Whether or not the push toward lightweight amplifiers is a lasting trend (and why wouldn’t it be?), the quest for less tonnage is definitely yielding interesting amps. Fender’s recent digital simulacrums of the Deluxe and Twin demonstrated that light weight and vintage-correct style can co-exist. Blackstar, too, has made “lighten the load” its modus operandi for the new St. James series. But rather than using digital means to drop pounds, Blackstar stuck with tube amp architecture. That leads us to the St. James 50 EL34 reviewed here: a proper 50-watt, 1×12″ tube combo that, remarkably, weighs just 24 pounds.Blackstar calls the St. James—which comes in 6L6 or EL34 and combo or head/cabinet versions—“the lightest 50-watt amps on earth.” They’re hardly bare bones, though. The St. James 50 offers two differently voiced footswitchable channels, onboard power reduction (50 watts to 2 watts), a digital cab-modeling DI output, digital reverb, an effects loop, a USB connection, and more. And that distant roar? It’s the sound of 10,000 guitarists’ aching backs delivering a standing ovation. Channel CrossingThe St. James’ two channels give the amp a strong transatlantic personality. With a single volume control as well as bass, middle, and treble controls (shared by both channels), channel one aims for glassy, slightly scooped American clean tones. Channel two features gain II and volume II (a channel-specific master volume) and the shared EQ section. It’s built for British-style tones, which, in this case, range from Vox-y chime to stack-style roar. Toggle switches on the top panel provide channel switching and a boost for channel two (a footswitch is also included for both functions).That distant roar? It’s the sound of 10,000 guitarists’ aching backs delivering a standing ovation.Because the St. James is built around a top-rear-mounted chassis, many connections are situated on the underside of the chassis. But Blackstar thoughtfully provides arrows to the essential connections, so you don’t have to lie on the floor to find them. Connections include USB audio-out for direct recording and loading Cab Rig presets (via the included editing software); a footswitch jack; an effects loop send and return and level switch, a 3-way Cab Rig preset switch; a line out/headphone jack; and a balanced output (a reactive load inside enables silent recording when desired). There are also two 8-ohm speaker outs and a single 16-ohm out.Inside the semi-closed-back 20″ x 18.25″ x 10.25″ cabinet, which is made from light candlenut plywood, you’ll find a St. James-exclusive, super-light, ferrite Celestion Zephyr 12″ speaker. Both cabinet and speaker contribute significantly to reducing weight. The retro-modern, fawn-colored cabinet, incidentally, does a nice job of stylishly communicating its Anglo/American split personality.In addition to two EL34 output tubes that generate the back-end power, the Blackstar includes two 12AX7s in the preamp. Tube nuts will know that this isn’t enough to generate an old-school, all-tube front end, so clearly some elements of the circuit have taken a solid-state detour. That said, this complement allows for tube gain stages in the most critical positions, and aids the weight-reduction effort by requiring less electrical power, filtering, and other hardware.Star PowerThe St. James 50 EL34 is powerful. It covers a lot of ground, too. Generally speaking, channel one aims for a black-panel Fender baseline but reads more as a blank slate. That means it excels in tandem with pedals, yet can also feel short on gain coloration. After all, a little breakup and compression is usually part of the formula for most classic ’60s clean machines. A simple OD can rectify this though. A Wampler Tumnus Deluxe, Way Huge Red Llama, and TS10 Tube Screamer all brought out the best of the St. James’ tamer side. Kick one of those on, or chain a couple together, and there are toothsome bluesy leads and thumping rhythms aplenty.Channel two goes from clean-with-grit to medium gain with the drive beyond 2 o’clock. It also kicks out juicy, classic-rock lead tones when pushed with the boost. It’s important to note that the boost level is preset and elicits a volume jump that varies according to drive II and volume II settings. Sometimes it’s a major leap, but it’s great for getting more sting out of channel two.There are a few characteristics shared by both channels. The amp tends to bark in the upper midrange, almost regardless of EQ settings. It can also be pretty biting in the treble zone. Both conditions seem as much a function of the speaker as the amp itself and could mellow as the speaker is broken in. On the upside, the treble-forward profile and volume on tap mean you won’t worry about cutting through a dense stage mix. Both channels sound surprisingly beefy in the 2-watt mode, too. The digital reverb, meanwhile, is atmospheric and lends a nice sense of space, though there are no super-surfy spring sounds.The VerdictBlackstar’s St. James 50 EL34 1×12 Combo offers potency, useful extras, and a nice array of sounds in a very light package that will make many backs very happy. It’s priced competitively with mid-power offerings from other big guitar-amp manufacturers. It’s also incredibly practical, demonstrating that tube power still has a place at the featherweight amplifier table.Blackstar St. James (EL34) Demo | First Look

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame inductee and Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Ozzy Osbourne has shared a new single, “Nothing Feels Right”, featuring his longtime guitarist Zakk Wylde. The song is a reflective, moody ballad, with Wylde delivering an emotional, melodic solo. The track is featured on O…

Sink your teeth into a new song from Swedish death dealers Vånda.
The post Track Premiere: Vånda – ‘Omnis Hypocrita’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Sebastian Bach (SKID ROW), Billy Gibbons (ZZ TOP), Matt Sorum (GUNS N’ ROSES) and Gilby Clarke (GUNS N’ ROSES) performed at a private party Saturday night (September 3) at Usina Monte Alegre, a 400,000-square-meter space in Piracicaba, São Paulo, Brazil. The event was staged by Sthorm, a mission-dri…

I’ve been in the guitar business in the same city for many decades. One of the advantages of that is I get to see a lot of great instruments we sold years ago come back again. One of the disadvantages is that many times those instruments are returning because an old customer has died or become too frail to play them. All of us who deal in used and vintage guitars love to see great gear, especially when it’s been well cared for. But when I not only recognize the guitars but also remember the owner, the opportunity to sell their instruments a second time is bittersweet.When dealing with a collection of instruments from an estate, it’s often obvious that the family members who have inherited our old customer’s gear didn’t really understand the “guitar-life” of their deceased relative. If they don’t play and if the collection includes more than a few instruments, the benefactors of the inherited gear often consider the collection kind of a bother. An 80-year-old Gibson or Martin, for instance, often doesn’t look like much, especially if it’s seen a fair amount of wear. The comments are telling and often include some variation of “I just never understood why they needed so many guitars!” However, when relatives find out what the collection they’ve been stuck with is worth, that attitude often changes.Back in the 1980s and ’90s, we had a regular customer named Jimmie who was one of our favorite Saturday guys. It was clear he visited other Bay Area guitar shops as well. He wasn’t attracted to instruments in mint condition, partly because he didn’t want to pay the higher prices, but mostly because, as he put it, “I like to see some wear; then I don’t worry if I add a little more of it.” Jimmie wasn’t a great musician and never gigged, but he knew his way around a guitar neck and never resorted to “Blackbird” or “Stairway to Heaven” when trying out guitars. We hadn’t seen Jimmie in at least 20 years—retirement and failing health had taken their toll—but I recognized some of his instruments when a middle-aged guy and his teenage daughter brought in several guitars for appraisal. Our old customer was their Uncle Jimmie. The nephew, who looked like a former GQ model, made it obvious the family considered their uncle little more than a loveable loser with no family and no nice cars or furnishings. All he’d left them was just guitars in tattered cases and box after box of records and CDs.“My uncle loved to chase after guitars,” GQ nephew said wryly.“And he played the ones he caught,” I added, pointing out the recent refret on Jimmie’s beloved 1930s Gibson L-00.Jimmie purchased most of his instruments well before the 21st century run-up in prices and before well-worn guitars became so popular that guitar makers began offering distressed finishes. He bought his ’50s Telecaster, for instance, when only country pickers played Teles, and he’d picked up a pre-war Martin 000 back when everybody wanted dreadnoughts. Jimmie had scribbled the purchase date and price of almost all his guitars on a now-faded, well-folded sheet of paper, which his nephew shoved in my direction.“I thought this might help,” he commented.After looking at the guitars briefly, I made a copy of Jimmie’s inventory and wrote a rough estimate of each instrument’s current value in the righthand column.“Your uncle made some wise purchases,” I pointed out. Indeed, several of Jimmie’s guitars were now worth 10 times what he’d paid for them. Others, such as his Martin archtop and a few later acquisitions, had appreciated more modestly.GQ nephew’s eyes bulged when he looked at my estimates. He added up the numbers on the right side of the page very quickly and processed the fact that poor old Uncle Jimmie had left his family an accumulation of instruments worth well into six figures. His daughter looked over her dad’s shoulder but was less impressed, instead asking if she could have the Gibson L-00. “Uncle Jimmie called that little Gibson his couch guitar,” she said wistfully. “He loved the sunburst and always had it handy. Hearing him play it was what got me hooked on playing guitar. That’s what he played when he gave me my first lessons.”When her father suggested she might want one of Jimmie’s better guitars—meaning one that was worth more—she seemed unimpressed with the offer. Like her uncle, she didn’t measure guitars in dollars.I’d like to think her Uncle Jimmie was smiling, although from where I have no idea. And it wasn’t because his status in the extended family had taken a quantum leap with the surprise value of his musical gear, his smart investments coming up in the future whenever his name was mentioned. Instead, what probably tickled Jimmie was that his grand-niece was obviously going to have a guitar-life of her own, and his favorite guitar was going to be played.