Marshall Blues Breaker

Work with it. Good setting is drive at 3 o'clock, tone at 11 o'clock, volume to match the volume of the pedal off.

Regarding the Tone Viking's review: Easy now, dude. It's just a pedal! :-) Some of your observations are sort of correct, in the sense that your needs are not suited by this pedal. This pedal is really best suited to blues applications and jazz-blues appplications where warm saturation/tube overdrive sound is desired - not high gain. It's not a very "Marshall" sound in the more prominently "Marshall" sense. It does however capture the Marshall Bluesbreaker amp of old quite well. I bought mine before they were discontinued and even then I thought I was robbing the place because it sounded so incredibly rich and good, if properly EQ'd. It's not a screaching shredmaster pedal. It's really, really fricken good at what it does. I've heard no other solid state pedal like it. Even the tube pedals and tube amp preamp sections of amps I've owned can only match it. It's a great pedal if you understand what it's for.

cheap inputs. but a handyman can sure them up from the inside.

This is a follow up to my past review(s) on this pedal. I'm sorry Tone Viking finds his BB so worthless. It just goes to show that each person is unique in what they like to hear and gear requirments...and not every pedal/guitar/amp is for everyone. I hope you have found a pedal or two that provides the tone you require. TV, if you ever want to sell or trade that BB, let me know! I'll be glad to take it off your hands.

While it is what it is and perhaps not the most versitile pedal on the planet, the inherent tone and drive capabilites fit my needs better than many of the high dollar, botique offerings I've used.

The past few weeks with the Bluesbreaker ( remember, we are talking the original, English made black box/blue letters here..not the RI ) has taught this old dog a few new tricks.

I usually play clean and stomp on a few overdrives for various stages of dirt. That has changed recently. While I still have several overdrives set for stun, I have taken to leaving the Bluesbreaker engaged at all times. With the gain around 3/4 of the way up, the tone control barely cracked and the volume control set to taste, I can access a wide range of stellar clean/crunch/overdrive tones using my guitars volume and tone controls. Yesterday was perhaps the best tone I've had in quite a while doing it this way. With the guitars volume rolled down, the resulting clean tones were stunning. Fat, lush, warm and crystal clear. I realize those tonal descriptions are a bit redundant, but I am truly amazed at what a minute vol/tone adjustment can do for the tone. If it really came down to it, I would have been happy with my tone using only my guitar, amp and BB.

Where it really shine is when the ol' pinky starts raising the volume knob a bit and that glorious, fat, harmonically rich overdrive starts making it's presense felt. WOW!!

The moral is, you are never too old to try a different way of doing things. The old way had served me well for 35 years, but the new way is fun, fun fun!

I don't want to give this a rating, just suffice to say this is a special pedal for me. The fact it was a gift from a very good friend makes it all the more special. I found another one recently in pretty poor cosmetic condition. It works fine however and using the two together is the akin of sonic nirvana for me. I don't require megadeath amounts of distortion.....just great, on the edge blues tones to fat, singing lead tones. I get all that and much more with the old Marshall pedals. Love to find a Guv'nor, Drive Master and Shred Master to complete the set. From BB, Albert & Freddie, to Gary Moore & Brian May, these little gems do the job.

Just three knobs, you will find the sweet spot within minutes and the leave it alone.

Using a 1981 Ibanez artist with Di Marzio PAFs, a Mex Strat and a Peavey Bandit,
just low volume bedroom widdling at present but have gigged in the past.
Years ago I mistakenly traded my original black box Bluesbreaker for the then new Boss Bluesdriver, so it would fit in my boss carry case, big mistake. The Boss version is just a "Fuzzbox" when compared to the Marshall version. Got shot of the Boss imediately. Recently decided to go for the Marshall Bluesbreaker II, an even worse "Fuzzbox" than the Boss to my ears. Boxed it up and sold it on. Finally got the original Marshall Bluesbreaker mk 1 back 6 or 7 years after trading it. It really is the best for that mild bluesy creamy drive tone, you can't call it crunch its far too smooth. I firmly believe you need 3 or 4 drive pedals, not just one that you try to make into a "jack of all trades". I have the afore mentioned plus a Boss MT2, and a Boss OD1 Overdrive. You cant get a mild overdrive like the Marshall BluesBreaker by winding off the drive knob on a standard OD pedal as the sound breaks up into a crackling mess long before you reach a mild enough setting to match the Marshall. Get one while you can

Built like a tank, you dont need to stomp on the switch, just a gentle tap with your toe.

Tone, Volume, Gain. Simple, needs some tuning to find the sweet spot

This is the last part, I finished my tonequest.
I use a Gibson Customshop '59 RI Les Paul and a Bogner Shiva amp.
I used some other pedals (Modded TS9, Maxon OD808, Tech21 DD) on my board. Now the Marshall is on the board, the others are removed. This is the 1 pedal I need for this rig.

It's for players who want to make the sound withe their fingers. No high gain shredding. Just tone. It;s responds great at you playing and volume setting. The Shiva get's that nice just to breakup sound at the clean channel. Not harsh, very natural. At the OD channel of the Shiva it realy roars with a big fat tone full of harmonics.
When kicked in it seems the strings have a double thickness.

Not for everyone, but when it's for you, you will love it.

Old school build. Like a tank.
Lost the plastick cover from the battery compartment.

Dunno

I play classic rock and blues. This pedal is great for that with my rig. I have been playing for 35 years and finaly found the last part of my rig. I tried a lot of other pedals including custom made and boutique. It realy let you make your tone.

I'm talking about the old style Black and Blue version here.

Very simple, three knobs - volume, tone and gain, although you may wonder whether they're working!

Sounds like Marmite, it's a love it or hate it pedal because it only really has one sound. The basic sound has quite a middly honk to it and a fair amount of top end.

Not really loud enough to be used as a pure booster for a valve amp so it's better used with the gain up. There isn't that much distortion available, but thats because it's supposed to sound like a blues breaker amp which doesn't have much gain so that's ok!

As said before it's very toppy so the tone control needs to be backed off to near minimum and as mentioned by others the controls don't do a lot in the middle of their travel. EXCEPT that the gain setting influences the tone quite a lot so you eill need to do some twiddling.

The bypass is quite poor withh a noticeable loss of treble.

The knobs are prone to crackle so keep it clean and the battery lid is rubbishy plastic, the casing itself is rock solid - Stomp away!

No need yet - its discontinued anyway so don't expect much.

For me this is a fantastic pedal, used with a les paul and a clean amp it gives a great subtle grind to my sound that I love and I would be very sad if it was half-inched.

Most important - make sure you try it first!

This review is for the original Marshall Blues Breaker pedal (black with blue letters).

Sure, it's easy to use -- most pedals are. It is about the only thing right about this pedal.

I'm absolutely shocked by the positive reviews I have read here. THIS PEDAL IS A JOKE! We use to laugh at the guys who would pull this out at a gig. It hits your front end with almost nothing, has no gain, and colors your distortion with a pseudo-tubey quality. It's amazing how discontinuing something suddenly makes it valuable. Have at it.

Can you depend on it? I haven't a clue. Stomp on it a couple of times and you won't want to stomp on it again -- so I guess from the perspective that you won't use it much -- it will hold up fine.

Marshall amps are classics. That said, I have never dealt with the company.

I have been playing guitar for 35 years -- some of it professionally, some of it just for fun. I love classic Marshall based guitar rock. I have owned many great guitars, amps, and pedals. This pedal is an absolute joke. It doesn't do much -- and what it does do ain't good. Marshall obviously was embarrased by this crappy pedal because they changed it drastically. If your looking for Marshall tone, I suggest you look elsewhere. I absolutely guarantee that this pedal will completely underwhelm you and will soon gather dust. Might make a nice paperweight however.

I have two of these beauties. What a great, great pedal. Not a ton of gain, but enough to pummel the front end of a tube amp or give you that elusive "Beano" tone. Perhaps the best pedal at aping one tone ever made. As you can tell, I dig these pedals. Ther respond very much like an amp when used in conjuntion with your guitars volume pedal. This is one pedal I'll continue to search for as I'd like all my guitar playing friends to have one. It is a great sounding, responsive, fun to use pedal. Nice to have a differnt tone than your garden variey ( not that there is anything wrong with that )tube screamer clone. I'm certain there better quality pedals out there that will do much, much more than this one, but few re as responsive at getting that killer, snarkey, touch sensitive blues tone.

Only 3 knobs, easy. what can I tell more about it?

I bought it because it was very cheap, and I would give it a try. In the beginning I was disapointed, because it has very less gain! If you're looking for a distortion pedal, leave it.

But now I've learned to use it. I put it in front of my Fender tube amps (begin seventies SF Vibrochamp and Vibrolux) and with my Fender 57 RI strat I get real nice overdrive bluessound. If I set the Fenders at going-to-break up-level (little bit crancked), it can be very nasty when I set volume and drive of the BB at 10. Just like old Marshalls. Think of old Deep Purple and AC/DC, and all the other classic rock bands. WIth my Gibson Les Paul, it can be very rough!

I've compared it with an Ibanez TS-9. With the gain of the TS-9 at 5 it sounds allmost the same as the Bluesbreaker.

I can't give it a 10, because perfect doesn't exist! And it should give a little bit more gain. Now I'v to cranck up the amps for old school hard rock (and than it's f*cking loud).

Never had a problem .

I use it for blues and for classic rock. And it suits. Its should have more gain, than it would be easier to sound real nasty (now I've to cranck up the amps).

Quite a variety of opinions on the board regarding this old black box bluesbreaker. Just goes to show you, one mans tone dream is anothers nightmare.

If you're a fan of great blues tone, that beautiful kinda clean / kinda dirty tone that purrs when one picks softly and screams when a harder tact is used...then this pedal is for you. Of course, good luck finding one as they have been discontinued for quite sometime. From what I understand, the current BB ll offered by Marshall is no where near this one in terms of tone and feel. If you want clean boost however, this ain't it. The newer model would be your cup-o-tea.

What can I say? I love this pedal. It is perhaps the most amp like pedal ( in terms of how it responds to ones guitars volume control and pick attack ) I've ever used. Many overdrive pedals ( some botique, some stock ) have come and gone since I got this beauty. Guess what? It ain't going nowhere!! Used by itself, or with another overdrive, it kicks major ass. Not only does it sound good, it FEELS good. It's hard to stop playing when you have this thing on since it responds to every nuance in your playing style. If you're sad, happy, pissed off, the mighty Bluesbreaker can sense these things and bring that out in your playing. So, it can at once be sweet, sassy, ugly, beautiful or just plain nasty. The controls are virtually worthless til near dimed, or dimed...but good Lord almighty, when they are, look out.

I would say this is a pedal for the seasoned blues/rock player. Inexperienced players will probably deem it "Crapola of the highest order" since it won't do those ultra death metal tones. However, if you're a player who relys on your fingers to get your emotions across in your playing, you will love this pedal. A big 10+ in my book for the stellar tones it produces in the blues idiom.

3 knobs duh

its very transparent adds the character of a cranked vintage marshall amp when turned up but it does not have a lot of output and gain (a bit weak IMO) you have to turn up the knobs at least 3 o'clock 2 get a significant effect...
its a great pedal coz it is the most sensitive and best sounding pedal i've ever tried... use it with a cranked amplifier and you cant go wrong.
what i dont like is that it should have a bit more gain and output. It does sound great and it is very transparent... but a little more gain could do wonders for this thing. it does killer blues to die forl on its own but thats about it..
maybe there's a mod out there that can add gain and output and not alter the pedals sound character and transparency... then it would be perfect

crappy knobs but chassis is built like a tank... does not chip or scratch easily... and i know how to clean knobs so no problem

cleaned the knobs myself, i guess i'll never know

great pedal to add to any collection definitely a keeper... it's not as versatile as i would like but the blues tone it kicks out is unbelievable... but needs a bit more gain IMO