Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Head vs PRS HX 100 Head
The Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Head and the PRS HX 100 Head are both amplifiers sharing full. The Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Head leans transparent and high gain. The PRS HX 100 Head leans crunchy. Current prices: $717.24 vs $2999.
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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.29% — somewhat different
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- full
Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Head
Blackstar · amplifier
PRS HX 100 Head
PRS · amplifier
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$717.24via Reverb
$2999via Reverb
The Blackstar St. James 50 6L6 Head is the head version of the St. James 50 6L6 all-tube amplifier, weighing approximately 13 pounds using a patent-pending switched-mode power supply instead of a conventional heavy mains transformer. Fifty watts from 6L6 output tubes powers two channels: a high-headroom American-voiced clean with warm, mid-scooped character and a modern high-gain overdrive with a voice switch that reshapes midrange from full-throated lead tones to a scooped rhythm voicing. Power scaling switches between 50W, 2W, and SAG mode for vintage compression feel at low volumes. The head format lets players pair it with their choice of speaker cabinet, maximizing tonal flexibility at unusually low weight for an all-tube 50-watt head.
The PRS HX 100 is the flagship 100-watt head in PRS's Hendrix-inspired HX amp line, driven by four EL34EH power tubes through a custom-designed Straight Edge output transformer. It features a 3-band TMB tone stack, 3-way bright switch, high-mid gain switch, and presence controls, with internally bridged channels offering individual volume controls that eliminate the need for a jumper cable, letting players blend lead and bass channel volumes to precisely dial in their distortion level and tone.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- metal
- blues
- rock
- Rock
- Blues
- Blues Rock
- Classic Rock
- transparent
- high gain
- warm
- crunchy
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Occasions this gear suits — judged per model, or derived from its wattage, connectivity and category.- Live
- Studio
- Live