Blackstar St. James 50 EL34H 50w Ultra Lightweight Valve Head

Blackstar St. James 50 EL34H 50w Ultra Lightweight Valve Head Overview

Answering calls from guitarists everywhere for a valve amplifier that is truly lightweight and portable, Blackstar delivers the most advanced, innovative and best-sounding 50 Watt valve amps in the world.

US or UK?

Available in two formats, a classic EL34 design and a higher gain 6L6 model, these amps are simple to use but highly versatile. Developed after months of forensic examination of vintage valve amps, the intuitive two channel set-up deliver our best ever cleans and overdrives.

Built-in inductive load 

St. James amps have a built-in reactive load allowing you to drive the valves without a speaker connected. The reactive load mimics the electrical response of a typical loudspeaker to deliver the authentic valve power-amp tones possible in the studio or at home.

Power reduction

Based on our patented Dynamic Power Reduction design you can easily switch from 50 Watts for the loudest clean headroom, down to 5 Watts for practicing, recording or smaller gigs, or a more overdriven power amp tone. The third option is Sag. This setting generates more power supply ‘sag’ to accentuate the all important amp compression, the ‘feel’ is softer and more ‘vintage’.

Universal power supply

Our universal power supply, is lightweight and can be used anywhere in the world from 90V to 264V 50/60Hz.

Lightweight cabinet

Candlenut plywood is used for strength and lightness and it’s beneficial acoustic proprieties, creating a roadworthy cabinet that sounds great and won’t let you down.

Stunning boutique looks and a new illuminated logo

Desirability is as essential as amazing sound, so we’re delighted to share a completely new look for St. James including an illuminated logo inspired by our original Artisan amps.

NEW Cab Rig simulator technology

Cab Rig is our next-generation DSP speaker simulator that reproduces the sound and feel of a mic’d up guitar cab in incredible detail. Cab Rig’s new advanced algorithm can simulate a speaker cabinet and room with effectively zero latency, no phase mismatch and much more flexibility than an IR snapshot. Deep-dive using the accompanying software to capture the incredible tones via USB / XLR out or headphones.

Pro connectivity

With more musicians recording at home St. James is perfect for the way we play today with USB audio connectivity for pro-recording and an XLR D.I. for professional live use, both using the built-in inductive load and Cab Rig speaker simulation.