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Blackstar St. James 50-watt 1x12 inch Tube Combo Amp with 6L6 Tubes Demo

2-channel, 50-watt, 1 x 12" Tube Combo Amplifier with 6L6 Power Tubes, Cab Rig Output, and Power Reduction Switch
7 Write review Item ID: SJ6L6Cd2

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Blackstar St. James 50-watt 1x12 inch Tube Combo Amp with 6L6 Tubes
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One Holy Combo Amp to Serve Them All

Everyone from jazz box architects to 8-string sweepers will find a lot to love in the Blackstar St. James 1 x 12-inch 50-watt Tube Combo Amp. As Blackstar's lightest and most innovative tube combo amp available, the St. James is tailor-made for studio and stage musicians seeking an all-in-one solution for everything from DI recording to live performance and beyond. St. James combo amps are constructed from candlenut plywood, reducing the weight significantly while maintaining the look and feel of a boutique amplifier. Its two channels are perfect for guitarists seeking crystal cleans and overdriven tones, relying on a single Celestion G12Z-70 "Zephyr" speaker to deliver this amp's sweet sounds. Swapping between the two channels is a breeze as well, with onboard toggles and an included external footswitch to meet your switching preferences. Best of all, the St. James comes stock with onboard cabinet simulation and power reduction — adding features like this to your rig often comes with a substantial price tag, but that's not the case here! Incredible sound for any situation is yours for the taking with Blackstar's St. James 1 x 12-inch 50-watt Tube Combo Amp.

Related Videos: St. James 50-watt 1x12 inch Tube Combo Amp with 6L6 Tubes

Two channels of wide-ranging tone

When Blackstar set out to make the St. James series their most versatile and portable amps to date, they didn't cut any corners with regard to delectable tone. Two channels take you from glassy cleans to vintage crunch and even gut-punching grind, with channel and voicing selector switches around the front for easy toggling and a footswitch input around the back to swap channels with the included external pedal. The 6L6-equipped model brings additional heat to handle today's most aggressive genres while staying sonically balanced.

Highly demanded extra features built right in

Rather than force you to spend potentially thousands more on additional cabs and an attenuator, Blackstar loaded their St. James combo amps with top-notch cabinet simulation and power reduction. Dubbed their Cab Rig Output, the St. James' cab sim technology arms you with three different cab sim options and your choice of balanced XLR or line out/phones output to run your tone straight to an interface or mixer as well as USB for running to a computer — no cab required! Sweetwater guitarists always appreciate built-in power reduction, with options for 50-watt, 2-watt, and Sag (softer, more vintage sound) operation delivering plenty of volume for the stage while keeping the roommates happy at home.

Blackstar St. James 1 x 12-inch 50-watt Tube Combo Amp Features:

  • 2-channel all-tube combo amp constructed from lightweight candlenut plywood for easy transportation
  • Go from chime to gain-drenched grind in the same amp
  • Exclusive Celestion G12Z-70 "Zephyr" speaker delivers full-spectrum sonic options
  • Built-in Cab Rig Output with cabinet simulation runs studio-quality sound to a PA or mixer via balanced XLR or line out/phones outputs
  • USB with cabinet simulation lets you record directly to a computer
  • Power reduction switch with 50-watt, 2-watt, and Sag operation for stage- and bedroom-appropriate volume levels
  • Channel select and voicing switches on the front with an external footswitch input around back (footswitch included)
  • 6L6 model delivers additional gain for today's metal-leaning genres

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At Sweetwater, we're so picky that what we call a "demo" is actually better than what most music retailers sell as "new" gear! Our gear hasn't endured hundreds of people a week plunking away at all the keyboards, fumbling through Stairway to Heaven on every guitar or playing with every fader and knob on a mixer or control surface.

What demo means to us is that we've had it out of the box, or maybe it was in a customer's hands for a few days and isn't "factory fresh" as a result. Every demo item we sell has Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ warranty, and has been tested and verified up to "new" specs by our factory-authorized technicians to make sure it's in perfect working order before we ship it to you.

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Additional Media

Guitar Amp Buying Guide
Blackstar St. James Series | The Lightest 50-watt Tube Amps in the World

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Tech Specs

  • Type: Tube
  • Number of Channels: 2
  • Total Power: 50W (2W/sag settings)
  • Speaker Size: 1 x 12" Celestion G12Z-70 "Zephyr"
  • Preamp Tubes: 2 x ECC83
  • Power Tubes: 2 x 6L6
  • Reverb: Yes
  • Amp Modeling: 3 x Cab Sims
  • EQ: 3-band EQ
  • Inputs: 1 x 1/4"
  • Outputs: 1 x 1/4" (16 ohm internal), 2 x 1/4" (8/16 ohms), 1 x 1/4" (cab rig out/phones), 1 x XLR (cab rig out)
  • Effects Loop: Yes
  • USB: 1 x Type B
  • Footswitch I/O: 1 x 1/4" (channel, boost)
  • Footswitch Included: Yes, 2-button footswitch
  • Computer Connectivity: USB
  • Bias Type: Adjustable Fixed
  • Construction Material: Candlenut Plywood with Black Tolex
  • Power Source: Standard IEC AC cable
  • Height: 18.18"
  • Width: 21.06"
  • Depth: 10.19"
  • Weight: 24 lbs.
  • Manufacturer Part Number: STJ506L6C

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Customer Reviews

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My Holy Grail Amp

I'm an oldfart, played a long time for fun and in bands. Back in the day I was into clean platform + pedals approach so I had a variety of Fender and modded Fender tube amps. As tech developed I looked for a combo amp you could take to rehearsal or gig without needing pedals. I started trying tube and ss Blackstar amps. They were good but there was always something I wasn't a fan of in either or both the clean and gain channels, so back to Fender/modded Fender. The St. James got my attention because it seemed almost too good to be true - great clean and gain and unheard of low weight. The St. James DELIVERS. The clean isn't exactly Fender but it does both huge and chimey, sounds great with both single coils and humbuckers, on all power settings. Plenty of headroom, and takes pedals very graciously in front and in FX loop. The gain channel/s are definitely Blackstar, but more open and less honky than other models. Really rewarding, touch sensitive. And yes, it is LIGHT, no lie. Blackstar had to push the engineering envelope to achieve this and I applaud them bigtime! Too soon to see how it ages, if it's reliable, but if you want your cake(s) and eat 'em too, this is about as good as it gets.
by Sweetwater Customer on
Music background: decades of fun

blown away

Great tone, easy controls, very responsive, and LIGHT. I can take this out to shows without breaking my back! It offers some real cool features like the power switch - the sag mode makes it feel like more of a vintage amp and changes the response/feel. It definitely has more than enough gain, especially with the voice switch engaged. I use it for mostly classic rock and some metal. The one thing that stands out the most to me is that I can hear what seems to be the distinct voice of each guitar I plug in...that usually isn't found in an affordable amp. I would like to try the EL34 version just to see how it compares to the 6L6. My sweetwater rep - Brian Loney and his team are the best! thanks again Brian!
by Zach Sears from IN on
Music background: weekend warrior

Perfect tool for the regular player

While I have a Blackstar HT Club that I love, it--like all my all tube amps--is way to heavy to sluff to rehearsals and gigs regularly. So, remote work has been a Fender modeling amp for some time due to its 22lb weight. The Fender approximates well enough in a mix for gigs with a full band. I was shopping for some of the newer tube amps and hoping for something sub-40lbs and 30 plus watts to gig with (BassBreaker, Hot Rod, etc.). When I came across the St. James and saw the 24lb weight for a 50w amp, I couldn't believe it. I use a St. James plugin in my DAW frequently and love the tone. So, after watching all the explanation videos on how they got in so light, I took a chance and pulled the trigger (much easier at the $ price point than the $ of the boutiques). When I excitedly removed the amp from the box on its arrival, it was so light that I thought Sweetwater had made a mistake and sent me a modeling amp. Then I fired it up and felt the reassuring heal and glow of those sweet valves. I was concerned at first because this beast doesn't blow you away right out of the box. I had to spend several hours getting it dialed in with my specific setup so that it matched closely to the HT. Even then, the HT sounds and feels different and the EQ sections are extremely different. I found scooping the mids, boosting the treble, and pegging the channel volume made this amp finally sing. Band rehearsal required the mids to boost a little to mix in, but once it was there, the whole group loved the tone (so did I).

The 2w setting is great for home practice and the full 50w setting is plenty loud for all my rehearsals and gigs (6L6 model has tons of headroom and is a great pedalboard platform--although I'm not sure why Blackstar downplays that). I never use the high gain settings on any amp, so that channel is something of a waste for me, though it sounds fantastic if I ever wanted to use it. Blackstar says in their manual that each channel has separate EQ through dual pots, but the EQ pots are single not dual. Not sure what is up with that and it makes it difficult to EQ both channels together (hence the half star off). The biggest innovation and benefit of this amp is its measly 24lb weight which has been an absolute game changer for my ability to always have access to the complete tone I want anywhere I play. I would predict it is only a matter of time before most tube amp manufacturers let go of their obsession with almost 100 year old technology and embrace the possibilities afforded by new innovations in materials, speakers, and power supplies like this amp has done to great effect.
by James Brown from NAPA, CA on

Best Amp Ever - Almost!

I didn't buy this amp from Sweetwater but rather from a local mom&pop guitar shop. Let me start by saying it is the best sounding amp I've ever heard. The cleans are pristine, chimey and even a little punchy sometimes. The distortion can range anywhere from a really buttery crunch to a modern high gain that rivals most other amps out there. The effects loop sounds fantastic, as I'm running my HeadRush MX5 using the 4 cable method.

This amp is LOUD - on the 2 watt setting, it fills my house with sound with the master volume set to about half. On Sag or 50w, it's borderline painful even at 1/3 volume, and is easily heard above my drummer who plays notoriously hard.

I would say don't hesitate to get this amp at all. I did start with the EL34 version but returned it the very next day as the sound was just "meh" at best - they call it the perfect pedal platform, and they might be right, but I prefer natural in-built amp tone and prefer to add modulation and such with my pedals. i.e. I like to dress up the amp's voice, not give the amp a voice with pedals. For me the 6L6 version gives me the chimey clean and high gain that I was going for.

The *only* reason I didn't give it a full 5 stars is I wish the clean and dirty channels had separate EQs. It's a little tricky to dial both in perfectly for a live performance using a shared EQ, but I've gotten close enough that it's not a concern for me.
by Carlos from Atlanta on
Music background: 30+ years on guitar, playing mostly metal, hard rock, grunge and some numetal and post-hardcore.

Just what the back doctor ordered!

I've held off reviewing this combo amp for a few weeks as I really wanted to dive into it before passing judgement. First and foremost, the weight is awesome. I sold my PRS Sonzera 50 watt combo which weighed close to 60lbs after picking this up. This is the first amp I've ever purchased without playing first, so thankfully there were several good video reviews online. The clean channel is excellent. I took the amp to rehearsal the night I bought it and truly considered returning it though. The gain channel sounded muddy to me and I just couldn't figure it out. I thought perhaps it was the open cabinet? Not really sure. Returning home the next day I tinkered around some more and switched the voicing button on...completely different amp at that point. It cleans up the muddiness of the gain channel really well. It is supposed to be used as a slight boost I believe, but I just like the tone of the amp better with it switched on.

All that being said, there is a TON of gain in this amp. Maybe I should have looked at the el34 version as I don't need that much gain, but it is nice to have available if you need/want it. I am using the clean channel with my pedal board and it truly has the sound that has been in my head, at a fraction of the weight of other amps! I run a Keely Fat Mod in front of it and it sounds amazing.

I have to knock the amp just a bit for still needing my pedal board, but hey, that's a personal choice! The weight of the amp sold me, the tone of the amps will keep me.
by Tommy from Hernando on
See also: Combo Amps, Blackstar, Blackstar Guitar Combo Amps
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