[Lyle]

Right, need a new amp. Something small and portable but still loud enough to gig with - no bigger than a 1x12 combo. I'd consider a small head and cab too. Don't have a particularly large budget - £500 at the absolute most.
I've been looking at the Vox Night Train (downsides - no FX loop or reverb, I'd really prefer to have one or the other)
Blackstar HT-20 (No standby switch - not a big deal becuase it's built into the input, but I've had bad luck with amps with no standby...)

Any suggestions?

Lyle

 

[darren]

Look at some of the small Blackstars. I love my HT-5, but i bet the HT-Studio 20 (head or combo) would kick ass.

http://www.thomann.de/gb/blackstar_ht_studio_20_combo.htm

 

[Stitch]

Blackstar, Blackstar, Blackstar. Get you a good price?

 

[Lyle]

Yep, I was thinking Blackstar. I adore my HT-5, and I liked the HT-20 I tried (couldn't make it sound bad)

Blackstar, Blackstar, Blackstar. Get you a good price?

Oh? Sent you a PM...

 

[599]

The Night Train is a cool amp, but it's not appropriate for metal by any means. I don't even like it with a boost for that.

 

[Lyle]

The Night Train is a cool amp, but it's not appropriate for metal by any means. I don't even like it with a boost for that.

TBH, even though this is metalguitarist.org - I'm not really a metal player. I'm a bluesy/rock kinda guy, who listens to metal every now and again.

 

[Josh]

The Night Train sounds reasonably good, but it's way too expensive for what it is. I'd go Blackstar if you want an FX loop. It might also be worth checking out the Egnater Tweaker, or even a used Marshall DSL201 combo.

 

[Joel]

If i'm honest I much preferred the Egnater Rebel 20 and 30 to any of the Blackstar HT series amps. I would seriously recommend trying one of those!

 

[darren]

Except over in Europe, Blackstar might be a fair bit less expensive than the Egnaters.

 

[Josh]

Really? I spent quite a bit of time with the Egnater Rebel 20 and 30 and found them unreasonably, icepick-ily bright and nasal no matter what I did with them.

 

[Lyle]

Same. I used a Rebel 30 at a gig a while ago (it was the supplied amp), and it sucked balls.

 

[Joel]

Really? I spent quite a bit of time with the Egnater Rebel 20 and 30 and found them unreasonably, icepick-ily bright and nasal no matter what I did with them.

Funnily enough, I found the Blackstar to be how you described the Egnater. And I found the Egnater to be really awesome. Meh, different strokes I suppose.
Both of them were dialled in for a low gain bluesy type tone. I didn't like either for metal, but for Blues, Fusion and Rock I thought the Eganter was much better. I couldn't understand for the life of me what all the Blackstar hype was about.

EDIT: Although I didn't like either of them as much as I LOVED the Cornford Harlequin and Cornford Roadhouse 30.

 

[Josh]

You could spend ridiculous amounts of money and pick up a Budda Superdrive 18 now that they finally have European distribution thanks to being bought by Peavey! :lol:

From what I've seen of your vids, you'd love the amp. However, they are freaking expensive. I got mine used for a huge chunk off.)

 

[599]

TBH, even though this is metalguitarist.org - I'm not really a metal player. I'm a bluesy/rock kinda guy, who listens to metal every now and again.

You might actually dig it then. I was (quite clearly) working off the assumption that you were a metal player primarily.
The amp is a little harsh for my tastes, but you may end up actually liking it. I've heard people make the amp sound incredible, and some people make it sound terrible.

 

[playstopause]

Really? I spent quite a bit of time with the Egnater Rebel 20 and 30 and found them unreasonably, icepick-ily bright and nasal no matter what I did with them.

I used to own a Rebel 20 and now own a Blackstar HT5 and I agree with this. Maybe not "ice picky" but waaay more on the bright side.

 

[White Cluster]

Try the Mesa Express 5:25 or 5:50. Great tones,small and very powerful for their size.

 

[stealthtastic]

What style of music is this for?

 

[96]

I highly recommend a Jet City 20 watt combo or head especially for you kind of music. the combo has reverb but no FX loop and the head has neither but it sounds great and with an overdrive and a delay it would rule for what you do :2cents:

 

[loktide]

i've played the blackstar HT5 combo. it's definitely a cool amp, but not definitely not enough headroom for gigging, or band practice.

i bought an egnater rebel 20 earlier this year, and i must say it's superior than the blackstar in every possible way. obviously, it has more headroom, but the tone is just much more rich and detailed. i've actually ABed it to my VH4 and it's fucking loud and amazing sounding with the master cranked to 12 o'clock. it's incredible how you can go from clean to crunch, to high-gain metal just by turning the GAIN dial. i've never experienced an amp that has so many GREAT sounds within one channel. it also responds amazingly with a tubescreamer in front. all in all, it sounds and feels like an expensive well-built tube amp. it's already nice at bedroom volumes, but it's amazing cranked.

 

[loktide]

d'oh!