Review: Blackstar TV-10 B – Can This Stylish Tube Combo Convince?
The British Tube Crunch!
4,7 / 5,0 | 
I have reviewed the Blackstar TV-10 B amp for you! Here you can find out what I liked and if there’s anything to complain about.
All About the Blackstar TV-10 B Amp
Blackstar TV-10 B: First Impressions
First of all: This little guy is stylish! The olive green vinyl and black and white front grill look great together with the large leatherette handle on top. It almost looks like an elegant piece of furniture. Overall, the workmanship is very impressive. Everything looks exactly as it should. It makes you want to plug it in and start strumming your first chords. And that’s exactly what I did. But first, here’s an overview of the Blackstar TV-10 B’s technical specifications:
Blackstar TV-10 B – Key Features
- 10 watt tube combo
- 12″ Celestion Seventy 80 speaker
- 1x ECC83 (preamp), 1x EL34 (power amp)
- digital reverb
- switchable boost function
- effects loop
- emulated output with speaker simulation
First Check: How Does the Amp Sound?
The little combo looks impressive on the outside. So far, so good. But how does it sound? The description promises a traditional British vintage sound. The design and the choice of components confirm this. So I grabbed my Stratocaster and checked it out.
First impression: Wow, it’s loud! With the gain at 12 o’clock and the master at about 10 o’clock, the speaker produced quite a bit of volume. It wasn’t easy to find a volume setting that was comfortable for my room. The master is very responsive to the shortest setting. When turned all the way to the left, the limit is already reached at 8-9 o’clock, so my neighbor doesn’t complain. This is a problem that most full-tube amps unfortunately have. There’s a lot going on in the 9-10 o’clock range. There is also a lot going on with the tone control. But more on that later.
The amp definitely delivers the promised British tone. Snotty crunch sounds with nice dynamics, i.e. sensitive response to string attack and turning down the volume knob on the guitar, work perfectly. From clean to medium gain, it’s got it all. But this amp is no high-gain monster. The included footswitch can be used to activate a non-adjustable boost. The built-in digital reverb sounds great. It is perfectly adjustable and does not produce any unnatural or annoying reverb tails. Well done!
Tonal Flexibility?
The Blackstar TV-10 B is a classic one-trick pony. It doesn’t offer much in the way of flexibility. The amp does its job very well, but it always has a snotty, rebellious attitude that comes through loud and clear. Crystal clean tones with smooth highs are not its forte.
Which brings us to the tone control. I can’t imagine anyone ever turning it past the 12 o’clock position. Nobody seriously needs that much treble. The built-in Celestion speaker tends to overload the treble. Maybe it will settle down after a while, who knows. Personally, I had my problems with this flaw in the upper mids. I also had mixed feelings about using it with various distortion pedals. I would have preferred some kind of presence control.
The Amp in a Band Context
How does this little guy perform in a band rehearsal? Pack it up and let’s go! We’re talking about a mid-sized rock band with two guitars, bass, keyboard, and drums. Would the 10 watts of pure tube power be enough? To make a long story short, no!
Throughout the rehearsal I had a pleasantly assertive sound for all the rhythmic parts. Thanks to the 12″ speaker, the combo didn’t sound too thin for its size and cut a good figure. Unfortunately, when I wanted to make myself more audible for one to three solo passages, it didn’t work. There is not enough headroom. Above a certain volume, the amp simply distorts and breaks the sound. From 12 o’clock on, practically nothing works. My fellow musicians and I thought this was a shame.
On small stages with moderate volume or with quieter band ensembles, the Blackstar TV-10 B will certainly have no problems and make everyone happy.
Connections and Conclusion
The rear panel provides a variety of connections for external speakers, a serial effects loop, and a useful emulated line out. The latter can be used either as a headphone output or as a connection to an audio interface or mixer. So the impression is a bit contradictory. While it was hard to tame at home, it reaches its limits in live situations. To be fair, the technical specifications don’t promise anything else. However, I would definitely recommend the Blackstar TV-10 B as a stylish practice amp and for moderate live use. The price of $635.00 / £579.00 / 666.00€ (or a bit less for the A version) is therefore reasonable.
For guitarists who prefer a more American sound, the Blackstar TV-10 A might be interesting. Both amps are available here at Thomann*.
Pros and Cons: Blackstar TV-10 B
Pros
- Authentic crunch and medium-gain sounds at moderate volumes
- Useful features and connections
- Nice reverb
- Attractive and high-quality finish
Cons
- Little power reserve in louder band contexts
- Tone control works a bit strangely (see my test)
More Information
Original article is written by Andreas Cordes for GEARNEWS.de.
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