Handmade with quality components, the Lazy J Cruiser Deuce offers the ultimate way to overdrive a tube amp. The Cruiser Deuce is a Booster/Overdrive pedal in one, or, depending on the settings, something in between.
Jesse Hoff, owner of Lazy J had the basic idea for these pedals in the mid '90s, and designed the first version back then (a Cruiser). The idea was to get the biggest, most dynamic lead tone from an amp without getting too loud. The Drive circuit has evolved a bit over the years, but the basic design has never changed.
Used as a booster, the Cruiser Deuce takes the signal from your guitar and amplifies it without changing its tone and dynamics. The signal at the output is exactly like the signal at the input, but bigger. This bigger signal has the ability to drive your amp much harder, resulting in really rich tube distortion with all the tone and dynamics retained. This means that it won't sound squashed and compressed like many other overdrive pedals. What'’s more, it can be fully controlled by your guitar's volume control - back it off, and it'll clean right up! From here you can engage the DRIVE circuit.
The DRIVE control works in conjunction with the SAT control and between them they can take your signal from a clean boost into serious drive. The character of the drive, i.e. compression/dynamics can be tailored with the SAT control.
The Cruiser Deuce retains a warm and transparent sound at all times. Whether you boost or overdrive, it always feels like an extension of your guitar and amp, and at no time does it ever become thin.
As both functions are built into this pedal, they can be combined for a wide variety of sounds.
This pedal uses a true bypass, so when it's switched off the circuit is completely disconnected from the straight-through signal. Your guitar then goes straight to your amp, without any signal-loss or coloration.
Lazy J Cruiser Deuce (or Cruiser) users include:
Joe Bonamassa
Jeff Beck
Mike Campbell
Eric Clapton
Gwyn Garfield Davies
Lu Edmonds
Mark Griffiths (The Shadows)
Gary Hooker (Brad Paisley)
Jonas Jalhay
Simon Johnson
Mark Karan (Bob Weir & RatDog)
Scott McKeon
Robbie McIntosh
Luke Potashnik
Matt Scannel (Vertical Horizon)
Dan Smith (The Noisettes)
Paul Stacey
Dan Steinhardt
Pete Townshend
Rob Townley
Joe Walsh
Steve Winwood
Controls:
- DRIVE: controls drive circuit input
- SAT: controls drive circuit output
- TOGGLE: controls 3 modes of clipping/comp
- GAIN: controls input gain
- VOL: controls output level
The TOGGLE switch works in conjunction with the drive circuit controls. It has 3 settings, which allow 3 modes of clipping/compression:
- Up: increased headroom
- Middle: maximum headroom, no compression
- Down: soft clipping, low headroom
Have fun, and turn it up!!!