“I am proud to present the Belle Starr Professional OD, my signature collaboration with the legendary Jackson Audio.
Named after one of the most famous outlaws in my family lineage, this pedal pushes hard, goes wild but stays calculated, as she did, and in that way, embodies her rock and roll spirit. " -Drew Shirley, Switchfoot
The BELLE STARR is the result of a collaboration lasting several months with Drew Shirley from the group Switchfoot. If you're familiar with Drew's gear, he always used very small, low-powered amps, and ran them wide open to achieve his signature overdriven sound. The BELLE STARR was designed to recreate these tones.
Not a high gain overdrive, the BELLE STARR is a low/medium gain overdrive circuit that features the smooth, natural separation characteristic of smaller, non-negative feedback amps.
To make the overdrive as natural and amp-like as possible, we incorporated a unique clipping circuit (the part of the circuit that distorts the signal) and features MOSFET transistors instead of traditional silicon diodes. When used in a clipping circuit, MOSFET transistors produce a very smooth, amp-like overdrive.
The BELLE STARR's overdrive range is so evenly distributed across the entire range of the GAIN control that it goes from absolutely clean to medium gain with no unusual jumps in dynamic response.
Over the 8 months we spent putting together the BELLE STARR, we tried it with every amp variation we could get our hands on. Fender, Marshall, Vox and of course our own Jackson amps. This was done to ensure that the BELLE STARR would work on any amp you married it to.
We're very proud of the work we've done with Drew and think the BELLE STARR is a dynamic, expressive, natural-sounding overdrive that will fit perfectly into any gear!
VOLUME CONTROL
Adjusts the overall level of BELLE STARR. With low GAIN settings and high VOLUME settings, the BELLE STARR acts as a very powerful boost with tone controls!
BODY CONTROL
An extremely powerful active EQ, the BODY control adjusts low frequencies giving a +/-15dB boost/cut at these frequencies. The BODY control also features a central detent that makes it easier to return to a neutral or flat response.
DC INPUT
The BELLE STARR can safely operate from 9V to 18V DC (center negative). Running it at 18V will give increased headroom and dynamic response. Do NOT exceed 18 V!
TAKE CONTROL
Controls the gain of your tone and the degree of saturation of the BELLE STARR. Running the GAIN control at a low level and all other controls at 12:00 will result in a transparent boost that will be indistinguishable from your clean sound. Raising the GAIN control from there adds subtle overdrive and will take you from a clean sound to a perfect emulation of a small crank amp that's breaking apart!
TONE CONTROL
A beautifully voiced passive tone control, the TONE control adjusts the treble frequencies much like the CUT control on a Vox amp. The TONE control also features a central detent that makes it easy to return to a neutral or flat response.
BYPASS SWITCH
The BYPASS SWITCH is a true mechanical bypass switch.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Input impedance: 1M
Output impedance: 100k
Max. Current consumption: 20 mA
Dimensions: 2.2" x 4.875"