I have had a lot of different overdrive/distortion pedals over the years. In my younger days in the 80’s the distortion pedal was my main deal. I say distortion, NOT overdrive because there is a difference. Now, at my more mature (cough, cough) and experienced age feel like I really missed out on understanding the sonic difference between the two.
Fast forward to today. I can tell you I have not used an actual distortion pedal in well over 18 years now… maybe 20 years. While I have been in a variety of groups, the overdrive pedal has fit my style and preferences almost every single time.
So, all that being said I want to talk about the J. Rockett Audio Designs (JRAD) Archer pedal. How I survived all these years without this pedal is amazing. If you are are looking for a Klone type pedal (that’d be a Klon Centaur clone – more on that pedal in a bit) this one is hard to beat.
First, let me explain my rig so you get an idea of what this pedal does, for me anyhow. I have a Quilter 101 Mini 50 watt head (I will post another time about the Quilter, all I can say is it is incredible) and a 1×12″ Celestion Vintage 30 cabinet. The clean sound out of the Quilter can go from a Fender Twin to an overdriven Marshall. I do not use the overdrive on the head at all. Strictly clean and then I let the pedals add the overdrive color. My guitars are one of three: A Fender Stratocaster, a Fender Telecaster, or an Epiphone ES-335.
All that being said, I run the Archer a few ways. One, standalone – it is the overdrive, nothing else. I don’t do this often because honestly, where this pedal shines is in how it boosts your signal, especially in conjunction with another overdrive pedal. Right now, I have two other overdrives. I have a Joyo Vintage Overdrive (Ibanez TS clone, which is clones really well) and a Donner Dumbal drive (yeah, it’s a $50 pedal, but it will shock you how good it can sound).
Both of these pedals sound great by themselves, but when coupled with the Archer, the sound goes straight into the stratosphere! So, what the Archer does is provide a “high headroom” transparent overdrive that boosts your signal when used clean.
But the joy is when you bring up the gain which gives you a real nice mid-range crunch and that sought after Klon style saturation and breakup. Combine that with an already nice overdriven signal and you get something special.
In my case, when I use it with the Joyo it squawks the blues crisper and more defined. I keep the gain down a bit on the Archer which gives me a nice SRV type tone if I am using my Strat and a more Tab Benoit sound when using the Tele.
When I use the Archer with the Dumbal, it really sings. It’s heavier, more Joe Bonamassa sounding but not distorted, just overdriven. The cleans combine well with the extra headroom and just makes all three guitars sound beefier. I tend to keep the gain on the Dumbal higher and usually leave the Archer set the same as it is with the Joyo.
When I use all three (which is pretty much never – haven’t had a need musically to do that) it is off the charts. If you ever listen to Chris Robertson from Black Stone Cherry, that is the sound you get.
I don’t really use this as a boost pedal, however, but I can see it being used that way. The reason is because I have a Bogner Harlow v2 boost pedal that I use to boost for lead breaks. That pedal is fantastic and sounds good on all the time, so it is possible I may reconsider using the Archer as a boost pedal.
So, let’s recap. For a blues guitarist playing modern or heavy blues, this pedal is a must have. Really, there isn’t more to say. It’s that good. Extremely versatile and worth every penny.
I would love to hear your thoughts if you own one! Thanks for reading!