Blackstar ID Core. What's the verdict?

[Kestrel]

Been thinking of picking up the 40 watt version to use as a practice amp. Doesn't seem too bad for the price and I like it's simple control layout. Anyone own any of the Blackstar ID Core amps?

 

[LeftyAl]

Just looked at Amazon. !69$ 30$off regular price ,if I read it right.Free shipping too.Never played through one

 

[Lunchie]

I have the 10 and havent touched it in a couple months. Its a fun little toy but i have more fun toys to play with.

 

[oldteleguy]

I have the Core20- a nice amp, with that stereo surround sound- a lot of fun for small
bucks!

 

[Tele Convert]

I have a 10. I really like the simplicity of it. It's really great for night time playing when the kiddies are sleeping.

 

[Kestrel]

Thanks everyone. I should be receiving the 40 watt model sometime today (ordered through Amazon).

 

[Jalpow]

Could someone please comment on the dirt tones available on this amp? Love the stereo speakers, but as I dont play higher gain stuff Im unsure if this or the mustang would suit me more.

 

[jaytee32]

Often heard words here and on other forums:

"You want clean - get the Mustang. You want overdrive - get the Blackstar".

Caveat: usually they're talking about the ID TVP series. I've never played the Core series so I can't be sure it applies there as well. I like these guys reviews, check it out:

 

[Tele Convert]

The cleans are pretty good on the core amps. Not as many variations as the mustang but they're definitely useable. On the clean channels, as you turn the gain up it can get to an overdriven amp sound but not quite distortion. The crunch channels pickup where these leave off.
There isn't much of an eq on the amp itself, there's the ISF, which acts as midshift, or tone control. You can get on the PC and adjust BMT, but I haven't found this entirely necessary.
As I stated earlier, I love how simple it is. I had good tones within minutes of getting it out of the box. The mustang, you'll need to spend a little more time with on the PC.

 

[Jim Dep]

The mustang, you'll need to spend a little more time with on the PC.

True for the Mustang I and Mustang II. With the Mustang III, IV, and V ,
you can choose just the basic amp and use the knobs on the amp to adjust
your volume, gain, bass, treble, mids, reverb and master volume.
No computer needed.

 

[Tele Convert]

I spent some time using the insider software tonight, mainly to see if there was a way to get the tremolo to sound decent. It had this weird tone to it that sounded strange. Sure enough there was an extra parameter for each effect that could only be changed in the software. In the tremolos case it was "pitch". Turned that all the way down and it sounded normal.

 

[StormJH1]

Could someone please comment on the dirt tones available on this amp? Love the stereo speakers, but as I dont play higher gain stuff Im unsure if this or the mustang would suit me more.

I had the ID Core10 and recently flipped it for a Yamaha THR10, which is 3x the price, but notably better and more versatile tone-wise, despite the fact that they appear to have almost the identical feature sets. I suppose you could compare the larger models of the ID Core series to the Fender Mustang, but if we're doing that, you might as well open it up to Fender's own Super Champ X2 (tube/hybrid modeling) and the Peavey VIP series, which I thought sounded quite good.

I wasn't clear on your question because you wanted a review of the "dirt" but said you don't play higher gain stuff. The problem with the ID: Core modeling vis a vis something like the THR10 is that it really only has one type of dirt, with varying degrees of saturation. There's a Clean Warm and Clean Bright channel. Those sounded quite good. I think the effects on the Blackstar are tremendous, and I love the push button setup (including tap tempo for delay). If you want a low volume practice aid for a surprisingly low price, this amp will get you that. Don't expect really any meaningful low end out of the 10w model. Somehow, the THR10 gets considerably more bass out of a similar speaker configuration.

But if you just want a modeling amp, and don't need it to be super compact, the Fender Mustangs are very well-liked. I think my Super Champ X2 does the Fender tones better because it has tubes in it, but the Mustang is probably better at nailing other types of amps.

 

[Jalpow]

I wasn't clear on your question because you wanted a review of the "dirt" but said you don't play higher gain stuff. The problem with the ID: Core modeling vis a vis something like the THR10 is that it really only has one type of dirt, with varying degrees of saturation. There's a Clean Warm and Clean Bright channel. Those sounded quite good. I think the effects on the Blackstar are tremendous, and I love the push button setup (including tap tempo for delay). If you want a low volume practice aid for a surprisingly low price, this amp will get you that. Don't expect really any meaningful low end out of the 10w model. Somehow, the THR10 gets considerably more bass out of a similar speaker configuration.

Apologies, I was referring to the lower gain tones, crunch etc. I A/B'd the core 40 and mustang 1 yesterday and came home with the mustang. As you said, the core seemed to have a single voicing, despite the isf knob, whereas I was able to muster many different sounds out of the mustang. Enjoying playing around with the fuse software too.

 

[Kestrel]

Could someone please comment on the dirt tones available on this amp? Love the stereo speakers, but as I dont play higher gain stuff Im unsure if this or the mustang would suit me more.

Okay, so I've been playing through the ID Core 40 at home and I really like it. I'm also not one for high gain tones, but the dirt on the ID Core 40 sounds really good. I play mostly through Clean Bright, Clean Warm, and sometimes Crunch. The gain controls work very much like what you'd see on a tube amp, and there are a lot of great tones you can get even at bedroom levels. I tried the 10 watt model once at a GC store I visited a while back and I wasn't particularly impressed, but the 40 watt version is another story. Way more headroom and the delays sound amazing in stereo. Reverbs sound very lush too, making this an ideal practice amp for ambient music types. I've had the Fender Mustang III, twice. Great amp, but I much prefer the simple controls the Blackstar over a menu driven UI. For me, it's just about the perfect practice amp for home use so I don't have to burn tubes on my other amps.

 

[Tele Convert]

Glad you're diggin it. The cores really aren't bad for a cheap little practice amp.
My wife loves the little amp. It seems with the tiny little speakers in these things when at a similar in-room volume level as a larger 1x8,10, or 12" amp the sound doesn't really transfer to the rest of the house as much. This is key for late night playing for me.
I really don't care for headphones, and had gotten to where I just wouldn't play after everyone went to bed. I now find myself playing a lot more often.

I also didn't want to use my PC to tweak stuff all the time, then this happened

Sure enough there was an extra parameter for each effect that could only be changed in the software. In the tremolos case it was "pitch". Turned that all the way down and it sounded normal.

This bummed me out a little. But then I read the manual. The space in between the numbers on the fx selector changes the other parameter (pitch, feedback, etc) Very cool!