Blackstar are a mid-range British amp builder and the Studio 10 is a combo amp with a choice of output valves.

This was a simple repair with a common fault that a lot of you with PCB-based amps may see. The valve sockets are mouted directly onto the PCB and over time, with movement/bangs/heat etc, the solder joints fail. You can end up with all sorts of nasty sounds or a dead amp.

We gave this a checkover, sorted the valve socket and all was well. I’d not played a Blackstar before and I was pleasantly suprised, the tone was nice, the reverb sounded good and I think its a good looking combo. There is a ‘drive’ button which the owner and I both agreed was a bit rubbish but he had a lovely boost pedal to make up for that!