Tsakalis AudioWorks traps two Marshall-style overdrives in one pedal with the Room #40

Tsakalis AudioWorks has launched a new overdrive pedal, entitled Room #40. The pedal is inspired by the drive sounds of a number of Marshall heads: the Super Lead, the Super Bass, the JMP and the JCM800.

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Replacing the tubes of the original amp heads are JFET transistors. Tsakalis AudioWorks says that in developing the sound of the pedal it focused on “emulating the compression and sag coming from the power amp section, when these amps are pushed to the edge.”

Notably present on the control set is a Variac control, one that emulates the ohmite variac transformer Eddie Van Halen used to achieve his famed “brown sound.” This could raise or lower the voltage going into the amplifier, altering its compression characteristics drastically. Here the Variac knob adjusts the pedal’s internal operating voltage from 7.5V to 21V.

The two styles of Marshall sounds are selected by the central toggle switch that chooses either 19 or 22, with 19 selecting Plexi-style sounds and 22 selecting JMP/JCM800-style sounds. Other controls include a master volume, a power amp presence control and a three-band EQ. There’s a secondary footswitch for a gain boost, the level of which is adjusted with a trim pot accessible via a hole in the back of the enclosure.

The pedal comes with true bypass switching, side-mounted audio jacks and a Marshall-inspired black and gold design. You can hear it in action with the official demo below.

The Room #40 lists for $290.99 / €239.99. Find out more at tsakalisaudioworks.com.