Hudson Electronics Broadcast Pre-Amp

We get pretty excited about all the pedals we review here at Pedal of the Day, but when a box arrived from the UK with “Hudson Electronics” on the label, we knew we were in for a treat. Having already reviewed the awesome Buzzard and Fuzz pedals a while back, we were stoked to see what Michael and the crew had come up with this time around. In short, we were not even close to being disappointed – here is the Broadcast Pre-Amp.

Right out of the box, the Broadcast looks different in some way, although it’s hard to describe it exactly. The three different colored main control knobs add an instant aura and mystique to the pedal, and where most pedals feature tiny toggle switches, this blue beauty has a toggle you could use to knock a home run 450 feet (in baseball, that is). A nice big logo lets everyone know exactly what pedal this is, and the lone bypass switch guarantees you won’t get lost or confused figuring out how to turn this puppy on and off.

Level controls the pedal’s overall output volume, Gain Trim adjusts the amount of distortion present in the mix, and Low Cut is a tone filter of sorts, allowing for a broad range of high and low frequency choices. The toggle switch moves the Broadcast from low gain to high gain, with each setting sporting its own set of sonic rules to follow. In Low mode, you get more of a cleanish boost / transparent drive kinda thing happening, but switch over to High mode, and watch this pedal come alive with fire. The distortion is heavy, the overdrive is ballsy and there can even be elements of fuzz present if you listen right and, well, crank it.

The Broadcast Pre-Amp is a great pedal to place in different spots in your signal chain as well, as it works on a ton of differing levels, and will even play fairly nice with other effects as well. Not just a drive but also a tone-shaper, this is one pedal that can find a home on any pedalboard in about 3 minutes flat. Thanks as always to Michael and Hudson Electronics for shipping this guy across the pond for us to listen to and discover – we have another pedal review from them on the horizon, so check back frequently, and don’t forget to visit their website while you wait!