Official Blackstaramps Forum

Hi All,
I currently have an HT Stage 60 that is very versatile but not the best for effects pedals. I know the best type of heads for high gain distortion (which is what I use) are old Fender Bandmasters, Showmans, Marshall Plexi's, Hiwatt 100's, etc. Those amps are thousands of dollars.

I wanted your opinions on the Artisan 30 2x12 combo being that it seems to be a NON-MASTER volume amp which is the best for high gain distortion.

1) Does this amp stay VERY clean on the clean channel at high volumes?
2) Does it have a lot of headroom before breaking up?

Thanks for any info

Anyone??

I suspect this is not an easy question to answer for many people if, like me, they use the Artisan in pub/club size venues where it's not really an option to push the amp flat out - it's very loud for a 30 watt amp. I use the Blackstar Drive pedal to dirty things up (for solos, riffs etc) as the amp itself will stay fairly clean at the levels I use. I use Channel 1 (the cleaner channel) as it has loads of clarity and warmth even with the Drive pedal on. I maybe shouldn't say this on this forum but the Artisan might not be my choice if I was going to use a lot of high-gain distortion, a lot of the time. It really is a great amp but I think there may well be other amps that do the high-gain thing better in the price range, while being weaker than the Artisan in other areas.

I have an artisan 30, well I did until yesterday when I had to return it for repair. Blackstar and Andertons music have been brilliant in sorting this out though.

Absolutely brilliant amp with a VERY loud clean channel. If you have a pedal you like the sound of at bedroom levels then that sound won't be distorted by theA30 at high vfolume.

As has already been said its not a natural high gain amp and in my opinion all the better for that, the sound is pure tone, add what you want but you are building on a brilliant clean sound.

Thanks for the info guys. Basically I'm looking for exactly that - an incredible clean channel that has enough headroom to handle very high gain distortions.

I will do more experimenting. As always, your info is appreciated

your 60 doesnt work well with pedals? - mine works perfectly with every pedal i have - its one of the most pedal friendly
amps i own - what is it about the 60 that seems to be the issue?

the A amps have never been known to be monster gain amps...

majikmojo wrote:your 60 doesnt work well with pedals? - mine works perfectly with every pedal i have - its one of the most pedal friendly
amps i own - what is it about the 60 that seems to be the issue?

the A amps have never been known to be monster gain amps...

The amp takes pedals well.... up to a point. A Hiwatt 100 for example is an amp that is known for taking any pedal you can throw at it since it's an incredibly clean, high headroom amp.

The stage60 works best with the voice switch pushed IN on the clean channel (in my opinion) since it seems to stay cleaner at higher volumes but still has a fairly easy breakup point.

The Artisan series seems to be in the vein of the great high headroom CLEAN amps (like a Fender Showman, bandmaster, Hiwatt, etc)