JHS PedalsJHS Switchback Utility Box Guitar Pedal

Just bought a Hot Rod Deluxe which is notorious for its linear volume knob. I popped this baby in the effects loop and now I can play at reasonable levels while still pushing the preamp tubes. I guess there’s a few important things to know if you’re interested in this so I’ll get info as much as I can think of...This is a passive volume pedal. It’s pretty much the same as having a passive volume pedal in your effects loop except you control volume with a knob instead of a rocker pedal. It doesn’t need a power supply and uses a knob instead of a rocker. Technically you could just use a volume pedal if you don’t want to spend the money on this.This pedal basically adds a master volume control to your amp which will let you get your preamp tubes cooking but not the power tubes. I like preamp distortion but if you’re looking for power tube distortion you absolutely cannot get it with this. Only a load box or attenuator will allow you to get power amp distortion from your amp. This is absolutely not a substitute for an attenuator or load box.All that said, I love it. I’ve got a 10 month old baby and a wife who (like most wives) isn’t a big fan of hearing my amp echo through the house when I play. I would say I play at bedroom levels but everyone’s definition of that is different. My bedroom level is slightly louder than what my 17 year old self would consider bedroom levels. Either way, I’m able to play at a reasonable level and the amp sounds great. I’m able to turn the amp up to between 6 and 8 which is my sweet spot for the Hot Rod Deluxe and I have this pedal set at about 2 and it’s a great balance between being able to hear the amp’s tone and having the level at a point where my wife can still hear it but it’s low enough for her to tune it out and watch Twilight or whatever Harry Potter marathon is playing on TV.This is also a great tool for recording. A lot of people think that you can just send a line out from the effects loop to your interface and use an IR to record loud guitars but that’s only half the story. Even your interface can be overwhelmed if your signal is too hot and you’ll get clipping. If you’re in a situation like that then this box will work regardless of whether you’re using a tube amp or solid state.Bottom line: awesome for tube amps or amps without a master volume. This is a really easy circuit to build yourself like everyone says but forget that. I’m happy to pay less than $40 to have it done for me by a reputable company and delivered within a day or two.

For years I've been trying to achieve a raw guitar tone something like you'd hear on Blitz "All Out Attack" EP, The Stooges "Raw Power" or AC/DC "Let There Be Rock." By raw I mean not much gain compared to modern high gain bro-metal amps, but still sounds like the tubes are moments away from catching on fire. This is the magic box that lets you crank the holy bejesus out of your tube amp, but without soccer stadium volume. It should work on any tube amp with an effects loop. I expected it to be made of chintzy plastic but it is a metal box with a pleasing weightiness in the hand. The volume dial is firm and similar in feel to an expensive guitar's volume or tone knobs. The volume level itself is easy to modulate even with the master volume on the amp turned all the way up; I only startled the dogs once. This is the best cheap guitar gadget I have ever purchased in 30 years of playing the 3 chords I know.

Product is great. It performs several functions for me.1. I can provide a hotter signal to the amp (fx loop) without increasing volume.2. I can use this turn down all channels of my amp to very very quiet levels, yet maintain a lot more gain than if I attempted to try and find that spot between 0.1 and 1.0 where it's not too loud.However:For a device touted as simple, its odd that it requires a glance at instructions to use. One would never know what end it in and what end is out. In fact, it's one marking (looks like a speaker maybe?) would cause one to wire it backwards. Words and abbreviations are pretty useful, I use them every day, JHS decided we are too stupid or lazy to actually read words anymore.The knob also is not given any markings. I've seen instructions stating turn it towards the graphic, but since it's a potentiometer, both directions are towards the graphic.This aspect is especially important with JHS pedals because they seem to be the only pedal maker in history to reverse the pot orientations, like some of the Angry Charlie pots increase the value you turn the knob left.Nice helpful tool, I just wish it did not present confusion with the decision to not include any 'practical/useful' markings on the device.

Let me start by saying I love my pedals. I thought if you run as many pedals in series as I do (sixteen not including this guy, mostly true bypass) that tone degradation was just something I needed to accept unless I saved my money for one of those pedal boards that allow you to remove certain pedals from the series when bypassed. That is until I took the plunge and bought this buffer and placed it first in my signal chain straight from the guitar. It's like a blanket was removed from my tone. It's very much like I'm plugged straight into the amp and yet I'm still able to use my effects but in higher fidelity. If I had known this would breathe new life in to my tone to the degree it has, I would've gotten this buffer pedal years ago. It basically converts your guitar signal from a high impedance one (which causes significant tone loss when using long cables, patch cables, and pedals) to a low impedance one and injecting much needed life back into the signal. I highly recommend watching Pete Thorn's YouTube video on capacitance and the use of a buffer in your chain to overcome tone loss when using long cables and several pedals; he's incredibly knowledgeable in addition to being a great musician and guitar player). His video sold me on the need for a buffer, and boy was he right. While this is a bit pricy, JHS pedals are of exceptional quality and, in my opinion, are top of the line. If you use several guitar pedals in series (whether they're true bypass, hardwire bypass, true hardwire bypass, buffered bypass) and want to preserve the purity of your tone, this is essential.

Brilliant bit of kit, this has finally allowed me to play my fender pro reverb with the volume pot above 2 (fender valve amp owners will know they go: 1,2,12 normally!) and it's made a huge diffence not only in tone, but in being able to get a louder volume than previously without it being wall shakingly loud!As the middle of the terrace and with a temporary squatter in the spare room the black box has allowed me really enjoy the end of the world in 2020 without upsetting the work from homers either side or upstairs! Would highly recommend to anyone with a valve amp that has an FX loop!

The buffer is of very good quality and does a great job at resurrecting the missing sparkle at the end of my stupidly big pedal board (16 pedals). You can hear the difference. The active splitter works and sounds way better than any passive solutions I’ve tried.

Unless you live in a mansion or have you own sound proofed studio this is absolute must for anyone who owns good guitars that sound great without tormenting your Other Half or neighbours. This can only be used on an amp with an effects loop and preferably a good tube amp.

Awesome little box. Does exactly what it says on the tin.Not an attenuator though it’s better described as a master volume.I got one as my clean channel on my fender hot rod deluxe doesn’t have a master volume so this is a perfect solution to get lower volume without sacrificing tone

I used this in the effects loop of my PRS MT 15, as directed, with high quality cables, but it was pretty spotty, and the level knob seemed to do nothing for most of the turn, before do everything in the last quarter turn. However sometimes it just had no effect at all