MusicRadar Verdict
If it's skyscraper-demolishing metal tones you're after, the LT Metal has to be top of your list.
Pros
- +
Aggressive, but well-defined gain sounds. Excellent value.
Cons
- -
Not much.
MusicRadar's got your back
Riding in on the back of the remarkable success of its HT tube pedal range, Blackstar's LT series don't have valves but boast a similar dynamic response to the HT series, thanks to a patent-applied-for clipping circuit. Here we look at the LT Metal…
"You already know what this pedal is going to deliver: all-out aggressive gain, and loads of it"
You already know what this pedal is going to deliver: all-out aggressive gain, and loads of it. What you might not expect is just how good it sounds - every tone is well defined, with a huge bottom end, making it ideal for seven- and eight-string players.
Those ISF (Blackstar's exclusive Infinite Shape Feature (ISF), which allows you to get both British and American tones at the turn of a dial) and tone controls prove indispensable, aping big metal amps from both sides of the Atlantic, and sculpting the high-end without ever sounding fizzy.
Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.
“If you messed something up on a production, admit it, fix it, and move on”: 8 cost-free tips to improve as a producer in 2025
"I switched to a Stratocaster - I got a really good deal in the middle of the night for $120 - and then in 1972, Lowell George showed me his MXR compressor pedal”: Bonnie Raitt on how she developed her famous slide guitar style
“The melodies work so well in this CGDGAD tuning. I’ve absolutely fallen in love with this arrangement”: Magic Mike Dawes is at it again – he’s turned a Sleep Token track into a work of solo acoustic guitar genius