NAMM 2024: Earlier this month, Jack White teased an imminent collaboration between his pedal company, Third Man Hardware, and budget gear builder, Donner.
A cryptic silhouetted Instagram post hinted that the fruits of their collective efforts would be a stompbox of some sort, though concrete details regarding the elusive effects pedal were practically nonexistent.
That was until now: meet the Triple Threat – a three-in-one analog multi-effects pedal that puts distortion, phaser and echo effects under the roof of one relatively compact chassis.
In hindsight, that the two parties would partner to produce a pedal comes as no surprise – Third Man Hardware is celebrated for its various wild and wacky stompbox collaborations – but the Triple Threat’s price tag is definitely a talking point.
As would be expected from anything with Donner’s name on it, it’s pretty darn affordable: only $99 for a triumvirate of Jack White-approved tones.
Indeed, this makes it the most affordable Third Man Hardware-produced pedal to date, comfortably undercutting the $169 price tag of the Double Down. Heck, even the Reverb exclusive variant – which arrives with a yellow lick of paint – is only $129.
It’s certainly an enticing price point, and one that will no doubt fit well within the reach of the Triple Threat’s target market: beginner guitar players. Sure, strictly speaking it might not be the cheapest entry-level three-fer pedal out there, but it's still less than $100. Plus, how many of its competitors can boast having Jack White in its corner?
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In practice, the three effects each get a portion of the pedal’s topography and have their own control sets comprising a sole footswitch and three parameters. Distortion is given Volume, Gain and Tone; Echo offers Level, Feedback and Time; and Phaser has Level, Rate and Depth.
Officially, the Triple Threat project began after White took interest in Donner's Alpha Series of effects from 2017, but the White Stripes legend's desire to build a budget-friendly pedal goes back even further.
“It has been my hope for a while to make an affordable pedal for beginning musicians,” White said in a statement. “When I approached Donner they knew what I was aiming for and we were able to make something very cool that was also not going to break the bank for a beginning musician.
“All three effects: the distortion, phaser and echo are all heavy duty. I was very impressed with them the first time I plugged into the prototype version that Donner had sent. This set of effects is for all kinds of music, all genres. Maybe not opera, though. The Triple Threat will fit very comfortably on my pedalboard.”
After collaborating with MXR, Coppersound, Gamechanger Audio and Mantic Flex for a series of high-end offerings over the past few years, White’s partnership with Donner makes for a surprising, yet very welcome, turn.
Whether this sets a precedent for future collaborations between Third Man Hardware and Donner – or any other budget brand, for that matter – remains to be seen. The thought of some more affordable Jack White effects pedals in the offing makes for a tantalizing thought, though.
As mentioned, two versions of the Triple Threat are available: the standard black-finished variant ($99), and the limited-edition Reverb-exclusive yellow unit ($129).
Head over to Donner and Third Man Hardware to find out more.
To keep up to date with all the new gear releases, head over to our guide to the latest NAMM 2024 news.
