I've just got myself another Blackstar pedal. I had a Dual last year, and liked it but couldn't quite get it to gel perfectly with the Jtm45 I was using at the time, for the singing lead tone I was trying to use it for.
I replaced the Dual with an MI Audio Crunchbox, which is a fine pedal but in the end I decided that it's too much of a one trick pony, and rather lacking in mids for my liking.
Anyway, now that I'm playing an AC30 (for the moment, LOL !), I thought I'd try the whole range of the Blackstar pedals with it to see if I could get nearer the range of lead tones I wanted from a pedal.
So i took my amp off to M&M Music in Southampton and took a while auditioning the range of Blackstar pedals.
I still liked the Dual, but could still not get around the shared EQ is has between the two channels - seems like a big fault with this pedal. You have to set the channels to sounding very similar to each other for the EQ to work well with each. Seems then to be no point having it as a two channel pedal. I know Dave (Twinfan) and others seem to get around it, but I can't get it to work as a 2 channel pedal for my uses.
the HT Boost is a simple clean boost, no dirt, just boost. As a boost, it works great, but not what I was looking for. there are also just as good, and cheaper, and MUCH smaller boosts on the market. I would not be buying this pedal if I wanted another clean boost.
the HT Drive I was expecting to like, but didn't at all. Didn't sound anything like the HT Dual. Difficult to put my finger on what I didn't like, it just wasn't what I was looking for.
The HT Dist - Ah yes ! Seemed to have exactly the same gain range and tone of the HT Dual, but just one channel. I ws getting exactly the right tones with this one.
The Dual at £140 was not going to tempt me, when the Dist was only £99. So, I am now a Blackstar owner again - the Dist is sitting nicely wedged between my GI Fuzz and my Volume pedal. it's a real whopper, but my board's big enough to take it. I'm well pleased with it so far. I have yet to gig it loud, in anger as yet, but expect it to produce the goods.
BTW, it's important to have the transformer in the power supply well away from the pedal itself. You can a load of hum if it's too close or in the "wrong" orientation. Not a problem, just something to be aware of.
And to you metalheads, I'm sorry but I didn't try the HT DistX ... not really my thang.
Oh, I also tried the Artisan 30 combo while I was there. It's a very, very nice amp. Surprisingly little gain, but cleans, low gain and mid gain tones were excellent - possibly the best from any combo I've tried (and that's quite a few). Thankfully, still not as nice to my ears as my Ac30 through my cab, although I would have liked to try a head version (which they do not do of the 30Watter yet) through my cab.
For guys looking for more vintage and low-mid gain tones, it's really a great new player in the field.
As always, thanks for reading my ramblings.
