Xploration • Curation • Recommendation
Electro-Harmonix throw their hat in the ring for Bluesbreakers with their new Spruce Goose Overdrive
Key Points
The Electro‑Harmonix Spruce Goose is a Bluesbreaker‑style overdrive and boost, presented as a very decent, affordable option at a $129 price point.
Controls are Volume, Lift (Boost) with three positions (+21 dB / +9 dB / +0 dB), Gain, Bass and Treble; the 3‑way Lift is highlighted for extending gain/versatility.
The writer lists many Bluesbreaker references (Drunk Beaver Inglorious Bastard, Jackson Audio Golden Boy, Snouse Blackbox Overdrive 2, Wampler Pantheon, Analog.Man King of Tone, Keeley D&M Drive, etc.), owns 20+ Bluesbreakers, and expects the Spruce Goose may join that capsule collection. Further details on the EHX website.
Readers will know how big a fan of the Bluesbreaker circuit I am - with an extensive reference / capsule collection of perennial favourites for that genre - including Singles : Drunk Beaver Inglorious Bastard, Jackson Audio Golden Boy, Snouse Blackbox Overdrive 2, Tsakalis Audioworks Six, VFE Blues King, and Wampler Pantheon among many others, as well as Doubles : Analog.Man King of Tone, Demiurge Teras, Keeley D&M Drive, King Tone Duellist, and VS Audio Royal Flush. And I still have a few more to add there!
So the EHX Spruce Goose is an interesting addition into that category - not especially differentiated and extended, but a pretty decent proposition nonetheless at a very reasonable $129 price point. There’s probably still a couple of others that I’m down for getting ahead of this, but I would imagine this would be added to the reference collection at some stage - most likely somewhat opportunistically.
Controls - Volume, Lift (Boost) : +21dB / +9dB / +0 dB, Gain, Bass, Treble.
The most interesting thing about the Spruce Goose is the 3-way Lift Boost switch. A number of my favourite Bluesbreakers allow you to ramp up through degrees of gain in similar fashion - via a variety of switches - which greatly extends the adaptability and versatility of those pedals.
EHX have been incredibly prolific of late and this is another very decent addition to their roster. For people wanting to check out a Bluesbreaker style overdrive as a sort of entry level proposition - then I would imagine this pretty much exactly fits the bill. You can read up on further details on the EHX Website.
I believe I have somewhere north of 20 Bluesbreakers in the collection to date - so I don’t exactly need any more - while it’s always good to be somewhat representative - and this for sure would be a nice addition to the capsule collection. While I would not expect it to really challenge the many existing favourites for top dog position - a very decent effort nonetheless.
Demos
