Since Dorcas was set last week, I had a hypothetical second signal chain in mind.
Not another pedalboard. Not another collection. Just one slot.
The idea was simple: one guitar, one solo drive pedal, the VHT Special 6 and PPC108, with the amp-side Mimic Mock I handling the rest.
The Special 6 taught me something important. Some pedals that work beautifully elsewhere simply cannot push this little amp and cab into the edge of breakup. Beano and Special Request are wonderful, but they don’t have enough drive for this particular job. Tchula and Acapulco Gold can do it, but they already belong to Dorcas.
I did have four guest pedals sitting around: the Green Russian, VOX Bulldog, VOX Straight 6 and Crayon. But none was quite right for this particular one-slot brief.
The Green Russian deserves a dedicated fuzz session of her own. The VOX pedals and Crayon, meanwhile, simply have too many knobs for what I wanted this second path to be.
I wasn’t looking for another complicated pedal.
I wanted one solo artist with one simple job: make the Special 6 sing.
Then came the JHS Bender.
She passed the audition with flying colours. One pedal could take the guitar from clean-ish grit through overdrive and into heavier territory. For a while, she looked like the obvious answer.
Then the Orange Distortion arrived.
I bought her used for S$70. She had been listed at S$79, and Davis Guitar once sold her for S$299. More importantly, she passed the same audition at both the Pro Junior and the Special 6.
On the Special 6 and PPC108, she reached the edge of breakup and the overdrive zone easily. I played her for twenty minutes, and the question became very simple:
If the Bender and Orange Distortion give me the same enjoyment for this particular job, why keep the extra knob and pay S$80 more?
The Bender’s fuzz is excellent, but this second path doesn’t need fuzz. Dorcas already has her own dirt and fuzz territory.
So the Bender lost her edge.
The Orange Distortion takes the single slot.
Guitar → Orange Distortion → Special 6 → PPC108 → Mimic Mock I
I originally imagined this second path would be a small, discreet pedal. Instead, the winner arrived in a huge, unmistakably orange vintage-looking box.
I like that.
The hypothetical second signal chain has become real—not through another pedalboard, but through one solo artist doing exactly what the path needs.
And she cost me S$70.
Sometimes the right answer isn’t the most sophisticated pedal. It’s the one that passes the audition, makes you want to keep playing, and happens to be ridiculously good value.
As Edna Mode said in The Incredibles:
“Lucky favours the prepared.”