Blackstar HT-1R to replace Tech 21 Tradesman 10 for recording?

wmalan

wmalan

Member
I've been using my Tech21 Tradesman 10 as my only recording amp. I mic it with my AT 2035 or SM58. But I mostly use the direct out so as not to be loud late at night but find that sound thin. That said, I just can't seem to get a nice clean or driven tube sound out of it either way. I tend to play open sounding chords and simple leads (songwriter here). I play a strat and and Aria ES335 clone. Not a heavy metal guy. Lately I've been hearing that the Blackstar HT-1R is great for mic recording as its a low volume tube amp that drives like a large Marshall.

Anyone here have a comparison of between them? Not found one to play yet. Various youtube reviews give it high marks - but so did their reviews of the Tech 21.

Bill
 
Mate, the only way you're gonna sound like you have a big driven Marshall is by having one and playing loud. There's no shortcut unfortunately.

I play with a 20W Blackstar and its fine for recording at reasonable volume but its still plenty loud enough to piss off the neighbours.

Have you considered using a sim? Some of the newer ones are better. Minerman knows what he's doing with them, he might log on and help you. If you want a songwriting tool, lots of options and a way to record a silence a sim might be your best option.
 
I echo what JDOD says about small amps and big amps. You can get great results recording with a small amp, but you must allow it to be what it is. Trying to make any amp sound like something isn't rarely works out well.
 
I'm just learning about all this stuff, BUT so far what I HAVE learned is it's more about how the speaker reacts with the air (and the guitar within that air) than anything else. I've listened to a lot of small tube amps in stores at volumes that were decent, but it does NOT compare to going into the vault at GC and hammering a 50 or 100 watt Marshall, Orange or even a Fender Metal Head...They just MOVE air. My AC15 15 watt Vox is good at making some very fine noises through it's Celestion, but it's not going to compare to any of those. It just CAN'T. There's a reaction between the air moving in the room and the guitar and strings that my little 15 watter doesn't produce. I can stand 2' away and crank it up and have some very nice distortion and feedback and all the niceness, but it's not FIERCE like a 50 or 100 watt stack (or even a 30 watt Vox).
It's like trying to play AC/DC on a Dire Straights setup...doesn't sound the same. Both are nice tones? Yes, but doesn't sound the same.
 
Some of the "heaviest" guitar riffage ever recorded was through a Fender Princeton. Point being, you *can* get a
great big sound from something besides a Plexi or Dumble. Perhaps some good plug-ins would also help. Good luck!
 
I would also interject that there is probably a lot of guitar amp/cab simulation going on in studios for much "heavy" guitar riffage. If it's done right (that means RIGHT, not how I do it :)), it can sound very realistic. A lot of post core, etc. metal sounds are not desired to have feedback...
 
There's no substitution for the real thing. A 1 watt will never sound like a 100w, or the "drive of a large Marshall". I get why people try, but it just can't be done. So you have to live with the compromises, or step your game up. Maybe, just maybe, you can sort of get part of the sound running that tiny amp into a big cab, but you're not even gonna be tickling the speakers. Big cabs do make little amps sound better though.

I think you'd actually be better off with a nice sim package than trying to make some little toy amp sound like one of the big boys.
 
Perhaps I overstated my "sounds like a Marshall..." comparison. So the thing is I've a small upstairs bedroom of our house that I've treated (as best I can) for home recording. I've been looking at these 1/2 -1 watt boutique amps lately. Some are very expensive. But I found some great reviews of the Blackstar. Perhaps it is an all or none thing but one can hope...

As far as guitar sims go, I don't need all the bells and whistles which I will never appreciate as most times I'm just looking for just a slightly loaded tube amp sound. I think this might turn into taking my Fender Champ (I forgot to mention I have one as well), and putting it in an amp box (sealed closet?) to get the tube sound.

Really appreciate the input guys!

Bill
 
I've been where you are right now, & feel your pain. I went the low-watt amp route, & even went as far as buying a 1w Marshall DSL, which I paid about $800 for new....But a small amp just doesn't do what a big amp will, there will always be a compromise...

I went from ampsims to low-watt amps with a box for my speaker cab, to low-watt amps into a home-made ISO cab, but ended up with a 100w head & 4x12 cab. I could've save a lot of time & $$$ if I'd just went with a big amp to begin with (the 100w DSL I have now was only about $100 more than the 1w version:eek:), but like you, I was trying to be quiet. So again, there's always gonna be a compromise unless you use the real thing...

As much as I like using real amps, I'm gonna suggest looking into Amplitube 4. Their amp models are pretty close, & the new speaker/cab sims are better than any of the others I've tried. It's close, but still not quite there...You can get very usable tracks with it though, but it'll take you a little time to dial it in for what you're after...


Good luck!!!
 
wmalan said:
Perhaps I overstated my "sounds like a Marshall..." comparison. So the thing is I've a small upstairs bedroom of our house that I've treated (as best I can) for home recording. I've been looking at these 1/2 -1 watt boutique amps lately. Some are very expensive. But I found some great reviews of the Blackstar. Perhaps it is an all or none thing but one can hope...

As far as guitar sims go, I don't need all the bells and whistles which I will never appreciate as most times I'm just looking for just a slightly loaded tube amp sound. I think this might turn into taking my Fender Champ (I forgot to mention I have one as well), and putting it in an amp box (sealed closet?) to get the tube sound.

Really appreciate the input guys!

Bill
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How quiet do you need to be? If your Champ is too loud, you may do better going the sim route. I don't know anything about amp boxes but presume they have baffles. I've tried putting amp in closets before. Didn't work for me. Is your Champ the all-tube 1x10 combo? It's more than capable or making great recordings. Find the best tones that are in it, make them work in your music. Same as any amp.
 
Robus said:
How quiet do you need to be? If your Champ is too loud, you may do better going the sim route. I don't know anything about amp boxes but presume they have baffles. I've tried putting amp in closets before. Didn't work for me. Is your Champ the all-tube 1x10 combo? It's more than capable or making great recordings. Find the best tones that are in it, make them work in your music. Same as any amp.
Click to expand...

Quite: Upstairs converted bedroom (well a treated bedroom studio) so the sound can travel down the cul-de-sac.
Kinda took your advice though and sticking with what I got for now. The Champ is great for mid day when folks are up. At night I did spend some time with the Tech21 and seem to get ok tone with a tweed-clean-uk speaker and the drive turned way up and the master to a decent recording level. Seems to be better!
 
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