Origin Effects has launched its latest Halcyon , the Halcyon Blue, which is inspired by Marshall’s famed Bluesbreaker stompbox of the 1990s. Since its inception in 2022, Origin’s Halcyon line has worked to replicate the most sought-after drive tones available. First, there was version, which was followed by .
But whereas many other and offer like-for-like reproductions of these famous circuits, Origin’s M.O. for the Halcyon family is rather different.
Instead, Origin looks to add its own flair to the selected source material, making its Halcyon overdrive pedals so much more than just mere clones. Now, Origin has turned its attention to the Bluesbreaker – an iconic overdrive inspired by Marshall's amp of the same name, which has been championed by the likes of John Mayer during his lauded era. How has this Origin innovation materialized in the case of the Halcyon Blue? Well, just like the previous installments, this pedal uses Origin’s Adaptive Circuitry to change the pedal’s tone in response to volume knob changes and playing dynamics.
In practice, a fully dialed volume will give you a faithful Bluesbreaker tone, while rolling back the output – or playing softly – will tame the mid hump and make way for “deep, sparkling clean tone”. As was the case with the Green and Gold Halcyon, this puts the Bluesbreaker’s best tones into one signal pedal setting, resulting in what sounds like an especially responsive and expressive BB clone. Furthermore, the Halcyon .