Blackstar DEPT.10 Boost Valve Effect Pedal w. EQ
Saw this boost on That Pedal Show, it was Black Friday, the price was fantastic so into the basket it went.
Great service from Bax, with the pedal arriving as expected early Tuesday morning. The pedal is a robust and looks great on my board, one of my band mates said it looked like it was from Apple, high praise indeed! After much home testing I ended up putting it after my other gain pedals but before modulation. I run a clean high headroom valve amp, turning the Dept 10 Boost up beyond 9 o'clock was just too much volume boost into my amp, but even at those lower boost levels the the impact on my clean sound is warm but retaining superb dynamics. Boosting the output from other drive pedal gives them a nice lift and touch more presence. The EQ is subtle but very effective, live a use a slight bass cut and treble boost.
I have now used the pedal at a rehearsal and live last weekend. The live sound, once fully dialled in, was superb, working well with the other pedals in my set-up and adding some of the elusive 'feel' under the fingers so that I was actually thinking about my picking and using of the volume control on the guitar.
The only reason why I haven't given 5 stars is the supplied power supply, it is a 2 pin model that has to be plugged into a 3 pin adaptor (my Palmer pedal board PSU only goes up to 300mA per outlet and the Dept 10 Boost needs 500mA) the fit is a bit loose and altogether its about 7-8cm high, so not only a good candidate for getting kicked out (its a loose fit) on stage, its also the perfect beer catcher at a lively gig. I'll now be looking to upgrade my PSU so I can power the Dept 10 Boost without using the wall wart. May the GAS continue!
Great service from Bax, with the pedal arriving as expected early Tuesday morning. The pedal is a robust and looks great on my board, one of my band mates said it looked like it was from Apple, high praise indeed! After much home testing I ended up putting it after my other gain pedals but before modulation. I run a clean high headroom valve amp, turning the Dept 10 Boost up beyond 9 o'clock was just too much volume boost into my amp, but even at those lower boost levels the the impact on my clean sound is warm but retaining superb dynamics. Boosting the output from other drive pedal gives them a nice lift and touch more presence. The EQ is subtle but very effective, live a use a slight bass cut and treble boost.
I have now used the pedal at a rehearsal and live last weekend. The live sound, once fully dialled in, was superb, working well with the other pedals in my set-up and adding some of the elusive 'feel' under the fingers so that I was actually thinking about my picking and using of the volume control on the guitar.
The only reason why I haven't given 5 stars is the supplied power supply, it is a 2 pin model that has to be plugged into a 3 pin adaptor (my Palmer pedal board PSU only goes up to 300mA per outlet and the Dept 10 Boost needs 500mA) the fit is a bit loose and altogether its about 7-8cm high, so not only a good candidate for getting kicked out (its a loose fit) on stage, its also the perfect beer catcher at a lively gig. I'll now be looking to upgrade my PSU so I can power the Dept 10 Boost without using the wall wart. May the GAS continue!
December 4, 2023
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Simon H
