The Bispell Audio Saxon Overdrive is a tweakable Plexi-style circuit by a rather new company based out of the UK that’s getting good reactions from a couple of fine-eared YouTubers like Brett Kingman and the inimitable Henning Pauly [EytschPi42].
It has a few more EQ controls than your average Plexi overdrive, with a 3-way EQ section where the M(ids) knob doesn’t boost but only cuts those key frequencies, a Presence knob to get the high-end harmonics to shine, and two toggle switches to boost the highs or cut the lows.
The first toggle on the left (bass switch) is said to deliver Plexi tones in the lower position and JTM45-style ones in the top setting.
An internal DIP allows for extra frequency tweaking to fine-tune the pedal to any amp.
Here are the demos! We added the Saxon to our article about the best Plexi-style overdrives.
Bispell Audio Saxon Overdrive, Builder’s Notes
JFET overdrive with exceedingly accurate valve-like harmonics, JTM45 tone stack, Plexi Bass Cut Switch, Bright Switch, and generous amounts of sag/compression.
- Highly authentic JTM45 and Plexi tones
- Clean, crunch, and distortion all accurately recreated
- Internal DIP switch allows you to use the pedal with any amp
Controls
Bass, Mid Cut, Treble, Volume, Presence, Gain, Bass Switch (JTM45, Plexi), and Bright Switch (ON, OFF)
Enclosure Dimensions: L 121mm, W 66mm, H 40mm
