Traditionally, November is a quiet month for me. With Christmas on the horizon, I normally hold off on buying things, in case I end up accidentally buying something that Kristi’s decided to get me.
Not this year 😁
Admittedly, the haul looks a lot bigger than it was, as I bought a guitar that came with three free pedals. But still. There’s plenty in here to keep me busy well into 2026.
Blackstar Debut 100RH Amp Head
I used to have a Blackstar Studio 10 6L6 combo amp as my pedal platform amp. It got replaced by my Marshall DSL20HR, and then by the Axe-FX 3. In the end, I sold it on, as I just didn’t have space for both it and my Tweed Deluxe combo amp.
And this summer, I found myself missing it quite a lot. I missed having an amp that would give me a better idea of what a pedal would sound like through more typical gear.
Unfortunately, Blackstar doesn’t make an amp head version of the Studio 10 series of amps. The closest I could get is the new(ish) Debut 100R amp head. It’s solid state, rather than values, but it should do the job nicely.
Here are my first impressions. Spoiler alert: I’m delighted with it as a pedal platform amp.
NUX Reissue Series ’59 Bassguy Overdrive Pedal
When this pedal was first announced, towards the start of the year, I thought it would be a clone of the ZVEX 59 Sound pedal. Now that I have one, I can see that it doesn’t share the same set of controls. That makes it a lot more interesting than I expected!
As it’s a budget pedal, I thought it would make a great first pedal to demo through my new affordable amp rig (the Blackstar Debut 100RH). Although I had fun with it, I struggled to get the kind of Tweed Bassman amp tone that I prefer from it.
BJFe Orchid Bee Overdrive Pedal
At the start of the year, if you’d asked me if I’d ever own an original BJFe pedal (made by the man himself), I’d have firmly replied, “no”. Didn’t think I’d ever find any at a price that made sense to me. And now I have two of them!
I didn’t just get the Orchid Bee because of opportunity. My understanding is that this pedal is a new circuit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Bjorn’s Honey Bee family of pedals. It’s not a Honey Bee; more an idea of what the Honey Bee might be if he was designing it from scratch today.
I haven’t had time to sit down and do a full First Impressions post for this pedal. (The joys of work deadlines and illness.) Hopefully soon!
Gibson Les Paul Junior Double Cut in Dark Walnut Finish
I finally own a Gibson Les Paul that wasn’t made in the Henry J era. And I finally have a successor to my beloved (but sadly flawed) Morag.
This was totally unplanned. I’d gone to my local guitar shop to try out a different brand. The moment I had this guitar in my hands, though, I knew it was coming home.
The guitar also came with three free Maestro pedals (Gibson’s pedal brand). This wasn’t part of my buying decision at all (I only found out several days later).
Maestro Titan Boost Pedal
Maestro is Gibson’s vintage pedal brand, with a history going all the way back to the early 1960s. Gibson brought the brand back in 2022, with what they call the Original Collection (but the pedals have new circuits, not re-issues?). And Gibson ran a promotion in November: buy a qualifying guitar, get three Maestro pedals for free.
The Titan Boost is a clean boost with a built-in variable high-pass filter. Some drive pedals get overwhelmed if they see a lot of low frequencies from the guitar. I normally fix that with a Klon klone; the Titan Boost might be a practical alternative tool for this job.
I’ve only plugged it in to make sure that it works. What little I heard, I really liked. It doesn’t seem to have the hyped (and fatiguing) top-end that my TC Electronic Spark suffers from, and the high-pass filter shows real promise as a tone-fixing tool.
I’m looking forward to spending some time with this pedal over Christmas.
Maestro Ranger Overdrive Pedal
This is the second of the pedals that came free with my new Les Paul Junior.
The Ranger Overdrive is marketed as a pedal that chases “vintage amp-like tones”. It seems to be a unique circuit, which could make for an interesting option.
When I plugged it in to make sure that it works, I was pleasantly surprised. It didn’t remind me of any other drive pedal that I’ve ever played. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that experience.
I’ve got to make some time soon to explore this pedal.
Maestro Orbit Phaser Pedal
This is the third of the Maestro pedals that came free with my new Les Paul Junior.
If there’d been a choice, I wouldn’t have picked a phaser pedal – I have no idea how to use a phaser effect at all. So I guess my First Impressions post for this pedal should be called “A Total Noob Tries A Phaser Pedal”?
Unfortunately, the one I got is faulty. I’m going to get it replaced, and hopefully get it onto the pedalboard over Christmas to learn how to use a phaser.
Mad Professor The Green Wonder Overdrive Pedal
For many years, Mad Professor made a Tubescreamer variant called the Little Green Wonder. Back in October 2022, Mad Professor replaced the Little Green Wonder with a new variant, called The Green Wonder.
The main obvious difference between the two? The Little Green Wonder’s Focus control has been replaced with separate Bass and Treble controls in The Green Wonder.
Unfortunately, post-lockdowns, Mad Professor pedals have become quite rare in the UK. It’s taken me about a year to find a second-hand example at a reasonable price. I think it was worth the wait.