Bluesbreaker

The first Bluesbreaker appeared in 1992, after the Guv'nor was withdrawn, and took its name from the Model 1962 Bluesbreaker combo. The Bluesbreaker II replaced it later in the decade. On the reissue, only the jacks and potentiometers differ from the original parts list.

Gain sets how hard the signal drives the clipping stage, while Volume trims the level after it. One Tone control shapes the treble. The gain range stops well short of the Guv'nor, so the pedal centres on light crunch and edge-of-breakup sounds rather than heavy distortion.

At low gain settings the circuit adds little noise, and it stacks readily with other drives placed before or after it. The housing is a folded black steel wedge with a blue front panel. Its footprint is larger than that of a compact overdrive, so it takes more pedalboard space.