The Outlaw Effects Cactus Juice Overdrive is an overdrive pedal with two distinct modes, Normal and Juiced, offering what the maker describes as classic, screamer-inspired crunch built around the JRC4558 chip. Outlaw Effects introduced it at the 2018 NAMM Show, and it carried a US street price of $49.00123.
Two modes: Normal and Juiced
The pedal's main feature is the pair of modes. Delicious Audio's product page describes Normal mode as offering "warm and creamy breakup, great for rhythm parts, blues guitars, etc"1. Guitar World's launch coverage put it the same way: "Normal Mode gives you that traditionally warm and creamy breakup"4.
Juiced mode is the second setting, engaged with a switch. Delicious Audio describes it as one that "increases the gain dosage to extra strength, and lets you tear through denser mixes"1. Premier Guitar's NAMM report phrased it as "Juiced Mode ups the gain dosage to extra strength, and lets you tear through even the densest of mixes"2. In practice, that gives a player two gain levels from one pedal: a lower-gain setting for rhythm and a hotter one for leads or cutting through a band, without needing a separate boost pedal on the board.
"Two distinct modes offer a wide array of classic, screamer-inspired crunch"
The controls
The Cactus Juice keeps its panel simple, with three knobs shared by both modes14:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Level | Sets the pedal's output volume |
| Gain | Sets the amount of overdrive |
| Tone | EQ fine tuning1 |
Delicious Audio sums the layout up as "Level, Gain and Tone knobs give you complete control over your sound"1. There are no mode-specific controls, so the same three knobs shape both Normal and Juiced settings.
A JRC4558 Screamer-style circuit
Under the hood, the pedal uses the JRC4558 chip. When the pedal debuted at NAMM 2018, Delicious Audio reported that it "uses the JRC4558 chip as found in the classic Tube Screamer, the Boss OD-1, the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer and other vintage overdrives"3. That chip is closely associated with the soft, mid-focused overdrive character players know from screamer-style pedals, and Outlaw Effects markets the Cactus Juice accordingly, as offering "classic, screamer-inspired crunch"12.
For players comparing it with other options, the two-mode design is what sets it apart from a standard single-mode screamer-style pedal. If you want to hear how the approach compares with the originals, the Boss SD-1 vs Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer comparison covers the classic circuits the JRC4558 chip is known from. Outlaw Effects describes that chip as the one found in the classic Tube Screamer, the Boss OD-1, the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer and other vintage overdrives3.
Release and price
Premier Guitar's NAMM report listed the Cactus Juice at a USA Street Price of $49.00, available February 20182, and Delicious Audio's later product page kept the same $49.00 USA Street Price1.
Videos
Distortion LTD
Stu Weinberg
Eric Merrow
Questions
What does the Juiced mode do on the Cactus Juice?
Juiced mode raises the pedal's gain to what Outlaw calls extra strength. Where Normal mode gives warm, creamy breakup suited to rhythm parts and blues playing, Juiced mode pushes the gain higher so the pedal can cut through denser mixes. The switch between the two modes is on the pedal itself, so you can flick between them mid-set without touching the knobs.
What chip is in the Outlaw Effects Cactus Juice?
The Cactus Juice uses the JRC4558 chip. According to Delicious Audio's coverage of the pedal's debut, that is the same chip found in the classic Tube Screamer, the Boss OD-1, the Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer and other vintage overdrives, which is why the pedal is described as screamer-inspired.
How much does the Outlaw Cactus Juice cost?
The Cactus Juice carried a US street price of $49.00 when it launched. That figure was listed by Delicious Audio, Premier Guitar and Guitar World around the pedal's early 2018 release.
Is the Cactus Juice based on a Tube Screamer?
Outlaw Effects and the press coverage describe it as screamer-inspired rather than a clone. It uses the JRC4558 chip associated with the Tube Screamer and offers what the maker calls classic, screamer-inspired crunch, but it adds a second, higher-gain Juiced mode that the standard single-mode screamer design does not have.
Sources (4)
- Outlaw Effects Cactus Juice Overdrive, Delicious Audio, 2018-03-30
- Outlaw Effects Debuts Palomino 4HP & New Pedals, Premier Guitar, 2018-01-22
- Outlaw Effects Debuts Echo, Compressor And Overdrive Guitar Pedals At NAMM 2018, Delicious Audio, 2018-02-02
- Outlaw Effects Launches Four New Pedals, Guitar World, 2018-01-17
