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Blackstar Unity Combos and Powered Cabinets
- Thread starter Plastalmonus
- Start date
Thanks. I think I'll go for Phil Jones instead as his stuff tends to be lighter.
Yeah they aren't the lightest out there- but they sound amazing and have a compelling feature set (IMO)
Anyone know how these sound as I haven’t heard them yet. How do they match up with the fender rumbles, are they just as good? I will be really impressed if they are.
They are very good.
As good as the rumble series? Personal preference there. They aren't as light, but have a couple of different features.
The preamp and poweramp voicings sound awesome.
yeah i just heard them.
they sound good.
i think i prefer the punchyness of the rumble, it has just a bit more clarity.
oh yeah the effects are alright. and the responses. unless u want that tube sound, the rumble stage offers more for better otherwise i dont mind spending a bit for a few pedals if necessary.
The unity series don't have tweeters/horn- which is fine by me- but still have a lot of detail, if not a lot of 'air'.
Can you explain what you mean by “air” - are you saying that the Unity wouldn’t be as powerful in a crowded room?
I’m thinking of buying this as a first gigging amp for bars and small crowds. I’ve never owned more than a 25w practice amp so far.
I mean treble extension- the highest frequencies.
As to maximum performance- the u500 has been kicking it in crowded rooms for me!
Love it
Tried something new with my Blackstar Unity Combo and it worked great! Ran my Fender jazz bass through my Focusrite Scarlett2i2 into Amplitube 4, through the headphone out of the Focusrite to the Aux-in of the combo. The combo acted like a power amp and let me pick and choose Amplitube amps and effects.
So I ordered the U250 through Sweetwater and it was on back order for almost a month. It finally arrived and it didn't work. Absolutely no sound out of it, not even a hiss. So I returned it and am waiting for a new one to be delivered on Tuesday. Very disappointing.
That sucks but I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. Makes you wonder though: if it is a manufacturing fault then it’s worrying that it could leave the factory like that. If it was damaged in transit it can’t be that robust (unless they dropped it off the tailgate). Let us know how you get on as I’m still deciding between this and a Rumble.
Just got one last week and still blown away but how versatile it is. Between the pre-amp settings (classic, modern and flat) and the power amp responses (linear, 6L6 and 6550) combined with the onboard compressor and effects like OD, distortion, fuzz, chorus and octave and an included footswitch, these are easily the best bang for the buck combo amps around IMO.
In regards to the weight, especially the near 50 pounds of the U500, compared to the 36 pounds of the Rumble, inspect them and you'll see why. The rear panel housing with the controls on top of the Blackstar is metal. The one on the Rumble feels like some kind of cheap plastic. Open the cabinet up and you'll see where the extra weight is from too. The inside of the Rumble is cheap plywood and the Eminence speakers are also cheap. The Blackstar uses better quality materials and much better Eminence Opus speakers with bigger magnets which contribute to the weight.
In regards to the weight, especially the near 50 pounds of the U500, compared to the 36 pounds of the Rumble, inspect them and you'll see why. The rear panel housing with the controls on top of the Blackstar is metal. The one on the Rumble feels like some kind of cheap plastic. Open the cabinet up and you'll see where the extra weight is from too. The inside of the Rumble is cheap plywood and the Eminence speakers are also cheap. The Blackstar uses better quality materials and much better Eminence Opus speakers with bigger magnets which contribute to the weight.
I bought the 250 yesterday, really enjoying it so far, good range of sounds, although I wish I'd parked closer to GAK as it's a heavy old amp!
Anyway one thing I feel was missing from the manual was some suggested presets for different reasons tones. With the amount of preamp-sims and drives and so on I'm getting a bit lost!
Anyone got any favourite settings they can recommend?
I had a U250 for a few months before I gifted it to my nephew, who was starting to jam with friends and needed more than his small practice amp. My favorite setting was using the classic voicing along with the 6550 response - very close to SVT grind IMHO. The chorus effect is very good - octaver didn't excite me. Compression good as well. I usually kept eq pretty much flat and adjusted accordingly with my bass.
Loved the amp practicing at home - playing with bandmates , not so much. Mostly play in a power trio situation - with loud guitar and heavy drummer. Pushing the amp with high volume and gain resulted in "flubbiness" and frequent farts and had a hard time cutting through the mix. Bandmates complained they couldn't hear me well enough at lower volume/gain levels to alleviate the flub. Also, I quickly tired of shlepping it around as it was quite heavy.
Unfortunately, my nephew has had some issues with amp totally cutting out on him during higher volume playing and the footswitch doesn't want to work for him at all. I never used the footswitch and have heard about issues with it from other TBers.
After gifting the amp to my nephew, I acquired a Rumble 500 combo and couldn't be happier! Much easier to find the tone I'm after and stays solid and clear at high volumes without breaking a sweat! Also, a pleasure to carry around compared to the U250. Nephew is now trying to sell the U250 and I'll help him acquire a 500c.
Hopefully, Blackstar addresses and corrects problems with their first series of bass amps in future releases. If you're mainly playing at home or lower volume situations, hopefully you won't run into any of these issues. Blackstar should also look for ways to make these amps lighter as that seems to be a determining factor, especially with old farts like me!
Isn't the Rumble 500 comb 2x10? Comparing a 500 watt 2x10 to a 250 watt 1x15 for volume isn't quite fair. I have a U250 combo paired with a U250 1x15 powered cab. The 500 watts through 2x15 does not fart out. I don't mind the weight since I don't gig with it and don't move it that often.I had a U250 for a few months before I gifted it to my nephew, who was starting to jam with friends and needed more than his small practice amp. My favorite setting was using the classic voicing along with the 6550 response - very close to SVT grind IMHO. The chorus effect is very good - octaver didn't excite me. Compression good as well. I usually kept eq pretty much flat and adjusted accordingly with my bass.
Loved the amp practicing at home - playing with bandmates , not so much. Mostly play in a power trio situation - with loud guitar and heavy drummer. Pushing the amp with high volume and gain resulted in "flubbiness" and frequent farts and had a hard time cutting through the mix. Bandmates complained they couldn't hear me well enough at lower volume/gain levels to alleviate the flub. Also, I quickly tired of shlepping it around as it was quite heavy.
Unfortunately, my nephew has had some issues with amp totally cutting out on him during higher volume playing and the footswitch doesn't want to work for him at all. I never used the footswitch and have heard about issues with it from other TBers.
After gifting the amp to my nephew, I acquired a Rumble 500 combo and couldn't be happier! Much easier to find the tone I'm after and stays solid and clear at high volumes without breaking a sweat! Also, a pleasure to carry around compared to the U250. Nephew is now trying to sell the U250 and I'll help him acquire a 500c.
Hopefully, Blackstar addresses and corrects problems with their first series of bass amps in future releases. If you're mainly playing at home or lower volume situations, hopefully you won't run into any of these issues. Blackstar should also look for ways to make these amps lighter as that seems to be a determining factor, especially with old farts like me!
I have the Fender Rumble 800 head running through an Ampeg Portaflex 410HLF. The Rumble series are awesome too.
The Rumble 500 is 350 watts at 8 ohms. The 100 watt difference makes little to no difference in volume, but for what I'm playing the U250 just didn't cut it. The 10lb difference in weight DOES makes a difference - to my back anyway!
I think the two 10's does help compared to a single 15. Two 15's at 500 watts does get loud though. The Fender Rumble 800 head and Ampeg Portaflex 4x10HLF are easier to move than the Black Star Unity rig. I agree that Fender did a good job with the new Rumble series amps.The Rumble 500 is 350 watts at 8 ohms. The 100 watt difference makes little to no difference in volume, but for what I'm playing the U250 just didn't cut it. The 10lb difference in weight DOES makes a difference - to my back anyway!
