When talking up amps, most guitarists want to know how it sounds. “What’s it sound like?” “Is it a tone monster?” “Will my songs be better?” Okay, that last quote is a bit far fetched. But, you probably understand the usually array of guitarist questions one would ask.

This time I’m not covering tone (the booth was so busy, I honestly couldn’t). But I will tell you from what I heard from other demonstrations, this is a sonically clean amp, likely amazing for pedals. However, let’s discuss weight for a moment, because a great guitarist can make almost any amp work for them. Sometimes with a little bit of a fight, but workable nonetheless. What we don’t have the luxury of easily fixing is our backs and our shoulders. That’s what Blackstar addressed here.

Enter Blackstar’s St. James lineup, with these valve amps coming in at roughly ⅗’s the weight of a conventional valve amp. I personally picked a couple up, and was shocked with just how easy it was. I didn’t grunt, I promise. It’s a pro’s amp with the weight class of your first 1×6” junky beginners amp. …You know the amp.

I definitely intend on checking these out in the near future, as should you.