Jacques Stompboxes Fuse Blower 2
Jacques Stompboxes have typically been hand made point to point wired
devices with the original Fuse Blower being the first. "The Fuse Blower lets you play complicated chords
with full distortion tone. Always sweet even at high gain level , the Fuse Blower has the special BLOW
mode which changes the whole circuitry into a different and more powerful pedal for striking solos or
powerful boost." - Jacques
The new Fuse Blower 2 wraps three Fuse Blowers into 1 factory made
pedal.
Features
The FB-2 is a triple engine distortion that allows for distinct distortion
sounds from classic vintage to modern shredding. What makes the FB-2
unique are the three seperate BLOW controls that work in the following
ways: BLOW1 is voiced for low end, BLOW2 for mid-boost and BLOW3 for
treble bite. Each may be set independently of each allow for complete
versatility in tayloring your sound.
In Real Life
Enough of the PR spin, you really want to know how this pedal works.
The tough part about this pedal is that it takes a lot of time to dial
in the right sound. That negative is also a positive because you can
get some sweet and unique sounds that are truly your own.
"The FUSE BLOWER II excels in preserving the original tone of the
guitar pick-ups as well as the sound of the amplifier it is plugged in,
unlike many effects which give the same tone on any gear." - Jacques Stompboxes
Once some really nice tones were dialed in using a Fender Champ and a
Tokai AST33 I wanted to test the statement above. The tone was a basic
TS808 type overdrive pushing the Fender Champ into a bluesy breakup.
Switching to a Fender US Strat the tone changed significantly from the
stock Korean Tokai pups and a final switch to a Tokai Talbo A-150 produced
yet another sound, this time much more aggressive due to the humbucker
in the neck position.
Having tested the preservation of pickup tones the FB-2 was moved from
a Fender Champ to my Dean Markley RM-40 with a Crate 1x12 speaker cab.
Again using the AST33 without touching the FB-2 settings the pedal
produced a completely different tone with the Dean Markley. The Dean Markley
has 2 distinct voicings between channel 1 and 2, the pre-amp tube may
be removed from the circuit in channel 1 while it remains in channel 2.
Setting both channels for a warm blues tone the pedal produced the same
tone on both channels. However, when the tube was removed from channel 1
the tone was drastically different between the two channels. While
removing the tube has an effect on the sound switching the FB-2 on and
off really showed the effect the pedal was having which was quite dramatic.
Final Opinion
If you looking for a pedal that will allow you to dial in a unique tone
then the Fuse Blower FB-2 is definately the pedal for you. If your the
type who likes to grab a few presets and go this is definately not your
cup of tea. I enjoyed working with the pedal as I could generate tones
on my simple Fender Champ that I did not think were possible which for me
breathed a whole new life into that little 8 watt gem.
For sample settings and MP3's of these settings check out Jacques Stompboxes
at www.ts808.com.
Jacques FB-2 Fuseblower Distortion Pedal
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