Signature Mateus Asato OD with Replaceable Distortion Circuit

Mateus prefers to play clean most of the time, so when he kicks in the grit, he demands the utmost clarity, precision, and articulation. The Jackson Audio Asabi, Mateus Asato’s signature overdrive/distortion pedal, is voiced just how he likes it: with independent overdrive and distortion sections. The distortion is built around a Modern High-gain circuit, which produces the sound of a classic British-style high-gain amp. The overdrive was inspired by a popular transparent-sounding drive with incredible touch sensitivity. Four clipping modes yield a gamut of tones, from slightly cooked to fully saturated, while Jackson Audio’s innovative Gain Cycle feature gives you four scalable maximum gain settings. The distortion side’s active 3-band EQ makes tone sculpting easy, and you can also use the overdrive for situations that call for extra grit and sustain. To top it off, you can change the character of the Asabi’s distortion circuit by swapping it with one of Jackson Audio’s optional analog plug-ins (sold separately). The Asabi also includes a MIDI input, enabling you to take intuitive command over its clipping modes and Gain Cycle feature.

Four clipping diode presets for ultimate flexibility

For the Asabi, Jackson Audio pulled out all the stops to empower guitarists with a massive range of overdrive tones, starting with four selectable clipping diode presets. Indicated by color on Asabi’s Drive LED, the clipping modes include a “classic screamer” setting with two symmetrical silicon diodes (green), a chewy asymmetrical clipping mode with three silicon diodes (magenta), a focused and direct 4-diode symmetrical clipping mode (blue), and a vintage British-style amp overdrive with a wide-open sound (amber). Additionally, the Asabi presents four boost presets: bright boost, mid boost, tailored boost, and full range. Jackson Audio has made selecting presets on the pedal extremely intuitive, and it’s even easier when connected to a MIDI controller. To top it off, all clipping options include automatic level matching — something that guitarists wholeheartedly appreciate.

Powerful frequency-sculpting active EQ

Sometimes overlooked by guitarists, an equalizer can be the difference between a good guitar tone and a stellar guitar tone. The Jackson Audio Asabi’s distortion side contains an active 3-band EQ section that offers serious sonic sweetening. The Asabi’s overdrive side includes the classic Volume/Tone/Drive combo for fine-tuning your dirty boost. Thanks to Asabi’s comprehensive tone-shaping capabilities, you can subtly enhance your tone or completely restructure it. Additionally, Asabi’s EQ can be a lifesaver that will allow you to compensate when you’re playing through a poor-sounding amp or performing in a bad-sounding room.

Innovative Gain Cycle feature

Asabi’s Gain Cycle mode is a standout feature not found on other distortion pedals. Essentially, it splits the maximum gain into four equal parts, which allows you to ramp up your crunch tones to fit the shifting dynamics of a performance. Start out with a light distortion, then get progressively heavier and heavier until you reach maximum saturation. Then, push the distortion further into clipping with the Asabi’s super-transparent overdrive for a slow-burning lead tone that’s guaranteed to turn heads.