Jackson AudioGolden Boy Transparent Overdrive Pedal

Jackson Audio Golden Boy

Born as a spin-off of the Broken Arrow V2, the Golden Boy is a BluesBreaker-inspired transparent overdrive and boost pedal with an abundance of circuit switching features, designed by Jackson Audio in collaboration with Joey Landreth. Unlike the TS-808 Tubescreamer-style core circuit found in the Broken Arrow, Golden Boy offers a different flavor of drive with an amp-like character—one that has been sought by countless players for decades. But Jackson Audio has added plenty of new things, including a pre-drive Boost circuit, 3-band active EQ, clipping circuit selection, and even MIDI control.

Golden Boy's Boost circuit is Jackson Audio's signature MOSFET boost circuit, borrowed from their Prism pedal. But to complement whatever settings you're running in the drive section, the Boost offer four EQ presets to bring even more sonic goodness out of the pedal. Hold down the Boost switch for a moment to enter programming mode, and press again to cycle through the different EQ settings, ranging from pure volume boosts to emphasizing treble or low frequencies.

Of course, the Drive circuit is likely the main attraction of Golden Boy. Jackson Audio took the opportunity to make this as flexible of a circuit as possible, bringing the Bluesbreaker vibe into totally new spaces. The 3-band Baxandall active EQ puts studio-style control over the frequencies within your guitar tone, allowing you to boost or cut the low, mid, and high frequencies by 12dB.

And just like Broken Arrow, the four different clipping circuits return for incredible customization of your tone. Changing the clipping section changes the feel and response of the pedal—almost as if you were swapping pedals entirely! Various symmetrical, asymmetrical, and LED clipping options are available, so it's well worth the time exploring Golden Boy to find your preferred sonic signature.

Another unique Jackson Audio feature is Gain Cycle, which is activated by pressing both footswitches at once. This allows you to step through divisions of your current Gain setting, giving you variable amounts of gain without touching the knob. Even better, this feature plus all of the clipping and boost circuit presets may be remotely controlled with MIDI control change (CC) messages, so if you're rocking a modern MIDI-capable pedalboard, Golden Boy will fit right in. If you're looking for stellar tone with modern features, look no further than Jackson Audio's Golden Boy.

Golden Boy Features

• Versatile overdrive + boost pedal
• Includes numeous circuit switching options for customized tones from just one pedal
• Independent Boost and Drive footswitches
• MOSFET transistor boost borrowed from Prism and Amp Mode pedals
• Boost gain control
• 4 presets for Boost EQ curve: Bright, Mid, Tailored, and Full Range
• Core overdrive circuit inspired by Marshall Bluesbreaker
• Volume and Gain controls
• 4 clipping circuits: Green (classic symmetrica), Magenta (asymmetric clipping), Blue (symmetrical clipping), Amber (vintage Marshall / LED clipping)
• 3-band Baxandall-style EQ
• Gain Cycle steps through divisions of the current Gain setting: 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%
• MIDI control allows for remote switching of effects, circuit/EQ presets, and gain cycle settings