Blackstar HT-20R mkII (HT20R MKII / HT 20R MKII)

Small, but Powerful!

The EL84 valves are at the tonal heart of the HT-20R MkII combo and head. Blackstar has used their decades of valve amp design experience to combine the response and character of this classic British valve with a carefully voiced preamp to create wonderfully lush valve tones. From pure boutique cleans, to mild overdrive that cleans up by backing off the guitar volume control, right up to saturated distortion, this amp does it all. For at home or in the studio the Power Reduction switch takes you down to 2 Watts without any compromise in tone: perfect for driving the EL84 power stage.

Simple and intuitive controls, combined with pro features like the patented ISF control, studio quality reverb, effects loop, XLR D.I. out and USB speaker emulated output, make them perfect for any performance situation – whether you’re in the studio, gigging in front of a small crowd, or playing to thousands. From chiming ‘boutique’ cleans, to on the edge crunch, or full-on distortion, HT-20 MkII deliver ‘the sound in your head’

Enhanced Cleans

The HT-20R MkII has two footswitchable Clean Voices, one with an “American” character and the other with a Class A “British” sound.

• Voice 1: Voice 1 clean gives a bright and tight tone with a solid bass response, the tone shaping is positioned early in the gain structure for a refined American tone and response.
• Voice 2: Voice 2 gives a highly responsive “chime” with a looser, resonant bottom-end for a British tone that can be pushed into a mid-range overdrive when driven hard.

Enhanced Overdrives

The two footswitchable Overdrive Voices are characterised by a tone which is high in gain, but avoids any of the detached top-end “fizz” often found in other designs.

• Voice 1: This is the Classic “British” Blackstar overdrive. Rich and natural it goes all the way to Super Crunch gain but cleans up beautifully
• Voice 2: Inspired by the critically acclaimed HT Venue MkII high gain sounds, this overdrive has additional aggression in the high-end with a tight resonant low-end.

 

Patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) Tone Shaping

 

The conventional three way guitar EQ network, or tone stack (a.k.a. Bass, Middle and Treble), is a key to the characteristic “voice” of traditional guitar amplifiers. Classic amplifier designs have their own versions of this network which leads to their own tonal voicings. The ISF control allows you to infinitely adjust the response of the tone control network between any of the traditional voicings in a way that has never before been possible. In this way you can design your own sound and truly find ‘the sound in your head’.

 

Technical Specs:

• 20 Watt combo
• 2x ECC83 preamp valves
• 2x EL84 power amp valves
• 1×12 Blackstar designed speaker
• 2 Channels
• Footswitchable Voices for Clean and Overdrive
• Power reduction to 2 Watts
• USB audio out
• XLR Speaker Emulated Output
• Newly voiced studio quality reverb
• 2-button footswitch included