Hudson Electronics Gospel Bomb

The Hudson Electronics Gospel Bomb is a boost pedal built around germanium circuitry. Hudson describes it as "a tweaked version of the classic 'Rangemaster' germanium boost," a circuit type long associated with pushing a tube amp's front end into drive. The maker's own pitch is direct: "This pedal will kick the front end of your amp into high gear and send you into tonal bliss."¹

What it does

As a boost, the Gospel Bomb sits between the guitar and the amplifier and raises the signal hitting the amp's input, which is how players have traditionally used Rangemaster-style germanium boosts to coax more drive and character from a cranked amp. Hudson suggests pairing it with "AC, Tweed & Blackface amps and pretty much any small combo from the 50's and early 60's," the kinds of amps the original Rangemaster circuit grew up with.¹

For a place in a wider board, it belongs among boost pedals, and it can serve a similar front-end-pushing role to a preamp pedal, though it is a simpler circuit by design¹.

Build

Each Gospel Bomb was built by hand from scratch onto vintage-style stripboard, using what Hudson describes as high quality components. Stripboard construction is a hand-wired approach in which components are laid out and soldered point to point on a board with rows of copper tracks, a method associated with small-batch and boutique builds rather than mass production.¹

Related Hudson Electronics pedals

Hudson Electronics makes other pedals that occupy neighboring territory:

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