JHS Pedals Twin Twelve Channel Drive
Introduction:
Jesse here to bring you a very interesting pedal. JHS has created an extremely unique overdrive pedal, with cascading JFET gain stages in the effort to emulate a specific tube amp. This might not sound unique, but the specific amp emulated and the methods are quite unique. In 1963, Silvertone introduced the 60 watt Model 1484 tube amplifier. Perhaps not as coveted and well known when it originally appeared in the Sears catalog. Over the years it has gained a legendary reputation and has been coveted by some of the biggest artists in music. Like many great things it was only after discontinuation it had become a highly prized and expensive to acquire amp. Used by artists as wide ranging as Beck, The White Stripes, and Coldplay. The JHS Twin Twelve Channel Drive is the first pedal specifically created to emulate these unique tones.
Controls/Features:
The controls are a simple yet highly versatile set and consist of Volume, Drive, Bass, and Treble. The EQ controls are of the Baxandal sort, which makes for a highly versatile, yet very simple to dial in pair. Topped off with a 9V power input that is converted to 18V internally. This allows for maximum headroom and dynamics, without the need for an 18V power source. This is huge as not every guitar player has an 18V power supply. Like all JHS pedals, the foot switch is 100% true bypass, allowing for no tonal degradation when bypassed. If you feel the need for a buffer, this pedal has something lovely up it's sleeve that I will get into below. Like most JHS pedals, It has a very simplistically eloquent appearance. Featuring a grey Boss sized enclosure with a depiction of Lady Liberty's head on the face.
Applications:
Alright, lets get to the most important feature of this pedal, the sound of the darn thing! After the tubes in my amp warmed up, I first decided to plug in my single coil Strat style guitar. Setting all of the controls to noon, just as a starting place, I hit the first chord. Having used a similar amp to the Silvertone in the past, I am immediately flooded with a familiar growl. Even without twiddling the knobs, I immediately notice how this thing sort of blends into my amp. In the best way possible, effectively changing my amp's core tone. Very cool, seemed like it'll have plenty of gain on tap as well. First thing I do is slightly turn up the Volume control, as to push my amp a little bit more. I turn the Bass up to around 3:00, knock the Treble down to around 11:00. The Gain control to around 9:00. Then switching to the neck pickup and knocking the tone on my Strat down to about 5, I am immediately greeted with a sweet jazz tone. Just did this to test versatility, but color me surprised so far.
Back to what I was saying about a “buffer”; I noticed with the gain low this sort of sits on your sound as a base tone. Exactly like a preamp, thus an always on active buffer. Not exactly getting the maximum potential out of this pedal, but a nice feature! Anyway, on to the meat of the situation, and what meat there is. Boosting the Treble to around 1:30 and the Bass cut back to around 11:00. Knocking the Gain up to 3:00, I was greeted with plenty of sustain and drive. Easily dialing in some dirty punky rhythm tones. Guitar volume control cleanup from clean to bluesy to full crank, without being overly gainy or compressed. I must say, with the gain cranked back, paired with a vintage styled fuzz, I was able to dial in some awesome Jack White sounds. The powerful EQ section of the pedal and some mild harriness added from the gain really helped dial this in. Plugging my high output humbucker equipped guitar in yielded much heavier tones. Right up into the realm of heavy metal, yet still with excellent cleanup. As well, could still dial in blusier tones with ease. We're a big fan of JHS at Rogue Guitar shop, and this is another excellent addition to an already excellent line of pedals.
Final verdict:
8/10
Fantastic pedal, in a sea of overdrive pedals there's nothing else quite like this. Recommended to those