If you're not familiar with this series of Behringer pedals, these are plastic stompboxes with a fiddly battery cover which is also the pedal's on-off lever. It is exactly how the BOSS pedal works just that Behringer chooses plastic & this brings the cost significantly down - the HM300 is not even $30.
Likes
- price
- functional
- fairly good tones
- responsive EQ
Dislikes
- fiddly battery cover
- fragile parts
- underwhelming distortion
It's no secret that the HM300 is an attempt to emulate BOSS' Heavy Metal (HM-2). The control features are exactly the same less the colour feature - pink. It even says Heavy Metal on the label & delivers an intense serving of distortion. On matters pertaining to distortion, the range on offer is rather restrained, contradictory to the Heavy Metal promise but come to think of it, that's how the HM-2 is; rather underwhelming till it's maxed out on all fronts. On that note, the HM-300's EQ is, in this standard of offering, is above expectations. It adds to volume & inevitably distortion & offer good sensitivity. You can go from a deep, treble-deficient voicing to that famed semi-hissing chainsaw bark with ease. I find this pedal rather exceptional paired with a boost or a light overdrive unit acting as a push. If you have a high output humbucker pushing the distortion through, that would be a plus.
Re-visiting the factors that plague this series of pedals, the HM300 is light & gets jerked around easily if not secured onto a pedalboard. The battery cover is also fiddly, you need something hard & pointed to click it open; the two button release hinges are not accessible to human fingers - not an issue if you choose to run this on PSU.
Rating: 70%
Behringer: HM300
- Availability: Swee Lee Co.
- List: $24.90 (online purchase only)
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