Hi All, Paul here. In general, thanks for all your interest in this series of videos. It was very improvisational in how it was put together and we had no idea how it would come out. Thankfully Lee and his team are now very experienced with this type of KZread malarkey and they’ve done a great job. More seriously, in looking through the questions below I have noticed a common complaint:- Basically my utterly inadequate explanation of ‘biasing’. I apologise for this. However, as mentioned elsewhere, with the huge variation in the knowledge of different viewers, it is often difficult to know where to pitch some of the answers, hence the use of analogies and metaphors. For every person saying they understood nothing, there’s another complaining about ‘dumbing down’. Anyway, for this I’ll try another quick explanation:- In this case, ‘biasing’ is setting up the power valves so that even when no signal is applied there is some current flow through them. Enough to keep them in an operating range that is both safe, reliable and low in non-musical distortion. The different ‘classes’ - Class A, Class AB, Class B - are used to describe how much the valve is biased. Usually in a Class AB type guitar amp, biasing is achieved in the circuit by applying a negative voltage to the control grid (valve input). This voltage is often adjusted by a small potentiometer. Adjusting this pot will effectively vary the ‘resting state’ operating point of the valve. I’m sure that is still not going to be good enough for some people but to explain this further would require a lot more words, going deeper in to electronics theory and probably also diagrams. To understand that would require an existing basic knowledge of electronics and anyone that already has that will most likely already understand biasing anyway. It is something that is taught quite early on as it is used in all sorts of electronic circuits. I think some people get too hung up about the word 'bias': "Is my amp 'biased?" It's not a political thing, it's not about being PC or 'woke'!!! It's simply about setting the normal operating condition of the valve so that it has the correct range to work within when a signal is applied. There you go, that's another explanation for free. I hope this helps. If not, take Frank Zappa’s advice, “Shut Up ‘n Play Yer Guitar”.

@wfrancis25

5 жыл бұрын

Hey Man. You do not need to apologize at all.I am an Electronic tech in the radar field and for the past year I've been involved with Hi gain RF amplifiers (GaN amps) and the idea of Biasing is still very tricky and hard to wrap your head around. Unless you are a Tech, and even then you should not be messing with biasing unless you know what you are doing. This series was seriously Awesome and I thank you guys at Blackstar for being there. PS my dream was to be an Valve amp designer and it might start happening soon, even tho I still know little of valve amp designing

@allenwarfield9262

5 жыл бұрын

Hello Paul, thank you so much for the knowledge and further explanation. I thought you did fantastic explaining biasing, especially based on the improvisational nature of this video. Most people watching aren't going to be servicing amplifiers and the small percentage that are already know about how to properly bias a power section of a valve amplifier. So I felt that leaving it as 'setting the idle current of the valves for proper operating range and stability' was spot on! Too much current, valve life shortened (possibly drastically), and damage to other amp components very likely. Too little current, poor sound and response. A great deal of modern amps have fixed bias resistors in place now to keep the bias within set ranges for best operation, so no need for manual adjustment. Also, there are a plethora of KZread videos (and web blogs) of techs showing how to bias many various amps if anyone was interested in seeing how and why it is done. But, there are lethal voltages inside amplifiers and one should take theirs to a qualified technician if they are unexperienced. Thank you again, and Capt. Lee, for these wonderfully informative and entertaining videos! Cheers!

@JohnvanCapel

3 жыл бұрын

I've always had it explained as kind of the ignition timing on an old car or motorcycle (back when that was manually adjustable). You bias too cold, it's like having your ignition timing too slow - low power, rough-feeling engine, some amount of extra wear on certain parts. You bias too hot, it's like timing your ignition too fast - which causes worse fuel consumption, overheating, and a host of potential problems that you *really* don't want to have happen.

@glynnsmith4560

3 жыл бұрын

There will always be comment gurus needing to prove something about something. If they are truly clued up about biasing they would understand why an abbreviated description was given to a mixed audience and wouldn't feel inclined to expect degree level instruction on an Anderton's video. I'm just revisiting these 4 vids for the second time as they were interesting enough to warrant that (when one of them popped into my suggested vids) .. thanks Paul, Yorkshire amps for Yorkshire folk and plenty to share with everyone from everywhere.

@alixjenkins7081

Жыл бұрын

Amazing man!!!

Hi All, just to second Paul’s comments, we enjoyed doing the vid’s and are really pleased that people have found them interesting. Thanks to Lee for his excellent questions. Truly the Eamonn Andrews of rock and roll. Looking forward to doing a follow up sometime soon! Thanks everyone. Ian.

A big thanks to blackstar from us viewers. I know it took a lot of effort from these individuals to bring us answers to things that have always boggled our minds.

I like the down to earth approach of the Blackstar guys where it concerns amplifier design, which is not magic at all. Keep up the good work!

Paul, fair play man. Delighted you didn't dumb things down too much. Legend

@Blackstaramps

5 жыл бұрын

Thanks, I'm glad people have enjoyed the series. Paul.

@leonbarron368

5 жыл бұрын

@@Blackstaramps It was great. I was skeptical at the start but 5 minutes later I was all in. Really great knowledge sharing. Very much appreciated!

@leonbarron368

5 жыл бұрын

5 minutes in of the first video by the way! 😀

I've really enjoyed this series. Thanks for creating it. A great deal of useful info.

Really informative series guys. I'll definitely be considering things differently when I'm making my next (Blackstar, of course!) amp purchase. And thanks for taking the time. It's appreciated!

This was one of the best things Andertons has posted in like 4 years. Thank you. A very good source of information regarding amps.

Great work Blackstar & Andertons for this series of video's! Lots of great information in there and great to see Blackstar being very humble and helpful. Thanks!

@Blackstaramps

5 жыл бұрын

Cheers mark! Glad you liked it. Ian.

Outstanding! Love these guys and their products..... lots of great information. Please have them back again.

You should do something like this with guitars too! Say PRS, or the Gibson custom shop. I realize it would be harder to do it with an American company, but it would be interesting to get deep into guitar building with a high end builder.

@orlock20

5 жыл бұрын

Look up the Crimson guitars channel. They do mostly custom shop stuff and show the tricks of the trade from tools to wiring to stain jobs.

I realy gained respect for Black Star as a brand by listening to these guys. Very interesting, thank you.

Thank you for sharing I wish you a nice Weekend friendly regards Frank

This has been the best one so far! Nice job lads, keep em coming!

Best series on KZread! Learnt so much (or actually, got all the myths thrown out the window.. :) ). Thanks!

Major respect to Ian, Paul and Lee for this series. I hope to see more!! I see a Blackstar product in my future, mainly because of the conversation and the values presented in this series. Finally, in the comments, Ian and Paul took the time to directly address my questions - that is huge to a hobbyist/enthusiast like me.

FINALLY have an answer on the sodding impedance question! Been asking that for years and got a lot of snakeoil in return. Thank you! Confess to not really registering Blackstar in the past but am very impressed by this. Excellent little series, thanks Andertons and Blackstar.

Thanks to the Blackstar guys and Andertons ! great series , I learned a ton ! kudos !

What a great series! Thank you all for talking through it all and giving explanation to why most of us rockers love valve/tube amps

Great stuff guys! Very informative indeed! This wee series has answered many questions that have bugged me for years. Many thanks!!! :)

I appreciate the no BS approach! The Blackstar guys do a great job on camera translating tech info without trying to over complicate it.

VERY interesting series, Lee. I come away from it feeling like I know less than ever, but at the same time that maybe a few things clicked. Mega kudos to a Blackstar for their philosophy of doing things based on the science of it all.

This has been a great series. I've often wondered how I'm going to explain 60 years of experience with guitar amps to my grandson. You have done a terrific job in 4 short videos. Plus he is more likely to listen to you than me. Thanks.

Thanks for taking the time to share this knowledge.

Captain - thanks for doing this series - it was very enjoyable and informative. I would really enjoy more content like this in your channel. Cheers! Moo!

Thanks for another great video! Loved this series!

Really appreciated this, thanks to the gents for doing it. I’ve never even seen a Blackstar irl but will definitely be hunting one down after seeing the character of the guys who developed them. Cheers

Thank you Andertons and the team at Blackstar for this series. Hearing an expert explanation is a refreshing antidote to all the voodoo about valve amps on the web. Likewise was seeing a company talking generically about their industry without it a being a hard-sell of their own brand - nice on gents. Saying that, I bought a Blackstar ID TVP a few years ago and I’m now a digital convert. It sounds as good as real valve amps I’ve owned in past and I never to have to worry about swapping out power valves…..just turn the dial!

Hey Guys, Great Job on the Blackstar Amps. I love mine 👍 this was a Very interesting series of Videos. I really learned a lot of things I have always wondered about. Thanks for taking the Time to do these Videos.

"It depends." Pure truth. And the best series of Andertons videos ever, from where I sit.

Great series!! Liked it very much!!

Cheers! to Ian and Paul for these great set of videos. Really insightful and much appreciated! (all the way from Austin, Texas, USA).

@Blackstaramps

5 жыл бұрын

Cheers Neil!! Ian

This was a great series. I’ll be honest and say I’d never considered Blackstar amps previously but I certainly will in the future. Learnt stuff too!

Pound for Pound Best pedal amp I ever owned is a Blackstar Artist 15w. Liked it better than the Vox, Fender or Marshall’s offerings . Keep up the good work Blackstar

As an engineer I totally second your philosophy. Trying to understand why things work the way they do is how I do my job. I don’t know how often I told people „there is no such thing as vodoo, there is only physics and it‘s the same for everybody“.

@TheRj454545

5 жыл бұрын

As Captain Kirk said "You have to learn why things work on a star ship" - I quote this at people my team too often.

What an informative and interesting series. I have a Blackstar Fly 3 and for a tiny tiny amp, it blew my mind how good it sounds. Blackstar are doing great work from their pro equipment to their bedroom gear.

Really interesting stuff. Thanks for providing it.

Great series, big thanks Blackstar and Andertons for doing this! A dedicated series about what they mentioned in the last bit about A/B'ing everything and discussing both amplifiers would be really interesting. "A/B and Why?" could be a great name for it haha :D

great series guys i like people who build stuff better !

I could listen to those two all day! Well interesting! Thanks 🎸🤟🏻

@Blackstaramps

5 жыл бұрын

Cheers ric! Glad you liked it!

Great series!!

I hope you do more in this series. The best interviews I've watched on your channel have been with the blokes at Blackstar, Bruce Egnater and Ade Emsley from Orange. I love the history talk and tech talk regarding amps and the rutting through some of the bullcrap like the whole standby switch myth. I;m sure someone in the comments section is going to insist our friends from Blackstar are ignorant and wrong because they know better from their time on the interwbz : Thank you Captain Lee, always an awesome and informative interview. Lee Anderton would be great in a talkshow format like the New Dave Allen At Large haha

Thanks for this episode and keep up the good work!! Proud owner of a Blackstar Artist 15w 112.

Love my Blackstars! I have an HT100 head and 4x12 a 30w TVP and a 5w metal combo. All are fantastic!

I love the science driven approach taken. Too much mysticism can deter knowledge and progress in times to come. My best wishes to them on achieving and maintaining the success they have in the industry.

Cheers to the Blackstar team and nicely done Lee, Jeff in LA USA

Absolutely loved these 4 shows...could listen to blackstar blokes way longer....another 4 pats at least..so interesting and sooo 'no bs'....easy to understand!...thanx!

I want one of those *BLACKSTAR* shirts! Love the videos guys, my rig is a 2010 HTStudio 20h & ENGL 1X12 PRO cab Thanks for what you guys do.

This was absolutely brilliant

i was a bit skeptical on blackstar products,but from a technical point of view i am starting to appreciate them more and more,and the answers from these guys denote serious debunking of unnecessary myths and snake oil practices,good to hear more from you guys!

Watford Valves is the place to go if you want top quality valves and an excellent service.

i think it was my question about the standby switches... nice to hear someone squash the myth about them! wasn't aware they used to be used for when technicians were working on them. great bit of info! thanks guys :)

I'm a mechanical engineering student at QUB with a little bit of education history in electronics and there was a lot of technical language in an electrical aspect through out this video which for the most part I didn't understand. But the final point made about "Guru's" in the video resonated with me because the answer was the absolute definition of an engineer and is my philosophy in engineering: No dicking about with components and say "yipee" when it works out. You need to know and understand what it's doing SO it can be improved upon. Great video please keep content like this coming, maybe with a guitar company next time?

Nice round up to a very interesting series of videos. Thanks. Really do find the straight forward approach very refreshing. (Wish my organisation would adopt a 'No bullshit no egos' slogan... but 90% of them would magically vanish).

This was a fucking great series! I hope you do more with other companies or different products like different pedal effects or guitar design etc!

My first intro to 'valves' was with thyratrons from EEV and EG&G in the early '70's. Yah, not vacuum tubes, but sorta kinda rectifiers. I needed them for very crisp switching of a lot of current. These were hydrogen filled large white ceramic cans with large bolts for electrical connections. Art of a sort. Then I found from talking with an EEV guy that they made 'valves' that might work for my guitar amp, and a whole new world was opened. Breathtaking. Comment is not precisely on topic, but it contains the word 'valves'.

I started using Blackstar six years ago with an Ht5. Now I have an Artist 30. These are such great amps.

because, I too live a life driven by reason and science.......i really enjoyed this and am proud to play my ht40 everywhere i do so.

Great attitudes .

Great video! I bought the HT-40 MK-II because I saw Martin Barre using one. Loved the sound. I wouldn't use anything else. Proof? I sold my 5150III half stack. I don't miss it.

great series

Great series. Thank you all. I’m yet to get my hands on any blackstar amps, but the design mentality alone makes me want to. I feel like too many amps are designed around a market where people are almost religious or superstitious about what they want. We need engineers driving things forward. It’s one thing to love and respect what the old guys did. It’s something else to think that’s the only way to do it, or the only thing worth doing.

Great series, do this again with effects pedals please!

Excellent series with down-to-earth engineers. Now to crank my Series One 45...…...

Great series! I’d love to see the same questions asked to Martin Kidd to get an idea of the balance of science vs viewpoints in this series.

I really liked this series, very interesting! Pretty cool guys with a lot of knowledge. Might look out for a blackstar guitar amp in the future, but as I mainly play bass, I'll stick with Markbass and Orange. :-)

Great advice about not touching hot tubes. This goes for vulcanoes as well. Probably other things too.

@ericbhatnagar2873

5 жыл бұрын

LOL

@rictube4716

5 жыл бұрын

Wish I'd seen this before trying to grab my car's red hot exhaust.

@MrDblStop

5 жыл бұрын

Kettles. Definitely kettles.

Great series...which definitely increased the chances my next amp purchase will be a Blackstar rather than a Marshall!

The best series by a country mile, and far better than all those dreadful guitar videos. Congratulations. :-)

@Blackstaramps

5 жыл бұрын

Cheers rich! We’re pleased so many people have found thus useful.

Please do more videos like this.

Peter Honore from Holland! Classic :)

This has been a great instructional video. Question if you may: why is there an ACC83 preamp valve inside a metallic cilinder on a Marshall JVM 410H? What does that do? And... which tubes are more frequently to be changed preamp or power amp? Cheers.

I love Blackstar Amps

I used to have a Blackstar HT Studio 20. I understand that the Rocket 50 (I replaced it) was a cost thing, but another problem was the dark/boxy low mid. I used to put an EQ pedal in the loop for a small scoop at 400hz. Is there a reason the amp was voiced this way cos it seems to be a common whinge? The MK2 stuff sounds much better by the way.

a couple of commenters didnt get the biasing bit. Biasing is tuning the tube to run within the designed specs. (pumping a tire up to the right pressure) you can have el84's running from 10w to 20w (at 20w they wear out much quicker - tiny terror). If your bias was set on a set of tubes at 18w and the old ones were "lower output", a new set with the same bias might run at 25w. this seriously reduces the time they last and as stated, they can burn up real quick. For me, you work out the high point and low point for the tube/s and then dial in between and play. At some point they will sound better to your ear. stop then and life is good.

Thank you for your 4 part special on amps. I am new to electric guitar playing and doing as much research on types and differences to be able to select the best option for me when I buy. I am finding that in all videos put out by amp making companies. They all come across like they all do the most R and D so that their amps are the best. Not to easy to differentiate. I guess I am wondering how difficult and expensive would it be to order a digital amp with the cabinet and inner workings that would make it as comparable to a tube amp? Is that even possible from the major amp companies? Thank you for any input you can offer.

I dig these guys...I may give Blackstar a second look... thanks guys!

Nice! Would you consider adding a question list and timeline :-)

as with all electronic equipment - to make it last longer , #1- dont turn it on and off alot, back to back , if ya know a few minute break is due, leave it on , but volume at zero !!! if you leave a speaker at a low noise idol it is hard on voice coil..... #2 - always let all equipment cool down before a power shut off , the hardest thing to lead solder is extreme temp change...

a lot of problem twins I've seen have been cracked valve bases; the valves themselves have been fine but the ceramic bases fatigue & crack with the heating/cooling, & the contacts go intermittent.

"Question from Pete Honore from Holland" ROFL

@fraenkiboii

5 жыл бұрын

@@TELE6220 you're right! Actually I was ROFLMAO!

I have a ht club40 and some have commented on forums that there is a distinctive "cocked wah" sound to them. I've noticed this as well...is there a fix for this short of an eq pedal? If not which frequencies shifts can alleviate this phenomenon?

Do I need to have the amp bias adjusted when I replace a tube with the same model?

I have 2 bell and howell filmosound 385 amplifiers I converted to guitar amps from 1957 and 1958 with working original tubes so those tubes gave lasted over 60 years. Crazy

Dirt in switches is more lightly than a valve going especially if the amp switches are never moved. I often have to twiddle the treble knob to get the dirt off. The volume drops then after cleaning it returns. The amp Laney IRT studio and the pots are not what I would say expensive ones. Happens about once or twice a year.

great series. what's that blue guitar?

Great, down-to-earth, advice. (Pun intended :) )

Wanting to get a artist 10 or 15 in my apartment. Is it too loud for that use?

Paul is the best technical guy who spoke on Andertons.

G'day mate. I own a blackstar ht metal 100. I was just wondering if you can but EL 34s in place of the 6L6 values. Just wondering not that I'm going to do it.

This is random but, can you use a fender bassman as your main guitar amp? I’ve played through them and they sound fantastic! I guess i should ask, are there any disadvantages of using them as guitar amps?

So Paul answered my question before . You was talking about doing magic and blah blah. So the question I have is you mentioned a self bias method. I wonder is Bugera doing this sorta thing with there Magical Infinium tech?

Very informative. Vox, fender and Marshall still rule. All others are variants.

@jeffreyvanhouten1239

5 жыл бұрын

Simon Lawson really? Mesa Boogie, Orange, and Peavey (5150 and 6505) are just copies?

Hi Guys, quick question for the Blackstar Crew. If I had a 100w solid state head and the input plug on the back stated "speaker min 4 ohms load" would I run into any problems if I connected it to a cabinet with a total load of 16 ohms?

@acemew3255

5 жыл бұрын

Iain Brighton the amp and the cab have to match impedances, most amps have an impedance swift, if your cab is wired for 16ohms, your amp should be set to 16 as well

Do we think Pete wont notice that ? I dont think so.LOL Lota information wish i could recommend blackstar, they do sound great however after buying a new 20watt studio and it diein bout 4wks after the warranty was up ,took it to 2 amp techs both sayin wasnt worth fixing ,now the proud owner of a speaker in a box. The rest makes a good small boat anchor.

I think of valves a bit like a steam train. I get an electric train to work, then use a transistor powered computer - both these activities would be impractical with steam/valves. But, if I want a trip where the train is the excitement (eg Santa express with the kids) or when I want to play guitar, the style and substance of the older technologies is what I want. That's not to say you can use modern ideas with the old school tech - solid-state boost or bio-diesel burner in the boiler are both cool in my book.

I had a 70s AC30 From 79 to the early 90s. It never occurred to me to change the valves. It always worked and always sounded good. I think people think too much about this stuff these days.

If I asked somebody "What is water'" and his answer were "If you don't get enough water, you will die of thirst, but if you get too much of it, you might die of drowning," I still wouldn't know what water was. That's how I came out of the "What is biasing" question.

@FunkyMonkey-ip4xy

5 жыл бұрын

I might be wrong but the impression I got was he didn't want to explain it too much to put people off messing with it themselves, as opposed to taking the amp to a qualified tech. He did touch on the fact that it might not even be legal under EU law for an individual to do it themselves. Just my impression.

@shorerocks

5 жыл бұрын

@Zed1967 - thanks, thats how you do it. Not that I claim I did understand anything. I am just a guitar player, ha ha.

@TheBlueFalcon07

5 жыл бұрын

Simple explanation: amp bias is simply controlling the amount of current going to the power tubes. Biasing an amp "cold" means giving it a low amount of current which results in crossover (unpleasant) distortion, and biasing an amp too "hot" with too much current basically burns out the tubes too quickly. I've left out a lot of the complexities, but I think this is a way that most people will be able to understand it while covering the most necessary elements of what biasing does.

@Fr3ddyUK

5 жыл бұрын

Think of it like this; minus, zero and plus (- 0 +). You're trying to get the bias to zero. If you go into the minus level, you don't have enough power to the tubes, and of course, if you go into the plus, you have to much power going to the tubes. And that is basically what it means.

@rictube4716

5 жыл бұрын

@@FunkyMonkey-ip4xy The bit about being illegal to open up an amp is complete bollocks. They just want you to pay them to do it.

There was kettles with that lead I remember my mum and dad had one or two kettles like that in are old house

I've heard it's better to turn off your valve amp in the on position as opposed to the standby position. Anything to it?

@Blackstaramps

5 жыл бұрын

No difference to the valves really. However, if it has a Standby switch I would recommend turning to Standby first before then turning the actual power off, merely as this is more likely to turn off quietly with no audible thumps or clicks.