Blackstar HT Drive

[HoratioCaine]

I may as well do a little review and also update with my continued findings/verdict of something I purchased a bit ago.

With my Marshall 2554 pretty much firmly set and dialled in when it comes to rhythm/smooth lead, which it does great, there are still some things that I need to do to make my setup comfortably complete for whatever I plan to do.  One of those things was to buy a drive pedal for those screaming solos that an amp just cannot quite do on its own.  You might have guessed by now I mostly live in the 80s, with Def Leppard being a large influence in the sort of style I am going for but also making a bit different in approach.

I purchased a Blackstar HT-Drive pedal from eBay which came yesterday.  While I know it isn't all valve, the fact it uses a preamp valve to generate some of the sound did interest me.  Unlike probably a lot of others, I'm not using this for overdrive rhythm as my amp covers that fully, just as a solo boost, so given this pedal's nature the best way I can put it is that I am using this as a solo preamp, so not much gain, with volume being the main pusher/leader.

Impressions so far are mixed, I know quite a few people opinion wise from reading around forums it is the same, hit or miss.  One thing I will say, is that for using it as an overdrive rhythm, chord playing type stuff I'm not a fan of it, doesn't sound anything special to me and I found the bass was too overkill, however again I didn't buy it to use it that way (you might think I'm a bit daft as that is mostly the common way to use these, but I'm all for going a little out the circle).

So far the things I like:

-It sounds very nice and melodic for my more ripping through solo needs in which I found it still had a good natural character
-Feels pretty solid all round contruction wise
-Simple controls, didn't really take me long to get the controls at what sort of sound I was after, was nice and responsive

Things I'm not so hot on:

-The 16v ac power it uses is pardon my french in reality quite f*****g inconvenient - I'm planning to buy a power supply, but because of it being 16v there is only one I've found that'll do which if I decide to keep this pedal for my needs, I'll have to pay a bit for since they don't show up used.  I mean at least there is one, but I really would prefer a Voodoo Labs one in general.
-It's noisy - I know lots of other pedals are, although I'd imagine some are better than others.  When it is just my amp maybe I'm just lucky but there's no noticable noise really (although I don't have/use or need many pedals, just delay, chorus, wah and drive, possibly a noise gate depending on how this pedal goes, so maybe that's why).

Finally the preamp valve in there is on it's way out, as it just so happens to have started showing signs of it (sometimes I get whirling sounds), so that might be having an impact on some of my issues.

From this though, I was planning to replace the valve anyway as looks like some others have replaced the valve with a better one and it made a general improvement.  This is where I'll be keeping things updated.  I've not purchased the valve yet but when I do and it gets here and it is in, I can then give a more clear view on things.

Thing is though, if I don't decide to keep it after all this, I would welcome opinions on pedals that might be more effective, chances are they will be 9v or a much more common voltage anyway.  My only other idea now if I don't decide to keep it is to get a TS9 and send it to PedalMods UK to have a few things done to it (true bypass, noise reduction).  At the same time though I might have to get a noise gate pedal either way, we'll see anyway.

I'll update once the replacement valve is in.  Hopefully people who might be wondering about the HT Drive like I was before I took the plunge will be helped by this so far.

[Kiichi]

Always good to hear about gear I am not familiar with. Keep it updated mate! I found replacing stock valves always made things better for me.

As for great pedals I can always just rave about my clone of a Klon, which is then called Klone. I have on done by Juansolo and it is great. He still does them I think, now in a true bypass variety.
That pedal is to me the "more" pedal. Stomp it and get more of all that goodness in your sound. It is really transparent, versatile without end (nearly every setting is somehow usable I feel). It can be used as a booster and works very well for that but totally shines when you mix in its disortion into a dirty amp. This works so well to all degrees and the distortion is so nice. Works a charm for me.
While I use it as an always on it is certainly capable of doing what you need. Turn up the volume, tone to taste and a touch of gain = what you want. Glorious sound.

[HoratioCaine]

Thanks for the suggestion on the possible alternate pedal choice.  Sounds like that pedal is right up my street, I'll have to keep that in mind as it sounds good for what I want.  There is a good chance I will change, the 16v thing personally to me despite not needing many pedals is still quite limiting and awkward, but again once I have the tube that will most likely improve things I'll wait and see.  As you said there will be an improvement most likely, it'll be interesting to see how much it will change things.

[richard]

I have the HT Drive although I don't use it in my set up at the moment. I think it's a very good pedal but I have sometimes found it hard to get enough attack from it, just a bit too smooth. If I'm in a situation where I can't use my own amp the pedal I'll always pick is my Boss OD3. This is a great pedal to add to a slightly overdriven amp. I've been able to get good sounds out of some really poor amps using the OD3 and it has plenty of bite if you want it. Don't underestimate it for being non-boutique and inexpensive. Has a similar vibe to a TS but doesn't cut bass and no mid hump.

[Dr.Pain]

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the pedal.  I was looking at getting a drive or another pedal from the Blackstar range but then I bought a Blackstar HT-5RH so I don't know if it's worth it now.  I've found my SD-1 does the job but then an MXR KFK 10 band eq does an even better job for me.

[HoratioCaine]

Thanks for the further replies on other pedal choices and also some more thought on the HT Drive.  I agree that it does have a certain smoothness to it, although shows how tone is different to everyone as the smoothness is something I quite liked.

I have ordered the tube today.  I decided to go with a NOS 1990's Tesla E88CC from Langrex (bought a fair few things tubes wise from them now), which should arrive early in the week in which I can then see the end result.  No matter what happens I have decided that I will be selling it, as the 16v thing is too inconvenient for how my pedal setup is shaping itself (yeah after some more research gonna be adding a few more pedals, so really need to be a easy common voltage), although again I'll still be adding the new tube and giving my final thoughts before it goes.  Replacement wise for my solo boost needs, I managed to get a nice deal on a CMatMods Boost pedal that I will run in my FX loop, so I'm looking forward to that.  After a bit of research beforehand this pedal looks to fit the bill for what I want, we'll see!  The joys of experimentation!

[HoratioCaine]

Right, the tube came, and so did the boost pedal (good job it did as I have found out a lot about what I need now).

I'm going to start right away by saying, new preamp tube = noticable improvement!

I fitted the tube the way pretty much everyone else I have seen do it, which is to do it by unscrewing the four small screws holding the semi transparent cover where you can partially see the valve.  I was worried after seeing videos and pictures that I might find it hard due to it being fiddly, however to my relief it was pretty easy, the whole process of taking out the old Sovtek tube and fitting the new Tesla E88CC tube took me less than 5 minutes to do.  If you do this just be patient and gradually wiggle the old tube out.  Putting the new tube in just have a steady hand and be gentle while gently pushing the white base piece the valve slots into forward so the valve goes in gradually, it is quite delicate as other people have found out.

Now the differences.  The first thing was noticable as soon as I activated the pedal, less noise when not playing, there was still some which on od/distortion pedals is most likely inevitable, however now it didn't seem to bother me enough.

Soundwise now is where it is an improvement.  As others have said (mainly on the Blackstar forum I found), I found it has made the sound when I am using it to add some gain and volume for a solo more defined and detailed, slightly less gain range, however personally that's good as I felt it had too much gain before.  However the big improvement I noticed was when using it as what it was mainly designed for, which is overdrive on the clean channel.  It sounds again much clearer and crisp, nice and tweakable with the controls and that annoying overkill on the bass I mentioned has gone or can be controlled better now depending on how you set it.

Now what's even better is that it is a good job I didn't sell this pedal before the boost I now have arrived today.  Running the boost in the FX loop to add volume, combined with the HT Drive in front of the amp has made me find the absolute perfect solo tone for me.  Slightly louder volume and presence to cut through with the boost, while the Drive pedal adds that bit more gain, perfect.  I can also use the boost on it's own as a lead drive too.

So the overall verdict is that stock the HT Drive I personally feel is ok, has a few issues as mentioned earlier, however as I found, change the tube then soundwise it becomes a lot more useable and refined.  The great thing is the new tube only cost about Ģ10 or so and I got the pedal for a pretty good price so as a whole a pretty effective pedal now for not too much.  However, as said earlier, I will still be selling it as the 16v power is just too incompatible with the way my pedal setup is going, this may not be an issue for a lot of others.  It is a shame as if it was a more common voltage then this pedal would be staying with me as everything else now I am happy with.  Needless to say my hunt for a nice drive pedal continues, I'm tempted to go for one of those Klones mentioned earlier.

[Kiichi]

As expected the tube did have quite the impact! Congrats!

Depending on how your power supply is set up there might actually be a workaround for the 16v issue. If you have one of those bricks and a little bit of extra space one could think about getting a external charge pump. Should be possible to put one in a very small box (probably closer to a box of matches than a box of cigs) that is put between the powersupply and the HT which ramps up 9v to 16v.
I think this is possible, but donīt nail me on it.
Someone with a tad of skill in the DIY department should be able to do one and small at that, again someone like Juansolo comes to mind.
Would of course be trouble too, but a possibility in case you really like what you have now.

Sides that there are many many ODs out there. My fav DIY layout site has 166 OD layouts alone...insane.

[HoratioCaine]

Thanks!  You were right, the tube has pretty much transformed it.

Interesting suggestion about the power conversion box.  I'm pretty set on changing though now, since I also now require something that has a smaller footprint on the pedalboard I plan to build once I get the last few pedals I need, one being the pretty big Octa Switch 2.  As you said though there's plenty of choice for OD pedals at least!  I'm taking things slow at the moment and not just jumping to a decision too quickly like I did last year and many years before, which is working well so far with my last few pedal changes/acquisitions.  This one may not have worked for me as to keeping, however pricewise it was good so I will proabably only lose a little if I sell and don't trade.

[richard]

If I was in the market for a drive pedal I'd be looking at these. Have a listen to the demo of the Heartbreaker.

http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/guitar.html

[Kiichi]

If I was in the market for a drive pedal I'd be looking at these. Have a listen to the demo of the Heartbreaker.

http://www.rothwellaudioproducts.co.uk/html/guitar.html

Their Love Squeeze comp has a good rep for sure, I am about to finish building one. Still have a ground issue to fix which probably resulted from using a new wiring for the switch, but first tests (as good as I can make em at this point) are promising.

[HoratioCaine]

Once again, thanks for the pedal suggestions.  The Rothwell Heartbreaker appears to be a nice pedal and would do the job, heard the clips especially the solo one which was nice.  It is a bit out of my price range for me sadly.

I have however after a bit of searching managed to get a nice deal on a pedal that I think will be just the trick, and that is a Tonefreak Severe, so I'm looking forward to that.  That's actually the last pedal I need now (bought a few other pedals and will be getting the other in a trade with one of my pedals that won't be suitable anymore in the last day or so).