blues believer user manual

the origins

where does the blues believer come from ?

The basic idea that led us into the research, development, engineering and building of the Blues Believer came from you. A lot of our customers asked for an Anasounds interpretation of that classic overdrive pedal. We’re obviously talking about a famous black and blue overdrive pedal engineered in the 90s to sound like the tube amp Eric Clapton used when playing with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers in the sixties.

The name of the pedal came from the John Mayer song Belief in which you can hear a wonderful solo with a very beautiful sound. We started to look for overdrive pedals that were close to that sound and came across the Carbon from Browne Amplification. It has indeed a huge dynamic range and provides a very nice playing experience. Then, our goal was quite simple : engineer an Anasounds style overdrive pedal that sounds at least as good as the Carbon.

how does it sound ?

The Blues Believer offers you that classic vintage British sound. It gives you all the sounds you love from the black and blue box but can also provide a more Plexi style sound if you need it. Behind its classy and calm appearance, the Blues Believer is a true versatility monster and will be great as a Clean Boost and as a very musical distortion.

let’s go deeper

signal chain

Thanks to its high input impedance and its low output impedance, the Blues Believer can be placed wherever you want on your Pedalboard. You can decide to put it first in your chain to use it as a Clean Boost but you can also place it right at the end to enjoy its « amp in a box » qualities. Since it is designed to produce the sound of a vintage tube amp, it will work really well at the end of your Pedalboard, right before your time based and modulation effects.

The Blues Believer is a wonderful tool to stack with other drive pedals (fuzz, distortions, overdrives). Beyond its great performances as a clean boost, overdrive and distortion, the Blues Believer will be as effective in an « always on » scenario. Like the Browne Amplification Carbon, it fattens and enhances the sound giving it a real musical push while maintaining a great dynamic range. Once you turn it on, you will never want to turn it off ; trust us.

how to connect the blues believer ?

The Blues Believer features mono input and output jacks, conveniently positioned on the top of the pedal for easy pedalboard integration. Be sure to use mono instrument cables.

The power jack is also located on top, between the input and output jacks. Always power the Blues Believer with a 9V DC power supply, center-negative. To ensure optimal operation, the pedal requires at least 50mA of current.

basic operation

features

third gain stage

We love the dynamic range and the organic feel of the Browne Amplification Carbon but we also love the work that Josh Scott, JHS Pedals founder, did on his Morning Glory V4. This great pedal has a Red mode that we particularly enjoy. We had the idea of putting another gain stage in the Blues Believer, for a total of three gain stages. This particular stage has been created for the Blues Believer but shares some design ideas with the Ego Driver gain stage. It can drastically increase the gain without losing any characteristics of the sound. You get the same musical sound, only with more gain, without sacrificing precision and dynamics. This third gain stage is the secret sauce of the Blues Believer and makes it extremely versatile.

two voicings

During development, we noticed that the pedal produced a lot of treble frequencies. While some guitarists love this, others prefer a more focused sound. To accommodate different playing styles, we developed a second voicing mode, which smooths the treble response. This mode also slightly reduces the bass for a tighter, more focused sound, allowing the Blues Believer to work well with any guitar and pickup combination.

 internal trimpots

The Blues Believer can deliver high-gain overdrive or full-on distortion. To simplify fine-tuning, we included two internal trimpots that control the maximum gain levels—one for overdrive and one for distortion.

Inside the pedal, you’ll also find a Si/LED switch, which toggles between Silicon Clipping and LED Clipping. The Si mode provides a classic vintage sound, while the LED mode delivers a more organic, amp-like response with richer harmonics.

internal functioning

In the circuit of the Blues Believer, there are three gain stages. The first one is a pre-gain stage that amplifies the signal before it hits the second gain stage. This second gain stage will color the sound the way we like it. Originally, the clipping from this second gain stage is Silicon but you can switch to LED via the internal slide switch. You can limit the gain of this first part of the circuit using the OD Trimpot inside the pedal.

The third gain stage transforms the pedal into a rich distortion, while maintaining the same organic sound. You can adjust the maximum gain value of the distortion via the Disto Trimpot inside the pedal. You can activate the distortion mode via the Disto switch directly on the pedal.

The Blues Believer has two ways of adjusting the EQ curve. First, you will find the Voice switch that removes a bit of bass and refocuses the entire frequency balance. Then, you can use the Tone knob to shape the sound further, making it warmer or brighter. This knob adjusts the treble response on the output of the pedal, adding extra presence in a very musical way.

external knobs and switches

out

This knob adjusts the output level of the Blues Believer. If you turn it clockwise, the general output volume will increase. By turning it counter clockwise, the volume will decrease. The pedal has plenty of volume on tap, that’s why it is such an incredible clean boost. You will find the unity volume level around 9 o’clock on the Out knob.

tone

By turning this knob clockwise, you will get a more present sound and a lot more treble. This will help to get that classic British sound with a nice strong attack. By turning it counter clockwise, the treble content will get attenuated and you will get a warmer sound. If you crank this knob to its maximum position, you will get all the treble content of the circuit, which is a lot. That’s a common characteristic of this kind of circuit.

gain

This knob adjusts the gain generated by the first two gain stages. Turning it clockwise will increase the gain and bring a really nice British flavor to the sound. Be careful though, increasing the gain will also increase the treble frequencies. Turning this knob counter clockwise will decrease the gain level for a very musical low-gain sound.

voice

This lever switch goes back and forth between the two voicings. When it is on its UP position, you will get a wide frequency response with a full and rich sound that’s warm and precise. If you place it on its DOWN position, the spectrum gets narrower with less bass and softer treble. Depending on the guitar and pickup you use, you will prefer one position or the other.

disto

This lever switch adds the third gain stage into the equation and allows the pedal to become a distortion. It does not affect the character and color of the sound but only increases the gain. When it is on its UP position, you’re in Overdrive mode. When you flick it down, you’re in Distortion mode.

footswitch

Press to turn the effect on and off. When you turn it on, the FX Teacher logo glows up.

hidden features

internal knobs and switches

od

This little trimpot can be turned using a small Philips screwdriver. It can be very useful to limit the gain of the Overdrive mode. Turning it clockwise will increase the gain coming from the second gain stage. This gives more gain in OD mode. Turning it counter clockwise will decrease the gain coming from the second gain stage. If you decrease the gain a lot, this second stage will become a Clean Boost that will push the front end of the third gain stage in DISTO mode.

disto

This trimpot is here to bridle the gain of the Distortion mode. You can turn it using a small Philips screwdriver. Be careful, to hear the effect of this trimpot, you must be in DISTO mode. Turning it clockwise will increase the gain coming from the third gain stage. Turning it counter clockwise will decrease the gain coming from the third gain stage. These knobs are very useful to adapt the Blues Believer to your gear.

si/led

This two positions switch allows you to choose between two types of clipping diodes : Silicon or LED. When on Si mode, you will get a classic and vintage sound that you expect from that kind of pedal. If you place it on the LED position, the character of the sound changes a bit and even harmonics appear to give you a more « amp like » sound that’s very organic.

factory settings

When you play the Blues Believer for the first time, the Si/LED switch is set to its Si position for a classic vintage sound. OD and Disto trimpots are set to a third of their range which is more than enough for most users. If you’re looking for a very heavy sound, you have a good margin with these trimpots.

faq

questions specific to the FX Teacher range

the pedal has no sound / does not light up

The Blues Believer must be used with mono jacks in order to allow the circuit to be powered. Be sure to also use a proper 9 Volts DC power supply that delivers 50mA minimum.

internal trimpots do not change the sound a lot

These internal trimpots are engineered to adjust the sound very precisely. The differences between one sound and another can be quite hard to hear. We set them so that the pedal sounds excellent and it is best if you manipulate them once you fully understand the pedal’s operation.

changing your footswitch

A footswitch is made to be stepped on, many, many, many times. Therefore, it is the most fragile part of an effect pedal. After several years of intensive use, your footswitch may break, and your pedal will be unusable. This led us to engineer an interchangeable footswitch that you can change yourself without needing a soldering iron. Obviously, we sell new footswitches, you can even choose between 3PDT True Bypass and a click-less relay based true bypass module which is more durable over time.

questions specific to the Blues Believer

i get a lot of noise the first time i turn it on

The first thing to check in this case is the quality of your power supply. A cheap one will create a lot of noise especially in a vintage circuit like this. To eliminate all noises, be sure to use a premium power supply. You can forget about your 10$ power supply.

i get a lot of noise, even using my premium power supply

By the nature of its design, the Blues Believer has three gain stages (when in Disto mode). It is perfectly normal to hear noise, especially if the Out and Gain knobs are maxed. If you use the pedal on an already crunchy amp, the noise will be more present. The more you will drive the pedal’s output, the more your amp will distort and noise will be amplified.

 i hear a « pop » when flicking the disto switch, is my blues believer broken ?

When you flick the Disto switch, you will hear a little « pop » which is entirely normal. The activation of a phase inverting third gain stage necessarily creates a « pop ». This noise is not disturbing at all as long as it’s not made to be flicked while playing.

the pedal has a lot of volume

The Blues Believer does a wonderful job when using it as a clean boost because it has a lot of volume on tap. Of course you can adjust it so it produces a classic overdrive sound with a reasonable volume, but you can also crank the volume to boost the front end of your tube amp. Be careful when you turn the OUT knob, the Blues Believer has a lot, and we mean A LOT, of volume.

the voice switch is very subtle ; is my pedal broken ?

Depending on the context in which you use the Blues Believer, the sound change of the Voice switch can be very subtle. It’s been engineered so that it’s not too extreme. It just removes a bit of bass so the sound is very audible in a mix, and tames the harsh treble. If you play through a very nice amp and try to play only on the bottom strings, the sound change will be more obvious. If you play on a tiny headphone amp, the action of the Voice switch might be hard to hear.