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Blackstar HT Studio 20 vs Fender Blues Junior III

Product Comparison: Blackstar HT Studio 20 vs Fender Blues Junior III

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Best Pick

Blackstar HT Studio 20 20W Tube Guitar Combo Amp Bronco Tan

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Fender Blues Junior III 15-Watt 12-Inch Guitar Combo Amp

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General Specifications

Brand

Blackstar

Fender

Model

HT Studio 20

Blues Junior III

Origin

United Kindom

Mexico

About the Product

The HT Studio 20 combo is the big brother of our critically acclaimed HT-5 and offers huge versatility for home, rehearsal or studio use. The carefully voiced preamp coupled with a cathode-biased EL34 power amp, provides the user with the ability to create wonderfully lush valve tones through the 12" Celestion speaker.

The standard for gigging guitarists worldwide and the ideal amp for crafting your own signature sound. Working guitarists everywhere prize no-frills Hot Rod amps for their great volume, reliability, responsiveness to effects pedals, and affordability. The Blues Junior III is a longtime 15-watt favorite with warm tone ideal for the go-anywhere guitarist who needs to hit the stage or studio at a moment's notice, with great sound and versatile features.

Key Specs

Power Output

20 watts

15 watts

Number Of Channels

Controls Included

Normal volume control, Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, Treble, ISF, Master volume, Reverb, Power switch

Volume, Treble, Bass, Middle, Master, Reverb

Footswitch Included

Yes

What customers say about "Key Specs"

Blackstar HT Studio 20 20W Tube Guitar Combo Amp Bronco Tan

One thing I would recommend if you buy this amp, is to either already have a decent pedal board or to save up and buy a good pedal board (but this goes for all tube amps). This amp sounds phenominal with a Crybaby Wah pedal or a Plimsoul being pushed through it.
Pretty standard set up. It has Bass, Mid, Treble and the very interesting ISF knob. To the untrained ear, the ISF is virtually pointless, but to a trained ear it has the potential to be one of the best things this amp has to offer.
This amp is phenomenal. If you are looking for high gain and crystal cleans then you have reached your destination. The only reason I would ever get rid of this amp is to get a bigger Blackstar.
This is a seriously versatile amp!! Oh yeah, there is a clean channel too, which sounds OK, but I didn't buy this amp for it's clean channel.
If this sound is what you're looking for, it's the best value in the world for a 20 watt tube amp. I just don't know what that sound is.

Fender Blues Junior III 15-Watt 12-Inch Guitar Combo Amp

The new Celestion A-Type speaker gives better clarity and bigger lows. It's capable of extremely loud and clean. Also has a nice warm tube breakup tone when needed. It's a jazz and blues monster.
The Reverb has been tapered back so it's not over the top. I always had problems with reverb live but not with this one. The highs are less harsh than the previous BJ 3 model which sound wilder, less focused.
Fender really did something special here. The tone is much tighter and delivers some shine and growl compared to the older versions. A top notch low wattage amp for the money.
Unreal tone and great control. Sounds rich and for 15 watts this amp is loud!
The first note I played on this amp I fell in love and new that I would buy one. I love the reverb and the simple controls. I mainly play clean / bluesy so this amp suits me perfectly, even when I only play it at 3. It doesn't sound bad when I turn up the pre-amp either.

Size & Weight

Height

20.55 in.

16 in.

Width

22.5 in.

18 in.

Depth

11.5 in.

9.81 in.

Weight

42.3 lbs.

31 lbs.

What customers say about "Size & Weight"

Blackstar HT Studio 20 20W Tube Guitar Combo Amp Bronco Tan

So far so good, no issues, works like a champ and seems to be very well constructed.
It is very solid and heavy. It looks like a million bucks.
As far as asthetics go, I love the clean, classy look of this amp. Very durable and well built. The only con I can think of with this amp is that there's no standby switch. But the good far out weighs the bad.

Fender Blues Junior III 15-Watt 12-Inch Guitar Combo Amp

Relatively Light Weight and easy to use.
All the great string dynamics and tone of a pure tube amp, in a small lightweight, easy to use package.
Sounds great, lightweight portable and doesn't take up much room.
It's not heavy. this thing is portable and we can get on our concerts.

Features

Type

Guitar Amplifier

Number Of Speakers

Speaker Size

12 in.

Compatible With Footswitch

FS-4

1-Button ("Fat" ON/Off)

Carry Handle(s)

Yes

Input(s)

1/4" (instrument)

1/4"

Output(s)

3 x 1/4" Speaker, 2 x 1/4" Effects loop, Foot switch

Foot switch

Extras

Speaker emulated output, Digital reverb

Fender spring reverb, Single channel and input, Preamp tube overdrive, FAT boost switch

What customers say about "Features"

Blackstar HT Studio 20 20W Tube Guitar Combo Amp Bronco Tan

The rear panel has an effects loop which is nice and a couple different speaker outputs for external cabs and what not. I haven't really used them though but I imagine they are great too. This amp has just the right amount of extras without over doing it!
The ISF is nice. I lean towards the British sounds, but if I'm feeling some American high gain, I can turn the knob. This amp really gives you the ability to choose the sound of your overdrive which I like.
The clean channel just sounds a little weedy with little dynamic control, almost like a solid state amp especially compared to the gain channel which is amazing. Lastly they tout the "isf" as some kind of ground breaking new technology, in reality it's a contour knob.
The gain channel played real nice with a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive as a boost. Since there's nothing truly great about this amp, you may want to consider a more expensive option for a band setting, or a less expense modeler if it's just for home use.
The quality is just amazing compared to my other two amps. I'm not gonna lie, I will replace the speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30 and may do something about the tubes, but for now, it does what I like.
Other than the issue with the strap handle, it has been an awesome amp.

Fender Blues Junior III 15-Watt 12-Inch Guitar Combo Amp

This amp takes all my pedals real well and the Celestion speaker is a big plus.I own five Fender tube amps but this one is my favorite.
The Volume control acting as a "gain" control for the master volume, and the fat switch acting as a boosted second channel to funnel just enough oomph to make lead breaks soar.
This little amplifier has a great fat tone for rock and blues with 12" speaker. Surprising power loud enough to be heard in a large music store.
My problem is the tone of this amp. It has a fat boost switch, however there is no jack for a pedal switcher. This is needed very bad, as for clean you need one and dirty you need another on this amp. I tried many different kinds of overdrive as well. Just doesn't sound as good as it should.
I have tried two of these amps. The first one exhibited an intermittent "crackling noise" like a short in a connection or a tube issue. This amp was exchanged for another one that has a constant "buzz" that seems to be associated with the reverb (it disappears when I turn the reverb completely off).

Warranty / Certifications

Manufacturer Warranty

2 year(s)

Certifications

Other Information

Manufacturer

Link

Manual

Download

MSRP

529.99 $