Providence Heat Blaster HBL-2

The Providence Heat Blaster HBL-2 is a modern distortion stompbox from the Japanese maker Providence. Premier Guitar describes it as more aggressive in attack and tone than the company's smoother overdrives, the Sonic Drive and Stampede OD, so it sits at the harder-edged end of the distortion pedals range rather than the overdrive one¹.

What it does

The pedal carries three knobs: Level, Drive, and Tone¹. Alongside them is a low cut switch, which Guitar Techniques found ideal when low notes are too prominent, a particular concern when using a seven-string guitar².

Premier Guitar's reviewer described the range of sounds this way: at Drive settings of three o'clock or higher, the Heat Blaster fell somewhere between a classic Marshall JCM series and a Mesa Boogie Studio 22, while around nine or ten o'clock it produced a Hiwatt-esque tube distortion sound¹.

How it is built

The HBL-2 uses a single contact true bypass design, meaning there is only one switch point in the true bypass circuit¹. For a player, that is a simpler signal path than a pedal that switches the bypass through several points.

Where it sits in Providence's range

Within the maker's drive pedals, the HBL-2 is positioned as the more aggressive option. MusicRadar's review of the Providence FDR-1 Flame Drive placed that pedal's sound somewhere between the SOV-2 and the Heat Blaster HBL-2³. Later Heat Blaster models, the Providence Heat Blaster HBL-3 and Providence Heat Blaster HBL-4, carried the line on, and the Providence Stampede DT SDT-2 and Providence Stampede DT SDT-3 sit alongside them as the company's other drive designs¹.

What reviewers said

Guitar Techniques priced the HBL-2 at 210 EUR each alongside the Velvet Comp VLC-1 compressor, and noted Steve Lukather's live use of Providence gear².

Premier Guitar's verdict was strongly positive:

The same reviewer called it surprisingly tube-like and warm¹.

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