Blackstar HT Drive - finer points ?
OK so one of my mates has one of these, uses it in front of his Marshall Plexi 50 to produce some perfect tones at low volume for home and rehearsals. So I buy one, put it in front of my Ampmaker PP18 and it goes all fizzy, fuzzy and generally nasty on me. Is that a) because the Ampmaker doesn't have much clean headroom or b) because the valve in the HT-Drive needs changing or c) other (feel free to suggest any explanation which comes to mind) ?
Suburbs: Where they cut down all the trees and then name the streets after them
(M Harnish TDRPI)
Wrong section dude but I don't have any problems like that with my HT Dual into my Tweaker, Blackstar HT1 or my Pro Reverb. In fact it has become my go to drive pedal and pretty much the only one I use now which is a bit of a shock!
Bugger - I was going to buy a Dual but my mate said not. Plan is to A/B using his rig. If there's something wrong with the pedal I'll get it fixed. Will have to check out your Dual down the line
Suburbs: Where they cut down all the trees and then name the streets after them
(M Harnish TDRPI)
I had one of them pedals, had to much bass for my liking, was to thick even with a strat
Been talking with a mate off Forum and he says the Blackstar HT-Drive must be seen as "an amp in its own right" and "a pre-amp in practice". More curiously, he said (about my PP18) "You don't ask Sean Connery to do a Sean Connery impression". I'm still working that out.
Suburbs: Where they cut down all the trees and then name the streets after them
(M Harnish TDRPI)
Moved to the right section!
Sibella: He says he wants to go to Europe to expand his mind.Louis: He certainly has room to do so.
Thanks - would have, but didn't know how!)
Suburbs: Where they cut down all the trees and then name the streets after them
(M Harnish TDRPI)
I know it wouldn't normally be the right thing to do, but have you tried the speaker-emulated output? At very low volume it can sometimes work better, if the amp is at such low volume that it's in the bright/fizzy zone - which some (especially BF-type Fenders) can be. I wouldn't have expected an 18W to be though - what speaker does it have?
I think the Sean Connery reference is that the 18W circuit really only has one voicing and that running something fairly similar-sounding into it might be counterproductive
Personally I would have chosen the HT-Dist or the HT-Dual for low-volume use, the full EQ makes a big difference to being able to dial in good tones when the amp is completely clean. The plexi Marshall has full EQ on the amp, so you don't need it on the pedal.
"Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand" - Homer Simpson
http://www.theangelconversations.com
As usual sound advice
Suburbs: Where they cut down all the trees and then name the streets after them
(M Harnish TDRPI)
Not sure what your tone target is but FWIW - i had the HT Dual into a Marshall JMP 50W Master vol head ( the clean and overdrive settings worked brilliantly when the amp was clean , warm and cranked ) - however they are the same channel ( ie toggle between clean n o/d on channel 1 ) ... Channel two was a darker eq'd and ultimately had much more gain but for me I could never find the right balance between basic amp tone + channel 1 HT + then channel 2 HT ...
for me a dual HT with clean ( gives a nice front end push / boost and a little o/d )on channel 1 and the overdrive section on 2 would be superb ...
I let it go and finally landed with a timmy V2 and an eq pedal with a gain option as a clean(ish) boost .. working so far - though currently looking at xotic od pedals - cos whois ever happy with their sound ? :-)
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