Three brand-new pedals from Blackstar's Dept. 10 team have arrived, all promising to deliver the organic dynamics, warmth, and breakup of a genuine tube preamp in a compact pedal enclosure. Can they do it? We've got Andy on the case.
Uniquely, these pedals don't just rely on emulation technology. Rather, each pedal is packed with a real ECC83 triode preamp tube (aka a 12AX7) at its heart, allowing them to run more than 200V internally. The Dept. 10 Dual Drive and Dual Distortion are also equipped with Blackstar's next-gen DSP speaker sim, "Cab Rig," which can reproduce the detailed sound of a mic'd up guitar cab.
Meanwhile, the Dept. 10 Boost promises to be the ultimate high-voltage valve boost for your pedalboard. It features a Class A gain stage as well as a natural, passive James-Baxandrall EQ, which makes it super versatile. Use it as a powerful tube-driven boost, a high-quality EQ, or even a hot overdrive.
Be sure to check out the full video above to get a real idea of how Blackstar's Dept. 10 series pedals sound, and be sure to pick up your own right here on Reverb.