Blackstar St. James 50 EL34 Fawn

I'm totally sold on the concept! I'm occasionally gigging, so I needed something that could handle small stages with drums and serve as an inspiring practice/jam/recording amp at home. This is a 21st century approach to the tube sound we love, and it works! The 2w and headphone sound is absolutely inspiring at home, and makes me play more.

For gigging, the EQ is imho a bit too heavy on the bass with everything at 12 -- doesn't automatically sit right in the mix, but have never had an EQ that makes it such an easy pleasure to adjust the tone to what the situation demands. All around useful features optimised for practically oriented endusers. The band and the sound engineers are pleased. Both my Strat and my Les Paul are happy. Did I mention that it looks very elegant as a piece of furniture in my apartment?

Small negative: Had to send back the first version because the front-LED wasn't working + had to ask a replacement for the foot switch. As usual, Thomann lived up to its reputation and handled this very well. I was just a bit surprised because this was the first time I had so many issues with a product that isn't B-ware. However, I'm willing to let that pass and assign it to bad luck -- browse further reviews to see whether this is a systemic issue for Blackstar's products or an outlier.