Blackstar Amplification – recreating vintage sounds with modern tech

Solid-state electronics has superseded the vacuum tube in all but two niches. One is microwave technology, the other is music amplification – especially for electric guitar.

Guitarists generally agree that, while digital models offer value for money, you need a vacuum tube (‘valve’) amp to deliver the rich, full sound serious musicians want to achieve. Thus they remain popular despite the considerably higher price tag, reliability and weight issues.

In recent times, this viewpoint has been challenged. Northampton-based Blackstar Amplification has used £154,000 Smart award funding from Innovate UK to create the best of both worlds – a transistor amp capable of producing that distinctive, desirable valve sound.

After successfully completing a previous research project for guitar amplifiers in April 2011, the company set out to develop a range of digital amps that would be indistinguishable from valve-based counterparts in tone quality, response and loudness.

Getting to market…fast

This ambitious target was tackled by a development team with the perfect mix of skills and experience to make an impact in an annual global market worth $150m – a technical director, electronics engineer, product marketing specialist and designer who had all worked for legendary amplifier manufacturer Marshall.

1

Blackstar started trading in 2007. In 2013 its turnover was already around the $9 million mark, with approximately 20 percent of its sales in the UK. It’s currently represented by about 45 distributors covering more than 60 countries, and a network of 175 UK dealers in musical instrument shops that sell directly to the public.

The company holds 3 patents for its Dynamic Power Reduction (DPR), Infinite Shape Feature (ISF) and True Valve Power (TVP) technologies – the latter being derived from the Smart award funded project.

According to Finance Director Alex Mathews, grant funding from Innovate UK has made a vital difference to the company’s progress.

“The Smart award enabled us to build the prototype and get our new digital amp range to market much more quickly. For instance, having several development engineers on board meant we were able to develop components in parallel.”

In late 2013 Blackstar introduced the ID:Series of digital amps to the market. It’s a direct descendant of the prototypes developed thanks to Smart award funding and comes in six different models from 15–100 Watts. 2014 saw the introduction of the low-cost ID:Core range of 10, 20 and 40 Watt models.

“We’ve just entering the US market with a 10 Watt amplifier that retails for $99 – our products now compare directly with those of heritage brands.”

The Blackstar Grin

Blackstar is thrilled that the ID:Series is getting rave reviews, not just from happy users but from the notoriously sceptical music trade press. “Gear” recently asked whether the ID:Core Stereo 10 is “the best first amp ever”. The ID series is also racking up four and five-star reviews in other magazines.

“Grant funding from Innovate UK was pivotal in enabling us to get an exciting, highly competitive range of digital amps, to the marketplace in a remarkably short space of time.

“We’re delighted the ID series is getting the critical acclaim we believe it deserves, but the real reward is seeing the ‘Blackstar Grin’ on the faces of the people who use our products,” Alex concluded.

2