JHS PedalsJHS Prestige Boost Guitar Effects Pedal

The JHS Clover is essentially clone of the BOSS FA-1 FET Amplifier "pedal" from the early 1980's, albeit with a couple significant added features. The FA-1 is essentially a simple "clean boost" circuit, and I believe the original (long discontinued) came with a belt clip. The idea was that a guitarist would use this at the front of the signal chain to boost/buffer the signal prior to going into an effects board/rack or amplifier. The original also included knobs a Bass and Treble control, as well as a switch to cut low frequencies. I might not have ever learned about the FA-1, but for the fact I saw it discussed as one of the elements of U2's The Edge. In addition to an intricate stereo setup with modulated delays, The Edge apparently used an FA-1 to front-load his Vox AC30's and achieve a clean-ish tone with nice saturation and that signature chime.POSITIVES:The JHS Clover improves upon the FA-1 in two significant ways. First, it adds a tone control for MIDDLE frequencies. To me, this vastly expands the usefulness of the Clover as a tone-shaping element. You could place the Clover at the beginning of your signal chain as an "always on" pedal. Or you could try it immediately before (or after) one of your other gain pedals to completely change the EQ and drive character of that pedal. By placing it later in the chain, you could even just use it as a volume/gain boost for solos (along with a mid boost).Second, the Clover has an XLR output (with a ground lift), which makes this pedal very intriguing as a preamp/DI box. I'm not going to comment too much on this feature, as I don't have a lot of expertise in PA/audio setups, but I do have a FRFR speaker that I use as my primary "amplifier", so the Clover could be interesting to use with an acoustic guitar.But my primary interest the Clover was as a boost pedal and the effect it would have on my tone, and the Clover definitely delivers in this department. Unity gain on the volume knob is probably around 9:00 or so, and when you click the pedal on with single coils, your signal just instantly comes to life. While the pedal itself is not clipping or distorting the signal, it can result in additional gain by pushing the front of your amplifier harder (same goes with feeding it into another drive pedal).NEGATIVES:I think the most obvious critique of this pedal would be its price - boost circuits are relatively simple, and you could argue that a boost pedal with a little EQ control should not be $200. But I refuse to downgrade my score for that reason, as nobody is compelled to spend the money on it, and you can decide for yourself if you think it is "worth it". Also, I think JHS has made some useful additions here with the EQ options and the XLR output that add additional value and versatility. If you are looking for cheaper alternatives, there are many. I like the DOD Bi-Fet Boost (about $50, I believe), and Valeton makes another FA-1 clone at around $60 to $70. But the Clover is built to last, and is the kind of pedal that could get a lot of use.One minor other gripe would be that there are DIP switches for Ground Lift and Low Cut that are accessible on the sides of the pedal, but they are recessed within a groove cut into the housing, so you probably would need a small pen or screwdriver to adjust them.Overall, this is a niche product and hardly the only option if you want a clean boost with tone control. But I would argue that it's one of the better ones out there, and has the potential to become an integral part of your setup.

I bought this as a preamp for a pedal board used amp-less into a power-amp simulation pedal going straight to the mixer. My board is setup for multiple presets via the Joyo Pedal Switch which updates the midi presets on the Strymon pedals and add/removes pedals from the chain. This quickly presented me with a problem.I loved the three different 'modes' of the clover for different situations, but especially fell in love with the 'full EQ' mode run clean into the Timeline and BigSky (with bass and treble at 3pm and mids dialled out almost entirely). The problem came when I ran this into my drive channel, it sounded super muddy and I couldn't clean it up without changing the dial on the Clover to 'no EQ'.Given that it's impractical for me to do that when playing live I've settled for dropping the clover out of the chain for the drive presets. In the future I could possibly add an EQ pedal to 'balance it out' but that seems like an odd approach.So while I love the clover, if I could have my time again I would look to see whether there was a similar pedal but with the different 'modes' controllable via midi.Also, another slight complaint is that it starts distorting when volume is much more than a quarter. Given I have three drive channels, I certainly don't want my clean preamp to distort at any volume, so this was slightly annoying.

This is much Darker (more Bass) than the JHS Little black buffer. I added the buffer to recover treble after several guitar pedals. I like that it can overdrive the amp, not thrilled with the deeper pedal tone. So beware

This may be excellent for standard guitar, but not for bass guitar. The problem is that even at very low settings the E-string will go into distortion. Some may like this, but I certainly do not. I did not even try my 5-string as the low B would most certainly distort badly.The build quality was impeccable, and the compression sound was not bad. I just can't deal with the distortion.

I have used probably 20 compressor in the last 40 years as a pro player, this is the best I have found in this price range! Does not create unwanted noise floor, better than Xotic SP ! Great compressor for your pedalboard, does not change your tone, very good, highly recommended! Just buy it!

I have a super-strat style semi-hollow w/very low output humbuckers that I play through a Mesa Boogie Studio 22. The Clovers onboard EQ improves the overall quality of the tone, adds spectacular note-to-note clarity without sounding sterile, and the bass cut helps clear the mud on the low end without overgouging things which is great with humbuckers. One might think that onboard amp controls can tune things just as well - adjusting the EQ BEFORE the signal hits the preamp section is dramatically different in a great way. I hear slight noise/hiss thru the gain channel but it is very quiet thru the clean channel which leads me to believe that it's a quiet preamp. I enjoy the clean channel now because of this pedal. The buffer is top notch and the boost is also very transparent. I prefer this EQ/boost pedal as the controls are simple but effective whereas multiband EQ pedals can sometimes muck things up. I'd recommend trying the JHS Clover before thinking about swapping pickups or speakers. It's a great pedal for players who want to carve at the natural tone and/or want a pedal to give the perspective of playing a different guitar. Hands down best boost pedal I've ever used.

And this is my first experience with a comp pedal. It doesn’t change your sound so don’t expect to get blown away. It does what it supposed to do and help level it out. As others have said, this is a rather mild comp pedal. I got it because of its size and simplicity. I end up leaving it on most of the time. If you are after something that dramatically changes your sound, you may be better advised to look elsewhere. But if you want something to simply soft and things up a bit in playing rhythm this could help.

Very robust construction and clean sound. If used before your drive pedals it enhances the clipping and it's just perfect to push a bit more if the saturation of your overdrive doesn't do the gain you want. I personally use it for having an eq before going from pedals straight to the return of the amp(bypassing the amp preamp). It excels in keep the tone of my signal giving me a great eq and a balance output for recording.

Clean, effective and well constructed, this preamp offers miles of headroom and intuitive sound control with no pedal-made distortion at all. Ideal for a clean signal end-of-chain (with its XLR out) or a nice 'push' before your tube amp to get the most out of its retro tone makers!

Really heavy and solid feeling, incredibly effective and the parallel/mix dial is a stroke of genius. It won't suit everyone as, by it's very nature, it does soften the attack of your guitar. But for those that want that compressed tone, it's a fabulous sounding pedal.

I've been experimenting with preamp style distortion pedals straight into the fx return with excellent results. Only problem is when you want a clean tone. Turning off the distortion pedal has you guitar signal going straight into the power amp which sounds like s**t. Adding the Clover is like adding a clean channel. I switch between the two using a switcher. Diggin it!

The Clover von JHS ist wohl das beste, was mein Padalboard bisher gesehen hat. Er ist mittlerweile eigentlich immer an. Den EQ meist ausgeschaltet. Er verändert den Klang der Gitarre nicht, er macht nur mehr draus, sodass der Amp besser sättigt. Der seitliche Schalter für den Tiefpassfilter könnte etwas größer sein, da ich diesen tatsächlich häufiger benutze aber es geht auch so. Egal vor welchen Amp oder vor welches Drivepedal geschaltet, ist es immer ein riesiger Zugewinn. Top