BSM Supreme

The BSM Supreme is a boutique overdrive pedal from BSM, the German maker best known for its treble boosters. BSM built it around a single voice: the drive-control is there to set Ritchie's gain-shadings over the last four decades of his rock-artistic development, and the company chose to deliver only one distinctive sound and do without a tone-control¹.

The Supreme had become one of BSM's bestselling pedals².

What it does to your sound

BSM describes the Supreme's basic tone as "very beefy with direct bass, punching mids and uncoloured treble." The pedal pairs the medium output level of a conventional overdrive with that Blackmore-flavored voicing, so the character arrives at the amp rather than relying on sheer volume⁴³.

The circuit follows the approach that sets BSM apart: "a build using discrete transistors," rather than the op-amp-based designs common in overdrive pedals⁵. Each unit is hand built with point-to-point wiring and premium quality parts¹.

Controls

The Supreme keeps things deliberately simple. There is a drive control, which BSM describes as the way to "set perfectly Ritchie's gain-shadings over the last four decades of his rock-artistic development," covering the range of Blackmore's gain settings from era to era¹.

There is no tone control. BSM's stated reasoning is quoted above: the pedal is voiced to a single sound, and the drive knob is the only adjustment¹³.

Power and practical details

The Supreme runs on a 9V battery or an external 9V power supply, and its current consumption is approximately 3mA³. That draw is light enough that a battery lasts well and the pedal is unlikely to strain a daisy-chained supply. Switching is true bypass, so the circuit is out of the signal path when the effect is off³.

• Power: 9V battery or external 9V power supply³
• Current draw: approximately 3mA³
• Bypass: true bypass³
• Construction: hand built, point-to-point wiring, premium quality parts¹

Where it sits among BSM's pedals

The Supreme sits in BSM's line as its special overdrive, and the company describes it as the Supreme Special Overdrive that has become one of its bestselling pedals². Its approach differs from a pedal with a wide range of voicing options: a single drive-control sets Ritchie's gain-shadings across his recorded career, and BSM deliberately left out a tone-control to keep one distinctive sound¹. For more on the effect type generally, see Overdrive Pedals.

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