Blackstar HT-Dual

Current revision

Blackstar HT-Dual

Blackstar HT-Dual Mini Review, by Keilnoth

Hi guys, this is my first mini-review about one of my pedal, the Blackstar HT-Dual.

To start with what's interesting, here are some sounds samples and a complete video review:

And you can see more tones here :

I bought this pedal second hand for around 135$. I was looking for a low-mid distortion pedal, not a big killing metal distortion.

The pedal is very versatile, you have a 3 bands equalizer, you have 2 channels of crunch/distortion with their own gain and you have the ISF with which you can setup a more Brit or US sound.

The sound is very good and yes, there is a lamp in it so you can create some very musical distortion even if you don't own a tube amp. The overall quality of the product is nice except for the ring/tip buttons which set the gain and level of the channels.

The first problem, as I said, is the ring/tip knobs which set the gain and level of both channels. When you turn the ring or tip, the other knob move as well. Perhaps I should try to lubricate a bit those knobs so they don't rub against each other. It's annoying when you setup your sound on a channel and then start setting up the other channel and suddenly it appears that you completely messed up the other one. That's really a weak point on this pedal.

And the other problem, but here I dunno if it's because I bought it second hand, but their is some problem with the wiring of the level knob. Sometimes, when I turn that button, the volume shuts off and/or make some cracking sound. When I touch or move a bit the knob again, the problem is solved. It's a bit annoying but nothing really important as I use it at home for practicing.

Oh, and the pedal use a 16V transformer. It's a bit odd voltage but I personally don't really mind.

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