“I have a 1968 Plexi and Leslie West’s old Sunn amp, which Joe Bonamassa gave me”: Jared James Nichols owns a few vintage amp gems – but here’s why he still prefers Blackstars

Aside from owning an authentic Klon Centaur, Jared James Nichols has a few other vintage gear picks up his sleeve.

However, despite having access to an impressive array highly sought-after tube amps, the blues rock ace admits he still has a penchant for Blackstars, which he's been repping for years now.

“It’s crazy how good that stuff is," he raves in a new interview with Guitarist. “I sometimes get the impression people scoff at me, like, ‘Oh Jared, you still using those Blackstars?’

“And the answer is ‘yes’ because I love the company and they’ve been so supportive, but more importantly, there’s never been a point where I’ve wanted to play anything else.

“At home, sure, I have a 1968 Plexi and Leslie West’s old Sunn amp, which Joe Bonamassa gave me, but there’s never been a time where I was playing through my Blackstars and wished it was a Deluxe.”

It's not the only piece of elusive vintage gear that Nichols has received as a gift from Bonamassa. Recently, Nichols revealed that JoBo had also gifted him his Klon Centaur – which he had to take extra care to protect while on the road.

As for his amps, Nichols’ relationship with Blackstar has expanded into signature model territory, with the brand introducing a new signature JJN guitar amp head and matching plugin just last year.

“Blackstar amps define my tone. It really is the sound in my head. It’s simple; Blackstar inspires me to play at my best,” he said at the time of the launch, which explains why he's stayed loyal to the company after all these years: the Blackstar sound is his sound.

The two had previously collaborated on various products, including the limited-edition JJN-20R MkII amp back in 2020 and the JJN 3 practice amp two years later.

For more from Nichols, plus new interviews with Wolfgang Van Halen and Kiki Wong, pick up issue 531 of Guitarist from Magazines Direct.