid construction. Also like the option to change between 4w and 40w. The 4w setting is pretty loud (louder than my 5w Fender Champ 500).