The Blackstar HT Club 50H MK III takes the two-channel, four-voice preamp of the HT Club 40 MK III and pairs it with a 50 W EL34 power section in a head that weighs 14.6 kg. It suits guitarists who already own a cabinet and play clubs, rehearse or record. The included FS-15 footswitch changes channels and voices, a front switch drops the output to 5 W, and CabRig outputs with USB-C audio cover silent recording and practice.

Channels and Voices

The clean channel switches between an American voice, bright with a firm low end, and a British voice with looser bass and a warmer midrange that breaks up when you push it. The voice switch changes the preamp voicing, EQ, tube gain structure and power amp damping together. The overdrive channel offers a hot-rodded classic voice and a modern voice with a mid-focused boost ahead of the gain stage and less power amp damping. Blackstar's patented ISF control sweeps the overdrive tone stack from an American response with a tight low end to a woodier British response.

Speaker Outputs and Recording

Two sets of speaker outputs run a single 16 ohm cabinet, a single 8 ohm cabinet or a pair of 16 ohm cabinets. CabRig emulates the power amp, speaker, cabinet, microphone and room, and a rear switch recalls three stored CabRig patches for the balanced XLR output, the stereo line out and headphone jack, and USB-C. Over USB the amp sends four channels to a computer at once: stereo emulated left and right, the preamp signal before reverb and cab emulation, and the dry guitar. It also takes a stereo return from the computer for backing tracks. Blackstar's Architect software edits CabRig and sets reverb decay separately for each channel.

Features

• 50 W tube head with 2 x EL34 and 2 x ECC83 tubes
• Two channels and four voices, all footswitchable
• Patented ISF tone control on the overdrive channel
• Power switch for 50 W or 5 W output
• Digital reverb with a rear Dark (room) and Light (plate) voicing switch
• CabRig speaker emulation with three stored patches, editable in Architect software
• Balanced XLR and stereo line out/headphone outputs that stay live in standby for silent practice
• Effects loop with +4 dBu / -10 dBV level switch
• USB-C audio with 4 channels out and 2 in, using standard drivers
• 5-way footcontroller jack for the optional FS-14 (channels, voices, boost and reverb)
• 2-way footswitch jack with an external switching mode for TRS switchers
• Kensington security slot
• Designed to accept 6L6 power tubes after rebiasing at an approved Blackstar service center

Specifications

• Output power: 50 W RMS
• Tubes: 2 x EL34 (power), 2 x ECC83 (preamp)
• Channels: Clean and Overdrive, two voices each
• Clean controls: Volume, Voice, Bass, Treble
• Overdrive controls: OD Select, Gain, Voice, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, ISF
• Master controls: Reverb, Volume, Power (50 W or 5 W)
• Speaker outputs: 1 x 16 ohm; 1 x 8 ohm or 2 x 16 ohm
• CabRig outputs: Balanced XLR, stereo TRS line out/headphones
• Effects loop: Send, return, +4 dBu / -10 dBV switch
• Footswitch: FS-15 2-way included, optional FS-14 5-way
• USB: USB-C audio, 4 channels out, 2 channels in
• Weight: 14.6 kg (32.2 lb)
• Dimensions: 558 x 220 x 245 mm (22.0 x 8.7 x 9.6 in)

In the Box

• Blackstar HT Club 50H MK III head
• FS-15 2-way footswitch
• Mains power cable