NAMM 2020: The JHS Effects PG-14 Paul Gilbert signature distortion is here

NAMM 2020: With what is our favourite product video so far this year it's 20 minutes of Gilbert goodness before the pedal even gets mentioned), JHS Effects has launched the Paul Gilbert PG-14 distortion pedal. And we're excited. Here's why…

Firstly, it's JHS and Paul Gilbert. And secondly, because it's them there's been time, care and expert ears involved. And it sounds like they've come up with something a lot of players will love. 

It has more variety of how it sounds and how it feels than any distortion pedal I've ever played through

Paul Gilbert

"The PG-14 to me is the ultimate dirt channel box for a clean amp," says JHS Effects founder and designer Josh Scott. "We have a FET simulated tube amp, basically, that you can crank. Lie the Marshall sound or a small amp sound.

"So you have the amp with the ability to be cleanish or distorted… the mid section of this pedal is very clean. It simply pushes really hard into that simulated tube FET thing. The more you push the mids, the mids are distorting that mid frequency area in a really cool way."

(Image credit: JHS Effects)

"And it's got knobs so you can adjust where the mid is," adds Gilbert, which really changes the way it feels and the way it distorts. 

More Paul Gilbert

"That's the thing I've found with this pedal; it has more variety of how it sounds and how it feels than any distortion pedal I've ever played through. The settings are important because it really has a different has a different character depending how it's set."

The appeal is potentially huge here for a wide range of amps and styles with a huge sweep of tonal possibilities. We can't wait to try it for ourselves.

The JHS Effects PG-14 is shipping now for £195/$199. Visit JHS.info for more. 

Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar in the UK. When I'm not rejigging pedalboards I'm usually thinking about rejigging pedalboards.