Pedal suggestions for tube amp at low volume please

[MartinBarre]

I got a Blackstar HT20 combo and I love it, but...I can't crank the thing in the house so I'm finding the gain a little low for what I want. I could just use the little Marshall MG15 I have but what's the point in having the Blackstar then?

I love the lead tone even at lower volumes with the HT20, it's really good fun. I'm just missing the saturated gain of the likes of Metallica or heavier than that (Behemoth, Deicide).

I tried my old Korg multi-fx pedal into it but it's not really happening so...

I don't care much about delay, chorus, wah or anything else like that, just looking for a good, tight rhythm tone and a searing lead tone at low volumes. I know that might not be too possible but...what ONE distortion pedal would you go for? I'm thinking the Blackstar HT-Dual...?

I don't want to buy something cheap - I paid for a half-decent amp so would like to get a good pedal to go with it, even if it is just for noodling in the house on my own.

I have to be honest, I have no idea how a valve amp really operates in terms of output/master volume etc (and yes, I know my amp isn't a purists true valve amp!). So any help...?

I should probably never have bought this amp (I generally just practice using my Line 6 Toneport straight into the laptop with headphones) but I thought I'd treat myself to a nice amp!

[MartinBarre]

Ah, I just won a Blackstar HT-DistX pedal on ebay...Should be fun trying this...

[jacksonaxes]

I was going to say get a Metal Zone.

[Hellbat]

You could get one of those torpedo devices to be a power soak with the bonus of letting you plug in to a DAW for recording. More expensive than an OD pedal but if you like the sound of the amp cranked, it lets you get it without "Kill the baby" volume.

[VitaminG]

if you're just wanting "more" of the tone you're getting from the amp, I wouldn't use a distortion pedal. They work better with a clean amp. Into an overdriven amp, a distortion pedal generally turns to mush.

Some kind of overdrive or boost to push the front end of your tube amp would be the ticket. If you want to try it out on the cheap, can't go past a Bad Monkey. They're a TS-type pedal but with better EQ.

Whichever OD pedal you choose, the common practice is to keep the gain low & crank the volume (to slam those input tubes). That will give you the increased saturation you're after. If you feel a bit more dirt is required, you can turn the gain up on the pedal to taste.

I use a CMATMODS Super Signa Drive. It's a two switch pedal - a 3 band EQ TS-style OD and a clean boost. So you can use the OD to add grit for your rhythm riffs and kick in the boost to super-saturate your leads. You can find similar TS+boost pedals from Jet City, Wampler depending on your budget

[lefty]

A couple other things to try would be an attenuator or a volume pedal in the FX loop. If you want
a lot of distortion at low volume, try running the amp on the clean channel and running a EH
Metal Muff up front...

[MartinBarre]

I had a Metal Muff before lefty and never liked it (I DID like my pal's Big Muff, though...). VitaminG I did look at the BadMonkey, I think that'll be the next thing I try if the DistX pedal is too much.

[MartinBarre]

The HT DistX came yesterday and it works well for what I'm after. Gain at its lowest and with the amp gain at about half- 3/4 gives me a good saturated tone even at really low volumes.
The one problem is the pots on the DistX pedal are scratchy even after cleaning, and the LED in the valve flashes when I turn it on. Trying to find out if they're SUPPOSED to flash but can't get an answer from anyone!

[VitaminG]

cool. glad to hear the new pedal is scratching your itch

[MartinBarre]

20150412_134333 by stormwatch1977, on Flickr

[MartinBarre]

Yep, I'm digging it. Jammed some old WASP, Love/Hate and Iced Earth today (guitar was tuned to E flat!) and it was a lot of fun. Looking forward to really trying out this setup in the studio in a couple of weeks where I can crank it....

[Jayster]

I was going to say get a Metal Zone.

This is what I do, however I've found if you slightly 'boost' the effect it can really come to life!

[Ace]

xotic products EP Booster

[VitaminG]

Ace! Was just thinking about you the other day. Was rewatching Slash's behind-the-scenes doco for the Apocalyptic Love album and caught you talking gear on it

[PowerTube]

For several years I ran a JCM 800 2210 at home across a 4x12. I could get a killer sound at a whisper volume using a Metal Zone and GE-7 EQ. The GE-7 can be a bit noisy depending on how you dial it in, but it sure sounded great.