Marshall JH-1 Jackhammer

Fairly easy once you get the hang of it. Volume, gain, bass, treble, contour, frequency. Contour and frequency are great, all pedals should come with one, it would make them 10 times more versatile. True bypass (though I dont buy it) and runs on batteries or an adaptor. Neat looking pedal.

I came on here, read the glowing reviews and said heck, I'll get one! Well....

Ok, if you're running this pedal through a half stack, I'd rate it a big fat 8 or 9, cause it can handle the pressure this thing puts out. On my little Ampeg Reverbrocket fitted with Celestion Modern Lead speakers (which should MORE than handle anything), I give it a 4. Let me elaborate.

I don't think this pedal sounds like a marshall amp. It's marshall-LIKE, but not a marshall amp. The overdrive channel is SWEET. Got a good bit of gain, and with the cont/freq controls you can get a wide range of sounds out of this. This is my favorite setting to be honest with ya.

The distortion channel..eww. I dont know WHAT they did, but it sounds like a Metal Zone with a eq right after it with the bass MAXED. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. Perhaps a half stack could handle it but my amp sure can't. Even if i turn the bass all the way down on my amp and pedal, it still gives a huge farty sound when muted chords are struck. I play a mix of punk and alternative, so this is a big no-no. No other pedal including the crap zone has done this. They really put way too much emphasis on compression and bass here, plus there's almost no clarity at all.

Looks sturdy, the pedal switch could be better.

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Like I said, I play a mix of punk and alternative (plus some other crap) so I need a versatile pedal. This isn't it. To be totally honest, I just picked up one of the new Ibanez pedals, the Smash Box, and let me tell you this thing sounds GREAT!

It's great for the overdrive, distortion craps out. I'd recommend something like a Jeckyl and Hyde Ultimate Overdrive or a Ibanez Smash Box. Anybody want mine, I'll sell it to ya! :)

Oh and one more thing...a marshall is not a marshall without that midrange grind, and this pedal doesnt have it at all. Smash Box yes, jackhammer no.

This pedal is very easy to use. Getting a decent sound takes only a few minutes. EQ section is much like that on the Boss Metal Zone, with concentric treble/bass, freq./contour controls. Gain, volume and mode controls. Mode takes you from 'OD' to 'dist.'. One criticism: Knobs are a little closely spaced and fiddly.

I use a Yamaha SG with Seymour Duncan Customs into a pedal board of my own design (including a Danelectro Daddy-o, Ibanez modulation delay II, Marshall supervibe pedal-also excellent, and the JH1. The board is then A/B'd into the normal and treble channels of a reissue JTM45 head, coupled to a Laney 2x12 cab. I could not be happier with this setup. Not now I have discovered this pedal! At the risk of sounding toadying towards Marshall, they really have struck gold here. The pedal is very, very versitile. All the way from a sweet, bluesy sustain, through classic marshall roar (a La JCM800 and my favourite sound)to all out metal mayhem. I don't know why this pedal sounds so good, although I suspect that the flexability of the EQ is part of it. Every sound I have found, be it low or high-gain has sounded natural and buzz-free (except at ludicrously high gain 'dist' settings. My Marshall literally changes its identity! With the pedal off, I have the legendary sweet crunch that these amps are famed for, but when its on, the OD is beautifully rich, full and harmonic-loaded. I could not believe how readily I could coax power-tube type distortion from my amp, rather than vile, buzzy preamp sounds.I have found these sounds far quicker than I have with any other pedal. Simply amazing.

Only had it for a short time, but its built like a tank! Would depend upon it completely.

I've never dealt with Marshall directly, but I've heard mixed reports that are mostly favourable.

My band plays a mix of bluesy rock and heavier indie styles. This pedal is easily the best OD/distortion I have ever owned. Like many people, I've been through loads of different pedals, including high-voltage tube-loaded units. I really mean it when I say its head and shoulders above anything else I have used. So rich and warm sounding with carefull EQ and gain settings.Would buy another one in an instant if it was lost or broken. Fantastic value for money to, easily outstripping all the competition in similar price brackets.

Very easy to get supreme heavy tones! The contour switch is counter-intuitive, but just messing around with it provides a good deal of variety.

Marshall 8240
OR
Fender Bronco
Fender Lone Star Strat
Morley Bad Horsie Wah
Insane Tones. Makes the tiny lil' Bronco sound like my Marshall and makes my Marshall sound like a couple of Marshalls. Great tone! More variations than my rack processor. It sounded huge on my girlfriends old Yamaha amp too.

Seems to be well built

Both this and the Bluesbreaker blew me away. I usually hate pedals-I think tubescreamers are crap, Boss distortions are crap, and most other pedals are one trick ponies that need the gain turned up all the way before it does anything. The Marshall pedals rock-I'd like to hear the Guv'Nor and am contemplating buying a vibratrem. So I like them.

This pedal is very easy to use. There are knobs for: overdrive/distortion, volume, gain, bass, treble, contour and frequency. There is basically just a selector to use the "overdrive" or "distortion" setting, and the rest of the knobs are stacked concentrically (is that a word?). Just plug your guitar in and you're ready to go. Of course it has the usual footswitch for toggling on or off.

My one complaint is the battery access cover. It doesn't require a specific tool per se, but it's not as easy as your average Boss pedal. You take a coin, or guitar pick, or similar, and remove a screw from the underside. It's a pain, but again at least you don't need a specific tool like a screwdriver. It would be nice to have quicker, easier access.

I'm giving this category a 7 because of the battery cover, and because it is going to take a little experimentation to discover "your" tone. But more on that later...

I am currently using a PRS CE22 bolt-on (much snappier than the set-neck versions, and FAR more versatile) through a 1x12 crate VC30 all tube, "class-A" combo (unlike most class A/B amps). I put a Boss compression pedal in front of the Jackhammer, and an Ibanez Tape Echo behind it. I keep the amp's clean channel "on" all the time.

Let me tell you, this pedal SMOKES!! I am wonderfully surprised at the versatility in this pedal! I tried it knowing that it was a Marshall, and with a name like "Jackhammer" I was going to get some mondo distortion. Well, this pedal has mondo distortion and a whole lot more.

Little did I know I was getting just about every Marshall sound imaginable from sweet blues, to full-out distortion mania. I have been very successful at replicating some of my favorite Marshall and Marshall-influenced sounds.

For example, I can pretty much nail AC/DC (think 'Girl's Got Rhythm). I can get those wonderfully growling ZZ Top tones like on 'Cheap Sunglasses', 'La Grange', and 'Nationwide'. You know, that deep, rich, woody, Gibbons tone of their eary stuff? It's in this pedal, you just have to play around and find it.

I've also been able to come very close to Robben Ford's sweet singing tone as well. Of course, the PRS doesn't have the same internal sound chambers as his custom Fender, but I can come VERY close.

Other classic Marshall tones I can duplicate include: 'Sweet Emotion', 'The Boys Are Back In Town', and Free's 'All Right Now', amongst others.

With both humbuckers on, I can get a reasonably good Paige sound, but my PRS pickups are a bit more mid-rangey than a Les Paul's more v-shaped EQ. Van Halen-esque brown sounds are just a step away with my setup, as are Clapton's tones with Cream. However, running this pedal through a Marshall DSL401 combo in the store allowed me to recreate 'Feel Your Love Tonite' with startling detail. I'm gonna have to consider picking up one of those puppies.

I generally keep the gain setting between 10 and 1 o'clock. Anything beyond 1 o'clock is just too much gain for me nowadays. If you are looking to get the tone of some of these newer bands like Korn or Limp Bizkit or maybe even Creed, you should check this pedal out. Well, maybe not Creed -- he seems to prefer more "fuzz" than "distortion". The high gain settings are a ton of fun, but I don't have much use for them in a live environment.

This pedal has some SERIOUS low-end thump. My amp is definitely lacking in this area, and this pedal has cured that problem. Since so much Marshall wallop has been crammed into this cool little box, I keep the bass setting on the pedal pretty low, around 9 o'clock most of the time. Of course, there are settings where you need to increase it to fill out the bottom. This mainly depends on the setting of the contour and frequency knobs. I generally keep the treble around noon, and roll it back with higher gain settings to keep too much high end from sneaking in there.

This pedal also has a TREMENDOUS volume boost. You could set it clean and just use it to torture the front end of your amp. It's truly remarkable.

The contour and frequency knobs are the heart of the pedal's versatility. "Contour" applies a mid-cut to the EQ, and "frequency" determines what frequencies that cut is centered upon. I keep the frequency at noon or higher because the sound gets a little boxy if it's set too far to the left. Useful sounds can be found regardless of where you set the contour knob. It's cool how well the treble and bass knobs interact with the contour and frequency controls.

Also, the pedal responds great to volume knob settings on your guitar. This is a MUST for me because I'm always playing around with my volume. I can set the gain at noon (which is more gain than most pedals have at maximum setting!) and roll the volume back to get a good "soft-clip" for funk rhythm

This pedal seems to be built very solidly. It's housed in a handsome metal case that's quite heavy. I haven't had the pedal for long so I can't comment on long term reliability. I hate to sound cliche, but it's built like a proverbial tank and I don't expect any problems.

The input and output jacks are very tight however. You have to wrestle your 1/4" jacks in and out sometimes. Maybe this will loosen over time. To some people, this might be an advantage depending on how much running around they do on stage. If you're always yanking your cords out of your pedals, this one could potentially solve that prob.

I can't really say. Hopefully, I'll never have to find out how there support is. :)

I have been playing for 17 years, and buying distortion pedals for equally as long. This is the only one that has kept my interest for more than a couple of days. Usually, I get over the "honeymoon" quickly and just accept the new pedal as "average". Well, this one has exceeded my expectations, and I'm still excited to play with it when I practice or goof off.

For those of you who want to add some "Marshall" to your sound pallete, check out these new pedals. I'm thinking of getting a BluesBreaker II as well, because I really enjoyed playing that pedal in the store. I thought the Jackhammer was a touch more versatile, and that's why I picked this one up first.

If you have $80 bucks to blow, I would hit your local music store and try one of these suckers. To me, it's more valuable than some pedals that are far more expensive.

And so far, it's been a ton of fun!

Altogether 7 knobs. More than a metal zone. Starting from the left, a knob to switch between od and dist, another knob for volume with gain on top, another, another for bass and treble on top, and last the contour and contour freq. on top.

Kicks ass! I've played many many pedals...odverdrives....distortions...fuzzes and i love and dig a good tube tone. This is a Marshall tone! It doesn;t matter if u are looking for the marshall tone or not, u get a kick ass distortion!
This pedal is so versatile. On odverdrive, u can go from a clean boost to a thick overdrive roar...distortion mode is a harder compressed dist. for thicker chords and blistering leads. THe best tone and pedla i have played so far. I fell in lvoe with it the moment i took it home! I have a metal zone but it's hard to compare this two. The metal zone's good for playing old heavy metal or old metallica but the jackhammer is a kick ass versatile od/dist. pedal. I feel like getting another so i can swtich between its od and dist. modes without having to bend down. But dun take my word for it. Try it and hear. It worked for me. To me, it kicks BOSS, DOD, PROCO, IBANEZ and etc pedals' ass...to u, u might love it or hate it. I'm sure u'll hate it coz it 1) is versatile, 2) is freakin' good in tone, 3) ain;t trebly or harsh.
trust me, u can play blues, alternative, rock, metal, punk, etc with this..
hey, it even responds to picking nuances! how's that for blues!

metal.

dunno

Very versatile. I've said everything above. Get it. U'll love it. Oh and yes, please test it!
and it's cheap!

Very easy to get a good sound (hey it's only a pedal), the manual has four good examples for settings to get typical Marshall sounds. You can switch between overdrive and distortion mode. There are knobs for treble, bass and contour.

I use the JH-1 in front of a 19" Hughes&Kettner Tubeman Plus, into a Behringer Virtualizer and two selfpowered 1x12 Guitarboxes from Vintage-Amp. If you use max. gain settings, it is a little bit noisy, but this is o.k., because there is a lot of gain! You can get every Sound from softly chrunch to heavy lead and the treble, bass and contour controlls, give you the chance to get good settings with most guitars and amps.

Very solid build pedal

Very cheap pedal to get lots of good chrunchy and distorted sounds