I think I have a disease..
I got the Blackstar HT5-R 5w combo to have something reasonably mobile that can be used as a practice amp. Read some reviews online, even though it seemed like the best option available for my use; I was somewhat scared as a lot of people said it is a high-gain only thing. The biggest concern I had was that the clean channel only has one single tone control.
However very happy with it after ten days or so. It's very much like a smaller version of the Marshall JVM410 I usually use to play around on for clean and crunch tones. This has the FX loop I can use with my existing setup (GT-100 + RC-300 4 cable method) and is small and sounds good (my 3 requirements going in). I did try some of the Orange alternatives but they were either tinny (less expensive though) or bulky/heavy (35w instead of 5w though). I fiddled with a Fender Blues Jnr which was very beautiful but it is more of a one-trick thing that doesn't go well if you try to go high-gain (which I occasionally like to do).
It is very nice to be able to orbit more around the turned-up-volume side for a change, unlike the 1/10 mark I have to stay at with my other amps. Squeels beautifully when the madness takes you ? Weighs 12 kg or so, can't recommend it enough. Lots of people online complaining about it being over-hyped or the clean channel lacking or the gain channel being unusable. This was a lesson learned by myself; if you're interested in something, try it yourself - other people's opinions can help, but it's not always everything!
Now I just still need the Mesa to fill the empty spot. Oh and the blues jnr. Oh and then that other.. oh sod it!
