Transparent Amp-style Overdrive from Switchfoot’s Drew Shirley
Jackson Audio and Switchfoot’s Drew Shirley teamed up to create the Belle Starr, a transparent overdrive pedal that emulates the characteristics of a wide-open low-wattage tube amp. The Belle Starr overdrive is a straight-shooting 4-knob stompbox, with a Gain control for dialing in the drive, Body and Tone controls for shaping highs and lows, and a master Volume knob. Drop it into the first position on your pedalboard, and you’ll instantly inject a shot of rich harmonics into your tone. The Belle Starr from Jackson Audio is a transparent overdrive for serious tone chasers — just like Drew!
MOSFET transistor for amp-like breakup
Jackson Audio co-founder Brad Jackson is an accomplished amp builder, so he knows a few things about creating the perfect amp-style overdrive. When developing the Belle Starr, Brad and Drew opted for a MOSFET transistor in the clipping stage over the traditional silicon diodes found in most overdrive pedals. The MOSFET exhibits a smooth drive characteristic that sweeps fluidly between clean and medium gain tones and keeps notes articulate and discernible, even at its highest breakup point.
Passive and active tone shaping
The Belle Starr uses a combination of active and passive EQs for flexible tone shaping. The active Body control allows you to adjust the low frequencies with a ±15dB boost/cut. The passive Tone control is based on the treble cut of a renowned British tube amplifier. Both controls include a center detent for quickly resetting to the neutral position — a great feature to have when making adjustments on the fly!
Jackson Audio Belle Starr Overdrive Pedal Features:
Signature overdrive from Switchfoot’s Drew Shirley
Emulates the sound of a wide-open low-wattage tube amp
MOSFET clipping stage is smooth and transparent across a range of overdrive tones
Body control with active ±15dB low-frequency cut/boost
Passive tone control with British-amp-style treble cut
Center detents for quickly resetting EQ controls to neutral
Housed in a rugged brushed stainless-steel enclosure
BOOM!
BOOM! 