SeriesBlackstar Amplification Artisan

Hi, After having owned it for several years, I think I'm qualified to write a review about this great amp. The review by Pucelle_Dabidjan pushed me to write a review of the Artisan 30, because I don't think his review is objective, having tested it in a store (at least that's what he wrote). In order to do that, I think you need to have used a product, at least, several months, in different situations, at home, for gigs, etc. This amp has a magical side to it. The sensations and sound this amp provides are absolutely magical. I use this amp to play from funk to rock. The Artisan 30 is a rather heavy combo (75lbs), but it's a 2x12 (2x Celestion Vintage 30). Personally, I prefer 2x12 combos to 1x12 models, so it doesn't really matter, any combo will be heavy. :) To get this sound you need to make such compromises. It's a 30 Watt amp with 4x EL84 and it has a switch to choose between 30 Watts or 10 Watts. But be careful: 10 Watts Class A is a lot. And to get a super crunch, remember you need to really crank up the volume. And that's where the Artisan 30 shines. From an amazing clean sound to an amazing crunch, it's all magical. :) The amp has two independent channels with two separate inputs. Channel 1, one HI and LO input. Channel 2 also one HI and LO input. You can also combine the two channels and "jump" them. Which means connecting a cable between the LO input of channel 1 and the HI of channel 2 while you plug your guitar to the HI input of channel 1. Great sound, you will be surprised by the sound you get. :) The Artisan 30 has NO footswitch!!! Personally, I use a Lehle little dual. The Lehle gives me the possibility to choose between channel 1 or 2, but also to use both channels combined. Sweet! I have three different sounds at my feet. It's possible to play hard rock with this amp and pedals to drive the amp. Unfortunately, the amp has no effects loop, but that would've meant losing purity. The Artisan 30 works fine will all sorts of pedals, which surprised me. The amp is very easy to dial in, it's very intuitive. It's impossible to get a bad sound with the Artisan 30. It has its own character, to make yourself an idea it's a mix between a Vox AC30 and a Marshall Plexi. The pros of the Artisan 30: - Solid hand-made amp handwired point-to-point. The inside is really the work of a pro, it's really WOW. Great job and super reliable. - The sound you get with the Artisan 30 is truly magical. From jazz to rock, really excellent. And the feeling you get when playing at quite reasonable volumes, WOW. - The purity of the amp and the fact that it respects the character of the different guitars. - It works really well with effects pedals. The cons of the Artisan 30: - Its 75lbs, which make it really heavy, although it's a reasonable weight for a 2x12 combo . I don't really mind, given the sound I get. P.S.: If I someday decide to sell the Artisan 30 it would only be to return to a 4x12 cab setup. Given the case, I wouldn't hesitate to buy the Artisan 30H with its own cab. ;) But the 2x12 is more compact to transport, otherwise I would have to buy a new car LOL ;) Don't hesitate getting in touch If you have any questions.

(Originally written by quanticman/translated from Audiofanzine FR) This dual channel tube amp uses two different tubes in each channel. The first channel has a British sound and the second one an American sound with a more compressed response and more gain. Both channels complement each other. You can use both channels simultaneously. The result is a stunning sound with the possibility to adjust the character provided by each channel. The amp offers two operating modes: single-ended or push-pull (with 5 or 15 watts). I personally use the 5-watt mode because the other one is much too loud for the room where I play, even with the whole band. The 15-watt mode is useful for live gigs. No FX loop but I wouldn't use it anyway. Settings: volume and tone controls on each channel. It's perfect for people like me who prefer to play the guitar instead of experimenting with their amp. This amp would be perfect with an integrated reverb. It's a boutique-style amp made in Korea. It doesn't have a PCB, everything has been hand-wired point to point. The amp has a Celestion Vintage 30 speaker, cool! UTILIZATION Easy to use: just plug in and play. If you want more crunch simply increase the volume. For another sound character simply change the channel. In spite of this simplicity you can spend hours trying to find a new sound (the tone control depends on the volume). It's a class-A amp so you can also use it as an additional heater in winter... SOUNDS The clean sound is quite amazing... It's your guitar's raw sound. I don't know if you've ever tried to play an unplugged electric guitar putting your ear against the body... With this amp you get that particular sound! It sounds crystal-clear and it blows me away every time I play it. The amp has a huge dynamic response to faithfully replicate your playing. The second channel produces a very nice crunch sound (think The Who Live at Leeds). Nice classic-rock sound. The distortion sound is wonderful but it requires too much output power so I have to use effects pedals to get distortion at lower levels in my room. I own a Blackstar HT-Drive, which has a similar sound. But the distortion of the amp is richer. OVERALL OPINION I've had this amp for over one month and I won't sell it, ever. My quest for the perfect amp has come to an end. The amp is ultra sturdy and I want to keep it my whole life. The value for money is very good for a hand-made boutique amp. People at Blackstar made a good and professional product.

The Blackstar Artisan 30H is an amazingly pumped up amp for its size. The settings it features are "Acoustic, JC Clean, Black Panel, Brit Combo, Classic, Rfier, and Mic" Its features many effects "Chorus, Flanger, Phaser, Tremolo, Delay, and reverb." The true benefit of getting this amp is its portability, using 6 AA batteries it can be taken almost anywhere. Even though it has only 2watts it packs a punch. The only problem is that if u want to get serious about playing in a band you will definitely need a larger amp UTILIZATION I have a collection of amp modeling units and was pleasantly surprised by the punch this one delivers. Many years ago I had a roland Cube and just loved the sound. I'm happy to say that their reputation remains intact. I find that, splitting my signal to this unit plus one of my other modeling units and going direct into the mixing board results in some authentic vintage sounds. I chose this unit over a Fender Champ, small Marshall or Vox alternative. You should check it out as well. SOUNDS Sounds pretty good. OVERALL OPINION Power and Loudness - at very moderate levels the sounds are great, but trying to get anything close to loud from this amp is futile. I looked inside and there is not even a "normal" power transitor visible on the circuit board! So its really a headphone amp with a speaker! You need to connect to a pa or other guitar amp from the headphone out. PA LEVEL-The PA is only useful in a crunch with a small and behaved crowd (like PTA night). If you need a portable PA, a megaphone would be a better deal! INPUT LEVEL-the volume from a cd/mp3 player has No gain and is dependent on the level of the source. Also, no effects are active on the line input (as is common)