Jack White's Third Man Hardware collaborates with Donner Music for the all-analog Triple Threat Multi-Effect Pedal, featuring High Gain Distortion + Phaser + Echo

I kind of see the Tripple Threat as an update / replacement for Donner’s discontinued $69 Alpha Cruncher (High Gain Distortion + Chorus + Delay) - but now with All Analog effects - where the Distortion is likely the same / similar to the analog British-voiced (Marshall) High Gain Distortion found on the Alpha Cruncher, while the Tripple Threat’s classic Phaser is a tune-up of Donner’s analog Pearl Tremor, and the Analog Echo is a tune-up of Donner’s well loved Yellow Fall Analog Delay.

Interestingly this is kind of a Jack White signature pedal - without being a signature pedal at all - as none of these individual effects are based on any of the pedals Jack normally has on his board - nor those that he uses on his albums or during his live gigs.

Rather - Jack White has stated his desire to see young newcomer and fledgling guitar players get their hands on better kit for less money! So it’s a kind of an outreach project of sorts!

As is always the case for Third Man Hardware releases - it comes in 2 flavours / colourways - a limited Yellow Edition at a premium, and a very affordable $99 Standard Edition. Where the pricing really is very reasonable overall - with the Yellow Limited Edition @ $149 | €139 | £118 and the Black Standard Edition @ $99 | €112 | £95 - currently only available from the Third Man Hardware Webstore. (Available in US, EU and UK storefronts). Also available via Reverb.com (standard version only)!

Controls - DISTORTION } Volume, Gain, Tone, Footswitch, PHASER } Level, Rate, Depth, Footswitch, ECHO } Level, Feedback, Time (20ms - 620ms), Footswitch.

I was excited at the announcement - and wondered what innovation might be forthcoming from Jack - where previous releases have been proper revolutionary - the Triplegraph and Plasma Coil in particular for me ; I mentioned that the Double Down was a little too user case specific for general appeal - while the other Third Man Hardware pedals have a far greater degree of versatility.

I’m not really the audience for this particular new Multi-Effect pedal - and it’s kind of a strange choice to me in some way - as players usually acquire gear inspired by or featured on their favourite artists’ best-loved recordings. While here people may like the sound of Jack White’s music - but his new Tripple Threat pedal - delivers something entirely different - not sure it holds up from a demographic targeting or fully contextual standpoint - but I’m open to be persuaded otherwise as always!

I of course love seeing high quality affordable effects out there - while I’m not entirely clear on what the serving suggestions are on this occasion - and particularly as to how that all relates back to Jack White and his signature sound! I guess the fact that it looks cool, sounds cool and costs just $99 is all you need!

What say all of you?