The Jordan Boss Tone is a vintage fuzz from 1966 that was originally (and curiously) developed as a plug-in device rather than a pedal. The BLAMMO! Electronics Jordan Bosstone is a point-to-point, hand-wired (in L.A.) recreation of that unit, in pedal form.
Although this version is not a radical departure from the original unit, it’s also not a faithful replica, delivering a more midrangey and textured tone reminiscent of two transistor fuzzes like the Fuzz Face. Just like the latter, it cleans up much better when you turn down your guitar’s volume.
The tone is also slightly affected by the fact that it uses asymmetrical diode clipping, with its signature even-order harmonics, compared to the symmetrical clipping of the original, delivering a not-too-familiar vintage sound with a modern consistency.
We added it to our article about the best Jordan Boss Tone clones and variants.
BLAMMO! Electronics Jordan Bosstone, Builder’s Notes
The original guitar plug-in.
Our version of the beloved Jordan Boss Tone is similar to the little black box that hooks directly into your guitars input jack (sorry Strat players) but ours is in stompbox format and built in the point-to-point style on a custom turret board. It also has an asymmetrical clipping diode setup for more even order harmonics, compression and bite. It’s a slight but noticeable change from the symmetrical diode clipping arrangement of a stock unit. Oh, and it also “cleans up” like a Fuzz Face if you rollback the guitar’s volume knob but it isn’t nearly as wooly. The tone has a more mid-focused honk and grimy texture unlike the more common two-transistor type designs, so if you want something off the beaten path that isn’t too modern, consider checking out a Boss Tone.
Specs
- True Bypass
- Vishay Axail Capacitors
- Carbon composition resistors
- High quality low profile 3PDT footswitch
- Hand stamped OEM style faceplate
- Top mounted jacks
- 9 volt battery option (disconnects at the input jack)
- Red LED
- Army Green 125b enclosure (4.8 x 2.64 x 1.58″)
- Accepts 2.1mm center negative DC power supply (standard Boss type)
- Current draw 3ma
