The JHS Pedals 3 Series is a collection of pedals designed to give you affordability and simplicity without compromising quality. 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. 

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. The JHS Pedals 3 Series Distortion runs on 9V DC Negative Center power and consumes 9mA.

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3 Series Distortion

In 1962 the worlds first manufactured guitar pedal was introduced in the Maestro Fuzz-Tone. Three years later in 1965, it made its way across the pond from the USA to the hands of a British engineer named Gary Hurst in London. The legend has it that he was asked by a London session player to modify the circuit for more bass and better sustain. After some tweaking, the Tonebender was born. The Tonebender MKI was a three transistor circuit as was the following MKII that came later in 1966. Decades after the Tonebenders heyday of the 1960s, a collector named Dennis Johannsen realized that his 60's era Tonebeder had only two transistors, not three. This discovery caused a puzzling situation because all Tonebender circuits through MKIV are a three transistor design. Through further investigation, it came to light in an interview with Gary Hurst that he did make a very small batch of two transistor Tonebenders in February and March of 1966. Dennis Johannsen named his discovery the MK1.5, and it is one of the rarest pedals ever produced, a collectors dream. The Arbiter Fuzz face that came in late 1966 is an almost direct clone as well as various other two-transistor fuzz circuits of the era. The MK1.5 is a true legend of guitar that almost went unnoticed to history. The sound of this fuzz is very aggressive, full of low end, and sustain. You may also notice a slight velcro-ish type decay as notes decay off in extreme settings. As with most classic fuzz pedals, it loves a dirty amp or overdrive afterward in the signal path. Staying true to the original, I used high-grade carbon composition resistors, oversized capacitors, and two germanium transistors that I hand-matched to the circuit. 

Each small batch of Benders will use different transistors as it is challenging to find reliable sources of these devices in large quantities. The circuit uses vintage positive ground voltage, so do not daisy chain your power with other pedals. Inside the pedal is a battery snap or use any isolated power supply with a normal polarity power cable like your other pedals as I have wired it internally to work that way. The Bender is identical to the original except that I adjusted the taper of the pots to feel more intuitive. I also added a single power supply filter capacitor to help with noise and adjusted one resistor value for more volume. The switching is true-bypass. Each pedal in this batch is built-in identical form, but because of parts tolerances and the slight variance in the transistors, they will all be a bit different while still being the same. Be sure to always have this pedal first in your signal chain; the guitar must be plugged into its input due to the impedance it requires on its input, no exceptions. 

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1966 Series Bender

Der JHS Hard Drive ist der erste Versuch in der fünfzehnjährigen Geschichte des Unternehmens, ein vollwertiges und respektables modernes Distortion-Pedal zu entwickeln, das nicht auf einer früheren Schaltung oder klassischen Topologie basiert. Im Jahr 2016 hatte Josh die Idee, eine Schaltung zu entwickeln, die die besten High-Gain-Distortion-Sounds der 90er und 2000er Jahre abdeckt, einen Sound, der die Post-Grunge-Alternative-Rock-Bewegung verkörpert. Wir haben uns zunächst Pedale und dann Verstärker angeschaut, und nachdem wir die typischen Wege der Schaltung erkundet hatten, haben wir eine Kehrtwendung gemacht und bei Null angefangen. Acht Jahre später ist das Pedal fertig und bereit, dich auf ein höheres Level zu bringen. Der Hard Drive ist härter und weitreichender als alle Gain- und Distortion-Pedale, die wir bisher veröffentlicht haben.
Der Hard Drive bietet einen neuen Ansatz für High Gain Distortion im Pedalformat. Er verfügt über kaskadierte Gain-Stufen und eine Hard-Limiting-Schaltung, gefolgt von einer Class-AB-Verstärkersektion, die einen "sweepable midrange"-EQ und Baxandall-Bass- und Höhenregler antreibt. Mit seinen großzügigen externen Reglern lässt sich mit dem Hard Drive alles einstellen, vom knirschenden Röhrenverstärker-Crunch bis hin zu einer regelrechten Zerrwand, die sich mühelos durch jeden Bühnen- oder Studiomix ziehen lässt.
Der Hard Drive nimmt in der Geschichte von JHS einen besonderen Platz ein, da er das letzte Designwerk des ehemaligen Chefingenieurs Cliff Smith ist. Der Prototyp und das Design waren nur wenige Wochen vor seinem Tod im Jahr 2021 fertiggestellt worden.
"Ich weiß nicht, ob es jemals eine JHS-Schaltung gegeben hat, bei der wir mehr experimentiert haben. Es war immer eine lockere und ungezwungene Herangehensweise, um es richtig zu machen. Ich wusste, dass etwas Großartiges dabei herauskommen würde, also haben wir es einfach köcheln lassen... Cliff würde die Hard Drive-Schaltung als Köter bezeichnen, und ich stimme ihm zu - was bedeutet, dass diese Schaltung kein Klon von irgendetwas Bestimmtem ist, sondern eher eine originelle Iteration von Tonnen verschiedener Inspirationen und Ideen, ähnlich wie die Colour Box, die er und ich Jahre zuvor entwickelt haben. Ich kann mich lebhaft daran erinnern, wie Cliff ganze Wochenenden und Nächte damit verbrachte, an dieser Schaltung zu tüfteln und zu experimentieren. Er schickte mir am Wochenende Notizen, wenn er über etwas aufgeregt war, über das er gestolpert war. Dieses Pedal war für lange Zeit sein Hobby. Er liebte das große, komplizierte Gain Staging und die Herausforderung, eine Solid-State-Schaltung wie einen Röhrenverstärker reagieren zu lassen. Als leidenschaftliches Projekt, das durch Cliffs konsequente Arbeit zu einem echten Produkt wurde, kann ich mir keine passendere letzte Veröffentlichung von uns als Designteam vorstellen als den Hard Drive. Cliff liebte es zu lernen und dies war seine letzte Meisterklasse. Es ist eine Ehre, es endlich herauszubringen und die Leute an der Idee teilhaben zu lassen, die er zum Leben erweckt hat." - Josh Scott

The JHS Hard Drive is the first attempt in the company’s fifteen-year history at a full-blown and respectable modern distortion pedal that is not based on a previous circuit or classic topology. In 2016, Josh had the idea to develop a circuit that covered the best high-gain distortion tones of the ’90s and 2000s, a sound that embodied the post-grunge alternative rock movement. We started by looking at pedals, then amps, and after exploring the typical paths of circuitry, we took a sharp turn and started from scratch. Eight years later, the pedal is finished and ready to take you to the next level. The Hard Drive goes harder and further than any gain or distortion we’ve released so far.
A fresh approach to achieving high gain distortion in a pedal format, the Hard Drive includes cascaded gain stages and a hard limiting circuit, followed by a class AB amplifier section that drives a “sweepable midrange” EQ and Baxandall bass and treble controls. With its generous external controls, the Hard Drive lets you dial in everything from grinding tube amp crunch to a bona fide wall of distortion that can easily cut through any stage or studio mix.
The Hard Drive holds a special place in JHS history as the final design work of the former head engineer, Cliff Smith. The prototype and design had been finalized just weeks before he passed away in 2021.
“I don't know that there's ever been a JHS circuit where we experimented more. It was always a loose and casual approach to getting this right. I knew something great would come of it, so we just let it simmer…Cliff would call the Hard Drive circuit a mutt, and I agree– meaning this circuit is not a clone of anything in particular but rather an original iteration of tons of different inspirations and ideas, kind of like the Colour Box that he and I developed years earlier. I have vivid memories of Cliff spending entire weekends and nights tinkering and experimenting with this circuit. He would message me notes on the weekend when he got excited about something he stumbled into. This pedal was his hobby for a long time. He truly loved big, complicated gain staging and the challenge of making solid state circuitry respond like a valve amp. As a passion project that became a real product through Cliff’s consistent work, I can’t think of a more fitting last release from us as a design team than the Hard Drive. Cliff loved learning and this was his last masterclass. It’s an honor to finally put it out and let people enjoy the idea he brought to life.” - Josh Scott

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The JHS Hard Drive, Our Heaviest Pedal Yet! - JHS Pedals

NO! IT'S NOT A METAL ZONE! - High Gain fun with the JHS HARD DRIVE -  60 Cycle Hum

Checking Out The JHS Hard Drive! -  Riffs, Beards & Gear

JHS Hard Drive - Review by Amazona.de, 09-2024

Hard Drive Tan

Über die Jahre hat sich das Morning Glory zweifellos zum bekanntesten und meistgepriesenen JHS Pedal entwickelt. Er wurde ursprünglich in 2009 aus Bedarf an einem Overdrive Pedal entwickelt, das den Sound eines Amps nimmt und ihn aufs nächste Level katapultiert ohne Mitten und den Klangcharakter eines TS-Style Overdrives hinzuzufügen. Das Ziel war ein einfaches Pedal, verdammt transparent – nicht mehr nicht weniger. Egal ob du Strat oder Paula spielst, du wirst sofort feststellen wie gut das Morning Glory auf deine Spieldynamik anspricht und das Feel deines Instruments dabei 100 % intakt lässt.

Over the years the Morning Glory is undoubtedly JHS’ most known and praised overdrive pedal. It was created in 2009 out of a need for an overdrive pedal that simply took a guitar and amplifier’s tone to the next level without adding strong mid frequencies or any other characteristic that came along with the Tubescreamer style circuits on the market. Its goal was, and still is, to be incredibly easy to use and to be the most transparent overdrive out there. Whether you play a Stratocaster or a Les Paul, you will instantly recognize how the Morning Glory is touch sensitive and keeps 100% of your instrument’s feel in place.

JHS Morning Glory V4 - Livingroom Gear Demo

JHS Morning Glory V4 Demo by Bonedo

JHS Morning Glory V4 Review Bonedo DE

Morning Glory v4

A fresh approach to achieving high gain distortion in a pedal format, the Hard Drive includes cascaded gain stages and a hard limiting circuit, followed by a class AB amplifier section that drives a “sweepable midrange” EQ and Baxandall bass and treble controls. With its generous external controls, the Hard Drive lets you dial in everything from grinding tube amp crunch to a bona fide wall of distortion that can easily cut through any stage or studio mix.

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