General
The Blackstar St. James 50 combo manages to encase classic sonic character in classic style, set it up with modern ease-of-use and, despite the valve-driven design and 12-inch speaker, keep the weight ultra-low. The 6L6 112 edition of the Blackstar St. James 50 basically takes the 50 Watt valve amplifier from the St. James Series and adds a single Celestion 'Zephyr' speaker that weighs just 11 kilos and compromises absolutely zero on sound quality. Fitted with a Universal Power Supply that's able to adapt to 90-to-264 Volt mains power points at 50/60Hz, this amp can literally be taken all over the world.
Classic American Cleans & Modern Overdrives
Two radically different channels are on offer, each with their own distinct characters. So, on Channel 1 you get the sparklingly clean tone and tight bass reproduction of a vintage sixties American amp - providing the perfect place to start when coupling up a small army of stompboxes. Channel 2, on the other hand, transforms this neat combo into a fully modernised monster of tone that delivers more than enough gain to back up electric blues and enough raw crunch to support rhythms. Of course, you can always hook up the included footswitch to trigger the overdrive and give solo work a more saturated and gain-heavy, loose sound.
Variable Power Modes & Inductive Load
To accommodate any gig, no matter the stage-size, Blackstar have loaded in a three-mode attenuator that can be switched from full power at 50 Watts all the way down to 5 Watts, reducing the volume while retaining the pure sound of overdriven valves. The third Sag setting gives the output a more vintage, tasty and worn feel that's well worth the investment in itself. From the vintage to the modern, this combo even features Inductive Load, meaning that it can be directly hooked up to an audio interface via USB or XLR, or you can even plug in a set of headphones. A feature that you just don't get with most valve amplifiers.
Cab Rig
The Inductive Load can also be teamed up with Cab Rig: Blackstar's own in-house developed DSP technology which accurately emulates the power of external speakers. So, when recording or rehearsing on your own, you're backed up by the force of a virtual speaker cabinet while keeping the noise as low as humanly possible.
Full Control
The control panel of the St. James 50/6L6 112 Combo amp lines up a master volume pot and a three-band EQ section, while around the back, ports for setting up an effects loop are provided. A reverb circuit already comes built in and can be toggled hands-free using the included footswitch, which can also be used to flip between the two channels and activate the Channel 2 boost function as needed.