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Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.

Once You Understand It - It's Great! I have never had so much fun playing through a solid state amp in my life! It really has the authentic feel and rich tonality of playing through a tube amp. I'm impressed. It reacts like a tube amp when using the volume knob on your guitar. First: This is not a loud amp by ANY means! 20 watts in a solid state (transistorized) amp is not loud enough to play with even a quiet drummer. This is the perfect bedroom, apartment or quiet/headphone amp. Second: To get the most out of this amp you need to install the software to access all the features and settings. The software is free and available on their website for Mac & Windows. This can be tricky. To help avoid any problems do the following: 1. Make sure your firewall is not blocking the Blackstar Insider Application. 2. Make sure you have the latest Adobe Flash & Microsoft Silverlight installed BEFORE installing Blackstar Software 3. Make sure you have Microsoft NET Framework version 4.5 installed (or it will not work.) 4. Restart your computer and then install the Blackstar Insider Software. 5. Hook up USB cable, connect amp to computer, start Blackstar app and UPDATE THE FIRMWARE. The App will not work properly unless you have the latest version firmware. This is done through the Blackstar app. Make sure you do not turn off or interrupt the firmware update. Once I got it all working & tweaked it turned out to be a keeper! PLACE AMP ON THE FLOOR FOR THE BEST SOUND! I have read some comments about placing the amp elevated or on a desk. I disagree! Check it out for yourself. It sounds fuller and wider on my carpet in any room! This amp has a great feel and notes ring out easily with full tone, attack and dynamics. I doubt the 40 watt version will be much louder, a bit perhaps, but the speakers are 6.5", which is about 1.5" larger than the 5" speakers that are in the 20-watt amplifier and it may hold the bottom a little better. Lightweight makes it easy to carry from room to room. (about 11.5 pounds) Full fidelity speakers makes it sound like the stereo is about 9-feet wide! NOTE: The audio input for MP3 player, etc., leaves a lot to be desired. If you have a player with the ability to adjust the tone it will help immensely. Otherwise it will be thin and tinny sounding, but usable and better than nothing I guess. lol. ALSO NOTE: The headphone output is for convenience only. It kinda sucks, very low in volume and there is no way to adjust the level other than on the player/device. All in all I like it a lot. All too often small bedroom practice amps lack the feel, dynamics, reaction, and tonal fullness of a warm reactive tube amp, but this one makes playing fun and easy...at a low volume. Don't worry, it gets loud enough to feel it and get lost in the groove, and as with most amps when you drive it hard into distortion it gets a LOT louder, but makes the clean tones too soft when switching. One anomaly is that even though the amp settings are programmable and will retain the settings, the main Volume is not. This is one reason why I only gave it four stars. If I cared about the audio input or headphone I might have only gave it three stars. Bottom line, if you want to use the audio in or headphone out, then you will be playing at a very low volume. Nice Feature: The amp uses a standard on/off (non-momentary) click footswitch for changing channels. There are two footswitch modes: 1. Switch between two channels (selectable & programmable). 2. Scroll through the six presets (1-6 repeating) I have been a professional full-time player for 30 years, own way too many high-end tube amps, and I highly recommend this amp for a small practice/warm-up/bedroom/living room/apartment type situation. It feels great and doesn't hinder your playing whatsoever. The effects are terrific and the amp barely makes any noise, buzz or hum. (unless you go high gain of course!) The factory presets are a good place to start, but the effects, although sound killer, are a little too heavy, so tweak away! I play mostly Gibson humbuckers and it sounds terrific. I am sure that a Fender single coil would sound just a great with tone tweaking. I don't know about their customer service since they became "big time", but years ago when I needed a problem resolved, Blackstar was on it immediately, but I have heard some snide remarks about their service lately, who knows, it could have been a fussy person...or not! lol. Like I said, "THIS IS THE PERFECT BEDROOM AMP!" It can get fairly loud on distortion, and IS loud enough clean that it could bother close neighbors or adjacent apartments, but the beauty is: When you turn it down it doesn't suck the tone away! It retains the tone, sounds, feels and plays just as great at any volume. Amp uses a 10V / 3A DC adaptor. More info on the Blackstar website! Did I mention I like it? \m/ ô¿ô \m/ Hope this helps!

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Let me start by saying that I am not a gear head. I have been a pickin an grinnin for over two decades and this is the 6th amp I have purchased in life. This is my first Blackstar product, and the first time I have ever bought gear without doing extensive research. I don't have time to hang out at the music store and play everything these days, but I tried a few of the little 10-40w modeling amps and this one just stuck out. Between the price, the size and portability, and most of all the sounds I get... wow! For $150 I couldn't be happier! I have played with a stereo chorus pedal through 2 amps to get true stereo effects, and then there's that old Roland jazz chorus thing... Well that's where I feel this little thing might be on to something. When you are in a small room just practicing, this thing truly shines. The way the 3d sound works with the effects is just awesome. I can play late at night when the kids are asleep and its loud right in front of it and its like you're in a amphitheater, but outside the room its barely making a sound. This amp makes me want to play their top shelf solid state, but what is most important is that I am even considering a solid waste amp to be my main amp. Technology! Also my mp3, and my korg kross sound great when I plug in to the aux jack.

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Verified Customer zZounds has verified that this reviewer made a purchase from us.

The amp is worth the cost for the clean channels alone. The stereo speakers are really nice. I like this little 20 watt amp better than my 50 Watt Boss Katana II.

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Just a few months ago i purchased a new 2016 American Fender Strat From zZounds and all i can say is playing my Strat through my new Blackstar Id Core 20 Is like plugging my guitar into a recording studio and having any sound at my disposal. This little Baby is a miracle amp on steroids.Their are so many sounds and different combinations of sounds you can create. The speakers are also of great sounding quality and sound amazing even when cranked up.I also cant believe i ordered my amp Tuesday before noon time and my amp arrived the very next Wednesday morning. As usual amazing service from zZounds. This amp was $45 dollars cheaper on another site and when i told the sales rep he confirmed it and knocked off $46 dollars and kept zZounds promise that if you find any item zZounds sells for less on any other site they will beat their price. This amp is a wicked cool looking and rugged. For a small amp it has some weight to it and does not feel flimsy or light, it definitely feels well built.

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