IdiotBox Blower Box Deluxe

The IdiotBox Blower Box Deluxe is a bass distortion pedal built as an expanded version of IdiotBox Effects' original Blower Box Bass Distortion. The maker describes it as "all the awesomeness of the original Blower Box but with a tighter more mids focused sound" plus a parallel clean blend, which is the feature that matters most to bass players: your direct signal runs alongside the distortion, so the low end does not disappear when the gain goes up¹.

It sits in the distortion family rather than overdrive or fuzz, and it is aimed squarely at bass. The list price is $159.00 USD as of October 2026¹.

A Blower Box with a parallel clean blend

The original Blower Box has a story behind it that explains the Deluxe's character. IdiotBox's designer says the pedal began as a personal project with a specific target sound¹²:

IdiotBox Effects²

That target, the bass tone of Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault on Voivod's early records, is aggressive and biting rather than warm. The maker also notes that Away, Voivod's drummer, did the graphics, and that the whole band signed a first very limited run of 15 units². The independent circuit analysts at Guitar FX Layouts, who traced and laid out the circuit in July 2014, describe it as a "Killer take on the Rat," meaning the design is a variant of the Pro Co Rat distortion topology rather than a copy of any bass-specific circuit³.

The Deluxe takes that same lineage and reframes it for bass. Two changes define it¹:

• A parallel clean blend. The DIR knob sets the volume of your direct, undistorted signal, which runs alongside the distortion path. This is the classic solution for bass distortion, where a fully distorted signal often loses the fundamentals that keep the instrument audible in a mix.
• A tighter, more mids-focused sound. IdiotBox positions the Deluxe as voiced differently from the original, leaner in the low mids and more concentrated in the mids¹.

The enclosure is also smaller than earlier versions. The original Blower Box went through a revision that moved to a smaller green and black enclosure with all the knobs on top, where the earliest version had its volume knob on the top edge by the output jack; the Deluxe continues in the compact 125B format at 4.7" x 2.6" x 1.5"¹².

The controls

Five knobs, each with a single clear job. Four shape the distortion path and one controls the clean blend¹.

The original Blower Box used the same four distortion-side controls, Volume, Distortion, High cut/boost and Low cut/boost, arranged in a square². What the Deluxe adds is the DIR knob, and that is the whole functional difference in use: HIGH and LOW only shape the distorted signal, while DIR sets how much of your clean bass sits underneath it¹.

For players who want a starting point: with DIR low the pedal behaves much like the original, all distortion; raising DIR restores the clean fundamentals. Because HIGH and LOW are cut/boost controls rather than a single tone roll-off, you can push the distorted high end for bite while the clean path keeps the bottom end untouched¹.

Power, bypass and the DIY circuit

The Deluxe runs on a common 9 to 18VDC center negative 2.1mm BOSS style power input, and IdiotBox says to use 9, 12 or 18VDC depending on your headroom preference, with higher voltages giving the op-amp more room before clipping¹. Current draw is 6mA, light enough for any isolated supply or even a daisy chain¹. Switching is true bypass¹.

The circuit has a life outside the factory enclosure. Guitar FX Layouts published a verified stripboard layout of the Blower Box in July 2014, based on a traced schematic, and builders have used it as a base for modifications: one builder reported using a DPDT switch for standard, none, and asymmetrical silicon clipping, calling the asymmetrical setting a favorite, and others proposed a switchable 47k resistor across the gain pot for a low-gain mode³. The layout work also surfaced a fix, added decoupling after the IC output, for an error in the original traced schematic³. None of this affects the retail pedal, but it confirms the design's Rat-derived lineage and explains why the circuit appeals to DIY builders.

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