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The Combo Club

#2,701
Five String said:
Wow. Really slick. How's it sound?
Click to expand...

Still just playing it in my living room -- the band doesn't get together until Friday -- but WOW! What a range of tones! At this point, I'm confused; I don't even know what I like anymore. Can't wait until Friday.

As a side note: There was no manual in the box and I couldn't find one on the website, so I emailed customer service ... 20 minutes later, a PDF of the manual was in my inbox. Not too shabby.

I thought the part about voicing/EQ was particularly interesting.

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#2,705
Purple haze .... and the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock to be held in August in Watkins Glen. A town of significance to many with a good memory for music. Or Fomula 1. Certainly among my friends as likely to hear were you at Watkins Glen? with the same interest as were you at Englishtown?

My Woodstock tale isn't really mine but it was given to me to recall how [this guy] and [his buddies] stole <ahem> borrowed a van from prep school to go to Woodstock, and had the police looking for them for days. Knew [this same guy] in Los Angeles where he worked as a producer and offered to introduce me to Ray Manzarek.

Hazy. But not purple.

The Fender hazy purple coil cable hangs at the doorway to the room with the Blackstar and Vox amps, and the Ibanez basses in the nearby brick and mortar. Guessing the take-home cost will be less than the cost of a ticket to Woodstock 50. Hezy purple or purple haze?
 
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#2,707
Nice!

enjoyed a Russian imperial stout on draft last night, but coudn't tell who crafted it. More like, "ooh, Russian imperial stout, that one, please." And fish and chips. Ordered a coffee and B&B for dessert and passed on the bread pudding. :rolleyes:
 
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#2,711
Samuel (Sammy) Smith is the first Russian Imperial Stout to delightfully cross my path. Would have been hooked, too, if not for Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.

Now it is not by chance this is something one might attempt to order in certain parts of the states before the microbrew resurrection ... early 80s? By my memory American beer up through around then was um. It was. um. Alcoholic. Except no so much so in some parts of the country. Which always struck me as a bit parochial for one who enjoyed being able to buy a beer in a street vending machine. Or at McDonald's. <shrug>
 
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#2,712
GwenOnBass said:
Samuel (Sammy) Smith is the first Russian Imperial Stout to delightfully cross my path. Would have been hooked, too, if not for Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout.

Now it is not by chance this is something one might attempt to order in certain parts of the states before the microbrew resurrection ... early 80s? By my memory American beer up through around then was um. It was. um. Alcoholic. Except no so much so in some parts of the country. Which always struck me as a bit parochial for one who enjoyed being able to buy a beer in a street vending machine. Or at McDonald's. <shrug>
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I have discovered Innis & Gunn Irish Whisky aged stout and recently I&G Kentucky Bourbon aged Porter. Good stuff.
 
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#2,715
For some reason the beer experience is quantitatively different in a Binghamtom, New York bar from an outdoor cafe in Bellagio, Italy. Don't really know why this is because the beer tastes approximately the same if you order an international-style lager. What I can report is you can only buy a pickled egg with your beer in Binghamtom. They might look at you strangely if you ask for that in a trattoria. The plate of olives is complimentary.

Nothing wrong with some "construction bread" and hot peppers that might be served at a lemonade stand in upstate New York.

Watkins Glen is used to some big crowds. Would be worth the effort to see David Crosby at Woodstock 50. Wow. And he's got a new album out that is just a download away. I remember the first record I bought with my own money but for the life of me I can't remember my first download. With something approaching 120G of legal music here on this thumb drive there's a lot of learninating for me to do ....

Ear training ear training ain't it grand.

Reasonably certain that's not a lyric Cros sings. Man alive can he sing!
 
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#2,717
G-Dog said:
Yeah, . . . . Learninating! That's the ticket.

Hey, iago, are learninating the kiddos today?

Hmmm, I gots a new song to learninate for this coming Sunday morning.

Yep, ya learninate something new every day!
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Hey ‘Dog, long time since we’ve crossed paths. Yep, actually taught a full half-day today. Fingers crossed, we’re actually hoping for a full full day on Monday.

So what ya learninating? Something for church? I just submitted five songs to the Reverend for consideration. A couple of Blind Faith songs, two Kansas tunes, and Bruno Mars’ Count on Me. I think that’s this years’s talent show closer as we say bye-bye to the fifth grade.

Pinkie, don’t forget to let us know how your rehearsal goes tonight. Interested to hear how the Blackstar did.

Happy weekend to the Combo Club! :hyper:
 
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#2,718
Blackstar Unity u250 Review



There is so much to talk about with this amp that I don't even know where to start, so I'll just dive in.



Signal Chain: Peavey Millennium 5 (passive) → Blackstar Unity u250 (Voice – Classic, Gain – 12:00, Drive – 9:00, Low – 12:30, Mid – 1:00, Mid Frequency – 9:00, High – 12:00, Compression – 9:00, Master – 12:00)



Band and music: 3-piece playing classic rock and blues (mainly)



Fit, finish, and form factor:

This is a lovely looking amp; I really like the grille cloth and the simple star logo. I can't find the smallest flaw in the construction. I guess it's due to a well-placed handle, but this amp feels lighter than the published 42lbs (19.2 kg). I'm a squishy 6'0” and 170 lbs and I had no trouble with a one-hand carry.



Features:

I'm just going to list these from left to right on the top of the amp first then the back panel.



Top: -10dB input pad, Voice Select (Classic, Modern, Flat), Drive Channel (OD, Distortion, Fuzz), 3-Band EQ with parametric Mids, Effect (Off, Chorus. Octave), Response (Linear, 6L6, 6550), Compression



Rear: Footswitch, MP3 Line In, USB Line Out, Headphones, Line Out Level, E.M. Out/D.I., XLR Line Out, Ground Lift, Effects Sends, Effects Return, Chorus Level, Octave Blend, Cabinet Link



The 2-button foot switch, which is included, toggles the Drive channel on or off to your weapon of choice with button A and the selected effect on or off with button B.



Sound:

The head portion of this amp is pretty unique; it's definitely unlike anything I've used before. There are a plethora of tonal options. Flat voicing with Linear response sounds like a good SS head (Markbass LMII comes to mind) while the Classic voicing with either the 6L6 or 6550 response sounds at least as “tubey” as my Ampeg V4B or Peavey VB-2.



The variety of tonal options come through very clearly at low volume and through headphones. In a band setting, I have really only tried 4 options (knobs as above, plus: 6L6 without compression (with and without OD), and 6550 with compression (with and without OD)) and all sounded great in their own way. Of course, these specific sounds were why I bought the amp; everything else is gravy to me. In a 3-hour session I had no real desire to branch out … just kept playing with a big grin on my face



Low end: It's not the absolute deepest box I've used before; that honor goes to the Genz-Benz Uber 212. However, it shares the thunderous low end presence of one of my other favorite cabs: the venerable Aguilar DB115.



Mids: lots of character. The parametric mids allow you to dial in or out plenty of grunt, growl or honk



Highs: Unsurprisingly, given the lack of a tweeter, it lacks the high end sparkle of some other amps.



Overall impression:

I'm in love. Plenty of volume to keep up with a loud drummer. In the tube emulation modes, this amp has a bounce and grunt to its sound that makes my pants tight, but it can also do crisp and clean. I'm not much of a knob twiddler so I haven't yet explored the full range of the EQ section. It is worth noting that the Voicing switch alters the frequency response of the EQ section. See post #2701 in this thread for details.



I've paid quite a bit more, on the used market no less, for separates that couldn't cop the variety of high-quality tones that the u250 delivers. I am simply blown away by this very capable combo and I was able to get an open box unit for less than $500.



Hope you enjoyed my review. Pics are in post #2658 of this thread.
Oh, and feel free to ask any questions I didn't address.
 
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#2,719
PSPookie said:
Still just playing it in my living room -- the band doesn't get together until Friday -- but WOW! What a range of tones! At this point, I'm confused; I don't even know what I like anymore. Can't wait until Friday.

As a side note: There was no manual in the box and I couldn't find one on the website, so I emailed customer service ... 20 minutes later, a PDF of the manual was in my inbox. Not too shabby.

I thought the part about voicing/EQ was particularly interesting.

View attachment 3312219
Click to expand...
Interesting - seems to be the same sort of idea as the Vintage/Contour/Bright switches on the Fender Rumble series.
 
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