JHS Pedals is a guitar

effects pedals An effects unit or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing. Common effects include distortion/overdrive, often used with electric guitar in ele ...

manufacturer with headquarters in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

History

JHS Pedals was founded by Joshua Heath Scott in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

. He began by repairing and modifying his own pedals, and then sold modified pedals at the local guitar shop before designing his own. Among his early models were the ''Morning Glory'' overdrive and the ''Pulp 'N' Peel'' compressor. In 2009 Scott moved the company to Kansas City, Missouri, eventually expanding to 10 employees. JHS released the ''Panther'' analog delay in 2011 and also the ''SuperBolt'' overdrive and ''Prestige'' booster/buffer/enhancer in 2012. In 2015 JHS collaborated with

Keeley Electronics Keeley Electronics is an American manufacturer of effect units for electric guitars. The company, founded by Robert Keeley and operating from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, started with the Keeley Compressor pedal along with modifications for effects ...

to produce a combined compressor and overdrive pedal, the ''Steak and Eggs''. In 2018, Scott and Nick Loux released the first episode of ''The JHS Show'', a video blog about guitar pedal history, products and inventors; Scott's screen persona has been described as "the Bill Nye the Science Guy meets Mister Rogers of guitar".

Products

JHS manufactures and sells pedals with a variety of effects, including the Morning Glory V4, the Muffuletta, the 3 Series, the Pulp'N'Peel V4, the Andy Timmons AT+, the Paul Gilbert PG-14, the Legends of Fuzz series, the Unicorn Univibe, the Lucky Cat, the Double Barrel V4, the 1966 Series and the ''Colour Box'' preamp.

Artist collaborations and documented users

JHS Pedals has developed custom pedals for artists including

Andy Timmons Andy Timmons (born July 26, 1963) is an American guitarist who has played in the bands Taylor Bay Band, Danger Danger, Pawn Kings, and Andy Timmons Band (ATB). He has also released several solo albums and has worked as a session guitarist. He ...

Butch Walker Bradley Glenn "Butch" Walker (born November 14, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was the lead guitarist for the glam metal band SouthGang from the late 1980s to early 1990s as well as the lead vocalist ...

(who has produced songs for acts like

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

Weezer Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing v ...

and

The All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999.Stu G Stuart David Garrard (born 6 July 1963) better known by the stage name Stu G, is an English vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. He is one third of US-based Christian contemporary music band One Sonic Society, and is writing and recording as a ...

Delirious? Delirious? (formerly known as The Cutting Edge Band) were an English contemporary Christian music, contemporary Christian band. For the majority of their career, the lineup featured Martin Smith (English musician), Martin Smith on vocals and gu ...

, Drew Shirley of

Switchfoot Switchfoot is an American rock band from San Diego, California. The band's members are Jon Foreman (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Foreman (bass guitar, backing vocals), Chad Butler (drums, percussion), and Jerome Fontamillas (guitar, keyboards, back ...

, Mike Campbell of

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer S ...

, and

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert is an American hard rock and heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X, with whom he released several albums. In 1996, Gilbert launched a solo career, for which h ...

. JHS Pedals products have been used by guitarists such as the

Foo Fighters Foo Fighters are an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1994. Foo Fighters was initially formed as a one-man project by former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. Following the success of the eponymous debut album, Grohl (lead vocals, guitar) re ...

Chris Shiflett Christopher Aubrey Shiflett ( ; born May 6, 1971) is an American musician. He is most recognizable as lead guitarist for the American rock band Foo Fighters. He was previously a member of the punk rock bands No Use for a Name (1995–1999) a ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

Madison Cunningham Madison Cunningham (born October 14, 1996) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. ''Rolling Stone'' described her music as "a new spin on West Coast folk-rock, with classical tendencies, electric guitars, jazz-school chord changes and a ...

Mutemath Mutemath (sometimes styled as MuteMath or MUTEMATH) is an American alternative rock project founded by American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer Paul Meany. Originally co-founded as a band with Darren King in 2002, Me ...

's Roy Mitchell-Cardenas,

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...

Matt Bellamy Matthew James Bellamy (born 9 June 1978) is an English singer, musician, producer, and songwriter. He is primarily known as the lead vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for English rock band Muse. He is recognised for his eccen ...

Beck Beck David Hansen (born Bek David Campbell; July 8, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He rose to fame in the early 1990s with his Experimental music, experimental and Lo-fi music, lo-fi style, and became ...

Jessica Dobson Jessica Dobson (born 1984) is an American singer and multi-instrumentalist. She has performed with several musicians and bands, including Beck,

(

Deep Sea Diver Deep Sea Diver is a pop rock band based in Seattle, Washington. The band consists of Jessica Dobson (vocals, guitar, keys), Peter Mansen (drums), Elliot Jackson (guitar, synthesizer) and Garrett Gue (bass). Biography In 2009, Dobson recorded and r ...

and

The Shins The Shins is an American indie rock band formed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1996. The band is the project of singer-songwriter James Mercer, who has served as the band's sole constant member throughout numerous line-up changes. The band's cu ...

Amber Bain Amber Mary Bain (born 13 July 1995), known professionally as The Japanese House, is an English indie pop musician from Buckinghamshire. Bain contributes vocals and plays guitar, synthesizer and keyboard for her music. As a teenager, Bain deci ...

(

The Japanese House Amber Mary Bain (born 13 July 1995), known professionally as The Japanese House, is an English indie pop musician from Buckinghamshire. Bain contributes vocals and plays guitar, synthesizer and keyboard for her music. As a teenager, Bain decid ...

) and U2's

the Edge David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...

In 2017, JHS collaborated with

BOSS Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

to produce the Boss JB-2, which combines the Boss Blues Driver and JHS Pedals Angry Charlie. In 2017, JHS collaborated with Tim Marcus of Milkman Sound to produce the Milkman boost/slap delay. In 2019, JHS severed ties with

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams left ...

and stopped production of his signature pedal, the VCR, after Adams was accused of sexual misconduct. JHS announced they would be rebranding the remaining pedals to the Space Commander and using the proceeds to support work against sexual abuse and assault.

''Pedals: The Musical''

On 13 and 14 March 2021, JHS Pedals debuted ''Pedals: The Musical'', a musical comedy about guitar pedals (starring Josh Scott, Rhett Shull and Nick Loux) as a live YouTube JHS Show event. The production specifically focused on the first seven guitar pedals, invented between 1960 and 1970. Peter Kirn of CDM said that the production was "not quite ''

Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Thi ...

'' so much as its own '' Red, White and Blaine''. But it is historically accurate." Josh Scott has announced plans for follow-up productions in the vein of ''Pedals: The Musical'' including performances focusing on the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, the 2000s, and the 2010s. Scott has been quoted saying "We want to do a prequel about the invention of the electric guitar from roughly 1931 through 1960. We want to do some straight plays – meaning just acting, no singing – about the lives of inventors like Les Paul, Leo Fender, George Beauchamp. All these people that have amazing narratives and stories, I could see us doing this for a long time; I’m pretty committed to it because I think it’s a fantastic avenue for teaching."

Guitar.com Articles

Beginning in 2021, Josh Scott began writing a series of articles for

Guitar.com BandLab Technologies is a Singaporean company that operates a social music platform, called BandLab, and also owns a variety of music-related brands. Founded in 2015, these include Harmony and Heritage Guitars; ''Guitar.com'', ''NME'', ''Uncut'' ...

chronicling the history of the electric guitar and, by extension, guitar pedals. In the series, Scott notably tied historical figures like

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...

and

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...

into the guitar history narrative.

References

External links

*{{official website , url=https://www.jhspedals.com Guitar effects manufacturing companies Manufacturing companies based in Kansas City, Missouri