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THE TRUTH ABOUT: Blackstar | History Defined

“His effects are bonkers in the best way possible”: The pedal with the onboard amp, speaker and microphone, Gibson baritones, the Fender Custom Shop George Harrison Bass VI and more – this is MusicRadar's guitar gear roundup, the August 2026 edit

We take a look back at the gear highlights from August, featuring new signature models from Epiphone and PRS, Death By Audio and Grainger FX's wild collab and more

MusicRadar

“What really sets the Beam Mini apart is that you also get access to a humongous range of amp captures”: Blackstar Beam Mini review

Blackstar expands its Beam series with afeature‑packed ultra-compact amp

MusicRadar

“The speaker is the secret weapon. It just has this size and weight to the sound that you don’t expect. That’s the magic”: Blackstar shrinks Doug Aldrich’s fire-breathing tube head into a compact 5-watt combo for the stage, studio and home

Meet the DA5 Ruby, the house-trained version of Aldrich's 100-watter, with the same super-hot tone

MusicRadar

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“It could give my Quad Cortex mini a run for its money”: My pick of the best new guitar gear launched this week – and the new drops you might have missed

Vote for your favorite new release in Guitar World's weekly guitar gear poll

Guitar World

“An effortlessly usable unit that delivers dynamically playable amp sounds and complementary effects”: Blackstar ID:X Floor Three review

Blackstar takes the sounds from its ID:X amp series and puts them into an easy-to-use floor pedal

MusicRadar

“Weird, small, brilliant, respectful of pedalboard space. What more could you need?” This week’s hottest new guitar gear – including Alex Lifeson’s ES-355, Charvel’s US return and Ed Sheeran’s new Orange squeeze

We’ve got weird reverbs from EHX, super-cheap AI-enabled multi-effects units, high-end shredders, climate-controlled gig bags and more

Guitar World

“It won’t leave your tap water tasting of hot dogs. It won’t make your Hershey’s bar taste of starfish”: This week's hottest new guitar gear – featuring Wes Borland's Jackson and a Korn pedal

Jackson and Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland unveil the coolest metal guitar of the year, IK Multimedia go '60s Marshall mad, and someone put Korn's early sound in a pedal

Guitar World

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“When I played, it was almost like I made every note count even more. It was rejuvenating”: Why Jared James Nichols has switched to Marshall amps after playing Blackstar for 15 years

The decision ends a long relationship with Blackstar, with whom he released a series of signature amps

Guitar World

“Of all the mini practice amps I’ve tried, this is easily my favorite”: Blackstar Beam Mini review

The world of mini practice amps just got serious, with Blackstar's new Beam Mini boasting impressive tones in compact form with some surprising twists

Guitar World

“Isolate or remove instruments from any song… Remove the guitar and step into the player’s shoes”: With AI stem separation, component-level modelling, and access to 200,000+ neural captures, Blackstar says the Beam Mini “redefines” the desktop amp

Introduced at NAMM 2026, the Beam Mini ups the ante for the digital practice amp, giving players access to AI-driven practice tools, Tone3000 NAM captures and top-class modelled sounds

MusicRadar

200,000 models, AI stem separation, impossibly big sound: Blackstar just dropped a mini amp that could change the market forever

The BEAM Mini could offer big competition to the Spark Go, with “component-level” models, cutting-edge AI practice tools and support for NAM open source captures

Guitar World

“On tour, the soundman is always on me to turn down. So I wanted to make sure the amp stays full and articulate, even at lower volumes”: The making of the Blackstar Doug Aldrich Signature DA100 Ruby

Doug Aldrich reveals how decades of vintage amps, real-world touring and close collaboration with Blackstar helped shape his DA100 Ruby signature head

Guitar World

“With a roomful of classic Fender amps, perhaps surprisingly, it was this Blackstar that was the most-used”: Blackstar TV-10 AH & TV-10 BH heads review

Can this pair of new compact heads from Blackstar – theUS-styled TV-10 AH and its British-counterpart, theTV-10 BH – deliver those classic tones?

Guitar World

“What I will say is the Cable Tone feature is too good to turn off”: Blackstar AirWire i58 guitar wireless system review

The affordable British brand enters the wireless market with an anti-intereference trick up its sleeve

MusicRadar

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Guitar World

“A cost-effective way of accurately amplifying your modeled tone, which is exactly what many guitar players need”: Blackstar Artist FR Special review

Bypassing some of the fancy features of other FRFR cabinets, Blackstar gets straight to the point with a no-frills solution for amplifying your modeled guitar tones

MusicRadar

"The amp and effects modelling unit for those who’d rather play than get bogged down in too many details" Blackstar ID:X Floor Two review

Modelling doesn't need to be expensive or complicated, and Blackstar has just delivered the first proof for 2026

Guitar World

“Amp and cab models that surpass some expensive units from bigger brands”: Blackstar ID:X Floor Three review

Blackstar swerves the touchscreen for a tactile, amp-style workflow

MusicRadar

"This might be the most amp-like option out there, and it's certainly convinced me of the benefits of the humble FRFR speaker": Blackstar Artist FR Standard

The race for the ultimate FRFR speaker is hotting up, with Blackstar going up against Fender, Laney, Positive Grid and Line 6 with its own range of digital amp modeler speaker companions

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Guitar World

"A successful first foray into amp and effects modeler floorboards for the firm, which has a really bright future in the space": Blackstar ID:X Floor One review

Blackstar becomes the latest in a long line of companies to develop a floorboard-based amp modeler rig solution – and it's gone about it in the perfect way

Guitar World

NAMM 2026: The best new things in bass from the biggest music instrument event of the year

From Aguilar to Ashdown and beyond, here’s a look at the new gear that had bassists abuzz at this year’s NAMM show

Guitar World

“A complete, compact desktop solution”: Blackstar launches the Beam Mini – the world’s first amplifier to natively support Neural Amp Modeling

The potentially game-changing practice amp grants players access to over 35 amps and cabs – as well as Tone3000’s massive user-generated tone library

MusicRadar

The best new guitar gear of NAMM 2026: More effects, more amps, more guitars and more tech than ever

MusicRadar's Rob Laing carried the weight of the guitar world on his shoulders as he single-handedly took on the NAMM Show 2026... and survived to tell the tale

Guitar World

“A natural partner for the latest generation of modeler-based rigs”: Blackstar unveils Artist FR series of compact, competitively priced FRFR speakers

These lightweight 1x12s boast onboard EQs and 50 or 100 watts of power – and they could be your modeler's new best friend

Guitar World

“Experience the dynamic sensation of an amp moving air”: Blackstar takes on the Fender Tone Master Pro, unveiling a high-powered floor modeler series with “insane versatility”

Packed with tone-sculpting features and a focused amp collection for electrics, acoustic, and bass, the British amp firm is bringing its firepower to the modeler market via the new ID:X Digital Floorboard series

MusicRadar

“Uncompromising tone whenever inspiration strikes”: Blackstar unveils the Beam Mini – it’s portable, desktop-friendly, and as the first guitar amp to allow players to load Neural Amp Modeller captures, it's a game-changer too

NAMM 2026: Out this spring, the Beam Mini gives guitarists access to more than 200,000 neural captures created by the Tone3000 commuity

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