JHS Pedals has revamped the Kilt to celebrate the 10th anniversary of one of its top-selling overdrive/distortion pedals, adding a slew of factory mods for a limited run that might just might make the “ultimate dirt pedal” better.
Think of the Kilt and you might think of the Expandora, the pedalboard cult classic that inspired it. But it was originally developed as a signature pedal for Stu G, then of the ‘90s Christian rockers Delirious? He wanted a do-it-all drive box. The Kilt was it.
Over the years there have been revisions. But this, the Kilt 10, with its Saltire on kilt design, and its polished aluminium enclosure all kinds of shiny, is a reinvention of sorts, with an improved gain control “unlocking articulate, low-gain textures that weren’t previously accessible” and eliminating “dead zones”, more clarity in the high-end to help it sit better in a live mix, and more headroom to make it more dynamic, more stackable, more responsive.
“The enhanced headroom and clarity make this version particularly suited for complex chord work and intricate picking patterns that would get lost in lesser overdrives,” says JHS.
Also, the gain toggle switches are more effective. JHS has made the low-cut toggle play better with your guitar amp (or, yes, amp modeller or in-the-box digital amp solution).
And – yes, there’s more – there’s been a rethink with the clipping circuits. “It has slightly more compression, distortion on tap, and a smoother attack,” says JHS. “Think Kilt V2 but bigger.”
Otherwise, it is the same high-functioning platform for all things dirt as the Kilt V2. You have the simple three-knob setup – Volume, Gain, Tone – plus a trio of toggle switches.
One is a low-cut switch, which can be set so the EQ is flat, or flick it up and it’ll take out some bass frequencies should you find you’re getting lost in the mix.
The other two, the G1 and G2 switches, are in cahoots, serving up four different clipping options. With both switches off down, you are in planet low gain. Think sparkle for your amp.
Activate G1 and you’ll get more overdrive. Flick on G2 and you’ll get fuzz. Combine them and… You’ve got the “heaviest gated fuzz” the pedal offers.
All of these improvements have been inspired by player requests, so you can’t say JHS isn’t listening to its public.
Another cool thing is that the G2 toggle switch can be activated by JHS Pedals’ Red Remote switch (sold separately), making it effectively a two-channel dirt pedal. Feed it 9V DC (and no more!) from a pedalboard power supply and you are good to go.
This is a limited edition run. They are only making 5000 of them. And you can get 25 per cent off until 7 December. Pick on up now for £193/$249 over at JHS Pedals.
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