JHS Effects Pedals - 424 Gain Stage

The 424 Gain Stage from JHS is a pedal that revives the preamp of the legendary 4-track tape recorders of the '90s, this has been popularized by several artists over the ensuing decades and is now back in fashion as a way to achieve a crispy, fuzzed out DI tone. 

Featured across the top are three volume knobs. Gain 1 acts as an input gain while Gain 2 acts as a "fader" level, as found on the original channel strip. Volume is a master volume out which is useful as a trim to the extremely large amount of gain you will be achieving with this pedal. Bass and Treble knobs are the same circuit as found on the OG channel strip and aggressively boosting and cutting these will give a very unique sound. Preamp distortion reacts very differently to other forms of distortion in that it is extremely responsive to the touch. Experiment with cranking and rolling off the two gain structures for different levels of responsiveness from slight warmth and crunch to fizzy, crispy, fuzzed out tones.

This pedal shines when the XLR Out is used directly into a recording interface or directly into a mixing board to achieve that unique sound, though can be experimented with running it into tube amps for a completely new character. The warmth of tubes combined with the hairiness of the 424 displays a pleasing distorted fuzz that pulls back on the harshness and has tons of interesting grit. This pedal treads on exciting new territory for many players and begs to be experimented with.