I was working in Manhattan when I first saw an article in Guitar Player magazine announcing the Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal. I went straight to Manny's and bought one. It was fantastic then and is still amazing today, all these years later. Without a doubt, my number one pedal. I've had Others, including a King of Tone, but my Bluesbreaker has never been surpassed.
Hey Keith! How’s things? Funnily enough, I don’t know whether the Blues Breaker pedal sounds all that much like the amp. I had chance to play one a little while back. At the volume EC must have been to get that level of sustain and gain, it must have been a visceral experience 😳 Accurate or not though, the pedal is bloody brilliant!
Here's a handy reference for quicker comparisons! :) DEMO A / DEMO B 8:29 / 9:43 MARSHALL BB 8:42 / 9:54 SNOUSE BB OD (my fav) - prolly the closest one 8:55 / 10:05 KOT - completely different tone but sounds amazing 9:11 / 10:19 CERIATONE HORSEBREAKER (my fav) - 2nd after Snouse's. Lacking some punch 9:27 / 10:33 JHS DOUBLE BARREL - thinnest sounding
Snouse offered to swap out one of his Black Box pedals for my Bluesbreaker on Reverb. Cheeky. Love that confidence. Almost accepted, but sold instead. Current BB type on my board is the KOTv4. I can get the BB sound out of my Kingsley Harlot v3, though it does much more.
Chris I really appreciate your demos. You are a phenomenal player and you are so inspiring. Yourself and the great Matt Schofield are my favorite players to listen to currently. It’s incredible how you take bits and pieces from all my favorite players and still have managed to create the “Chris Buck” sound. Cheers from Alabama and keep up the great work! P.S. How about another Vertex demo? Maybe the Ultra Phonix Dumble style pedal? You already forced me to purchase the Steel String.
I’m not stalking btw - the links and protrusion for the date gave it away :) on a more relevant note - you have / are in the process of totally transforming my playing .. so thank you .. in addition to being supremely talented, you are also so humble and grounded - it’s a pleasure to follow you .. I only wish you did private lessons .. but I assume you are way past that now
When the Bluesbreaker pedal came out I remember reading some discussion about it in the old CompuServe Music Forum (pre-WWW). But the Drivemaster got a lot more attention, mainly ‘cuz Slash and his JCM800s. Then the BB was pretty much forgotten about ‘til John Mayer.
When the Bluesbreaker , Drive Master & Shred Master came out , the JCM900 Hi Gain Dual Reverb was the latest amp offering alongside not very vintage accurate Reissue's of the actual model 1962 combo , JTM45 , SLP100 and the corresponding 50 watter.
Yeah I remember when they came out I would see them in ads in guitar mags. Nobody ever talked about them and I never heard of any players using them then. Now they’re these heralded magic pedals. Old+discontinued rare= awesome expensive tone I guess lol
Another fan of the Snouse BlackBox 2! I run a Tube Screamer into the BlackBox and when you combine those pedals with the boost control on the BB there are so many good sounds to be had. Only two drive pedals I use now and both relatively inexpensive!
I did think of the Duelist actually, but I couldn't get hold of one! I met Jessy at NAMM, funnily enough - lovely guy who makes amazing pedals, by all accounts.
I have a couple of these from when I was a kid, I really didn't like them (my ears didn't work right back then)... I'm going to have to dig them out... Great playing by the way Chris.
@@TheRickJames09 hahaha I went round to my mums house last weekend to try and find them. I dug out a bunch of wah's I forgot I had but no bluesbreaker..... as yet.... I'm dreading finding out I put them on ebay and sold them for £30 or something ;)
Great video - Great playing as usual... and thanks for the shoot out at the end... for those of us that wont ever be finding/buying/using the actual BB. Thanks!
I bought one new from my local guitar shop (Andertons in Guildford) in ‘95 for 55 quid. I bought it to warm up an overly shrill/loud Fender amp at lower volumes. It’s interesting that Stratty people now like them, cos it’s always been a perfect companion to Les Paul/335’s to me. I’ve seen people say that the BB isn’t worth the money coz it “has problems” but to me, that’s the same as the noise that I heard in the ‘90s where people just didn’t get what the pedal was actually intended to do. It’s a subtle overdrive that also works with a more heavily overdriven amp to drop the volume and gain and shape a clean tone (see J Mascis’ rig and his use of a Chandler Tube Driver for details). I’ve had mine since I was 15, I’m now 40. It’s always been the centre of my rig. It’s on its third switch and has had a new pot. I wouldn’t sell it for any price.
Yep mine from Andertons too. Agree with all you say there. It's heavier than a TS (that I had before this) and with EQ you can adjust this to be just right. I use it behind an Xotic RC - a great pairing.
I have the holy trinity. The shred master was my first pedal, bought it with a cry baby. Such a versatile pedal. I lost it somehow I think, it was the 90's. Picked one up to fill the gap 3 years ago. Bought Drivemaster to boost my twin. Still have that one, with box and manuel, I seem to remember that they were all about £45. The Bluesbreaker I found in my Father- in -laws loft conversion. Mint. Just sitting there. Once you are used to playing with it, it rarely 'feels' right without it on. It works before gain pedals so well, always adding colour or harmonics or whatever. When its on with other pedals it rarely adds noise, with my ODR- 1 and say, a Suuhrrhhu... Riot pedal, it is seamless sounding. Thanks Chris, really enjoyed that, do the other two. ( and the Guvnor, although I tell myself, its not really part of the set, some days I'm ok with that, some days not so. )
Chris, I'm new to your channel and loving it. The comparisons you do are fantastic. For your guitar loving audience can I recommend they watch the Lexington Lab Band starting with Rock and Roll band then Foreplay etc. etc. All helps when they lock us all down again !
The Blues Breaker was popular in the late 80s early 90s. I never owned one, but I know 3 guitarists who did (one of whom was in my band at the time). And having worked in music retail, I can tell you that the Blues Breaker pedal remained popular after it was discontinued-the part exchanged ones we used to get never stayed around for long. When I worked at Marshall earlier this century, there was a push to reissue the Blues Breaker, but as happened many times, the idea was binned and Marshall, once again, failed to capitalise on a good idea.
I remember this pedal when it hit the market, it was very cheap under $100 AU, never had the provillage of owning one, but could the get same tones from my tube screamer. This was the era of the Pro Co RAT and Sholtz Rockman which my other band mates of the day had. While I left them to do their flashy thing , I helped hold down the rythm with a Strat, Twin, Tube Screamer and Dunlop Cry Baby. If I wanted more boost I would kick in the Big Muff. I love hearing you play, it reminds me of the feel of Buddy Guy with a touch of Dave Gilmore. Love your work mate.
Fantastic coverage of these pedals. Good tone comparison and excellent commentary. I have an original Bluesbreaker pedal purchased 20 years ago at a normal price before they skyrocketed in price. Love the subtle overdrive of the Bluesbreaker. Also have an Analogman King of Tones which is a killer pedal, too.
@wildebest It must be pointed out that even if you have the most revealing speakers, most of the people that you are recording for won't be evaluating your music with those speakers. The people with revealing speakers aren't exactly going to be like 'Ah! that a blues breaker pedal' when they are listening to your recording either just because of how variable signal chains are. IMO you are simply better off buying a cheaper modern pedal that would sound just as amazing providing you don't tell your Audiophile friends that you 'cheaped out' on a £100 overdrive haha
I used the Drive Master on bass to record the first and second demos of my old band in 1997 and 1998. I've never managed to recreate that exact sound since.
7:53 Hey Chris, actually there are way more commonalities than difference. As someone that know both circuits, I can tell you that the only difference between the 2 of them is pretty much that the KOT has different diodes and a different chip, which will result in slightly less compression, apart from that they are pretty much identical. As a matter of fact, the Morning Glory or the Black Box with their "mods" have more differences than the KOT. The reason why the KOT sounds so different just like in the video, it's because everyone compares them with both sides on which makes it for an unfair comparison. It's like comparing the KOT with the BB and the Snouse both engaged. Still think the original sounds great, you really nailed that Wait Until Tomorrow tone from the WTLIS album.
Hey Miguel. Thanks for the comment. Funnily enough, I gave a lot of forethought as to whether I should compare the KOT with both sides on or not and decided in favour, purely for the fact that for me at least, it's more representative of the pedal's sound. Speaking of which, I've always found there to be distinctly more mids in the KOT than the BB, irrespective of whether both sides are engaged or not. It's one of the reasons I like it so much; it's like a toned down Tubescreamer. Again, I can't speak with any real authority in terms of the circuit (I can't read schematics etc) so I can only go with my ears and what I've read from Analogman's website but either way, totally take your point about it being an unfair comparison with cascading gain stages :)
Miguel Pessanha Swapping the diodes will make a small difference in texture and compression, the chip hardly any difference. The primary difference is a modification in a critical area of the circuit that has a massive effect on EQ curve - this section is different in all three of these pedals.
Guess I have time in my lockdown schedule to go down into the basement scrapyard and find the broken one these I put away 20yrs ago. Maybe the Peavey mixer down there from the 80’s is priceless too?
I wish you would use your PRS hollowbody more in your videos. The video that you made on it is my favorite till date, especially the intro solo. Love what you do mate! Stay safe! Cheers!
Aha! I'll dig it out again soon. It's a truly phenomenal guitar (the build quality is typically PRS-second-to-none) but I don't know why I don't reach for it more often. The pickups that are in there are especially good, come to think of it...
I've been playing most of my life and have seen a lot of good guitar playing- have to say the into was impressive. Great job at making it "yours" Well done
I have a custom dual overdrive which is a Blues Breaker on the left side and a TS808 on the right side (which I think is what the Double Barrel is, right?). I chose the Blues Breaker to be an always-on light overdrive if I can't get my Marshall loud enough to break up. Then I kick the TS-side for solo boost if I have my Strat, or a separate Treble Booster if I have bridge P90 or humbucker. If I can have my little Class 5 above 5 or 6, then the Blues Breaker is off. It works!
This is the best sounding Strat tone I´ve heard since here on YT I discovered the tone of Matthias Wasser´s 1962 slabboard sunburst Stratocaster. The HorseBreaker in front of a buffered split taking it to a Dumble style and a Trainweck style pedal, preamp or valve amp with good speakers would be my thing. I don´t give a rat´s arse about either John Mayer (I´m not a BluesRock man) or the second hand market´s hype of any pedal, preamp or amp. If I don´t need it I don´t buy or play it. The HorseBreaker into a double amp setup would be perfect for me,- BluesBreaker tone or not.
Haha love it how last night I checked the thumbnail "best drive ever?", now "why is it so expensive?". Could use these thumbnails to tell a story in itself if put enough effort (that most would miss as well). Or maybe I was just tired and was imagining, but I like it. Bluesbreaker circuit definitely has some magic going on. There's no arguing that analogman took it to another level with his own vision. Much prefer his idea of how it should sound. The real problem is that King of Tone is even less valid choice for price and availability. I was also happy to find out you've been putting a lot of work on your own gear channel. Looks like you're doing it right! I assume it wasn't a "thing" when you guested That Pedal Show since it didn't get a shoutout.
Haha. No, you did see that. I was trying out something (change of title/thumbnail) after a certain amount of time had elapsed that a few people had recommended in regard to maximising the video's reach, so to speak. And no, I've been doing Friday Fretworks for a while now - probably about 2 years - so it would have been running when I was first on TPS :)
@@ChrisBuckGuitar cool cool! I can see how it's difficult to optimize the video's attraction from glance. Ah, ok, it just didn't come up. Good content definitely! And that last demo before the clones shootout... With you playing it's always something surprising that makes your jaw drop. Keep doing the good work, hopefully you turn up in TPS again! :)
I've found through the years...brands and effects make no difference in sound(almost, they obviously affect sound)...what is FAR FAR more important is the feel to the player...how the guitar, amp and effects react to their playing...this is what really influences the sound quality...you can tell when someone is really "jiving" with their rig...and it just sounds amazing...
My suggestion would be; if you're going for accuracy without the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the original, BlackBox 2 all the way. If you're looking for accuracy with added versatility, the Horse Breaker. And if you're looking for something in the ball park but with the typical amounts of JHS headroom, the Morning Glory :)
@@ChrisBuckGuitar hey thank you very much. i think morning glory and blackbox are my favorites. I wish your talent to play would also be included in the device :-)
I really love my Tone City King of Blues pedal. It's a low-gain BB with a Klone feeding it. I also really like the cheapo Rogue Blues Distortion, which is also a BB variant. It seems to have a really high headroom, and is super dynamic with pick attack. Doesn't compress much at all at low-gain, so very expressive. That said, the first one I got I had to modify by changing the caps at the T-junction to let more low-end through. The second one seems pretty good off the bat. Cheap and really expressive.
On neck position the Ceriatone and the JHS are nearly identical to the original one, on bridge pickup the Analog man seems to be more nasal, but i still prefer the Ceriatone and JHS. You are a fanstastic player Chris, impressive touch. Congrats.
I agree it flew under the radar. I have the earlier mk1 Guvnor which I bought from new in the 80s to push my then Carlsbro Rebel 30 into a decent overdrive sound. Sadly as I had that (it's still on my pedal board) I never got any of the early 90s ones when they came out.
Hey Chris: I have a CmatMods Butah, which is a very good modern, priceworthy iteration of the M Bluesbreaker. Coupled with an OD it just smokes !! Stay safe Cheers \m/
What a great shootout at the end ! I was surprised by how much i enjoyed the Ceriatone, and how little the KOT sounded like the BB. Tbh i don't like it that much
There's no hard evidence he used a Rangemaster on that album. This is a debate that still rages. He says he never did. theproaudiofiles.com/eric-clapton-guitar-tone/
@@mattgilbert7347 yeah,, it's lore really. But the take away is back in the day guy's only had a handful of effects available. They got tone through there basic gear and their hands! I can't remember who said that about clapton but their are pictures of him in the studio with a range master on top of his amp. There is a vid from guitar player with joe bonnamassa on tone. Very enlightening! Just joe, a les paul ,a tube champ in a tile bathroom!
Russell E Simonetta there are no pics of Clapton in the Bluesbreaker sessions where you can see a rangemaster. For that matter, there are no pics of Clapton ever using a rangemaster.
I'm the lucky owner of an original Bluesbreaker that cost me... nothing! My brother bought it new in the 1990s but didn't use it much so he gave it to me. I'll never thank him enough. It is really one of the most often "on" pedals on my board.
Cheers Mark! And yeah, I did think of the Pantheon but I don't have one, unfortunately. And all of my usual avenues to pop out and borrow one are a bit limited at the moment 😕
Lets be honest Chris could play through a dead fish and it would sound sublime.
Agreed. LOLOLOL
Nah, Dead Fish OD STINKS 🤧
That'd be one cool catfish. CARPe diem. Richie Blackmore's Rainbow trout ... ok ... I'll stop now.
Hahaha
He could play through a Badfish and sound like Sublime
I was working in Manhattan when I first saw an article in Guitar Player magazine announcing the Marshall Bluesbreaker pedal. I went straight to Manny's and bought one. It was fantastic then and is still amazing today, all these years later. Without a doubt, my number one pedal. I've had Others, including a King of Tone, but my Bluesbreaker has never been surpassed.
I’m 40 seconds in, the sound is in this fella’s fingers.
does his fingers have tone, gain, and volume knobs?
@@emptyarms6113 Don't yours? 🤣🤣👌
Your playing is totally on another level. Another fantastic video, Chris.
I've been thinking a lot about Beano tone lately Chris, so a timely installment.
Hey Keith! How’s things? Funnily enough, I don’t know whether the Blues Breaker pedal sounds all that much like the amp. I had chance to play one a little while back. At the volume EC must have been to get that level of sustain and gain, it must have been a visceral experience 😳
Accurate or not though, the pedal is bloody brilliant!
Here's a handy reference for quicker comparisons! :)
DEMO A / DEMO B
8:29 / 9:43 MARSHALL BB
8:42 / 9:54 SNOUSE BB OD (my fav) - prolly the closest one
8:55 / 10:05 KOT - completely different tone but sounds amazing
9:11 / 10:19 CERIATONE HORSEBREAKER (my fav) - 2nd after Snouse's. Lacking some punch
9:27 / 10:33 JHS DOUBLE BARREL - thinnest sounding
Great to see & hear you, as always. Hope you & your family are well & safe.
Catch you next week for more beautiful tunes & tones. Cheers
Man that was a killer lick at the beginning when you switch on the OD!
Chris, your playing is simply amazing. It always gets me.
Hendrix just never gets old,, Thanks again Chris.
Now it’s 2024, and the reissue is sold everywhere for $250. Used for $160 and up. I love it.
Absolutely loving your uploads now. Roll on Friday.
Simply sublime
Thank you Simon! :)
Fantastic tone and playing 🙂
Nice playing Chris. Thanks for the video.
Jesus, dude, you're playing is ridiculously unreal. Most intense feel ever.
Great video as usual!! Can't wait to see you rocking that 62 Strat!!! The restoration process is fascinating.
Beautiful playing my friend.
i Bought the higher output Shred Master version with my first electric guitar back in 1995. Still have it
Its one of my favorite pedals for crazy solos
I think that super quick finger snap thing, and the neck shaking is very unique to you. I always notice it.
Wow, this guy looks like a stunned mullet, but boy can he play--- beautiful style and sound mate
Really a fantastic demo IMHO. Thanks for it!
Great style you’ve developed Chris
I absolutely LOVE my Snouse Black Box. Killer tones!
Snouse offered to swap out one of his Black Box pedals for my Bluesbreaker on Reverb. Cheeky. Love that confidence. Almost accepted, but sold instead. Current BB type on my board is the KOTv4. I can get the BB sound out of my Kingsley Harlot v3, though it does much more.
One of those pedals that works really well through a clean channel, and still remains on my pedal board to this day.
Great guitar player .Unique style .Loads of FEEL
Damn that playing, maaan! That was awesome!
Very tasty playing
Phenomenal playing.
Chris I really appreciate your demos. You are a phenomenal player and you are so inspiring. Yourself and the great Matt Schofield are my favorite players to listen to currently. It’s incredible how you take bits and pieces from all my favorite players and still have managed to create the “Chris Buck” sound. Cheers from Alabama and keep up the great work!
P.S. How about another Vertex demo? Maybe the Ultra Phonix Dumble style pedal? You already forced me to purchase the Steel String.
That's sounds great bro. I will be checking this out. Thank you.
Cool comparison Chris!! Thanks.
Amazing - thanks for the video .. also like the new watch
Haha! I was wondering if anyone would notice. Cheers :)
I’m not stalking btw - the links and protrusion for the date gave it away :) on a
more relevant note - you have / are in the process of totally transforming my playing .. so thank you .. in addition to being supremely talented, you are also so humble and grounded - it’s a pleasure to follow you .. I only wish you did private lessons .. but I assume you are way past that now
When the Bluesbreaker pedal came out I remember reading some discussion about it in the old CompuServe Music Forum (pre-WWW). But the Drivemaster got a lot more attention, mainly ‘cuz Slash and his JCM800s. Then the BB was pretty much forgotten about ‘til John Mayer.
When the Bluesbreaker , Drive Master & Shred Master came out , the JCM900 Hi Gain Dual Reverb was the latest amp offering alongside not very vintage accurate Reissue's of the actual model 1962 combo , JTM45 , SLP100 and the corresponding 50 watter.
Yeah I remember when they came out I would see them in ads in guitar mags. Nobody ever talked about them and I never heard of any players using them then. Now they’re these heralded magic pedals. Old+discontinued rare= awesome expensive tone I guess lol
David Kieltyka tell us more please!.
Bluesbreaker circuit is easy to copy , no mojo there.
I think that of them all, the Black Box was definitely my favourite.
Hey Chris, So awesome buddy, Inspiring
Another fan of the Snouse BlackBox 2! I run a Tube Screamer into the BlackBox and when you combine those pedals with the boost control on the BB there are so many good sounds to be had. Only two drive pedals I use now and both relatively inexpensive!
I 100% second this. LOVE the BlackBox 2!
Snouse black box is balls on accurate
Cheers Chris, always nice to get some tales from the edge of breakup. :)
i dig all of this man! absolutely love!
You can play, man! Outstanding!
Your talent is only surpassed by your modesty. Brilliant.
Left side of the king tone duelist does it for me! Great vid once again👍
I did think of the Duelist actually, but I couldn't get hold of one! I met Jessy at NAMM, funnily enough - lovely guy who makes amazing pedals, by all accounts.
That left side is based on the Bluesbreaker
Chris, I don''t know if you noticed but you participated to the price explosion of this Pedal ! :D
Interesting. I have a brand new one in the box I bought many years ago. Guess I’ll try it.
Apart from a nice tone... to make it sound REALLY good, that's just something you have in the fingers. Nice guitarplaying while opening the video!!!
I have a couple of these from when I was a kid, I really didn't like them (my ears didn't work right back then)... I'm going to have to dig them out... Great playing by the way Chris.
Zilla Cabs if you ever wanna sell one just let me know ;)
@@TheRickJames09 hahaha I went round to my mums house last weekend to try and find them. I dug out a bunch of wah's I forgot I had but no bluesbreaker..... as yet.... I'm dreading finding out I put them on ebay and sold them for £30 or something ;)
Zilla Cabs that would be the worst case scenario that’s for sure 😂
Great video - Great playing as usual... and thanks for the shoot out at the end... for those of us that wont ever be finding/buying/using the actual BB. Thanks!
I bought one new from my local guitar shop (Andertons in Guildford) in ‘95 for 55 quid. I bought it to warm up an overly shrill/loud Fender amp at lower volumes. It’s interesting that Stratty people now like them, cos it’s always been a perfect companion to Les Paul/335’s to me. I’ve seen people say that the BB isn’t worth the money coz it “has problems” but to me, that’s the same as the noise that I heard in the ‘90s where people just didn’t get what the pedal was actually intended to do. It’s a subtle overdrive that also works with a more heavily overdriven amp to drop the volume and gain and shape a clean tone (see J Mascis’ rig and his use of a Chandler Tube Driver for details). I’ve had mine since I was 15, I’m now 40. It’s always been the centre of my rig. It’s on its third switch and has had a new pot. I wouldn’t sell it for any price.
Yep mine from Andertons too. Agree with all you say there. It's heavier than a TS (that I had before this) and with EQ you can adjust this to be just right. I use it behind an Xotic RC - a great pairing.
Love your sound when you play a strat... other guitars are great but man!!!! It’s crazy
I’ve got a new in box still original Marshall Drive Master I must try one day.
I have the holy trinity. The shred master was my first pedal, bought it with a cry baby. Such a versatile pedal. I lost it somehow I think, it was the 90's. Picked one up to fill the gap 3 years ago.
Bought Drivemaster to boost my twin. Still have that one, with box and manuel, I seem to remember that they were all about £45.
The Bluesbreaker I found in my Father- in -laws loft conversion. Mint. Just sitting there.
Once you are used to playing with it, it rarely 'feels' right without it on.
It works before gain pedals so well, always adding colour or harmonics or whatever. When its on with other pedals it rarely adds noise, with my ODR- 1 and say, a Suuhrrhhu... Riot pedal, it is seamless sounding.
Thanks Chris, really enjoyed that, do the other two. ( and the Guvnor, although I tell myself, its not really part of the set, some days I'm ok with that, some days not so. )
Chris, I'm new to your channel and loving it. The comparisons you do are fantastic. For your guitar loving audience can I recommend they watch the Lexington Lab Band starting with Rock and Roll band then Foreplay etc. etc. All helps when they lock us all down again !
The Blues Breaker was popular in the late 80s early 90s. I never owned one, but I know 3 guitarists who did (one of whom was in my band at the time). And having worked in music retail, I can tell you that the Blues Breaker pedal remained popular after it was discontinued-the part exchanged ones we used to get never stayed around for long. When I worked at Marshall earlier this century, there was a push to reissue the Blues Breaker, but as happened many times, the idea was binned and Marshall, once again, failed to capitalise on a good idea.
A few years later, Marshall finally caved in and did it!
@@dannyllerenatv8635 Yes. I was right🙂
I remember this pedal when it hit the market, it was very cheap under $100 AU, never had the provillage of owning one, but could the get same tones from my tube screamer. This was the era of the Pro Co RAT and Sholtz Rockman which my other band mates of the day had. While I left them to do their flashy thing , I helped hold down the rythm with a Strat, Twin, Tube Screamer and Dunlop Cry Baby. If I wanted more boost I would kick in the Big Muff.
I love hearing you play, it reminds me of the feel of Buddy Guy with a touch of Dave Gilmore. Love your work mate.
Fantastic coverage of these pedals. Good tone comparison and excellent commentary. I have an original Bluesbreaker pedal purchased 20 years ago at a normal price before they skyrocketed in price. Love the subtle overdrive of the Bluesbreaker. Also have an Analogman King of Tones which is a killer pedal, too.
Great post 😎🎸🎙✅
Why are they so expensive? the old saying "A fool and his money are soon parted" is quite accentuate here!
Because, a lot of people pay stupid amounts of money for overglorified Tube Screamers.
I believe I payed a very hard earned £40 as a 16 year old for one. That was a lot at the time, and I flipped it soon after...
@@christopheringram4118 they do, but the bluesbreaker circuit is way different from a TS.
Super video. Bends from heaven at the beginning ...Everything Chris plays seems to from heaven for that matter 👍🏽👍🏽
Thank you Brenton. Very kind of you!
I liked the Blues Breaker 2 pedal. I used it though an old Marshall Jcm 800 2 x12 combo. It sounded pretty epic with an old Les paul.
Nice! My first gigging rig was a JCM800 2x12 Combo (4212 if memory serves) with this pedal and a Boss Blues Driver in front of it! Good times...
The tones from all the pedals seem really close. I can't really tell that much via TH-cam. Your playing stands out way more than the pedal. thx.
Thank you 🙂
He does seem to set any of the pedals for that same clean Hendrix/SRV, Mayer tone.
@wildebest It must be pointed out that even if you have the most revealing speakers, most of the people that you are recording for won't be evaluating your music with those speakers. The people with revealing speakers aren't exactly going to be like 'Ah! that a blues breaker pedal' when they are listening to your recording either just because of how variable signal chains are. IMO you are simply better off buying a cheaper modern pedal that would sound just as amazing providing you don't tell your Audiophile friends that you 'cheaped out' on a £100 overdrive haha
That horsebreaker is killer.
I used the Drive Master on bass to record the first and second demos of my old band in 1997 and 1998. I've never managed to recreate that exact sound since.
Great video. I kind of prefer the JHS pedal but all are very nice. You have such a great tone and feel. Thanks for making and sharing.
My pleasure. Thank you for watching :)
Would love to hear a track with yourself and Mathew Scott ... would be tone for days 😉
I got mine in 1995 on clearance at my local guitar story for $35. I still have it with the original box and paper work.
Call Josh Jhs
@@kodykindhart5644 never josh has to suffer without the box!!!
You could make anything sound great
7:53 Hey Chris, actually there are way more commonalities than difference. As someone that know both circuits, I can tell you that the only difference between the 2 of them is pretty much that the KOT has different diodes and a different chip, which will result in slightly less compression, apart from that they are pretty much identical.
As a matter of fact, the Morning Glory or the Black Box with their "mods" have more differences than the KOT.
The reason why the KOT sounds so different just like in the video, it's because everyone compares them with both sides on which makes it for an unfair comparison. It's like comparing the KOT with the BB and the Snouse both engaged.
Still think the original sounds great, you really nailed that Wait Until Tomorrow tone from the WTLIS album.
Hey Miguel. Thanks for the comment. Funnily enough, I gave a lot of forethought as to whether I should compare the KOT with both sides on or not and decided in favour, purely for the fact that for me at least, it's more representative of the pedal's sound. Speaking of which, I've always found there to be distinctly more mids in the KOT than the BB, irrespective of whether both sides are engaged or not. It's one of the reasons I like it so much; it's like a toned down Tubescreamer.
Again, I can't speak with any real authority in terms of the circuit (I can't read schematics etc) so I can only go with my ears and what I've read from Analogman's website but either way, totally take your point about it being an unfair comparison with cascading gain stages :)
Miguel Pessanha Swapping the diodes will make a small difference in texture and compression, the chip hardly any difference. The primary difference is a modification in a critical area of the circuit that has a massive effect on EQ curve - this section is different in all three of these pedals.
Oh it is! I had one of my few aha moments with this pedal! A lot more with the K-Style pedal;-)
had this pedal years ago ,nice pedal.then sold it stupid me.but now has the klon ktr and very nice pedal too.
your playing is amazing.
Anything you play is worth the hype. Period.
Guess I have time in my lockdown schedule to go down into the basement scrapyard and find the broken one these I put away 20yrs ago. Maybe the Peavey mixer down there from the 80’s is priceless too?
I wish you would use your PRS hollowbody more in your videos. The video that you made on it is my favorite till date, especially the intro solo. Love what you do mate! Stay safe! Cheers!
Aha! I'll dig it out again soon. It's a truly phenomenal guitar (the build quality is typically PRS-second-to-none) but I don't know why I don't reach for it more often. The pickups that are in there are especially good, come to think of it...
@@ChrisBuckGuitar You should! It really compliments your playing! Especially how dynamic it sounds!
After that Pick Up Switch you put a smile on my face dude :)
Muito bom! Parabéns!
I've been playing most of my life and have seen a lot of good guitar playing- have to say the into was impressive. Great job at making it "yours" Well done
I have a custom dual overdrive which is a Blues Breaker on the left side and a TS808 on the right side (which I think is what the Double Barrel is, right?). I chose the Blues Breaker to be an always-on light overdrive if I can't get my Marshall loud enough to break up. Then I kick the TS-side for solo boost if I have my Strat, or a separate Treble Booster if I have bridge P90 or humbucker. If I can have my little Class 5 above 5 or 6, then the Blues Breaker is off. It works!
He’s the best guitarist I’ve ever seen ( I’m 64 !!! )
This is the best sounding Strat tone I´ve heard since here on YT I discovered the tone of Matthias Wasser´s 1962 slabboard sunburst Stratocaster.
The HorseBreaker in front of a buffered split taking it to a Dumble style and a Trainweck style pedal, preamp or valve amp with good speakers would be my thing.
I don´t give a rat´s arse about either John Mayer (I´m not a BluesRock man) or the second hand market´s hype of any pedal, preamp or amp.
If I don´t need it I don´t buy or play it.
The HorseBreaker into a double amp setup would be perfect for me,- BluesBreaker tone or not.
nice
Haha love it how last night I checked the thumbnail "best drive ever?", now "why is it so expensive?". Could use these thumbnails to tell a story in itself if put enough effort (that most would miss as well). Or maybe I was just tired and was imagining, but I like it. Bluesbreaker circuit definitely has some magic going on. There's no arguing that analogman took it to another level with his own vision. Much prefer his idea of how it should sound. The real problem is that King of Tone is even less valid choice for price and availability.
I was also happy to find out you've been putting a lot of work on your own gear channel. Looks like you're doing it right! I assume it wasn't a "thing" when you guested That Pedal Show since it didn't get a shoutout.
Haha. No, you did see that. I was trying out something (change of title/thumbnail) after a certain amount of time had elapsed that a few people had recommended in regard to maximising the video's reach, so to speak. And no, I've been doing Friday Fretworks for a while now - probably about 2 years - so it would have been running when I was first on TPS :)
@@ChrisBuckGuitar cool cool! I can see how it's difficult to optimize the video's attraction from glance. Ah, ok, it just didn't come up. Good content definitely! And that last demo before the clones shootout... With you playing it's always something surprising that makes your jaw drop. Keep doing the good work, hopefully you turn up in TPS again! :)
question now in 2024. do you recommend the reissue?
I liked the BB-2 version. A super underrated version
I've found through the years...brands and effects make no difference in sound(almost, they obviously affect sound)...what is FAR FAR more important is the feel to the player...how the guitar, amp and effects react to their playing...this is what really influences the sound quality...you can tell when someone is really "jiving" with their rig...and it just sounds amazing...
Wouldn't the JHS Bluesbreaker pedal be the Morning Glory?
amazing tone. I got a Marshall code 50 amp and the sound is pretty much similar.
just the right video for me. i'm looking for a blues breaker. unfortunately I still don't know which one I like best :-)
My suggestion would be; if you're going for accuracy without the quirks and idiosyncrasies of the original, BlackBox 2 all the way. If you're looking for accuracy with added versatility, the Horse Breaker. And if you're looking for something in the ball park but with the typical amounts of JHS headroom, the Morning Glory :)
@@ChrisBuckGuitar hey thank you very much. i think morning glory and blackbox are my favorites. I wish your talent to play would also be included in the device :-)
Check out the blues breaker clone by Chicago stompworks.
I really love my Tone City King of Blues pedal. It's a low-gain BB with a Klone feeding it. I also really like the cheapo Rogue Blues Distortion, which is also a BB variant. It seems to have a really high headroom, and is super dynamic with pick attack. Doesn't compress much at all at low-gain, so very expressive. That said, the first one I got I had to modify by changing the caps at the T-junction to let more low-end through. The second one seems pretty good off the bat. Cheap and really expressive.
On neck position the Ceriatone and the JHS are nearly identical to the original one, on bridge pickup the Analog man seems to be more nasal, but i still prefer the Ceriatone and JHS. You are a fanstastic player Chris, impressive touch. Congrats.
I agree it flew under the radar.
I have the earlier mk1 Guvnor which I bought from new in the 80s to push my then Carlsbro Rebel 30 into a decent overdrive sound.
Sadly as I had that (it's still on my pedal board) I never got any of the early 90s ones when they came out.
Please do more lessons on your licks. I’d love to find new nuances to add around my playing
Hey Chris: I have a CmatMods Butah, which is a very good modern, priceworthy iteration of the M Bluesbreaker. Coupled with an OD it just smokes !! Stay safe Cheers \m/
VERY TASTY PLAYING!
What a great shootout at the end ! I was surprised by how much i enjoyed the Ceriatone, and how little the KOT sounded like the BB. Tbh i don't like it that much
Clapton used a jtm 45 with a rangemaster. It was the golden age!! Rangemaster, various fuzz pedal, the wah and reverb trem and tape echo types.
There's no hard evidence he used a Rangemaster on that album. This is a debate that still rages. He says he never did. theproaudiofiles.com/eric-clapton-guitar-tone/
@@mattgilbert7347 yeah,, it's lore really. But the take away is back in the day guy's only had a handful of effects available. They got tone through there basic gear and their hands! I can't remember who said that about clapton but their are pictures of him in the studio with a range master on top of his amp. There is a vid from guitar player with joe bonnamassa on tone. Very enlightening! Just joe, a les paul ,a tube champ in a tile bathroom!
Russell E Simonetta there are no pics of Clapton in the Bluesbreaker sessions where you can see a rangemaster. For that matter, there are no pics of Clapton ever using a rangemaster.
I'm the lucky owner of an original Bluesbreaker that cost me... nothing! My brother bought it new in the 1990s but didn't use it much so he gave it to me. I'll never thank him enough. It is really one of the most often "on" pedals on my board.
I have some guitargaget BB boards I have to get on. I bought a crap ton to build and sell at college. Architecture took over. eons ago :)
Bought mine for $60 bucks about 2 years ago or so off craigslist. A Steal!
Love anything you do buddy. Keep the videos coming. I wish ya could have got you hands on a Wampler Pantheon and get tour thoughts.
Cheers Mark! And yeah, I did think of the Pantheon but I don't have one, unfortunately. And all of my usual avenues to pop out and borrow one are a bit limited at the moment 😕
The BB rules them all
Yo this dude playin the guitar got me buyin the pedal immediately