Tone Report Weekly Issue 110 | Page 50

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 // 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