It’s a holiday miracle! From just December 13th to December 15th, we’ll have a very limited supply of Rose Gold Blues for sale, in time for Christmas delivery.
Trying to treat yourself or someone you love to the gift of undeniable toanz? The Rose Gold Blues has what it takes to keep your sounds toasty in these chilly winter months. This sound brings the seasoning the season needs!
Fear not! The blues may have somehow become the most expensive of all musical genres to play, but even if you aren’t interested in going from B.B. King to Z.Z. Top, you don’t have to play blues to play…”The Blues.”
Features:
- True Bypass Switching
- External controls for blues doctor, blues lawyer, and blues financial planner
- Internal voltage control for crystal lettuce to establish the gain range
- “Jazz” mode for clean to crunchy tweed, “Rock” mode from dirty to fuzzy and/or intentionally farty
- New old stock “mojo” components: Soviet KTE3102 transistor, NOS capacitors, deliberately mismatched germanium and silicon diodes, and a carbon comp resistor because why not
- Populated and wired by hand in Columbia, S.C.
Need to see and hear it? Well, if you wanted the best, you get the best.
FAQ and long winded philosophical diversion:
Will it help me sound like John Mayer?
Yes it can, but even better, it will also help you sound like Oscar Mayer. Hot dog!
Is this based on the Klon, Dumble amps, or both?
I mean, it has both Oxblood colored Davies knobs and a Rock/Jazz switch. But it also has the font from “Hill Street Blues” and John Irving paperbacks. And then it has Caroline Corporation icons, which those companies certainly never used. So my best answer is “inconclusive.”
I need to know, can it sound like those things?
Well, do any of these things have any sound on their own? Chet Atkins is once famously quoted, after someone told him that he had a good sounding guitar, as looking at it leaning against a wall and saying “huh, it ain’t making any sound now.” So maybe if your fingers and ears are good, you can make anything sound like anything. So the answer is yes – depending on knob settings. And amps. And guitars. And the player. Yes, under certain controlled circumstances, they can sound alike. Didn’t I already say it can make you sound like John Mayer? Isn’t that enough?
I feel like you’re being evasive. What is this circuit based on?
The Blues is a straightforward, single transistor drive circuit but with a few twists. We’ve voiced this one to give up the goods a bit quicker. We biased it a bit dirtier. The taper on the blues doctor (clip/drive) control is a bit more immediate. And don’t forget those mojo NOS components!
In all seriousness: this thing will make your amp really jump and kick. Our Bassman reissue at just under “3” was literally rattling the pedal off of the amp it was taped to while we recorded clips in that video. Are these changes kind of arbitrary? Absolutely. Does this pedal sound like the other versions of “The Blues”? Yes. Can it still sound like a sweet glassy transparent booster or light drive? Yes. Can it still sound like a tweed amp getting gnarly and crunchy? Yes. Can it sound like when you plugged your guitar into your dad’s Panasonic tape deck and stereo receiver just to see what happens, and it was kind of awful, but also kind of fun? Also yes.
Does Raleigh Fingers sign autographs?
Yes, but only as “Roger Clemens” or “Larry Bird #33.”
And now, we’re going to break character for a sincere holiday message.
I know we might act pretty different than most gear companies. That comes from the top down, starting with yours truly. If it seems “unprofessional”, fear not. Our team takes the goods, delivering them to you and our retailers, and supporting our customers, much more seriously than I take myself.
The last few years have been hard on a lot of us, and we’re no exception. My way of dealing with that is to live and make and do the things that make us happy and try to share some of that good when we can. Sometimes it’s silly, sometimes it’s abrasive, and it’s definitely not for everyone. But we’re glad it has been a ride worth joining for many of you.
I’m proud and grateful for the substantial money we raised for Ukraine relief and for The Innocence Project. And we’re delighted with the kind words you’ve shared with us about our releases over the years. Knowing how our work has helped yours, and seeing where you’ve taken those sounds when the pedal belongs to you, has been awesome for us to see.
The holidays can be real tough on folks. I hope that you can be kind to each other, yourselves, and give everyone a little benefit of the doubt when we aren’t at our best, aren’t living up to our ever changing standards, and might say or do something that rubs folks the wrong way. I’m not saying to give people a free pass, but maybe some latitude, and crack a window for redemption for their trespasses and yours.
Thanks again, and we’ll see you in the new year.