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. Named for the Wild West’s most notorious female outlaw (who occupies a branch on Drew’s family tree!), 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. Guitarists at Sweetwater also like it as a second-stage drive for adding a bit more hair and top-end detail to their primary drive. The Belle Starr from Jackson Audio is a transparent overdrive for serious tone chasers — just like Drew!
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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!
"I’m proud to introduce the Belle Starr Professional OD, my signature pedal collaboration with the legendary Jackson Audio. Named after a most famous female outlaw from way back in my family line, this pedal pushes hard, runs wild but stays calculated, like she did, and in that way, embodies her rock and roll spirit." - Drew Shirley, Switchfoot
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
