The Golden Boy (designed in collaboration with Joey Landreth) is one of the most versatile and transparent overdrive pedals 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.
"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 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.
- Preset 1 – YELLOW LED: Bright Boost. Very useful for creating a thinner sound or when boosting a thick sounding overdrive.
- Preset 2 – GREEN LED: Mid Boost. Not as thin as the yellow mode, the green mode allows more lows and takes on the character of a mid boost.
- Preset 3 – AQUA LED: Tailored Boost. Most people will find this a perfect setting that will complement most any overdrive setting in the GOLDEN BOY.
- Preset 4 – BLUE LED: Full Range. No tonal coloring here! Just your guitars natural tone!
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.
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.
- Preset 1 – GREEN: Classic Screamer. Two symmetrical silicon diodes give the classic drive and compression that the Tube Screamer is known for.
- Preset 2 – MAGENTA: Asymmetric Clipping. Three asymmetric silicon diodes will clip the top and bottom portions of your guitars waveform differently resulting in a more complex and interesting tone. This sounds great when laying down aggressive rhythm parts!
- Preset 3 – BLUE: Symmetrical Clipping. Four symmetric silicon diodes will clip the top and bottom portions of your guitars waveform evenly which gives a more focused and direct tone. Two notable pedals that uses this style of clipping are the Timmy and the King of Tone.
- Preset 4 – AMBER: Vintage Marshall. Two RED LED’s are used to symmetrically clip the top and bottom portions of your guitars waveform evenly. The LED’s allow MUCH higher headroom so your tone will stay more open and less compressed much like a vintage Marshall.
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%.
- Let’s assume the GAIN control is set to 100%
- Verse 1 – Gain cycle set at 25% – Slightly overdriven edge of breakup tone.
- Press GAIN CYCLE
- Chorus – Gain cycle set at 50% – Distinct overdriven tone.
- Press GAIN CYCLE
- Bridge – Gain cycle set at 75% – Heavy overdrive tone.
- Press GAIN CYCLE
- Solo – Gain cycle set at 100% – Heavily saturated overdriven tone!
- TIP: Add the BOOST to push the overdrive even harder for endless sustain!
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.
CABLE INFORMATION: In order to use MIDI on the GOLDEN BOY, you will need a cable that converts a MIDI (DIN-5) connector to a TRS cable.
We are open Tuesday-Saturday from 10am until 6pm CDT.
Any order placed before 3pm CDT Tuesday through Saturday is processed for shipment the same day. Orders placed Sunday-Monday will be processed for shipment the following Tuesday.
For Free Shipping items, Effects pedals and small goods items are generally shipped via USPS Priority Mail, and Guitars and Amplifiers are generally shipped via UPS Ground.
Due to our central location in the middle of the US, most orders will be delivered within 1-3 days delivery time.
Other shipping methods are available (at an additional cost), including next day air.
Please call us directly at (972)540-6420 if you have any questions regarding shipping for your order.
Product Videos
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Golden Boy Roundtable Feat. Joey Landreth
Joey Landreth of The Bros. Landreth fame and Brad Jackson from...
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Midi Channel Troubles? ( Jackson Audio )
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Golden Boy - Joey Landreth - 60 Second Demo - Take 1
Joey Landreth of The Bros. Landreth fame demonstrates the new ...