Decades Pedals perfectly revives and improves Multivox's 1978 Big Jam Distortion - which sits sort of adjacent to but distinct from the early MXR Distortion+ and DOD250

Mar 26, 202608:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

Decades PedalsDistortionDrive

So back in the late 70’s, American brand Multivox commissioned Japan’s Firstman Electronics (aka Hillwood) to OEM manufacture a new series of ’Big Jam’ pedals. Of which the Big Jam Distortion was one of the key successes.

The Big Jam Distortion sits somewhat adjacent to the other 2 big late 70’s American distortions - MXR’s Distortion+ and DOD’s 250 - the DOD250 was essentially a clone of the MXR - and both originally had Germanium Diodes - where the DOD250 later changed to Silicon Diodes. The ProCo Rat from the same kind of timeline is a quite different animal - while those are all examples of American 70’s era hard-clipper distortions.

The Big Jam Distortion starts with the same foundation essentially - a UA741 / LM741 OpAmp and Germanium Diodes, and it then adds 2 x C945 Silicon Transistors into the mix for an even richer output profile.

There are still some 70’s dynamics and sensibilities apparent in the new and improved Decades Pedals MultiJam variant - where my friend Quentin has used the same components as in the original - including rare UA741, C945 and in particular 1N60 Germanium Diodes.

The output most definitely reminds me of the Distortion+ and DOD250, but with a little extra in the mix. Those 70’s distortions could all have done with a little more volume output, and that’s still noticeable here to a degree - albeit much improved with the extra 2 mods Quentin provides here. I pretty much have those 2 toggle-switches welded to the right - as they sound so much better On than Off - and give the pedal a little more output volume, punch and definition.

The Big Jam / MultiJam is a great sounding 70’s style distortion and a little more exotic for sure than its other contemporaries. I kind of collect extended range DOD250’s and MXR Distortion+ types and those were the first that came to mind when I played the MultiJam.

For a number of my DOD250 variants I always feel they could have done with a little more volume and oomph. A lot of those 70's pedals kind of went to 8 or 9 on the output profile - where I typically prefer '11'.

For this Decades MultiJam - that's my only critique really - that I would have liked a little more volume, and possibly just a smidge more gain. It's like driving a sports car and feeling that it could really do with just one more gear!

This is one of those Nashville secret weapons, and there is already a clique of players who favour this distortion - which have been very receptive of Quentin's new revival. The original of course had slider controls - and came in a very distinct 70's era appropriate enclosure.

Quentin has done an excellent job in bringing the Big Jam Distortion up to date. It's a variety that I wasn't familiar with before. I'm not sure many of these made it to Europe. I guess it's a little like those early Ross pedals in that respect.

Controls - Volume, Drive, Fat Cap : Off/On, Tone, Mode : Vintage / Modern.

I tend to have the Volume and Drive controls maxed out, with the Tone @ 3 o'c - and the Fat Cap and Modern Modes consistently and continuously applied.

It's a great sounding pedal - slightly more textured and more interesting than the Distortion+ and DOD250, but could still ideally do with that one more gear!

There's much to love about this edition - Quentin has done an excellent job here - and as you can see from my visuals - this is a really high quality build.

If you like DOD250's and Distoriton+'s and are looking for something along similar lines but better - then this has to be your best choice. Highly commended. The MultiJam goes for $250 from the Decades Pedals Webstore.