JHS Pedals - Artist Series

While we have already talked about some of the most popular JHS Pedals we felt like there are still a ton of their guitar pedals everyone needs to know about. While these guitar pedals are not necessarily instant staples appearing on players boards everywhere, the JHS Artist Pedals are very interesting and worth checking out. JHS has partnered with well-known artist like Ryan Adams and Mike Campbell to help enhance their already signature sound, and offer up a chance for other players to take advantage of these interesting tones.

The VCR

The VCR was created in collaboration between Ryan Adams, his recording studio PaxAm, and JHS Pedals. You can hear this pedal all over his newest record "Prisoner". This is a Volume/Chorus/Reverb pedal that has been heavily inspired by 80's artists like The Smiths and The Cure. This pedal is built to transport your playing back into the 80's with the push of a button.

JHS Pedals built the VCR with simplicity in mind. The Master switch is true bypass and will turn the whole unit on or off. Within the pedal, each effect has a toggle that allows you to choose which of the three effects you want to use. Essentially it allows the player to create a VCR preset. The Volume knob is a transparent boost that can be used to help add a little punch or presence your tone or it can be used to overdrive the amp. The chorus effect is already preset to give you that classic 80's sound. At noon, all chorus parameters are also set to noon. As you turn the knob clockwise the rate parameter will increase and the depth will decrease. The opposite is true as you move the knob to the counter-clockwise. The Chorus depth will be increased and the rate will decrease. The whole goal of this pedal is to offer a simple plug and play design that will allow the player to focus on the music. 

Ryan Adams records are well known for their extreme use of reverb, so we weren't surprised to see the effect included on this pedal. The Reverb effect is dialed to the preferences of Ryan Adams and is ready to go with the flick of a switch, just like the chorus section of the pedal. The knob simply is an effect level that will allow you to mix in the reverb effect to taste. The VCR is perfect for someone who wants to spend less time finding the right tone and more time working on their music. 

The Milkman

This Echo/Slap Delay/boost was brought to life by Josh Scott and Tim Marcus from Milkman Sound. This an all in one pedal is perfect for enhancing a smaller amp that is lacking in the effect area. The right section of the Milkman is a simple boost that can be used as an always-on effect to add some texture and saturation to your signal, or you can turn it past unity to begin pushing the amp into overdrive. This utility seems to be a trend among these artist pedals as the VCR functions in the same way. 

The left side of this pedal is the delay portion of this guitar pedal. The longest delay time on this pedal is 240ms so if you are looking for long lush delays you are not going to find it with the Milkman. Instead, this pedal offers up a unique tonal blend of an Analog tape delay and a Bucket Brigade Delay. At the top left, you will see the slap knob which will control the delay time of this pedal. The rest of the controls are typical of any echo/delay pedal The mix allows you to blend in the effect as desired. You won't get a 100% wet mix until the knob is turned fully clockwise. The Repeat control will allow you to choose the number of echoes this pedal generates. Finally, you will have an EQ knob which will allow you to affect the brightness or darkness of the echoes. Note that the EQ only effects the delay tone and not your guitar tone.

This is a 2-in1 pedal, so either the boost or delay can be run independently or simultaneously.

The Calhoun

This pedal was developed in a partnership between Mike Campell and JHS pedals. Campell is well known as longtime guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. But he has offered up his talents to many other legendary songwriters including Don Henly, Stevie Nicks, Jackson Browne, and George Harrison.  

As a two-in-one drive/fuzz pedal, the Calhoun was created to serve mike both in the studio and live onstage. The left side of this pedal is responsible for the overdrive section of the Calhoun. This side of the pedal comes with four basic controls Volume, Drive, Bass, and Treble. These are straightforward and work exactly as you would expect.

The fuzz section of this pedal can be found on the right channel and has control over Volume, Fuzz, Bias, and EQ. The Volume control has the same function as the volume on the drive side of the pedal. it is simply a master control allowing you to set the level of each effect. Fuzz adjusts the amount of fuzz being mixed into your signal. Bias adjusts the voltage introduced into the circuit. As you turn it up you increase the headroom or you can turn it down for wearer more saturated tones. EQ allows you to adjust the brightness of the effect so it is not lost in the mix.

This pedal also includes a toggle switch that will allow you to change the order of the two effects. Just like the VCR, this is an easy to use drive/fuzz pedal created for players who just want a no frills pedal that always sounds great.

Ruby Red

The Ruby Red was built for Butch Walker of Marvelous 3. In order to help Walker get the tones he needed, JHS Pedals took their famous Superbolt and supercharged it. In fact, the left side of the Ruby Red is The Superbolt circuit that we have all come to love. If you are less familiar with the Superbolt, this drive recreates the tones from the old Supro amps. It is built to function like an amp which means that this pedal is great for low or high gain applications. One additional feature that the Ruby Red offers is a "+" toggle which allows you to mix more sag, compression and gain to the circuit if desired.

The right side of this pedal is what JHS added to the original design. It is an independent boost which will allow you to push the front end of the superbolt in a whole new way. You can also use the position toggle to place the boost after the drive. In this configuration, this side of the pedal acts more as a solo boost helping push your lead lines to the front of the mix without over saturating your tone.

The AT

The AT overdrive is a variation of the well know Angry Charlie drive, but has been modified to meet the needs of guitarist Andy Timmons. This drive offers up four controls. The first three are typical to what you would find on any drive pedal and the last is unique to the AT. There is volume, EQ, and drive and each function as expected. The fourth control is labeled Air. This knob controls a low pass filter that is focused on the higher frequencies. It works in combination with the EQ control which accomplishes the same effect but focusing more on the lower end frequencies.

There is also a three-way toggle which adjusts the headroom fo the pedal. The different positions of the toggle are designed to emulate different wattage amps. Down is 50 Watts, Up is 25 Watts, and in the middle, the pedal is set to 100 watts. Just like an amp, these different modes affect the amount of drive and volume available. In the 25 watt mode, the pedal is quieter but offers up more drive. The 100 watt mode is much cleaner and has more punch and power behind it.

Hashtags: JHS Pedals, JHS Artist Series, JHS Overdrive, JHS Delay, JHS AT Drive, JHS Ruby Red, JHS VCR, JHS Calhoun, JHS Milkman, JHS Guitar Pedals, Ryan Adams Pedals