“The most musical, unique and dynamic distortion effects I’ve ever used”: Linkin Park reveal the secret weapon behind their From Zero guitar tone – and it was designed by former Poison guitarist Blues Saraceno’s dad

If you are looking for a stompbox stock tip, go long on Dirty Boy pedals, because Linkin Park has just revealed that the Ball Buster boost was the secret sauce in their electric guitar tone on comeback LP, From Zero.

This, of course, was the first studio album since the death of frontman Chester Bennington, featuring Emily Armstrong on vocals alongside guitarist/keyboardist and co-producer Mike Shinoda. Collin Brittain co-produced the album with Shinoda, and made his debut on drums for the nü-metal trailblazers, replacing co-founder Rob Bourdon.

All things considered, From Zero was officially a big deal. And Brittain has revealed that biggest deal on the pedalboard – used right across the album – is a boost pedal designed by Alex Saraceno, father of former Poison guitarist Blues Saraceno.

Intended to hit the front-end of a mid-gain guitar amp hard – think Vox AC30, Marshall Plexi, Hiwatt – the Ball Buster is now sadly out of production, and if you own one, you’re probably sitting on quite an asset. Those original stompboxes are worth quite a bit of money. You also own quite a serious pedal.

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Dirty Boy is now being operated out of Madrid by Danny Gomez, and Brittain had to text Gomez to tell him the Ball Buster is all over From Zero – it is “especially noticeable on Heavy Is The Crown” – and invited Gomez out to meet the band in Paris, all of whom have been using Dirty Boy for years.

“Dirty Boy pedals are the most musical, unique and dynamic distortion effects I’ve ever used, hands down,” said Brittain. “I use them on almost every single project. I’m so happy Danny is continuing to build on such an iconic legacy.”

This begs the question whether Gomez, who took over the company in 2024, will bring the Ball Buster back. This is a clever boost pedal. It does not just dump a whole ton of gain on your amp – though it sure does that – but it offers some tone-sculpting features, bass and treble controls that really do some heavy lifting, and an H-M-L three-way switch that acts a little like a mastering control.

Heavy Is the Crown (Official Audio) - Linkin Park - YouTube

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Saraceno’s original design work is still writ-large in the current Dirty Boy lineup. The Buzzy Boy, Germanium Boy and Afro Fuzz pedals are all Saraceno designs.

The new Dirty Boy Preamp is a Gomez design, but was based on an amp designed by Saraceno Sr. for Saraceno Jr. Expect it to turn up on Shinoda et al’s Linkin Park pedalboards soon. Gomez gave them all one to take home.

You can check out the range at Dirty Boy. Who knows, Gomez might reinstate the Ball Buster.