Aside from jwar, I don't know if anyone dislikes JHS more than I do, so I figure I should spell out why. First, and foremost, I can't in good conscience, give money to a company that will turn around and tithe to the International House of Prayer. They are a dangerous cult that preys on the less fortunate and uses intimidation tactics to get their way. I will include links. When I lived in Kansas City, I had the misfortune of working with multiple IHOP members and their Apocalyptic, Revelation based theology is disturbing. Nothing like being a captive audience to a supervisor who tells everyone in earshot that they are damned and that the end is truly nigh. There have been numerous documented cases of abuse and at least one murder.
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/new ... r-20140121
http://www.solasisters.com/2011/06/form ... -ihop.html
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/mwest/140909
http://www.thebereancall.org/content/br ... -direction
They are relentless cloners who use misleading ad copy.
https://www.jhspedals.com/products/guit ... superbolt/ is the page for the Superbolt. At the bottom is the bullshit origin story of said pedal:
“The SuperBolt is the result of me becoming slightly obsessed with old Supro/Valco amps from the 60’s. Years ago, I was working with an artist that had a Super at the heart of his live rig and I fell in love with the overdrive/distortion that sounded so old but somehow fit perfectly in any style of music. I remember, during a sound check, strumming a chord through that amp with the volume on 8 and being floored by the biggest rock tone I had ever heard, coming from a 1 knob amp with an 8” speaker. I started collecting Supros and other Valco amps like the Gretsch, National, Airline and Vega, finding them all over the country and building a modest collection that allowed me to understand the brand and designs as a whole. From my Thunderbolt, that I found in a Mississippi barn loft and totally restored, to my Supreme, which I saved from a garage sale in Kansas, I gathered about 10 of these amplifiers in a 2 year period. My goal was simple: I wanted to create an overdrive pedal that recreated this tone and feel in any amp.”
–Josh Scott/Owner of JHS
Nice story, but it is a lie.
http://freestompboxes.org/viewtopic.php ... lt#p207194 The Superbolt is a ripoff of a RunoffGroove pedal, the Supreaux Deux. Just like he stole the Hyperion. Just like his Klones. Just like every other JHS pedal is a theft. He steals designs and lies about where they came from, taking credit for things he didn't do. I have nothing against standing on the shoulders of giants, but I resent being told you made it to the clouds without them.
The pedals are all aesthetically boring. Seriously, just lazy and ugly visually.
Finally, a personal run-in I had. Back in the Bent Soundlabs days, we made a Distortion+ clone called the Pepperbox. It was pretty standard stuff, with NOS components and Reed's incredibly clean wiring. One that we sold to a buddy on mine ended up in the hands of his bass player, who wrecked the LED. Instead of bringing it to us, the bass player took it to JHS for repairs. Not only did they charge more than we charged for the pedal, to begin with, but they replaced the ICs with boring, cheap modern ones. The solder job was sloppy and amateurish. My buddy got his Pepperbox back and it sounded like shit. When Reed was sent pics of the internals, he almost cried. They butchered it.
JHS are a disreputable business who are kept in business because of their Praise and Worship reputation and marketing. They could build the second coming of the Lovetone Meatball and I would still deny them.
