Origin Effects has introduced the Deluxe 55 – the latest installment in its growing line of stompboxes that seek to bottle vintage tones.
The firm is already adept at leafing through the history books to recreate hugely popular guitar tones in modern and pedalboard-friendly formats.
Over the past few years, it has tackled the Ibanez Tube Screamer, with the Halcyon Green; the Marshall Bluesbreaker, with the Halcyon Blue; and the Klon Centaur, with the Halcyon Gold.
Now, it’s turned its attention to a tube amp, with the Deluxe 55 promising to channel the authentic tones of a genuine Fender 5E3 Tweed Deluxe from 1955.
Under its hood, the pedal features an all-analog, transistor-based circuit and tube amp-style signal path (though it is not tube driven) that hopes to nail “the sound, feel and personality of one of history’s quirkiest combos”.
The original 5E3 Tweed Deluxe was famously used by the likes of Neil Young, Mike Campbell and The Eagles. Like the amp itself, the pedal equivalent is pitched as being good for everything from articulate edge-of-breakup tones to full-throttle fuzz, with a rough-around-the-edges, charmingly un-refined character that speaks to the OG Fender unit.
“Is it sophisticated and refined? No. Does it get the job done with style and bags of character? Absolutely!” Origin Effects writes.
To put the Deluxe 55 together, its maker took a close look at the real deal in order to pick apart its circuit and understand its ‘quirky’ wiring. From there, the ‘Amp Recreation’ circuitry was born, built to mimic the exact behavior of the amp.
The pedal itself features a reactive load to simulate the interaction between the amp’s power amp and speaker, with an onboard Preamp switch flicking between 12AY7 and 12AX7 style tube tones – a popular mod, apparently, among Tweed Deluxe owners.
There’s also a Post-EQ circuit that ensures compatibility with traditional pedalboards, regular amps, modelers, power amps, and cabinet simulators. Other controls include a Flat Post EQ mode toggle that switches between two different voices, and regular knobs for Level, Drive and Tone.
“Warm yet cutting, soft yet punchy, its natural compression and hugely responsive overdrive made the Tweed Deluxe sound a real players’ favourite, and this rough-around-the-edges, unsung-hero identity is exactly what we’ve captured in the Deluxe 55,” the firm adds.
This sets an interesting precedent going forward for Origin Effects, and seemingly opens the door for future pedal clones of popular amps. The brand has released ‘Amp Recreation’ pedals in the past, but this one seems to mark a more concerted effort.
All we’re saying is, we wouldn’t be surprised if an Origin Effects Dumble-style pedal amp came along at some point in the future.
The Deluxe 55 is available now for $339.
Visit Origin Effects to find out more.
