Members raggydoll Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 Anyone heard of these or used them?http://www.blackstaramps.co.uk/products/ht/index.htmlI'm a bit weary of how good a pedal with a valve sounds.Plus i've never heard of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RUExp? Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 They've gotten great review in the British guitar mags but I haven't tried any myself. They make amps too. The company was started by ex-employees of Marshall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IvIark Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 I have been looking at these recently too but they're showing up a bit too frequently on eBay for my liking. Obviously there are some disappointed first time buyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RUExp? Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 I have been looking at these recently too but they're showing up a bit too frequently on eBay for my liking. Obviously there are some disappointed first time buyers. Probably didn't make their cheap solid state amp sound like a tube stack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Agreed Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 Pedals with valves can sound awesome. Damage Control's Liquid Blues and Solid Metal (let alone their Demonizer and Womanizer) are great. The "secret" isn't any secret, just gotta use a high-voltage step up transformer to bias the tubes correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dolf Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 They have the full line at every Guitar Center. Just go and try 'em out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Kassanova Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 I tried out a couple at Guitar Center and was unimpressed. I think they are mostly hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gidude73 Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 I tried out a couple at Guitar Center and was unimpressed. I think they are mostly hype. Yes, mostly hype. I have tried the HT Dual and it sounded ok but not worth $200.00. It also had too much hum and noise on channel 2. They should have included a built in noise gate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bhsbhswarp Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 Pedals with valves can sound awesome. Damage Control's Liquid Blues and Solid Metal (let alone their Demonizer and Womanizer) are great. The "secret" isn't any secret, just gotta use a high-voltage step up transformer to bias the tubes correctly. +1 on damage control .if you want a tube pedal with true tube distortion and feel,i bought the womenizer and could'nt be happier.absolutly awsome:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deadkenny64 Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 I don't know, my DistX sounds pretty good. I don't hear much noise until after 3:00 on the gain. I'm using it with a tube amp so that might make a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ESPImperium Posted May 21, 2008 Members Share Posted May 21, 2008 Im looking at them right this minuite, i am really, really intrested, but their cost in-relation to a few solid state dists and boost i cannot justify. Also the fact it looks like you have to use their 16V (???) wall-wart does disuade me more, id have prefered it if it could be run via a 18V output from my Dunlop DC Brick tho. I want to try them tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Agreed Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 Im looking at them right this minuite, i am really, really intrested, but their cost in-relation to a few solid state dists and boost i cannot justify.Also the fact it looks like you have to use their 16V (???) wall-wart does disuade me more, id have prefered it if it could be run via a 18V output from my Dunlop DC Brick tho.I want to try them tho. You pretty much have to use the adapters that come with units like these because of the extremely high current demands in stepping up to the high voltages at which tubes must be biased to do their thing like we want them to. The Damage Control adapters are plain old 9V... but they pull down 2A (2000ma) of current a piece. Get enough of them on your board and you have to start being really careful to plug your pedalboard into its own breaker... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members southtexslinger Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 You pretty much have to use the adapters that come with units like these because of the extremely high current demands in stepping up to the high voltages at which tubes must be biased to do their thing like we want them to. The Damage Control adapters are plain old 9V... but they pull down 2A (2000ma) of current a piece. Get enough of them on your board and you have to start being really careful to plug your pedalboard into its own breaker...good info. you seem to really know your effects. always enjoy your posts. wish I could take you up on your zoom for sale. Good luck with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Realm Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 I have been looking at these recently too but they're showing up a bit too frequently on eBay for my liking. Obviously there are some disappointed first time buyers. I guess that would be eBay UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ESPImperium Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 You pretty much have to use the adapters that come with units like these because of the extremely high current demands in stepping up to the high voltages at which tubes must be biased to do their thing like we want them to. The Damage Control adapters are plain old 9V... but they pull down 2A (2000ma) of current a piece. Get enough of them on your board and you have to start being really careful to plug your pedalboard into its own breaker... Thanks for that info, i may now give the Blackstars the miss and go with a MI Audio Crunch Box and a couple other od/dist pedals i want first. But it may just be a good investment of the Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rawk100 Posted May 22, 2008 Members Share Posted May 22, 2008 I have been looking at these recently too but they're showing up a bit too frequently on eBay for my liking. Obviously there are some disappointed first time buyers. I agree, they have got good reviews but there's quite a few on Fleabay UK at the moment all with "as new, hardly used, never been out of bedroom" description. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sikor Posted May 27, 2008 Members Share Posted May 27, 2008 I have tested HT Dist and it delivered very nice tone. It has a lot of tone shaping knobs What I did not like was it's size and special power supply (16v as I remember). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matty Boh Posted June 6, 2008 Members Share Posted June 6, 2008 +1 on damage control .if you want a tube pedal with true tube distortion and feel,i bought the womenizer and could'nt be happier.absolutly awsome:thu: I just played the Blackstar HT Distx yesterday at Guitar Center. There was a miscommunication and even though I wanted to play the HT Dual, the first guy I talked to told me they were out of that one, so I decided to try the single channel version. When I was done, and needed to leave to get somewhere, the woman who was helping me check out (buying strings, etc.) told me that she thought they did have the two channel one. And they did, so I will have to play it another time. Only thing that really sucks is that the GC in Towson, MD is the only GC in Maryland currently carrying the Blackstar pedals. They all have the amps, but not the pedlas. I hope this changes because I'd rather drive 15-20 minutes to the one in Glen Burnie than 45 minutes to Towson. I also tried out the Seymour Duncan Twin Tube pedal. Personally, I like the way the Blackstar sounded better. The Twin Tube was not bad, but the channels share the bass and treble, so having a good variation between distortions doesn't really happen. The sound quality was very good though. However, if the Blackstar HT Dual could produce the same sound as the HT Distx and have a decent sound coming from the second channel, I'd rather have that than the Twin Tube, and I'd save $20. I agree though that $200 is a lot for these pedals. And I really would like to try the Damage Control Womanizer too. That's another $100 more and it seems to share the EQ for both channels too. I guess that's not the end of the world because I have a really good clean tone with my amp. But if I am going to say that, then maybe I should only settle for the single channel distortion anyway and go with the HT Distx. I dunno. Over the past two months, I have gone through a lot of pedals. My best distortion pedals so far are the Maxon SD-9 Sonic Distortion, The Marshall JH-1 Jackahmmer, and the Danelectro FAB D-1 (believe it or not, this pedal is amazing. The casing is crap, but the sound that comes out of it is great and since I take really good care of my gear, I'm not worried about this baby taking too much damage any time soon). I also have an Ibanez Smash Box, Digitech Grunge, Digitech Metal Master, Sabine Fuzzstortion, and Carvin UD-1 Ultra Distortion. None of them are terrible, but I supposed I just want to have a few different types to choose from. I play a variety of "ROCK" music. I like having a good grungy crunch tone, a cleaned up distortion for licks and riffs, maybe an even clean one for leads, a nice dark and evil sounds for Drop-D, and maybe one more that low gain for a country-like distortion. I have a Genz Benz El Diablo 100 head and I really like it for the most part. I go through times where I like the distortion and times when I can't stand it. This is one of those times (hence all the pedal shopping). The Blackstar had the kind of dostiotion I like a lot and it had great sustain (could have been from the guitar I was using too). I just don't want to change my mind about the sound after spending so much. And I guess I'd like to try the HT Dual before saying a definite yes or no. Does anyone know where I could try out the Womanizer or hear dect sound clips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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