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

I’m rather impressed with this little practice amp. I needed something portable because my regular tube amp is a bit of a hassle to lug around and sometimes I want to practice while watching TV or in the other room. This makes it easy and convenient. It has a fantastic tone in both clean and overdrive. I even connect it to larger speakers for more power but even on its own it has a solid full sound. Well with the money. I only wish it came with the power adapter which I did order separately. Best practice amp I’ve heard by far. The delay sounds good if that’s what you like, and it has an input to play along with music. It’s solidly built too, doesn’t feel like a flimsy cheap toy like most practice amps, so hopefully it lasts a long time.

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.

Bought this as a temporary amp while re-learning to play guitar. Sounds good and is easy to use, but don’t care for the fact that it takes so many AA batteries because those are very pricey these days. A great amp if you don’t have a place to plug in and are traveling and have limited space. Looks great, sounds great, but price could be better.

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.