The folks at Blackstar have just unveiled an exciting new pedal aimed at metal players.
The HT-Metal pedal is an all-valve pedal with two channels that offer Blackstar's Infinite Shape Feature tone control, making it great for everything from clean boosts to the filthiest of heavy metal tones. You can get more information from the press release below, or at Blackstar's website here.
From Blackstar: Blackstar's new HT-Metal valve pedal is a no-compromise, two channel, ultra high gain, filth machine.
The tone has been benchmarked against the best high-gain valve amps in the world and will transform even a mild mannered classic into a fire breathing monster.
As with other pedals in the award winning series (HT-Boost, HT-Drive, HT-Dist, HT-Distx and HT-Dual), the HT-Metal is powered by a 300 Volt H.T. valve circuit for true valve dynamics and feel.
The two cascaded ECC83 triode stages give more extreme gain than ever before and each ultra-high gain channel has its own gain and volume controls. Channel 1 is also equipped with a Clean/Overdrive switch so the pedal can be used for clean, overdrive, or high gain.
The three-band EQ (Bass, Middle, Treble) includes Blackstar's patented ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) control, which re-voices the entire tone stack from British Heavy Metal to US High Gain for an expansive tonal range.
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Housed in a rugged metal case, the HT-Metal boasts a high-integrity buffered bypass for silent switching.
There are two outputs. The first is designed to connect to an amplifier or to the guitarist's other pedals. The second is a new benchmark design, speaker emulated output allowing the guitarist to get real valve (tube) tones direct to disk or tape. So whether you're playing live or recording, with the HT-Metal you can finally get the sound in your head.
Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
