BLACKSTAR ST. JAMES EL34 COMBO AND 6L6 HEAD

TG checks out a pair of lightweight valve amps from Blackstar...

- Nick Guppy

Valve guitar amplifiers are portable if you only need a few watts for home practice, however if you want an amp to take around the world and play on any size of stage, it needs to be bigger and that means heavier - often a lot heavier. We've grown used to this over the years, however, let's be honest, bulky 4x12 cabinets and 30kg-plus combos are only fun to use if someone else carries them around for you. Does it have to be that way today? Blackstar think not and they've just announced a new range claimed to be the world's lightest 50-watt all-valve amplifiers. Meet the St. James. Named for the district that's the heart of Northampton, Blackstar Amplification's home town, the St. James amps are available in two distinctly different flavours: a medium gain preamp with an EL34-based output stage that's inspired by classic British designs from the early 1960s, and a more contemporary high gain preamp combined with a 6L6 output stage.

The St. James's retro-modern cabinets have plenty of 'I want' appeal, with fawn vinyl and a dark speaker grille for the EL34 amp and black vinyl with a light grey grille for the 6L6 version. As we've come to expect from Blackstar, the standard of finish is very high, with cool piping details and an illuminated logo, which doubles as a 'power on' indicator. Underneath the vinyl you'll find candlenut plywood, which is lightweight and resonant, making it a great choice for guitar speaker enclosures.