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.

The Blackstar FLY3 amp is not simply a great product for electric guitars, it is one of the most effective and useful products of any category I've experienced in my life. The amp would be useful to almost all players in almost all daily situations. Many would find it effective for professional use (small rooms like bars). The amp produces sufficient volume and great clarity even at low settings. You cannot change the direction of the wind when you set it to 10. Past that, it is loud enough for personal use and practice and given the size, shape, and acoustics of the space, it might work for larger audiences. The price point on it is great and it is easy to use. The size and weight is small and light, yet still produces plenty of volume with great clarity. Plus, the thing can function on either batteries or external power cord. Five stars are not enough. Ten is insufficient. Eleven! 2022 UPDATE: I bought this in 2018. I used it frequently for two years then stored it. Now the power button (AC adapter or batteries) has failed. Computer circuit board should last longer than this. When one critical part works, it is great. Otherwise it it useless.

Best in class, by far. I am blown away at the sound quality of this little guy. Granted I haven't played in person the other brands of battery powered practice amps. I originally went in planning to buy the Marshall Mini stack, so I spent a lot of time watching many YouTube comparison videos with side-by-sides of several of them (Orange, Fender, Marshall, etc). After viewing the videos it was apparent to me the Blackstar sounded better. Many practice amps do not offer any effects (except the Roland Cube for triple the price!) but this one does- delay. You can adjust both the saturation/level and the time of the delay. "No reverb?" you might be thinking. Well, a high level of delay and a low time gives a good reverb effect, so don't fear, you can make reverb happen. Or, you can use a pedal. 2 channels, both are affected by the Gain and Volume knobs, as well as the delay and ISF (Blackstar's patented tone shifter). High Gain on the clean channel will distort, giving you from a fuzz up to a good overdrive sound, AC/DC style. OD channel w/ low Gain is clean (as you'd expect) up to a very good high gain sound. Great feedback when flicking muted strings with your pick like you'd expect from high gain. Rolling the volume back on your guitar will clean up the sound too...I seen that asked in the questions. Clean tones are very nice. Adding a little bit of delay to get a reverb-y sound with tone knobs rolled back on my guitar gets such a nice jazzy tone. It's crisp, polished, and better than I thought it'd sound on this. Using the MP3 line in renders the amp's volume knobs inactive. The amp plays as an extension speaker at whatever volume your device sends to it (you control the volume through your phone or tablet. etc). The knobs only control the guitar in jack. This is great! You can then jam along at whatever volume you want for either device, controlled separately. Now, it's 3W so it's loud for its size (by comparison the Marshall Mini stack is 1W). It sounds great, yes, but a small 3" speaker doesn't move much air. This is where a lot of people mistakenly think it's a toy. If you need to make this little guy move air, (you know, vibrate your shirt, rattle your windows) use Blackstar's "emulated output" to plug this into a PA...and there you go, concert sound moving tons of air. I've read a couple reviews here where people are complaining and comparing this to a regular sized amp. That's silly. It's a battery powered practice amp, but a DARN good one at that. Don't buy a pencil and then complain it's not a pen. I HIGHLY recommend getting the extension cabinet! If you can't afford it now, add it to your to-do list (that's what I did). It's not a gimmick. It literally doubles the volume (!) and adds spaciousness to the delay. It makes MP3s played via your phone/tablet through a 3.5mm jack come out in stereo! They double as computer speakers. LOUD! The stock batteries last hours! Longer than I expected to be honest. It comes with batteries too, so you can play right out of the box. The amp by itself comes with: Amp 6 pre-installed AA batteries. Backstar sticker Instruction book/manual. *Notice: NO 3.5mm cable, if you want to use this as an MP3 extension speaker, you'll need to pick up one of these, double male-ended. (They're cheap!) NO power adapter. Blackstar sells these separately for about $20 The extension speaker comes with: Speaker 24" cat5 cable spooled up on the back (to connect to main unit) Blackstar sticker Manual *Notice* The extension speaker does NOT require its own batteries.

Ive had this amp for over two years and at first i thought it was breaking down after 3 months but i just kept changing and rotating the batteries until it worked idk why my batteries werent working at first but i havent changed them since and i play for an hour maybe 10 to 15 times a month. Go figure. Beyond that this thing has my tone dialed in. Dial back the delay for reverb ambience. I get my mildly overdriven tone i love that i can still play metal with on a tele ala opeth-esque tone. Has enough bass for me and ive even used it outside and played for neighbors. It can get loud enough to go over car traffic noise. I love this thing cant say enough about it. Ive been playing 20+ years and ive played anything under the sun digital and tube. Have recorded several albums solo, not famous or anything but all this to say im a professional and i know what im talking about and this amp is all i use now as i cant have a half stack in my current living situation but i ain't mad about it as this thing rocks.

Initially I was so happy when I got it, it came in the original box (I didn’t order an used one) and everything seemed normal. When I opened the box I noticed there was tape on the battery slot, I went ahead and opened and I found a lot of waste from the batteries it carried, this unit was obviously used, but not just a little…heavily! It was full of white residue which normally only happens when you let batteries inside a device for a long time and you don’t bother to change them or take them out. I cleaned it as much as I could, even with a toothbrush, and some cotton + drops of vinegar…when I thought about taking a picture I had already been cleaning for some minutes. When I tested with new batteries it worked and the sound is better than what I expected, I feel like the videos don’t make it justice (including mine , my phone sucks) I played and recorded as soon as I turned it on just to add my two cents but I can assure you it sounds more underwhelming in the videos than what you actually get. I like the amp but I’m not satisfied with receiving a very used product for $65 dollars when it was supposed to be on sale as new.

I bought this amp as a replacement after accidentally bricking my Fender Champion, and I’ve got to say — I’m impressed. For a compact unit, it delivers a wonderfully warm tone that suits my style of music perfectly. What really surprised me, though, was how well it paired with my Yamaha A1M. The two together create a full, rich sound that really turned heads. At a recent jam session, my playing partner couldn’t believe how good it sounded. That alone made it worth the purchase. While I haven’t received the extension cabinet from Amazon yet, I’ve been using the amp with headphones — and the sound is even fuller and more immersive that way. I also plan to use it as a speaker with my laptop and DAW setup, and based on its performance so far, I expect it to shine in that role too. Overall, I’m very happy with this little guy. Warm tone, solid build, great with an acoustic-electric — and just plain fun to play through. P.S. It also works surprisingly well with both my Strat-style and Gibson-style electric guitars — great tone across the board.