The BROKEN ARROW is a very flexible overdrive with 4 presets for clipping options, an innovative gain adjustment feature that JA calls GAIN CYCLE, and a 3 band active EQ for maximum tonal flexibility. To top it off, they added a boost circuit which is the same type of MOSFET boost circuit found on JA's top selling PRISM Preamp pedal.
The boost circuit is in its own true bypass loop which means it can be used independently of the DRIVE circuit. The boost circuit in the BROKEN ARROW is a MOSFET based boost much like the AMP MODE found in their best selling PRISM Preamp pedal. To activate/deactivate the boost circuit simply press the BOOST footswitch.
One of the things that makes the boost in the BROKEN ARROW different from other boosts on the market is that it has 4 presets available. Each preset is EQ’d slightly differently to allow it to alter how it interacts with the overdrive circuit in the BROKEN ARROW or any other pedal you may have in your rig
The overdrive circuit of the BROKEN ARROW is a soft clipping overdrive circuit designed in the same vein as the venerable TS-808. The distinction between the TS-808 and the BROKEN ARROW being that there is no set “mid-hump” in the BROKEN ARROW and the tone is relatively flat when all controls are set at 12:00. Given that the BROKEN ARROW features an active 3 band EQ, there was no need to force a mid bump unnecessarily as a mid bump is easily achieved by increasing the MID knob.
The overdrive portion of the BROKEN ARROW is a completely new way of using and adjusting overdrive! With 4 clipping diode presets and JA's innovative GAIN CYCLE feature, the BROKEN ARROW will make most other overdrive pedals obsolete!
The BROKEN ARROW allows for 4 different presets of clipping diodes which themselves drastically alter the tone and feel of the way the overdrive clips and distorts.
To select a clipping preset, press and hold the DRIVE footswitch for more than 1 second and the clipping program mode will become active. When in this mode, the DRIVE led will flash to indicate that you are in program mode. A quick tap on the DRIVE footswitch will cycle the clipping presets and you’ll be able to hear these presets change as you cycle through them, assuming that the drive circuit was active when the clipping program mode was entered. Once you arrive at a clipping preset that you want to use, press and hold the DRIVE footswitch for more than 1 second and clipping program mode will exit.
Preset 1 – GREEN: Classic Screamer. Two symmetrical silicon diodes give the classic drive and compression that the Tube Screamer is known for.
Preset 2 – MAGENTA: Asymmetric Clipping. Three asymmetric silicon diodes will clip the top and bottom portions of your guitars waveform differently resulting in a more complex and interesting tone. This sounds great when laying down aggressive rhythm parts!
Preset 3 – BLUE: Symmetrical Clipping. Four symmetric silicon diodes will clip the top and bottom portions of your guitars waveform evenly which gives a more focused and direct tone. One notable pedal that uses this style of clipping is the Timmy.
Preset 4 – AMBER: Vintage Marshall. Two RED LED’s are used to symmetrically clip the top and bottom portions of your guitars waveform evenly. The LED’s allow MUCH higher headroom so your tone will stay more open and less compressed much like a vintage Marshall.
Changing clipping diodes are a great way to radically change how an overdrive pedal sounds and feels but oftentimes the change that you perceive has more to do with a change in volume than an actual change in tone….until now!
When JA was designing the BROKEN ARROW they knew they wanted to give the overdrive section a lot of tonal flexibility and most importantly make that flexibility useful on stage. So when changing clipping diodes they included circuitry that level matches the output of the pedal as various clipping diodes are selected. So now you can select between all four clipping options, and your volume level will remain constant. More importantly, the difference that you hear between the clipping modes will be because of the difference in how those clipping diodes sound and not because your volume is jumping all over the place as it does with other designs.
The most exciting feature of the BROKEN ARROW is the new feature that JA developed called GAIN CYCLE. GAIN CYCLE takes the GAIN knob setting, which selects your maximum gain, and divides that level of gain into 4 equal parts. Say for instance you have your GAIN knob set at the maximum setting or in other words, 100% gain. Every time you press both footswitches simultaneously, the gain of the pedal will jump up 25% until you get to 100%. The following press after 100% will cause the gain cycle to start again at 25%.
My goal with the GAIN CYCLE feature is to allow guitarists to easily ramp their gain up without having to bend down and change it or try to adjust it with the edge of their foot while playing live. Here’s a perfect use case!
Let’s assume the GAIN control is set to 100%
Verse 1 – Gain cycle set at 25% – Slightly overdriven edge of breakup tone.
Press GAIN CYCLE
Chorus – Gain cycle set at 50% – Distinct overdriven tone.
Press GAIN CYCLE
Bridge – Gain cycle set at 75% – Heavy overdrive tone.
Press GAIN CYCLE
Solo – Gain cycle set at 100% – Heavily saturated overdriven tone!
TIP: Add the BOOST to push the overdrive even harder for endless sustain!
It’s important to remember that GAIN CYCLE setting #4 (100%) will be as much gain as you have the GAIN knob set for. Think of the GAIN knob on the BROKEN ARROW as your maximum gain with each GAIN CYCLE setting being a percentage of that maximum value.
The brightness of the DRIVE led will change to let you know which percentage of gain you have selected. The higher the percentage, the brighter the DRIVE led. For instance:
GAIN CYCLE #1 – DIM LED – 25% of GAIN knob value.
GAIN CYCLE #2 – BRIGHTER LED – 50% of GAIN knob value.
GAIN CYCLE #3 – BRIGHT LED – 75% of GAIN knob value.
GAIN CYCLE #4 – VERY BRIGHT LED – 100% of GAIN knob value.
To top it off, the DRIVE circuit of the BROKEN ARROW has a 3 band active EQ. The EQ circuit features a studio grade EQ that gives tremendous tonal flexibility to the BROKEN ARROW. Based on the legendary Baxandall EQ that is featured in countless studio EQ’s, the BROKEN ARROW EQ takes this circuit and tailors it for guitarists! JA spent tons of time on this EQ dialing it in so it would hit all the frequencies that guitarists need to adjust, and then sweetened it by removing the ear fatiguing highs and lows that can appear at extreme settings.
Studio-grade EQ with High Bandwidth and Flat Response at 12:00
+/- 12dB Boost/Cut per control
Center Detents on the pots that make it easier to get back to a neutral or flat response.
Since the BROKEN ARROW first came out, JA have received many requests from our players saying that adding MIDI to the BROKEN ARROW would make it the perfect overdrive and we completely agree! As always, they take player feedback as a primary driver of product development and they are very proud to announce that the most flexible overdrive on the market just got better with the addition of MIDI!
CABLE INFORMATION: In order to use MIDI on the BROKEN ARROW v2, you will need a cable that converts a MIDI (DIN-5) connector to a TRS cable.
