The JHS 3 Series Pedals

[mmbongo]

I don't like the look at all. Have to wonder if Behringer is helping to reduce the cost in some way after his YouTube video praising Behringer caused their pedals to sell out everywhere. (According to my reps at Sweetwater and American Musical.)

JHS is made in Kansas City, USA. They have nothing to do with Behringer.

 

[RabidMusic]

JHS is made in Kansas City, USA. They have nothing to do with Behringer.

Some chip sets and components are ONLY made by Behringer. They sell those to other companies. JHS makes pedals in Kansas City, but not all of the parts that go into those pedals. Behringer bought the factories that make some very important chip sets for guitar pedals.

 

[opivy3056]

Top mounted jacks would've been lit

 

[mmbongo]

Some chip sets and components are ONLY made by Behringer. They sell those to other companies. JHS makes pedals in Kansas City, but not all of the parts that go into those pedals. Behringer bought the factories that make some very important chip sets for guitar pedals.

Ah I thought you meant that Behringer was helping make these pedals.

 

[revd]

Some chip sets and components are ONLY made by Behringer. They sell those to other companies. JHS makes pedals in Kansas City, but not all of the parts that go into those pedals. Behringer bought the factories that make some very important chip sets for guitar pedals.

Serious question: So Behringer are the sole maker of certain pedal parts that all pedals need or just some specific pedals?

 

[Bolsyo]

Serious question: So Behringer are the sole maker of certain pedal parts that all pedals need or just some specific pedals?

I think it's specific pedals only, that rely on old analog chips no longer in production. Behringer owns a company, Cool Audio, who makes clones of old chips that have become rare and very expensive on the new-old-stock market, like BBD-chips that are no longer being produced by the original companies. Source and more info here: What's the Deal with Behringer? — The JHS Show

Those BBD-chips are used for certain analog time-based effects, like chorus and delay. For example when it comes to analog chorus pedals, most are based on Boss CE-1/2 or EHX Small Clone. Both use BBD-chips that are no longer in production, but now fairly cheap clones are readily available from Cool Audio. They also make clones of VCA chips used in certain compressors/limiters.
https://thejhsshow.com/articles/whats-the-deal-with-behringer
Regular op-amp chips and transistors used in overdrives, fuzz, distortion, EQ, boost etc are made by lots of different companies (Texas Instruments, ST, NJR/JRC etc).

 

[Bolsyo]

JHS is made in Kansas City, USA. They have nothing to do with Behringer.

JHS has mostly swapped to SMD production, which means all components on the PCB are placed and soldered by robots. Then they just solder on jacks and switches on these pre-made boards and box it there. This is the reason they can operate with these low prices, so little labor involved per pedal. I wonder if the pre-made boards are made in USA or China, usually it's China...

 

[Peaveylover]

My guess is these are mostly made in China and then partly assembled in the USA. The delay is somewhat exciting. I think these will sell out to collectors who obsess about having a set. But I think a lot will be turned off by the lack of graphics. In fact, there should be a study done to see how much a graphic adds to the perceived and real value of a pedal. My guess is most of us are paying for mainly for the art.

 

[cnltb]

Love the idea of affordable pedals that cross a broad array of effects needs but won’t this design choice be incredibly hard to distinguish on a pedal board or (worst case) a dark stage? Curious if anyone thinks this would be a real world challenge.

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These totally look really good!
Are they any good on bass and what is it that makes them affordable?

 

[revd]

I think it's specific pedals only, that rely on old analog chips no longer in production. Behringer owns a company, Cool Audio, who makes clones of old chips that have become rare and very expensive on the new-old-stock market, like BBD-chips that are no longer being produced by the original companies. Source and more info here: What's the Deal with Behringer? — The JHS Show

Those BBD-chips are used for certain analog time-based effects, like chorus and delay. For example when it comes to analog chorus pedals, most are based on Boss CE-1/2 or EHX Small Clone. Both use BBD-chips that are no longer in production, but now fairly cheap clones are readily available from Cool Audio. They also make clones of VCA chips used in certain compressors/limiters.
Regular op-amp chips and transistors used in overdrives, fuzz, distortion, EQ, boost etc are made by lots of different companies (Texas Instruments, ST, NJR/JRC etc).

Thanks! Very interesting.

 

[yberwaffe]

But I think a lot will be turned off by the lack of graphics. In fact, there should be a study done to see how much a graphic adds to the perceived and real value of a pedal. My guess is most of us are paying for mainly for the art.

I'm I the only one that like to be able to read the labels/text on my pedals ?
If I have to choose between 2 pedals with the "same" sound/features, I'll choose the one with less obnoxious paintjob.
I doubt I'm the only one.

If I want some art I hang it on the walls in my house, not on the floor to step on.

 

[cnltb]

My guess is these are mostly made in China and then partly assembled in the USA. The delay is somewhat exciting. I think these will sell out to collectors who obsess about having a set. But I think a lot will be turned off by the lack of graphics. In fact, there should be a study done to see how much a graphic adds to the perceived and real value of a pedal. My guess is most of us are paying for mainly for the art.

To me, the way they look is partly what attracts me to them. I might get the fuzz...
Graphics are often what turns me off from wanting to try stuff. These look really good to me!

 

[GMC]

Let me guess...Overdrive, that'll be a tube screamer. Fuzz, that'll be a rat. The Distortion...that'll be a Muff. The Chorus will be a CE-2 and the Compressor will be a generic Ross. The Reverb and Delay will be what every they had in the budget to digitall model. So...pretty generic and cloney. I think all of these are available from Joyo for 1/3 of the JHS price. It kind of reminds me of the "Essentials" range of food at my local super market.

 

[crguti]

Fuzz, that'll be a rat. The Distortion...that'll be a Muff.

I think is the other way around.

 

[GMC]

I think is the other way around.

A quirk of pedal labelling for sure! The reality is that Distortion is a general description that includes Overdrive, Fuzz and some octave up circuits. However, Muffs and Rats often get labelled as fuzzes or Distortions. Both descriptions are actually true.

 

[Peaveylover]

Let me guess...Overdrive, that'll be a tube screamer. Fuzz, that'll be a rat. The Distortion...that'll be a Muff. The Chorus will be a CE-2 and the Compressor will be a generic Ross. The Reverb and Delay will be what every they had in the budget to digitall model. So...pretty generic and cloney. I think all of these are available from Joyo for 1/3 of the JHS price. It kind of reminds me of the "Essentials" range of food at my local super market.

Interesting. You make an assumption that Josh from JHS specifically denies in his video (in fact, he says the opposite), then you believe your assumption and then get a bit angry about "facts" that really were just assumptions you made up in your own mind.
Maybe listening to what the maker actually says from 4:25-4:55 in this vid might have helped.

 

[mmbongo]

Let me guess...Overdrive, that'll be a tube screamer. Fuzz, that'll be a rat. The Distortion...that'll be a Muff. The Chorus will be a CE-2 and the Compressor will be a generic Ross. The Reverb and Delay will be what every they had in the budget to digitall model. So...pretty generic and cloney. I think all of these are available from Joyo for 1/3 of the JHS price. It kind of reminds me of the "Essentials" range of food at my local super market.

 

[Jamvan]

OP here. Having listened to a couple demos of these pedals (albeit guitar demos), these sound really great. My intention was not to get into a discussion on the merits or quality of low cost JHS pedals. My intent was out of curiosity as to the challenge of having similarly designed pedals without clear markings on them on a pedal board. Having gotten some really great feedback regarding creating your own markings (marker or sticker) to help identify, it seems to me that they made the right call to help drive cost out of the assembly process and get great pedals for a low price. I also see that Way Huge has introduced the "Chalky Box" painted with chalkboard paint for the exact same reasons; call it what you want, we don't care. Clever.

A pedal you can name whatever you want: Way Huge Chalky Box - gearnews.com

 

[BassBrass]

Interesting. You make an assumption that Josh from JHS specifically denies in his video (in fact, he says the opposite), then you believe your assumption and then get a bit an0gry about "facts" that really were just assumptions you made up in your own mind.
Maybe listening to what the maker actually says from 4:25-4:55 in this vid might have helped.

well there you go, a guitarist. He probably thinks bass just needs an amp.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Love the idea of affordable pedals that cross a broad array of effects needs but won’t this design choice be incredibly hard to distinguish on a pedal board or (worst case) a dark stage? Curious if anyone thinks this would be a real world challenge.

View attachment 4004170

As others have pointed out if you get several
Of them there’s plenty of space on the pedal to put stickers to better distinguish one from the other.