Pedals that stack with the Blackstar Unity 500
← everything about the Blackstar Unity 500
All 7 ranked by how well they pair, from rig co-occurrence and tone-complementarity evidence
ProCo RAT 2
Proco
35% matchclean platform takes the driveA clean, high-headroom stage takes on dirt it can't generate by itself. (transparent → low gain)
Push the Unity 500's transparent, mid-forward drive with the RAT 2's bright, cutting distortion and the two stack into real dirt.
Goes in front of the amp
Beetronics Swarm
Beetronics
33% matchclean platform takes the driveA clean, high-headroom stage takes on dirt it can't generate by itself. (transparent → fuzzy)
The Unity 500's transparent, mid-forward preamp headroom gives the Swarm's experimental fuzz real room to bloom.
Goes in front of the amp
Ashdown Geezer Butler Signature
Ashdown
31% matchclean platform takes the driveA clean, high-headroom stage takes on dirt it can't generate by itself. (transparent → low gain)
Ashdown Geezer Butler Signature leans this transparent tone toward low gain, which it doesn't make on its own
Goes in front of the amp
MXR Phase 90
MXR
21% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Run the Phase 90's classic sweep after the Unity 500's transparent, mid-forward drive and the modulation has real body to color.
Goes in front of the amp
Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer
pedal
14% matchshapes the dynamic responseShapes how the tone responds to picking dynamics rather than its frequency or gain.
The Orange Squeezer's musical, FET-driven squash evens out the attack before it ever reaches the Unity 500's own transparent, mid-forward drive.
Goes in front of the amp
Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy Analog Delay
Electro-Harmonix
12% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor. (fuzzy → modulated)
Keep Blackstar Unity 500's mid-forward voice out front: Electro-Harmonix Memory Boy Analog Delay goes in Blackstar Unity 500's effects loop so its analog warmth voice doesn't muddy it — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Sits in the amp's effects loop
Dunlop MXR M299 Carbon Copy Mini
Dunlop
12% matchsits in the right chain slotPlaced for where it does its job cleanly in the chain, not for a tonal interaction with the anchor.
Keep the Carbon Copy Mini's dark, ambient slapback delay in the Unity 500's loop, clear of the amp's own transparent, mid-forward drive. — goes in the amp's FX loop (or last, into a clean amp)
Sits in the amp's effects loop