bLACksTAR dePT. 10 duAL dRIVe GuITAR PedAL

This is a valve overdrive pedal and pre amp and must be the worlds most advanced overdrive pedal because it says so on the box! First impression of the pedal is that it isn’t just another overdrive pedal to join the infinite ranks of other solid state clones of the basic tuber screamer, all of which work perfectly well and produce slightly different tones that are mainly the result of either soft clipping or hard clipping circuitry. From the guitarist’s point of view the purpose of an overdrive is usually to get the tone of a tube amp which has been driven to the point of break up and slightly beyond. The Dept. 10 dual drive is twice the size of the average overdrive pedal and has an abundance of knobs and switches to play with together with the head of the valve peeping out of its burrow in the centre of the case like a little prairie dog, presumably to prove to all that this is indeed a true tube driven pedal. Even with its plethora of knobs, switches and in and out connections it is not as complicated as may first appear. The unit is probably best regarded as a pre amp rather than just an overdrive. There are two separate channels switched independently by the two foot switches which will allow you to set up two tones and switch between the two (say rhythm and lead in a gig situation). The lower 4 knobs are E.Q. controls to give full range of bass, mids and treble control plus the Blackstar ISF knob which replicates either an American tone on the left one or a British tone on the right and anything in between, and yes it does make a difference. The E.Q. control is far more flexible than the standard single tone control that you would expect on a basic overdrive. The left hand channel has two voices, the clean tone which is fully transparent and a crunch tone which is where the overdriven distortion fun starts. Move over to channel 2 and the crunch tone is basically the same as that encountered on channel 1 but switch to overdrive and the amp will start to sit up and squeal. Both channels have tone and level controls as you would expect plug your guitar into the input and output either straight into the front of any amp and it will give you all the choices of overdrive you could possibly wish for. The valve pre amp will also add a valve amp of voices to a basic solid state amp clean channel. If you add it to your pedal board it is recommended that the separate 9 volt power supply provided with the pedal is used as this unit is quite power hungry. There is also the option of a send/return connection at the rear. This covers the standard functions of what is an excellent two channel pedal at a price which is only £40-£50 more than a boutique single channel pedal. This brings us to the third part added value part of the unit, which may be considered as either complicated or sophisticated depending on your technical skill levels. The D.I. line out at the rear can connect the unit direct to a P.A. mixing desk or interface for recording. Combine this with the USB link to your computer to the free Blackstar Architect software to gain access to a choice of 24 virtual speaker cabinets with a whole bunch of microphone types positioned to create any number of different miked cabinet sounds with the idea of picking three favourites to store in the unit for future selection via the central ‘cab rig’ toggle switch. This avoids the need to be consistently linked to a laptop. The cab rig outpoint jack on the left will enable the unit to connect to headphones making the unit a standalone practice amp to use a tube amp voice through a virtual speaker cabinet set up of your choice. The unit is therefore more than just another overdrive pedal and its more than a choice of two overdrive pedals is also a useful tool for recording using a massive range of cab rig settings. It should appeal to both the’ plug it in and see what happens’ user and the ‘let’s spend hours tweaking the sound for a perfect recording result’ user.

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PROs £89.95 eAsy TO use AmeRICAN OR bRITIsh TONe FLeXIbLe eq CONTROL CAN CONNeCT TO A P.A. mIXING desk OR INTeRFACe FOR ReCORdING