Blackstar Fly 3-3-watt 1x3 inch Compact Mini Guitar Amplifier w/ 2 Channels and Patented ISF - Black

***UPDATE*** Don't worry. I still give this thing 5 stars, and would give it more if I could. This is honestly my favorite sounding amp with distortion. I've not played other Blackstar offerings, but I plan to very very very soon as I'd like something like this ...but bigger. However, I have a couple new tidbits to share. For starters, I have an Agile Interceptor 8-string with Rondo Music's active Cepheus pickups installed. I've sadly struggled to find a good amp to get the tone I wanted, as most amps would mud out on the lower strings. When I got this Blackstar Fly3, I didn't even consider using it with my 8-string. With any 6 string guitar, I was able to get the most versatile distortion tones that made it fun to play along with classic rock to metal tracks. But with the 8-string, I got a nice growl, reminding me of tones found on Meshuggah's "Nothing" album. I'm totally floored and need the bigger version of this. It's a must have amp. *** This little badass of an amp really has me rethinking my setup. Yes, a little battery powered amp is upsetting my existing rig. I'm getting tones out of this that I've struggled to accomplish with a couple of my other amps. So lets start here, giving you a frame of reference for what I'm about. I love rock n' roll; everything from classic rock to prog metal, and almost everything in between. I'm also one who sometimes lends my playing to country artists, and have really found it a struggle to get a twanging tone out of some of the amps I own. I've tried different effects, different guitars, etc. All tend to not impress me much. Now in comes this amp. I bought the Fly3 after I did some rewire jobs. I didn't have a small, compact amp to test my wiring with, and didn't want to skimp on a cheap battery powered amp. I've owned battery powered amps from Fender, Marshall, Danelectro, etc. All shared one thing in common: A very thin sound. They all sounded like they were battery powered, giving me no useable tones. They just did a simple job of amplifying my electric guitar, and that's pretty much it. But then I read reviews here about how great this amp was. It was a bit more than I thought I'd spend on a battery powered amp. Seriously, I could have bought a used Line 6 Spider amp at the local pawn shop for less than this, and almost did. But I splurged, because I like the idea of it running on batteries for noodling while sitting in my bedroom, testing circuits on the word bench, or even playing in the car. When it arrived, I plugged it in and was floored by how huge the sound was. While the clean sound is solid, the overdrive is amazing. I tend to keep the gain above 5, sometimes playing at 10 for this setup - depending on the guitar I'm using or song I'm playing. My sweet spot for gain is typically at 7.5 or 8. The volume is much louder than my Pignose was, where neighbors can easily hear it. When it comes to Blackstar's ISF knob (/EQ), I've found that I love being at "0" (zero) the most, as I get this bright, mid-rangey sound that helps bring out some twang from my Telecaster. If you're familiar with that growly, twanging Brad Paisley Telecaster sound, this amp has gotten me closer to it than anything else I can afford. Crazy, right? However, I also have the extension cab. When that's connected, the twang disappears and the sound will deliver more bottom end (which I'll talk about in my extension cab review). On top of all that, the delay is a nice touch. I'm not usually one who uses delay. But with the absence of reverb, the subtle delay is a wonderful addition. Now lets tackle some rock 'n roll. You want AC/DC growl, you got it. You want tight distortion for speed picking, it's there. You want a clean intro to a song, it'll be rich and full. Want a footswitch to kick on the overdrive? ...Well, that's not an available option, sadly. But for a nice little apartment amp, this will not disappoint. I highly recommend this amp to anyone looking for something small to stash away when not in use. We all know guitar amps can be upsetting to our neighbors, and to those who share your home. This amp can be packed away quickly and easily in a closet or drawer when not in use, making it a great solution for the musician with limited space. And honestly, it's just a great solution for someone that needs to practice at home, period.

TL;DR: What a great little amp this is. This is actually my second Blackstar. I bought my first-generation HT-5 almost ten years ago, when Blackstar was basically still a startup company. Blackstar owes its early success in large part to the HT-5. It is one of the greatest low-wattage amplifiers of the last 20 years, a real classic. I'd known about the Fly 3 for awhile. But my HT-5 already gives me a good, Marshall-like sound. Did I need another Blackstar? Not really. The HT-5 has a tube preamp, too, while the Fly 3 is all solid state, so I didn't think the Fly 3 would be as warm and full sounding as the HT-5, anyway. But the thing is, I get a little tired of hauling out the full rig and setting it up when I want to play--even if it only takes a few minutes. Sometimes I just want to plug in and let 'er rip. I was starting to get an itch for an amp that could give me that spur-of-the-moment option. And that's when the Fly 3 started to make sense. Normally I like a lot of gain in my sound. Lately, though, I've been playing a lot of Jimi Hendrix songs, especially from his first two albums, before he started playing Marshall Plexis. So I'm steadily moving toward lower gain, JTM-style Marshall sounds. That's what this amp seemed to offer, based on the demos I saw. The one demo on YouTube that really impressed me was by an amazingly talented guitarist from the UK named Dave Simpson. While he had a few reservations, he really liked the Fly 3, and his demo was wide-ranging and well-played. More than any other, it was his demo that convinced me the Fly 3 would be a smart purchase. And his demo really nailed it. As I was hoping, the Fly 3 gives me that pre-1968 Hendrixian tone really well, no matter how the gain is set. It's even changed my playing to some degree. For the first time, I'm not afraid to play at lower gain, and even with cleans. With the gain set at around 9 o'clock, I get a nice crunchy sound at the bridge position, and a nice signature Strat sound at the neck position. On the Fly 3, I'm having great fun playing songs I'd previously never attempted, like '51st Anniversary,' 'Remember,' and 'Can You See Me?' Since I already have an earlier Blackstar amp, I'll note here about their proprietary ISF control and how it's voiced on the Fly 3. On the HT-5, the left half of the dial is meant to give us a kind of Mesa-like (US-style) sound, and the right half is kind of a Marshall-like (UK-style) sound. On the Fly 3, it's a bit different--the ISF acts more like a presence control, brighter before noon and darker after noon. My impression is it's more about tone than voicing. The size of the speaker and the amp's wattage may also play into this. It's not a drawback, necessarily, just a note that the ISF does not have the same effect on both amps. On a moderate setting, the Fly 3's delay acts kind of like a reverb, adding dimension to the sound. I set delay on the Fly 3 with level at about noon and timing at about 9 o'clock. That gives me a nice thickening effect without slapping back. A slapback effect can also be dialed in as desired. I think the delay timing maxes out around 600 ms, which is reasonable. It's not an especially powerful delay, but it's very usable. So far, I have tried the headphone input but not the auxiliary input. The headphone input sounds quite good. To its credit, Blackstar decided to include the first set of 6 AA batteries with the amp, which keeps all new Fly 3 owners (like me) happy right as we crack open the box. That little detail cannot be overemphasized. I can also attest that the Fly 3 makes a great bench test amplifier--I recently swapped out a humbucker in one of my Strats, and I grabbed the Fly 3 and plugged in the guitar to verify that the new pickup was working properly. Not having to set up a power cord with the amp makes that little task much easier. I think Blackstar has another classic in the Fly 3, right alongside the great HT-5. This is a great little amp for a very affordable price. Just imagine if every beginning guitarist had an amp like this for starters.

This little amp fills a slot between the tiny 9volt battery powered amps, which don’t sound very good, and the more expensive, multi-featured amps like the Roland Micro Cube and the Boss Katana Mini. It can produce a lot more clean volume than the 9v battery amps, which tend to be curiosities rather than useful amps, and it’s half or a third the cost of the Katana and Boss minis. It has one effect- a surprisingly good sounding echo- and a single tone control that’s a lot more useful than the typical treble roll-off type tone control. This one operates on the midrange, smoothly fading between a classic Fender tone and a classic Marshall tone. If I had to compare it to any other guitar amp, I’d say it’s similar to the Pignose in how it’s intended to be used. The Pignose was originally designed as a battery-powered amp for portable use that ended up being used a lot in recording, and that’s true for the Fly3 as well. It’s just about as loud as the Pignose, and which it doesn’t have the nice wood case and steel hardware of the Pignose, it’s less than half the cost. Like the Pig, it’s a good amp for late night playing, as you can crank it way down- quieter than a larger amp- or plug a set of headphones in for even quieter practice. I wouldn’t buy the Fly3 as a first amp, but it makes a great second, third, or fourth amp, for someone looking for an inexpensive amp to use in places and situations where a larger amp isn’t practical or advisable.

Andaba buscando un pequeño ampli para llevarlo a cualquier sitio sin tener que buscar un enchufe de red. este cacharrillo es ideal, pequeño, solido y con un sonido realmente bueno. que si, que luego le puedes añadir otro altavoz o incluso comprar aparte su alimentador.. bueno, son opciones pero esa no es la historia en mi caso. para eso me hubiera comprado un ampli mayor con mas watios y con un altavoz mas grande. yo creo que lo que hace que este Fly 3 sea especial, es eso, su tamaño, facilidad de transporte, sin complicaciones. en la playa, en un parque, en la calle... en cualquier sitio lo enciendes te conectas y a sonar. 3 watios son lo que son desde luego pero si lo comparamos con algunos pequeños amplis que hay por ahi los cuales si que son de juguete, no hay color. tiene lo que debe tener un pequeño ampli y algo mas. una salida emulada para auriculares que ademas nos da la posibilidad de grabar con el. aparte de una entrada para poder conectar el movil o cualquer reproductor y tocar sobre backing tracks. tambien tiene un delay bastante chulo el cual nos dara un poco mas de profundidad a nuestro sonido. con la eq ISF conseguimos lo mejor de los dos mundos en cuanto a sonidos. a la izquierda sonido americano y a la derecha sonido Britanico. (que mas podemos pedir) sin duda es un pequeño gran ampli con un sonido que no me ha decepcionado. me pregunto como no me lo he comprado antes. de las mejores cosas que he podido comprar en mi vida.

Excellent sound for its size

Super satisfeito. Som excelente para o tamanho, ótimo controle de equalização, bom drive e delay. Adquiri uma fonte de alimentação, que não vem por padrão, para completar o kit mas estou super satisfeito.

I wanted something with a nice clean sound and reasonable volume for a small speaker. This really suits my needs. The clean sound is very good and there is more than ample volume. The delay effect that's built in is a big bonus and very adjustable. After watching many reviews I decided to pick this one up and there is no regret whatsoever. Batteries are no longer included with the amp purchase and a power adapter would've been a nice bonus, although many comment the battery life is very good. Otherwise only positives to say about this little amp.

Mini amps are fun for practice, but they all have "character"; aka defects and flaws. Cracking, crackling, thin and toy-like tones, battery guzzling, flimsy build etc etc. Things you generally justify for their price and size. This one has no "character", it's no nonsense. This is probably the most capable mini amp out there. This 3W-er has amazing headroom (for a little amp), big enough a speaker to not crackle and break up (in a bad way) at high volume. You can actually crank this one up, clean or dirty, and not cringe. The delay is a decent addition which can get reverb-y at low levels, personally don't use it since I use a pedal. And yes, this handles pedals really well. The overdrive sounds surprisingly usable for a mini amp, sensitive to your guitar's volume and tone knobs. The EQ is just a tone contour, but gives you two classic tones on either side apparently ("Brit" and "American" types, in simpler terms, something like sparkly and fat). I personally stick mostly to the balanced flat EQ at 12 o' clock. Don't understand what the patented tech is but it's as effective (or not, depending on your personal opinion about EQ) as a tone contour can be. Can't expect crazy versatile 3-band EQ for this price. Although the bells and whistles (aux in, headphone out, additional 3w speaker) are worth the premium over the other minis out there. The additional speaker is seriously double the fun, it doubles up the wattage to a loud and full 6W, and makes the amp a stereo laptop speaker. Ultimately, what sets this apart from the other minis is also the build quality. Not even remotely flimsy or rough around the edges like other minis I've used. Don't think twice if you want something portable*, capable, well built and... Well.. fun. *You'll need 6 AA batteries for real portability but I haven't tried how long it lasts though.