The MACHINE HEAD reproduces the legendary tone of Ritchie Blackmore around 1972. Albums like "Fireball", "Machine Head" and "Made In Japan" are still the reference for the ultimate Strat sound. Every experienced player knows how difficult it is to achieve such a sound with a Strat. But beware: The MACHINE HEAD is NOT a TREBLE BOOSTER! You could rather call it a "Ritchie in a Box". It is connected directly in front of a clean amplifier. The pedal reacts like a good tube amp and it's possible to control the overdrive from the guitar. Without any loss of treble or dynamics. The MACHINE HEAD can even replace a complete tube amp, that's how good the response and dynamics are. Some of my customers and myself play it directly into an IR loader and then into a monitor! Convince yourself! It's never been easier to sound like Ritchie Blackmore!

JCA MACHINE HEAD PEDAL

THE BLACKMORE SOUND FROM A PEDAL

VIDEOS

Customers say

"Hi Stefan,

got the pedals (Texas Flood and Machine Head) and I love them! The Flood is awesome. Really amazing. I've been using a "Love Pedal Super Six”, which is also a really good pedal—but it doesn’t nail that “thing” the way yours does! Im going to order the 3rd pedal (JCA 45).
I have great respect for boutique builders like you! But again—great pedals these two!!!!
Thank you Stefan—keep it coming!"

Mark Mancina (Three-time Grammy Award Winning American film composer and Tony Nominated music producer))

"Hi Stefan, just a few words to let you know how much I am happy with my new pedal ! I met, just like you, the Blackmore incredible sound in 1972 when I bought my Deep Purple Fireball album. I was 14 years old. I learned by myself “Strange kind of woman” on a cheap acoustic guitar, note by note, the chords and the guitar solos. The sound was not there of course, but with the imagination, the fun was there. Today, after so many years without any success, I had the luck to get your Machine Head pedal. It is over all my expectations! And the delivery ran perfectly. As we say in Canada in French : du bonheur, du bonheur, seulement que du bonheur!"

"That's your awesome Machine Head pedal in action from our gig yesterday (sent me a video). I got so many compliments about my tone yesterday, thanks to your pedal. That's going into a 100% clean Peavey Classic Mini head. I'm soooo happy with my setup now. That MACHINE HEAD is incredible. It feels like a tube amp and behaves like a tube amp."

"This pedal sounds amazing. Possibly my favourite overdrive!"

Now I’ve had the MACHINE HEAD for about 6 months, and I’ve tested it with my different amps (Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb and Vibrolux Reverb, Li’l Dawg «Top Dawg»handwired Bassman). I was looking for a pedal that would give me that early 70s Blackmore sound, I’ve looked and searched for years, now my tonequest is finally over. The MACHINE HEAD together with my 1977 Strat and Li’l Dawg amp (and also the Fender amps) totally nails Blackmores Machine Head and his Live from New York sound, but is also very close to Burn and Stormbringer. This is the absolute best pedal I’ve ever had for that particular sound, and I’ve tried them all:) It’s even better sounding than my Vox AC30/6TB with BSM HS-C Treble Booster, and that is almost the setup Blackmore used during the early 70s. In the future I may order another one.

"I have been Blackmore fan since I was 14 years old. He changed my musical DNA. I cannot understand how you made that pedal sound so good. So much like a tube amp!
Mate, I tell you that machine head pedal is a miracle. It replaces a tube amp! Great work!

"Hi Stefan
Hope you're well. I had my 2nd rehearsal using your machine Head pedal yesterday. What is that pedal doing??!!! It's magic mate!! The tone I have now into my cleanish BlackStar amp is amazing. It sounds so much like a tube amp. And feels like a tube amp as well! I have a tone to die for. I'm so happy with my rig now - thanks to your pedal!"

"I received your Machine Head pedal today. Wow! I have to congratulate you! It is amazing brilliant. The tone is pure Blackmore. Can be sweet, can be aggressive and it's so dynamic! It responds so well to the guitar's volume control. It is so amplike! A masterpiece! Well done. You deserve to sell loads of these and recognition too. Thanks for creating it! "

"Plugged into my Vox AC30 and turned down the volume to give a clean sound. Connected the MACHINE HEAD with a little delay, and it sounds very similar to Mistreated, one of my favorite Deep Purple songs. I'm very happy with the pedal because it creates a fantastic Ritchie Blackmore sound. I also tried the MACHINE HEAD on my ENGL Ritchie Blackmore and although I never achieved Ritchie's tone with that amp, it sounds great with the MACHINE HEAD now. I'm very impressed with the pedal and very happy."

“Hi Stefan,
I'm extremely happy with the pedal. We recently had a gig. Afterwards, a pro guitarist in the audience came up and said I had a mega sound. I wish you every success with the pedal. Is there a picture of Ritchie in my pedal? I had not opened it yet :-) Best regards...”

"Hi Stefan. The pedal arrived and I tested it immediately. First of all: Absolutely great !!! In direct comparison to the BOD DELUXE, the MACHINE HEAD sounds even more present in my opinion. Another advantage of the MACHINE HEAD is that I can activate the pedal with one touch of the button. With the BOD Deluxe, it's a bit of a tap dance with the two switches. All in all, I'm thrilled with both pedals!
Best regards"

"Hi Stefan, you really nailed Richtie Blackmore's tone with the pedal. I had some doubts beforehand, but the very first note convinced me. It sounds absolutely authentic in front of my Fender Deluxe Reverb. The pedal is also convincing in front of my Blues Deluxe. In short: Great sounding peal! Best regards