Blackstar TV-10B review – mighty Plexi tones have never been so practical
£599/$649, blackstaramps.com
Britishness can mean a lot of things – and let’s be honest, these days some of those things are not very nice. But in the world of guitar amplifiers, the B-word usually refers to one very nice thing indeed: the roar of an old-school Plexi-panel Marshall. And that seems to be what Blackstar is aiming for with the TV-10B.
READ MORE: Blackstar TV-10A review – is this the Blues Junior-beater we’ve been waiting for?
Following on from the American-voiced TV-10A, this is another small 1×12 combo with a single output valve – in this case an EL34 rather than a 6L6. Again the controls are stripped right back to the basics, again the speaker is a workhorse Celestion Seventy 80, and again it’s priced about as low as you can go for a giggable all-valve amp from a big name in 2024.
But the sound of a cooking Marshall is surely harder to replicate than that of a chirpy little Fender. The question, then, is whether Blackstar has made it from A to B without getting lost along the way.
Image: Adam Gasson
What is the Blackstar TV-10B for?
So similar are the core specs of this amp to those of the TV-10A, you might suspect they’ve just peeled off the cream vinyl covering and replaced it with deep forest green (complete with the obligatory gold piping). It’s certainly equally titchy: any more compact than this and they’d have had to scale down to a 10in speaker. So we’re looking at a portable amp for easy slinging into the boot for gigs, rehearsals or recording sessions… although the word ‘easy’ is relative: according to my scales the TV-10B weighs just over 15.2kg, which is half a kilo heavier than the already quite lumpy A model.
The inclusion of a direct output with cab emulation will interest home recording fans who want to plug into something more substantial than an algorithm; and it doubles as a headphone socket, making this potentially an ideal bedroom practice amp.
Image: Adam Gasson
Is the Blackstar TV-10B easy to use?
As with the TV-10A, fans of Blackstar’s usual multi-tweaking flexibility might be alarmed to see just four knobs on the top panel – gain, reverb, tone and master volume – but keeping it simple really is the whole idea here. Plug it in, turn it up and you’re away. Like its sibling it has a push-button, although here it’s for a gain boost rather than a whole second channel; again this can be overridden by the included footswitch, and again that can be upgraded to a dual version that also switches on the (digital) reverb.
Then we come to the rear panel, which is also unchanged: there are outputs for external cabinets, send and return for an effects loop, and that single emulated output for direct recording, plugging into a live PA or silent practice with headphones.
So what is different with this model? Well, that output valve is a clue – the EL34 is as British as tea, crumpets and relentless pessimism – but there’s more to the Plexi sound than tube choice. What we’re looking for here, in terms of both voicing and gain, is punchy presence. Time to find out if Blackstar has nailed the tones of the amps that set fire to rock’n’roll.
Image: Adam Gasson
Does the Blackstar TV-10B sound good?
Single-ended amps have a tendency to be a bit hummy, and the TV-10B’s operating noise is prominent enough that, at bedroom levels, it might be a distraction. But it doesn’t increase with volume, so the easiest way to improve this amp’s signal-to-hum ratio is to turn it up… which is handy, as that’s what I wanted to do anyway.
There are some surprisingly rounded clean tones on offer here: park the preamp gain at 9 o’clock and push the master volume as far as you dare to fill the room with sparkly chords that pack an impressive whump in the low end. In a sense it sounds more like a big Marshall than a small one – the only snag being that, with only a single tone control, there’s no way to thin it down if you’re not in the mood for tooth-loosening. That’s especially true when playing through a larger 2×12 cab, but even as a combo this thing is anything but boxy.
With a Telecaster the crunch starts to arrive around 10 o’clock, and mighty nice it is too. This amp truly excels at low to medium drive levels, where strident chords ring out with a pleasing balance of clarity and grit. There is plenty of gain on tap, but it does become less ‘vintage’ towards the top of the dial: while not exactly fizzy, it remains very much a full-range tone and feels somewhat unfocused compared to the mids-rich bark of a JTM45. I’ll tell you what it sounds like: a Blackstar. But is that a flaw, or a welcome step into the 21st century? Ultimately that’s a matter of personal taste.
The boost is broadly neutral and can work really nicely to give a lift for solos, even if the difference in gain isn’t enough for full-on clean/dirty channel switching. I’m also quite impressed with the reverb, which can get dense at higher settings but remains relatively short and sits naturally around the dry signal.
The emulated output is perfectly well balanced but feels like a pretty basic EQ treatment – personally I wouldn’t record with it. Really you’re better off plugging in a pair of headphones here for riffing the night away in silence… the only slight quirk of this function being that, in order to mute the speaker, you have to switch the amp to standby. But don’t worry – if you forget to do this, the people trying to watch TV downstairs will soon remind you.
Image: Adam Gasson
Should I buy the Blackstar TV-10B?
Nobody needs big amps any more, and 10W really should be enough for most modern use cases – especially when you’re getting this much usable clean headroom and bass power. As a portable and practical all-rounder for home, studio and stage, the TV-10B hits most of its marks.
It is a shame there’s no way of tightening up the low end, and true Marshall fans will want to stick to pedals for their higher-gain sounds; but if you’re just after a small combo with a British accent (and don’t mind that it’s actually made in China), this has to be a contender.
Blackstar TV-10B alternatives
There’s one British company with a uniquely strong track record of making amps that sound like Marshalls: yes, Marshall, whose closest equivalent to the TV-10B is probably the Origin 20 Combo ($629.99/£590). You might also look at the Orange Rocker 15 ($899/£569) and the Laney Cub-Super12 ($749/£419) – or, if your budget is large but your desire for headroom is small, you could even treat yourself to a Cornell Plexi 7 (£1,075).
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
