Jam Pedals X Stu Mackenzie Tiny Amp Destroyer Distortion Pedal

Stu had been building around a very particular sound in recent KGLW records: two Boomsters pushing a tiny Cash Converters amp far beyond where it was meant to go.

We recreated that setup on our side and spent time with it until we understood where it starts to come apart. There’s a point where the amp stops smoothing itself out. The breakup shifts, the response changes, and the whole thing starts behaving in a way bigger amps simply don’t.

That’s the part we kept.

TAD is a way of getting into that same territory, but with enough control to shape it. The gain is split into two stages you can run on their own or stack, letting it move from driven tones through to much heavier ground.

It can lean into that blown-out, small-amp character, or sit as a full-range drive that holds its place in a mix, from low gain breakup through to dense, saturated distortion. There’s enough shaping there to move well beyond that boxed-in feel when you want it to.

It’s not a polished distortion. It comes from pushing something past where it’s meant to go and staying there.

The artwork by Jason Galea, the visual mind behind much of King Gizzard’s world, reflects that same idea. Something held in place and forcing its way out.

We took a prototype to Stu during KGLW’s residency in Athens to see how close we had got. He plugged in, played for a minute, and said, “you nailed it.” He used it for the rest of the tour, and from there the final shape of TAD came through real-world use.

TAD can sit as a low gain driver, a main distortion, or something much more pushed. It’s stable when you need it to be, but it doesn’t flatten everything out. It keeps some movement in the sound, especially as you start stacking gain stages. That’s usually where TAD starts becoming itself.

TAD is built around three footswitches.

Two of them control the gain stages, G1 and G2, each with its own gain control. G1 runs hotter, G2 is more restrained. On their own, G2 covers lower gain while G1 moves into more driven and distorted tones. Stacked together, they reach much heavier territory.

The two gain stages share a common set of controls:

• Level sets overall output
• Bass and Treble are active, allowing both boost and cut

These give you enough range to move from fuller sounds to something more focused without losing control of the signal.

Two additional controls define the character of TAD:

• MAGIC toggle shifts the overall voicing closer to the response of a small amp when engaged
• Notch starts neutral and progressively removes a key band as you turn it up, shifting the pedal from a fuller, more forward sound into a more scooped, hollow character, dramatically revoicing the entire pedal

For the most pronounced small-amp feel, keep the gain stages lower, engage the MAGIC toggle, and shape the “boxiness” with the Notch.

The third footswitch engages an independent treble booster, based on the original JAM pedals Rooster. It sits at the front of the circuit and reshapes how the gain stages react, tightening the low end and shifting the overall character. An internal dip switch lets you choose between a more traditional voicing and a fuller response. It also works beautifully on its own as a standalone treble boost.

By default TAD ships with the treble booster set to the fuller voicing.

• Power Requirement: 9VDC, centre-negative
• Bypass: True bypass
• Maximum Power Consumption: 90 mA (all circuits engaged)
• Input Impedance (Treble Booster OFF): ~500 kΩ
• Input Impedance (Treble Booster ON): ~50 kΩ
• Output Impedance: <5 k="" li="">
• Dimensions: 14.5 × 12.4 × 5.9 cm (5.7 × 4.8 × 2.3 in)
• Weight: 511 g (1.13 lb)