A rose by any other name would smell as sweet… ah, that is, unless it’s an artificial rose. The same can be said of the thermionic tube—that ultimate generator of stratospheric guitar tones. Now, there have been many attempts to emulate the tube sound with transistors, op amps, FETs and all kinds of novel digital modelling technology, but none of these pale facsimiles can match the rich, dimensional, inspiring, full sound of a real tube amp. But a tube guitar amp is an expensive and heavy item of gear to own and carry to gigs. This is where the Effectrode ‘Blackbird‘ comes in: the Blackbird is a real all-tube preamp housed in a compact pedal and is jam-packed with features found only on high-end guitar amps. Features such as:
- Independent clean and drive channels, each with dedicated ‘Blackface’ passive tonestacks (Bass, Mid, Treble and Volume
controls) - The drive channel is based on four tube gain stages and features low gain (blues) and high gain (rock) overdrive voicings.
- Output is fully tube buffered to maintain tone clarity with long cable runs and ‘difficult’ loads.
- There’s also a fully balanced transformer isolated output for direct connection to house P.A., desk or DAW.
- Remote channel switching and bypass control.
- Housed in a ‘Hammond’ die-cast aluminium alloy enclosure and fitted with genuine Chicago ‘Dakaware’ phenolic knobs (not plastic!) and metal ‘Carling’ U.S.A. footswitches.
- Designed and built in Great Britain.
However, this is just part of what makes the Blackbird an indispensable tone tool for professional guitarists in live and studio situations: the bottom line is, the Blackbird is in a class of its own, being exceptionally expressive and touch sensitive giving players access to a huge tonal palette from mild bluesy breakup to complex, harmonically rich, saturated drive sounds—always incredibly responsive and musical. Don’t make do with a facsimile, an imitation when when you can have the real thing, a real amp, with real tubes, working at real plates voltages. Find out more about how the Effectrode Blackbird preamp can unlock your guitar tone and inspire your playing right here and now!
