4/6 Reflector PLL-DLR

August 2017

Blackstar HT-5210 Valve Guitar Amp

Evolving from the award winning HT-5R and the limited edition HT-5TH, the HT-5210 adds a 2×10″ combo to the award-winning HT family. Equipped with Blackstar’s patented ISF control and studio quality digital reverb, the HT-5210 delivers outstanding valve tones at levels you can use in the bedroom, rehearsal room and even on stage.

The HT-5 is the ultimate studio and practice amp, packing all the great tone and innovative features of the award-winning HT valve pedals into a two channel, footswitchable valve amp format. The patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) circuit gives you infinite adjustment over the characteristics of the tone control network and takes you from the USA to the UK and anywhere in between. So now you can effectively design your own tone and finally find ‘the sound in your head’.

In making the HT-5 ideally suited to home and studio use, the aim was to develop a valve amp which sounded full and toneful even at the lowest volume level. With this in mind the Blackstar design team designed a brand new valve power amplifier topology. The HT-5 power amplifier is a low powered push-pull design which produces the crunch and break-up characteristics of a traditional 100W output stage but at a much lower volume. This is achieved by the use of a 12BH7 dual triode in push-pull configuration producing 5 Watts output, which is rich in valve harmonics and compression.

The HT-5 also has a fully specified stereo speaker emulated output which further enhances the studio credentials and allows any guitarist to get amazing valve tone straight to tape or disk, or through headphones. It also features the unique 4×12/1×12 voicing switch allowing you to change the tonal characteristics of the emulated signal between two emulated cabinet types.

Read more

What Does Human Design Do for You?

“I’m often asked a lot of questions, obviously, about Human Design. And I think one of the most basic questions anyone asks is, what does it really do for you?

It’s often very difficult for somebody who knows Human Design to really explain what it’s all about. They end up getting stuck in trying to explain its relationship through genetics, or trying to explain Centers and Channels and Gates and complex birth data calculations, and all kinds of things. And they have a great deal of difficulty getting it across.

And yet, it’s so simple. It really is. Everything about what it is to be in the maya, everything about life on this plane, the sum total of a life is made up by its decisions. It’s just about decisions. If you look at your life you’ll see very clearly that it’s basically decisions all along the road, wherever you turn.

And yet, given the nature of being, given the fact that human beings are much more open than they are fixed, given that we are designed to interact with the conditioning field around us, and to be conditioned by those around us in order to be attracted to them, that it’s exceedingly difficult for us to even imagine what it’s like to make decisions as ourselves.
Read more

MoonBlog 9.6 gratitude & 5.1 perseverance

For many Moons now, I was looking to upgrade my guitar, having had 16 guitars (and one Bass guitar) in my life so far I was looking for something different.

I knew I wanted a certain shape that felt good to my own body holding it, but should also be of high quality and perhaps a looker too.

And this time, no matter the price… kinda…

Easily said, not so easy to find, and I have had my fair share of shitty guitars, mostly because of budget issues, and also because it takes a while for me to find out if I do like something, or if it simply does not work out. So after a few moons processing I end up buying a guitar, and then a few moons later it needs to go again.

Reading my MoonBlogs one can see I have an affection for PRS (Paul Reed Smith) guitars, most say because he makes guitars that sit somewhere in between Fender (Stratocaster) and Gibson (Les Paul), and while that may be true, what speaks to me, is his openness to share about his products, his own nerdiness in going all in in finding that tone through all the little components that make up a musical instrument, his factory, and so on.

Sure some of it is marketing, some of it is ego showiness, a little american sauce over it, but it’s good, I like it. I’ve learned a lot more about guitars and guitar making through investigating about their company and products, something that is much much harder to find out about with most other guitar making companies.

So I had a vague kind of wishlist of components, or elements that my next guitar should contain, where quality was probably the most important.
Read more