# Blackstar vs. Mesa



## rotebass (Oct 27, 2010)

Been Gas'ing for a Mesa Roadster for a while now, but I've been playing with some Blackstar amps (Venue 40, Soloist 60) at work the last few weeks. I want my next amp to be something with 4 channels, so I'm considering the Series 1 200 in addition to the Roadster. Does anyone have any experience with both amps that can shed some light?

Edit: I'm well aware of the Korean vs. American arguments, I'm looking for insight on the sound of the amp.


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## JPhoenix19 (Oct 28, 2010)

I own a Roadster (check this sig ) and can say it's an amazing amp! Unfortunately, I don't have any real-world experience with the Series One 200 (I've only seen youtube videos), I've really been impressed with the tones I've heard.

You have to ask yourself what your going for. The Roadster obviously has that Recto distortion tone- but better. It's clean channels are also amazing, Tweed being my favorite for juicy smoothness, and Brit being great for clear and articulate crunch. Plus you can always change the tubes to EL34's/KT88's later. Also, being able to choose 50/100 watts, diode or tube rectifiers, and reverb levels for each channel individually is a big plus.

The Blackstar seems like it has some great tones available as well, and with the bonus of being a bit more streamlined in the process of finding your tones. I have played an HT-series head and I got a great meaty tone almost instantly. I'll just say that if for some reason I couldn't own a Roadster, I'd probably get a Series One 100 or 200.


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## All_¥our_Bass (Oct 28, 2010)

+1 top the Roadstar. Such a versatile amp.


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## signalgrey (Oct 28, 2010)

i have a small endorsement arrangement with Blackstar right now. I just did a whole album of tracking with the Series One 200. Its an amazing amp, the variable wattage switch is one of the coolest things ever. Its a pretty huge sounding amp and the options on each channel are pretty good. I used that and the Artisan 30 head which was phenomenal.

Im sure everyone one here is going to say Roadster...because they havent played Blackstar. Personally im not a Mesa fan, ive never been impressed. I really like the Series One 200 and that was gonna be my next purchase BUT i ended up going with a DAR Forza. But im still using Blackstar Cabs.

if you have questions PM me.


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## Andromalia (Oct 28, 2010)

Well the blackstar is 1K&#8364; cheaper, too. That's not a small difference if you're considering to buy new.


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## signalgrey (Oct 28, 2010)

Let me be the first to say that the "Korean Made" thing...is not an issue. Its built like a tank.

2,200th post!


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## JPhoenix19 (Oct 28, 2010)

Andromalia said:


> Well the blackstar is 1K&#8364; cheaper, too. That's not a small difference if you're considering to buy new.



except it looks like our OP is in Canada, if I'm not mistaken. That puts the blackstar at about $200 USD more than the Roadster, depending on where he gets it from. Also, used Roadsters seem to go for around $1,500-$1,600 here in the states, so if the OP were to go used he'd be saving some serious cash.



signalgrey said:


> Im sure everyone one here is going to say Roadster...because they havent played Blackstar.



Also because I'm a Recto whore.  If my local GC would get a Series One 200 in, I would love to play it. the OP really can't loose either way, unless he gets into some very specific features that one or the other doesn't have. But in regard to getting a very flexible 4-channel amp that sounds great, either way would be a great choice.


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## budda (Oct 28, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> Let me be the first to say that the "Korean Made" thing...is not an issue. Its built like a tank.
> 
> 2,200th post!



This counts when the item in question has been around longer then a couple of years, and yes I'm aware the roadster hasn't been out all that long either .

I'm not going to say which one, as I have no idea how the Blackstar sounds.

I CAN tell you that you need to test them both out and form your own opinions, with YOUR guitar preferably at YOUR house.

How do you do this?!

*You rent them both for a month*.  - yeah, That Just Happened. 

I can tell you without a doubt that the Blackstar will not sound like the Mesa though.

Also to the guy from Ireland: the OP is in London Ontario, where a Mesa won't have the inflation a Blackstar will . Also, I grabbed my minty mint 4 years left on the warranty Tung Sol gold pin in V1 Roadster w/ footswitch and covers for $1600 from Toronto. That's $800 less then you'd be paying for a brand new one, and I know they will sell at that price as I had another email about one after I got mine.


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## Andromalia (Oct 28, 2010)

Yeah, I didn't notice the "ON" near London.


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## budda (Oct 29, 2010)

Always gotta stop, smell the roses, read the fine print, yada yada


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## Rook (Oct 29, 2010)

I have a Roadster and am a Blackstar dealer so know them both very well.

The Blackstar doesn't do it for me. It doesn't have a great deal of character to me, and though it is capable of sounding very big and being very loud, it's not incredibly adaptable, despite having the four modes over TWO channels (it is not a true four channel amp). As far as reliability, we've not had one go wrong yet, but they're not exactly flying off the shelf, so I'm probably looking at a sample size of about 2 or 3 haha. We have however had a fair amount of blackstar reliability issues, a couple overheating, but largely tube issues. The S1 200 is also WAY heavier and has both transformers on the same side so is a pig to carry. In contrast to the Mesa however, it is pretty 'plug and play'.

The reason I bought my Mesa is because it is massively adaptable (tight, loose, vintage, modern, clean, blazing overdrive, 6l6's, el34's, rock, metal, jazz, you name it). It's never gone wrong, and very few Mesas ever have from my understanding. Westside's (UK distributor) service department seems pretty empty and not heard any reported faults.

To me it's not even a competition, and don't take the 'it's more expensive so it must be better view', price is never an indication of anything other than how much it costs! What's more expensive here, is a lot of the time the cheaper option in the USA and Canada (German and British amps being a good example of the opposite of this) so it really is down to what you want.

Roadster all the way.

But then, I did already make my decision...


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## Andromalia (Oct 29, 2010)

Location: London, On
Location: London ONT
Location: London

You guys should create a club.


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## Rook (Oct 29, 2010)

Lol, I'm in the _proper_ London.


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## Darren James (Oct 29, 2010)

You can't beat the versatility of the mesa in my opinion.


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## rotebass (Oct 29, 2010)

Lot's of points to consider, I think I need to find a place that stocks the S1-200 before I decide. I'm quite aware of the tones a Roadster can cope though.

Fun111... touche


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## madrigal77 (Oct 29, 2010)

signalgrey said:


> Let me be the first to say that the "Korean Made" thing...is not an issue. Its built like a tank.
> 
> 2,200th post!


Korean made stuff is actually usually pretty good quality at reasonable prices. I know people have a bad idea when it comes to stuff made in Asia, but Korean and Japanese stuff is generally pretty good. Just stay away from China, Indonesia, ect... built. Just look at Agile, PRS SE, Schecter, LTD, ect... All quality gear at affordable prices and all made in Korea.


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## jaco815 (Oct 29, 2010)

madrigal77 said:


> Just look at Agile, PRS SE, Schecter, LTD, ect... All quality gear at affordable prices and all made in Korea.



I have a Chinese made Schecter C7 that is made vary well. The problem with it when I first got it was that the Chinese made "Duncan Designed" pickups crapped out on me, but the guitar itself was great. I have a PDP X7 drumset that was made in Taiwan and it is flawless. It plays and sounds like kits that cost 3 times as much. 


Just saying, just for the sake of saying, don't discount EVERYTHING from China or other Asian countries.

I will agree with you that stuff from Korea is generally awesome. When I was in Korea last year, I got a good look at a lot of their rip-off stuff like all of these Strat copies and some really great basses. Didn't get to play on any of their amps though.

A good friend of mine has a Blackstar HT Stage 60 that sounds awesome and is super versatile through 3 channels. The only problem with it is that the hi-gain channel is kind of noisy. I don't remember the same amount of noise from the Roadster that we played on in a local shop. The Stage 60's clean channel sounded warmer with more personality to me IMO.


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## rotebass (Oct 29, 2010)

Damnit, I'm starting to think I should stick to the original plan and get me a Roadster. All the recent Roadster threads are making me jealous, plus it would make a great addition to this pile of amps:


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## budda (Oct 30, 2010)

It would add some recto beef to that lineup for sure 

Since you already have 2 mark series heads, I'm guessing you have versatility covered: maybe get a 2010 triple rec for the ultimate recto punch?


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## Andromalia (Oct 30, 2010)

Buy a third mark head, build a rig and enter "The Petrucci Rig Roleplaying Game".


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## Rook (Oct 30, 2010)

rotebass said:


> Damnit, I'm starting to think I should stick to the original plan and get me a Roadster. All the recent Roadster threads are making me jealous, plus it would make a great addition to this pile of amps:



Hi there, my name's nick and I hate you.


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## rotebass (Oct 30, 2010)

The top head is actually a .50 Caliber +, great little head with tons of gain. The second amp is a red stripe Mark 3, the cab is a recto 4x12 with green tolex.

Guitar in the front is my PRS Baritone, had the pickups and tuners upgraded by PRS.


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## Baco (Oct 30, 2010)

budda said:


> It would add some recto beef to that lineup for sure
> 
> Since you already have 2 mark series heads, I'm guessing you have versatility covered: maybe get a 2010 triple rec for the ultimate recto punch?



+1

The Clean channel isn't an "issue" anymore on the 2010 Rectifiers, it really has a great sounding clean channel and the 3 modes on the red and orange channel (with the 2 modes on the green channel) give you a lot of tonal options too. I have a 2010 Dual Rectifier, next amp I'm going for is the Mark V, will make a killer combination


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## Rook (Oct 31, 2010)

I used to have a real fetish (GAS) for the Mark Series stuff, but since my friend got a IV, I still think it's a great amp, but I definitely don't feel the need for one anymore.

My Roadster owns, the sag of a DR, or the (nearly, not quite) tightness and presence of a Mark series in one package.


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## Baco (Oct 31, 2010)

I played a Roadster quite some time ago and I was pretty impressed with it but at that time I wasn't really looking for the Mesa tone and feel. I was going to check it out again when I went shopping for a Recto (mostly because of the clean), but the 2010 DR really delivered what I wanted so the Roadster was out of the picture at that time.


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## joshc482 (Nov 1, 2010)

i am going amp shopping soon. im considering a 2010 triple recto, ive never played a roadster how would you guys says it compares/sounds/feels/articulates/yadaayadaayadaa to the recto? it seems the roadster may be for me. i'll be playing it or any other amp i try with a custom 8 string"just like meshuggahs", a jackson usa rr1 and a parker deluxe, through randall xl cabs, and later vaders and so on.


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## JPhoenix19 (Nov 1, 2010)

The Roadster, being 100 (or 50) watts instead of the triple recto's 150, will have less headroom and break up sooner- though that probably won't matter much as loud as they both are. The main difference is that the Roadster has one more channel and more modes over the dual and triple rectos, in addition to the Roadster having reverb. The 2010 rectos have some features that the Roadster does as well, like half power and effects loop switches for each channel.

Of course, there's also the fact that the distortion on the Roadster is a bit better than the regular dual/triple rectifiers- though I'm not sure how much better than the 2010 rectos.

Hope that helps


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## budda (Nov 1, 2010)

IIRC, the roadster sounds a bit darker then the dual and triple recs. It's a bit darker, but I got mine pretty close to a 2ch triple in tone.

long story short:

Triple will be tightier and punchier with ch2 and ch3 and bury a roadster. If you want the best recto dirt, get a triple or get something else (like a Stiletto).


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