Jackson Audio Golden Boy Hype: Is It Still Worth It?
The Jackson Audio Golden Boy arrived a few years ago to a serious wave of hype, a lot of it built on the idea that one of its modes could get you into Analogman King of Tone territory.
Years later the hype has cooled and plenty of players have moved on, which is a shame because the pedal is genuinely great. This is why I still love mine, and why now might be the best time to grab one.
A Quick Word on the Golden Boy Hype
When the Golden Boy first dropped, the buzz was hard to miss. Designed in collaboration with Joey Landreth, it was pitched as a transparent overdrive, and word spread fast that one of its clipping voices supposedly emulated the Analogman King of Tone, with other modes said to land in the neighborhood of classics like the Ibanez Tube Screamer. Whether or not you buy every one of those comparisons, the marketing did its job. People wanted in. It also helped that this was a properly feature packed pedal, offering multiple gain structures, a dedicated boost, and MIDI control, which was still fairly novel for an overdrive at the time.
My Two Golden Boys
I ordered one of the earlier units in gold, and I have been very pleased with it for years now. At one point I also ordered a custom black version with white text. Funny story there. When I placed that order, the guy at Jackson Audio went and made it, then accidentally sent me a black on black version instead, which you can see in the photos. I sent that one back since what I really wanted was the black with white text. I still have both the gold one and the black and white one, and they have earned their keep.
The MOSFET Boost Steals the Show
I honestly think the Golden Boy is a great overdrive, but my favorite part of it is actually the MOSFET boost. To my ears it is one of the most beautiful sounding boosts out there. I often kick it on just to bolden up clean parts, especially on guitars with single coils when I am playing through the neck pickup. It warms everything up in a way that is hard to stop using once you hear it. For me that boost alone justifies keeping the pedal on the board.
The boost on the Golden Boy is so good that I often find myself trying to get as close as I can to it, with other pedals, when I don’t have my Golden Boy nearby. I’ve gotten pretty close with the Kernom Ridge. However, even pedals like the well-respected Empress ParaEQ MKII Deluxe, which has a very popular dedicated boost, lacks the warmth found in the boost of the Golden Boy.
The Honest Pros and Cons
Let me be frank about the trade offs. The MIDI implementation is on the limited side, but that has never bothered me, because I set up my presets in my Morningstar MIDI controllers and I do not need the pedal itself to store them. It sounds great, the boost is gorgeous, and the feature set covers what I actually use. My one real criticism, which I have mentioned in another article, is that many Jackson Audio pedals have a slight delay when you hit the switch and the pedal engages. That is because it is designed to come on at the up movement of the foot switch. It is by design, since that is the only way the dual footswitch gain staging can work, but it does take a moment to get used to. It’s fine most of the time, but not good when you need an immediate change from clean to overdrive with no audio dropout. Interestingly, switching via MIDI is much faster and brings that audio dropout to almost nothing – Very close to how many Chase Bliss pedals switch on.
The bigger picture is the overdrive chase itself. We guitarists are always hunting the next best drive, so a lot of guys simply sold their Golden Boys and moved on to whatever came next. It is too bad, because the pedal is excellent, and while many of the newer overdrives are genuinely awesome, the constant chase is often a substitute for actually practicing. The upside for the rest of us is that all that turnover means you can find a Golden Boy used on places like Reverb for very reasonable money. One thing to watch for is the printing, since some units show the text wearing off. Look carefully and you will find plenty with perfect print, so hold out for one of those.
Conclusion
The Jackson Audio Golden Boy is one of those pedals that got swept up in hype, lived through the inevitable backlash, and came out the other side still being a fantastic overdrive. Between the four clipping voices, the flexible gain staging, and that gorgeous MOSFET boost, there is a lot of pedal here for the money, especially now. If you passed on it during the frenzy or sold yours chasing something shinier, the used market is quietly giving you a second chance. I am keeping both of mine.
If you like MIDI pedals, you might want to check out my: List of Overdrive Pedals with MIDI Control.
