The Tone City Blues Man is a mini overdrive pedal from Tone City that the maker describes as "a classic British style overdrive". Its stated purpose is to add smooth overdrive without coloring the original tone, so the guitar and amp character shines through, which puts it in the transparent-overdrive camp rather than the heavy-coloring kind. Tone City also says it makes extremely good clean headroom and works excellently as a boost, so it can do double duty as a light drive or a clean volume push.1
What it does to your sound
Tone City positions the Blues Man for players who want extra gain without losing what their guitar and amp already do. The maker's own description is that "if you want to keep your original tone intact with a bit of extra gain, the Bluesman will add smooth overdrive to your s[ound]". Because of that transparent timbre, Tone City says it "can keep working in most of effect links", meaning it sits happily anywhere in a pedal chain without fighting the pedals around it.1
As a British style overdrive, it belongs to the family of drives covered on the overdrive pedals page, and its clean-headroom behavior also connects it to the boost pedals category: run the gain low and it pushes an amp or another drive rather than coloring it.1
Power, bypass and specifications
The pedal runs from a DC 9V adapter and draws 6mA. Tone City's page does not list a battery option, so a 9V DC supply is the way to power it. The low 6mA draw means it fits easily on any output of a standard pedalboard power supply without worrying about daisy-chain limits.1
| Specification | Value |
|---|---|
| Power supply | DC 9V adapter |
| Current draw | 6mA |
| Input impedance | 500K |
| Output impedance | 10K |
| Bypass | True Bypass |
| Dimensions | 9.4 (L) x 4.5 (W) x 4.8 (H) cm |
| Weight | 0.26 N.W. (units not stated on the product page) |
Tone City lists the net weight as 0.26 without stating the unit on the product page, so treat the weight figure as approximate until you have the pedal in hand.
Size and where it fits on a board
The Blues Man is part of Tone City's mini pedal range, with an enclosure measuring 9.4 cm long by 4.5 cm wide by 4.8 cm high. That is a compact footprint suited to crowded boards or a small fly rig. Other mini pedals in the Tone City line covered on this site include the Big Rumble, the All Spark, the Dry Martini and the Buzz Bee.1
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Questions
Does the Tone City Blues Man take a battery?
Tone City's product page states that the pedal is powered by a DC 9V power supply and does not list a battery option. Plan to run it from a 9V DC adapter on your pedalboard power supply rather than expecting an internal battery compartment.
Is the Tone City Blues Man true bypass?
Yes. Tone City lists the Blues Man as true bypass, so when the pedal is off your guitar signal passes through without the pedal's circuitry loading it.
Can the Blues Man be used as a boost?
Tone City says the pedal makes extremely good clean headroom and works excellently as a boost, so it can be run into a clean amp or in front of another drive pedal to push it harder.
How big is the Tone City Blues Man?
Tone City lists the enclosure at 9.4 cm long, 4.5 cm wide and 4.8 cm high, with a net weight listed as 0.26, units not stated on the product page. It is part of Tone City's mini pedal range.
How much current does the Blues Man draw?
Tone City lists the current draw at 6mA at 9V DC, which is low enough that it will sit comfortably alongside other pedals on a standard pedalboard power supply output.
