Blackstar Ht-5 METAL! Demo Clip

[Radius_Vector]

Who says HT-5 can't do metal?

This little fella is an absolute beast.

Here's a little demo for those interested -
http://www.gimmesound.com/Melakartha/index.cfm

It's the Second Track.

70s Strat --> Blackstone Overdrive --> Blackstar HT-5 head into Blackstar HT-110 cabinet (Shure SM57 mic)

A couple of the takes were cab-simulated using a V30 impulse.

 

[ShredCow]

I use a HT-Dual and its an impressive beast. Very impressive. A little stiff feeling on the lower gain channel but otherwise - very nice stuff. Very big sounding big box.

 

[aceofspades]

wow,that tone of the amp is wicked, and u're playing with a strat =O. what pickups u use?

 

[guitarsan]

I use a HT-Dual and its an impressive beast. Very impressive. A little stiff feeling on the lower gain channel but otherwise - very nice stuff. Very big sounding big box.

Haha...I'm using it too. The HT-Dual is basically the same pre-amp section of the HT-5 amp.

Yep, the HT-Dual is pretty impressive.....especially the very dynamic feel and "springiness" on channel 2.....addictive! I find the crunch on channel 1 is actually quite good when EQ-ed and set to a "British". Another feature I like is the ISF knob which lets you sweep from a Mesa to a Marshall distortion (and anything in between) in an instant.

I've read in TGP that some people actually swap the stock Sovtek tube for a better quality tube. They claimed the crunch/distortion sounded smoother as a result. But then the warranty will be considered void if you open it up. For me, I'm happy with the stock version.

 

[ShredCow]

I've read in TGP that some people actually swap the stock Sovtek tube for a better quality tube. They claimed the crunch/distortion sounded smoother as a result. But then the warranty will be considered void if you open it up. For me, I'm happy with the stock version.

When I got mine, I immediately went about swapping tubes - on hindsight, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have since the warranty is now gone - but it does make a difference.

I'm using a JJ tube now... gives you a warmer, fuller tone.

 

[junkiemanxl]

nice mapping on the drums.
which DAW and Drum VST did u use bro?

Great stuff.
You are one of those softies who dont just talk the talk but get things done.
Love the work bro

 

[Whitestrat]

When I got mine, I immediately went about swapping tubes - on hindsight, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have since the warranty is now gone - but it does make a difference.

I'm using a JJ tube now... gives you a warmer, fuller tone.

I certainly did not like the HT-Dual when I first tried it. I wasn't impressed by it, and there was nothing about the tones I was getting that made me go "whoa! i gotta have this!". there could be a few reason for that. Mainly I think it's because of the stock tubes, but i dunno. I'm willing to check it out again, but then again, I'm no longer in the hunt for a good distortion pedal. Not when I have 4 already, and only use 2.:twisted:

 

[guitarsan]

I'm using a JJ tube now... gives you a warmer, fuller tone.

Hmm...interesting. I think I will swap the tube once my warranty expires.

 

[Jay_Clones]

When I got mine, I immediately went about swapping tubes - on hindsight, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have since the warranty is now gone - but it does make a difference.

I'm using a JJ tube now... gives you a warmer, fuller tone.

How does it fare against the seventheaven? Might be interested to try it out. I've tried 7th quite impressive for a non-tube pedal.
Is the Blackstar pedal amp friendly? Like does play well on most amps?

 

[Radius_Vector]

Haha! The Focus of this thread has slowly shifted to the Ht-5 Dual from the HT-5 Head!

Is the Blackstar pedal amp friendly?

No idea, but the Blackstar Amp is Pedal friendly

nice mapping on the drums.
which DAW and Drum VST did u use bro?

Great stuff.
You are one of those softies who dont just talk the talk but get things done.
Love the work bro

Haha, well thanks buddy. It was Superior Drummer 2.0 mapped into Cubase SX.

When I got mine, I immediately went about swapping tubes - on hindsight, yeah, maybe I shouldn't have since the warranty is now gone - but it does make a difference.

I'm using a JJ tube now... gives you a warmer, fuller tone.

Either way, I'm guessing the gain stages are modelled similarly on both the pedal and the amp. While the JJ 'upgrade' definitely warms things up, It doesn't do much for me, I bought the Amp mainly for the 'metalness' in it.

However, one thing that I have noticed is the copious amount of gain on tap on the amp. That is something I'm not in need of, so I might replace my 12AX7 (ECC83) to a 12AU7 preamp valve.

 

[ShredCow]

Either way, I'm guessing the gain stages are modelled similarly on both the pedal and the amp. While the JJ 'upgrade' definitely warms things up, It doesn't do much for me, I bought the Amp mainly for the 'metalness' in it.

However, one thing that I have noticed is the copious amount of gain on tap on the amp. That is something I'm not in need of, so I might replace my 12AX7 (ECC83) to a 12AU7 preamp valve.

Try an EHX 12ax7. It has similar amounts of gain to the stock sovtek but has this what-do-you-call-it... enchanced? harmonics or something. Things sound slightly more alive but still very metal.

Consider the JJ still .. while I think it does take away that 'metal' bite, there is still a huge amount of gain left. Remember that 8 string clip I did? Gain was at 1 o'clock.

Have you tried the HT-5 thru a larger cab?

 

[ShredCow]

How does it fare against the seventheaven? Might be interested to try it out. I've tried 7th quite impressive for a non-tube pedal.

I've had issues with the 7th when I had it - mainly with getting it to work with other pedals. That makes my experience somewhat 'tainted'.

Also, I have not tried a 7th for some time now, I can't really give you a fair comparison.

What I can tell you is - I sold off my Openhaus and Dove. I guess that makes the Blackstar stuff quite interesting.

 

[Pedal-itis]

i liked the HT-dual...compared to the 7th, id take the seventh. tweakability of the 7th is superior to me.. tube as tube is, its still a pedal and i guess if im running the 7th into a tube head, it'll be 'tubey'.. the HT-Dual however is a very nice pedal, very versatile too,..great for that open sounding rhythm.. versatility would prob go to the 7th though... it can get tight as well as open depending on how it is tweaked... i did not have a problem with it working with my other pedals... everytime you add another pedal to the chain with any od or dist in the front, you will recieve a tonal change. its simply taken care of with a little tweaking on the pedal itself and the 7th (with its knobs a plenty), gives me all the tweaking i need to get the tone i want from it.. of course itll sound different alone and with 8 pedals after. every pedal of any sort would... you gotta A/B both and see which suits ya needs, you want a nice tubey sound, get a good amp...

 

[ShredCow]

i did not have a problem with it working with my other pedals... everytime you add another pedal to the chain with any od or dist in the front, you will recieve a tonal change. its simply taken care of with a little tweaking on the pedal itself and the 7th (with its knobs a plenty), gives me all the tweaking i need to get the tone i want from it.. of course itll sound different alone and with 8 pedals after. every pedal of any sort would... you gotta A/B both and see which suits ya needs, you want a nice tubey sound, get a good amp...

That's interesting. Basic concepts which I'm aware of.

I couldn't even put a (one) delay pedal (tried DD3, EHX DMM, Ibanez EM5, even had goose mod all of them) in line with the 7th without the 7th sounding like velcro. i.e. Like a vintage fuzz and a buffer (if you've tried that before) - its that great a tone change, even goose said he wouldn't like the change.

I'm not sure if the 7th is "more versatile" than the HT-dual (or HT-5, if you will) since the 7th possesses a lot of sizzle. I can play jazz with the HT-dual. I cannot do that with the 7th. I play with the 7th's treble (last time) dialed to 9 or 10 o'clock and it still has sizzle.

 

[gsonique]

Shred....you sound like an ol'girlfrien that i dumped long time ago....

I believe other nice tubes to consider for these Ht pedals would be a Tungsol12ax7 or maybe even a 12at7.

Most JJ's are a bit harsh and inconsistent on tube amps so i usually avoid em.

 

[ShredCow]

Shred....you sound like an ol'girlfrien that i dumped long time ago....

I believe other nice tubes to consider for these Ht pedals would be a Tungsol12ax7 or maybe even a 12at7.

Most JJ's are a bit harsh and inconsistent on tube amps so i usually avoid em.

Hee hee hee. You must surely remember the struggles I went thru to make the relationship work.

I wouldn't mind trying a 7th again, but never had the opportunity to. Who knows? Maybe I had a dud? Otherwise, opinion remains the same.

I read that the JJs (I think) are supposed to be harsh too but how come, in the case of this HT-dual thing, the JJs were the warmest of the lot of tubes I tried? Does that inconsistency have to do with circuit design? Or is it more likely that the JJ I had was inconsistent?

 

[Radius_Vector]

Try an EHX 12ax7. It has similar amounts of gain to the stock sovtek but has this what-do-you-call-it... enchanced? harmonics or something. Things sound slightly more alive but still very metal.

Consider the JJ still .. while I think it does take away that 'metal' bite, there is still a huge amount of gain left. Remember that 8 string clip I did? Gain was at 1 o'clock.

Have you tried the HT-5 thru a larger cab?

I think you got me wrong bro, I don't need as much gain as I'm having right now, which is why I'm thinking of the 12AT7

JJ is under consideration, but from clips I've heard, i'm leaning towards the AU7. Besides, the clean channel on my HT-5 could use some 'richness' and more headroom.

 

[Pedal-itis]

I'm sure their concepts of which you are certain of, I was replying jay_clones n giving him all I knew so he had a clear understanding of my comparison.

My seventh was nvr too trebly.. Could be a bright cap in your amp maybe? When I played into an amp with a bright cap I'd normally roll the treble down and no more too trebly ..

Anyways when I had the ht dual I used them pretty evenly n they both worked great . Came down to me not wanting to bring the extra power supply.

 

[ShredCow]

My seventh was nvr too trebly.. Could be a bright cap in your amp maybe? When I played into an amp with a bright cap I'd normally roll the treble down and no more too trebly ..

Nope. Took out the bright cap - improvement but issue remained. Issue was consistent across multiple amps and even with a palmer Junction DI box.

In fact, even with the bright cap on (my amp comes stock bright cap already on) I never had issues with my other dirt pedals (fuzz faces both germs and silicon, big muffs, tubescreamer clones, openhaus, dove, skreddy pedals, etc) to begin with.

Anyway, Goose would know the stuff we went thru to try and 'fix the issue'. It was a TON of mods and tweaks - made amp bright cap switchable AND modded the other pedals (chorus, the delay pedals mentioned) and it didn't work. Wouldn't even work with a Citrus. Still sizzled like velcro and I don't know why it happened like so. You wouldn't believe the frustration both Goose and I had over that.

If not for that - the 7th would have stayed. And probably killed off every other drive pedal so far. It has qualities that few pedals possess...

 

[ShredCow]

I think you got me wrong bro, I don't need as much gain as I'm having right now, which is why I'm thinking of the 12AU7

JJ is under consideration, but from clips I've heard, i'm leaning towards the AU7. Besides, the clean channel on my HT-5 could use some 'richness' and more headroom.

You got access to clips of the HT-5 with different tubes? Pray tell! Where?


Can you imagine how much gain the HT-DistX will have? Man.