The Blackstar HT-DIST is a distortion pedal from Blackstar's HT range of valve-driven stompboxes. Premier Guitar, reviewing it alongside its siblings, described it as "a slightly less aggressive overdrive than the DUAL", placing it a step below the two-channel HT-Drive family in gain terms. The pedal carried an MSRP of $179.99 at the time of the review1.
What it does
The HT-DIST is built around a valve stage, in common with the rest of the HT pedal line, which also includes the HT-BOOST. Premier Guitar's reviewer found the pedal produced "a thick distortion with a tight crunch that isn't oversaturated or fizzy at the top", a voicing that keeps the top end controlled at high gain settings1.
"For harmonic complexity and richness, this pedal will beat the transistor-based distortion channel on most solid state amps."
That verdict points at the pedal's most practical use: as a replacement for the distortion channel on a solid state amplifier. The reviewer's view was that the HT-DIST's harmonic complexity and richness would outperform most transistor-based amp distortion channels, and could make a solid state amp sound like an all-tube amp1.
The ISF control
Both the HT-DIST and the HT-DISTX share Blackstar's ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) control, which the reviewer described as allowing "flexible but precise" tone shaping. The control sweeps the pedal's voicing from a vintage UK character to a modern US one, covering the two broad traditions of distortion voicing in a single knob1.
Where it sits in Blackstar's range
- HT-DIST: the subject of this page, described by Blackstar as "a slightly less aggressive overdrive than the DUAL"1
- HT-DIST: carries an MSRP of $179.991
For a wider view of where a distortion pedal fits against its neighbors in gain, see the pages on Overdrive Pedals and Distortion Pedals.
Videos
ProGuitarShopDemos
Nikolay Karageorgiev
The Tone King
Sources (1)
- Blackstar HT Series Pedals Review: DIST, BOOST, DRIVE, Premier Guitar, 2008-09-11
