Blackstar Distortion

[krth1985]

Anyone use these pedals for bass? Both the guitarists in the band have just bought some lovely Blackstar amps, sound amazing. Anyone familiar with their pedals?

[Mr. Foxen]

Do a search, and they come up in plenty of discussions about valvey drive. The info is a bit diffuse, so I can't link a standout thread. General consensus is you lose some lows, so with a blend is best if you want your bottom end. I use one in a dual amp rig, the two channel one. Nice and responsive, does what a valve guitar preamp should. Definitely more of a guitar sort of sound than growly bass drive. Respond well to valve swapping, which is a good sign it is actually valve tone you are hearing.

[DaveB]

I'm not to sure about Blackstar as a brand any more. I know alot of guitarist's who have amps and/or peddles and they have all broken down with the exception of one friend who has the top of the range blackstar head, interestingly thats the only amp made in the UK as well! Not too sure where the peddles are made but have seen 2 out of 2 stop working. As a positive I must say in all cases blackstar customer service was excellent and they had a fixed product with in 2 weeks.

[WalMan]

I had one briefly to try to get mild valve crunch, but to my ears it sucked the bass from the sound, presumably because it is designed for guitar not bass.

I moved it on very quickly

[yorick]

Had one for a while..... sounded great in the shop. Got it home, used it through my rig, and it was very bland. Also they don't like certain leads, as mine wouldn't work with Planet Waves leads for some reason!!!