HT5 vs. HT5 Metal

[Evil Z06]

Hey gang I am new and this is my first post.I am pretty much a novice guitar player and would like your opinion on these 2 amps.What is the actual difference between the HT5 and HT5 Metal....are the clean channels the exact same on both and the overdrive channel on the Metal just a little hotter? It seems to me they have the exact same tubes and speaker.If both amps are set on the OD channel with the exact knob settings would there be a distinguishable difference? Oh and are there any other differences I have missed? Thanks in advance....

[thephantum]

The HT-Metal is voiced differently then the HT-5, so the clean channels will sound different. The Metal also has more gain on the OD channel than the HT5. Aside from that, the only other differences are cosmetic.

[Laurent]

Hi. I'm interested in buying the HT-5 Metal because I'm mainly playing metal for the moment. But I was wondering: will the HT-5 Metal also allow me to play more bluesy (less gain) kind of sound easily ? I actually own a HT-5R since a few days but I'm not too happy with my palm-muting sound. I was thinking that maybe the HT-5 Metal, with more gain, would sound better for that. Is this correct ? I have to play at low volume in my living room (not to annoy neighbors) so maybe this might also be part of the issue...

[Sonofarich]

Do you have an OD or boost pedal?

[Laurent]

Yes I do have a Boss Metal Zone MT-2 but I didn't try it yet on the HT-5R because I don't like it too much...

[thephantum]

Try putting it in the effects loop with the distortion turned down. Assuming you are playing with the volume up, the pedal will act as a boost and push the power tubes to overdrive even harder.

[Laurent]

Sorry I'm totally newbie when talking about effects loop and boost pedal. So, to get it right :

- I put my pedal's input into the send jack of the amp and the pedal's output into the return jack of the amp
- I put the distortion knob of the pedal at 0
- I select the overdrive channel on the amp with volume and gain up a bit
- I turn the level knob of the pedal up

Is this correct ?

[thephantum]

Correct. I would start with distortion down and everything else about halfway. Then go from there. I had a MT-2 years ago. It's a good little pedal once you get it dialed in. If I remember correctly it has a 4 knob EQ on there. So you should be able to do some additional shaping/scooping to get a real good & heavy sound.

One other thing I would do: After hooking everything up (and ensuring that the pedal is in the loop and working), flip the pedal off and switch the amp to the clean channel. Get the amp volume up to where you are hearing it start to OD. Then flip to the gain channel and start fiddling with the pedal. That will make sure the power tubes are already distorting when you flip the gain channel and pedal on.

[Laurent]

Thanks for your advices thephantum !

I've just been trying the MT-2 like you told me but I really couldn't get a good sound out of it. I don't know, maybe it's me who can't use it properly, but I find that it sounds either too sharp or either too " muffled " (sorry I don't know if this is the right term in English). The sound out of the HT-5R is much richer without the MT-2.

The pedal has indeed 4 knobs EQ (High, Low, Middle and Mid Freq) but what's the difference between Middle and Mid Freq ?

Besides, I also couldn't get the amp to starting OD on the clean channel. It was always clean, maybe because I couldn't get too loud with the volume up (without hurting my ears).

[thephantum]

The only way to get the power tube to OD is to crank the volume. Typically (on a 1-10 scale) it's about 7 or higher. Best bet is to stand off to the side or even behind the amp .

It's been a long time, but I seem to remember that the Mid Frequency knob was more of a midrange scoop/boost across the whole spectrum, while the High, Mid, Low were more traditional EQ knobs.