Jerry Blaster Side Jack Full Size

 The Full Size version has soft touch, no click, smooth switching that utilizes relay circuitry for bypass.

This device is a JFET Preamp/Buffer/Boost

This circuit is famous due to its association with Jerry Garcia and his Alligator Stratocaster he used in 71'-72'

Many online sources claim it was a large part of Jerry's sound at the time, and especially during the Europe 72' tour, however Grateful Dead gear analyst Waldotronics has an in depth article claiming the opposite, and stating that like me, he once believed the blaster was inside alligator, but according to many techs that worked with Jerry, it was installed for a few days as an experiment and promptly removed.

Here is a statement from the article "I had also believed there was a Blaster in Alligator, but through diligent research and confirming with more than one source actually there, the story has since been corrected. Turner was not wrong that Alligator once had a Blaster, it did for approximately 3 days, but the truth is it was removed and the wiring was changed by Dan Healy."

The pictures of the wiring in the guitar at auction in December of 2019 would show there is no blaster installed in the alligator.

Waldotronics has quite a few reputable sources and a few connections to the inner circle of GD, so it is more likely this is the truth, however much of the internet still claims otherwise. I am not sure where this urban legend came about, but this is new information I have come across. Believe what you want to believe, I am laying it out there for you to make your own conclusions.

The Alembic Blaster Control plate can be seen installed on John Mayers early Silver Sky prototype, potentially a hint that he even believed this to be true at one point.

Either way, this circuit is simple, but a really effective way to really bring the life out of any setup, I find myself occasionally finding my amp and guitar to be lackluster, stomping on this preamp truly does enhance the setup in many aspects.

It makes any amp come ALIVE with crystal clean clarity, and very touch sensitive, detailed dynamics.

This pedal can be ran at 9-18v, 18v will be louder, have more headroom, and a more 3D like quality to your sound that makes your amp shine, and really brings out the natural characteristics of your guitar.

At lower settings, it will add a touch of volume, better dynamics, and some chime. At max settings, depending on your amplifier and the output of your guitar, is may get a bit dirty.

It provided anywhere from 3-13db of boost depending on your setup and how much headroom your amp has before clipping. On crunchy amps, you’ll get a slight bit of singing saturation, like a dirty, volume boosted mild overdrive. On a clean amp, you’ll get a super glassy, high headroom clean tone. 

The nature of the pedal will change depending on where the knob is as well. It can get slightly warmer toward 2-5 o' clock range. It really depends on the amp it is run through.

The pedal is multi purpose, you can run it in front of your favorite fuzz to thicken it up and add some extra volume to it. I like running it in front of a big muff, it completely slams the signal and will sustain forever. Works really with any fuzz/drive to fatten it up.

Every owner has had nothing but positive feedback, and has told me how much they love it and rarely turn it off. It really is magical even though its simple!

Everyone could use this pedal one way or another.