The Blue Note Select is a “V2” of JRAD's favorite circuit. The original Blue Note Pro Series was the first release and included the “Hot” switch. J. Rockett then later introduced the Tour Series that did not have the “Hot” switch. The newest Blue Note Select not only includes the”hot” switch but also includes major improvements to the looks, the sound and the overall feel, all in a very small package.
JRAD has gone so far as to have custom knobs made, a custom color mixed to achieve the electric blue and by far the biggest improvement is the low end both in and out of “hot mode”. This could be their best overall low gain drive. Low gain pedals can be a challenge because they skirt the line between boost and drive. The best way to run the Blue Note Select or any low gain drive pedal is to let it breath with your amp. If you are using a clean amp and you rely on your OD pedal to produce your overdriven sounds it can be a challenge. Some of the negatives are that pedals can introduce a clean notes underneath the overdrive giving it an unnatural drive sound. J. Rockett found the best results are when you get your amp just past the minimum edge of breakup or “Breathing” and add in a touch of overdrive to send it over the top. The Blue Note Select lets you add a subtle OD or can get the internal clipping pretty hot as well. Either way, getting your amp into a gain structure that does start to breathe only makes any OD sound better.
The trick with the Blue Note Select is that you have two gain structures giving awide array of drive so you can vary your amp type. JRAD used the Blue Note Select to really push a Marshall Plexi because you can really tweak your bottom end to match.
Please experiment because there are a good variety of sounds in a very simple setup. The best praise we have received about the Blue Note Select is that you can’t tell you are using a pedal.
