JHS Pedals is commemorating what firm founder Josh Scott has called “the biggest mistake of my career” by releasing the Fumble – an $89 boost based on an ultra-rare Dumble circuit.

The affordable standalone unit comes amidst overwhelming fan demand, after the clean boost circuit was mistakenly put in the V1 Notadümblë pedal last year.

As Scott explained at the time, the Notadümblë was meant to include the clean-boosting magic of John Mayer’s one-of-one A Box Later pedal, which was custom-built by the late Howard Dumble and later cloned by Scott.

Then, Scott realized he had made a huge mistake and, in a schematics mix-up, had actually used Mayer’s even-rarer preamp buffer, the Dumble BBC-1, instead.

Consequently, the Notadümblë was discontinued after the first batch – all of which contained the incorrect circuit – sold like hot cakes.

Moving forward, this is the only place the BBC-1 circuit will live, and the small, affordable pedal is as simple as it gets. With dials for its Input and Output, and true-bypass switching, the faithful recreation promises “enhanced clean tones.”

But while the Output is for your Master Volume, the Input isn’t actually a gain knob; it attenuates bass and input gain simultaneously at the front of the circuit. Rolling it off gives a thinner, tighter response. Doing the opposite makes it fuller and louder.

It can be used as a clean boost at the front of pedalboards, or to slam the front of overdrive pedals and dirty amps. Yet this pedal’s story has one more surprise up its sleeve.

While “digging through” the original unit’s history, JHS realized, “The BBC-1 isn’t really a Dumble circuit at all. It’s a JFET preamp lifted almost part-for-part from a Barcus Berry acoustic preamp made in the 1970s – the kind of small utility box that bridged piezo pickups into electric guitar amps in an era when nobody had a modern acoustic preamp.”

Howard Dumble had cloned the circuit and built a few pedals for LA-based players. JHS Pedals adds that “he then used the same JFET stage inside his amplifiers and called it the FET mode.

“Which means the legendary Dumble FET sound is a clone of a 1970s piezo preamp,” the company says.

So, the JHS Fumble is a clone of a clone of a clone, which once accidentally masqueraded as a different clone altogether. Anyone else's head hurting?

Scott has now revealed that the Notadümblë Mark II is on its way – presumably with the right Dumble inside it. But for those that want JHS’s Dumble BBC-1 recreation on its own, the Fumble is not to be, er, fumbled.

“I’m excited to commemorate my own failures,” says Scott.

Get one for just $89 from JHS.

Elsewhere, Scott has raised concerns that ChatGPT is erasing pedal history after an experiment with the AI platform.

What is it?

The Coyote is a new octave fuzz pedal from JHS, based on the Moonrock Fuzz by G.S. Wyllie. If your reaction to that is "the what?" you're not alone.

According to JHS, after being around the music scene in the 1960s, Wyllie lived a reclusive life in North Carolina, "sandcast[ing] his own enclosures," and "etch[ing] his own boards," never mass producing the pedal.

That didn't stop it from ending up in the hands of famous musicians like Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez and David Byrne.

Specs

• PRICE: $149 | £149 | €199
• TYPE: Octave Fuzz
• MADE: USA
• CONTROLS: Volume, Mode
• CONNECTIVITY: Input, Output, 9V DC in
• BYPASS: True
• POWER: 9VDC Centre-negative, 5mA
• DIMENSIONS: 65x40x120 mm
• WEIGHT: 0.5lbs/250g
• CONTACT: JHS Pedals

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

The Coyote is a clean build, inside and out, housed in a tidy green enclosure.

The pedal has an unusual topology, using a transformer, but not in the normal way you'd expect for an octave pedal. The result is a very different voicing, particularly for the fuzz.

Usability and features

Usability and features rating: ★★★★☆

Like any fuzz pedal, the Coyote is pretty user-friendly. It's a case of plugging it in to a Marshall half-stack, grabbing a guitar and twisting the two knobs. The flip side of this of course, comes from the unusual function of the second control.

JHS describe it as going from a swell when fully counter-clockwise, to a fuzz at 12 o'clock, and an octaver when turned further clockwise. It's a reasonable description, but the multi-function knob makes the pedal more complex. Still, with an analog pedal like this, it's basically unavoidable.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★☆

Of course, unless you're one of the handful of Moonrock owners, you've never heard this pedal before.

The real question is, have you heard anything like it? The answer to that question is, yes. It's got its own thing going on, but fundamentally, it sounds similar to other analog octave units.

At 12 o'clock, the level is a fair bit below unity volume on our test unit, with a range of pickups. A quick nudge to the right sorts everything out.

It's the second control that absorbs most of my attention. JHS describe it as a 'swell' when it's set counter-clockwise, but it's closer to a gate in character. Compared to say, a Boss Slow Gear, the Coyote is less predictable, and I didn't find it very useful.

Once it's into fuzz territory, we're on more stable footing. In some ways this is a little bit like a Fuzz Face, but smoother, more like a Big Muff in overall voicing.

Whatever pickups I used, I found it to be quite dark, and mid gain, so pushing it with a treble booster in front was necessary to get the most from it. If you play more low-gain styles of music, the saturation level might not be an issue, but the voicing may be.

The octave works best, like most octaves, on the neck pickup above the twelfth fret. Where it differs is that, like a Fuzz Face, but unlike most other Octave Fuzzes, it cleans up really rather nicely at the guitar. This lends it versatility for replicating hyper-specific recorded psychedelic guitar tones.

Verdict

Anybody who's been following the guitar pedal market for more than a few months will know that hype and marketing often come over sounds, not to mention originality.

Here would seem to be the exception. The Coyote is a strange and weird anomaly that stands apart not only from most known octave fuzz designs, but also from fuzzes full stop. The issue is, that as JHS themselves acknowledge, it's still not a pedal for everybody.

Guitar World verdict: If you're after an octave fuzz, and the usual suspects haven't done it for you, then the Coyote is worth a look. As a standalone fuzz, it's not the best option – players after a touch-sensitive fuzz are better off with a Fuzz Face, while for most others a Big Muff will do. The space cadets, as always, can try a Z-Vex or Death By Audio sonic destruction device.

Also try

Hands-on videos

JHS Pedals

R.J. Ronquillo

Jamie Slays

• "So much more than just 'Mk.gee in a pedal', this clever little preamp box leaves plenty of room to find your own voice": JHS Pedals 424 Gain Stage review

JHS Pedals founder Josh Scott has a new signature guitar with Bilt, and it’s an instrument that will be very familiar to many.

Scott regularly plays a white offset Relevator when demoing pedals on YouTube, and now it’s getting a signature release.

As Scott explains during his off-camera cameo on 60 Cycle Hum’s video exploring the weird guitars that call the JHS headquarters their home, the Relevator is (was) a one-of-one guitar custom-built for Scott designed to be “the ultimate pedal demo guitar.”

Fittingly, it looks like something concocted in a mad scientist’s laboratory, with the offset body and Starcaster-style headstock a charming match, and a swarm of pickups and switches that make the guitar so well-suited for putting pedals through their paces.

Scott’s signature model, then, is a careful recreation of that guitar, with all its kooky quirks in tow.

At its core is an alder body, given a JHS-coded Arctic White gloss finish and a white-and-chrome pickguard, alongside a hard maple neck capped with a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard.

Built to a 25.5” scale length and featuring a 12” fretboard radius, it also features an Adjust-O-Matic roller bridge, Mastery vibrato and metal button tuners.

Things get extra bonkers when we go over to the electronics, with two Firebird minibuckers, a Jaguar pickup, and a Lipstick pickup making for the ultimate tonal squad goals.

Pair that tasty quartet with a three-way selector, a kill switch, a neck/middle pickup toggle via white sliders, and neck/middle and bridge/middle selectors via the red sliders, and no one should be left wanting.

Made in South Korea and priced at $1,600 apiece, the Bilt x JHS Pedals Relevator could be a revelation for tonally demanding players, and leave pedalboards the world over quaking in their rubber-bottomed boots.

The first pre-order drop was 100 strong and sold out in just 15 minutes. The good news is that Scott says this isn’t a limited run. The initial batch was made available to test the waters. Well, consider the waters thoroughly tested, and expect plenty more to arrive soon.

Scott has also stated that his share of sales will go toward his non-profit art center, which he launched with his wife. It includes a program providing kids with free music education.

Keep your eyes on Bilt for more details.

In less positive news, Scott has warned that ChatGPT is erasing pedal history after an experiment yielded some scary results.

JHS Pedals owner Josh Scott has exposed the factual inaccuracies of AI and how the tech's “crazy” misinformation is a danger to the history of pedals.

Artificial Intelligence, whether we like it or not, is here to stay. And it isn’t all viciously villainous – Positive Grid’s Bias X plugin has received positive reviews for its prompt-generated tones, for instance. But it has a dark side, too, and Brian May has already spoken of his fears of how the tech will impact the music industry.

Josh Scott, meanwhile, is on a mission to show AI – in this case, ChatGPT – for what it really is: an inaccurate, unreliable source that gets fact all wrong.

“I just asked ChatGPT on my iPhone the history of my industry, guitar pedals, and the answers that I got back were so horrible and inaccurate,” he says in a new YouTube video, which sees him undertaking an experiment in real time.

“I am going to take Chat GPT, and I'm going to question it about my own industry, guitar pedals,” Scott explains. “As many of you know, I am a super nerd here. I have researched, and I have traveled all over the world. I have sat with the inventors. I have written about this stuff in detail. I can even ask it some very detailed information about that company, which I know I'm the only person who knows this information.”

So what does it spew out? Gobbledegook.

Scott asks which guitar pedal is most important from an economic and social standpoint. I don't think anyone expected the “Bibanez Tube Screamer” to be the answer. And the stone-cold look on Scott's face says it all.

However, mispronunciation aside, its reasoning – the pedal’s sheer popularity plus how it helped reshape rock, metal, and blues – isn't awful. But as Scott delves deeper, things get weirder. It first claims that the Big Muff Pi was made by Ibanez, not Electro-Harmonix, and refuses to list its sources; it just says it draws on “well-documented music history.”

“When doing research and giving people information for things they're going to requote on forums, or even Facebook groups, one thing that commonly happens is people just say stuff and a lot of what they're saying you're just telling them, but there's not actually a thread of evidence or provenance for the claims,” Scott returns. “And I think this is a big problem.”

Like Google's search engine has done for decades, AI feeds off pre-existing information from across the web to answer prompts. The problem is, the sources it pulls from aren't always factual.

Ironically, ChatGPT agrees that provenance matters “in a world where pedal lore gets tossed around like campfire stories,” despite the fact that it is doing exactly that. Scott has a theory as to what’s happening here.

“It's in a feedback loop of its own making,” he posits. “It's giving people information that's inaccurate. Those people are posting it, and then it's reading itself. And this is horrible for history.

“Pedal history is in danger,” he claims, issuing a warning to all pedal fans. “ChatGPT is rewriting facts.” It’s easy to understand these fears.

It's worth watching the video in full because it's a fascinating, if dystopian and terrifying, watch, and Scott consistently challenges the historical inaccuracies it regurgitates. The man lives and breathes pedals like no one else, and he has ChatGPT's number every step of the way.

All in all, this underscores another moral dilemma surrounding the rise of ChatGPT and the public’s use of it.

“Be sure to question sources,” Scott concludes. “Be sure to question where the information is coming from. And do not take something as fact simply because it's in a forum or has been typed into the comments.”

Elsewhere, AI practice tools and web-browser amps are a thing, but Billy Corgan warns that musicians using generative AI are doing a deal with the devil.

March has come and gone, and that means it’s high time to look back on the past four weeks to find out which new gear releases had you – yes, you, dear reader – reaching for your piggy bank.

We’ve run the numbers, checked the percentages and – thanks to all your engagement in the weekly guitar gear round-up polls – have been able to pick the five hottest new gear releases of March 2026, as chosen by Guitar World readers.

The competition was extraordinarily high this month, so the guitars, pedals and amps listed below deserve a pat on the back for rising above the rest. As always, I’ve thrown in a few worthy honorable mentions of my own.

Make sure to catch the weekly gear roundups to vote for your favorite new releases – and, if you fancy having your thoughts shared in one of these highlight reels in the future, leave a comment explaining your pick…

Sunn Beta Mini

I’ll confess, this one was a bit of a surprise when I looked through the round-up stats. Sure, I thought the Sunn Beta Mini – a tiny powerhouse amp head deemed by its maker to be “the ultimate portable amplifier” – would get some attention. But never did I think it would get this much.

It got a staggering 115 votes, the most for any piece of gear we’ve highlighted in these round-ups to date. That’s 22% of the count for its respective week. It goes to show that players are still going absolutely crazy for Sunn.

The cult classic amp brand announced its return, with the help of Fender, back in 2023, and it’s been going from strength to strength with a trickle of classic reissues and newer innovations.

At 10” wide and only 4lbs in weight, the Sunn Beta Mini looks like a force to be reckoned with, bottling the sound of the OG beta that captivated the likes of Kurt Cobain, Metallica, Tool and more in a pint-sized package. A worthy winner.

IK Multimedia TONEX One Double Special

Coming in second place with a whopping 71 votes, and racking up 31% of vote count for its respective week, is the IK Multimedia TONEX One Double Special. The latest special edition mini-modeler, the Double Special puts six-figure amp sounds into a sub–$300 pedal that you’d easily be able to squeeze on the busiest of ‘boards.

You get a load of different Dumble amp models baked in, along with a range of overdrives – from the Morning Glory to the Klon – to boot. The Dumble amp pedal race isn’t short of contenders, but IK Multimedia seems to have piqued peoples’ attention.

Ibanez 8540PIII

Again, this one was a bit of a surprise for me. The Ibanez Power Series… it’s not really my thing. I get its appeal, and I appreciate what it’s going for, but there’s just something about the elongated lower horn that gives me the chills. And I love Ibanez guitars. This one? It’s a bit too daring for me.

But you lot seemed to really, really like it, giving it a third-highest 46 votes, meaning it comfortably breezes into the March 2026 highlights group. The 8540PIII gives the quirky P Series model a serious glow-up, treating it to a Purple Neon burl maple top and Tree of Life inlay.

Fender John Osborne B-Bender Telecaster

A John Osborne Fender Telecaster? With a B-Bender?! Take my money. We saw this beauty at a pre-release Fender showcase at NAMM earlier this year, and I’m stoked to see it out in the wild.

While it’s not the first B-Bender Tele Fender has ever produced, it is Fender’s first in-house B-Bender system, and the first time we’ve seen one in the Fender catalog in over 20 years.

It’s a hopeless dream, but if Fender could make a Player II B-Bender Telecaster, that’d be great…

Fender 75th Telecaster Collection

Fender began celebrating the 75th birthday of the Telecaster by releasing the 75th Anniversary collection. Naturally, more than one guitar was involved in the drop – there were five limited-edition modes in total – but we’ll save the spotlight for the Liquid Gold American Ultra II, an uber-modern take on the classic design that boasts Fender’s first in-house dual rail pickup design.

Honorable mentions

I’m currently rebuilding my pedalboard for some shows I’ve got next month, and at last count I had four JHS Pedals on it. A fifth would be bordering on the ridiculous. Unfortunately, its new Coyote pedal looks like it could end my hunt for a fuzz pedal, with three wild and wonderful fuzz tones on tap. I really shouldn’t.

Another pedal I liked the look of this month was the Source Audio Pathways, a reverb/tremolo twofer that looks to take on the Strymon Flint. I’ve had the Flint in my signal chain for about a year now, so know how hard it’d be to top. Still, the Pathways arrives with serious credentials, and judging by the killer sound demos, it looks up to the task.

Hello, and welcome to Guitar World’s weekly gear round-up, your one-stop-shop for keeping up to date with what’s been happening in the big wide world of guitar gear over the past seven days.

From new electric guitars to amp modeler updates, the guitar industry is never short of fresh releases, and it can sometimes be hard to stay in the loop with every new launch.

To make things a little easier, we’ve put together an essential must-read guide that will cover the major releases, the boutique drops, and everything in between.

This week started off slow but finished with a bang, with new drops from JHS Pedals, Two Notes, Ibanez, and more...

JHS Pedals Coyote

Oh, look. Another JHS pedal that I’m definitely going to be adding to my pedalboard. Fortunately, I’m actually in the market for a new fuzz pedal, and with the Coyote, you actually get three different pedals in one. So, I don’t just want it. I need it.

There are two knobs, one footswitch, and hecking loads of fuzz tones on tap. There’s Swell, Fuzz, and Octave modes, which can be swept through via an all-encompassing mode knob, as well as a do-it-all volume pedal. What more do you need?

I always tell myself I should probably expand my setup, lest my pedalboard starts looking like a shrine to Josh Scott, but I can’t help it. The pedals are just too darn good (and affordable).

TemPolor Melo-D

We’ve had generative AI plugins and pedals, but never before have we had a generative AI smart guitar. That was, until this week, when TemPolor dropped the Melo-D – a super high-tech beginner tool that looks to game-ify the playing experience in order to keep you playing for longer.

It’s not exactly a like-for-like gateway to the real guitar, but it looks to be a solid tool for getting the basics of strumming and rhythm down before the complexity of chords become a concern. Plus, it can generate progressions and melodies based on text prompts or audio input, and teach you how to play them, so it could be a good support tool for songwriting.

Two Notes Captor X +

One of the world’s foremost specialists in load box and speaker simulation design, Two notes is back at it again with another potentially game-changing creation, the Torpedo Captor X + –, which promises to set a new benchmark for going direct with tube amps.

You know the score. Tube amps sound really good when cranked. The only problem is, that isn’t always practical. Enter Two notes, which has masterminded many ways to overcome the “loud amp” problem.

Its newest release continues that lineage by taking the industry leading Captor X to the next level. It serves as a reactive load and attenuator, a virtual load shaper, and true stereo DynIR engine, offering authentic feel and immersive dimension. It’s the latter spec that makes the + version stand out – it’s been dubbed “a serious step up in spatial realism”.

Iconic Guitars Josh De La Victoria 7-string

Josh De La Victoria has a new multi-scale seven-string that has got guitar fans in a hot mess, and when you feast your eyes on the above you’ll quickly see why. A multi-scale seven-string inspired by a vintage Strat? What’s not to like about that?! If Fender ever wanted to make guitars for prog players (not that it needs to cater to that audience) this’d be what we’d be looking for.

It’s sleek, stylish with a tinge of the traditional, but plenty of modern appointments that could make it a serious metal monster. Misha Mansoor agrees. The man who helped popularize the modern metal offset guitar has already asked for one. And he knows a thing or two about nice guitars.

Flattley JK Fuzz

I say I need a new fuzz pedal, and two of them drop in the same week. What is this sorcery?! The JK Fuzz, from boutique British builder Flattley, looks like a strong contender for my pedalboard – and yours, for that matter – promising to provide classic 1960s-era Fuzz Face tones. Here, you also get an additional post fuzz tone control, and an input buffer, for extra versatility.

I particularly like the halo ring around the footswitch as a way of showing when it’s on. A handy twist to the standard LED approach.

Strymon Midnight Cloudburst

No, this isn’t a new Strymon pedal, but this is a new-look Strymon pedal. That’s right, the celebrated Cloudburst has been given the firm’s midnight treatment, meaning it now comes decked out in a stealthy all-black colorway. Killer tones and killer looks? Check and check.

Von Frankenstein Monster Gear

After five years of extensive research, Von Frankenstein Monster Gear has unveiled its newest creation – a custom humbucker that leverages 12 proprietary custom hex bolt pole pieces, three oversized ceramic magnets, and hand-wound bobbins to produce power, clarity, and unrelenting impact. It looks metal. Sounds metal. Is metal. I wonder what my Thinline Tele will sound like with some of these...

Ebbe Designs Modular magnetic pedalboard

In the past two years, I’ve sized up my pedalboard three times, and I’ve rearranged it countless more. I’ve gone through too many reels of Velcro and too many Pedaltrain layouts to even count. If only I’d had this beauty from Swedish start-up Ebbe Designs, my signal chain troubles would be history.

I love the look of this. It’s a magnetic, modular pedalboard that can expand and rearrange to your heart's content, thanks to a nifty design that leverages magnetic baseplates you stick to your pedals. It’s by far a more effective way of playing stompbox tetris, and the option to expand means you won’t need to buy a new ‘board every time your signal chain expands.

Josh Scott has already given it his seal of approval. I’ll be first in line when this becomes available to the masses.

Ibanez 8540PIII

One of the more, er, intriguing releases from Ibanez over the past few months has no doubt been the revival of the Power Series. That thing was certainly a Statement Guitar. And things just got a whole lot weirder with its first flamed maple top variant.

Originally launched in a bold Yellow colorway, the P Series model – notable for its bizarrely elongated lower horn – has now been decked out with a new exotic colorway that has no business looking as good as it does. Bizarrely, I kind of like it.

Ibanez QX52B

I have become something of a headless guitar convert over the past few years, having been lucky enough to play a handful of Strandberg guitars. I've never had the chance to play a Ibanez Quest, though, and now I’m more tempted than ever thanks to these two ultra-stealthy new additions to the range. The black-on-black finish just looks so darn good.

Voyage Air Guitar

Another week, another new travel guitar from a company that is promising to solve all our instrumental travel woes. This time, it comes from Voyage – an early feature on Shark Tank – which has developed a cut-away acoustic that folds in half. It’s said to be car trip-proof, buskable, ideal for camping… you get the picture. We’ve seen our fair share of travel electrics, but it’s quite cool seeing a travel acoustic. Something a bit different.

Dunlop Cry Baby BB535 reissue

Dunlop has revived the BB535 wah, the classic boost-equipped 1990s model that offered its own unique, throaty growl. Dunlop dusted off the best-sounding model in its archive for the project, resulting in a part-by-part reissue that also throws in some modern accoutrements to boot.

Catalinbread CB Paint

The wave of gear nostalgia continues unabated, with Catalinbread now throwing its own hat in the ring with the CB Paint – a clever little clone of the Alesis Microverb. In essence, it’s a lo-fi 1980s-style reverb that looks to tap into the game-changing tones of the ambient, shimmer-y rack unit.

Given its design, the OG had a unique sound that made it a favorite among ambient and shoegaze guitarists. That very same soul and feel has been bottled in the CB Paint, which is complete with a fittingly retro design.

Taylor Ben Harper Gold Label 512e Special Edition

Last, we have Taylor's new Ben Harper Gold Label 512e Special Edition acoustic, a collaboration with the legendary singer-songwriter. An acoustic-electric model, it blends the new – Claria System electronics with soundhole-mounted controls, and, of course, the company's trademark V-Class bracing – and the old; a Honduran rosewood fretboard and that stunning golden-brown shaded edgeburst top.

It's not the world's cheapest acoustic, but for those looking for a serious songwriting companion with both retro looks and 21st century specs, it's an enticing proposition.

JHS Pedals is back with another versatile-and-slightly-wacky stompbox, the Coyote – a three-in-one fuzz based on one of the rarest pedals of all time.

At its heart, the Coyote is a vintage-style fuzz pedal designed to be “a complete one-for-one replica” of the late Glenn S. Wyllie's boutique Moonrock Fuzz. That pedal has garnered something of a cult status over the years, and JHS Pedals leader Josh Scott is among its fans.

Wyllie was an elusive and mysterious figure, with little information about him online, save for a snippet of handycam footage in which he makes a cameo at a music store. JHS Pedals says he was something of a reclusive builder with unconventional techniques. But he sure knew how to make 'em.

As Scott states, a replica of this ilk has never crash-landed in the marketplace, though it’s been the subject of a few DIY recreations over the years. He wants to use this release to celebrate Wyllie's legacy and tell his story.

As such, the Coyote cycles through three fuzz effects via one mode knob, with another for Volume.

Those three effects are Swell, Fuzz, and Octave. The further you dial, the more effect you get, before it switches to the next effect.

The Swell does what it says on the tin, blooming “with a gated, reversed-tape quality,” while Fuzz fuzz oozes vintage 1960s rock charm, and Octave adds a biting high-end to what’s played – it’s an octave up, rather than down.

There’s also the promise that the Fuzz mode can handle chords, while the Octave mode is pure Jimi Hendrix – whom Wylie met several times – with intentionally uneven clipping for a real untamed vibe.

But while Scott says that most fuzzy devices can trace their lineage back to one of the Octavia, the Super Fuzz, and the Tone Machine, the Moonrock drifts in its own peculiar orbit.

“It's one of the rarest fuzzes I've ever tried to find,” he says. “It's way more rare than a Klon. I looked for one for about six years. People don't get rid of them.”

The JHS Coyote has been in development for over four years, with Scott and co. taking their time to master this tribute to one of the pedal world’s most intriguing enigmas.

Pedals cost $149 apiece, offer true bypass, and take standard 9V power.

See JHS Pedals for more.

The pedal drop follows the Double Dragon, the firm's first-ever octaver that was designed to be imperfect and unpredictable, and its Morning Glory Clean, a first-stage overdrive inspired by a jazz legend. JHS reckons it is the best pedal it's ever made.

JHS Pedals is venturing into previously uncharted territory with its first-ever octaver pedal, the Double Dragon – but this two-headed beast has a different approach to fire-breathing.

Josh Scott’s firm has covered a lot of ground with its stompbox creations, from a build-it-yourself Klon copy to the John Mayer-approved, lo-fi -friendly 424 Gain Stage and beyond. The Double Dragon, meanwhile, marries that lo-fi aesthetic with an all-analog circuitboard.

JHS says the pedal is “built on the shoulders” of the 50-year-old octave-divider technology that powers the likes of the MXR Blue Box, Boss OC-2, and Electro-Harmonix Micro-Synth, for a more nostalgic take on the doubling effect.

It can thicken up single notes, but when playing chords, the “circuit starts to stutter, jump, and fight itself, making something new.” The effect is not meant to be perfect, and it’s the pedal’s imperfections, rather than flawless replications of what’s played, that give it its mystique.

Indeed, this is more than just mimicry. Like a joyous Dr. Frankenstein cackling in his laboratory, illuminated by a thunderstorm, JHS exclaims, “It’s alive!”

The lower octave provides the foundation, while the upper octave is said to land somewhere between an Octavia and a Superfuzz. Each octave gets its own independent Level control, alongside a Master Volume and Dry knob for dialing in the unaffected signal. Beyond them, there are two footswitches, with a Master On/Off on the left, and an On/Off for the Oct+ on the right.

JHS suggests pairing the Double Dragon with an overdrive pedal, mid-heavy Tube Screamers in particular, and, for the bolder among us, sticking a fuzz pedal after it in the signal chain. Adding pitch vibrato, meanwhile, makes for more synth-y sounds.

“This is a look backward at octavers,” says Scott. “Every DSP company does a really good job at a low latency, perfectly replicated up or down [effect]. I don't want to do that.

“I want to take old garbage octaves from our past and make my version of that because it's fun, unpredictable, incredibly musical, even though I hate that word. It feels like a friend you have to collaborate with, rather than a device that does what you want it to.”

It features top-mounted jacks, draws the standard 9V of power for easy popping onto pedalboards, and offers silent buffered bypass switching.

The JHS Double Dragon is available now for $179. And yes, it's suitable for bass too.

Check out JHS Pedals for more.

It arrives in the wake of the best pedal JHS has ever built (it reckons) in the Morning Glory Clean, an alternate take on the Op-Amp Big Muff concept, and the retooling of one of its most beloved signature stompboxes.

JHS Pedal owner Josh Scott has found the prototype for the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail – a legendary reverb pedal made famous by John Frusciante, Jim Root and countless more.

Scott, who is one of the world's foremost effects pedal historians, has been hunting down the OG pedal for some time, all the while being told a prototype didn’t actually exist. That changed when he paid a visit to the Electro-Harmonix archives to research his soon-to-be-published book, Made on Earth for Rising Stars.

Created with illustrator Daniel Danger and six years in the making, the book explores the history and artistic impact of Electro-Harmonix through a series of interviews, musings on creativity, and, as Danger puts it, “the deepest of dives into guitar pedal nerdom.”

It's ironic that a pedal called the Holy Grail would, in fact, become Scott's holy grail. He sees it as the crème de la crème stompbox by what he believes is “one of the greatest companies in American history when it comes to innovation.”

It was during the research process that the prototype – which does exist – was discovered.

“We were digging in the basement at Electro-Harmonix,” Scott, speaking on a YouTube live stream dated January 26, says. “We'd always ask, but we were always met with, ‘Nah, there are no prototypes.’ At some point, you're like, ‘There has to be prototypes.’”

He can’t remember whether it was he or Danger that found it. But find it they did.

“To my memory, we were packing up one day, after interviewing some engineers,” he continues. “Then all of a sudden Owen, who’s Mike's [Matthews, founder and owner] son and works in artist relations, goes, ‘Have you been down to the basement?’

“This building is massive, it's in Queens, and it's like half a city block. The basement is for R&D and tube storage, but he means the basement basement.”

And there it was. With a stainless steel front plate, with “Holy Grail 1, handle with care” scrawled upon it in Sharpie, and “insane” wiring beneath it.

At its heart is a chip that has since revolutionized pedal making.

“In 2000, Mike Matthews goes to this trade show, and he sees this chip set, the Crystal CS4811,” Scott adds. “With it, you can essentially load in their pre-programmed algorithms, and you can mess around with it and tweak it.

“This is a big deal; it's the beginning of simple DSP (Digital Signal Processing) for guitar players. This unit, to my knowledge, is the world's first digital spring reverb unit. Mike Matthews saw the opportunity, had it in the hands of an engineer, and produced a product before anyone else.

“Now, what's funny is that the original units shipped with three reverb sounds on the outside, but some people figured out that you could hack it and have eight total sounds via the dip-switches,” Scott then says.

As he explains, though there were eight dip-switches inside, each unlocking different characters, the pedals had a simple three-way switch on their face.

What happens next, now that Scott has the lost prototype in his magic hands, remains to be seen, but the book is now available for pre-order, and it's being published by Jack White's company, Third Man Books.

Jack White and JHS collaborated on a wacky delay pedal, the Troika Delay, last year. It's well worth checking out.

See Third Man Records for more info on the book.

JHS Pedals has rolled out the Morning Glory Clean – an updated overdrive pedal that puts a small-but-mighty twist on the company's hugely popular transparent overdrive platform.

On the surface, it sure looks familiar, sharing much of the design DNA of its namesake in the Kansas-based guitar effects company’s catalog.

But it is a very different take on the much-celebrated transparent overdrive – and the idea came to JHS Pedals supremo Josh Scott when he was watching contemporary jazz guitar maestro Julian Lage at work.

Like many players, Scott was inspired watching Lage doing his thing – only in this instance, it was Lage’s soundcheck that was blowing Scott’s mind.

“I watched Ju­lian Lage dial in his tone at a sound­check in Chica­go. Vin­ta­ge Fen­der amp. Collings semi-hol­low gui­tar,” writes Scott on the JHS Pedals website. “He ad­just­ed pickup heights, moved po­si­tions on stage, chas­ing the per­fect bal­ance. It was cap­ti­vat­ing.”

Over the years JHS Pedals has unveiled four different versions of the Morning Glory. It’s the stompbox that made 'em famous, its transparent drive so versatile, so useful, that this little block o’ gold has been a ubiquitous presence on pedalboards the world over – Lage’s included.

“He's a big rea­son it end­ed up on jazz ped­al­boards world­wide,” says Scott.

Scott spoke with Lage, asking him what he looked for in an overdrive, and that got his mind racing. The Morning Glory could be reinvented once more.

Version 4, which is still in the JHS Pedals catalog, doubled the headroom, added a Gain toggle switch, and made the Morning Glory compatible with its Red Remote system.

The Morning Glory Clean, meanwhile, is a very different beast, pairing a “studio-grade” parallel clean gain stage with the drive to make what JHS Pedals describes as the best first-stage overdrive it has ever built.

Circuit-wise, this is more than a mod. It really is a two-hander between clean gain and the pedal’s drive.

Oftentimes, we see “clean” knobs that are really just mix knobs, a helpful way of preserving some of your original electric guitar signal in the mix, and ergo find nice textures that way, but this Clean knob is a dual-gang pot that scales clean gain hand-in-hand with drive.

The idea is that you get the best of both worlds; you get the drive adding compression, making your signal more harmonically flamboyant, i.e. the good stuff that happens when you turn up the drive.

But you also use that Clean control to preserve the nuances of your guitar’s signal, the low-end, the authority of your pick attack, and all of that, and JHS Pedals says it is a way for getting those studio-style clean sounds that were recorded at truly anti-social volumes in recording studios.

There are all kinds of uses for the Morning Glory Clean. “Stack a dis­tor­tion in front and the sus­tain opens up in­stead of clos­ing off. Run it af­ter de­lay for new territories of series/parallel textures,” says JHS Pedals, adding that it also works a treat with amp modelers – and with bass guitars too.

With all this clean talk, it is gratifying to know that you could run this as a clean boost pedal, too. Alternatively, turn the Clean dial fully counterclockwise and it behaves like an O.G. Morning Glory (this has the same voluminous headroom as V4). JHS Pedals suggests cranking the Drive control then using the Clean as a balance.

Feed it 9V DC from a pedalboard power supply and you are good to go. Its yours for $179. See JHS Pedals for more.

Reverb has revealed new sales analytics that shed light on which effects – both new and old – have been finding their way onto players’ pedalboards throughout 2025.

The online gear marketplace’s annual sales reports continue to expand in scope, and after uncovering telling trends across the electric guitar and amplifier markets, its pedal sales data takes a deeper dive into which effects are truly top of the tree.

The rankings have been split into new categories, with the best-selling pedals that launched in 2025 earning their own list, alongside overall best-sellers, the most popular used pedal picks, and a leaderboard of sales totted up by various firms.

It’s worth noting that floor modelers are not being counted as pedals, and their sales vastly outstrip tube amps again, as traditional amps continue to struggle.

So, what of the stompboxes? Well, Boss has been named as the best-selling pedal brand of the year, with Electro-Harmonix, MXR, and TC Electronic directly behind.

Honorable mentions go to Xotic and Fender, who hold up the rear, having released a five-star rated booster and affordable challengers to Peterson and Boss’s thrones. But there's no spot in the top 20 for Marshall, which dropped a debut series of amp-in-a-box pedals at the start of the year.

The bestselling pedal that’s new to 2025 goes to the MXR Rockman X100. The revolutionary headphone amp, championed by Joe Satriani, Phil Collen, and Boston (the band, not the city), has seen Tom Scholz’s design reimagined in stompbox form. It proves ’80s guitar tone nostalgia has well and truly captured guitarists’ imaginations this year.

MXR also sits in second place with the MB301 Bass Synth, while JHS' schematic fumble clearly didn't hurt sales figures as the now-discontinued Notadümblë sits in third.

Of overall pedal sales for 2025, a collaborative pedal, EHX/JHS’s Nano Lizard Queen Octave Fuzz, takes top spot. TC Electronic's PolyTune 3 Mini and Boss GE-7 Equalizer, two fairly unglamorous but hugely useful pedals, trail closely behind, and last year's best seller, the IK Multimedia TONEX One, falls to fourth.

Joe Bonamassa's Way Huge Klon copy, the Deep State, is the best-selling signature stompbox, ranking sixth with Jack White's JHS x Third Man Hardware Troika delay – a later release – and the Jackson Concorde-inspired version of Randy Rhoads MXR SE Distortion+ pedal placed 9th and 18th.

But what about second-hand sales? Interestingly, the Line 6 HX Stomp, which escapes modeler categorization, races into first place, with the MXR M169 Carbon Copy Analog Delay and Boss BD-2 Blues Driver also on the podium.

See Reverb for the full rankings.

JHS Pedals and Electro-Harmonix have come together to release the Big Muff 2 – a new take on the timeless fuzz pedal, based on a recently unearthed schematic that spent 50 years buried in dust.

Few pedals command the same reputation as the hallowed Big Muff. First released in 1969, the flagship fuzz was first conceived and created by EHX founder Mike Matthews and Bells Lab engineer Bob Myer, and later underwent revisions and changes under the direction of other engineers.

One of those concept revisions, though, never saw the light of day. Instead, the hand-drawn schematic that hypothesized the creation of a Big Muff 2 was put together, filed away in a notebook, and forgotten about for 50 years.

It wasn’t until 2021, when Josh Scott of JHS Pedals was visiting Myer’s New Jersey home while researching his new book – which charts the history of EHX – that the unreleased circuit was unearthed.

Fast-forward to the present day, and that alternate, previously unheard of take on the classic Big Muff circuit has been turned into a reality.

It was, as JHS puts it, a remarkable discovery. The schematic was labeled “Big Muff – Using (2 Dual Op-Amps)", and while an Op-Amp Big Muff was released in the 1970s, it was designed by Michael Abrams and Howard Davis. Myer’s own plan for the pedal was shelved and forgotten about for five decades.

The journey starts with that discovery. Myer’s garage was filled with old prototype pedals, tools that helped forge the earliest EHX innovations, and countless notepads that traced the journey. Among the reams of material was that circuit design, which Myer put together after Matthews requested a Big Muff variant that didn’t use transistors.

“This is the never-before-heard version of what could have been,” Scott explains of the pedal in a launch video. “It's super-modern. It feels really heavy. It does this crazy crossover between super-aggressive Big Muff, but it will also do overdrive well.”

The circuit itself delivers a uniquely aggressive edge to the Big Muff sound, with enhanced low-end, cutting midrange presence, a sharper attack and an “exceptional” output volume.

“For nearly 50 years, this “Lost Big Muff” design sat forgotten in his notebooks – until now,” JHS writes. “We found it. We built it. And have brought it to life.”

News of the pedal has been joined by the opening of preorders for Made on Earth for Rising Stars: The Electro-Harmonix Story. Written and assembled over six years by Scott, the book serves as a deep dive into never-before-seen corners of EHX and pedal history.

The book will also explore the firm’s hallowed Hall of Science – an oft-forgotten footnote from EHX, which set the template for the future of guitar stores then disappeared without a trace.

Only 5,700 Big Muff 2 pedals will be made. Visit JHS Pedals for more.

Ross Electronics is back in the game after 2023’s failed revival under JHS Pedals, with the firm now entering a new era of family stewardship.

The firm was founded by the late Charles “Bud” Ross in the 1970s, who had found success in the amplifier market with Kustom the previous decade. He was a gear inventor consistently ahead of the curve, prompting JHS Pedals to help revive the stompbox brand in 2023.

However, the return failed to meet expectations, and the plug was pulled a year later. Now, though, Ross Electronics is under the control of Bud’s grandson, Cameron, who is launching five new Era 6 pedals to celebrate its next chapter.

The pedals – comprising a chorus, distortion, fuzz, compressor, and phaser – have been reshaped with “modern engineering” but also celebrate the firm's roots.

“I am the captain now,” Cameron writes on Ross’ Instagram page. “We’re starting with the core line you know and love, each rebuilt with player-driven improvements and the exacting standards of modern pedal design.

“Expect refined circuits, rugged builds, and updated features that make them more versatile and gig-ready than ever.”

As shown in the image in the post, which features the old and new pedals lined up side by side, the pedals are retaining their classic colors and simple aesthetics. Cameron also took to the comments to assure that fan feedback has been taken into consideration with these new builds.

Under JHS Pedals, Ross’ relaunch got off to a flier. By the end of 2023, 5,400 units had been snapped up. Between January and November 2024, however, only 334 sales were notched, resulting in the end of the ill-fated revival.

“The Ross re-release did not go as planned,” JHS Pedals accepted at the time. “We loved it, the market did not.”

That hasn't deterred the Ross family, though, and Cameron is clearly looking ahead to a potentially bright future. “Legends never die,” the company says on its website. “They evolve. Ross pedals are officially back.”

A mailing list has been set up for those wanting to hear about its impending relaunch – but, of course, Guitar World will be all over the story, too.

Keep your eyes peeled on Ross Electronics in the meantime.

Hello, and welcome to Guitar World’s gear round-up, your one-stop-shop for keeping up to date with what’s been happening in the big wide world of guitar gear over the past seven days.

From new electric guitars to amp modeler updates, the guitar industry is never short of fresh releases, and it can sometimes be hard to stay abreast of every new launch that may be of interest to you.

To make things a little easier, we’ve put together an essential must-read guide that will cover the major releases, the boutique drops, and everything in between.

This week, we have a rather special edition of the round-up in store. Why? Well, because it's almost Black Friday, of course, so while I've been keeping a close eye on all the new guitar gear this week, I've also been keeping tabs of all the unmissable Black Friday guitar deals that have been cropping up in the lead-up to Cyber Weekend.

So, expect your usual dose of flashy new guitar gear, with some big Black Friday bargains thrown in for good measure...

Fractal Audio AM4

The mini amp modeler market has never been more competitive, and now Fractal Audio – widely considered to be the gold-standard in the industry – has sought to go toe-to-toe with Line 6 and IK Multimedia with the AM4, its most compact and portable unit to date.

With the acclaimed Axe-Fx III tech in its corner, and boasting a newly retooled UI that prioritises ease of use, the AM4 looks like a hit in the making. A worthy companion to the slightly smaller FM3, the AM4 has been dubbed Fractal’s most compact all-in-one rig solution to date, with four configurable footswitches, over 100 presets, more than 250 effects from the Axe-Fx algorithms, and gapless switching.

I’ve long been a convert to the world of amp modelers, and ever since I ditched tube amps for modelers two years ago, I’ve never looked back. In fact, they’ve changed my playing life so much, I don’t see myself ever going back to traditional amps – and I encourage all players to give them a go at least once in their life.

To that end, while the AM4 is a bit too new for a discount, there are still plenty of price-cut amp modelers that have been reduced for Black Friday.

The Neural DSP Nano Cortex – the modeler I swear by – has been reduced from $729.98 to $689 on Sweetwater. The IK Multimedia TONEX – a close competitor that GW has raved about in the past – is now just $329 at Guitar Center. Finally, the Line 6 HX Stomp – the piece of gear that changed my rig like no other, and that started my amp modeler journey – is $100 off at Guitar Center.

JHS Pedals Kilt 10

I’m a sucker for JHS Pedals. On my pedalboard, I currently have the Morning Glory, Moonshine and Notaklon. Having recently reviewed the 424 Gain Stage, I fully intend on adding one of those at a later date.

Now, I’ve got my eye on another: the new JHS Kilt 10 – a high-gain overdrive and fuzz pedal that’s been given an update to celebrate its 10th birthday. There’s a retooled clipping circuit for more headroom and a smoother attack, as well as an expanded breadth of Gain settings. It also has a flashy new polished aluminum chassis that looks rather dashing.

The same versatile controls return – Gain, Volume and Tone knobs, and Cut/Flat, G1 and G2 switches – as does the Red Box compatibility for extra switching flexibility. It is, simply, one of the best drive pedals you can get, capable of running the gamut from transparent overdrives to zipper-style fuzz.

And, better still, it’s been included in Sweetwater’s mega JHS Pedals sale, which is slashing up to 25% off all its JHS stock. That means the JHS Kilt 10 can be pre-ordered for $186.75 – a saving of $62.25 from its original $249 price tag.

Time to add a 5th JHS pedal to my rig? With 25% off this just-launched distortion, it’s hard to resist…

Gibson Les Paul British Racing Green

Is there a cooler, classier finish for a guitar than British Racing Green? I’d argue not. In fact, I’d give it the edge over Surf Green – arguably the only other socially acceptable green that can be used for a guitar [I raise you Seafoam Green – Ed].

Lucky for us, Gibson has rolled out the red carpet for that exact finish, treating some of its most famous models to a British Racing Green cosmetic overhaul. In the drop, there’s a bunch of conventional classics – SGs and Les Pauls – as well as more intriguing additions, such as a Flying V, Explorer and Firebird.

They’re all absolutely stunning, but that ’50s P-90 Les Paul is especially breath-taking. I’ve had a thing for P-90s ever since I had a brief fling with an SG Junior. That LP is screaming my name.

Fortunately for me, Guitar Center has sliced $150 off its exclusive Epiphone Les Paul Custom P-90 model, which is now available for just $649 this Black Friday.

Elsewhere, Sweetwater has also taken $600 off its stunning, Sparkling Burgundy Les Paul Standard '60s model. Something for those who are looking for a genuine Gibson this Cyber Weekend…

Fender x Palace Skateboards Telecaster

This week, Fender announced its collaboration with Palace Skateboards, which has resulted in a host of accessories and a custom-finished Telecaster. The guitar world and the skate scene have always gone hand in hand, so the partnership makes sense. It’s quite a daring design, admittedly, but Palace Skateboards is known for its bold graphics, so it fits the bill. Underneath the artwork, it’s a standard Player II Telecaster.

If the Fender x Palace Tele collab has got your G.A.S. senses tingling, you can bag a Limited Edition Player II Telecaster at Fender for just $587.99 thanks to a gigantic $252 price reduction. More of a Strat player? Fear not. Fender has given its Player II Stratocaster the same discount.

Fender Tom DeLonge Ad Astra 10

Tom DeLonge’s To The Stars gear brand announced its latest out-of-this-world drop this week, partnering with Fender to produce 10 one-of-a-kind Starcaster models that each feature actual meteorites sourced from samples of the moon, Mars and more.

The Starcaster has experienced a bit of a renaissance over the past year or so, largely thanks to DeLonge’s continued loyalty to the model which resulted in a signature reissue last year. The Ad Astra 10 line takes that one step further. The meteorite samples were crushed by hand using a pestle and mortar, and have been eternalized underneath a clear coat on the guitars’ bodies. Mesmerizing stuff.

In keeping with the spirit of Cyber Weekend festivities, there are a bunch more unmissable Black Friday Fender deals worth sinking your teeth into...

Harley Benton King-12 CE NT

What’s this? Another new Harley Benton acoustic? With 12 strings? And it’s mind-bendingly affordable?! We’d expect nothing less from the cheap gear champion, but even so, we really like the look of this. It’s a cutaway jumbo with a solid spruce top and 12-string configuration, and it weighs in at $349.

It becomes arguably one of the best entry points to the world of 12-string acoustic for many, with plenty of faux-premium stylings – including an extended pickguard, block inlays, and gold tuners – that belie its humble price tag.

Now, this one hasn’t been included in Thomman’s Black Friday sale, but a whole bunch of other Harley Benton gear has. For Cyber Weekend, Thomann has slashed the prices of a huge range of pedals, acoustics, accessories, and more.

Highlights in the sale include the DNAfx GiT Core amp modeler multi-effects for just $77 and the TableAmp V2 Bluetooth for $66. There are plenty of guitars to check out there, too…

Fuchs Audio JB-ODS

A Dumble that won’t set you back $175,000? That’s what Joe Bonamassa’s new Fuchs signature amp is shaping up to be. Built by Andy Fuchs – a renowned disciple of the legendary Howard Alexander Dumble – the JB-ODS is loosely inspired by a classic Dumble Overdrive Special, though with some Fuchs-approved tweaks.

The collaboration came about when Bonamassa asked Fuchs to build him a run-around go-to gigging combo for the studio and small club shows. He was so blown away by what Fuchs built that the project soon turned into something bigger.

There’s a JB Celestion speaker at its heart, with onboard reverb – something most authentic Dumbles don’t have – and a three-way Brite switch for a trio of distinct voices. It’s $3,999, so still very much at the premium end of the spectrum of guitar amps, but nowhere near the six-figure sums that Dumbles fetch.

For those on the hunt for a new tube amp that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg this Black Friday, it’s worth noting that Fender’s 68 Custom Twin Reverb has been reduced by more than $270 for Black Friday. And, if you’re after a more modest practice amp, Positive Grid’s hugely acclaimed Spark Mini is now just $199 at Sweetwater.

Neural DSP Nano Cortex and Quad Cortex update

Here's one that's really caught my eye this week. Neural DSP has rolled out not one, but two major platform updates for its flagship Quad and Nano Cortex modelers. There's a lot that's been introduced, but the big headline is Neural Capture Version 2 – a wholesale expansion that introduces next-gen V2 Captures.

On paper, V2 offers high-resolution modeling and greater dynamic accuracy; enhanced realism for more complex, touch-sensitive gear, such as fuzz pedals and responsive amps; and improved tracing of expression, such as dynamic cleanup, sag and transient response.

In other words, it all sounds more real. I personally was blown away by Neural Capture Version 1, so if V2 can deliver on all those promises, it could be game-changing. Of course, 'realism', 'authenticity', and 'tube amp tones' have all been the bed rock of amp modelers, and these days, the general consensus is that the tech is as good as it's ever going to get.

Not so, says Neural DSP, which is clearly committed to pushing the very boundaries it once expanded when it launched the Quad Cortex.

For the Nano Cortex, it's worth noting there's also a new tremolo effect, offline Cortex Cloud mode, a new intuitive workflow and more.

Now, excuse me while I go and test out the new Dumble Overdrive Special V2 Capture...

New Donner Hush finishes

They've been some of the more left-field guitar designs of the past year, but now Donner's Hush X Pro and Hush I Pro Silent guitars – both of which leverage a forward-thinking design approach characterized by a headless setup and detachable arms – both have some new finishes.

The body of each is, admittedly, quite small, but now they are available in White Luxe and Midnight Glow, and Hawaii Blue, Space Black and Maillard Fade. 10 out of 10 for the finish names, there.

Black Friday guitar deals

• Black Friday guitar deals
• Black Friday Fender deals
• Guitar Center Black Friday deals
• Sweetwater Black Friday deals
• Musician's Friend Black Friday deals

JHS Pedals has celebrated the 10th anniversary of its underrated Kilt distortion by releasing the retooled, special edition Kilt 10 – and it’s been given a few tidy upgrades to boot.

In short, the JHS Kilt 10 overdrive pedal has got a “refreshed voice” via an updated clipping section for higher headroom, a smoother attack, and more dynamic versatility, alongside a “reimagined aesthetic” that looks like it was designed by a Scottish Cyberman.

The OG Kilt was built in collaboration with guitarist and producer Stu G, and was created to meet a breadth of in-studio and on-stage needs. It's been a stalwart of the JHS lineup since 2015, but perhaps doesn't receive the same plaudits that the company's more widely praised pedals – such as the Angry Charlie and Morning Glory – routinely enjoy.

So, as the milestone 10-year mark crept over the horizon, JHS Pedals decided to introduce a host of upgrades.

Its Gain control now offers “a far more usable range from 0-25%, unlocking articulate, low-gain textures that weren't previously accessible”, while the top end is now better equipped at slicing through the mix like a hot knife through butter.

There’s more output on tap, resulting in a more responsive tone “across your entire rig,” and more headroom for adding some balls to a clean amp, or stacking it with other ODs. Further still, its Low-Cut mini switch is “far more amp-friendly,” and ensures that it works just as well with vintage tube amps as it does digital amp modellers.

Lastly, its clipping circuit – while preserving the original’s tonal charm – now offers increased compression and distortion, which JHS says delivers “touch-sensitive nuance” in spades.

In all, there are controls for Gain, Volume, and Tone, mini toggles for clipping (G1 and G2), Low-Cut, and, alongside jack in/outs, there’s an additional Red Box jack for hooking up a latching footswitch. Doing so unlocks some pretty tasty gain staging personalisation.

The drive is at its lowest with G1 and G2 down. G1 injects more overdrive into the mix, G2 more fuzz. Therefore, flipping both up means things can get pretty hairy.

“This is textbook Josh,” says founder Josh Scott. “It’s an old, vintage thing that's obscure-ish that people love but no one is making and is highly tweakable. It's like a playground for me, because there are so many things you can do with this circuit.”

The pedal is priced at $249 and is available now.

Fortunately, Sweetwater has slashed up to 25% off all its JHS Pedals stock for Black Friday, meaning the Kilt 10 can be preordered for a bargain price of just $186.75.

Head to JHS for more.

In my experience, Black Friday is probably the best time of year to pick up a new effects pedal (or multiples, if you’ve been saving hard). Having covered these sales for a few years, stompbox bargains are always the first thing I hunt for. So it was with great pleasure and curiosity that I spotted Sweetwater has slashed prices across its entire range of JHS pedals.

We’re talking huge savings across distortions, delays, modulations, you name it. If Sweetwater stocks it, the price has been cut as part of their Black Friday guitar deals. Josh Scott’s YouTube-famous brand has been at the heart of modern guitar culture for years now, evolving from humble mod jobs on Boss pedals back in 2007 to one of the most respected names in the industry.

• Shop our pick of this year’s best Sweetwater Black Friday deals

If you're looking for an overdrive to get your pedalboard up and running, the JHS 3 Series Distortion Pedal is a great starting point and has been reduced by 25% to only $74.25. Alternatively, if you're looking for a pedal with ultimate analog warmth, the bulb-driven JHS Good Vibrations modulation pedal has had $100 knocked off during the sale. The there's discounts off classics like the Morning Glory transparent overdrive and the iconic 3-channel Angry Charlie.

With savings of up to $113 and over 66 pedals to choose from, I’ve picked out my top five JHS deals worth checking out. Let’s dive in:

Shop more Black Friday deals

• Amazon: Black Friday instrument deals
• B&H Photo: Early Bird Holiday deals
• Fender store: Player II Strat lowest price ever
• Guitar Center: Up to 40% Black Friday sale
• Guitar Tricks: $899 $99 annual sub
• IK Multimedia: Up to $300 off Tonex hardware
• Musician's Friend: Early Black Friday 50% sale
• Native Instruments: Over 50% off UA bundle
• Plugin Boutique: 100s of software savings
• Positive Grid: Up to $50 Spark savings
• Reverb: Black Friday early access
• Sweetwater: Up to 80% off Black Friday sale
• Universal Audio: 12 Days of UAD software sale
• Waves: Huge plugin bundle deals up to 95% off

JHS Pedals and Jack White’s gear brand, Third Man Hardware, have teamed up for a 'horse-powered' delay pedal that has already become an indispensable part White’s stage and studio rig.

The Troika Delay is designed for instruments and vocals. It was all over White’s latest LP, No Name, and has been a versatile part of his live rig ever since the prototype was shipped his way.

The studio-grade design is equipped with both XLR and 1/4" inputs with dedicated transformers, clearly built with the studio and stage in mind. The trio of slider controls certainly play into the studio spirit, and they're on hand to manipulate Repeats, Volume, and Distance. There's also a Mic Gain mini dial on the side.

For outputs, there’s a choice of Echo and Dry/Wet. It’s important to remember to flick the mini switch inside the pedal depending on if you’re going to be using it for vocals or instruments.

Characteristically, the tape delay leans into White’s love of “mechanical” sounds, but also eliminates the hum, hiss, and extra snarl that vintage units struggle with. The transformers are a key player there.

It's inspired by a rare Honda Sound Works Fab Delay that White sourced online. The Japanese boutique stompbox was news to JHS Pedal's Josh Scott, who'd never come across one before White brought it into discussions.

Here, the sliders have been switched to up-and-down movements – as opposed to side-to-side – allowing White to change parameters with his feet mid-song.

“We got the prototype right before working on No Name, and we used this a lot on vocals, guitars, guitar solos, and synths,” White confirms. “Once it's on the table next to your console, you just keep using it. The ease of use is so great. It's a pedal that's never existed before, no doubt about it.”

The pedal is named after a Russian sleigh that gets pulled by three horses, hence the very-badass skeletons in the background of the promo video – and the 'horse power' pun.

The Third Man Hardware x JHS Troika Delay is now available for $349. There’s also a limited edition yellow version available on Reverb for $369.

See Third Man Records for more.

Scott's firm is the latest to collaborate with White's brand, after Third Man Hardware worked with Eventide for a sub-octave fuzz and analog synth, Anasounds for a “soulful spring reverb”, and Donner for the Triple Threat.

Meanwhile, Scott recently suffered a serious cycling accident that saw John Mayer step in as JHS's de facto pedal demoer. Scott has also revealed how a trip to IKEA inspired his family-friendly DIY pedal range.

Josh Scott, the mad scientist behind JHS Pedals, had to dial down the crazy after a recent mountain biking accident – but he’s getting back in the saddle now. “I definitely keep overdoing it, because I love getting stuff done,” he admits.

That’s life for the man who invented the Internet-breaking NotaKlön and a host of stomp-boxes. So of course he used his convalescence to his advantage, reporting: “The accident gave me lots of time to rest, dream, and work on ideas and concepts.

“I think I’ll come back better than ever. And I think JHS will do some very exciting things that would have never come to fruition if I hadn’t had the downtime. There was a silver lining in it.”

The NotaKlön has been a massive hit. How did it come about?

“It came from me loving the Klon. But there are so many good replications or clones of the circuit, and I wanted to do something unique. After several years of wrestling with that dynamic, I had an epiphany at an IKEA.

“I started thinking about the IKEA Effect – an actual sociological term. When we build a piece of furniture, it’s more valuable to us because we put effort in. That’s a big piece of IKEA’s success.

“And it felt like a really fun idea. I saw a product where parents who love the JHS brand could do something as a craft with their kids. That’s how we filmed the video and marketed the product.”

Has the continued demand surprised you?

“Yes! But I feel like I shouldn’t have been. With every release we’ve done over the last couple of years, I’m learning that we need to build more than we ever dreamed.”

What makes the NotaKlön different?

“There are clones of the Klon circuit, even DIY kits, but there’s nothing as simple, modular, intuitive and almost Lego-like as the NotaKlön. I don’t have vast ideas about changing or reshaping the market, but I do think it’s a truly innovative way to make a pedal.

“It even irritated a few people! I saw a couple of other pedal builders who seemed to be annoyed by how toy-like and fun it was. And to me, that was the whole point. I wasn’t trying to change the world – I was trying to create a product that got parents to build something they love with their kids.”

Guitar World named the NotaKlön one of the top 50 pieces of gear of the last 25 years. What does that mean to you?

“I don’t really think about ranking my pedals; it can sometimes feel silly! But as a guy who spends days of my week on pedal history, writing and filming, there really has been nothing like it.

“To sell tens of thousands as a kit from our website shows it struck a chord with people in a deep way. A lot of people may have gotten hung up on the cork-sniffing boutique-type thinking, and missed the point.

“So I’d say it does deserve to be considered as an important pedal, because it’s about the experience as much as the sound.”

JHS pedal kits are changing the game; other companies are hopping on that trend.

“There have always been DIY kits – JHS is not special in that! I even created kits with StewMac and they sold fine. I’ve had other people’s DIY kits on my show or on my Short Circuit series. So it’s hard to say people are jumping on a trend when the trend has existed since the ‘70s.

“I do think that our product line is less intimidating and more satisfying to build for most customers. Not everybody wants to solder; not everybody feels like they can, and that’s okay. We give them a product they feel comfortable with. To me, that’s how it changes the game.”

Elsewhere, the 424-gain stage is helping change tone trends.

“My earliest memories of recording were on a multi-track tape recorder. I’ve always loved those units for their tactile feel and nostalgia. I don’t think the 424 created any kind of trend – pedals and other things have played off the concept for quite a while.”

How did the 424 come about?

“I always wanted to do my take on it and fit it in the infrastructure of products I’d already made. Around January, I made the official call to go for it, because I kept getting texts from my friends who were really interested in working something practical into their live guitar rigs.

“There are some conceptual units that will come out, adding more features and much more powerful interfaces. When we developed the version you see now, we were also developing bigger versions of it. That’s all I can say without giving away the secrets!”

After your accident, John Mayer dropped a surprise video.

“John texted me after the accident and said he wanted to make sure things kept moving forward in my absence. He knew I wasn’t able to film and I was in a lot of pain.

“I think he just did it to be awesome and encouraging and a friend, and it was really special. John truly is an amazing person; he took a lot of time out of his day to film that video. It’s a humbling and really wonderful experience.

“The video was a blast, it reached a lot of people, and we sold lots of units because of it – and that’s exactly what John wanted. I love that he had the intuition to do that and that he enjoyed helping out in a time of need.”

How is your recovery going, and what’s next for you?

“I’m recovering well. I’m about seven weeks out. My face has healed up shockingly fast, according to the doctors, but I’m dealing with a lot of fatigue and soreness. I’m not 100 percent – it may take several months for me to feel like I’m back to where I was.”

• Check out the JHS Pedals range.

JHS Pedals' Josh Scott was the brain behind last year's Notaklön, the budget-friendly Klon clone that took the internet by storm.

Not only was it a Klon clone – that fact on its own is bound to drum up some interest, after all – but it was also one that you could assemble yourself, IKEA-style, without needing any soldering skills.

“The development of that pedal came from me loving the Klon, but being really torn on the fact that there are so many good replications or clones of the circuit, and wanting to do something unique,” Scott reveals in a new Guitar World interview.

“Over the span of several years of wrestling with that dynamic, I had an epiphany while at an IKEA. I started thinking about the IKEA Effect, which is an actual sociological term, and how, when we build a piece of IKEA furniture, it’s actually more valuable to us because we put our effort into it.”

As Scott explains, the Notaklön also provided an opportunity for the brand to expand to the next generation of guitar players.

“I really saw a product where parents who love JHS, the JHS show, our brand, and all of that could connect with their kids, and they could do something as a craft with them. That’s how we filmed the video and marketed the product.”

But with Klon clones seemingly hitting the market every couple of months or so, the Notaklön needed a secret sauce that, according to Scott at least, would make it different.

“There are a lot of clones of that circuit, and there are even DIY kits – but there’s nothing so simple, modular, intuitive, and almost Lego-like in the guitar market,” he enthuses. “I don’t have any vast ideas of it changing or reshaping the market, but I do think that it is a truly innovative way to make a pedal.”

As for whether we can expect anything similar from the JHS Pedals universe – after the release of the JHS Pedals Notadümblë – or even from fellow pedal builders, Scott observes, “It was successful enough that it even irritated a few people. I saw some of the feedback from a couple of other pedal builders who seemed to be annoyed by how toy-like and fun it was.”

However, for Scott, that was the whole point.: “I wasn’t trying to change the world or reshape the market. I was simply trying to create a product that was fun, lighthearted, and got parents to build something they love with their kids.”

JHS Pedals aficionado, John Mayer, recently tried his hand at demoing gear – namely, the brand’s latest Mk.gee-coded pedal – while Scott was recovering from a serious mountain bike accident.

Keep an eye on Guitar World’s for the full interview with Josh Scott.

Just a few weeks ago, John Mayer tried his hand at demoing gear, becoming JHS Pedals' de facto gear tester while the brand's captain, Josh Scott, was recovering from a serious mountain bike accident.

And while it was far from Mayer's usual role, we (and Scott) can safely say he did an excellent job putting the JHS Pedals 424 Gain Stage – the “perfect replica of the front end of a 424 MK1 multi-track recorder” – through its paces.

For those wondering how Scott managed to clinch such an A-list product specialist, it turns out it was Mayer – a close friend and collaborator of Scott's – who offered to help.

“John texted me after my mountain bike accident and just said he wanted to do a video because he wanted to make sure that things kept moving forward in my obvious absence,” he reveals in a new Guitar World interview. “He knew I wasn’t able to film. He knew I was in a lot of pain.

“I think he just did it to be awesome and encouraging and a friend, and it was really special. It showed me that John truly is an amazing person, and he took a lot of his time out of his day to film that video and put himself out there just to help a friend.”

In fact, Scott goes on to call Mayer's timely assistance “a humbling and really wonderful experience, and I’m really thankful for it.”

He continues, “The video was a blast, and it reached a lot of people, and we sold lots of units because of it, and that’s exactly what John wanted. I love that he had the intuition to do that and that he enjoyed helping out our company in a time of need. That says a lot about him as a person.”

In the demo video, which has since gone viral among guitar circles, Mayer observes, “A revolution [is] taking place right now in guitar playing, and it has to do with dynamics. For most of guitar playing history, guitars were plugged into amplifiers, and the way that a tube amp responds has kind of defined the way people played guitar.

“But now people have been plugging into things that aren't tube amplifiers, like USB interfaces for DAWs, and they react completely different [to an amp],” he explains. “How it reacts, sonically, is 50% of the thing; feel is the other 50%, and the fun part about that is it makes you play different stuff.”

Mayer goes on to give the pedal his seal of approval by saying that, “a lot of times, when people have the same pedal, they have the same sound.

“That will not happen with this pedal, because this is a whole new dynamic approach. What you do with this pedal is up to you; it is not so much a paint color, but a whole different brush,” he asserts.

Guitar World's upcoming interview with Josh Scott will be published in the coming weeks. Head over to JHS Pedals to check out the 424 Gain Stage.

What is it?

If you’ve been paying attention to the contemporary guitar scene over the past 24 months, chances are you’ve heard of Mk.gee – everyone’s favorite fast-rising guitar hero who has ushered in a tonal revolution thanks to his mysteriously archaic setup.

Such tones took center stage on his acclaimed debut, Two Star & The Dream Police, and thanks to that record – along with Mk.gee’s work with the likes of Dijon and Justin Bieber – Mk.gee’s guitar sound has been talk of the proverbial tone town.

He doesn’t run through an amp – tube, solid state or otherwise – nor is he plugging into an amp modeler or pedal amp. In fact, he doesn’t plug into any form of ‘amp’ at all, and instead injects his modded Jaguar directly into a 424 MK1 multi-track recorder.

The 424 MK1 – a multi-track recorder that revolutionized home recording – is something of a ‘cult classic’ piece of gear, known for its squishy DI compression and tones that can run the gamut from sultry ’80s sounds to blown-out, speaker-ripping clipping fuzz. These old-school, previously avoided, conventionally ‘bad’ tones are the ones Mk.gee champions. They’re also the ones many players want these days.

Now, it’s incredibly hard to get hold of a vintage 424 MK1 – definitely more so now, thanks to the Mk.gee inflationary curve – and while smaller boutique pedals have already been repackaging its sonic DNA into pedal form, it was only a matter of time before one of the ‘big brands’ had a crack at it itself.

JHS Pedals has won that race with the 424 Gain Stage – a recreation of a single 424 MK1 channel strip that delivers the exact same op-amps and controls for those looking for some easily accessible Mk.gee tones.

Specs

• Launch price: $249/£189/€216.95
• Type: Preamp / Overdrive / Distortion pedal
• Controls: Volume, Bass, Treble, Gain 1, Gain 2
• Features: Modeled after 424 MK1 multi-track recorder, Ground Lift switch, soft touch footswitch
• Connectivity: Top-mounted 1/4" input and output jacks, balanced XLR output
• Bypass: Buffered
• Power: 9VDC centre-negative, 50mA
• Dimensions: 2.6" x 4.8" x 1.6" (66m x 122mm x 41mm)
• Weight: 290g / 0.63lbs
• Contact: JHS Pedals

Build quality

Build quality rating: ★★★★½

I'm consistently impressed with just how well put-together JHS Pedals are. My experiences with the Morning Glory always on, Moonshine for Tube Screamer-style overdrive tones, and a Notaklön for vintage grit attest to this. The 424 Gain Stage is no different.

The soft-touch footswitch is my favorite thing about this – no irksome clicks or pops when stomping this pedal on – and, as expected, the plastic knobs (which, admittedly, can feel a tad budget) are robust but smooth enough to help tap into a responsive spectrum of tones.

Leaving no stone unturned, under the hood JHS has replicated the UPC4570 and NJM4565 op-amps found in the 424 MK1 too.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★★½

The 424 Gain Stage is a single channel strip of the 424 MK1 in a pedal, with two Gain parameters, Treble and Bass knobs, and a Volume control. It’s an effective way to streamline the 424 MK1 experience, because let’s face it, not everyone would have the time or patience to plug into a desk and contend with the generous supply of controls the 424 MK1 has. It can be quite intimidating, especially to those untrained in the way of multi-tracks.

So it’s a canny approach from JHS, and the result is a pedal that is very easy to get going with straight out the box. It’s also accessible how the pedal has been set up. Volume translates to the OG 424’s Master, Gain 1 is its Trim, Gain 2 is the channel fader, and Bass and Treble behave as you’d expect.

These all work in tandem and affect one another, which neatly replicates the experience of wrestling a vintage 424 MK1. That top row does feel quite crowded, though, and it’s easy to accidentally adjust one of the flanking knobs when reaching for the central Gain 2 control.

To make it even more practical, there’s a balanced XLR output for sending it straight to a desk via XLR, a necessary ground lift switch for contending with resulting hum, and top-mounted I/Os, making it a breeze to fit into busy pedalboards.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★½

For something with such a relatively simple design objective, it’s notable just how versatile the 424 Gain Stage can be in the right setting. It can be used into an amp, as a de facto drive, clean boost, or fuzz pedal, but can also be used as a direct-in option for an even more authentic experience. Full disclosure, it’s the latter in which this pedal excels, and really nails the 424 MK1 brief.

Trying it into both my Fender Blues Junior and Two Rock Studio Pro 35 to see how it would react with a tube amp – the oxymoronic practice of using a pedal for its DI tones into a tube amp was certainly not lost on me, I assure you – it did I fine job with the smashed-out fuzz aspect of its tonal spectrum, though the cleans left me feeling a tad underwhelmed.

It seems strange to use the 424 for its cleans into a tube amp, when that sound is something that is probably trying to be avoided in this instance, so it’s no surprise that was the case.

As a cranked, ear-ripping, noise-rock fuzz pedal, though, the 424 felt quite at home on my 'board, and the squishy, saturated goodness that the controls can help dial in certainly gave me huge joy. It filled a sonic gap I didn’t really know I had, occupying that weird grey area between analog fuzz and DI clipping, and proved to be quite inspiring indeed.

Having said all that, I had a much better time with the 424 Gain Stage when I went direct to some speakers with it, no pesky preamp valves or amp speakers getting in the way. Here, the nuances of the 424 MK1 sound can really be appreciated, and though I wouldn’t go as far as to pin my entire rig around this in a live setting, I’d certainly incorporate it into my already-DI setup, as that’s where I felt it could have the most impact.

In that regard, it’s an approach that could be taken for more brave souls, and that’s where I found the true magic of the 424 Gain Stage to lie. We’re living in a funny time for tone right now – once perceived ‘bad tones’ are becoming popular, and studio-grade sounds are shunned in favor of lo-fi DIY alternatives. The 424 Gain Stage is both a celebration of that and a reminder that tone truly is subjective.

Mk.gee plugged into an old multi-track helped to alter the perception of desirable tone in the guitar world. There’s no reason why the old gear lying in your inventory couldn’t have the same effect on your playing. The 424 Gain Stage is a very inspiring pedal that not only brings 2025’s most desired tones to your pedalboard, but somehow also encourages you to do your own thing with it. It’s not attempting to facilitate an army of Mk.gee rip-offs, more provide a platform for personal experimentation.

Verdict

The 424 MK1 multi-track recorder has been the talk of the proverbial tone town for some time now, and though it isn't strictly the first to do so, JHS Pedals has done a very good job of making those vintage desk tones more accessible to casual players.

It's a symbol of the tone times we're currently living through, and while many will dismiss the 424 Gain Stage as a desperate attempt to capitalize on the Mk.gee hype, a less cynical school of thought will see if for what it is – which is an admirably inspiring pedal, not without its faults, that can bring a popular and versatile flavor to your rig.

Guitar World verdict: Though many will simply see the 424 Gain Stage as 'the Mk.gee pedal', it seems inaccurate to run with such a tag. Instead, this is a symbol of the "tone revolution" we're currently experiencing in some quarters of the guitar world, and a platform to experiment with some wildly popular tones. In other words, it does more than the Mk.gee thing – you can truly make the 424 Gain Stage your own.

Also try

Hands-on videos

JHS Pedals

Andertons

John Mayer

• “Our definition of what makes a ‘good’ guitar tone has changed dramatically in the past 10 years”: Does ‘bad’ guitar tone even exist anymore?

When I was growing up, devouring guitar magazines and scouring internet forums, it was a truth universally acknowledged that good guitar tone could only come from a tube amp. End of discussion.

But our definition of what makes a ‘good’ guitar tone has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. Heck, it’s changed in the past 10 days, after revered tonesmith John Mayer ditched the amp and plugged directly into JHS Pedals’ latest offering – you know, the one designed to sound like a Tascam Portastudio.

Not too long ago, this kind of behavior would have got you booted out of any self-respecting studio or rehearsal room. But the next generation of guitar heroes is changing our relationship with guitar tone. Or, as Mayer puts it, “There is a revolution taking place right now in guitar playing.”

Mk.gee, of course, is the poster boy for this particular uprising, running a baritone-strung Fender Jaguar into a Tascam 424 and cranking it into the red for a splatty overdrive that would have Klon owners’ monocles popping into their bourbon.

But with Mk.gee’s viral success (not to mention Eric Clapton plaudits), it’s become a sought-after tone – to the point that multiple pedal companies have been rushing to bring their own take on the 424 circuit to market.

And that’s hardly the first traditionally ‘bad’ guitar tone to catch fire recently. It was a similar story with the Peavey Decade. After it was revealed as Josh Homme’s ‘secret weapon’ several years ago, used prices exploded, boutique pedal companies issued their own versions, and now Peavey – the once derided, blue-collar amp brand – has released a signature combo and its own stompbox version.

Yet when those amps were widely available for sale, guitarists couldn’t wait to ditch their buzzy solid-state practice combos.

In the mix

Back in my day (God, I feel old), bad tone was once considered to be that buzzy, ‘wasp in a jam jar’ tone that came from tiny combos, budget multi-effects and the Line 6 Spider II’s infamous Insane channel. Anything boxy, lacking in low-end or tube-like dynamics wouldn’t cut it.

So what gives? Does ‘bad’ guitar tone no longer exist? And, star power aside, how did we get here?

The turning point might be when every young guitarist also became a producer. When previous generations first picked up the instrument, they were developing their guitar tone in isolation – they didn’t have the ability to record themselves without booking an expensive studio. For me, good guitar tone was dialing in a usable sound on the Marshall MG in my bedroom.

Anyone picking up the instrument now, however, could be recording their playing from day one. They’ll be used to hearing the sound of a naked guitar running straight into an audio interface, slotting those recordings into tracks on their laptops, and tweaking plugins that model most of the guitar gear ever made.

And, as any engineer will tell you, the guitar tones that sound best in isolation often don’t work in a mix – but the ‘bad’ tones can burst out of the speakers in the best/worst way.

The good, the bad and the ugly

The other overriding factor is the democratization of ‘good tone’ – we live in an age where anyone can get a studio-worthy guitar sound with cheap amp modelers. So much so that you could make the argument that we’re approaching ‘good’ guitar tone overkill.

How do you stand out when everyone is using the same high-gain Soldano-voiced preset in the same Neural DSP plugin as everyone else? You break the rules.

Mark Speer runs a wah pedal all the time for his dreamy sounds in Khruangbin. St. Vincent and Matt Bellamy are die-hard fans of the sound of fuzz pedals straight into the board. Record an entire album on your phone, like Steve Lacy – then stick a fuzz circuit in your Fender signature model.

Stu MacKenzie snapped up $10 transistor amps for King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s latest record. Heck, Instagram guitarist Emi Grace has amassed over 200,000 followers with her ‘Trashy Tone Thursdays’ video series.

Of course, unconventional tonal practices like this have been around forever. John Frusciante, Nile Rodgers and the Beatles used to record direct to the desk. Dimebag Darrell’s solid-state rig flew in the face of all high-gain tonal wisdom. And when Dave Davies slashed his amp’s speaker cone, he lit the touchpaper on guitar distortion as we know it.

All these approaches were technically wrong, but they worked because they fit the material. And that’s the thing we don’t talk about enough when it comes to guitar tone: everything is contextual. The ugliest tone can work in the right spot of the right song – and that is, in part, why it’s so hard to give out bad reviews to guitar gear these days. Every sound has its place.

Tone is where the heart is

All of which provide yet more reasons why it’s such an exciting time to be a guitarist. We’ve never had access to more gear or more music, and as old tonal judgements die out, fresh blood comes along and reassesses what they want to hear.

Music is being experienced without any sense of time, place or scene – one playlist can take you around the world, explore every genre under the sun and span a century of popular music. The next generation of players is picking and choosing the sounds that stand out to them and that makes for a more colorful guitar landscape.

We’re also way beyond the ‘pros only play tube amps’ argument. Fender is remaking its classic combos as new digital offerings. Boss Katanas are being played in stadiums. And pros like John Mayer are playing direct into Akai MPC samplers, and letting producers decide what the tone should be.

That’s no reason not to covet the same Fender Vibroverb that Stevie Ray Vaughan used to use, but as Mayer points out in his JHS demo, different tones make you play differently. It forces you to rethink your relationship with the instrument when you’re playing with less gain or different dynamics.

With that in mind, let’s be real: very few guitarists will make the 424 Gain Stage or Peavey Decade the center of their tonal universe. But the fact these tones are now not just acceptable but downright desirable indicates a full-circle moment for the way we perceive the sound of the electric guitar.

Maybe it’s no longer a case of ‘bad’ tones, just ‘different’ tones. And in the guitar world, that really is a revolution. So put me down for the inevitable Line 6 Spider II Insane pedal. I’m sure I’ll find a use for it…

John Mayer has stepped up as JHS Pedals’ de facto gear tester while founder Josh Scott continues to recover from a major cycling accident.

Scott's accident last month left him with a long list of injuries, including a broken vertebra, which means he'll be out of playing action for the foreseeable future. So, John Mayer has stepped in with a video of him putting the new JHS 424 Gain Stage through its paces.

As Mayer explains, the pedal is “a perfect replica of the front end of a Tascam Portastudio,” an affordable multi-track recorder that became many bedroom guitarists’ best friend in the late ’70s and early ’80s. More recently, it has been the subject of an intense popular revival thanks to lo-fi guitar hero Mk.gee.

“I am not Josh Scott, but I am John Mayer, and I thought I would take this time while Josh is out of commission for the time being to do a little of his job,” the guitarist begins, while some smooth, clean playing from what looks to be a new-look version of his PRS 'Dead Spec' Silver Sky unfurls in the background.

Vitally for Mayer, a hardened tube amp fanatic, the pedal is reflective of a wider change currently taking place in the music world. What's more, it is changing his relationship with the electric guitar.

“There is a revolution taking place right now in guitar playing, and it has to do with dynamics,” he explains. “For most of guitar playing history, guitars were plugged into amplifiers, and the way that a tube amp responds has kind of defined the way people played guitar.

“But now people have been plugging into things that aren't tube amplifiers, like USB interfaces for DAWs, and they react completely different [to an amp],” Mayer continues. “How it reacts, sonically, is 50% of the thing; feel is the other 50%, and the fun part about that is it makes you play different stuff.

“When you're playing through an amp, the notes are kind of contained. They're almost going down a half pipe. This just spills everywhere. It's like mercury that rolls across the top of the table. That's really interesting.”

Able to channel vibes as diverse as Mk.gee and Spoon, two acts who have used the Portastudio's charm on studio recordings, it promises a “gooey, saturated colour straight into your interface or mixer” with the aid of a balanced XLR output. Place it in front of an amp, meanwhile, and it serves as a gain stage with overdrive and gnarly fluzz flavors aplenty.

There are five knobs to tweak – a Volume, two Gains, and Bass and Treble– to replicate the Portastudio workflow. There's also a Ground Lift switch for hum elimination, a buffered bypass, and soft-touch switching in a standard pedal-sized housing, making pedalboard integration a doddle. And Mayer reckons it will come alive differently for each player.

“A lot of times, when people have the same pedal, they have the same sound,” he says. “That will not happen with this pedal, because this is a whole new dynamic approach. What you do with this pedal is up to you; it is not so much a paint color, but a whole different brush.

“Yes, there's a lot of pedals you could buy that will change the sound, but how many pedals can you buy that will actually change your relationship with the instrument itself. I cannot do most of my tricks [with this]. That forces me to explore.”

The JHS 424 Gain Stage is available now for $249. Head to JHS for more.

Earlier this year, JHS unveiled the Notadümblë pedal, a build-it-yourself Dumble amp in a box. The pedal was then discontinued after a major manufacturing error actually meant it was replicating a very different Dumble from the one it purported to be.

JHS Pedals founder Josh Scott has announced he’s currently recovering after suffering a “pretty bad cycling accident”.

The electric guitar effects pedal specialist took to his personal social media account to report his serious accident to his followers late last week.

His list of injuries included a broken vertebrae, knee and shoulder damage, and a facial injury that required 29 stitches and “a bit of nose reconstruction”. Scott stresses he is “fine”, but understandably states he will be taking some time away from the JHS YouTube channel while he mounts a full recovery.

“Hey y’all, I’m a private guy, but I do want you to know that I was in a pretty bad cycling accident – lots of broken things and lots of stitches,” Scott wrote. “I’m fine and will pull through like I have in the past. @alicelarsonscott is THE GOAT when it comes to caring for me. She deserves a medal.

“You won’t be seeing my face for a bit (trust me – you don’t want to), and if I haven’t returned your email, DM, or text, this is why. If you’re the praying type, say a few for the swelling, the breaks, and the overall mental weight of it all.”

In a follow-up post, Scott confirmed he had been seen by a few doctors and gave an update on his medical situation.

He wrote, “ENT [Ear Nose Threat] – All looks good. I’ll have a bit of nose reconstruction and get all the stitches out Wednesday… Ortho – Broken finger is on track. Time is the only fix.

“Add in the broken vertebrae, knee/shoulder damage, and 29 face stitches and I’m still golden and forced to rest. That’s hard for me. The messages, texts, and meal signups have been incredibly kind and helpful to our family. We feel very loved.”

Head over to Josh Scott’s Instagram account for future updates. Guitar World wishes Josh a speedy recovery.

Earlier this month, JHS Pedals launched the 424 Gain Stage – a stompbox that offers the vintage Tascam tones beloved by lo-fi guitar hero Mk.gee – after a string of social media teases.

Last year, Scott sat down with Guitar World to discuss the rise of JHS Pedals, and how he built his pedal empire by recommending his rivals.

JHS Pedals has finally lifted the veil off its much-discussed mystery stompbox, which has now been officially revealed as the 424 Gain Stage.

Last week, JHS set gear forums and social media platforms alight with speculation after it posted a string of cryptic riddles, stealthy sonic easter eggs and not-so-subtle image grids to its Instagram account.

After much sleuthing and a fair share of code cracking, most players concluded that all the signs suggested JHS was about to launch a preamp pedal based on the tones of a vintage 424 MK1 multi-track recorder.

Well, lo and behold, that is exactly what has happened, with JHS now confirming that the latest entry to its catalog will indeed take its sonic cues from a 424 MK1.

In fact, it’s said to be a “historically accurate recreation” of the 424 MK1 multi-track recorder.

It is a very, very savvy move indeed. The increasing popularity of vintage cassette multi-track recorders has been well-documented, and has perhaps most notably been spearheaded by the emergence of Mk.gee – everyone’s favorite new lo-fi guitar hero, who famously had a 424 MK1 multi-track recorder at the heart of his guitar rig.

With its own take on the 424 design, JHS has attempted to package the vintage, lo-fi, retro-styled preamp tones into the confines of a standard-sized pedal – meaning those hoping to tap into those sought-after Mk.gee sounds won’t have to lug an entire 424 MK1 around with them to do so.

The 424 Gain Stage keeps things impressively simple, with just one footswitch and parameters for Volume, Bass, Treble, Gain 1 and Gain 2, echoing the streamlined control layout of the OG desk. JHS promises that, by plugging into this stompbox, players will be able to harness the same tones as if they were running straight through the 424 MK1 unit.

The pedal vows to deliver “rubbery clean tones, high headroom and smashed-out fuzz”. Connectivity-wise, it offers regular jack I/Os, as well as a balanced XLR output with a ground lift for wider rig assimilation.

“In 2024, an artist named Mk.gee released an awesome record, and the guitar world exploded,” JHS founder Josh Scott says, introducing the new pedal. “Tone chasers everywhere had to know how he was getting this really incredible and unique sound.

“We all realized he’s not using a guitar amp. He’s using a 424 MK1. I also realized, ‘Hey, wasn’t I going to make a pedal version of this at one point?’

“It’s an authentic and perfectly replicated single channel strip on the 424 MK1,” he adds of the 424 Gain Stage. “Over the years, I’ve learned that so many albums and guitar parts that I love use this device or devices like it.

“Then this Mk.gee thing comes along. It’s really new and fresh and different. That really pushed me over the edge of wanting those sounds that are classic, and those newer sounds.”

And, yes, by the sounds of the demo, the 424 Gain Stage does an excellent job of doing the “Mk.gee thing,” with Scott showcasing the diverse array of blown-out fuzz and pristine clean tones the new pedal offers.

Fortunately, the 424 Gain Stage is not limited, and JHS has already assured fans it has more than a thousand in stock ready to ship. We wouldn’t be surprised if that stock shifts quickly, though…

The 424 Gain Stage is available for $249.

Head over to JHS Pedals to find out more.

JHS Pedals has been drip-feeding some cryptic teasers ahead of a major release slated for next Monday (August 11) – and it has sent gear hounds into an absolute frenzy.

At the start of this week, JHS posted the first of four teasers, each of which added an additional line to a head-scratching riddle that now reads in full: “Forward or back, I am still the same. 5 knobs to command 3 layers of gain. Born in Japan. Built for your play. Am I a number, or am I a name?”

Pedal fans, naturally, flocked to the comments section, with many picking apart the riddle line by line in order to decipher what exactly JHS has got planned for its upcoming launch.

Some have picked up on the fact that the pedal will presumably play on a palindrome (“Forward or back, I am still the same”), leading some to predict some form of 808 overdrive pedal or DOD clone is on the cards.

“Born in Japan” plays into the 808 theory, since Ibanez is based in Japan, sure, but seemingly pours cold water on the DOD angle (its owner, Cor-Tek, is headquartered in South Korea).

So another TS seems like a safe bet, but perhaps one that doesn’t warrant such an elusive roll-out. Plus, JHS already has a Tube Screamer clone on its books in the form of the Bonsai – so what else is there to go on?

Some more resourceful players have looked at the wider JHS Instagram for clues. The two posts prior to the riddle are particularly telling, with the first containing a grid of nine multi-track recorders. The second asks, “What’s your favorite home recorded album,” apparently playing into the DIY recording vibe.

Then, a clip captioned “POV: You’re an unreleased pedal being built” was soundtracked by Spoon’s They Never Got You. Interesting, because Britt Daniel is a well-known fan of multi-track recorders such as the Tascam Portastudio 424 – an all-in-one mixer and recorder that revolutionized, yep, home recording.

Likewise, the description reads, “Imagine waking up after 30 years and seeing this”. Most likely a huge coincidence, but a version of the Tascam Portastudio 424 was launched in the mid 1990s – in other words, around 30 years ago. You can probably see where this trail leads.

As such, theorists are purporting that this mystery JHS stompbox could be a cassette preamp-style pedal inspired by the Tascam 424 – a piece of gear that has exploded in popularity in recent years thanks to everyone’s favorite new guitar hero, Mk.gee.

Famously, Mk.gee has used the Tascam to form the foundation of his lo-fi, retro-futuristic guitar tones that have since become the muse of guitar fans the world over. His work has made fans of the likes of Eric Clapton, and his debut album was widely heralded as one of 2024’s best records.

The multi-track’s status in contemporary pop culture aside – and ignoring the fact a pedal based on the Tascam 424 would be an instant hit – this particular piece of equipment seemingly fits the riddle.

424? A palindrome that is the same forward as it is backward. Tascam? A Japanese company. Granted, we’re struggling to see how the rest of the riddle fits – five knobs seems a bit sparse for a multitrack pedal – but we’re going to brush over that owing to the fact we really, really want this to be a Tascam pedal.

Not only that, JHS’ credentials in replicating direct-to-desk tones are well accounted for. After all, its hugely popular Colour Box preamp/EQ/overdrive/distortion/fuzz/DI box is based on a Neve studio console, and (again) was in part inspired by Spoon.

If you needed further convincing, that POV clip from before implies there will be an XLR jack on this as-yet-unreleased pedal, something the Colour Box – and any other DI-style pedal – will need.

This is the conclusion that many players on social media and Reddit are running with, and we’re going to run with them. A Tascam-inspired pedal that taps into Mk.gee-esque tones is definitely something we'd want to see.

Of course, we all could be barking up the wrong tree and will be looking very silly indeed if all this speculation has been totally wide of the mark. Another strong theory is that this will be a take on the Ibanez Tube King TK999 – a palindromic Japanese pedal, which has five knobs and an actual tube built in. Not quite as exciting, mind.

Whatever the case, JHS will reveal all on Monday (August 11) when it officially unveils the mystery pedal.

Keep an eye on the JHS Instagram account until then for more teasers.

What is it?

A little bit different from the norm, the JHS DIY range allows us to build pedals without the risk of burning ourselves on soldering irons.

Following on from the Notaklön boost/overdrive pedal, Notadümblë is the second in the series, and, due to an understandable series of unfortunate events leading to a schematic mix-up, has been quickly discontinued.

JHS has very fairly offered a free refund to those looking to return their Notadümblë; however, should you do this? Or, despite the mishap, is it still a great pedal worthy of keeping around?

We have all heard much about the coveted Dumble amps. Used by the likes of Robben Ford, Carlos Santana, Joe Bonnamassa, John Mayer, and many more, they are the epitome of guitar amplification for many a tone chaser. However, their rarity and expense puts them beyond the reach of most, leading to a plethora of gear that provides said tone in a way that is achievable for the normal person.

Dumble amps were built bespoke to each player who bought one, so defining the Dumble sound can be a little tricky. Generally speaking, the consensus is that throughout the amplifiers Alexander Dumble built, was a smooth, mid-forward and sustain-enducing characteristic, so it is this that Dumble-esque gear attempts to recreate.

The Notadümblë looks to fulfil this brief in a pedal format that brings that sound to any amplifier, with an overdrive side based on the Dumble amps to give your tone that touch. Alexander Dumble also built some pedals that are reflective of the canonical Dumble tone, and it is his BBC1 that the Notadümblë's clean side is based on.

This, however, is where the aforementioned mishap lies, as it was intended that the clean side was actually supposed to be a copy of the Box It Later - a pedal built by JHS for John Mayer, which was inspired by Dumble's A Box Later. As JHS founder Josh Scott explains below, this was realised a couple of weeks after the release, hence the offer of a refund to those who bought something that wasn’t quite as advertised.

The best thing to do here is to get info on this from the man himself and watch JHS’ video explaining it all in detail, but the TLDR is that the BBC1 and A Box Later are different circuits that sound very similar and do the same job.

Specs

• Launch price: $119/£89/€103
• Type: Dual overdrive/clean boost pedal
• Controls: Overdrive side: volume, EQ, drive Clean side: input, output, presence (internal trim pot)
• Features: Self assembly Dumble-style pedal kit
• Bypass: True bypass
• Power: 9v center negative
• Dimensions: 3.7”x4.7”x1.66”/9.4cmx12cmx4cm
• Weight: 12.6oz/359g
• Contact: JHS

Build quality

Assembly and build quality rating: ★★★★★

Building the pedal is easy. You will need a screwdriver to get the back plate attached and a precision screwdriver to secure the knobs, but that is it. The kit cleverly contains the wrenches required and the PCB is already populated with all the components, so it’s just a case off snapping off the required parts of the PCB, attaching a ribbon cable and sorting out a few screws and bolts.

I enjoy the odd pedal build kit, and have built a good few that arrive with an empty PCB and through-hole components that need to be soldered on. As much as I like the challenge of that quite involved and fiddly format, building the Notadümblë is a fun and easy 30 minutes.

Let’s face it, we all have drawers of equipment purchased for hobbies we never followed through on, so the "Notakit" series is perfect for those who want to give the whole DIY pedal experience a go, before investing in the equipment needed for soldering parts.

Additionally, it’s simple enough that it is something younger people could do too, and I can see how doing this may be the inspiration that sets someone on the road to designing and building their own pedals.

Assuming you follow the easy-to-read instructions properly, the end result is a surprisingly sturdy pedal. There is a reassuring resistance to the pots, the footswitch feels like it will last and generally, whilst it doesn’t have a premium feel, it is exactly what you would hope to get from a $119 pedal, even without considering the DIY aspect.

For what is essentially a drive pedal, it sits within a comparitavely large enclosure. But it seems to me that this is likely to facilitate an easy building experience, which is a sensible compromise. JHS has noted some issues with the knobs in earlier models, and now ships with an extra to combat this. No such issues were present in this test example.

Usability

Usability rating: ★★★½

Drive pedals are usually pretty simple beasts, and the overdrive section of the Notadümblë follows this trend with three simple to use and self-explanatory controls - Volume, EQ, and Gain.

The clean section isn’t so straightforward to define. Output controls the output level, no issues there, but the Input control does something a little different. As stated by JHS, this “changes the impedance, which sort of sounds like a tone control, but it’s also extremely felt in the guitar”. This is bound to cause a little confusion, but this, in my opinion, is understandable given the inherent difficulty in describing a control like that in one word.

As mentioned, we have two sides here: Clean and Overdrive. We toggle between these via a slider switch rather than a footswitch. Spoiler alert: I love the sounds of both sides of this device and would be keen to use it in an almost preamp pedal type context, feeding it into a clean amp with the clean side of the pedal livening the amp up, and switching over to the overdrive side for my driven sounds. The lack of a footswitch to do this means this isn’t possible in a live setting, which makes me a little sad.

JHS addresses this in a video above and states that the intention was to recreate the feeling of the front panel of a Dumble amp. And whilst I completely understand this, and appreciate the concept, as a live guitar player, I would much rather have a footswitch that allows me to use both sides in my live rig.

There’s also an internal presence control that handles those breathy, high-end frequencies. I found myself dialing more of this in for my Les Paul and less for my Telecaster. Meaning having it on the front panel and easily accessible would be a welcome improvement.

Sounds

Sounds rating: ★★★★★

My Dumble experience, like most of us, does not include a real Dumble amp, but rather Dumble-esque bits of gear. From UA’s Enigmatic pedal to the Tonex Pedal captures of famous Dumble amps and Dumble-inspired models in the Line 6 Helix, the common thread is that smooth, mid-forward character coupled with a healthy sustain.

As mentioned, each dumble amplifier is different, so what I am looking for in something that fits this category is that common thread. Starting with the clean side and playing my telecaster through a squeaky clean and ubiquitous Hot Rod Deluxe IV, the bass end is rolled off, and those mids are brought forward and the high end sounds a little sculpted in a very pleasing way.

The J-FET-based circuit has the effect of bringing my Hot Rod Deluxe to life, adding a little extra sparkle to my usual repertoire of pop/rock clean tones. There seems to be a touch of compression throughout, with the input control making the tone generally warmer and slightly more compressed as you dial it in.

This all adds up to a great ‘always on’ tone to add a little extra something to an amp, or as a solo boost either before or after a gain stage. I particularly enjoyed it placed after my Blues Driver, with the input control at 10, giving my sound a volume boost (of which there is plenty available) and smoothing out the BD2’s sometimes harsh tone.

Alternatively, placing it before the Blues Driver allowed me to push it into some pretty full-on overdrive - akin to an AC/DC tone, but with extra gain.

In some of the Dumble-style models I have played, there is a lot of gain on tap, but this is not the case here. The drive side of the Notadümblë is more of mid-gain territory, but with buckets of sustain, that smooth mid frequency push, and a reduction of low end. Bringing out the old Cream and SRV licks, it’s the sort of tone that makes playing through blues rock riffs endless fun.

The EQ is nicely dialled in to give some clarity when the drive control is turned up, and can roll off nicely to give a woolly kind of overdrive, which would be particularly pleasing to any Santana fans. Impressive is how the pedal handles different styles of guitars. Switching between my Telecaster and Les Paul, the tonal characteristics of each guitar are accurately reflected. As previously mentioned, for the Les Paul, I found the internal trim pot useful as a means of keeping humbuckers sounding bright.

Given that the pedal doesn’t go into high-gain territory on its own, I whip out my RYRA The Klone to see how the Notadümblë handles getting pushed. Leaving the gain off and using the RYRA as a level boost, the Notadümblë begins to sing in what was an incredibly enjoyable, searing lead tone. Impressively, clarity is maintained even as I started gunning the volume and gain on the RYRA, with the tone starting to cave in at only the most extreme settings.

This, then, is what qualifies my earlier statement, noting the Notadümblë as a pedal I would always leave on. The clean side adds life to a clean amplifier, and the overdrive is a smooth, rewarding, and sustain-soaked sound that handles pedals incredibly well. Making for a versatile piece of gear that would have a place in most rigs.

Verdict

The Notakit range of pedals is an interesting concept. This, combined with the offer of a return to those who already own a Notadümblë and the prospect of a version 2 incoming, make the Notadümblë worth a look, despite it being discontinued.

What I find is a pedal build that feels like guitar pedal LEGO, with the prospect of encouraging some to delve deeper into the wonderful rabbit hole that is that world. More importantly, though, it sounds great in its own right and is sturdy enough to gig regardless of its DIY nature.

While I would like to have seen a footswitch to change sides, and the internal trim pot be more accessible in order to make it more viable for use in a live environment across different guitars, it is a pedal that does as promised. Providing that smooth, sustain-soaked sound that’s considered to be a signature of Dumble amps, despite their varied nature. And, word has it, at least one of these issues may be getting addressed in version 2.

Guitar World verdict: This is a versatile Dumble tone in a simple DIY box, with a clean sound that adds life to a clean amp and an overdrive providing a healthy dose of sustain, within a pleasing mid-forward tone. Personally, I would not be taking JHS up on their offer of a return, but rather keeping the Notadümblë on my pedalboard as an always-on solution to add that Dumble touch to any rig.

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Hands-on videos

60 Cycle Hum

JHS

Jaimie Slays

JHS Pedals has discontinued its new Notadümblë pedal just weeks after its launch because of a circuit error that founder Josh Scott has described as “the biggest mistake” of his career.

The build-it-yourself stompbox was launched as a spiritual sibling to the hugely popular Notaklön, which has been hailed as one of the most affordable and unique Klon clone pedals out there.

By comparison, the Notadümblë overdrive pedal had been described as JHS’ “take on two sounds from the Dumble sonic universe”, with its split personality defined by Dumble’s “violin lead tones” on one channel, and an impression of John Mayer’s ultra-rare A Box Later pedal for the clean.

During the development of the Notadümblë, Mayer’s pedal was borrowed by JHS, who dissected its tonal magic for the DIY stompbox. However, a mix-up meant a different circuit was ultimately used in the final product.

The pedal has therefore been accidentally mis-sold, and Scott has been quick to own up to the mistake and take the necessary steps to rectify matters.

On May 17, Scott discovered the mistake after asking his head engineer for the original schematic used to create the pedal.

“Upon reading the end of that reply I immediately froze, knowing something was horribly wrong,” he admits in a new YouTube video.

“In 2019, I left a John Mayer rehearsal in Los Angeles with two extremely rare Dumble units in my backpack to reverse engineer,” Scott explains. One of those was the Dumble BBC-1, which Scott says he turned into “the Basic Boost that none of you have ever seen”, while the second was the Dumble A Box Later, which in turn inspired the Box It Later.

“This is what I claimed to have been the clean channel of the Notadümblë,” Scott admits. “But two weeks after the release, I realized I made a huge mistake. I accidentally used the more rare Dumble BBC-1 instead of the Box It Later.”

The mistake came to light when the schematics didn’t show support for an effects loop, an integral part of the pedal. “In that exact moment,” Scott says, “I began to go, ‘Oh no, what have we put in the Dumble?’”

Panicking, he scrambled through its R&D database but could find no record of the Box It Later circuit. He did, however, find photos from his 2019 visit to Mayer’s rehearsal space, and it turns out the two units were mislabeled.

“I do not take lightly your choice to buy our products,” he adds. “And honesty and transparency are absolutely more important than how many of these pedals sell or don’t sell.”

Of course, the flip side is that many players may be more excited by the prospect of a BBC-1 build, and a limited number are still available to buy, despite them being pulled. Expect the once-humble price tags of these first edition pedals to rise on the second-hand market.

The ‘wrong’ version of the pedal has been discontinued, with the 15,000 units planned now reduced to 7,500. The last batch was released on Friday, May 23, with 2,500 ready to ship, and 5,000 available as pre-orders. These are set to be turned around at a pace of around 1,000 units per week.

“I’m sorry for that and I’m sorry for how this all went down,” Scott continues. “It was unintentional but it happened.”

He adds that a second, kerfuffle-free version of the pedal is now in production, but is unable to give a timeline for its release.

Those who bought a Notadümblë and want to return it for a refund can do so until the end of June by emailing support@jhspedals.com.

Dumble amps – masterminded by the late Alexander Dumble – have gathered a mythical mystique over the years, and have been used by the likes of Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, while Joe Bonamassa went to great lengths to get his hands on Lowell George's famed Super Overdrive Special.

After the firm was given a stealthy relaunch late last year, the new Dumble Preservation Society has told Guitar World it will be back “to keep his legacy alive” – using “trade secrets” to boot.

Hello, and welcome to Guitar World’s sparkly new weekly gear round-up, which will serve as your one-stop-shop for keeping up to date with what’s been happening in the big wide world of guitar gear over the past seven days.

From new electric guitars to amp modeler updates, the guitar industry is never short of fresh releases, and it can sometimes be hard to stay afloat of every new launch that may be of interest to you.

To make things a little easier, we’ve put together an essential must-read gear guide that will cover everything from major releases to boutique drops, and everything in between.

And what a week it has been for the Fender Custom Shop, on both sides of the Pacific. Okay, we're cheating slightly here, but late last week Fender Japan unveiled perhaps its most ambitious Stratocaster capsule yet, assembling a team of four all-star Masterbuilders to complete a daring Deck of Cards-inspired collection.

Over in the US, the Fender Custom Shop partnered with Brad Paisley for a Telecaster signature like no other, while JHS Pedals proved once again the DIY pedal hype is going absolutely nowhere, launching a follow-up to the Notaklön that looks to harness the spirit of perhaps the most iconic amp of all time.

Let's not waste any more time...

Fender Brad Paisley “Lost” Telecaster

Brad Paisley having a Paisley-finished Fender signature guitar just makes sense, but there's more than meets the eye with this release. Namely, it's not just any ol' regular Paisley finish – thanks to painstaking research and craftsmanship, it boasts the original Paisley Cling-Foil paper that made original 1960s example so unique.

Indeed, in the late '60s, Fender produced Paisley Red and Blue Flower finishes using decorative Cling-Foil paper that, by their very nature, were rather fragile and vulnerable. Such models were phased out, and the remaining Paisley guitars are something of a rarity these days.

As such, it's nice to see the finish return in the same form as when it was first launched. Sure, these are limited edition Custom Shop guitars that are beyond the budget of many average players, but there's still no denying they're very nice to look at.

Fender Japan Deck O' Cards Collection

On paper, a quartet of Custom Shop Stratocasters inspired by the four suits in a deck of cards might not sound like an especially out-there objective, but when you get a glimpse of just what Fender Japan has put together – and begin to pick apart the detail that has gone in to each model – the true nature of this project becomes apparent.

For the Deck O' Cards collection, Fender Japan recruited four Masterbuilders – Paul Weller, David Brown, Austin MacNutt, and Andy Hicks – each of whom have produced some of the most intricate Strats we've ever seen.

With an aesthetic flair created by artist Pameline H. that would make even the most wizened poker player show their tell, the Deck O' Card Strats are one-a-kind six-strings that redefine what it means for guitars to double as art pieces. Understandably, they won't come cheap...

JHS Pedals Notadümblë

Just when we were beginning to think the DIY pedal trend might be running out of steam, JHS Pedals – the firm that flipped the build-your-own-stompbox game on its head last year when it launched the internet-breaking Notaklön – has popped up to remind us there's absolutely no chance of that happening any time soon.

With the Notadümblë, JHS is promising to deliver two distinct tones inspired by (you guessed it) a Dumble amp. What's more, the clean channel is inspired by the Box It Later – a mysterious one-off stompbox that firm founder Josh Scott once built for John Mayer, who has been using it on his pedalboard ever since.

Like the Notaklön, it's immensely affordable (only $119) and the best part is, it's completely solderless, meaning assembly will be an absolute doozy.

This writer is still very fond of the Notaklön (it's still my main overdrive on my 'board) and so the Notadümblë is now very high on my wish list. Unfortunately, it looks as though there's already a long waiting list filled with equally enthusiastic DIY pedal makers...

Victory The Deputy Lunchbox Head

Back in 2024, Pete Honoré – AKA Danish Pete – partnered with boutique amp builder Victory to produce the Deputy amp head, a new offering that looked to plug a gap in the firm's lineup. It was (as is the case with most Victory amps) received very well indeed – we gave it a near-perfect review – and in a bid to expand the Deputy arsenal, Victory and Honoré have now reimagined the OG amp as a super-portable lunchbox head.

It is, naturally, smaller than the first Deputy, but it promises to deliver all the tonal benefits of its older sibling. Namely, as per Danish Pete's request, it will do “a really nice clean, a really nice gain-y tone,” with a lush onboard reverb to boot. We imagine this will receive equally rave reviews...

ThorpyFX Hanami Fuzz

There's a fair amount of buzz surrounding ThorpyFX's newest release, and we can see why. Sure, it's a germanium fuzz pedal that looks familiar enough, but as the boutique pedal maker is keen to stress, it's not like any other like-minded fuzz you'll find on the market.

Why? Well, that's because it's been pitted as something of a mid-way hybrid that sonically sits between the Tone Bender and the Big Muff. You need only dip into a few of the demo videos currently doing the rounds on the internet to get a feel for just what that sounds like.

Don't be fooled by the flowery imagery and the peaceful Hanami connotations, though – the pedal sounds mammoth yet clear, and, as some punters have put, it could be the firm's biggest-sounding fuzz to date...

JHS Pedals has returned with another ‘build your own’ pedal kit, the Notadümblë – which promises to put two-channel Dumble amp goodness and half-a-million dollars worth of tone at players’ feet for just over $100.

The pedal follows the success of the Ikea-esque Notaklön, which arrived in November 2023. It presented a very affordable and fun way for budget-conscious players to get a taste of one of the most desired overdrive pedals in the world, the ever-copied Klon Centaur.

Despite its humble $99 price tag, the pedal left Guitar World seriously impressed – so the bar is set high for the all-new Notadümblë.

In JHS' own words, the Notadümblë is “our take on two sounds from the Dumble sonic universe” and makes a stompbox out of amps beloved by Joe Bonamassa, Mark Tremonti, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and a legion of other tireless tone chasers with rather big pockets.

The clean section of the pedal extracts the essence of Dumble's oddball A Box Later pedal. It is a rare non-amp build crafted by the late Alexander Dumble, and JHS chief Josh Scott borrowed one example from none other than John Mayer in order to reverse-engineer it.

The result, the Box It Later, has been on Mayer's pedalboards for years, partly because it is far more compact than the original. As a result, the Notadümblë can produce bright, chime-y cleans, or can “really slam on” to be used as an overdrive or boost pedal.

Over to the red channel, “the Dumble sustaining violin lead tone” is served up on a platter – see Santana, Joe Bonamassa, and Eric Johnson for sonic reference, JHS adds. In the promo clip, Scott is seen playing slide guitar on a Les Paul to show off just some of its more higher-gain tones.

Priced at $119, it's a little pricier than its well-loved predecessor, but for an extra 'amp' channel, it's not a crazy jump, and still represents an incredibly accessible – and not to mention endlessly fun – way to try out some Dumble sounds.

Controls are as simple as can be. The clean channel has knobs for Input and Output, while the overdrive gets Volume, EQ, and Drive. It takes 1/4" jacks and the standard 9V for power.

Instructions for building the pedal are designed to be as easy to understand as possible and no soldering is required. With the Notaklön assembly sitting under the 30 minute mark, it seems unlikely the build time here will be much longer.

“This kit is for anyone who wants a particularly fabled amp-overdrive and the experience of easily building their own pedal,” JHS enthuses. “Go ahead – save yourself a few hundred thousand dollars and experience the magic for yourself!”

Head to JHS Pedals to learn more.

Excitingly – and intriguingly – Dumble looks set to make a return. Its founder passed in 2022 but, after the brand’s revival was teased in October last year, the firm made an appearance at NAMM 2025.

Guitar World caught up with the company at the event, where we were told that the brand and its owner’s legacy are now being overseen by the ‘Dumble Preservation Society’.

JHS Pedals is one of the biggest effects pedal companies of our age, and for good reason. Not only has firm founder Josh Scott established his brand as one of YouTube’s most influential gear channels, he has also curated a rock solid lineup of superb, highly rated stompboxes.

From reverbs and delays to overdrives and distortions, the JHS Pedals catalog quite comfortably covers all corners of the sonic spectrum – and thanks to this Cyber Monday deal, you can still nab yourself 25% off a generous array of some of JHS Pedals’ best units.

It's worth noting that both Guitar Center and Sweetwater are currently stocking this deal, so if you've got your eye on a particular pedal, it'd be wise to check both sites just in case anything else goes out of stock.

I currently have three JHS pedals on my pedalboard, so this Cyber Monday guitar deal is perhaps the one I’m most excited for. My go-to, always-on Morning Glory V4 – a Blues Breaker-style overdrive that helps give my HX Stomp amp models extra tube-style touch – has been slashed by a very healthy $49.75, meaning it can currently be bagged for $149.25.

The Morning Glory V4 drastically helped smooth over the transition from tube amps to amp modelers for me, so if you have an amp-less rig – or are thinking of establishing one – I can personally vouch for this pedals’ performance in making your direct signal chain sound much less digital-y and far more amp-like.

The JHS Pedals Notaklön isn't included in this sale, but my other favorite, the Moonshine – a Tube Screamer-style drive – is, and has been dropped to $149.25.

The firm’s 3 Series range – which, at $99 per pedal, is already exceptional value – also has a strong showing in this sale, and if you're looking for a cheap and cheerful overdrive, delay, reverb, modulation or fuzz, this will give you the chance to get a superb pedal from a respectable manufacturer on the cheap.

Some of the brand’s more sophisticated pedals, which may usually be outside your budget, have also been reduced. Our favorite Tube Screamer clone is the JHS Pedals Bonsai, which has been reduced by a generous $62, meaning it’s currently sitting at $186.75.

My personal favorite, though (and the one I currently have sitting in my basket) is the Emperor V2. Before, I’ve never convinced myself to fork out $220 for the analog chorus and vibrato pedal (even if it does sound a million dollars) but it’s currently priced at $164.25 – with a saving of $54.75 – and so I am very, very tempted.

Unsurprisingly, this deal has proven to be hugely popular, meaning some of the included pedals – such as Lari Basilio’s recently unveiled signature overdrive – have already sold out. As such, you'll have to be quick if you want to bag yourself a bargain JHS pedal before the end of Cyber Monday.

Be sure, of course, to also have a gander at our full Cyber Monday guitar deals page for our full round-up of sales, discounts, and soon-to-disappear offers.

The weekend of the Black Friday guitar deals is one of my favorite times to go pedal shopping, but I’m finding that the best deals are appearing earlier every year. In 2024 I’ve already seen some super gear deals landing and plenty of early sales, but for pedal hounds a blanket 25% off JHS Pedals at Sweetwater is definitely one of the best.

Featuring a huge selection of Josh Scott’s stompboxes, you can save up to $124 on pedals, and many are now well below the $200 mark thanks to the discount. There are a lot of overdrive and distortion pedals in the sale, but there are some choice picks for those in search of time-based or modulation effects, as well a small selection of 3 Series pedals that also feature the 25% discount.

I had a look through the sale myself for err, research purposes, and there are a few that immediately stood out. First up, the JHS Morning Glory V4 has got a nice $49.75 discount, and as one of the most popular JHS pedals it would be my first port of call as a fresh addition to my pedal collection. An evolution of the famous Bluesbreaker circuit, it delivers low gain, transparent tone that’s perfect for placing in front of a tube amp and helping enhance clarity and articulation.

Uni-vibe pedals are something every guitarist gets the itch for at some point in their lives, and the JHS Unicorn V2 is a brilliant example of one. It’s brighter than other Univibe pedals you might have tried, and I absolutely love that about it. With a $54.75 reduction in the Sweetwater sale, it’s now well below the $200 mark, making it excellent value for a top-quality vibe pedal.

Finally, I’m going for something a little more utilitarian but no less awesome. The JHS Whitey Tighty has got a $33.75 discount, so it’s currently sitting just above the $100 point. It’s very much a no-frills kind of compressor pedal, but simplicity is its genius, allowing you to increase the sustain of your guitar with a minimum of fuss.

JHS has announced it will be discontinuing the Ross Pedals line – the legacy effects brand it resurrected only last year.

It was one of 2023’s bigger pedal stories. In August, it was announced that Josh Scott and his JHS company would be bringing back the storied stompbox firm, which had first been founded in the 1970s by Charles “Bud” Ross.

At the time of the announcement, Scott put Ross up there with the likes of Leo Fender, Paul Bigsby, and Jim Marshall as one of the guitar world’s most creative and influential entrepreneurs.

Just 15 months after the red carpet was rolled out for the revived Ross range, though, JHS has now announced it will be ceasing all production as a result of faltering demand for the legacy products.

“The Ross re-release did not go as planned,” JHS writes in the description of a newly posted YouTube video. “We loved it, the market did not.”

In the video, Scott dives deeper into the decision to pull the plug on Ross pedals, citing poor sales stats as the driving force behind the move.

“We’re shutting the Ross division down,” Scott says. “This doesn’t come with any lay-offs. This is just a product line within our company that we are gonna let go and move on from. We were able to launch Era 5 of Ross, and now it’s over… again.

“We had worked on [the Ross relaunch] for a few years. At the immediate release, we sold 4,500 units. That is good. By the end of 2023, we had sold 5,400 units. That’s decent. It was like, ‘Okay, this has some response.’

“Then, from January 2024 til now, it was a complete nosedive. We sold 334 units. There’s this crazy dilemma for me. I really love this brand, I went after it, worked really hard on it, but it plummeted.

“I started being really concerned in March. It is now November, so I’ve had this series of months constantly like, ‘What’s going on with Ross?’ After months of wrestling with that, I decided, ‘I’m going to pull it from all dealers… so I can lower the price.’

“To do that, you need to do a buy-back. I knew this would be a moment of revelation: ‘How many are on the shelves?’ When I saw the buy-back was 1,000 units that had been on the shelves, I was like, ‘Okay, the market is not interested in this line of pedals.’”

And so, this Friday (November 15) at midnight Central Standard Time, the entire Ross line will be sold at a heavily discounted rate – only around $2.50 more expensive than it costs per unit to make, according to Scott. 3,700 Ross pedals are left in the inventory – after that, they’re gone for good.

“I thought, ‘How can I end this in a way where people can enjoy what’s left and, honestly, just get them out of our hands and move on?’ Well, it costs about 76 bucks to make a Ross pedal – I’m just gonna blow them out at $79.” Currently, the Ross pedals sit at $189.

The Ross relaunch was met with much fanfare, with JHS recruiting the likes of John Mayer, Brian Wampler, and Robert Keeley for a documentary that traced the history of the brand, which went through four eras of pedals prior to the JHS revival. Now, judging by Scott’s numbers, it seems Ross is gone for good.

Head over to JHS Pedals ahead of the discount on Friday.

JHS Pedals has partnered with Lari Basilio to produce The Violet – a new signature distortion pedal that promises to offer “a new take” on the effect.

As JHS founder Josh Scott explains in a launch video, The Violet has been a long time coming: he and Basilio began their collaboration back in 2019, and for roughly the past two years the Ibanez signature artist has been using an elusive overdrive pedal prototype that, until this day, has remained a mystery.

Now, that mystery pedal has been finalized and released as Basilio’s first-ever signature stompbox, which Scott has badged “the ultimate distortion for your clean amp.”

“At the time you [Scott] called me I was alternating between a couple pedals, but they were always missing something. So, the first thing that came to my mind was to do an overdrive/distortion pedal,” explains Basilio in the launch video.

“Everything I did – YouTube videos, my recordings, live shows, clinics – everything from mid-2022 on is with this pedal.”

It promises to put a unique spin on the classic overdrive/distortion design, owing to its unorthodox EQ. As Scott goes on to explain, “The guitar goes in buffered, and then you go straight into a mid control in the front.

“Then you go into the distortion-creating block, then out of that [into] bass and treble. So the mid is not directly connected to those bass and trebles.

“I could tell you really liked that,” Scott says to Basilio of the quirky approach, “because it's different to other things you were playing and anything we’ve ever made.”

This, according to JHS, “allows the Violet to achieve hundreds of tones, from overdrive to full-on modern distortion.”

In operation, the pedal itself is easy to get around: there’s a single bypass footswitch, as well as parameters for Volume, Gain, Treble, and Bass. The flexible mid section that does all the heavy lifting can be found in the form of Mid Freq and Middle knobs.

The Violet is available now – in both Black and Purple colorways – for $199.

Visit JHS Pedals to find out more.

In a recent interview with Guitar World, Josh Scott revealed how he managed to build the world's leading pedal firm by recommending his rivals.

JHS Pedals has lifted the curtain on the Flight Delay – a no-nonsense delay pedal that takes pride in delivering three delay effects from the comfort of an easy-to-use stompbox.

The Flight Delay has been positioned as a stompbox that provides “everything you need in a delay and nothing you don’t”, taking a trio of hugely popular delay effects and making them impressively accessible through a simple form factor.

In unveiling the Flight Delay, JHS has taken the opportunity to highlight the pedal’s usability. In a market full of complex stompboxes that offer third-party app control compatibility, menu deep-diving and more – which can sometimes get in the way of actually using the pedal – this unit instead opts for a traditional layout that offers no barriers to entry.

Indeed, you’d need only glance at contemporary delay pedals produced by the likes of Boss and Strymon to understand JHS’ point.

By comparison, the Flight Delay is a throwback to frills-free delays of yesteryears. It has three toggles, six control knobs and two footswitches to conjure up its own array of delay tones.

The central toggle switches between Analog, Reverse and Digital effects modes, which are inspired by the EHX Memory Man, Boss DD-5 and Line 6 DL4 ‘Reverse Mode’. These are controlled via Mix, Repeats and a clever EQ control, as well as a Time parameter that works alongside a three-way subdivision toggle.

Mod Rate and Mod Depth knobs, meanwhile, are in charge of the onboard modulation effects, of which there are two: chorus and vibrato. These can be engaged, or turned off entirely, using the third and final toggle switch.

Other appointments include a tap tempo footswitch that sits next to the bypass control, and a Trails Bypass mode that allows the delay trails to continue repeating after the pedal is bypassed.

Standard I/Os, and an expression/tap jack for controlling the delay time or tap tempo with external pedals, can be found in the top of the Flight Delay.

“It’s based on vintage delays that I’ve always loved,” says JHS founder Josh Scott. “It’s the culmination of me making delay pedals for 10 years, and wanting to make myself the perfect delay.

“There are amazing digital delays that do so many things, from MIDI, to screens, menu diving, all kinds of stuff. But when it comes to playing an actual gig, that’s not something I’m going to gravitate towards and I believe that many of you are the same way.

“The goal of the Flight Delay is to give you all that you want and all that you need with easy access to sounds almost immediately.”

The Flight Delay is available now – in White and Blue colorways – for $249.

Visit JHS Pedals to find out more.

In a recent interview with Guitar World, Scott discussed how he managed to build his pedal empire... by recommending his competitors.

Josh Scott has built one of the most successful independent pedal firms in the world by giving away his knowledge and recommending his rivals. Instead of being laughed out of the industry, it’s made him a hero to indie builders, a trusted resource for players and the internet’s go-to pedal historian, educator and tastemaker.

His knowledge – the product, as he tells Guitar World, of an obsessive personality, blue collar work ethic and misspent youth flipping pawn shop treasures – combined with a world-weary wit and an ability to tell a good story, has helped power JHS’ influence to once unimaginable heights.

If you’d told us the internet would sit through Pedals: The Musical, assemble a flat pack Notaklön (for fun!), watch Behringer clips in their millions, or that one day an endorsement of the DigiTech Bad Monkey would generate headlines, $500 asking prices prices and the guitar equivalent of Dutch Tulip mania – well, we’d have quietly checked your meds.

But that is the result of the authority Scott now holds in the pedal space. That same reputation that has led him to work with many of his musical heroes – from John Mayer to Wilco and Spoon. Then there are the musicians who have put JHS’ US-made units on their ’boards – not insignificant names, from Radiohead to Matt Bellamy, Billy Corgan and Mike Campbell.

There are now 5,000 pedals in Scott’s personal collection, many times more JHS pedals in the world. And north of 100-million views on the firm’s YouTube channel. But it all started with one pedal: a broken Boss Blues Driver.

We sat down with Scott to talk about his pre-JHS days, the Bad Monkey mania and whether the pedal market has finally reached ‘peak boutique’.

Tell us about your life before JHS and pedal-building. Did you grow up in a musical family? What was life like as a kid?

“Well, I grew up in rural Northwest Alabama. And when I say rural, I mean very rural. I lived on a mile-long dirt road – basically, a horse ranch with no neighbors. So I, when I got into guitar, that's what I did and I got really fixated. I, even early on, had a pretty obsessive personality. I would just do something all the way.

“So it was horses at one point, and then it was basketball, and then the guitar came along and, man, I would get off the school bus, and I would play guitar from like 3.30 to 10/11 PM, every single day.

“I was just obsessed with guitar and there was something magical about music, being in such a rural place. I remember holding a Radiohead record, or Oasis, and being like, ‘Oh, I can see England…’ For me, that was crazy, because I'm in Alabama. I've never traveled.

“So that's early me. I get into guitar at like 15, just the typical thing where friends start horrible bands and play cover songs. And then it evolves into being on the verge of record label scenarios around ’99 – and then I just bailed on that. It wasn't what I wanted. And I ended up just playing for people, on tour, session work, stuff like that. Nothing prominent, but I made a living.

“I lived a normal life with guitar as the ‘part-time, financially, full-time mentally’ thing. [Then one day] I had a guitar pedal that broke, and I fixed it – and there I go again, I fixated!”

When you repaired that first pedal – a Boss BD-2, in 2007 – were you already a collector? How did you build that knowledge?

“I just became really obsessed with how these circuits worked. I started taking stuff apart, I got a couple of textbooks. I just kept going with it, and people wanted to buy stuff I was modding. I never had a business plan, but my curiosity created a career.

“I wasn't a collector. I was a pretty basic guitar player who was really curious about the differences in pedals. So again, this is a pre-social media world. I was on eBay looking for old vintage stuff.

“[Before that] I made a business out of going into pawn shops and knowing more about their guitar stuff than them, pre-internet. I actually made a lot of money. I supported myself, basically, by flipping gear, so I developed a good ability to know what stuff was.

“In that sense, I had a lot of knowledge about pedals and what stuff was worth. I would get in the car, and drive to adjacent cities, five, six hours, and find stuff. Just out prowling for stuff to flip.”

Can you recall your best gear flips or finds?

“I remember being in Louisiana and stumbling across a mint-condition, custom-color Fender P-Bass. I think I bought it for like $400 and sold it for $6,000 – stuff like that.

“That wasn't every day, but it was those pawn shops that did not have eBay yet. They didn't have the control. Once they all learned, that whole career was gone.”

When did you start to feel like JHS had properly arrived? That it had found a home with players?

“I remember Premier Guitar reached out to us and did a builder profile, I think it was in 2012. We were very small, still, but that was a moment of, ‘Well, I guess the world's taking it seriously.’ I see so many similarities with [EHX founder] Mike Matthews [Scott is, quite literally, writing the book on Electro-Harmonix at the moment - Ed]. I just hope I don't start chewing on cigars – but I have that driven thing. I want people to like what we do.

“Then seeing a famous guitarist use your stuff is a good feeling. We don't really take that stuff and shove it down people's throats like an ’80s guitar magazine – but we love it, and it's encouraging.

“I mentioned being in Alabama and listening to records. When a lot of those bands started using my stuff, that was a surreal, circular moment. I remember seeing a photo of Noel Gallagher with our pedals, or Radiohead. So those are more distant. I've still never met Noel – probably don't want to – but Radiohead, they're sweet guys.

“Then the more special stuff has been artists like Wilco and Spoon. I made the Colour Box because of their records, and then they got excited about it and toured with the prototypes of this idea that came from their music. It was like this strange, backwards, full-circle, weird moment and really beautiful. Where the idea that inspired it, ended up using it.”

So it’s not so much meeting your heroes, but collaborating with them.

“Yeah. And that's a very rare experience, so I don't take that lightly at all. Then other special things have been, you know, working with John Mayer closely, getting to know him, building weird stuff. Building tons of stuff no-one's ever seen, just for the heck of building it, has been amazing.

“Those are fun and special, because, when someone's music was impactful to you, and you get to interject your creativity in some way around it, that's really cool. There's that [philosophical] term ‘simulacra’. I won't bore you, but it's where the thing created to represent something becomes part of the thing. That's what it feels like with some of these artists. You get an idea, and that idea ends up inside of the original inspiration, like this loop.”

The other side of your role is as the pedal world’s de facto historian, educator and tastemaker, via JHS’ YouTube channel. You talk about being driven. Was that always part of the plan?

“No, it really wasn't! It came really from being frustrated. I really hated demoing pedals because I felt like a car salesman… I hated sitting there and, basically, copying Andy [Martin] from ProGuitarShop… It wasn't very fun. It looked okay, but nobody watched them.

“Then, in my office, I would pull out a guitar every once in a while and just play a riff on Instagram and it would get, like, 20,000/30,000 views. Nick [Loux, Creative Director at JHS] came in one day and he's like, ‘I'm spending so much time crafting something, and you just stand there [and get more views]! Let's just start a YouTube show, and you just talk about history, like you're doing on Instagram…’

“And when we started, there was some skepticism. I remember getting messages like, ‘Hey, I see what you're up to...’ But it was like, ‘No, I'm really just talking about other companies because I think they're cool.’ People couldn't handle that. There were companies that thought I was trolling or scamming them.”

No way…

“The Behringer episode was one of the first to explode, and I heard through the grapevine that the CEO, Uli Behringer, lost sleep over that episode. He came into the office and he could not comprehend why a pedal company would tell you to buy other people's stuff – and I love that. When I found that out, I was like, ‘I'm on to something!’

“It's this giving culture that I love. Like, give and support everyone. It fueled me. I was like, ‘Oh, I'm breaking something down here. This is really fun.’ You have to be secure in yourself, which goes back to [the fact] I'm not intimidated to tell you to go buy a Keeley pedal, you know? If that tears my business apart, then my business sucks. That's how I feel.”

You’re really no snob when it comes to brands, either. You’ve championed Danelectro, Boss and DigiTech, alongside Behringer. What are the qualities that you look for in the gear you recommend, regardless of the name on the pedal?

“I've never been asked that! I’ve never thought about it, either... I guess, if I enjoy it. I think back and some of the stuff I love is so dumb. I know it's practically stupid. Some of it is not made well, but there's something about it that makes me enjoy guitar.

“At the end of the day, whether it's a $10,000 Klon or a $19 Behringer pedal, there's so many spaces in between that just get me excited about something. It can be a riff, or an old memory. That's a big deal: nostalgia. So, yeah – if it makes me smile, or makes me curious, or makes me wonder how they did something, or what's the story. I think that's all it takes for me. That's worth my time.”

There is a level of hype and hysteria that can follow some recommendations – most notoriously, the Bad Monkey. Guitar World has played its own part in that process, no doubt, but have those experiences made you question your role, or hesitate in your recommendations?

“The first thing I would say is, for every Bad Monkey video, there were 10 videos no-one watched. There’s the Bad Monkey with a million views, or Behringer with two or three million. Then there's other videos that got like 30,000 views. And I don't understand.

“I look at Bad Monkey, which is the most ridiculous thing that probably happened on our channel to date and I think it was just the absurdity of it, how silly we made it – there's bananas. We went over the top, because we're like, ‘This is so stupid!’

“The Bad Monkey idea, I just sketched it out real quick and we filmed it. It wasn't even really planned, which is funny, because most things are planned… [But] I didn't think the Bad Monkey would do that.

“I didn't go into that episode, like, ‘Here it is!’ I just did what we normally do. In hindsight, there is a little extra ‘spice’ on that episode and I guess it's just where we were that day. But I have done the same things for other stuff, and it wasn't perceived the same way.

“The Bad Monkey stuff was insane. The prices were so ridiculous. This is a pedal that no-one's really cared about for 20 years. They're littered all over the Earth. It's just such a weird thing.”

Looking at the new pedal market, it feels like we’ve hit ‘peak boutique’. A bit like the craft beer thing, where the shelves are filled with colorful products, many of which taste the same. Do you anticipate a fallout for pedal builders?

“Yeah, I actually just finished writing a piece about this and it’s called, ‘Are there too many pedals? A brief look at the supply and demand of the guitar pedal industry.’ It's a very popular question, but I actually think we're in the healthiest state that guitar has been in…

“‘Saturation’ in economics can actually just mean that an industry is very healthy – that it has widened itself to the point where it's bringing in new people. And I use this comment in the article: ‘one of the biggest pedal YouTubers is a harpist [Emily Hopkins].’ I think that's speaking to a widening [market] instead of this weird collapse. So saturation can be very good.

“But it thins the herd and… I wouldn't call it a bubble, but there is a reality that we're in a moment in pedal history where having a very small company is going to be hard, because the saturation demands a certain level of thought, execution, business management, creativity – that's difficult.

“So To be honest, when JHS started, I don't know how it worked in the beginning, because it was so bad. Some of the stuff wasn't made well. I'm aware of this, but it was allowed because it was a little bit like the Wild West… a frontier. [Now] I think that I would say [the market for] guitar pedals, it's in maturity.

“I don't think it's in decline. Guitar pedals aren't going anywhere, because we're still buying Telecasters, at the end of the day. But this is a very important question, especially to people new to the industry. There should be some concern. I don't think there's a bubble bursting, but I do think it's harder than it's ever been.”

On your point on widening the market. Part of that could be the emergence of new effects. We've had a lot of recreations, or tweaks on classics, but we need new, original sounds – which is clearly much easier said than done.

“Yeah, it's so hard. And to do that, you cannot create a new thing in the space you are in. You have to pull ideas from different spaces.

“We have the phaser, because Oberheim made it for synthesizer. That's one small example – and that's actually not that wide of a gap. But then you have the electric guitar because of telephones. You could trace it that far.

“To have a new thing, you don't sit in the thing and come up with it. You have to find people. You need Joel Korte, who designed drones, to come and do Chase Bliss. That's where that happens.

“People misunderstand the ‘creative genius’ nonsense. It actually is cross-thinking: you get the new idea, because you're not staring at a guitar. If we just stare at a guitar, we're screwed. And that's [always] been the story of the guitar – when people don't look at the guitar, but they're doing other stuff, the idea comes.”

If someone mentions ’90s rock guitar tone, there’s a fairly broad church of sounds that might spring to mind. The tail end of hair metal, the fuzzed edges of grunge, thick saturation of pop-punk and even the retro-tinged wall-of-sound brought to us by Noel Gallagher. 

So, when JHS says its new Hard Drive pedal is based on ’90s tones, we’re listening! The Hard Drive is the brand’s first pedal not to be based on, inspired by, or otherwise adapted from any other pedal. It also happens to be the final output of JHS Head Designer, Cliff Scott. 

Born out of jamming at the JHS HQ, founder Josh Scott says that the idea came to him while rocking some riffs through an Ibanez Smash Box distortion pedal in 2016. Eight years on and many revisions later, the Hard Drive is here.    

On the face of it, it’s a fairly straightforward pedal – albeit with two colours to choose from (Black or White), with gain and output level, plus a three-band EQ. Now, any fan of Dimebag will tell you that the key to a great ’90s metal tone is to scoop your mids. 

The Hard Drive makes this possible with a sweepable mid frequency, allowing you to dial in the exact part of your midrange that you want to then boost or cut using the mid level control.

We’ll start by saying that however you set your controls, this thing is punchy. If you’re sick of your picking attack being squashed by the compression that comes with hard clipping, you won’t have a problem here. This in turn lends itself beautifully to fast, alternating palm-muted powerchord riffs, with every pluck cutting through. 

Our first stop is a scooped drop D sound, and we can confirm it nails the Dimebag thing perfectly (you’ll probably want a noise gate for full authenticity, though). With the treble up high, there’s a Rat-like grind to the sound that remains present across the upper gain settings, perfect for emulating the near-fuzz tones of grunge. 

Meanwhile, with our guitar in standard tuning, we’re able to get classic Marshall JCM and Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier sounds with ease – think classic Green Day and early Foo Fighters.

It’s thick, full and bursting with clarity. A must for fans of the era.

Specs

• PRICE: $/£199
• TYPE: Distortion pedal
• CONTROLS: Volume, Drive, Bass, Mid Freq, Mid Level, Treble
• BYPASS: Buffered
• POWER: 9v PSU (not included)
• CONTACT: JHS Pedals

JHS has lifted the lid on the Hard Drive – its first original, modern distortion pedal, described as “our contribution to a 90 year old tradition of breaking the sound of the guitar”.

The unit stands apart from the rest of JHS’ line-up for two reasons. Firstly, it’s the firm’s first distortion pedal that does not reproduce or tweak the circuit of a classic pedal design.

Secondly, it marks the final contribution of former JHS lead engineer Cliff Smith, who passed away in 2021 and was responsible for the likes of the Crayon Overdrive, the Colourbox and the Twin Twelve.

While the Hard Drive does not emulate any one pedal, it does incorporate a range of ’90s and ’00s style tones – from RAT and DS-1 style distortion to dimed high-gain amp tones (think everything from a modded-Marshall Plexi to a 5150).

The typically brilliant demo/intro clip showcases everything from Metallica, Korn and Rage Against The Machine tones and even sees Scott grapple with a seven-string in the name of metal.

Key to accessing the wide variety of tones is a control set that features a three-band EQ with a mid frequency selection dial (to select the frequencies that are boosted or scooped) – enabling you to run the gamut of those super-scooped ’00s tones, to tube-y crunch and bright, high-mids Boss-style sounds.

Underneath the hood, the circuit features cascading gain stages, a hard limiting circuit and a class AB amplifier.

“I don't know that there's ever been a JHS circuit where we experimented more,” says Scott.

“Cliff would call the Hard Drive circuit a mutt, and I agree – meaning this circuit is not a clone of anything in particular but rather an original iteration of tons of different inspirations and ideas.”

The Hard Drive is available in two colors, Black and Tan, for a price of $199 / £160. Head to JHS Pedals for more information.

When Electro-Harmonix and JHS joined forces for the Lizard Queen fuzz pedal last year – the pedal that Electro-Harmonix could have made in the 1970s, but didn't. And now its hair-raising fuzzy goodness has been remodeled especially for bass guitars.

The new Lizard King marks a rare offering of a bass player-specific octave fuzz pedal, expanding and optimizing the Lizard Queen’s circuit for ground-shaking low-end.

The pedal was inspired by YouTube bass titan Nate Navarro, whose demo of the original Lizard Queen demonstrated the potential of the circuit for low-end fans – although all parties involved maintain this new version works great on guitar, too.

Like the original, the Lizard King is a responsive fixed-gain fuzz pedal, with adjustments made to the bass’ volume affecting the level of fuzz it produces – or as EHX puts it, “A gnarly octave fuzz tone that musically interacts with your dynamics”.

Lower volume naturally equates to a clear-but-fuzzy overdrive, and cranking the volume pushes the gain “over the top”.

The pedal’s Volume and Octave controls do exactly what you'd expect, with the Blend knob dialing the balance between clean and fuzz tones while striving to retain the bass’ innate attack.

The final dial is for Tone, essentially a low-pass filter that rolls off the high-end as per a player’s preference. An additional Sun/Shadow switch is also in place: Sun mode boosts the octave fuzz “with a driving midrange,” with Shadow mode tightening the fuzz tone but leaving the clean untouched.

When in Sun mode, the clean tone, accessed by the Blend knob, has more bass and treble frequencies.

The pedal has true bypass switching and is powered by a standard, pedalboard-friendly 9V supply.

The EHX Lizard Queen was born from a love for the firm’s ‘70s design shared by JHS Pedals’ Josh Scott and graphic artist Daniel Danger.

It offered a musically interactive pedal, responding to player dynamics with a blendable octave sound, with the joys it brought now expanded to keepers of the low-end.

The Lizard King becomes available for public fuzz-sumption in July, and costs a not-too-outrageous $129.

Head to EHX to learn more about this bass fuzz beast.

• My pick of the best octave pedals for bass

Sweetwater has announced The Beach Boys Studio Effects collection, which sees the retailer team-up with the band and the brains behind Benson Amps, Keeley Effects and JHS Pedals on a range of guitar gear inspired by the Beach Boys’ landmark studio sounds.

The news comes ahead of Disney+’s new documentary, The Beach Boys, which is set to debut on May 24.

“People generally don't think about the Beach Boys as a guitar hero band,” explains JHS’ Josh Scott in Sweetwater’s clip. “But they are massively important, especially in the evolution of guitar sound.”

The most attention-grabbing piece of the five-strong line-up is the Benson Amps Surfs Up tube-driven spring reverb and optical tremolo unit. Limited to just 66 pieces, it has – unfortunately – already sold-out. 

It’s based around a 6V6 power tube, paired with a 12AT7 and three 12AX7 tubes – in keeping with classic Fender amp builds – but is not an actual tube amp itself. Instead, it’s described as “a blended dual-tank” spring reverb, which is combined with a vintage-inspired optical tremolo circuit (think In My Room, in terms of Beach Boys tones). 

It’s said to offer a much cleaner, noise-free operation compared to the traditional route, and even comes with a footswitch. It’s all wrapped up in a stunning blue tolex, with a price of $2,199.

Next up are two units from JHS Pedals: the Good Vibrations Chorus/Vibrato and the Punchline Bass Station. The former is inspired by the “warmth and warble” of the Beach Boys’ golden era studio recordings and appears inspired (in both looks and tone) by the Shin-ei Uni-Vibe. 

“This might be my favorite effect of all time,” explains JHS’ Josh Scott in Sweetwater’s video. “The vibrato setting on an actual bulb-driven Uni-Vibe.”

In keeping with the historic, er, vibe, JHS’ take uses a bulb-driven circuit that keeps it simple, with a simple three-knob operation and Chorus/Vibrato switch.

Meanwhile, the JHS Punchline attempts to bottle the Beach Boys’ bass tones, laid down by Wrecking Crew icons like Carol Kaye, into an all-in-one bass tone box.

It combines an EQ, amp simulator, drive circuit and an 1176-style compressor into one unit. Fun fact: Scott thinks this is the most knobs to feature on any JHS pedal yet. 

The JHS Good Vibrations and Punchline Bass Station have prices of $299 and $499, respectively.

Finally, there’s a pair of offerings from effects icon Robert Keeley, in the form of the California Girls 12-string simulator and the I Get Around Rotary simulator,

The intention of these is pretty plain, but the 12-string sim gets its chime-y tones via a combination of chorus, octave and slapback echo effects. You can toggle the echo on/off via a mini-switch, while a second footswitch disables the octave effect, enabling you to use it as a standalone chorus pedal, if preferred.

The Rotary sim emulates the Leslie rotating speaker sounds – as featured on the Beach Boys’ 1964 hit I Get Around – and has both a speed control knob and a secondary Slow-Fast footswitch, for quick selection between two speeds.

Both Keeley units are also set to retail for $299. 

For more information, and to browse the full Beach Boys Studio Effects collection, head to Sweetwater.

It’s not an over-exaggeration to say that no other effects pedal in recent memory has managed to stir up quite as much hype as JHS Pedals’ Notaklön overdrive did when it was first unveiled last year. 

Overnight, the internet was flooded with news of the Notaklön – a brand new, £79 Klon clone that you assemble yourself. Every influencer under the sun marched on YouTube, documenting the foolproof building process and demonstrating the JHS-certified Klon tones, which – as expected – looked to be top‑notch.

Now, the market is in no great need for more Klon Centaur clones – the mythically elusive original unit championed by the likes of John Mayer has been the inspiration behind many off-brand attempts in recent years – but the Notaklön is a different beast altogether.

To start: you build it yourself. The solder-less DIY process is immensely fun, and adds an extra layer of entertainment to a piece of gear that sonically excels. 

Sure, it’s simple – all you have to do is fit the two circuit boards to the chassis, connect them via a ribbon cable and secure the Output, Treble, and Gain control knobs – but that’s what makes it so great: its accessibility.

The foolproof process caters to all players, and while the Notaklön could easily have been released as part of a standard JHS line, it certainly would have lost some of its charm.

Then there are the tones. JHS has been kind enough to fit this pedal with a Shamrock Mod Switch, which means you get not only the classic Klon tone, but an additional voice that supplies +4dB gain boost and an additional stage of hard-edge clipping. 

This is the mode that TG have found ourselves sitting in; with the gain dialed up, there’s a gritty gnarliness about it. Rolled back, it’s the most serene edge-of-breakup boost you could hope for. 

At £79, not only is it one of the most affordable Klon clones out there, but easily the most entertaining. We’d say go buy one right away, but you can’t. Owing to its immense popularity, the Notaklön is backordered – no surprises there.

Specs

• PRICE: $99 / £79 
• TYPE: Overdrive
• CONTROLS: Volume, Treble, Gain, Bypass switch, -/+ Shamrock Mod Switch
• TRUE BYPASS: Yes
• POWER: 9V DC negative center
• CONTACT: JHS Pedals

From fully fledged amp modelers and feature-packed firmware updates, to quirky standalone stompboxes and long-awaited reverb pedals, 2023 has been a pretty historic year as far as effects pedals are concerned. 

Fender debuted its flagship modeler, the Tone Master Pro, Boss finally released the long-awaited RV-200, EHX changed the mini pedal game forever, and DigiTech embarked on a new chapter following years of uncertainty.

Oh, and an honorable mention must go to the Bad Monkey, which kicked up all kinds of fuss when it broke the internet (and inflated its price 10-fold) with a surprise impersonation of the legendary and elusive five-figure Klon Centaur.

So, which of the above is my personal “pedal of the year”? Well, none of ‘em. That mantle goes to something far more affordable, far more novel. Allow me to explain. 

Last month, JHS Pedals sent the pedal world into something of a frenzy when it unveiled the Notaklön – a solderless DIY Klon clone designed and executed in the spirit of an IKEA flatpack furniture kit.

Granted, it wasn't the first build-it-yourself Klone kit to ever exist, but it was the easiest to assemble and among the most affordable – and it came from a brand with a stellar reputation for producing flawless effects pedals.

Some groaned, “Not another Klon,” but others saw the brilliance of the move. What better way to demystify the endlessly overhyped, artificially mysticized, offensively overpriced elitist overdrive pedal then by basically turning it into a piece of affordable self-assembly furniture that a child could build? That’s not an exaggeration, either: a child literally built the pedal in JHS’ own video.

After the pedal’s initial announcement, the hype quickly picked up the pace. The Notaklön rollout was relentless. In the space of just a few days – nay, hours – it seemed every single prominent guitar YouTuber had got their hands on one, documenting the foolproof assembly process and demonstrating the eerily faithful Klon tones that the kit provided.

The reception was staggering and, as per JHS’ own admission, the brand has not been able to keep up with the outrageous demand: it simply could not make enough pedals to go around, with the next shipment not expected until early 2024.

Seeing all these YouTube videos, I had a serious case of FOMO and was curious to see if the hype was worth it, so I reached out to see if I could get in on the action. Fortunately, there was one rogue unit left in stock and JHS was kind enough to entertain me. Before long I was leafing through my own IKEA-style manual, unboxing the circuit board and Goop tube eager for assembly.

Now, going into this build, a physical Klon clone had always been on my pedalboard wishlist, and prior to testing the Notaklön I had been relying on the ‘Minotaur’ replica on my Line 6 HX Stomp. A fine emulation indeed – and one that spends more time on than off – but by no means the real deal.

So even before I received it, the Notaklön represented a possible pedalboard game-changer for me – but it also meant I’d be holding it to particularly high standards: it would take something pretty special to dislodge the HX Stomp.

“It's not a Klon 'til you build it”

I’ve never built my own pedal but I’d always wanted to. Unfortunately, my lack of electronics expertise and total absence of hands-on experience meant I’d never been brave enough to try it. Luckily, the Notaklön caters to such inexperience and makes the build process as simple as possible. Strictly speaking, you’re not really “building” a pedal here, merely assembling one – but hey, the sentiment remains.

The assembly process itself, as expected, was a breeze. Everything required came included in the kit, including two removable purpose-sized wrenches for washer tightening that had been built into the PCB circuit board itself. 

It was foolproof: simply snap the board sides to size, connect them via the single ribbon cable, place them into the enclosure, tighten the washers, secure the control knobs, apply the Goop, wait 24 hours and hey presto: you have a fully functioning Klon.

The build wasn't just a novelty, either: the Notaklön also delivers the tonal goods in spades. After mere minutes, it had convinced me to relegate the Minotaur patch on my HX Stomp, and has even displaced the Mad Professor Royal Blue overdrive that was once indispensable to my rig.

Rolling off the gain and slightly bumping the treble gives a gloriously glassy breakup drive, while cranking the gain sees the pedal veer into unmistakable classic Klon territory. When paired with a Boss CE-2W, Sob Rock-era John Mayer tones were the order of business. 

Part of the pedal's USP is the fact it also offers the JHS Shamrock mod. Accessed via the slider switch, the secondary mode increases the overall gain by 4dB, and it is in this tonal territory that I now spend most of my time. Basically, it's everything you'd expect a Klon clone to be, and then some.

In fact, by the end of my first test drive, I was so hellbent on squeezing the Notaklön onto my humble Pedaltrain Nano that I’ve decided to completely ditch my tuner pedal altogether to make room for it. That's right: I love it so much I've converted to using a clip-on tuner.

Worth the hype?

The purpose of the Notaklön project seemed to be two-fold: first, to further Scott’s long-held opinion that guitarists need to start listening with their ears and not to internet trends. In other words, Klons aren’t that special, and you certainly don't have to fork out $10,000 to achieve decent overdrive tones.

At the end of the day, a circuit is a circuit, and you don't need to hunt high and low for magical diodes or elusive components in order to tap into the tones you hear in your head. It's just a matter of being smart with your search, and making the most of what's at your disposal.

Have a brief recap of Scott’s response to Bad Monkey-gate and you’ll see that the Notaklön is a natural extension of that philosophy. Give the people what they think they’ll never be able to afford for less than $100, and show them there really is nothing to it. The added Goop to cover the “magic diodes” – a quirk of the original that plays into the mythology – is just the icing on the cake.

But that was just part of it: there’s also something irresistibly appealing about making your own pedal. Sure, JHS Pedals could have easily added it to its 3 Series line, but where’s the fun in that? 

And yes, the build process itself is ridiculously straightforward, but so what? That’s part of the charm: its accessibility. I’ve never soldered in my life, and wouldn’t have fancied navigating a soldering iron if this pedal required one. This way, any budding guitarist on the hunt for a Klon clone can make the most of it.

Indeed, that's what sets this apart from many other DIY pedal kits out there, including the fully soldered, similarly priced StewMac starter kit: anyone can do it.

All that said, is it worth the hype? Put it this way: I initially said it needed to be something special to dislodge my trusted HX Stomp patch. I ended up abandoning the Line 6 effect, ditching an overdrive pedal and a tossing a tuner pedal to fit it on my ‘board. There's not much else to say, really.

If you're not already on the waiting list to get one next year, I recommend you pay a quick visit to JHS Pedals to sort that out ASAP.

I’m always adding and removing pedals from my pedalboard, usually because I’ve gotten tempted by the next exciting stompbox release. Whilst the marketing teams at many pedal companies are super effective against me, the truth is I might only use a certain effect once in a live set. Realistically, we guitar players could cover a lot of different sounds and styles with just five pedals if we really wanted to. Since a massive selection of JHS pedals has got a huge 25% off at Sweetwater, I figured I’d put together a five-stompbox ‘board that will be versatile enough to cover pretty much any style.

JHS Pedals has introduced the Notaklön – an IKEA-style, DIY overdrive pedal that looks to be an ingenious and creative solution for those on the hunt for Klon Centaur tones.

Beloved by some of the biggest players on the planet and heralded for its mythical (if somewhat artificial) elusiveness, the Klon Centaur is one of the most sought-after stompboxes in the world of effects pedals.

Alas, because of both those factors, the Klon is simply far too expensive for the average electric guitar player, with examples on the second-hand market reaching prices upwards of – *checks Reverb* – a whopping $10,000. 

That’s an extreme example (there are pedals listed for between $5,000 and $7,000) but still, the point remains: the Klon Centaur is an unobtainable beast.

Sure, there is a whole corner of the market dedicated to Klon clones, but the Notaklön looks to be completely different from its competitors.

Why? Well, not only is there a tone mod for added versatility, you quite literally get to build the pedal yourself. An engaging and hands-on approach to harnessing some of guitar’s most prized tones, with a solderless construction design and added sound options? Shut up and take all of our money.

We say take our money, but JHS Pedals won’t actually be taking too much, because the Notaklön is available for $99. We’re not exaggerating when we say this might be one of our favorite pedal releases of the whole year – and in a year of the Fender Tone Master Pro, Boss RV-200 and Line 6 HX One, that’s saying something.

“You’ve asked me for over a decade to bring the JHS Klon replica back into our pedal lineup,” said brand founder Josh Scott in the announcement video. “And I only have one thing to say to that: make it yourself.

“The Nötaklon is a DIY solderless kit that allows you to build the famous Klon Centaur circuit, that also comes with a mode switch implementing my modifications to the circuit,” he continued. “It’s so easy that a child could do it. Like, a baby human.”

Scott wasn’t joking, either: he got two children (one of whom is his son) involved in the video to piece together the pedal.

Included in the kit is a set of instructions, a tube of Goop (for final circuit-concealment purposes), the enclosure itself, the circuit motherboard, the tools required for assembly and all the bells and whistles required to keep all the bits and pieces together.

In practice, the Notaklön sports a layout identical to the original Klon, with control knobs for Volume, Treble and Gain, as well as a bypass footswitch located on the right of the stompbox. As mentioned, there is also a mode switch that engages the Shamrock mod.

Performance-wise, that mod increases the overall gain by 4dB, offering boost abilities with an increase in mid frequencies and an additional stage of hard-edge clipping. It’s joined by the standard Centaur circuit for those who are solely concerned with the original Klon-a-like tones.

You probably won’t be surprised to hear that the first batch of 3,000 Notaklöns has already sold out – yes, we missed out on it, too – but fear not: more are coming, and they will be shipping in January next year.

To find out more, and to preorder from the next batch of pedals, head over to JHS Pedals.

Ross Electronics has been brought back to life by JHS Pedals, which has relaunched the late Charles “Bud” Ross’s cult classic effects pedal brand with five stompboxes.

Launched by Ross in the ‘70s – arriving not long after the inventor and engineer had established the hugely successful Kustom guitar amps in 1964 – the eponymous pedals (and, indeed, the amps that came before them) are some of music history’s most influential pieces of gear.

As JHS Pedals founder and pedal connoisseur Josh Scott puts it: “Although you may not know his name like you know the name Leo Fender or Paul Bigsby or Jim Marshall, at the peak of his career and at the peak of the products that he made in the ‘60s, he was on par with those creatives and entrepreneurs.”

In fact, such was the influence Ross had on the music world, JHS has launched a 30-minute documentary detailing the brand’s history and eventual revival, which features the likes of John Mayer, Brian Wampler, Robert Keeley and Butch Walker.

After transitioning from amps to the pedal market in the late ‘70s, a handful of distinct eras of stompboxes steadily arrived throughout the ensuing years. 

The first era ran afoul of MXR, which threatened legal action against Ross for its form factor and branding, but the second era (crafted after Ross returned to Kansas) delivered a pedal that would gain cult status in years to come.

It’s the spirit of these early pedals – with their recessed control knobs and angled footswitch – that has been further immortalized by JHS, which has released Era 2-accurate Compression, Phaser and Distortion pedals, an Era 3-inspired Chorus and an all-new Fuzz inspired by a Kustom amp circuit.

The seeds for the newest generation of Ross pedals were first sown back in 2020, when Scott – whose Kansas-based JHS Pedals brand is located mere miles away from Ross’s original location – approached Bud’s grandson, Cameron Ross, with the idea.

“JHS was the clear choice,” said Cameron Ross, who first tried to revive the company in 2019. “[They were] the ones that cared about the story, cared about Bud, and cared about the direction of the company.”

As mentioned, the Compressor, Phaser and Distortion pedals are faithful reproductions of the original Era 2 units, though each has been tweaked to include handy top-mounted jacks and additional switches.

For the Compressor, Level and Sustain knobs dictate the OTA-based, vintage-style comp pedal, which also has a side-mounted Bright/Vintage switch.

Controls on the Distortion include Level and Distortion parameters, as well as a switch that flicks between Germanium and Silicon modes as a nod to the two different circuits produced during the pedal’s 15-year history.

Rate and Recycle knobs, and a switch that changes between classic Analog Phaser and Univibe-style operation, are featured on the Phaser, while the Era 3 Chorus offers Rate, Depth and Chorus/Vibrato options.

Arguably the most notable release of the bunch is the Fuzz, which acts as a branch between two of Bud Ross’s most successful gear companies.

With a sound pulled from the same Kustom amp model that John Fogerty, The Grateful Dead and many others used, the Fuzz is dubbed “a tribute to a lost Kustom distortion effect that, until now, was only available in an amplifier”. Level, Fuzz and Vintage/Modern switches are the order of business here.

“I am dedicated to pursue the manufacturing, production and evolution of this legacy brand in the same way Bud Ross would,” Scott said in a statement. “As I have said time and time again, ‘Companies don’t make things, people do.’ 

“I am beyond excited to merge the amazing legacy of Bud Ross’s life with the hardworking, passionate team at JHS Pedals.”

In terms of price, each pedal weighs in at $189.

To find out more, head over to Ross Electronics.

For those of us playing guitar in the 1970s, the Electro-Harmonix range looked unique and quite exotic with those huge metallic enclosures, quirky graphics and, best of all, those names – Electric Mistress, Big Muff Pi, Screaming Tree, Bad Stone and so on. 

Bringing things up to date, in 2022 pedal nerd Josh Scott of JHS Pedals took on the task of creating a homage to that era: an Electro-Harmonix pedal that never existed but could have.

EHX never actually made an octave fuzz pedal, so Josh took up the challenge, dived in and came up with the Lizard Queen, with Daniel Danger providing the artwork. The next stage was EHX head honcho, Mike Matthews, getting involved and the pedal went into production. A limited-edition JHS-built big box ’70s-style pedal has sold out, so it’s this nano series pedal from EHX that you’ll find in the shops.

This is a fixed-gain fuzz with no gain knob, just a volume control for setting the output level, which seems to be at unity at around 11 o’clock leaving plenty of leeway to build in a boost. You get a fine vintage fuzz sound with a bright tonality, and the gain amount seems to have been chosen just right for everyday playing tasks.

Variations in its character come via a Balance knob that runs from Shadow to Sun and has more than just EQ going on. The fuzz is at its smoothest at the Shadow end and has decent clean-up characteristics, but advance the knob and you get a tonal change and a spittier sound that becomes really apparent if you roll back your guitar volume for some gated glitchiness.

The Octave is added to the signal chain by its own dedicated knob, which means you can go from none, to just a tickle, and all the way to a point where it really sings through.

There are some great sounds wherever you are on the dial with plenty of interaction between the knobs to explore. The effect of the balance knob is especially apparent with the octave turned up high, and raucousness abounds towards the Sun end.

Specs

• PRICE: $/£99
• ORIGIN: USA
• TYPE: Octave fuzz pedal 
• FEATURES: True bypass
• CONTROLS: Volume, Octave, Balance, Bypass footswitch
• CONNECTIONS: Standard input, standard output
• POWER: 9V battery or 9V DC adaptor (not supplied) 5mA
• DIMENSIONS: 66 (w) x 111 (d) x 50mm (h)
• CONTACT: EHX

JHS Pedals founder Josh Scott’s gear recommendations carry some serious weight. Indeed, previous nods – not least his somewhat infamous tip-off on DigiTech’s Bad Monkey – have seen used prices rocket at alarming rates. Recently, though, Scott dedicated a new livestream to a distortion pedal he says is “the most cool and unique distortion device I've seen in decades.” 

And it’s not some out-of-production obscurity, either. It’s a pedal that was only announced in January and is available for an obtainable price of around $200-250: namely, the Korg Nu:Tekt Harmonic Distortion. 

The box is the brainchild of Fumio Mieda, the Japanese pedal designer behind the Shin-ei Uni-Vibe and, as we explained when the HD-S launched earlier this year, is a build-your-own-pedal kit that features three different, cascading distortion circuits. 

“It’s super, super fascinating,” enthuses Scott. “They’re made to be built by you. You don’t have to solder. You don’t have to know how to do anything, you just have to pop them together.”

Of course, while he makes special mention of the excellent sticker set that’s included (“Who doesn’t want a Fumio Mieda sticker?”), it’s not just the novelty factor that has Scott interested, more the tone and topology of the circuit.

“This thing immediately caught my attention,” says Scott. “I’ve seen everything. I mean, literally, at this point… Very often when you see the claim of an ‘original’ effect, it’s like [pauses] ‘Is it?’ This feels so different.”

As Scott explains, the HD-S has three harmonic trim pots that can be adjusted to change the sound of the distortion stages. They’re designed to be ‘set and forget’ but you just need a screwdriver to tweak them.

“They all interact,” notes Scott. “The pedal has a sound. You’re not going to go from Bluesbreaker to Metal Zone, that’s not going to happen. It has a distortion characteristic… I would put it somewhere between a killer DS-1, a little bit of RAT, all the way to a Univox Superfuzz – and that’s insane. I know what I’m saying is insane, but it’s the interaction here.”

Scott – in his typically, informative, laconic manner – explains the benefit of the circuit, including the wide sweep of actually-useable sounds available from the Tone control before concluding, “I can say in all honesty… this is the most cool and unique distortion device I've seen in decades, like, historically – [and it’s] designed by Fumio Mieda – I mean, just super cool.”

Alongside, the HD-S, Korg also launched the TR-S Power Tube Reactor, which uses its Nutube tech to emulate the feel of a tube amp, earlier this year, while the first pedal in the range – the Nu:Tekt OD-S overdrive pedal – arrived in 2020.

For more information on the Nu:Tekt HD-S, head to Korg.

NAMM 2023: Electro-Harmonix has announced the Lizard Queen, an octave fuzz pedal based on a vintage EHX design by JHS Pedals’ Josh Scott that never existed. Wait, what?

Let’s recap a sec: back in February 2022, Josh Scott, accompanied by designer Daniel Danger, lived their wildest effects pedal fantasies and devised their own vintage Electro-Harmonix pedal, the Lizard Queen octave/distortion, for a video entitled “Making A Vintage Electro-Harmonix Pedal!”

EHX head honcho Mike Matthews was so taken by the design, he sought to make it a reality – no doubt emboldened by countless YouTube commentators clamoring to buy the prospective pedal – and that brings us bang up to date.

Like numerous ’70s pedal designs, the Lizard Queen features a fixed gain level for its fuzz, with a blendable Octave control for Octavia-style tones. The Balance knob, meanwhile, takes the tone from the smoother Shadow sound to the nastier Sun setting – these tweaks are more noticeable with higher Octave settings.

The pedal is available in two formats: in EHX’s widely available modern-day Nano enclosure ($99), and a JHS Pedals-exclusive big-box version ($349), which is limited to 1,000 units – 30 of which feature inverse color printing – and comes with lovingly replicated manuals and paraphernalia.

You get all the mod cons with the Nano version – 9V power supply operation, on/off LED – but the big-box features none of that, with just an internal battery and no LED indicator.

For more information on the Nano Lizard Queen, head over to Electro-Harmonix, while JHS Pedals has all the deets on the big-box version.

DigiTech’s once-obscure Bad Monkey overdrive has seen huge price inflation on the used market after it was tipped by JHS pedal guru, Josh Scott. Now a Bad Monkey once owned by British blues rock ace Gary Moore has hit Reverb for an asking price of $12,633. So how long can the bubble last?

If you’re catching up on the story, the scramble for the overdrive pedal began with a helpful clip from Josh Scott, in which he compared the cheap DigiTech pedal favorably with Klon’s near-mythical Centaur overdrive. Cue the out-of-production stompbox (which originally retailed for $59) appearing on used sites for asking prices north of $600.

Those with any interest in stock markets, property or tulip bulbs, will recognise the classic signs of a market bubble. As noted by Investopedia, the five stages of a bubble include: displacement, boom, euphoria, profit-taking, and panic. 

To be fair to the sellers of the Gary Moore unit – UK stomp box dealer and manufacturer, Pedal Pawn – at least this one has some intrinsic value, thanks to its association with the guitar icon.

It is also not out of step with valuations from other celebrity-owned effects. This is the age of rockstar’s Reverb clear-outs and high-profile auctions, after all – a world in which Kurt Cobain’s Boss DS-1 goes for $75,000. But it’s fair to say Moore’s Monkey still carries an attention-grabbing price.

Regardless, judging by market behaviour, we’re currently somewhere between ‘euphoria’ and ‘profit-taking’, sending excited pedal buyers to listing sites and leaving others frantically digging through their closets in search of Bad Monkeys.

Yesterday, Scott mocked the listing euphoria that followed his coverage of the pedal. In particular, he addressed those people who saw the inflated listings (the profit-taking) and complained he had raised the price – reminding pedal buyers that they had 19 years to buy it before he mentioned it.

“People listing for $600 and people buying them for $600 are two very different things,” emphasised Scott. “Sit back, relax, and enjoy guitar with what you have.” The price, he assured them, will eventually come back down. 

This, we imagine, will precipitate the panic stage. That is the point when a market suddenly and collectively understands it’s lost its head and realises that, for whatever reason, no-one in their right mind should pay that price – and listings subsequently head south.

Meanwhile, the ever-droll Scott has taken to Instagram to debut two amusing new T-shirt designs in the pedal’s signature green tone, both priced at $25.

One design reads, “I bought a Bad Monkey for $49, now they’re $650.” The other states: “I can’t afford a Bad Monkey because now they’re $650.” “So there’s a shirt for everybody”, notes Scott, somewhat wryly.

So there we have it. An economics lesson delivered in pedal form. For now: hold tight to your purse strings, enjoy the memes and try to resist the urge to get involved. 

That being said, we would be tempted by an “I bought a Bad Monkey for $650” T-shirt. Though we’ll pay no more than $250 for it...

JHS Pedals has released a statement in response to rapidly rising DigiTech Bad Monkey prices, after the affordable overdrive pedal received a wave of renewed demand following a recent pedal demo from the effects specialist.

Two days ago, the JHS Pedals YouTube channel posted a 16-minute video that saw brand founder Josh Scott pit the Bad Monkey against a range of popular OD stompboxes, with a side-by-side shootout alongside the Klon Centaur drawing particular attention.

In light of the demo, which seemingly showcased the uncanny similarities between the Klon and Bad Monkey, listing prices for the discontinued DigiTech began to skyrocket, with one listing on Reverb reaching as high as $650. At the time of writing, dozens more Bad Monkeys have now been listed on the secondhand gear site, with one asking for a comical $11,000.

Many pedal fans who watched the video drew a connection between Scott’s demo and the surging Bad Monkey prices, but now the pedal specialist has issued a statement to “the people complaining that I raised the price on this pedal”.

“I would like to remind you you had 19 years to buy one, but you never cared,” the statement read. “This pedal has existed four years longer than JHS as a company, and most guitarists have hated on it since day one. 

“No one kept you from trying it in 2004,” it continued. “Learn to listen with your ears and not trends, and you will be a much happier guitarist.” 

Scott also noted that “people listing for $600 and people buying them for $600 are two very different things”, and assured Bad Monkey fans that prices “will return to normal”. 

It’s an important observation to make. Though prices are indeed increasing – and Reverb’s price checker has shown that the Bad Monkey is currently the most expensive it's been in two years – no unit has sold for anywhere near the eye-watering price tags they have been assigned.

In January this year, mint condition Bad Monkeys sold on average for just $50, while this month has seen that average price of mint Bad Monkeys increase to $202. Expensive, yes, but not quite $650.

Scott’s statement went on, “People will list them for ridiculous prices, and it’s extremely easy to not to buy them at those prices. Just wait. They will return to normal, and people will move on to the next thing.

“One more thing: people listing for $600 and people buying them for $600 are two very different things. Sit back, relax, and enjoy guitar with what you have.”

Scott concluded the post by saying the whole point of his Bad Monkey demo video was to help guitarists realize that “what you have is enough”, and sometimes great tones could be found from the most unlikely places. 

Whatever the case, as Scott says, the Bad Monkey situation will likely calm down over the next few months when the next “magic” cheap stompbox is discovered, or if people realize "trend pedals" aren't worth the financial hype.

And, if prices continue to balloon, it’s likely that such effects will be reversed if the newly reestablished DigiTech ever decides to reissue the pedal.