A Blackstar question!

[KingsXJJ]

Once I'm done pretending this Tone-X endeavor makes sense; I'll give it a go

Ahhh crap. Now I have to give the Tone-X a try. This is why I disappear for weeks. I come here and need to try the latest thing.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Just left a VM to return an opened Boss IR-200 (stupid second impule buy based on a killer price) to get a Tone-X instead from MF.

I have all of the other IK-X pedals and they are simply great. Better than Strymon in some ways. So it looks like I have a totally IK board soon. Excited. Still recommend the Blackstar stuff… especially the Dual Drive at half the cost. Really neat unit.

Thanks @JiveTurkey. You just cost me some $$ once again…

 

[Baba]

I have a Fender HRD for sale if you're interested

 

[Stratzrus]

Copied from my thread on the other forum...

My Blackstar St. James 50W 6L6 arrived yesterday. I've barely had time to scratch the surface. So far I like what I'm hearing but I know that once I dial it in I'll be even happier.

I bought it to be a practice amp, a lightweight grab-and-go for jam sessions, and as a backup for my Fender George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe at gigs. So far it's fine for practicing but I haven't had a chance to check it out in jam sessions and at gigs.

I need to explore it's CabRig speaker emulation to find one that I like and even with the little bit of time I've spent with it I think I might like a Celestion Century Vintage Neo better than the Celestion Zephyr that came with it. I have a few of them so doing a swap and comparison should be easy. I was initially underwhelmed with the Benson HRD but fell in love with it once I installed the Century Vintage Neo. I suspect the same will happen with the St. James.

The clean tones are to my ear a distinct improvement over the JC120 emulation in my Cube 60, the amp I'd been using as a grab-and-go backup at my Jazz gigs so it's an immediate winner in that regard.

I like the gain tones even though the modern high gain settings are fairly tight. I think if I add some compression with my Fractal Audio FM9 and maybe put a drive block (pedal emulation) in front of the amp using the 4CM I should be in business. The 2 watt mode functions as it should and provides nice gain tones at a dramatically reduced volume. I haven't been able to play it loud enough yet to evaluate the Sag setting.

I think the amp has a lot of potential so I'm going to work with it learning how to get the most out of it and decide if it's a keeper during the return period. I suspect it is but time will tell.

I have a Fender HRD for sale if you're interested

So far I don't prefer its Jazz tone to my George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe but after I do the speaker swap it will be more of a direct comparison. If it's even close, with the weight savings, that makes the St. James a winner.

 

[JT]

Copied from my thread on the other forum...

My Blackstar St. James 50W 6L6 arrived yesterday. I've barely had time to scratch the surface. So far I like what I'm hearing but I know that once I dial it in I'll be even happier.

I bought it to be a practice amp, a lightweight grab-and-go for jam sessions, and as a backup for my Fender George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe at gigs. So far it's fine for practicing but I haven't had a chance to check it out in jam sessions and at gigs.

I need to explore it's CabRig speaker emulation to find one that I like and even with the little bit of time I've spent with it I think I might like a Celestion Century Vintage Neo better than the Celestion Zephyr that came with it. I have a few of them so doing a swap and comparison should be easy. I was initially underwhelmed with the Benson HRD but fell in love with it once I installed the Century Vintage Neo. I suspect the same will happen with the St. James.

The clean tones are to my ear a distinct improvement over the JC120 emulation in my Cube 60, the amp I'd been using as a grab-and-go backup at my Jazz gigs so it's an immediate winner in that regard.

I like the gain tones even though the modern high gain settings are fairly tight. I think if I add some compression with my Fractal Audio FM9 and maybe put a drive block (pedal emulation) in front of the amp using the 4CM I should be in business. The 2 watt mode functions as it should and provides nice gain tones at a dramatically reduced volume. I haven't been able to play it loud enough yet to evaluate the Sag setting.

I think the amp has a lot of potential so I'm going to work with it learning how to get the most out of it and decide if it's a keeper during the return period. I suspect it is but time will tell.

So far I don't prefer its Jazz tone to my George Benson Hot Rod Deluxe but after I do the speaker swap it will be more of a direct comparison. If it's even close, with the weight savings, that makes the St. James a winner.

Nice write-up! This is still on my radar. My problem right now (because why wouldn't I find something ) is I would want to use it with my 8ohm F12 speaker. So I would have to either swap the internal speaker in the combo (and hope if fits the chassis) or buy the head and use a single F12 vs. using both of my F12 loaded 112s. That's actually ok for me. I think?

Couple of questions still:
1. How does the clean channel do with drives?
2. How loud is it? I know you haven't gigged it but does it seem like it'll do the trick in an unmic'd gigging environment?

 

[Stratzrus]

Couple of questions still:
1. How does the clean channel do with drives?
2. How loud is it? I know you haven't gigged it but does it seem like it'll do the trick in an unmic'd gigging environment?

I haven't tried the clean channel with drives yet but hope to soon.

So far the Clean channel is quite loud in 50 watt mode when practicing at home. I didn't try it out until last night and I didn't want to disturb other people in the house so I didn't really crank it. I hope to get a better sense of that this weekend. But it was quite loud with the Master around 9:00 so I'd be surprised if it wasn't loud enough to gig with unmic'd. That's critical for me because our gigs almost never have sound reinforcement.

My question is, will the Clean channel stay clean at concert volume. That's also a critical requirement for any amp I gig with.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Just left a VM to return an opened Boss IR-200 (stupid second impule buy based on a killer price) to get a Tone-X instead from MF.

I have all of the other IK-X pedals and they are simply great. Better than Strymon in some ways. So it looks like I have a totally IK board soon. Excited. Still recommend the Blackstar stuff… especially the Dual Drive at half the cost. Really neat unit.

Thanks @JiveTurkey. You just cost me some $$ once again…

Done! Boss IR-200 on the way back. Tone-X due early April from MF. Total out the door after discount, $20 in points and taxes was $338.89. Total on the Boss under the exact same scenario was $311.15

An extra $28 or so well spent I think.

Can you dig it? I can, man.

 

[JT]

Done! Boss IR-200 on the way back. Tone-X due early April from MF. Total out the door after discount, $20 in points and taxes was $338.89. Total on on the Boss under the exact same scenario was $311.15

An extra $28 or so we’ll spent I think.

Can you dig it? I can, man.

Nice! Interested to see what you think on the Tone-X.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Nice! Interested to see what you think on the Tone-X.

Sure thing! I’d love to get my hands on the manual but I keep getting a “forbidden” error on the product page link when I click it. If anyone has a working link please post it. If you have the file itself and will share it via email, DM me… pretty please!

 

[AFKAEjay]

I haven't tried the clean channel with drives yet but hope to soon.

So far the Clean channel is quite loud in 50 watt mode when practicing at home. I didn't try it out until last night and I didn't want to disturb other people in the house so I didn't really crank it. I hope to get a better sense of that this weekend. But it was quite loud with the Master around 9:00 so I'd be surprised if it wasn't loud enough to gig with unmic'd. That's critical for me because our gigs almost never have sound reinforcement.

My question is, will the Clean channel stay clean at concert volume. That's also a critical requirement for any amp I gig with.

I did a couple of gigs with the el34 version…plenty of headroom. I play with civilized drummers…but it felt there was a lot more on tap before this amp even started thinking of breaking up. In my mind…it’s as loud as one would expect from a 50w tube amp….louder then healthy ;-)

 

[KingsXJJ]

Sure thing! I’d love to get my hands on the manual but I keep getting a “forbidden” error on the product page link when I click it. If anyone has a working link please post it. If you have the file itself and will share it via email, DM me… pretty please!

Here it is. Sag and tube type seem to be a couple of parameters I would have expected.

https://download.ikmultimedia.com/plugins/Manuals/TONEXPedal/TONEX_Pedal_User_Manual.pdf