BLACKSTAR
HT-5R
Back in the mid-2000s, Marshall R&D employees Ian Robinson and Bruce
Keir founded Blackstar Amplification as a
vehicle for their own design notions. Since
then, the company has enjoyed an admirable
run of success. Thanks to a line that ranges
from the HT stompbox series to Artisan
series handwired amps and the thunderous
Series One amps, Blackstar quickly found
fans among everyday guitarists and marquee
players like Ozzy Osbourne axeman Gus
G., Neal Schon, and such Britpop and New
Wave stalwarts as Echo and the Bunnymen’s
Will Sergeant, Ocean Colour Scene, and
Paul Weller sidekick Steve Craddock.
Though the company’s highest-profile
amps to date have primarily been mid- to
high-power amps with a distinctly British
flavor, Blackstar has more recently ventured
into small-amp territory to give low-watt-loving studio artists and bedroom players
access to Blackstar tones. The HT-5R combo
is among the newest of these smaller offerings. Featuring a very cool stereo digital
reverb, the amp uses a single ECC83 tube to
produce 5 watts of output power.
BY MATTHEW HOLLIMAN
Compact But Capable
The HT-5R’s main controls are mounted
on the top panel. Its two channels, which
are selectable via the footswitch or the
overdrive switch on the control panel, give
you the ability to conjure everything from
snappy cleans to churning growls. The
Clean channel has just one Tone knob that
gives you everything from mellow warm
tones to a brighter sparkle when cranked in
the clockwise direction.
Clean and Overdrive channels
Infinite Shape
Feature knob
Stereo digital reverb
