ALEXANDER
PEDALS
JUBILEE SILVER
OVERDRIVE
REVIEW BY ERIC TISCHLER
STREET PRICE $189.99
Alexander Pedals enters the
Marshall-in-a-Box (MIAB)
arena with its new Jubilee
Silver stompbox. The field
is crowded, but the Jubilee
Silver manages to stand out
by answering the oft-asked
question, “What’s a MIAB
that can deliver Plexi tones
and more modern high
gain?” with a resounding
“Me!”
The Jubilee Silver is based
on Marshall’s Silver Jubilee
amp. Released in the late
‘80s, the Silver Jubilee was
intended as a celebration
and summation of Jim
Marshall’s various classic
amps to that point. As such,
it was designed to capture
a range of gain, from Plexi
50
GEAR REVIEW
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to JCM 800. Players ranging
from John Frusciante
to Alex Lifeson to Rich
Robinson seemed to agree
that the amp met its goals.
Alexander’s Jubilee Silver
does a good job of meeting
those same goals, which
is to say it offers a wide
variety of Marshall-esque
tones. The key to that
range, of course, is in the
three-band EQ and Drive
control. Alexa nder says
the EQ is “passive;” I’m
not sure if that’s a typo, if
I misunderstand the usage
of “passive,” or if the cutoff
frequencies of the bands
are confusing me, but that
wasn’t my experience with
the pedal. I got close to
flat EQ with the Mid and
Bass controls around noon,
Drive all the way down, and
Treble maxed. Bringing up
the Drive control quickly
changed that balance, but
the Jubilee Silver’s EQ was
up to the task of sculpting
the Drive to suit my needs.
I started with the bridge
humbucker (of course),
and initially found the
tone a little pinched. The
crossover between the Mid
and Treble control is subtle;
the Jubilee’s mids are fairly
bright and strident, as you’d
expect in a Marshall, and
it took me a little while
to identify that they also
contain some meat that was
clogging the midrange. By
Alexander Pedals Jubilee Silver Overdrive