A new series of $99 JHS guitar effects pedals? Well that's an unexpected surprise! The company's new 3 Series is pretty comprehensive too with the very self explanatory model names Overdrive, Distortion, Fuzz, Compressor, Chorus, Delay and Reverb.
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series is a collection of pedals designed to give you affordability and simplicity without compromising quality," says the company. "Each 3 Series pedal is made by us in Kansas City, MO, using high-quality parts, quality control, and attention to every detail. Each pedal has three simple controls and one toggle that offer a wide range of sounds, perfect for beginners and professionals alike.
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series will inspire your playing and help you explore new sounds at a totally approachable price point."
We're liking the clean and minimalist no-nonsense aesthetic here too and each pedal measure at length 4.42” x width 2.38” x height 1.22" and they run on 9V DC Negative Centre power and consume 12mA. Let's take a look at the seven-pedal range and JHS's descriptions of each model.
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3 Series Overdrive
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series Overdrive offers a wide range of overdrive sounds within straightforward design aesthetics. You can achieve anything from boost, transparent low gain, to huge amp-like medium overdrive sounds. The simple knob functions give you control over the Volume, Body (or EQ), and Drive.
"The Gain toggle gives you a choice between more saturated and compressed or more open and crunchy dynamics. This switch plays a big part in how the pedal responds to your playing and touch as a player."
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Fuzz
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series Fuzz is a versatile fuzz box that cleans up well with your guitar's volume knob. The Fuzz is the perfect balance of vintage and modern with soaring sustain and clear articulation.
"The controls allow you to create a wide variety of sounds via the Bias knob, which gives the Fuzz a more gated sound as you turn it up. Unlike many fuzz pedals, the fuzz knob is usable across 100% of the sweep for many different flavours not typically found in a fuzz, like distortion, and even pushed amp-esque overdrive tones. The Fat toggle engages a bass boost for an overall fatter, more powerful sound."
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Distortion
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series Distortion is a massively versatile distortion pedal with the ability to achieve medium gain crunch, heavy overdrive, distortion, and even fuzz tones.
"The controls on the Distortion are Volume, Filter (or Tone), and Distort knobs that give you a wide range of usable sounds in any position. The Gain toggle gives you a choice between more saturated and compressed or a more open and crunchy distortion. This switch plays a big part in how the pedal responds to your playing and touch dynamics."
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Chorus
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series Chorus offers classic chorus and vibrato modulation sounds, with straightforward controls and enough versatility for any style of music. The Rate and Depth knobs work together to deliver anything from subtle doubling to utterly seasick waves of modulation.
"The Vibe toggle removes the dry signal so that you will have a simple true pitch vibrato sound without the dry signal underneath."
Compressor
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series Compressor is a simple and powerful compressor that will give you everything from subtle tone smoothing to a super squashed sound.
"The Attack and Sustain knobs allow you to dial in the compression's overall feel and response to your playing, while the Volume knob enables you to set the overall volume at unity or boosted. The Bright toggle engages a brighter EQ so that your tone doesn't get lost in certain situations."
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Delay
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series Delay lets you choose between rich and warm or clear and pristine echoes. The straightforward design is simple and easy to use while offering a huge range of options. The Delay gives you 80ms to 800ms of delay time, for everything from slapback to long ambient washes of pad-like echo.
"The Type toggle allows you to select between a clearer digital-voiced delay and darker analog-voiced delay. The Delay will give you classic bucket brigade runaway when you max out the Repeats knob when in the analog-voiced delay mode."
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Reverb
"The JHS Pedals 3 Series Reverb is an extremely versatile unit that allows you to create the perfect amount of space for your guitar. You can achieve any reverberation effect, all the way from small room sounds to nearly endless washes of ambiance.
"The EQ lets you perfectly adjust for a bright or dark texture to the reverb's overall tone. The Pre-Delay knob allows you to select a short delay before the reverb begins. This lets you explore effects ranging between slap-like singing in the shower sounds and spacey spring-like sounds.
For more info on the 3 Series range, head over to jhspedals.info
