Blackstar Unity 60 Bass Combo mini review
First impressions: The U60 combo is well put together. The design is fairly traditional for a combo, with a light grey control panel at the top rear, and a sturdy plastic handle at the top.
The cab is covered in black tolex with chromed corner protectors, the grille is made from a rugged-looking grey cloth, with a very stylish and minimalist logo badge. Behind it resides the custom-designed Eminence Opus 10” driver and two front ports. The whole combo has a 30’s industrial feel to it, possibly because of the retro-looking switches and knobs, which look a bit like something you might find in the control room of the Hoover Dam. It’s about four pounds heavier than my old Rumble 40. I would have preferred it a little lighter, but it’s not a deal-breaker, and it does lend a pleasing solidity to the amp.
The control panel has six knobs: Gain, Low, Mid, Frequency, High, and Master. The Mid is semi-parametric, so the Frequency knob affects Mid only. In addition, there are four switches: the first switch pads the input to -10dB, the second flips between voicings: Classic, Modern and Overdrive, the third switches the Chorus effect off and on, and the last switch engages the built-in compressor. The top panel is rounded off by an instrument input, a power LED and a clip light. On the rear panel there’s a mains input, a ¼” footswitch connector, an AUX input so you can connect an audio source, a ¼” headphone output with a level control, an XLR out with ground lift button, and finally a connector for Blackstar’s own powered extension cab.
In use I was amazed how similar it was in tone to my old Rumble 40. I was able to get most of the tones I was used to with relative ease. The overdrive seemed a little smoother and more subtle than that of the Rumble, but I have no strong opinions on it, as I rarely use overdrive myself. In the same vein, I also won´t be using the Chorus much, so I didn’t spend much time playing around with either that or the built-in compressor.
However, I do practice silently a lot, and here the U60 exhibited some very startling and inexplicable choices by the designers. The way it’s usually done is that the speaker is automatically disabled when you plug your headphones in, and the master volume control controls the headphone volume instead. Not so with the U60. The headphone output has its own level control, and you have to turn the master volume all the way down for silent practice. The level control for the headphone out is of little practical use, as the volume is quite low (depending on your headphones, apparently – my Beyerdynamic 770s, for instance, were down to a whisper), necessitating turning up both your bass and AUX source, if you use one. The problem is that the AUX volume is determined by the Master volume, which you have to have turned all the way down for silent practice, leaving you with only the option of turning up the volume at the source. The only way to turn up your bass is by increasing the gain. This seems to me a hopelessly roundabout and complicated way of achieving something that should be really simple and straightforward, and the only serious flaw in an otherwise very good product. The sound from the headphone out is quite good, though.
Other than that, I’m happy with my purchase so far, but the headphone thing is annoying. I’m not sure what, if anything, I should do about it, or if it’s something that I’ll settle into over time. For now, I’m happy to have a practice combo again,and one that looks and sounds good into the bargain.
