Is the STANDBY Switch causing problems.

[BrianD]

I have both an ARTISAN 30 Combo and a 15 combo. Since I bought the 30 in September 2008 it has been replaced twice (under warranty) and had the recifier valve replaced 5 times. I love the sound of this amp but am very concrened about the reliability of the design and the rate at which it gets through rectifier valves. I should point out I only gig a very few times each year so the amp gets relatively light use.

I recently posted a query about valve life on another site and received the following information -

"Without going into the technical reasons the best advice is as follows :-

1. If your valve amp has a semi conductor rectifier, then you should power the amp on with the standby switched to off and leave it for 30 seconds or more before moving it to the on position.

2. On powering on an an amp fitted with a valve rectifier then standby switch should be left in the on position. If you follow the proceedure in 1. above then there is an instantaneous demand for current from the rectifier which over time will greatly reduce its life and place unnecessary stress on the rest of the valves.

Remember that the early Vox AC30s and other amps of that period had no standby switch."


This is totally contrary to the Blackstar Owners Manual which states -

16. Standby
This switch applies the H.T. (High Tension) voltage required to produce sound.
Always turn this switch on at least 30 seconds after the Power switch (17) and off at
least 30 seconds before the Power switch. During short breaks in playing use just
this switch to turn ‘off’ and ‘on’ the amplifier’s output.

Which is right? Are our problems caused by the Stand by switch?

[Moose]

I bought my Artisan 30 secondhand from a Blackstar dealer back in March. Since then, my jewel light has blown and I'm now experiencing the same standby switch problem you describe. Just blown the fuse for the second time. The reliability issues are beginning to taint what is otherwise a great sounding amp. Shame.

[tiger]

I see quite a few people posting questions and issues with Blackstar amps on this forum. I also hear great things about their customer service (which is reassuring!), however I haven't seen them respond on the forum. Do they monitor this forum?

The switching valves dilemma for Blackstar is a tricky one. I would imagine the valves are the weakest point of any valve amp so discouraging folks to have them swapped without going back to the manufacturer is a problem for most users. On the flip side Blackstar probably want some control to stop people "meddling" and then trying to get warranty work if they screw up!

My amp was ex-demo so probably needs new valves soon. Changing the pre-amp and rectifier valves should be straightforward, but I haven't seen anything official from Blackstar stating if the amp is fixed bias or not. I also have a Mesa Boogie amp and the manual for that makes this very clear.

I will say that the products Blackstar are releasing are excellent so perhaps a lot of the questions will get addressed over time! Perhaps they need an FAQ section on their web site?