THE AMP
contemporaries who were looking for a place that was focused on contemporary Rock. Other stores were Old Time places were you could not try out an electric guitar if Mom and Pop were buying an entry level violin for Junior.
It quickly became a hangout for Rock bands playing in the new small clubs springing up all over. It soon added
guitars. Marshall new nothing about guitars or amps so he simply asked the players what to get in. For a start Fender came up the most. Other shops did not carry them because they were too expensive.
It was not long before the word got around that the amp to get was a Fender Bassman the '59 Tweed combo. Unlike other Fenders it had a great distortion when dimed. LOL
So to get to the point he decided if he made his own amps even just one at a time they would be much cheaper than imported Fenders with heavy dutys, shipping etc. etc.
The obvious thing was to clone a Bassman. it soon became apparent to modify it to work with British parts or it would be too expensive. It became a big success. So was born the JTM45.
When Eric Clapton quit the Yardbirds to play in John Mayall's Blues Breakers he bought one. It was affordable and fit in the trunk of his car. LOL Seriously...that's why he bought it.
Done ...
THE PEDAL
In 1991 Marshall wanted to get into the pedal market with there own units. They had already found a great success having Fuzz pedals like the Tonebender rebranded Marshall a success. It was decided to name the pedals off of successful
amps and try to imitate the amps sound.
The pedals are not very accurate at cloning any particular amp but as the gods willed they just sounded damn good.
Players loved the Gov'nor as it had lots of gain so
it was a winner. Other pedals in the line did not do so well.
The Bluesbreaker was a 'transparent' pedal and a poor seller.
Marshall decided that to be competitive to farm out the pedals to the east. Parts got changed etc. and before long production halted.
In 2010 John Mayer put the original Brit version on the map using it in his Blues based music. Very quickly the prices of used BB's went through the roof and soon even the supply dried up.
Yes you can still get one ...$550.00 USD!!!!!
ENTER THE CLONES
The first clone was the AnalogMan King of Tone. Others soon followed. A few small companies made replica clones but they depended on getting every exact part which soon became impractical since the parts are redundant. Others made compromises but most of what has survived have only used the schematic and heavily modified it to come up with their own distinct pedal.
I will not argue that some sound very good but you could justify having several at once because they are simply NOT a BB but something else. The newest thing is for others to clone these so called copies. It is getting so every few months a new copy of a copy shows up. Especially the King of Tone. lol
Having personally bought and tried many. The only one that sounds killer close is the Chicago Stompworks Blooze Maker using a healthy amount of NOS.
The difference between the original and this is razor thin. The clincher is it is a handmade pedal very well made and with a lifetime warranty. How does the price sound to you? $75.00 USD !!!
I play a style of Metal. I use several high gain OD's and Fuzz pedals. I go from heavy distortion to flatpicking. Going dead clean for the flatpicking is just too stark and backing off my guitars volume is too muddy. The Blooze Maker is dead perfect!!!
PERSONAL TRIVIA
I got seriously into the guitar by hearing the first Rolling Stones LP which I got the second it came out. After about 8 weeks I wore it out. lol ...I did not have the patience to wait for a new Stones recording. Having noted that the Stones were doing covers I went to the 'Big City' to the Mega Record store and was sent to the Jazz section where they loaded me up with Muddy Waters, Howling Wolf, Buddy Guy etc. Blues records.
It was very foreign to my young ears but within a short time I got to like it. Soon I got to love it and went back and by taking the guy who ran the Jazz sections advised ended up with the Kings. Albert, BB. and Freddy.
About a year later a Welsh keyboard player who had moved across the pond introduced me to a record that had just come out in the UK. The Beano LP. I new of a tiny Import record store and soon had a copy of my own. WOW...a white blues band with a great guitar player that played Freddy King tunes!!!
I referred to the LP as the Beano LP myself as it was an easy way to refer to it. So decades later I was surprised when the whole planet refers to it as the Beano LP
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