Marshall Bluesbreaker II
Punch. Body. Cut.
As of 10:00 pm, tuesday march 1st, I'm seeing this pedal online for around 70 dollars used. I'm also seeing a lot of youtube videos comparing this one to a Boss overdrive pedal, and Ibanez's tube screamer. If you want to play lead, and sound like you mean it; watch some of the comparisons yourself. This overdrive does its job.
this post is not going to get broken down into three morsels for you to digest. That's not what this pedal is. This pedal, when configured correctly, will make the notes you play cut through the plastic exterior of television reality. You will no longer feel like a rockstar, you will be a rockstar. What the bluesbreaker mk. 2 has going for it, are its modes; you get a very prominent boost feature, as well as you get a modifiable volume/reverb quality out of the blues feature.
When I first got this pedal, I was a bit confused with it. This is because, buying it used, the pedal's knobs had been reattached incorrectly. I didn't get the luxury of configuring it off of my eyes with watching the notches, I had to configure it off of my ear. The time I spent playing around with the different configurations is where I felt out my investment. It all started with the drive knob.
The boost mode relies on the volume knob and the drive knob. The drive knob modulates the amount of gain going to the guitar from the amplifier. Older tube amps can acquire this quality naturally, and overdrive pedals exist to mimic this effect for non-tube amps. You'll know if you have a tube amp, because it'll probably be from your dad or mom. They aren't generally made anymore. The more drive you have on the knob, the more punch you're going to get from playing one string. For doing lead, have the drive knob up to max or almost max. For playing very rockin' rhythm, have the drive knob to medium or a little under. The body this pedal packs is undeniable. It's got a full sound from how it modulates. There's no air, there's no hollowness. You really feel like you're breaking your blues when you're using this for lead. This full-bodied quality lends itself to a natural sustain it generates. That note will be held out for quite a while. I'm a fingerpicker, and the bluesbreaker II enables quick plucked leads to come through exquisitely loud and clear. It also handles palm muting quite well; gently resting the edge or the palm of your hand against the strings to cut down the excess noise generated by playing. For the amount of tonal chaos you're generating, you're able to control that chaos incredibly well. Rockstars control chaos, well.
The blues mode relies on the volume knob and the tone knob. Most of my experience with the pedal has solely been with the boost mode; there's still much more to explore. What I'm able to do with this mode, is hone down the tone I have coming off of my guitar and amplifier naturally, and give it a little bit more roundness or a little bit less volume. This pedal can actually make your guitar softer, if you use it right. "Why would you want to make your guitar sound softer?" Well, so I can boost the volume straight from the guitar without making the amp peak. To put it curtly, this mode makes my guitar sound cleaner. When I have the tone all the way up, there's a very minor reverb quality that comes through the signal.
Like always, if you're purchasing this offline, you'll need some extras
- philips head screwdriver to take off the baseplate
- 9 volt battery OR 9 volt wall adapter
- recommended 5 ft ~ 10 ft quarter inch cable
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