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The S1-45 is a great blues/rock amp

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One cool thing about the S1's bright and warm clean options is that, behind the scenes, the power amp is also being reconfigured, going from Class A operation with no feedback in bright mode, to Class AB with feedback in warm mode.

This makes for a dramatic difference between the two clean modes. Combined with Blackstar's ISF control, the EQ is wide-ranging, yet easy to dial in, and the gain range for both clean sounds is perfectly tuned.

Using the S1-45 combo with the clean channel gain turned all the way up produces some excellent chiming rhythm tones, which are made even better when we start to use the amp's dynamic power reduction feature.

By just lowering the output power and raising the master volume, it is easy to nail that elusive sweet spot, where the amp just starts to naturally compress as you hit the strings harder, at any volume level.

While the bright clean setting will sound fantastic with effects, we preferred the warm's clean tones, rounder bass and generous mid-range for humbuckers and single-coils –there's plenty of range on the EQ to handle both.

Where the clean modes finish, the S1's crunch takes over and we'd have to say that the crunch mode has some of the best tone and response we've heard from any amp in any price bracket for a very long time.

Bold and very forward sounding with a fast attack, it's supremely responsive to player input and once again it is very rewarding to be able to tune in exactly the right output stage response using the DPR control.

"Unlike other manufacturers' power reduction features, ours doesn't sit between the valves and the loudspeakers," explains Blackstar's Bruce Keir. "A lot of the magic in a great amp happens in that chain from output valve to transformer to loudspeaker and you mess with it at your sonic peril.

"The DPR circuit reduces the output valve's voltages proportionally, maintaining that dynamic feel of power stage 'sag' and compression at any output level."

With any decent Strat, we reckon the S1-45 offers the best single-box solution to Stevie Ray Vaughan's elusive 'clean yet driven' tone, as well as a ton of other great sounds.

Switching to super crunch mode kicks everything up a gear for blistering solos, yet roll off the guitar's volume knob and you're back in Cleansville – it's very responsive. We were also very impressed with the smooth break-up of the Celestion NV70 loudspeakers – these are superb drivers.

Blackstar's Series 1 range is going to find a lot of fans at all levels, from serious amateurs to top pro players. We like the care that's evident in every corner of the design. Cool 'secret' features such as digital valve monitoring (which automatically puts the amp into standby if you pull the guitar lead out) and MIDI channel switching are great, but let's be in no doubt about this, the bottom line is great tone and all three amps have got bucket-loads of it.

Thanks to Korean manufacturing, the price is better than you'd expect for such great performance and, if the whole range matches up to the quality of this trio, Blackstar's Series 1 amps are going to be very, very hard to beat. Sod the credit crunch – you need to try them.