There seems to be some consensus among guitarists that, in the new millennium, having just one dirt box won’t cut it. Hence, the proliferation of dual gain pedals. The Yellow Jacket is the take on this format of up-and-coming builder Gear Ant‘s, a dual distortion circuit that stacks voicings loosely based on the 1978 MXR Distortion plus (right side) and the 1977 DOD 250 grey box (left side).
The two channels complement each other well: the yellow side provides a warmer tone thanks to its Germanium diodes, while the gray side can deliver more crunch thanks to its Silicon diodes.
When both sides are on, the DOD (left, gray) side’s volume control will act as a master volume in a circuit comprising 4 gain stages and plenty of output to push your amp.
And if that output wasn’t enough, two under the hood trim pots allow an extra 20db of clean boost for each side.
Here’s how it sounds.
Gear Ant YellowJacket, Builder’s Notes
Loosely based on the 1978 Distortion plus and the 1977 DOD 250 grey box, the YellowJacket is a must-have.
I initially had the idea for this pedal when i needed to free up some space on my board. I have always stacked two distortion plus pedals, so i decided to make one pedal with both. Since i was doing that, i decided to take it further & put my own twist on it.
The yellow side has germanium diodes, which give you the warmer sound. the red side has silicon, which give you more crunch.
When both sides are activated, the red side’s volume control will act as a master volume, so you can increase the yellow side’s gain even further, by cranking the volume as well.Additionally, there are two trim pots inside. These are clean boosts, for up to 20db for each side. Out of the box, they are set at unity, but you can easily open the back up & experiment.
There are many different flavors of the DOD250/Dist+ & I could have included different toggles, or order switching… but i wanted something simple. something you would mess with for a few seconds & just play. Sometimes, I find myself playing with the pedal more than the guitar, and i wanted to avoid that.
