JHS Pedals 424 Gain Stage Preamp Distortion Overdrive

Josh and the crew at JHS Pedals are always coming up with something creative and inspiring to add to the world of effects, and today’s pedal conjures up tones of yesteryear with a replication of an unusual piece of gear. Replicating a bedroom studio recording device, the 424 Gain Stage Preamp Distortion Overdrive allows us to recreate sounds of the 70s, 80s, 90s and beyond, all in a neat, tidy, compact form. With a couple of different routing options, as well as a plethora of gorgeous break-up sounds, this pedal has a look and feel all its own…

Grab a 424 Gain Stage from Sweetwater https://sweetwater.sjv.io/nXKVNa

The 424 Gain Stage gives all the elastic, lo-fi tone you get from plugging a guitar rig straight into a TASCAM® Portastudio® 424. The original Portastudios® were made famous in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and gave us the ability to bring our songs to life from the comfort of our cluttered bedrooms. These multi-track recorders meant for home studios found their way onto hit records like Springsteen’s Nebraska, the Wu-Tang Clan’s Enter the Wu-Tang, and Spoon’s Gimme Fiction. Now in pedal form, you can easily integrate the rubbery clean tones, high head room, and smashed out fuzz that’s being re-popularized by today’s emerging guitarists.

Shop JHS Pedals over on Amazon https://amzn.to/4citAcj

In this historically accurate recreation, JHS has perfectly replicated the original 424 MKI® circuit using the original UPC4570 and NJM4565 op-amps and all the original controls, which is crucial for recreating the unique character that makes the old units sound so good. Use it as a gain stage to boost your signal, a unique and colorful new overdrive sound, or push the gain knobs into full-on overloaded and broken fuzz. Use the regular 1/4″ output jack, or use the balanced XLR output which can be used as a direct-out straight into a mixer or interface. You can also toss an Active A/B/Y switcher at the end of your rig and send the A output to your amp and the B output to the JHS 424 Gain Stage input, then XLR output of the pedal directly into your mixer or interface – this way, you can flip between your amp and the 424 Gain Stage easily or play through both at the same time.

Shop JHS Pedals at Sweetwater https://sweetwater.sjv.io/EKEVdK

Many of the vocal parts and fuzzy guitar tracks on Gimme Fiction – a huge inspiration for the creation of the Colour Box – were actually recorded on a Portastudio®. Since hearing those recordings, the 424 Gain Stage Preamp Distortion Overdrive has been brewing in the background, and now JHS Pedals is proud to bring it to you. Love the versatility of this pedal, and the tones are so unique, it’s like discovering a sound you had in your head for years, but couldn’t quite place. In our demo, we hear how the 424 sounds with both the 1/4″ and XLR outs, providing different tones and a slew of excellent sonic settings. Thanks to JHS for sending this beauty over – be sure to check out their website, and head to YouTube for our demo!! Cheers!!