Re: Whats the blackstar ht metal 100 like?
I played one just a few days ago and here is my thought on it.
Clean- very basic clean channel with no warmth or beauty to it. I'm a Fender Twin clean kinda guy so my standards for a clean channel are extremely high. I didn't think the HT Metal had good cleans , they where not overdriven or anything like that just didn't sound warm and comfortable. It actually sounded like a Solid state clean. Some might really like it for me don't.
OD1 Channel- this sounded awesome. I could really dial in some really good classic rock tones especially using the ISF feature. This is a very cool feature and you can really find your tone here. I was very impressed.
OD2 Channel- Again awesome. Want 80's metal , all day , want Thrash , sure thing , want todays tones , it's got it. This is where this amp shines. If you like high gain both British and American style tones , you can really find what your looking for as this amp is very versatile here. I'd love to put a OD pedal out front and see what other kinds of tones I could come up with.
Bottom line is the clean channel isn't good enough for me to get out of my amp. If it was I would seriously consider using this amp. I think IF Blackstar could get a better clean channel more on the lines of a Fender Twin then I would buy this amp. For many as most high gain amps don't have a wonderful clean. It's amazingly hard to find a High gain amp with Fender like Cleans. I have only found 2 and I own one of them.
I think you need to find a local dealer with one of these amps and play it. Sam Ash in Phila Pa has the 60 watt combo which will give you a good idea how the stack would sound.
