Guitar Tube Amp Combo For Sale (2023 Update)

I recently bought a Fender Blues Jr NOS and was quite happy, good natural clean and grind. Takes both pedals and my X3 Live outboard gear very well, but I was hoping for an amp that had the clean and the hard rock tones without needing to schlep a distortion pedal or my X3 Live. I bought an HT-5R used at MF's sister company hoping it would meet my needs. First, the HT-5R can be very loud. It also has a decent clean, pure for my EMG 60 and a nice blues edge with my EMG 85. The test of any amp is how it handles the hard rock or metal tones tho and the HT-5R falls sort of short… until you add the required Decimator G String Noise Reduction and BBE Sonic Max thru the effects loop. Those two outboards save this amp without running pedalboard effects. Just know, the BBE and G String are not needed nor are they compatible with the X3 Live, the thing buzzes like crazy when I run the X3L thru it with the BBE and G String. The X3 Live sounds great without them tho. I don't have any other modeling/multi-effects systems so I do not know if the Boss ME-70 or similar items are compatible with the BBE or Decimator thru the HT-5R effects loop. I also tried hooking up my Haze 112 straight cab as an external along with the internal speaker, sounds very fine. These two brands of speakers probably play better together than the two companies. Bottom line… I can run this amp without a distortion pedal on the clean channel unless I want crunch (I do). The OD channel doesn't need a distortion pedal but only sounds real when I use BBE and Decimator. I can also use the X3 Live. Both setups can produce awesome results. By itself? Not so much… but I'm still keeping mine for grab and go and gigs with small stages, but I'm keeping my Fender Blues Jr NOS too for when I'm willing to bring my pedal board or X3 Live along.Travisty7

Kind of puzzled by the negative reviews of this bad boy but to each his (or her) own I guess. The Blackstar HT-5R to me is a fantastic little amp. It is solidly built and delivers tube warmth & punch that digital amps can't touch. It's simple layout allows for a versatile array of quality tones without slamming the user with option overload. There are lot of well-thought out features one doesn't usually find on affordable small tube amps such as the excellent emulated output and an FX loop. The clean channel is very serviceable. It's not a mind-blowing Fendery clean but it is very clear and is very responsive to difference guitars and pickups. If you are a country guy, don't bother. If you like gain, keep reading. The star here is the Overdrive channel. There is lots of gain on tap, plenty for most rockers and classic metallers. The tone is a little more rock than pure metal – the palm mutes are reasonably chunky but you won't get Pantera chug without a boost pedal. This is true for most high gain tube amps though, that's why so many bands and producers rely on Tubescreamers to tighten things up. I get a killer warm tone straight onto the amp at any gain level. After setting the gain anywhere above 5 and flicking on my TS-9 (set to zero gain and a just a slight level boost), this thing turns into a fire-breathing crunch machine! Tasty metal riffs abound. The HT-5R is highly recommended for anyone looking for a punchy, rockin' amp for home use or in the studio.Juice Maloose

This amp is a little gem. It pretty much covers all angles from Bedroom practice to Studio, Rehearsal and Live Gigging. With many sound setups in venues using monitored sound systems the requirement for loud backline Amps is a thing of the past and gigging with one means basically not being able to play it at any volume above number 2. A small , but powerful amp with both the monitoring capability and the Emulated MIC capability to go straight into a Desk means that you can have the best of both worlds if needed. You can play it on stage a reasonable volume or you can play through the monitoring if needed. The channel switch and Cab / Speaker options mean you can setup the whole for bigger things if you want to carry the Cabs about with the option to plug in extension speakers galore. The Reverb is smooth, Roomy to Arena and the ISF gives you tonal variation that allows great contrast. If you want a negative… well the sockets on the back are all hidden under the edge of the back panel making them hard to find in the Dark and the foot switch cant be dropped into the back of the Amp for storage…but thats about it! small price to pay for a great piece of Kit.daveperrym2

Great Vox chime and at 4 watts it can gain up without bothering neighbors or even family. An EQ pedal is handy for tone tweaking and don't be afraid of getting extreme with settings on the amp. A truly lovely little beast across genre.Doug Anderton