JHS Pedals

[Bob M]

While I’m generally not a real pedal guy there are opportunities for pedals that I recognize. I recently picked up a ‘57 Champ and being a reverb fanatic I decided that I needed a basic reverb pedal. I have watched a lot of the JHS YouTube videos and I decided to try their basic spring reverb pedal. I found it to be incredibly noisy. I thought it might be my amp so I ran it with other amps. Still pretty noisy. Enough so that I sent it back. Ended up with a HOF pedal that is much better noise wise. I guess my question is that I want to like the JHS stuff but I’m wondering what experiences folks are having with them.

 

[hotcoffeenochill]

There are so many pedal companies making the same circuits as JHS (many for less money). In this day and age if you had a bad experience with a brand there's practically no reason to try and pursue further products from them. YMMV.

 

[trandy9850]

I’ve always been curious about their Series 3 Delay.

 

[GGardner]

I’ve always been curious about their Series 3 Delay.

Me too.

 

[Wooly Fox]

I would try their 3 series harmonic tremolo or the shimmer reverb unit.

I guess for the price point and being US made there must be some cutbacks that a Caline or Joyo pedal don't need to make to meet expectations.

 

[northernguitar]

‘Incredibly noisy’? Maybe you got a lemon?

 

[MisterZ]

I have the Series 3 Chorus. Seems fine to me.

 

[arlum]

Virtually all JHS pedals, (Josh Scott's pedals), are based on previous builds by other manufacturers that are no longer in production or that had used cheap parts and had a tendency to break. Josh builds quality versions of out of production pedals, and higher quality versions of the rest. In comparison to most boutique pedal builders Josh keeps his prices reasonably low. His pricing is often a steal for the build quality you receive. As you can tell from the somewhat blah external appearance Josh doesn't waste money on issues that don't effect the tone or quality of the build. I think of Josh as the boutique guy for the masses. Of note ...... every now and then Josh comes up with a pedal that, while still based on prior builds, is a new idea that really catches on. A good example is the PackRat. For those of you out their who became enamored with the ProCo Rat Pedals that were responsible for a fair portion of the gain utilized by guitarists of the '80s Josh created the PackRat which is a single pedal that allows you to select from the best tonal versions of the Rat pedal Proco released during that time period. For Rat Pedal enthusiasts this is a gem of a pedal to own.

 

[Igotsoul4u]

I find them to be somewhat hit or miss tone wise. Haven't had any noise issues. I have a JHS Superbolt that I absolutely love. Hated the Panther Cub delay. Wasn't fond of the Angry Charley or Double Barrel.

 

[dankilling]

I have the 3 series flanger and enjoy it. Josh seems like a stand up guy, so I’d try another of his pedals even if I got one that didn’t work for me before buying a mass produced knock off version

 

[Killing Floor]

I have a Lucky Cat delay, a Pulp’N’Peel v4 compressor and a Color Box. They are all really good. I’ve never had a bad result with a JHS pedal.

That said, manufacturing is not perfect AND every circuit reacts with every other circuit so maybe that delay isn’t for you. It’s worth finding the right one and definitely don’t keep some that isn’t right.

But his products are generally very good and fairly priced. My opinion.

 

[Cosmic Cowboy]

I think it would be strange for a reverb circuit to be noisy.

The whole noise issue is funny to me anyhow.

I have played with some cats with amazing skills and tone. Guys that played on records with big artists and toured with em. When Ive played or sat in with em...their rigs are way noisier than mine or anything people here complain about on a regular basis.

A guy I play with recorded with and toured with Delbert McClinton for a long time. He plays a tele through a 5e3 kinda dirty... cranked...loud as it gets without feeding back...rides the volume with a coily cord. His rig hisses like an old amp normally does, but his sound is amazing once the playin starts.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

No idea about noise and other quality factors. But I wish their pedals were cheaper here. I might try some then.

The 3 Series pedals here, at used prices, are around the equiv. of the new price in the US.

And, unlike the US, the 3 Series prices vary here (I think they're all $99 in the US, right?) - going to the Amazon Japan JHS page, and looking at 'sold by / ships from Amazon,' the octave reverb is the equiv. of US$179 here, & the cheapest I can spot, the regular reverb, is 'only' the equiv. of US$112. Most are around US$120 - $126.

And the regular, non-3 Series types, go for around the equiv. of US$180 and on up.

Josh seems to be one of those polarising characters. In threads online at least, people seem to either love him or hate him. Off and on, he gets accused of this or that, but in places and at times in the past he's addressed these criticisms - not that I can really remember any details, nor care that much about it. But, his responses seem more reasonable than the criticisms. At least, that's the feeling I have.

Pax/
Dean

 

[teleman1]

Extremely impressed with my JHS tidewater mini tremolo.

 

[Ed Driscoll]

I have the JHS Bender and Colourbox. The Bender is a great clone of the old Sola Sound Tone Bender, and an excellent sounding fuzz box. The Colourbox is modeled after the pre-amps in a Neve desk, it can add subtle, err, colour to a guitar all the way to full-on "Revolution"-style chainsaw fuzz, but it's not something I reach for every day.

 

[ping-ping-clicka]

I have a HOF reverb and I like it. I like to put the guitar in a live room with a quick decay.

 

[TokyoPortrait]

Hi.

The Colourbox is modeled after the pre-amps in a Neve desk

I presume JHS (& you) use the ‘with a u’ spelling because Neve was / is an English company?

Pax,
Dean

 

[Jack Clayton]

Glad you landed on the HOF. It's a solid pedal that does what it does quite well. As far as JHS, based on my experience, I'd say you got a lemon. I adore JHS, and have never had a negative experience with any of their pedals.

What they do best, as has been pointed out, is take old gems that are either too rare for normal people to get at a reasonable price (like the boss FA-1), too obscure for most of us to even be aware of (that old fuzz that the JHS Cheeseball is based on) or so flimsy in their build quality that originals aren't a viable option. (Like the Arion SCH-1)

My favorite JHS pedal is the Clover preamp, based on the boss FA-1. It's the preamp The Edge used for years, and it's got a very special something to it, but almost nobody clones the thing. So josh remedied that. This is what he does best, and I think it's why JHS stands out from other companies.

Anyway, if you ever see another JHS pedal that seems up your alley, I'd encourage you to give it a shot. I think this may have just been bad luck.

 

[ABetterTelePlayer]

I own 3 JHS pedals:

The Clover Pre-Amp which is on my main board.

And then the Kilt V2 and the Prestige boost on my second board.

I've never had issues with any of them, they've all been top-notch. I own EQD pedals as well, not really any difference in quality. A good pedal is just that... A good pedal. They sound great and are built like tanks.

 

[bobio]

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