J Rockett Blue Note Select

The J Rockett Blue Note Select is a compact, low-to-medium gain overdrive pedal made in the USA by J Rockett. It is the current version of the company's Blue Note circuit, combining the Hot switch from the larger Blue Note Pro with the small enclosure of the Tour Series, and updating the circuit to what J Rockett calls V2 with "an enhanced low-end response"¹².

Guitar World's Trevor Curwen describes it as a low-to-medium gain overdrive with toggle-switched Standard and Fat modes, noting that sonically "it's pretty transparent so won't radically alter your core tone"². Delicious Audio calls it a low-gain overdrive considered by many as the company's take on the Blues Breaker circuit, although the company has been challenging that assumption¹.

The controls: Gain, Tone, Volume, Fat and the Hot switch

The Blue Note Select carries four knobs and two switches. Volume, Gain and Tone do the usual jobs, and Guitar World notes that with the gain knob down there is a little clean boost available beyond unity on the volume knob, so it can serve as a light boost². The Fat knob tailors the low-end trim, which Delicious Audio points out is useful for matching different pickup and amp combinations¹.

The Hot toggle slightly boosts the gain for a more aggressive tone¹. On the maker's own page, the description goes further: "you can get the internal clipping pretty hot as well"³. Tone Island's Adam Connell, writing about the Pro Series version of the same switch, says it "gives you more level, gain, and mids"⁴.

J Rockett suggests an approach for getting the most from it: the best results come when the amp is just past the minimum edge of breakup, or "breathing," so the pedal can add drive on top of the amp's own¹.

History and versions: Pro Series, Tour Series and V2

The Blue Note line goes back to at least 2015, when Pedal of the Day reviewed the original J. Rockett Audio Designs Blue Note Overdrive with its volume, gain, tone and fat knobs plus a toggle switch in the middle of the pedal that added gain and a volume boost when engaged⁵. That toggle was the original Hot switch.

The line then split into two versions. The Blue Note Pro Series kept the Hot switch in a larger enclosure, while the Tour Series, announced in November 2016, was described by Premier Guitar as "a small, compact version of the current production Pro Series Blue Note" without the Hot switch, built for the touring musician with a rugged steel enclosure and the new Speed Switch system⁶. MusicRadar's Michael Astley-Brown likewise called it a compact version of the Pro Series, minus that pedal's Hot Switch, offering subtle, dynamic overdrive that sits on the edge of break-up⁷. Tone Island notes that both the Tour Series and the newer Pro Series appeared to still be in production at around the same price⁴.

The Select, a V2 of the circuit, brings the two branches back together. Delicious Audio describes it as combining the features of the Pro Series, with its Hot switch, and the Tour Series, without it, in a very small package with improvements to the looks, the sound and the overall feel¹. Guitar World's Curwen frames it the same way: the Hot switch "has been reinstated in another nicely compact offering that's had a complete makeover" in looks and circuitry². J Rockett also had custom knobs made and a custom color mixed to achieve the electric blue finish¹.

What reviewers said

Guitar World's review credits the Select with solid build quality and compact size, and highlights the improved low end of the V2 circuitry². Delicious Audio goes further, suggesting "This could be our best overall low gain drive"¹.

Reviews of earlier Blue Note versions point the same direction. Reviewing the Tour Series for Guitar.com, Richard Purvis found that "The breakup is sweet and amp-like, only getting seriously rocky when you turn the gain all the way up to full"⁸. Tone Island's Adam Connell, a longtime owner, wrote of the Blue Note: "It's exceptional. So much note clarity and note definition. It gets real close to those vintage Eric Clapton tones"⁴. He does add a caveat about the Tour Series version he owns, finding it "a bit lacking in the gain and level department" compared with the Pro Series, whose Hot switch solves that problem⁴. Pedal of the Day's 2015 piece on the original, the earliest review, ended with "I would definitely recommend trying this guy out"⁵.

The Blue Note has also drawn comparisons in the wider low-gain field: it appeared in Thomann's Tube Screamer shootout video at Guitar.com in 2018⁹.

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