Donner X Third Man (Jack White) "Triple Threat" multi effects, Plus fuzz kit

thecolourbox

I've seen on Instagram there's a collaboration between Donner and Third Man Hardware on the way. From the image it looks like a three part multi effects like they make in various styles already, and from the description I'd wager it's probably going to be called Triple Threat (Jack White being obsessed with the number 3).

Interesting choice of collaboration considering their previous pedals have been with more upmarket or boutique manufacturers rather than a budget (largely clone based) manufacturer but we shall see in due course I suppose!

Musicman20

Got to say that’s a great idea to use a much less expensive brand 

guitargeek62

Oooh, now this is unexpected!

*edit* Yep, a simple multi: single I/O jacks, x3 knobs per effect - presumably just drive-based then? My guess is fuzz, octave, and boost/OD

thecolourbox

What's interesting though is with the others they've done (Bumble Buzz, Plasma Coil, Mantic Flex, Triplegraph, MXR Double Down) they've all been used on his tour boards. But will he be using a Donner multi on the next tour?

He teased a small section of new music the other day so hopefully something new coming so could well be a tour coming up, so we shall hopefully find out soon

amc30

I am buzzing for new music from him - new pedal could be epic and cover a lot of his core sounds - wonder when it'll be revealed 

thecolourbox

The trouble is his core tone is pretty much just boosted amp sounds (usually Twin and Silvertone blended together), so I'm not sure what this could include to do that in what seems to be 3x 3-knob effects, so it will be interesting to what they've decided to put in it.

No sign yet of a date but I don't think the pedals normally take too long after being announced to appear. 

earwighoney

I hope it will be 3 Boss Metalzones in one box.

*fingers crossed*

UnclePsychosis

earwighoney said:

I hope it will be 3 Boss Metalzones in one box.

*fingers crossed*

 

Spaceaceuk

Got to say the idea of this excites me but the Donner branding puts me off , always thought of them as cheap brand cheap but ok quality. Am i on my own with this?

thecolourbox

No not at all, I'm intrigued because of the Jack White connection but am wary it'll just end up being an expensive version of what are usually budget items (albeit pretty decent budget items in fairness).

I don't know if they still do it, but they used to basically give you free stuff in return for positive reviews on amazon, I know they aren't alone in this but they  were certainly one of the more flagrant exponents of it.

Still, i am interested as to east they've come il with, no news yet as far as I can see

Spaceaceuk

Yeah i think this is my issue is it gonna be crap with a blue chip name attached to it to sell well or has Jack White had real direct input into it. If its the latter then this could be something great.

thecolourbox

I think the last couple hes done, he was very much involved with (MXR Double Down and Coppersound Triplegraph) but then the others i think he just liked so they did a Third Man version of them (Mantic Flex and Gamechanger Plasma Coil). Oh and the Bumble Buzz was just a prototype I think, he tried it and liked it with no controls, basically on full when it's on, so that was the first.

I have never bought one although I do really fancy a Mantic Flex in general.  I have a clone of the Bumble Buzz but with added controls on it which is fun

jellybelly

Spaceaceuk said:

Got to say the idea of this excites me but the Donner branding puts me off , always thought of them as cheap brand cheap but ok quality. Am i on my own with this?

Definitely not on your own. I've no respect for them nor any of those Chinese companies that just repackage other people's stuff. They're a symptom of late-stage capitalism and if they disappeared off the face of the earth tomorrow we'd all be better off for it. Could they possibly be putting as much of their profits into R&D as, say MXR, EHX or BOSS? No chance, not even close. I'm sure they'll reverse engineer anything new, software and all, within the year though. Or Behringer will, or any of those 'brands' that all somehow look identical. 

The link up with JW seems odd. Bet it's just a repackage of existing products. Would be amazed and humbled to find out that isn't the case. 

Not that I have any strong opinions. 

EricTheWeary

Mooer did the Ocean Machine with Devin Townsend which was a highly developed product against the run of little metoo boxes that Mooer had been churning out. Something to stretch their engineers, a halo product that maybe didn’t have to make a huge profit. Townsend himself didn’t really use the Ocean Machine, it was an all in one box facsimile of the complex delay and reverb set up he had. 

So, something roughly equivalent - not hard to see that Donner get something out of the Jack White association even if they never turn a profit. And JW gets his name on a more affordable box that he probably isn’t going to use much. 

I am slightly intrigued I must admit. 

steamabacus

I suppose there is the possibility Donner are trying to raise their perceived position in the market away from the strictly 'budget' - kind of like Mooer did a few years back with the development of the Ocean Machine for Devin Townsend.

guitargeek62

Spaceaceuk said:

Yeah i think this is my issue is it gonna be crap with a blue chip name attached to it to sell well or has Jack White had real direct input into it. If its the latter then this could be something great.

Somehow I don’t see JW signing off on that. I’d be shocked if he hasn’t had genuine input into this, whatever it may be.

Flanging_Fred

I’m not much of a fan of the Chinese knock off pedals but the Donner Circle Looper has turned out to be a superb tool for me and I don’t recall seeing anything else on the market with the same features. So like the Ocean Machine, the odd bit of innovation does slip into the sea of clones once in a while.

euan

The entire boutique pedal industry is founded and sustained by copying other people’s designs. There are entire companies dedicated to different versions of the Big Muff and charging three times the price EHX does. 

The sins of Donner are they have the audacity to charge less and produce in the Far East. 

Spaceaceuk

Has anything else been heard of about this pedal since they teased it?

thecolourbox

I've not seen anything, Donner did a post asking people what effects they'd want on a Jack White pedal but that post seemed to disappear so I'd guess Third Man had a word and told them to stop giving the game away haha

Musical_Mystery_Tour

Spaceaceuk said:

Got to say the idea of this excites me but the Donner branding puts me off , always thought of them as cheap brand cheap but ok quality. Am i on my own with this?

I have their Water Echo pedal on my board, it can blend chorus and echo in a very nice way, which is why it earned its place on there. Can't say I've ever tried one of their guitars, but if you check out some reviews of their DTC-100 Telecaster copy, it gets a lot of compliments, particularly for a guitar which can be bought for less than a ton. If I was starting out, I'd probably get one of those rather than a lower end Fender variant. Guitars in that kind of equivalent price band when I first started years ago would have been utter garbage, so it's great that new players can get hold of something that decent for that kind of money.