9 Favourite Jackson Audio Compact Pedals Capsule Collection

I've frequently documented how the JA Prism and Bloom along with my ThorpyFX Heavy Water are part of my essential front-of-chain tone enhancers. Working together with subtle levels of gain - to deliver the very best in signal chain enhancement - like a sort of hybrid combination delivery of something like the 29 Pedals EUNA - but with more granularity and range - in fact covering Buffer, Boost, Preamp, Tone Warming, Dynamic enhancement, Compression, EQ, and Harmonic enrichment functions!

Note that actually since April, the Becos FX CompIQ Pro Stella Compressor has taken over from the Bloom for a rotation or two - it doesn't have the 3-in-1 multi-function prowess of the Bloom - Compressor + 3-Band EQ + Blooming Boost, while overall it's a much more powerful compressor. I still love the Bloom though - and that will return to the slot at some stage for sure!

Controls - Tone, Body, Mode : High / Med / Low, Boost, Preamp : Color / Amp / Transparent.

So the Prism Buffer, Boost, Preamp, EQ & Overdrive has been on the board since November 2017 - I have it set very subtly with front-of-chain EQ, and minimal gain on Transparent Mode. That delivers a pretty incredible tone-enhancement to my core signal in warming up the signal a touch, tempering any wayward frequencies - and adding a wonderful sort of analog gooeyness to the core sound. It's quite subtle in some ways - but you totally notice it when it's gone or inadvertently set to standby. This has been one of my key always-on pedals from really very early on in my pedal-chain evolution. 

Following my fallout from the brand I did try to switch it out on several occasions - with some very suitable and often higher quality alternatives - but none of those delivered that magic. It's one of those elements that just really sets the tone for the rest of the chain so beautifully - that it has proven to be entirely indispensable over the years! It's the first of the always-on pedals typically!

Note that I did the above visual back in 2019 - a couple of years after the Prism Landed - where I incorporated some of the recent JA circuit innovations into that pedal - and added some of that press-hold mode-switching magic into the footswithes - which I double down on. I also added the Mid-Band frequency to make the EQ section full 3-Band! Alas no further innovation has occurred for that pedal - beside the addition of a MIDI input jack - otherwise the pedal remains pretty much unchanged. Interestingly the weigh go this unit is a lot more than the various follow-ups - presumable owing to a slightly thicker steel enclosure from the early days of that brand versus the latter lighter aluminium editions. Note also that there has been a gradual transition towards SMT format manufacture - which means smaller and ligthter components too. Thoese early pedals were proper heavyweights!

Controls - Volume, Blend, Compression, Bass, Middle, Treble, Bloom / Boost, Comp Footswitch / Comp Modes, Bloom Footswitch (Hold to Ramp), Press Both Footswitches for EQ On/Off.

Comp Modes - White 2.5ms Attack / Green 7.5ms Attack / Magenta 50ms Attack / Blue 120ms Attack / Aqua Slide Mode - Dual Compression / Orange Adjustable Aux Compressor. Press-Hold Comp footswitch to scroll through the 6 modes - which are mostly about differences in Attack and Release times!

My second most used Jackson Audio pedal - this mainly Optical Compressor war rooted to the board for many years - not just because of its excellent transparent optical compression (mostly on Magenta mode), but also because of the independent 3-Band EQ section, and the Blooming (gently ramping / decaying) Boost!

This has been an essential pedal for both my good friend Cyril Demaegd and myself - as frequently documented on this site. I use the EQ to overcome the occasional Bass-heavy gain pedal typically (with slightly Booming tendency), or do deliver a more searing and focused fuzz voicing. While the EQ acts as a binary control for my friend Cyril - so he uses the pedal with a touch extra EQ in his home-play sessions, but removes it for live sessions - as the ambience in those spaces is quite different - and you need to accentuate different frequencies within a concert space / band mix!

I've found the Bloom to be pretty indispensable - while the current slot champion - the Becos FX Stella is a much more potent and powerful compressor - but doesn't have the extra independent 3-Band EQ section or independent boost - which I used to use all the time when the Bloom was in the chain, but since the Stella occupied the slot - I've had to deploy other pedals in the chain to give me the same functionality. The really smart part of the Bloom is not just the clever 6-Mode compression selection via the left-footswitcht - but those instantly switchable additional functions!

Controls - Volume, Boost, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Drive Footswitch, Boost Footswitch, Press both Footswitches to Ramp up Gain Cycle.

Drive Modes : Green 2 Symmetrical Silicon Diodes / Magenta 3 Asymmetric Silicon Diodes / Blue 4 Symmetrical Silicon Diodes / Amber 2 Red LEDs.

Boost Modes : Yellow Bright Boost - Treble Booster / Green Mid Boost / Aqua Tailored Boost / Blue Full Range Boost.

The Broken Arrow screamer type was in very high rotation when it first landed in 2019. It perfected the 4 Overdrive Clipping and 4 Boost Modes we see on all the different JA Overdrives and Distortions - bar The Optimist.

I really love how you can flip those Clipping and Boost modes on the fly by Press-Holding the corresponding footswitches. And we also have that smart Gain Cycle function - where dual-pressing the two footswitches allows you to step up through the Gain you've set on the Gain Knob - in increments of 25% - a really cool way to ramp gain up and down on the fly. A Tube Screamer at its core - but much much more with those additional options onboard. Hasn't had too much of a run recently on account of the in some ways even better sounding Messiah Guitars / Eddie Haddad Boost Drive - which even has Fuzz flavours onboard - despite similarly at its core being a Tube Screamer. But then as I always say - there are several dozen different shades of every circuit - and no two sound exactly alike - unless you're using those pedals most as front-end boosts - in which case your amp carries most of the 'flavour'!

Controls - Volume, Boost, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Drive Footswitch, Boost Footswitch, Press both Footswitch to ramp up Gain Cycle.

Drive Clipping - Green 2 x Symmetrical Diodes / Magenta 3 x Asymmetrical Diodes / Blue 4 x Symmetrical Diodes / Amber 2 x Red LEDs.

Boost Modes - Bright Boost - Treble Booster / Mid Boost / Tailored Boost - Body / Full Range Boost.

So this one was the start of my troubles in effect - but still a great sounding Blues Breaker - albeit I've achieved better tones on the Drunk Beaver Inglorious Bastard, Snouse BlackBox, and Wampler Pantheon in particular. While that doesn't mean that the Golden Boy isn't capable of some superior tones of tis own.

The same core formula as the Broken Arrow - but now moving more into anodised coloured enclosures, and with a somewhat different circuit makeup - but still with 4 Clipping Mode, 4 Boost Modes, and Gain Cycling onboard. I've always cited the Jackson Audio pedals particularly from a build, innovation and functionality perspective - where I was initially surprised that there weren't more pedal brands copying that really successful formula, It's happened more recently - like say on the Ohmless AKC-4 Overdrive. While I've not yet seen a 3-in-1 function pedal like the Bloom with the left switch independently activating one function, the right a second, and both switches together - a third! I've long advocated that other brands take up that innovation - which of course does involve digitally controlled soft-touch footswitches. While there are very view brands engaged in that sort of innovation currently! The usability of such a scenario really is next-level - which is one of the strongest aspects of these Jackson Audio - pedals - how they function and the user / usability experience of that - more should definitely follow suite!

Controls - JCM800 } Volume, Presence, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Distortion Footswitch; PLEXI } Volume, Tone, Drive, Drive Footswitch; CLIPPING } 4 Clipping Options via each Footswitch - Amber (2 x LED) / Green (2 x Symmetrical) / Blue (3 x Asymmetrical) / Magenta (4 x Symmetrical), GAIN CYCLE via Dual Simultaneous Press : 25% / 50% / 75% / 100%.

So this one and only officially discounted Jackson Audio pedal - somehow also became the catalyst for the imminently arriving fallout. It ended up being my only JA freebie where BJ seems to indicate that I somehow pressured him to grant me a 'freebie' after reneging on an earlier offer of discount. In any case this particular edition was short lived as it turned out that John Cusack's Mojo Hand FX was already making a pedal by that same name, and had been doing so for a while. The predecessor to Jackson Audio - Jackson Ampworks had made an El Guapo amp for a while which was part of the confusion - but that was long since discontinued when this dispute arose - so BJ suspended the El Guapo, slightly re-tooled the circuit with added Modularity, and relaunched it as the Asabi!

It's a great 6-knob JCM800 + 3-knob Plexi Dual Overdrive / Distortion with 4 Clipping Modes per each Channel. A really potent combination and one of my favourites of that kind. While overall more recently somewhat overshadowed by the likes of the Sinvertek N5 MGAT series- while the El Guapo / Asabi is a genuine 2 Channel Amp. Still really decent!

Controls - MAIN FUZZ } Volume, Mid Frequency, Fuzz, Bass, Middle, Treble, Octave Footswitch; OCTAVE } Volume, Blend, Octave, Octave Footswitch.

Internal Trimmers : Treble Frequency, Treble Q, Middle Q, Bass Frequency, Bass Q.

Internal : Fuzz / Distortion / Overdrive Jumper for Modern Fuzz Deluxe Module.

So this was supposedly the straw that broke the Camel's back. This was the big release for me of that sequential trio - the Golden Boy + El Guapo + Modular Fuzz. Actually the pedal (Advanced Teaser) that prompted me to contact Brad Jackson in the first place. And intriguing but somewhat complex and convoluted hybrid / modular Fuzz Pedal - really innovative in so many ways - but for which the Modular system and system of internal controls kind of worked a little against the success of such an innovated format.

In any case this launched with a number of modules - all priced at $50 each. I wanted to do a full review of the pedal and all its modules - and of course asked for some assistance or accommodation for that - meaning a decent degree of discount to make that project viable for me. That's what finally triggered the final fallout, where there was a catalogue of somewhat broken promises - and I guess some degree of awkwardness about the El Guapo gifting. I was ghosted for several weeks and then told to never contact said company again!

I had promised several readers that I would be doing a review of the Modular Fuzz - and so I did, which was to be my last Jackson Audio feature for a while!

I managed to get a discounted unit in a sale later on, and bought the one extra Module I felt really made sense - the Fuzz Deluxe Module - which comes with an internal jumper - that you can place in different positions - to render different core Overdrive, Distortion and Fuzz voicings - that would definitely be my pick to the Modules.

This is very much a silicon pedal - and some of those voicings aren't as authentic as I would necessarily like them - in particular the simulated Germanium variants - using of course Silicon Transistor to deliver Germanium style Tone Bender MKII and Fuzz Face style tones. I alraedy have near 60 Tone Benders in my collection - mostly proper NOS Germanium types, and well over 100 Fuzz Faces - mostly Germanium types too. While I might still pickup the Ram's Head Muff Module at some stage - if can get that Module at a reasonable discount! If not - then I'm not overly bothered.

I still think it's a really clever and innovative circuit, but somewhat clunky and impractical in use, You have 5 core internal trimmers and often a couple on the modules too - including the core circuit Bias. There really should have been some way to externalise the Bias control - which is so important for the overall character of many fuzz circuits. The fact that you need to screw off the based and fiddle with a bunch of internal controls makes this pedal a tricky proposition. Only the Cooper FX Arcades got the Modular concept mostly right - and that was using 80's gaming console cartridge technology - which swapping the Modules was a breeze! Which it never was on the JA Modular Fuzz - which kind of counteracted its core Modular utility!

Still a great sounding Fuzz - if you dial it in just right - and with that handy 3-knob Upper Octave circuit that you can apply to every Module!

Controls - Mix (Dry > Chorus > Vibrato), Depth / Mode : 1-7 (see below), Speed : 0.1Hz > 2Hz > 10Hz, Tone, Phase / Ratio / Wave Shape, Delay, Engage / Bloom Footswitch, Tap Temp / Speed Ramp Footswitch, Press Both to Cycle through 7 Modes.

7 Modes :

1. 70s - Classic mono chorus, using clock and LFO settings measured from an original CE-1
2. 80s - Stereo chorus, reminiscent of the classic CE-300
3. RCK - 80s style chorus, with a built-in +/- pitch shifter for a classic rack tone
4. VIB - Classic Vibrato, with complete control
5. ROT - Pitch and amplitude modulation effect, for an accurate emulation of a Leslie speaker cabinet
6. HRM - Harmonic mode, modulates each channel in a mathematical relationship for new chorus sounds
7. UC - User Control, allows for full control and the ability to create wild sounds

So following my fallout - I understandable took a sabbatical / hiatus from the brand. In fact at that point I was determined to never support the brand again. But following a conversation with JA's European Distributor Audio Distribution Group I was somewhat persuaded to get involved once more - and I posted up a review of the New Wave and acquired one for the collection!

It has that typical Jackson Audio functional smarts onboard - while I wish they would collaborate with someone like JAM Pedals to bring the 'flavour' component up a touch. It's a really versatile proper Stereo Analog BBD Chorus - but I do have better sounding ones from that genre - albeit none as clever as the New Wave, nor quite as easy to deploy. This one requires a lot of juice to function properly - relatively high current draw and at 18V. I've long since said that all pedals should converge on 9V supplies and use charge pumps and voltage regularity to delivery the higher Voltages required for the circuit. I have a number of 9V pedals which easily ramp the voltage up to 18V and deliver superior results. There's no reason that JA could not have followed suit.

This High Voltage and Current requirement is the only hangup really as this is highly innovative and unique take on the Analog BBD Chorus. I of course really like it - and it's been in high rotation since it landed!

It has plenty of everything onboard - but as I said I have several more flavoursome and properly juice choruses that I prefer the sound of - but they don't have this versatility or variety all in the one box! A really cool pedal all-round!

Controls - LARGE MOUSE MODULE } Volume, Presence, Gain, Bass, Middle, Treble, Distortion Footswitch; PLEXI } Volume, Tone, Drive, Drive Footswitch; CLIPPING } 4 Clipping Options via each Footswitch - Amber (2 x LED) / Green (2 x Symmetrical) / Blue (3 x Asymmetrical) / Magenta (4 x Symmetrical), GAIN CYCLE via Dual Simultaneous Press : 25% / 50% / 75% / 100%.

So very much the second coming of the El Guapo - but this time with the same modular approach as the JA Modular Fuzz - albeit only a single additional module has ever been released for this pedal - the Large Mouse - Rat style circuit - which easily slots into place instead of the core JCM800 Module / Voting. I of course already have the JCM800 in my previous El Guapo pedal - so this one is all about the Large Mouse Module - and in fact was specifically acquired for my recent Compact Rat Rundown article. Where this is a great example of an Extended Range Rat.

Not really my favourite sounding Rat circuit - I have several which are more richly textured and flavoursome. While this one is capable of delivering some very satisfying tones - and works well in combination with the second Plexi Channel. I'm really glad I own this pedal, while it's not quite essential status within my Rat Pedals Capsule Collection - but still a decent representative of that genre in its own way. I sill kind of like it any case, and I'm glad I' managed to snag one via Reverb.com (from Australia) at a very decent price - and including that essentially extra Large Mouse Module!

Controls - OD1 [KLON] } Volume, Tone, Gain, OD1 Footswitch; OD2 [TIMMY] } Volume, Tone, Gain, OD2 Footswitch; EQ/BOOST } Bass, Mids, Treble, Press both Footswitches together.

And so to my most recent acquisition in this series - a pedal from my JA wilderness year. At the time I wasn't particularly impressed with the demos I heard - but there may have been some negative placebo effect happening at the time as a consequence of the fallout.

I keep a regular eye on the Reverb.com listings - and finally I found a pristine example of The Optimist - which dropped below my opportunism threshold - and I picked it up earlier this month.

The pedal sounds much better than I remember it doing. And the 3-Band EQ seems to be very much a sort of active component - as if you boost certain frequencies you get a very noticeable boost in output too. So I'm using that EQ as a combination of secondary voicing / Boost for each of the channels.

I've dialled in a 3-Band EQ Profile which works really well for both circuit types - the Klon style one on the left channel and the Timmy style one on the right. Meaning I have a 6-stage gain machine in effects. The two channels independently and together - with and without boost. Alas there is no Gain Cycling option here, nor disappointingly is there any of those typical 4 Clipping Options you get with most JA Overdrive Pedals - that would have been something - if we had all those features onboard this Optimist too.

As is its a pretty decent sounding circuit. I've never been a big fan of the Timmy - but the Timmy side of this ir really good, and of course I already own a couple of dozen or more Klones - and this one's decent - while some of my others are more nuanced and more richly flavoured. It's still a very decent Dual Overdrive pedal.

I'm glad I've got it in the collection at last, and extra glad that I got it at such a favourable discount!

This pedal game is so much about patience and waiting in the wings - and then being able to pounce when the once in a blue moon opportunity strikes!