this is by far the best distortio/drive pedal i have ever tried.i own one and love the pedal...

The HT-Dual has more of a natural sound, like OD and distortion mixed together. This pedal can do Clapton to Killswitch Engage. Definitely worth the extra cash.

Would this pedal be good for an AMP that doesnt use Valves, and if u want Valve-like tone?

@ProGuitarShopDemos Hey would this pedal be good for getting a "tube-AMP-like" sound if you play out of a Solid State AMP?

Brilliant Alice in Chains Riff / Tone! Spot on! Don't think many people will recognize that song.

Thanks so much for this review. This video made me decide to buy this:) I just bought one of these and its even better hearing it in real life! :D

Definitely! The demos sound even better on their website!

The best overdrive tone out there in my opinion. It'll warm up that solid state amp no problem. Run it into a tube amp and watch out. This pedal will not disappoint...2 channel bypass, EQ, Simulated out, ISF will go from American to British sound. Everything is adjustable. If you like a CRUNCH type distortion (think ZZ TOP) then buy this pedal.

This is like having a second amp on your pedalboard. The ProValve 2 is awesome too as well as the Fulltone FD-2.

Tremendo pedal a válvulas. Rocking.

This pedal seems perfect for heavy Prog. I mean playing through an AC30 for those classic tones, and then going up on the gain level with this thing for heavy bridges! Eventually this may well make it in my set up im sure!

rollins band rules! nice riff!

Sweet baby love tone!

@tighttritenight very well spoken my friend. and dont forget to put your mids at least to halfway.

i love it!

I like this one. Sweet.

The V-twin is all-valve (all-tube). This Blackstar is a hybrid, using both solid state and valve amplification. It's the sound that counts, however. I would go for this, but check out coopersonic. I have one of their tube dists, and it's fab.

Brutal Les Paul tone.

@YearraeY yes the album "weight" is fantastic sounding. i love this era of the band

Fuel Tank bro.

I found this company last year and really wanted to try this pedal and the distx but the guitar center near me does NOT carry blackstar. So I got a Fulltone GT-500 instead. But hearing this pedal finally demoed by PGS ....damnit Andy......damnit. I knew I should have looked harder and waited.

Rollins Band! Great album.

@andleemart -- Yes, I did "even watch that"; that's why I worded my question the way I did. Many pedals can be reconfigured using internal switches, etc. -- I was just being thorough. Try the decaf.

rollins band intro riff ftw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

sounds really good to me :) can you change the tubes in it yourself or is it one of those you have to send in to keep your warranty?

could i run this straight into my effects return on my jcm? so i effectively use it as a 2 channel preamp?

@TheBlackJacksItalia Generally speaking mate, set you amp eq for a nice clean tone that you are happy with for when you want to play clean, however infrequent that may be. Then use the Eq on the Pedal to balance against your amp Eq to get the Distortion tone you want. You may have to slightly re adjust the amp knobs just a touch here and there til its just right.

I tried this and if it were'nt for the shared EQ, I would have gotten it. it was pretty much impossible for me to find EQ settings that sounded good on both channels. If they ever decide to come out with a new version with independent EQ's, i'm all over it.

how does this pedal differentiate from the amp gain/distortion?

I agree, the most you'd ever want is an OD in front, and that's only in the most extreme of cases i.m.o. The OD would saturate it perfectly and then it'd be heading towards fuzz. Even in the heaviest of situations absolute saturation is never the key, a tight distortion is what you need and what this pedal delivers. On my need list it goes!

5:22 ZZ Top's "Francine" great track!

cool when your amp is too loud or too quiet you can use this thing plugged into your PA, and it will sound like an amp because of the tube!

This is my kind of drive.

Nice bit of AIC there :)

i like the sounds of the clean and i like the sounds of the crunch on channel one. does channel two have the same tonality of the crunch on channel one? i want to use this pedal to have a clean and a dirty. but not too dirty. if i roll off a little gain on channel two does it give me the not so heavy sound of the crunch on channel one. or is it a completely different sound?

Great vid ! (as always) Since I have the pedal for 2 yrs I can say that this video is completely accurate. Everithing sounds amazing exept the heavily scooped sounds IMHO. Unlike my Chandler Tube Driver the HT Dual is not as transparent. It's character dominates every setup. Which is bad if you just want more juice from an already good rig, but it's good if you want a femiliar sound wherever u go. BEST tool for direct recording for the money! U can swap the tube but it's a hastle.

sweet demo will it work the same in my marshall mg250, guees ill have to try

Hi Andy, How is the performance when you plug this directly into amp's input? Thanks

@GibsonSGlenn - In this application it takes many, many, years for a tube to wear out. It is unlikely you would need to replace it at any time in the foreseeable future. Thanks! -PGS

Thak you for making this vid. Kinda sucks when people who have no true knowledge of metal or shred type lead try to demo a metal/high gain pedal(not that that's its only function, it's versatile). Doesn't show the right tones or colors of it. Still glad this is up though so I can get an idea.

hell yeah

@youwillbowtome, tht Gator G-Bus 8 provides both 9v and 18v power supplies. Unfortunatley I have the HT-DistX (incredible pedal) which requires a 22v power supply, so I can't power it using my G-Bus unit.

Hi there man! I bought one of these, and i wonder if you can save two different sounds for it? Like have alot treble on ch 2 and not so much on ch 1, so that i switch to channel 2 only for solos? Thanks, Antayn

Can the two channels be used simultaneously (e.g. stacked OD --> Dist) or just one at a time?

@29396 Yes you will have to, but it takes a long ass time before it gets old and a tube is about 20 bucks, so it's not a problem.

So I am thinking of getting a new distortion pedal, due to not having enough money for a good amp and I was wondering which is better, the HT-DISTX or this. I want something with really high gain for metal. I like the dual-channel feature of this, but is it as heavy as the DISTX?

I'm picking up an American standard tele from guitar center next week that my mom got me! I am going to get this pedal sometime I think, it's really tight. What do you think though, HT Dual>Ice-9????

hi!! can i use the emulated output to connect the pedal to another amp?? or it will damage the amp? i want to use it as a A/B... it is possible?? thanks!!!

I wonder what this pedal would sound like running straight into a PA?

dumb question: since this pedal has its own EQ,how should I set the amp EQ?same as usual or trying to balance it?

I've tried both the Ht Dual and the DistX and I think this one has a lot more dynamics since it doesn't sound as compressed as the DistX. But it doesn't has the fullness of distortion... Can I use a distortion pedal with it?

@novanine9 I dont know about the tube screamer as I have not tested it, but I sometimes gig with the HT-dual (when I dont bother bringing my marshall head) and it does the job very well! I've even had people coming to me asking what pedal made that cool tone after a gig. And the crunch channel has enough gain to be a rhythm guitar channel for rock and metal music, leaving the other channel to be only solo, which is great. if you play like pantera or something you'll need more gain though. :P

since it's tube powered... would you ever have to change the tube?

I bought one of these when they first came out. Back then Channel 2 was a fair bit darker than Channel 1, which was fairly annoying when you wanted to up the gain, but keep the same EQ (since the EQ is shared between the two channels). Tell me Andy, is this still the case?

when's the ht-metal demo coming up?

Hello! So can I just chuck one of those into a P.A as a pre-amp and get a half decent guitar tone, like my mate does with his Mesa Boogie V-Twin? I've had enough of lugging massive AmpS about!!!! These seem pretty good for the money

Nice play on Alice In Chain's "God Am" from 4:17 to about 5:10. Haven't heard that song in years, but it was instantly recognizable.

@Feileiks DEFINITELY!!!

i have a question, how's the channel 2 in this pedal compares to the HT-Dist? Does it have the same quality distortion?

Great sound on the Channel 2 for Alice in Chains Rhtyhm....question though, if you were using this channel for that sort of a rhythm sound, where would you go for a solo boost??

This pedal can really create a traditional "Mesa" metal sound if it is used with a pure valve Marshall or Laney amps.... I am considering putting this pedal in front of my DSL401, any idea for that?

This one compared to the pilmsoul.. which one has more of a complex and musical overdrive?.... I like em both... I have an OCD but I always dislike the lack of clarity ... I am always trying to bring some treble cause it sounds like muffled or something... The pilmsoul I feel it has this clarity... what do you think dude?... tks..

Pro Guitar Shop-The best EVer

I'm a happy owner of a DistX, but if I were back where I bought it, I might have been better off getting this versatile. It seems much more versatile and capable, whereas the DistX is always in snarly aggression mode, even on low gain settings.

@psychotapu Not exactly it has not quite as much gain. However there is a limited edition Gus G signature pedal which is almost exactly what you describe.

I own this and the HT drive but I can't get them to perfectly replicate the drive channel on the HT 5 head.The pedals sound good but compared to the drive channel they sound muddy. Is this because the head uses more tubes.?I dont know i'm not that techy.

Will this work for metal?? Like 80's metal and a bit of chugging drop d stuff??

i think this pedal sounds alot more on UK side. But ALOT more. But it's nice to have the option cause if you tweak it right you can have a mesa boogie tone. I didn't heard it in this video but in some other videos the reference to mesa boogie is obvious. Offcourse you will never have the full mesa boogie sound or the full marshall whatever. But you won't have them with any distortion pedal. Only a question is this a preamp? Or just a stompbox (i can't really tell the difference though)

can u get the high gain sounds out of this like in the ht distx?

honestly it pretty like the blackstar stuff, i'm living in germany and the european prices for their stuff are moderate in my eyes, and what really counts imho is the sound and if thats good (or not) they're allowed to price it analogical

Would this sound good through the new Vox AC15C1 and a les paul studio?

.. I want one... but in PGS is no longer avialable or what?? ... pleeeeaasee help !!! hehe

Is this same as BLACKSTAR HT DISTX but only with 2 channels?

how high is the gain set at 4:10?

Andy, what amp are you playing through in this vid? Is it a Deluxe Reverb?

how would this sound with a roland jazz chorus?

How is the noise level?

@Antayn short answer - no. long answer - F**K no but you could also get a booster pedal just for a little extra for channel 2

what's the name of the song on the background?

yes

Can i use tha blackstar ht dual in front of amp? sorry for my bad english

How does this compare to the Indyguitarist (or Wampler) Plextortion pedal if anyone has had experience with it in terms of flexibility and tone range?

I hear AIC!

@novanine9 Im sorry, I cant really answer that since I havent tried the tubescreamer on the same amp as the blackstar.... the best thing to do, again, is just to try it in a store if possible, or borrow from friends to test it and stuff. :) yeah, guitaring isnt the cheapest thing to do in life :P

@AmbRoSiaLoVeR depends on the rig you already got

What's the song in 2:05 to 2:43?

@theceilibristol Yep, this pedal + guitar is all you'll need for a solid jam :)

How would it sound on a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe? I want to sound like a smooth. hi-gain person instead of a shitty muddy and fuzzy sound which the HRD does.

What is the first song???

SWEET!! Alice in Chains =D Cool pedal =)

AIC!!!

Jeez, I don't think the GuitarWorld reviews are THAT bad that everyone has to rant on about it! Admittedly, they've gotten more stale and a bit more "boring", and I definitely enjoy ProGuitarShop's reviews the best on youtube, but, man, people are brutal haha. Well done, Andy! You've won over the crowd (and myself) ten fold haha.

hot damn...

set for "chug" :)

@JRBain7 Korea has a high production standard, comparable to Japan, If you buy, say an Ibanez guitar there is virtually no difference between the Japanese and Korean made models, except for the price tag of course.

Sure it will. Don't think you need to buy a "metal" distortion to get a heavy tone.

ProGuitarShop please show Guitar World how to make demos. PGS is the best. Andy ur the man!

Set to...CHUG!

It's already been demoed. :)

Probably....but still I would for other kind of pedal for that type genere....especially because blackstar usually is more focus to high gain sounds