Blackstar's HT Club 40 MkII Black and Blue Edition amp is a knockout

(Image credit: Blackstar Amplification)

Blackstar Amplification has announced the HT Club 40 MkII Black and Blue Edition, a 40-watt valve combo guitar amp with two footswitchable channels and four footswitchable voices.

The new amp is loaded with pairs of ECC83 and Blackplate 6L6GC-STR valves, with the latter tubes designed by TAD as a recreation of vintage Blackplate RCA 6L6GC's for “deeper bass response and smooth top end.”

The Overdrive channel, meanwhile, features volume and gain controls and a three-band EQ, with OD Voice 1 offering a classic “hot-rodded” drive with medium power damping and OD Voice 2 generating a looser, more aggressive sound with reduced power amp damping.

There’s also speaker emulated output with 1x12/4x12 voicing, an effects loop with effects level switch and a USB output for recording.

Aesthetically, the amp comes dressed in boutique cosmetic appointments, including baby blue tolex, tan basketweave fret, cream panel, corners and chickenhead knobs, brown leather handle and a special edition plaque.

The HT Club 40 MkII Black and Blue Edition is available now for $899.99.

For more information, head to Blackstar Amps.

Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.