# My Blackstar HT-5R is noisy as hell



## Philligan (Jul 28, 2012)

My HT-5R head is really noisy. It's got like a humming buzz that makes kind of a sizzling sound, even on the clean channel, although it's not as bad. On the dirty channel, it's loud enough that if I'm doing palm mutes or letting chords ring out, you can hear it over the guitar.

I've tried replacing the tubes, which didn't help. It's the same whether I'm turning up the volume or the gain, and it's the same when I use the emulated out. It's not as bad when I haven't got a guitar plugged into it, but it's still there.

I've tried emailing Blackstar and they haven't replied yet. I can't find anything online about these amps being noisy, everyone says they're really quiet. Anyone have similar issues, or have any idea what it could be?


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## wakjob (Jul 28, 2012)

Try all the easy stuff first.

You did the tube thing so...

Take a Q-tip and some Deoxit or isopropyl alcohol and clean ALL the jacks. Thats input, speaker, FX loop, ect...

Slap a patch chord the the send and return. Just to see in the noise changes or goes away. ( It's a nice gain bump too )

Got another IED power cord...try it. Believe it or not, they can be a source of noise.

Check ALL cords and cables while your at it.

And get rid of any pedals/rack gear in use until you can track down the noise source.

Try a different guitar.

Check the jack on the speaker cab. Or try that cab with another amp.

I'll think of some more crap. Good luck.


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## wakjob (Jul 28, 2012)

Oh yeah, I see its a reverb model. Does it have RCA cables like any other amp? Check them or swap them if you have any. Or just disconnect it to see if the noise stops.


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## Mordacain (Jul 28, 2012)

Blackstar Reverb is digital, there are no RCA cables as its on the PCB. Sounds like its defective.


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## wakjob (Jul 28, 2012)

Mordacain said:


> Blackstar Reverb is digital, there are no RCA cables as its on the PCB. Sounds like its defective.



Didn't know that. Makes sense though.

I was wondering how they got a reverb tank into that small chassis.


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## Philligan (Jul 28, 2012)

wakjob said:


> Try all the easy stuff first.
> 
> You did the tube thing so...
> 
> ...



Thanks man  I tried a lot of those, different guitars, different cables, different cabs, and I tried using it without a cab (on standby of course) with the emulated out. I'll try the rest of those.


Mordacain said:


> Sounds like its defective.



That's what I was thinking. I've been trying to get a hold of Blackstar for a couple weeks and haven't had any sort of reply from them. I tried posting in their forum to see if that gets their attention. 

My friend had the regular HT-5 head and I remember being surprised at how quiet it was, so this is making me wonder. I ordered it online a few months ago, but I've been busy and haven't really gotten a chance to take a look at it until now. I'm really hoping I can get a hold of Blackstar, this has been really annoying.

FWIW, I tried a spare 12AX7 I had lying around and it didn't do anything, but I saw something online where a guy replaced his tubes and said it made all the difference in the world. I ordered a Sovtek 12AX7LPS, which is supposed to be one of the best for keeping high gain amps quiet without affecting the tone much. No luck.


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## VBCheeseGrater (Jul 28, 2012)

i would add trying a different power source (maybe a friends house) to wakjob's pretty comprehensive list. I have no idea on the science behind it, but i've had amps that are noisy say, at my house, but at rehearsal on a different outlet it would be fine.

If all else fails return it. My HT20 was never super noisy, especially on the clean channel like yours.

Edit: i keep hearing about blackstar's CS being lousy. You could always try Korg, who are supposed to be the ones that service the amps i believe


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## Philligan (Jul 30, 2012)

VBCheeseGrater said:


> i would add trying a different power source (maybe a friends house) to wakjob's pretty comprehensive list. I have no idea on the science behind it, but i've had amps that are noisy say, at my house, but at rehearsal on a different outlet it would be fine.
> 
> If all else fails return it. My HT20 was never super noisy, especially on the clean channel like yours.
> 
> Edit: i keep hearing about blackstar's CS being lousy. You could always try Korg, who are supposed to be the ones that service the amps i believe



I didn't know that, thanks man  I got it from MF so I'm gonna shoot an email off to them, and I'll try Korg, too. I wouldn't expect them to do anything for me, but I'll at least try and get their opinion on it and see if I could possibly send it right to them for repair.

Blackstar's been brutal, I've tried emailing a few addresses and haven't gotten a reply. Nothing from their forum, either, but every time I log in it says there are zero mods online


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## Edika (Jul 30, 2012)

You should try calling them. If they don't reply to emails they still have to answer phones !


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## jl-austin (Jul 31, 2012)

I had a noise problem, and it ended up being light bulbs in my house causing my noise. I was using the round twisted light bulbs (fluorescent) type, I switched them out to LED, and my noise problem went away. Those little fluorescents have a little transformer, that is not guitar friendly at all.

Not sure if this will help or not, I think you have tried most every thing else.


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## Philligan (Jul 31, 2012)

jl-austin said:


> I had a noise problem, and it ended up being light bulbs in my house causing my noise. I was using the round twisted light bulbs (fluorescent) type, I switched them out to LED, and my noise problem went away. Those little fluorescents have a little transformer, that is not guitar friendly at all.
> 
> Not sure if this will help or not, I think you have tried most every thing else.



I tried different houses, so I don't think that's the issues.

Just spoke with Blackstar. They told me to contact the dealer I got the amp from, which was Musician's Friend, to get it replaced. MF told me that since it was outside the 45 day return policy, they couldn't do anything. They then told me to contact Korg, who does repairs for Blackstar in North America. Korg told me that it's not an issue that they deal with, and that I'll have to take it up with Blackstar (this is after I told them I already spoke with Blackstar). I emailed Blackstar again, who told me to contact my Blackstar dealer and have them arrange whatever needs to be done.

I gave up and found a shop a few hours away that is a Blackstar dealer. I emailed them, gonna see how this pans out.


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## VBCheeseGrater (Aug 2, 2012)

^^ The Runaround, defined.

Good Luck


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