“The ultimate feat”: Pedal Pawn has reverse engineered one of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s Tube Screamer pedals to produce the “juiciest mid-hump overdrive tone ever”
The dual-channel overdrive features a faithful recreation of what is believed to be the Screamer SRV used for his legendary El Mocambo performance
(Image credit: Red Slim)
Pedal Pawn has debuted its latest overdrive pedal, which was built following close inspection of one of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s own personal Ibanez Tube Screamers.
Dubbed the BluesPrint, the stompbox is marketed as a dual-channel drive pedal that seeks to both recreate the sound of one of SRV’s “most dynamic” TS pedals and provide users with a “fresh” tonal take that was crafted by reverse engineering that same reference unit.
As Pedal Pawn owner Chris King Robinson explains, “Having toured extensively as a guitarist, my search for the perfect dual overdrive led me to this creation.”
Owing to the dual approach, each circuit can be triggered and sculpted independently, thanks to side-specific footswitches and Volume, Drive and Tone parameters.
(Image credit: Pedal Pawn)
In practice, it’s side one that is said to deliver “the juiciest, fat mid-hump overdrive tone ever”, having been inspired by what is believed to be the original 1983 Tube Screamer pedal that SRV used for his legendary El Mocambo performance.
Robinson is something of a Tube Screamer aficionado, having tried and tested “over 50 vintage Screamers”, but there was something about SRV’s ‘83 unit that especially stuck out.
“The Stevie Ray Vaughan-owned one stands out as the clearest and most dynamic screamer I've ever heard,” he tells Guitar World. “There’s a clarity in this particular unit that I’ve never experienced before.
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“We recognized the need to offer our audience this legendary sound, but doing it in a fresh way presented a challenge,” Robinson says of the BluesPrint. “The challenge was to integrate two radically different sounding circuits into a compact powerhouse, while banishing unwanted noise to the shadows.”
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(Image credit: Red Slim)
(Image credit: Red Slim)
That second sound Robinson mentions can be accessed via the other drive channel, which was crafted by reverse engineering the SRV Screamer in a bid to “break the original blues code” and harness a more Marshall BluesBreaker-inspired tone.
According to Pedal Pawn, though, the true “magic” of the BluesPrint is unlocked when both sides are engaged together, with the two drive circuits supposedly offering “limitless tonal options”.
“We embarked on what could be seen as the ultimate feat, leveraging our contacts to secure confidential access to Stevie Ray Vaughan's authentic tube screamer,” Robinson said of the project. “As a result, there's no doubt that our approach has closely captured that distinctive sound.”
The BluesPrint is a limited-edition offering and available now for $367.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
