Blues Breaker pedal users

Pedal manufacturers in here...

Moderators: Slowy, Capt. Black

User avatar
Reg18
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3657
meble-kuchenne.warszawa.pl
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:57 pm
Has liked: 311 times
Been liked: 928 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Reg18 »

robthemac wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 11:01 am Reg, whatever OD circuit is in the pedal you built for me, it is bloody good.
That’s a combination of a few things, but it’s essentially a Greer Ghetto stomp but converted to use a germanium transistor which requires some value changes and different bias values.
It basically stems back to the good old Electra Distortion with an added tone and gain pot but converted to germanium.

Jops
Fender
Fender
Posts: 568
Joined: Tue Sep 09, 2003 3:32 pm
Location: Kaipara
Has liked: 30 times
Been liked: 87 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Jops »

Reg18 wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:41 pmThat’s a combination of a few things, but it’s essentially a Greer Ghetto stomp but converted to use a germanium transistor which requires some value changes and different bias values.
It basically stems back to the good old Electra Distortion with an added tone and gain pot but converted to germanium.
Damn you talking dirty to me Reg...

I have a limelight v2 and an ages. They're the best I've found so far. MG is trash imo, shortest turnaround on a pedal I've ever had.

User avatar
Reg18
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3657
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:57 pm
Has liked: 311 times
Been liked: 928 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Reg18 »

Jops wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:03 pm
Reg18 wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 1:41 pmThat’s a combination of a few things, but it’s essentially a Greer Ghetto stomp but converted to use a germanium transistor which requires some value changes and different bias values.
It basically stems back to the good old Electra Distortion with an added tone and gain pot but converted to germanium.
Damn you talking dirty to me Reg...

I have a limelight v2 and an ages. They're the best I've found so far. MG is trash imo, shortest turnaround on a pedal I've ever had.
I quite like the Morning Glory, although I prefer the stock Blues Breaker as it’s less shrill. But if you didn’t like the morning glory you probably won’t like this, it’s definitely in the same ballpark but with more mid range shaping and more gain.

User avatar
Reg18
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3657
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:57 pm
Has liked: 311 times
Been liked: 928 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Reg18 »

I’d been discussing on text already with Jim as he has had a couple of Black Box’s, so I’ll send it to him
First but still keen for more feedback as well.

User avatar
Bg
Site Admin
Posts: 43187
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:13 am
Location: Auckland
Has liked: 2254 times
Been liked: 3873 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Bg »

Reg18 wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:37 pm but still keen for more feedback as well.
add a bit more gain maybe?
So, is that low alcohol or no alcohol at all? mmmm, no alcohol, do you want to try it? Noooooooooo.

User avatar
codedog
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 6705
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2014 8:44 pm
Location: Christchurch
Has liked: 3476 times
Been liked: 1083 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by codedog »

Any chance the Boost can be on a separate footswitch?

User avatar
robthemac
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 8518
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2019 3:47 pm
Has liked: 1102 times
Been liked: 1419 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by robthemac »

Bg wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:43 pm
Reg18 wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 5:37 pm but still keen for more feedback as well.
add a bit more gain maybe?
Sit a little closer to the amp. Try a hollowbody. Etc etc
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

User avatar
robthemac
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 8518
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2019 3:47 pm
Has liked: 1102 times
Been liked: 1419 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by robthemac »

Will add myself to the queue if possible, Reg.
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

User avatar
Reg18
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3657
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:57 pm
Has liked: 311 times
Been liked: 928 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Reg18 »

codedog wrote: Tue Feb 07, 2023 6:24 pm Any chance the Boost can be on a separate footswitch?
Yes it’s possible, I’ll see what people think of it first before making any final versions.

User avatar
MiniForklift
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 1823
Joined: Mon Jan 24, 2022 9:34 am
Location: Location Location
Been liked: 364 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by MiniForklift »

So I finally spent some time with Reg's pedal this morning, it's a goodie and sounds just like how I remember my old Bluesbreaker. I found setting the Volume at around 3 O'clock and the Boost down to 9 O'clock was kinda where I like it for when you step on it coming off a rhythm/clean sound; Tone stayed right at halfway and having the Drive at 2 O'clock was the sweet spot. Soloing with the LP got me in ballpark Kossoff/Moore tonal territory and nice to know there was plenty more gain and volume should I need it (probably not)

I didn't find that the top switch did too much, couldn't really notice a perceptible difference but the bottom switch is a definite worthy addition. Sounds great off to the right and with the Boost down this is near enough stock BB, but flip it to the left and your tone brightens up a bit as some extra treble is rolled in. Found that quite handy when you're on the neck pickup of an LP

Props to Reg for this one, I've already put my order in with him. Will get this saucy thing out to Rob this afternoon :clap:
Attachments
Bluesy.jpg
Bluesy.jpg (2.98 MiB) Viewed 3568 times
BB.jpg
BB.jpg (2.95 MiB) Viewed 3568 times
“𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧”

User avatar
Reg18
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3657
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:57 pm
Has liked: 311 times
Been liked: 928 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Reg18 »

MiniForklift wrote: Thu Mar 02, 2023 10:56 am So I finally spent some time with Reg's pedal this morning, it's a goodie and sounds just like how I remember my old Bluesbreaker. I found setting the Volume at around 3 O'clock and the Boost down to 9 O'clock was kinda where I like it for when you step on it coming off a rhythm/clean sound; Tone stayed right at halfway and having the Drive at 2 O'clock was the sweet spot. Soloing with the LP got me in ballpark Kossoff/Moore tonal territory and nice to know there was plenty more gain and volume should I need it (probably not)

I didn't find that the top switch did too much, couldn't really notice a perceptible difference but the bottom switch is a definite worthy addition. Sounds great off to the right and with the Boost down this is near enough stock BB, but flip it to the left and your tone brightens up a bit as some extra treble is rolled in. Found that quite handy when you're on the neck pickup of an LP

Props to Reg for this one, I've already put my order in with him. Will get this saucy thing out to Rob this afternoon :clap:
Thanks Jim, appreciate your feedback!

User avatar
robthemac
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 8518
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2019 3:47 pm
Has liked: 1102 times
Been liked: 1419 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by robthemac »

On Friday night I plugged in a guitar for the first time in a week. Reg's BluesBreaker had just arrived and I had fifteen minutes with it.

Initial thoughts:
- sounds like a Bluesbreaker. Smooth, creamy low-medium gain tones. Moore/Clapton/Mayer for days.
- higher gain levels it gets quite an angry, hard-clipping flavour. This is far from my area of expertise though.
- compared to my LA Lady's Blues profile, it has a bit of a softer, more compressed quality. That's a good thing at low volumes with my glassy Deluxe Reverb.
- haven't played around with the switches or boost knob yet
- I can dial in my Strymon Sunset's 2-Stage setting to be largely indistinguishable to Reg's pedal. Given how much of my time I spend on that setting, I'd say that's a good thing.
- More to come during the week.
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

User avatar
Reg18
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 3657
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2014 1:57 pm
Has liked: 311 times
Been liked: 928 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by Reg18 »

robthemac wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 9:52 am On Friday night I plugged in a guitar for the first time in a week. Reg's BluesBreaker had just arrived and I had fifteen minutes with it.

Initial thoughts:
- sounds like a Bluesbreaker. Smooth, creamy low-medium gain tones. Moore/Clapton/Mayer for days.
- higher gain levels it gets quite an angry, hard-clipping flavour. This is far from my area of expertise though.
- compared to my LA Lady's Blues profile, it has a bit of a softer, more compressed quality. That's a good thing at low volumes with my glassy Deluxe Reverb.
- haven't played around with the switches or boost knob yet
- I can dial in my Strymon Sunset's 2-Stage setting to be largely indistinguishable to Reg's pedal. Given how much of my time I spend on that setting, I'd say that's a good thing.
- More to come during the week.
Would be keen to know if you think the switch’s are useful.
Both to the right is standard BB, either one changes
the tone slightly but maybe not enough to warrant. I’m still unsure. It’s not clipping changes though, ones a resistor swap and the other is adding a capacitor.

User avatar
robthemac
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 8518
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2019 3:47 pm
Has liked: 1102 times
Been liked: 1419 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by robthemac »

Reg18 wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 9:58 am
robthemac wrote: Sun Mar 12, 2023 9:52 am On Friday night I plugged in a guitar for the first time in a week. Reg's BluesBreaker had just arrived and I had fifteen minutes with it.

Initial thoughts:
- sounds like a Bluesbreaker. Smooth, creamy low-medium gain tones. Moore/Clapton/Mayer for days.
- higher gain levels it gets quite an angry, hard-clipping flavour. This is far from my area of expertise though.
- compared to my LA Lady's Blues profile, it has a bit of a softer, more compressed quality. That's a good thing at low volumes with my glassy Deluxe Reverb.
- haven't played around with the switches or boost knob yet
- I can dial in my Strymon Sunset's 2-Stage setting to be largely indistinguishable to Reg's pedal. Given how much of my time I spend on that setting, I'd say that's a good thing.
- More to come during the week.
Would be keen to know if you think the switch’s are useful.
Both to the right is standard BB, either one changes
the tone slightly but maybe not enough to warrant. I’m still unsure. It’s not clipping changes though, ones a resistor swap and the other is adding a capacitor.
Oh interesting, I'd presumed that switches to the left were standard BB. Wonder if that's why my first reaction was on the softer/compressed side and I had the tone up a little more than with most overdrives.

More exploration needed.
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

User avatar
robthemac
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 8518
Joined: Sun Apr 28, 2019 3:47 pm
Has liked: 1102 times
Been liked: 1419 times

Re: Blues Breaker pedal users

Post by robthemac »

Wifey helped me out with a bit of testing tonight.

Both switches do something to my ears. Top switch to the right (standard BB) is a little brighter, less compressed, lower gain. Bottom switch to the left (non-standard) does the same thing to my ears. I did some blind tests where she put the switches in various positions with me unable to see the pedal, and I could guess whether each switch was left or right each time.

Also tried hitting the front end of the BB with a treble booster. That was cool.

When I get a chance to do daytime testing, I was to try it with pushed amps, instead of volume on 1-2.
Jops wrote: Sun Sep 18, 2022 7:46 am Spring is the comic sans of reverbs anyway.

Post Reply