Phil X’s signature boost and overdrive is a powerful chameleon that transforms from searing to corpulent with ease.
Fantastically chameleonic. Highly interactive but intuitive controls. Great scathing-to-fat drive characteristics.
Expensive.
$349
J. Rockett PXO
jrockettpedals.com
Though J. Rockett builds excellent effectsoutside the drive realm, you get the feeling that the company loves a tasty overdrive first and foremost. Various incarnations of their Archer OD are regarded as among thefinest klones available. Lately, they’ve delved into drives built to capture theessence or specific needs of high-profile players. The PXO Boost and Overdrive may be designed for Bon Jovi guitarist Phil X, but its capabilities transcend arena rock.
“The range in each of the effects alone, and the surprising ways that the controls interact with each other, are what makes the PXO a surgeon’s scalpel.”
A primary source of the PXO’s flexibility is its ability to switch the order of boost and overdrive. But the range in each of the effects alone, and the surprising ways that the controls interact with each other, are what makes the PXO a surgeon’s scalpel. Extremes in the boost’s tilt EQ control, for example, can sound excessive. The trebliest of these settings, though, can be an incredible asset when coaxing presence and cut in a lead from a muddy amp. That opens up many more possibilities when used in conjunction with the overdrive section’s flexible bass and treble controls, which in turn take on vastly different characteristics depending on where you set the equally interactive output volume and gain. The PXO was conceived as a tool for coping with changing backlines. But the PXO is so adaptable in that capacity that it significantly enhances the vocabulary of a single guitar, too. While I spent most of my time with the PXO using a black-panel Vibrolux and a Jazzmaster, the PXO made it easy to coax sounds that you could sell as a chunky humbucker to a blindfolded listener
Stompboxtober Day 23 is here! Today’s prize is a pedal from J. Rockett Audio. Enter now and come back for more daily prizes!
J. Rockett Audio Designs PXO Phil X Signature Overdrive Pedal
The PXO was created as a live or studio tool. When we sent Phil the overdrive sample he found that it saved him in backline situations and provided him a drive that plays well with others.
The PXO is an overdrive/boost where you can select pre or post giving you variety in how you want to boost, EQ and overdrive. We have provided standard controls on the overdrive side such as Volume/Gain/Overdrive and EQ but on the boost side you have a separate Tilt EQ that allows you to EQ with simplicity. You can experiment by cascading in a pre or post situation and experiment from there. The PXO has a lush, thick feel to the bottom end and a smooth top end that begs you to dig into the note.