of having a less “processed” tone.
Creating this tone for the amplifier
was already difficult; fitting it inside a
pedal was even more tedious.
How does one compress sound while
applying a noticeable distortion?
It was all about finding the exact
equilibrium point of distortion
where, with a light touch, it would be
seemingly clean but a slightly harder
touch would allow the artist to step
into the world of gratifying distortion.
replicate the sounds of Dumble amps.
However, many thought this was the
case.
When I was pitching another amp-in-a-
box design for One Control, it dawned
on me to use my amplifier experience
as the source of my inspiration.
Essentially, the pedal I created
delivered a compressed sound, yet
allowed the player to dial in a small
window of distortion within which
sound can be manipulated from
seemingly clean to distorted.
The compression of the Dumble amps
meant that they had to be played loud
because the ear naturally compresses
midrange frequencies. To balance the
sound, you either have to increase
midrange frequencies or lower the
bass. This meant that distortion would
have to be made just prior to the
powered amp, decreasing the chances
Once we reached this point of
equilibrium, the rest of the design was
about tailoring the overall impression
of the tone. For this reason, the
Golden Acorn Overdrive Special has a
Ratio control, which adjusts the sound
according to the different pickups
If you want the feel of very loud
amplifiers you’d preferably get the
cone moving. However, for recording,
you can replicate that effect by using a
small distorted amp, set loud enough
and placed close enough to the strings
that they vibrate and feed back.
I believe that you can set a sound that
inspires the mind to play certain styles
and notes—a sound as a whole of
many components.
—BJÖRN JUHL
ToneReport.com
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