“We will continue to innovate and drive our company with passion that’s how we can win”: How Blackstar shook up the amp establishment – and cemented its place in the upper echelons of the industry

The amp industry is at something of a crossroads. At one end of the spectrum, you have a stable of brands forgoing physical guitar amps altogether in favor of digital alternatives, while at the other you have traditional companies that are rooted in old-school heritage.

And then you have Blackstar – a boutique British amp company founded in 2007 by four former Marshall workers, which is pushing the boundaries in both areas thanks to an ethos that looks to innovate the orthodox thinking of tube amp design, while simultaneously capitalizing on cutting-edge digital technology.

From the ultra-lightweight St. James lineup that reimagined what a tube amp could be, to the 100-watt Dept. 10 AMPED pedal, which takes its revered amp tones into a floorboard format, the Blackstar catalog offers a comprehensive selection of amp solutions, addressing everything included fire-breathing stacks, humble practice amps, and do-it-all combos.

But, as Blackstar’s Founder and Managing Director Ian Robinson tells Guitar World, it all started with a company value that those four founders established early on: “No egos and no bullshit.”

“We have a scientific approach that relies less on the designer’s preference than really understanding the needs of guitarists,” Robinson reflects of Blackstar’s approach. “We then apply a really meticulous approach to deliver solutions to guitarists needs.”

A team of more than 40 passionate amp fans helps bring that vision to life, with Blackstar spreading its influence and expertise across a wide range of versatile product types.

“An area in which we are unique is that we are active in innovating in valve, solid state and digital technology,” Robinson notes. “Our most recent patent was for the St. James range of light-weight valve amplifiers.

“This product combined the most innovative power supply technology to make the amp light-weight, a fully analogue / valve signal path and world class IR-based simulation system. All this was developed in house – not many other brands have this very broad technical expertise.”

Those technical expertise are evident elsewhere. Alongside the St. James family, the ID:X 50 and ID:X 100 combos look to make a mark in the especially competitive modeling amp market. To do so, Blackstar brought out the big guns: exceptional tube-like tones, expansive connectivity options, IR compatibility and integration with its Architect software for preset deep-diving and tone sharing. This writer played one, and was blown away.

The result, Robinson rightly says, is a game-changer: “We wanted to take the expectation of what an entry / mid-priced guitar amplifier should sound and perform like up several notches. These are accessible products with truly professional sound and features.

“We’ve been developing digital amplifiers since the ID:Series back 2011. The TVP (True Valve Power) patent on ID:Series delivers the feel of a real valve amp in a solid-state product. Since then, the power of digital processing has increased many times over.

“ID:X uses the latest digital chip sets which offers vastly increased processing power over the ID:Series. We combined 20 years of digital modelling expertise with the most modern DSP technology and delivered a game-changing amplifier.”

At the other end of its product line, Blackstar has tapped into its Marshall roots for a series of no-nonsense tube amps and amp heads that look to both offer classic British and American amp tones, but with a distinct modern flair.

The Artisan range, for example, is all about refining reference amp tones from Hiwatt, Vox, Marshall and Fender, and putting them all into “really usable platforms”. It is but one of the lines through which Blackstar is working to raise the benchmark of amp design. Another is the Series One – Blackstar’s first-ever amp, which received a soft reboot earlier this year.

“We went back to the original circuits and let one of our young engineers loose on the design,” Robinson reveals. “We developed a tighter bottom-end, more definition on the chug and more sizzle in the highs. The circuit is still Series One but changes are significant in both the power amp and preamp resulting in a significantly upgraded sound.”

For a company that looks to elevate classic designs while also experimenting with next-gen tech, finding the balance between the two objectives is crucial, as is the need to give each variety of amp the attention it deserves. For Robinson, that balance is found through putting the player first, always.

“​​We always start the product journey through the perspective of guitarists,” he explains. “The main way in which we balance the technology is by providing great usability. As musicians, engineers and designers we understand that simplicity is often the best – whether that’s a song, front panel layout or electronics circuit.

“We are always guided by these principles, which make our products very approachable and hopefully successful and memorable. Sometimes we do offend by combining technology with tradition. Some people find this quite heretical. We are absolutely driven to find the best possible solution for guitarists irrespective of tradition.”

Another key hurdle that Blackstar has had to overcome is the competition from the established amp brands. As a firm that only started in 2007, taking the fight to the likes of Fender and Marshall has been a challenge – but one it has managed to overcome thanks to its ethic, expertise and ethos. That, and a growing roster of artists that includes Jared James Nichols, Doug Aldrich and Toby Lee.

As Robinson observes, “We’ve come a long way in a relatively short amount of time. There is an undeniable power in the history of those brands and we respect that a lot.

“Sometimes a challenge is that people ‘buy with their eyes – not their ears’. As a challenger brand we will continue to innovate and drive our company with passion, that’s how we can win.”

Who knows where that continued innovation will take the company? Blackstar isn’t ruling out an entry into the floorboard amp modeler world – “We definitely think we could add some value in this area” – nor is it under any illusion about the future of physical tube amps.

“We firmly believe that there is a future for valve amps,” Robinson asserts. “There is actually nothing the same as standing in front of a raging 100W valve head into a great 4x12 cabinet. The guitar, musician and amplifier all form a perfect system and this will never be fully replaced.

“And we firmly believe that digital high-end technology offers unsurpassable convenience and extremely high sound quality, sometimes as good as, but different, to the valve counterpart. We are uniquely set up to pursue each technology and can combine them at will. We’ll continue enjoying to do so until the market says stop.”

• Visit Blackstar to find out more.