# Triple Drive/Boost - Bluesbreaker / Zendrive / SHO.  Reverse order



## GenoBluzGtr (Jun 13, 2020)

Here is one that I built for myself. 25+ years of gigging and I have ALWAYS hated that the typical "order" of multi-drive pedals usually have the lead/solo boost on the left side of the pedal. I am right footed, and, especially when singing, I've always felt awkward crossing over to the left side of the pedal or the pedal board to initiate a lead boost.

So I built this one out of three different PCBs from three different makers....

"DUSTY"... is a Marshall Bluesbreaker circuit, using the "L'il Breaker" pcb rom BYOC and it's one that's designed for a mini (1590A) enclosure. I rearranged which pot is where for each placement inside this crowded enclosure.

"DIRTY" ... is a Zendrive Circuit. It's the Mahayana PCB from PedalPCB (sounds friggin' fantastic, btw!). This was built as-is with board mounted pots... I knew this one would be included, and kinda built the pedal and chose the other two circuits based on this as the centerpiece (literally and Figuratively).

"LOUD" ... is a Zvex SHO circuit using the SHO-Nuff from GuitarPCB - also designed for a 1590A, and this includes a mod to add a Master Volume knob in place of a fixed resistor on the original Zvex version. This allows more of that awesome grind from the SHO without having it WAY too loud. Turn up the "Boost" back off on the "Master" and it's a great solo boost... back down on the Boost and turn up the Master and it's a perfect clean boost for clean solos.

All-in-all, this sounds even better than I expected.. the BB is wonderful and crispy/compressed light drive.... the Zen sounds huge, and even bigger when stacked with the BB (but retains the crispiness and tightness from the BB!).  Oh... and I have the Green / Blue / Red Knobs on order to complete the color separation scheme...   just using these as temps.  

Short YouTube Demo here:  



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## TheSin (Jun 13, 2020)

Really cool!


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## Gordo (Jun 13, 2020)

Great combo and a really nice job getting them in there. The demo shows it off well.


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## Barry (Jun 13, 2020)

Awesome!


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## GenoBluzGtr (Jun 13, 2020)

Thanks, guys!  I think it turned out better than I hoped for. Love it when an idea not only comes together, but exceeds expectations!


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## Chuck D. Bones (Jun 13, 2020)

Most impressive.  Great demo, nice build, cool artwork.


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## joelorigo (Jun 14, 2020)

I am blown away by this!!


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## MrHugh (Jun 14, 2020)

It sounds so good man! Great job!


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## GenoBluzGtr (Jun 14, 2020)

joelorigo said:


> I am blown away by this!!





MrHugh said:


> It sounds so good man! Great job!





Chuck D. Bones said:


> Most impressive.  Great demo, nice build, cool artwork.



Thanks so much!   I am constantly looking for combinations of drive pedal that stack well... as a cover band guitarist, I try to cover as much ground as possible tone-wise with as small a rig as I can... When I built the Mahayana (Zen), I knew it was a fantastic middle-of-the-road (grind-wise) overdrive that, on it's own covers a lot of ground, so I started connecting it to all the other drives I had available... and the Bluesbreaker (I have several) seemed to be the one.  It Is very different than the Zen... not very midrangey, lots of top end and clarity... between the two, individually they complement t each other, but when they're stacked they create an entirely new sound with the best of both.     Also, you may notice on the demo, I never went above 1/2 way on the Zen's gain control... lot's more there.  

My only wish is that the BB had more volume.  Like the original Marshall pedal, you have to almost dime the volume control to get unity if your gain is down below half.   However, having the SHO with a Master Volume gives those "just above clean" tones that I would be missing with only the two drives.   It's VERY fun to think of great combos for dual or triple pedals.


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## Barry (Jun 14, 2020)

Got a chance to listen to the demo, sounds fantastic!


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## GenoBluzGtr (Jun 14, 2020)

Barry said:


> Got a chance to listen to the demo, sounds fantastic!


Many thanks!


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