Blackstar HT-Dual

Drew_TNBD

So I bought one of these the other week, mainly just to get my through a rehearsal and to have a backup whilst I was waiting for my JVM to get fixed.

I have to say, it's quite impressive. It does sound very amp-like, and I got some good tones going into a 60's Carlsbro PA head the other week. I also tried it into my friends hand-wired combo that he loaned me, and it sounded good there too.

It isn't *quite* the tone I go for. It sounds too rocky and not metal enough, making me think I should've gone for the HT Metal instead; although what the actual differences are isn't quite clear to me.

The ISF control is, frankly, pants. I quite liked it on the Artisan 30 I once tried, but for the pedal, it doesn't seem to really work that well. It either brings out the bass way too much, or it brings out the treble way too much. I pretty much just left it at noon all the time, and relied entirely on the EQ.

But it reacts like a valve amp and sounds the closest to an amp that I've ever heard any pedal do. It isn't quite on the level of the JVM, but in a pinch it will do the job. Although I reckon had I tried these 3 years ago, before all my amp swapping shenanigans, I would've been quite happy to stick with one.

Yes the wall-wart is annoying. The stacked knobs are a bit finnicky. ISF is crap. But all that really matters is the sound, and it does deliver.

relic245

At the risk of sounding picky, the Artisan does not have an ISF control - at least mine doesn't.

I know the series one's do and I think most of the others do too but not the artisan. 

I agree about the control though it doesn't do much for me either, I've found a place where it sounds good and it just stays there.

Drew_TNBD

Hmmm, must've been a Series One and my mind is just playing tricks on me!

ICBM

Drew_fx said:

The ISF control is, frankly, pants. I quite liked it on the Artisan 30 I once tried, but for the pedal, it doesn't seem to really work that well. It either brings out the bass way too much, or it brings out the treble way too much. I pretty much just left it at noon all the time, and relied entirely on the EQ.

Remember that the ISF is interactive with the mid control - the lower you have the mid, the more effective (drastic) the sweep on the mids. It's actually a bit of marketing BS really - it doesn't "take you from the USA to the UK and anywhere between", it's a mid sweep control...

I haven't tried the HT-Metal yet, but at a guess it will have more gain, and possibly less mids... depending on what type of metal they're aiming for.

guitarfishbay

I found it is best to treat using the ISF as voicing the pedal (or amp) for the rest of the chain, rather than as something to increase versatility.  If it sounds best in the middle for your setup I'd leave it there.

David5150

I like the ht dual but use channel 2 with a low gain and channel 1 for higher stuff- sounded a bit better into my jvm

neilrocks25

I just dug out my HT- dual again, (I have one of the early ones from 2008) and had a lot of fun paying with it. 

To me its more of a metal pedal. I was comparing it to my wampler plextortion for kicks. Different beast but the blackstar held up well and may be coming back on my board.

Fun pedal for sure.

Drew_TNBD

Might sell mine now my JVM is back in action. But it is a crackin' little/big pedal!

Bidley

What's it like for direct recording? I've been toying with getting one myself...

Drew_TNBD

Haven't really tried it tbh!

photek

I know people say that swapping the valve out for a lower gain one doesn't make a difference but it bloody well does!

I changed mine and the pedal becomes one of the best I have tried and removes a load of that wolfy bass sound. If you get the time stick a JJ 5751 in there and see if you like it.

If it was smaller and didn't need it's own power supply I would still have it as my main drive sound, it also sounds great for direct recording, I have used it straight into the PA a few time with good results.

guitarfishbay

Bidley said:

What's it like for direct recording? I've been toying with getting one myself...

I've used it with IRs and thought it was ok.  This is a pretty low gain song demo I did with one a while ago.

https://soundcloud.com/maxmoujaes/too-much-rain

I think it has better lower gain sounds than many other pedals.  Most pedals I try sound far too hard for lower gain settings, but the HT Dual can do the softer amp style drives if you set it right.  It works pretty well for high gain too, especially if you boost OD1.

ThePrettyDamned

I really like them. They sound like a black star! I'm currently in the market for an amp, and trying to work out if a fender combo with a ht pedal (probably a metal and a dual, or maybe a distortus maximus or Duncan power grid... I love them all dammit!) or a blackstar ht or a peavey 6505 plus is the best bet.

I think I'll wind up ignoring them all and getting the amt stonehead I did try a ht pedal out in store years ago, and the switch broke within a few clicks. Probably bad luck - switches do wear out, though, which is why I'm so heavily into the visual sound stuff...

photek

ThePrettyDamned said:

I think I'll wind up ignoring them all and getting the amt stonehead I did try a ht pedal out in store years ago, and the switch broke within a few clicks. Probably bad luck - switches do wear out, though, which is why I'm so heavily into the visual sound stuff...

Oddly enough the only pedals I have had trouble with in terms of broken footswitches have been Joyo and Visual Sound (well and Bogner pedals because they are just plain shite )

ICBM

ThePrettyDamned said:

 I did try a ht pedal out in store years ago, and the switch broke within a few clicks. Probably bad luck - switches do wear out, though, which is why I'm so heavily into the visual sound stuff...

No, this was a fault with the first version of the pedal. I had quite a few to fix and initially I disliked the pedal because it was designed to use the specific switch type only - it was not feasible to upgrade to a better one so they had to be replaced with the same type, and which was a pig to do! The fault was caused by the wave soldering process overheating the switch, so a hand-soldered replacement should be OK.

The later version uses a completely different switch and mounting method, and doesn't break. Easy to tell them apart - if the power supply voltage is AC it's the first version, if it's DC it's the second.

ThePrettyDamned

Thanks for that icbm.

Vs switches are awesome - the old ones are the same as you'd find on, say, mxr pedals, but the new ones are unbelievable. I've abused the hell out of them after they emailed me to say, "do your best to break them".

Apparently rated to a million hits? No idea. But it's good enough you must have been dead unlucky, photek! I'd heard the very first runs had switch issues though.

Ultimately, I wish everyone used the boss switching. It's bulletproof!

Drew_TNBD

I have the first version, but the switches are fine. Maybe I got one of your repairs IC!! haa!

ICBM

Unlikely... I think I've only done three of them, but I know Dave did a lot at the factory - most of them failed under warranty if they were going to fail at all, so they got sent back. (Sorry Dave! I will have pointed a few owners in your direction .)

Blackstar are always good with customer service - like Marshall - anyone can make a mistake, but it's how you deal with it that counts.

Drew_TNBD

Indeed!

randomhandclaps

ICBM said:

Blackstar are always good with customer service - like Marshall - anyone can make a mistake, but it's how you deal with it that counts.

I had a Blackstar Boost which started pouring out smokeone day and blew the power supply when it was about 14 months old.  Blackstar collected it replaced the burnt board and returned it with a new PSU within four days.