JHS Pedals has expanded its 3 Series of $99 guitar effects pedals with the release of the Screamer. As the name suggests, the Screamer is an overdrive pedal based around a JHS-modded Tube Screamer circuit that has been revoiced to make it even more versatile.
That is to say, it is designed to be one of the most versatile overdrive pedals you can have on your pedalboard, for the Ibanez Tube Screamer is an evergreen – and, indeed, actually green – choice for kinds of playing styles.
JHS Pedals founder Josh Scott says it remains “the most important pedal ever made”.
“I would venture to say that, if Nasa cared to show aliens what pedal we use, they would send this up on the Voyager – next to Chuck Berry’s Johnny B Goode – to display what rock ’n’ roll is,” says Scott. “This is the pedal of all pedals, so that’s why we continue to make them.”
With a JHS “Strong Mod” under the hood, the Screamer has more clean headroom, allowing you to use it as a clean boost to push the front end of your guitar amp. That extra body in the midrange is still there but the frequency response is a little different, taking less from the the bass and treble.
The tone control does a little more heavy lifting. And the Screamer is designed to be dynamic, sensitive to your playing style and cleaning up nicely when you roll back the volume on your electric guitar.
The setup is simple. There are dials for Volume, Tone and Drive, and a two-way toggle switch for selectable clipping. In the upward position (+ve), it sounds just like a cranked amp.
The 3 Series Screamer is available now, priced £/$99. For more information, head over to JHS Pedals (opens in new tab).
