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#1
12-27-2009, 12:54 AM
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Blackstar Aritsan - anyone play one?
Hi,
Are there any forum members who either play or have played a Blackstar Aritsan 15 head or combo, or even the 30. If so, can you comment on the type of tones you get from it... how clean is it, will it overdrive and distort well?? Can it take stomp boxes especially reverb and generally what you think of the amp?
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Just an old hack! 
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#3
12-29-2009, 03:39 PM
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the 15 combo is a great amp. it's built like a tank. they have one at GC that i play all the time. it has a good clean tone and really starts to growl when you turn up the volume. the only reason i didn't buy it is that i couldn't bring the treble down enough. way to bright for my tele. i do think it would be good with some humbuckers.
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#8
12-30-2009, 10:48 AM
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Quote:
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Just an old hack!
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#9
12-30-2009, 11:48 AM
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designed in the UK and i'm pretty sure made in korea
I played the 30 for a bit in GC last week and found it VERY bright as well, but could'nt get any real volume going to tell how I would like it for real.
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"...coffeehouses are just bars without the payoff" - some guy on Itunes
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#10
12-30-2009, 01:42 PM
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I bought one (the 15) to leave up at church (and so I am not putting wear and tear on my category 5 tsunami by lugging it in and out on Sunday mornings. I save the cat 5 for playing out or guesting at another church).
Bottom line... I like the amp. With a band I have found the amp is not too bright or harsh even with a tele (my current #1 is a hwy one with dimarzio twang kings). On both channels of the amp, I have the tone knob at about 3/4 the way up and the guitar cuts through the mix very nicely. It is handwired in Korea. I have taken the head out and looked at it's guts and they are wired very neatly. It is tubed with eletroharmonix tubes. I prefer JJ's and will someday get around to retubing the thing. Reviews of the amp indicate that it shines best when it is jumpered and you can mix the two channels. I find that as well. The second channel, ECC83 tube, will break up fairly quickly and has a pleasant distortion sound. Depending on your needs, you can run either channel at a higher volume than the other and thus experiment with the different mixtures of sounds that the amp provides. The amp unfortunately, does not have the 3 dimensional quality of my category 5 and is a little more prone to hum than my cat 5 but when you get the guitar further away from the amp, the hum disappears (I don't get the same hum from my cat 5 in the same room, so interpret that as you will... I am a biologist, not an engineer). But the amp does sound very full and I have received the 2 thumbs up from my fellow chasers of tone. In fact the other day when I was playing a short uneffected solo over a ballad type song, I was very pleased with the complexity of the tone that I was able to get out of the amp and guitar. Later that day I told my wife (and you probably heard the hallelujahs) that I am finally pleased with that rig and sound that I have up at church. Backk to the amp, I do like the ability to switch between 5 and 15 watts. The primary difference is the lack of the 'swirl' at 5 watts from the duet of power tubes singing together and not overall volume. Initially, I ran the thing at 5 watts but have since gone back up to 15 to get more of a 3 dimensional sound. The celestion green back is UK made, so that is a real plus. The amp takes pedals really well. I run an OCD and a M13 into the thing and it sounds great. But the uneffected tone is where it can really shine. I don't use reverb so I can't speak to that part of your question. The used market is pretty soft on these amps b/c they are made overseas so you should be able to find one gently used for under a grand. The bottom line is; I believe they are of first rate construction and a great amp. Good luck. Beatnik
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#13
12-30-2009, 03:36 PM
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Quote:
Here we go - I copied it and saved it to Photobucket...  There are further pics from other venues which suggest that it wasn't just a one-night loan or a hire or somesuch.... Last edited by dunara; 12-30-2009 at 04:02 PM.
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#15
12-31-2009, 01:25 AM
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Quote:
__________________
Just an old hack!
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