Blackstar HT Venue MK III Overview & How to Use (For Metal Guitarists)

What if you could have a 100-watt tube amp but also be able to dial it down to 10 watts? And what if I told you that you could have all of that and not need a cabinet (perfect for studio recording)?

Oh, more thing…

What if I also told you that this 3-channel amp has an amazing metal tone and an amazing clean tone, and that ‘in-the-middle’ overdrive channel also sounds pristine?

It’s all here in one amplifier. The Blackstar HT Venue MK III.

In this post, I’m going to give you a complete overview of what this amp can do for you, in practically any scenario. And I’ll also share a video where you can hear how the Blackstar MKIII sounds in the full mix. We’ll start with the basics.

Blackstar HT Venue 100-Watt Head Features

You may think you could only use a 100-watt tube amp for playing live at large venues and stadium-sized shows. But with the HT Venue MK III, you can dial in all the way down to 10 watts.

Aside from that, both overdrive channels give you a nice, chunky distortion sound at low volumes, even at the 100-watt setting (and we’ll get into using this head without a cabinet later!).

Here’s what the Blackstar HT Venue MK III offers:

Power and standby switches are located on the front of the amp (convenient!)
100 and 10-watt options for power
Master volume, presence, and resonance
Reverb (with Blackstar’s light and dark option)
Powered by 4 EL34 tubes
3-channels (clean, OD1, and OD2)
All 3 channels include a voice switch (this is almost like having 6 channels)
Both overdrive channels have an independent volume and gain
Blackstar’s ISF (American to British, and somewhere in between tone-shaping feature)

***Click Here to Order Your Blackstar HT Venue MK III (and view the entire MK III series)

Back Panel Features for the Blackstar HT Venue MK III

The back panel of the Blackstar HT Venue is loaded with benefits that allow you to get really creative with your music and tones. Whereas you have the effects loop, footswitch, and speaker outputs, you have several additional Blackstar-specific features that allow you to break through some of the limitations of many traditional amplifiers.

Here’s a rundown of what you see on the back panel:

USB audio input (I’ll explain more along with the Cab Rig options below)
2 and 5-way footswitch inputs
Effects loop with the ability to adjust the level
Dark and light reverb option
Cab Rig (3 different options, which can be programmed per your own specs…we’ll get to this in more depth)
Cab Rig line out and balanced output
Multiple speaker output options

The USB option allows you to connect your HT Venue MK III head directly to your computer and use it as an interface with your DAW. Once you connect it, you would simply go to your DAW settings and select the HT Venue MK III to be your interface and you can start recording.

The Cab Rig software (explained in more detail below) is what you’ll use for your cabinet/speaker and mic simulations.

In addition, you can use the templates, create your own, and assign up to three cab/mic combinations to your Blackstar head. This is what that toggle switch is for that you see in the 2nd image above.
The Blackstar HT Venue MK III already has three options assigned for you, which all sound awesome.

Alon