The Blackstar HT Club 40 MK III is a 40 W tube combo for guitarists who play club-sized rooms and also want an amp for recording and practice at home. Two EL34 power tubes and two ECC83 preamp tubes drive a 12-inch Celestion speaker through two channels with two voices each, and the included FS-15 footswitch reaches all four. A front switch cuts output to 10% of full power, and the CabRig outputs stay live in standby, so you can record or play on headphones with the speaker silent.

Channels and Voices

The clean channel switches between an American voice, bright with a firm low end, and a British voice with looser bass and a warmer midrange that breaks up when you push it. The voice switch changes the preamp voicing, EQ, tube gain structure and power amp damping together. The overdrive channel offers a hot-rodded classic voice and a modern voice with a mid-focused boost ahead of the gain stage and less power amp damping. Blackstar's patented ISF control sweeps the overdrive tone stack from an American response with a tight low end to a woodier British response.

Recording and Practice

CabRig emulates the power amp, speaker, cabinet, microphone and room, and a rear switch recalls three stored CabRig patches for the balanced XLR output, the stereo line out and headphone jack, and USB-C. Over USB the amp sends four channels to a computer at once: stereo emulated left and right, the preamp signal before reverb and cab emulation, and the dry guitar. It also takes a stereo return from the computer for backing tracks. Blackstar's Architect software edits CabRig and sets reverb decay separately for each channel.

Features

• 40 W tube combo with 2 x EL34 and 2 x ECC83 tubes
• 12-inch Celestion speaker
• Two channels and four voices, all footswitchable
• Patented ISF tone control on the overdrive channel
• Power switch for full or 10% output
• Digital reverb with a rear Dark (room) and Light (plate) voicing switch
• CabRig speaker emulation with three stored patches, editable in Architect software
• Balanced XLR and stereo line out/headphone outputs that stay live in standby for silent practice
• Effects loop with +4 dBu / -10 dBV level switch
• USB-C audio with 4 channels out and 2 in, using standard drivers
• 5-way footcontroller jack for the optional FS-14 (channels, voices, boost and reverb)
• 2-way footswitch jack with an external switching mode for TRS switchers
• Kensington security slot
• Designed to accept 6L6 power tubes after rebiasing at an approved Blackstar service center

Specifications

• Output power: 40 W RMS
• Tubes: 2 x EL34 (power), 2 x ECC83 (preamp)
• Speaker: 1 x 12" Celestion, 16 ohm
• Channels: Clean and Overdrive, two voices each
• Clean controls: Volume, Voice, Bass, Treble
• Overdrive controls: OD Select, Gain, Voice, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, ISF
• Master controls: Reverb, Volume, Power (full or 10%)
• Speaker outputs: 1 x 16 ohm; 1 x 8 ohm or 2 x 16 ohm
• CabRig outputs: Balanced XLR, stereo TRS line out/headphones
• Effects loop: Send, return, +4 dBu / -10 dBV switch
• Footswitch: FS-15 2-way included, optional FS-14 5-way
• USB: USB-C audio, 4 channels out, 2 channels in
• Weight: 24 kg (52.9 lb)
• Dimensions: 588 x 480 x 260 mm (23.1 x 18.9 x 10.2 in)

In the Box

• Blackstar HT Club 40 MK III combo
• FS-15 2-way footswitch
• Mains power cable