Description
Jackson Audio Golden Boy Joey Landreth Designed Transparent Overdrive Pedal
The Golden Boy Transparent Overdrive (designed in collaboration with Joey Landreth) is the most versatile and transparent overdrive ever made.
Rich in harmonic detail and overflowing with headroom, the Golden Boy redefines the concept of transparent overdrive and brings it up to date with modern features never before seen in an overdrive pedal.
Keep reading to learn more about what the Golden Boy can do for your tone!
GOLDEN BOY OVERVIEW
"The bluesbreaker circuit has been my favorite overdrive circuit forever. I have a collection of clones that I love. The Golden Boy takes that classic tasteful circuit adds some 3D depth, marries it with the modern ideas of Brad Jackson and turns it into an absolute Swiss Army knife for just about any pedalboard." - Joey Landreth
The GOLDEN BOY is a very flexible overdrive with 4 presets for clipping options, an innovative gain adjustment feature that we call GAIN CYCLE, and a 3 band active EQ for maximum tonal flexibility. To top it off, we added a boost circuit which is the same type of MOSFET boost circuit found on our top selling Prism Preamp pedal.
BOOST OVERVIEW
The boost circuit is in its own true bypass loop which means it can be used independently of the DRIVE circuit. The boost circuit in the GOLDEN BOY is a MOSFET based boost much like the AMP MODE found in our best selling Prism Preamp pedal. To activate/deactivate the boost circuit simply press the BOOST footswitch.
One of the things that makes the boost in the GOLDEN BOY different from other boosts on the market is that it has 4 presets available. Each preset is EQ’d slightly differently to allow it to alter how it interacts with the overdrive circuit in the GOLDEN BOY or any other pedal you may have in your rig
OVERDRIVE OVERVIEW
The Golden Boy is based on the Bluesbreaker/King of Tone circuit, so the resulting tone is very open, uncompressed and transparent sounding. Think John Mayer overdriven tones. The Golden Boy sits in the mix perfectly and while it adds overdrive and grit, your guitar still sounds like your guitar!
Where the Golden Boy differs from other Bluesbreaker type circuits is that it has the ability to run much higher gain and instantly switch to a low gain transparent overdrive with a tap of the footswitches. With four gain settings at your feet while you play, you can use the GOLDEN BOY as an always on tone shaper, a low gain transparent overdrive, a mid gain drive or a high gain solo drive all without bending down to adjust settings! With the GOLDEN BOY, you keep playing and use your foot (or MIDI) to adjust the gain for you!
CLIPPING DIODE PRESETS
The GOLDEN BOY allows for 4 different presets of clipping diodes which themselves drastically alter the tone and feel of the way the overdrive clips and distorts.
To select a clipping preset, press and hold the DRIVE footswitch for more than 1 second and the clipping program mode will become active. When in this mode, the DRIVE led will flash to indicate that you are in program mode. A quick tap on the DRIVE footswitch will cycle the clipping presets and you’ll be able to hear these presets change as you cycle through them, assuming that the drive circuit was active when the clipping program mode was entered. Once you arrive at a clipping preset that you want to use, press and hold the DRIVE footswitch for more than 1 second and clipping program mode will exit.
Changing clipping diodes are a great way to radically change how an overdrive pedal sounds and feels but oftentimes the change that you perceive has more to do with a change in volume than an actual change in tone….until now!
When we were designing the GOLDEN BOY we knew we wanted to give the overdrive section a lot of tonal flexibility and most importantly make that flexibility useful on stage. So when changing clipping diodes we included circuitry that level matches the output of the pedal as various clipping diodes are selected. So now you can select between all four clipping options, your volume level will remain constant. More importantly, the difference that you hear between the clipping modes will be because of the difference in how those clipping diodes sound and not because your volume is jumping all over the place as it does with other designs.
GAIN CYCLE
The most exciting feature of the GOLDEN BOY is the new feature that we developed called GAIN CYCLE. GAIN CYCLE takes the GAIN knob setting, which selects your maximum gain, and divides that level of gain into 4 equal parts. Say for instance you have your GAIN knob set at the maximum setting or in other words, 100% gain. Every time you press both footswitches simultaneously, the gain of the pedal will jump up 25% until you get to 100%. The following press after 100% will cause the gain cycle to start again at 25%.
TIP: Set the GAIN control to around 3:00+ to have 4 distinct overdrive settings as you cycle through the gain!
The brightness of the DRIVE led will change to let you know which percentage of gain you have selected. The higher the percentage, the brighter the DRIVE led. For instance:
GAIN CYCLE #1 – DIM LED – 25% of GAIN knob value.
GAIN CYCLE #2 – BRIGHTER LED – 50% of GAIN knob value.
GAIN CYCLE #3 – BRIGHT LED – 75% of GAIN knob value.
GAIN CYCLE #4 – VERY BRIGHT LED – 100% of GAIN knob value.
3-BAND ACTIVE EQ
To top it off, the DRIVE circuit of the GOLDEN BOY has a 3 band active EQ. The EQ circuit features a studio grade EQ that gives tremendous tonal flexibility to the GOLDEN BOY. Based on the legendary Baxandall EQ that is featured in countless studio EQ’s, the GOLDEN BOY EQ takes this circuit and tailors it for guitarists! We spent tons of time on this EQ dialing it in so it would hit all the frequencies that guitarists need to adjust, and then sweetened it by removing the ear fatiguing highs and lows that can appear at extreme settings.
EQUALIZER CIRCUIT FEATURES:
Studio-grade EQ with High Bandwidth and Flat Response at 12:00
+/- 12dB Boost/Cut per control
Center Detents on the pots that make it easier to get back to a neutral or flat response.
MIDI FEATURES
It's 2020 and it's time to expect more from an analog overdrive pedal! Since the BROKEN ARROW came out in 2019, all of our overdrive pedals have featured MIDI control over clipping options, gain cycle options, boost eq options as well as ON/OFF of the overdrive and boost circuits and the GOLDEN BOY is no exception.
We always want to make sure that our pedals are as easy to integrate into complex rigs as they are into simple rigs and MIDI makes that happen!
For those building their own cables, the GOLDEN BOY receives MIDI information via the RING connection on a TRS (Tip, Ring, and Sleeve) connector.
Check out this link for some detailed wiring: https://www.midi.org/articles-old/trs-specification-adopted-and-released
MIDI CHANNEL
By default, the GOLDEN BOY ships with MIDI Channel 1 being the selected channel. This can be changed by pressing and holding the DRIVE footswitch while applying power to the GOLDEN BOY. Press the BOOST footswitch to increment the MIDI channel number.
You’ll notice that as you continue to hold the DRIVE footswitch, the BOOST LED will flash to indicate which MIDI channel you have selected. IE – 7 flashes = MIDI Channel 7. After the LED flashes, we inserted a 2-second pause so you could tell when the LED was finished flashing. The LED will continue flashing as long as you are holding down the DRIVE footswitch. Once you have selected the MIDI channel you want and have verified it by counting the flashes, simply release the DRIVE footswitch and the pedal will save this MIDI Channel to the internal EEPROM on the microprocessor and reboot.
MIDI DETAILS
Accessing the new MIDI features of the GOLDEN BOY is done by Control Changes. Below is a list of the features of the GOLDEN BOY that can be accessed via MIDI as well as how to access them.
CC #1 – DRIVE ON/OFF (value of 127 = ON /value of 0 = OFF)
CC #2 – BOOST ON/OFF (value of 127 = ON /value of 0 = OFF)
CC #3 – CLIPPING DIODES
(value of 1 = 2x SYMETRICAL DIODES)
(value of 2 = 3x ASYMETRICAL DIODES)
(value of 3 = 4x SYMETRICAL DIODES)
(value of 4 = 2x SYMETRICAL RED LED's)
CC #4 – GAIN CYCLE
(value of 1 = 25% GAIN)
(value of 2 = 50% GAIN)
(value of 3 = 75% GAIN)
(value of 4 = 100% GAIN)
CC #5 – BOOST EQ
(value of 1 = BRIGHT BOOST)
(value of 2 = MID BOOST)
(value of 3 = TAILORED BOOST)
(value of 4 = FULL BOOST)
Delivery & Returns
Shipping Policy
Free Shipping- Most orders $50.00 and over ordered from themusicden.com SHIP FOR FREE, but there are two exceptions: Orders that are being shipped to a location that is not in the lower 48 United States will NOT ship for free. Also items marked as "Oversized" will NOT ship free. Those orders will ship using our Standard Shipping rate.
Standard Shipping- This is the default shipping method for orders shipping to a US state that is not in the lower 48, such as Hawaii or Alaska, Puerto Rico, or an APO/AE order. Whether an order is shipped USPS or UPS is at The Music Den's discretion depending on what the situation may require.
Orders made through www.themusicden.com will only ship to United States. We are unable to ship internationally.
It may take one to two business days to process an order before it is actually shipped out.
Shipping costs will not be refunded for returns. The buyer must assume all shipping costs when returning an item.
School Servicing- Items will be delivered to the school on our next scheduled weekly visit.
In-Store Pickups- You can choose to pick items up at our Randolph Store. Please call ahead to make sure that your item is at the store before coming to pick it up. Be prepared to present identification and the purchasing credit card during pickup.
Curbside Pickups- Between 10am-5pm, Monday-Friday, you can choose to pick items up at our Randolph Store and have them brought out to you. Please wait for a confirmation email that your item is ready to be picked up. When you arrive you can call the store at 973-927-5800. Be prepared to present identification and the purchasing credit card during pickup.
30 Day Easy Return Guarantee
The Music Den wants you to be fully satisfied with your purchase. The Music Den has a cash back return policy for all online returns 30 days from the date of sale. (Note: This does not apply to Reverb. Please see Reverb for their specific policies. For In-store purchases please refer to your receipt.) Please read the items below carefully to ensure that your Item Return is done correctly.
To return an item purchased online from www.themusicden.com, you must notify The Music Den within 30 days from the date of the sale to receive an RA#.
All returns must have an RA# (Return Authorization Number). To receive an RA#, Please call 1-800-479-1189 or click here to send us an email. Do not forget to mention your customer number and order number so that we can expedite your request.
All Returns must be received by the Music Den within 10 days of the day you received the RA#.
All shipping costs are the responsibility of the customer and are non-refundable.
The following items cannot be returned: Sheet Music, Books, Reeds, Strings, Harmonicas, Microphones, Clothing, CD's, Videos, DVD's, and Software.
Returned items must be in their original condition and packaging. Returned items not in their original condition will be charged a 15% restocking fee.
Special orders can only be returned at the discretion of a Store Manager with a restocking fee added. All deposits on special orders are non-refundable.
When you ship your item, make sure that your RA# is printed clearly on the outside of the package.
Ship the item to:
The Music Den
1030 Route 10 West
Randolph, NJ 07869
For answers to any questions about our return policy, please call 1-800-479-1189 or click here to send us an email.
