Blackstar Artist 30 vs Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Combo
The Blackstar Artist 30 and the Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Combo are both amplifiers sharing high headroom, transparent, bright. The Blackstar Artist 30 leans crunchy and dynamic. The Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Combo leans aggressive and high gain.
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Blended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.75% — moderately similar
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- high headroom
- transparent
- bright
- full
Blackstar Artist 30
Blackstar · amplifier
Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Combo
Blackstar · amplifier
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$1084.16via Reverb
The Blackstar Artist 30 is a 30-watt 2x12 tube combo amplifier built around 6L6 power tubes in a fixed-bias Class A/B circuit. Two independent channels — clean and drive — are each distinctly voiced: the clean channel delivers glassy American-style headroom with extended high-end clarity, while the drive channel provides British crunch and gain with assertive mid-forward character. Blackstar's ISF tone control spans American and British voicing across both channels. Features include onboard reverb, a series effects loop, and extension speaker output. The 6L6 power stage paired with 2x12 speakers produces balanced midrange, tight low-end, and a dynamic, responsive platform for pedal use.
The Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Combo is a 50-watt all-tube guitar combo amplifier powered by 6L6 output tubes, weighing only 28 pounds — unusually light for an all-tube 50-watt design. Two channels cover a high-headroom American-voiced clean with warm, breathy low-end and a high-gain overdrive channel featuring Blackstar's most aggressive gain circuit at time of release. A voice switch on the overdrive channel reshapes midrange from full-throated vocal lead tone to a scooped rhythm voice with extra high-end extension. Power scaling switches between 50W, 2W, and a SAG mode that changes compression characteristics to respond more like a vintage amp. The St. James targets gigging players who need real tube tone without sacrificing portability.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Rock
- metal
- alternative
- rock
- crunchy
- dynamic
- aggressive
- high gain
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Occasions this gear suits — judged per model, or derived from its wattage, connectivity and category.- Live
- Studio
- Worship
- Live
- Studio