Visual Sound JH1 Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive

Given the number of choices you have, I found this unit very easy to operate even considering the bass and noise supression controls on the inside. The Tubescreamer side of the pedal was dialed in in a few minutes, but I found I really had to tinker with the Hyde half to get the sound I was looking for--namely Jimmy Page. My tinkering paid off though, and it now sounds great.

I mostly play pre-2002 Godins (LGXT and LG), but I also use a Gretsch Country Classic through a Vox AC30 and a late MusicMan 1065.

This is a very impressive pedal for its price range. The Tubescreamer/Dr, Jekyll side is exactly as advertised. It may not be precisely as transparent as the vintage Tubscreamers, but I actually find it fully and warmer than the many clones and original TS-808s I have owned and played through. I use almost no gain at all, maybe 7 o'clock, and I get a great Hendrix-like over drive with body and a god deal of sustain (but is there ever enough?).

I prefer low gain pedals, but even I need full-blown distortion sometimes, and the Hyde side of the pedal does this nicely. It adds a bit too much bass for my taste, even with the internal pot all the way off. However, this pedal is amazing clear. Even with a good amount of distortion, your tone does not get overly compressed and chords do not get muddy. Very impressive.

As far as the lack of a true-bypass switching system, I have to say that it almost kept me from buying the pedal in the first place. It was only after I was assured that I could bring it back that I took it home. I have to say, the high sound quality of this pedal in the by-pass mode is impressive, and it made me re-think my usual knee-jerk reaction of 'true-by-pass good/buffer bad.' Measured against my other true-bypass pedals, I didn't find that it noticeably changed my sound--or at least not overly so. Some tone is always lost with every pedal or cord between you and your amp, this actually makes up a bit for that loss. And you even get "free" noise reduction (usually a separate pedal) to boot!

After nearly a year of tough on gear travel and performance, it still works perfect.

One word, great.

This pedal is unbeatable in its price range. It is conceivable that a high end 808 clone might sound a tad more like the original 808s, just as a great Marshall might also have better high gain distortion. But this one pedal gets you in a hair's breath of both for a lot less cash. You also get to save a bit of your tone by having one less patch cord. Every little bit helps.

Plug it in and wail.

Excellent overall performance, I bit of a squeal when run through the amp effects loop, that will bear some tweaking.

After a week things are fine.

I have not needed support since I left rehab.

Overdrive channel is fat and sweet. Distortion is dialable from clean sustain to screaming fuzz. Both channels combined wreak havoc.

Easy as using a Tubescreamer (Jekyll "green" side). The Hyde "red" side takes a little more tweaking because there are two interacting EQ controls in addition to the drive and volume, plus a bright/dark switch. No need for a manual. Dial in the Jekyll side first, then experiment with the Hyde since they use the Hyde to push the Jekyll when both are engaged.

This is in the middle of a chain with modded Boss compressor and modded Boss Graphic Equalizer in front, and then after the J&H a modded Boss DS-1, a Behringer EM600 echo, a Danelectro Dan Echo, an Electro Harmonix Holy Grail reverb, and finally a Demeter Tremulator, which can act as a post- cleanboost in addition to great trem effect.

I liked this pedal stock but put sockets in for the main 8-pin op-amps and wound up liking "hi-fi" burr-brown OPA opamps, but that is totally a matter of personal taste.

I wasn't a huge fan of the Hyde side. I really like clean boosts, use one early in the chain and one at the end of the chain, and on a whim I put a switch on the Hyde side to use or not use the clipping diodes. Without the diodes, it can be set to be nearly clean and that is a very nice combination with the Jekyll if you like violin tones... especially with compressor engaged upfront.

My rating is for the stock J&H - an execellent Tubescreamer PLUS.

Well built, metal can. A bit tedious to tinker with given all the screws and pots and switches that have to be undone to get the circuit board out. But, that's part of what makes it sturdy. No problems with it whatsoever.

Haven't tried asking them anything.

Style - blues, rock, surf rock and some jazz crossover. The J&H, especially as modded kills for blues with a 335, my old Yamaha SG1000 or strats, great violin tones and sustain with a decent tube amp. As modded it has some very nice phattening action for clean tones. Works great with my Princeton and my Fuchs-modded Bandmaster.

Playing decades, semi-pro. Been thru a lot of gear, this is one of the OD pedals I've kept, along with a Bad Monkey.

Love - the sound quality and range. Dislike - takes up a lot of space on the pedal board with a weird shape. this pedal has really become integral to a number of my favorite tones.

ok, the first thing to keep in mind when considering this pedal is what kinda sound are you expecting? if your wanting a metal tone STAY AWAY! i dont care what anyone else says this pedal is not made for shredding. to the blues player that turns the second side up and is suprised at how much of a deep heavy tone he can get, well thats true but this would be a bad buy for a shredder. id suggest either a metal zone. or if your willing to spend the bucks just do it right and get a jacques bat fuzz. or at least listen to it. theres demoes out there. that pedal is in my opinion the holy grail of metal pedals. ok so back to the j&h. this is a very warm sounding pedal. its pretty easy to get a good sound out of it. also pretty easy to get a bad one. the ts808 side is pretty much flawless. youd be an idiot to get an ibanez re-issue. cause this has a bass boost. you can go wherever with the knobs and somehow it always sounds good. now the second side. hmm...well, not so much. it sounds NOTHING like a ds-1. it doesnt really sound like anything to me. maybe a borrowed fender distortion? its very easy to get a bad sound on this side. and sounds pretty lousy in a home studio, very noisy when at full. but this pedal is a different beast altogether in home vs. live situations. you might not even believe its the same pedal. i think this has alot to do with the circuits in it. old school circuitry. alot of older pedals whale on stage and sound like crap at home in a quiet enviroment.

ok so here we go, live versus home

home.
well in a home enviroment the ts808 side is pretty much perfect for what it is, a ts808. great for when you want to add a little kick to your guitar and great for leads. if your blues and you dont own this or a ts808 then what are you using? at low it adds a nice warmth to your guitar, and at high it makes your leads sound like butta.

ok the heavy side. not so good. very noisy at home, your gonna need a noise gate unless you have a 2 grand guitar that super quiet. i have a fender jazzmaster mij reissue. and there known to be quiet guitars well for fender anyways.its almost useless. NOW I OWN A TUBE AMP, SO IF YOUR SOLID STATE YOU WILL HAVE MOST LIKELY COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OUTCOME, SO DONT BE SUPRISED IF YOU DONT AGREE WITH ME IF YOU TURN OUT TO HAVE SOLID STATE. i compare it to using my fender distortion in a quiet room enviroment. which is pretty useless without the amp cranked. tube is pretty useless quiet, unless you have something pushing your tubes at a low volume. this side is incredibly noisy and just plain ugly sounding. i dont see the need for a eq knob cause its supposed to give you the ability for a deep crunchy tone? i dunno. you end up with this ugly noisy crazy cranked out tone.

live.
ok in a live situation the ts808 side is incredible. you can bring your overdrive to a higher level just by playing harder. which is great for sound that build real smoothly. its sound incredible live i havent heard much else for wehat this does that gets that sort of tone live. everything from the strokes to stevie ray to the buzzcocks. the bass boost is a plus. you can get some of the greatest bluesy and velvets rhythm with it.

the heavy side sounds like it becomes another pedal altogether in the live situation. you will get a loud heavy tone. not metal heavy. but it will take you everywhere else you need to go other then there. its very distinctive but still noisy. but the switches are flawless so just kick it when you need it. at low its quite smooth and at full its a beast of warmth.

built quite well.

all boutique pedal companies are great. if they wernt people wouldnt dish out the money like they do. boutique always equals good customer support. these guys build half this stuff by hand. its like there babies.

i do alot. i own a bat fuzz and swear by that pedal. i own the j&h and swear by it too. i hate it at home though. but its not a home pedal. its a live pedal. as far as home goes im considering getting another rat again for home. but will most likely just get a noise gate as i need one anyways. if it were stolen or lost id most likely just get a ts808 cause i have a boost on my board and would use the room to get a rat. but its well worth the money. so its hard to say but right now im not playing live as much as i used to so for me the rat makes more sense. but the price for a ts808 reissue alone is about the same as a jekyll and hyde. and it has no boost so you do the math. live im usually just aching to use the j&h. it makes you want to play loud.

ive been a musician since 15 and im 27. i own and have owned alot of crap i will not list it all. i also play keys and some stuff sounds great with keys and horrible with guitar. so id list stuff that would not be a good reccomendation.

Very easy to use. The boost section tone/eq interaction requires a bit more tweaking, but always with great results.
3 modes at your feet : 1st switch for TS-like crunch, 2nd switch for heavier distortion, or both on for heaven. It is like plugging a TS9 in front of an already distorted amp.

The most polyvalent dist pedal I ever had. All distortion sounds are achievable with this pedal. From light vintage overdrive to scooped mids metal, excepted real fuzz sounds maybe. The sound can get noisy with both switches on and high gain, but not a big issue. Not the even harmonics of a fulltone pedal, but a great gear.

Very sturdy, never had any surprise with it.

Ae you experienced ? No !

A must-have if you a typical blues-rock-hard rock player, often playing live, and if you like simple set-ups. 3 sounds at your feet in one pedal. I own fulltones FD2, DP1, plug into a Blues Junior, and all this sounds great. But for a light set-up, on-the-fly rehearsal, I will just bring the J&H, I do not need anything else. i wish it was square, so it could fit better in a pedalboard, but no big issue !

Very easy to use. The boost section tone/eq interaction requires a bit more tweaking, but always with great results.
3 modes at your feet : 1st switch for TS-like crunch, 2nd switch for heavier distortion, or both on for heaven. It is like plugging a TS9 in front of an already distorted amp.

The most polyvalent dist pedal I ever had. All distortion sounds are achievable with this pedal. From light vintage overdrive to scooped mids metal, excepted real fuzz sounds maybe. The sound can get noisy with both switches on and high gain, but not a big issue. Not the even harmonics of a fulltone pedal, but a great gear.

Very sturdy, never had any surprise with it.

Ae you experienced ? No !

A must-have if you a typical blues-rock-hard rock player, often playing live, and if you like simple set-ups. 3 sounds at your feet in one pedal. I own fulltones FD2, DP1, plug into a Blues Junior, and all this sounds great. But for a light set-up, on-the-fly rehearsal, I will just bring the J&H, I do not need anything else. i wish it was square, so it could fit better in a pedalboard, but no big issue !

Quite easy to get a good sound out of the Jeckyll side for live work right away. Hyde side took me a little experimentation since, at home it always sounded awesome, but live it felt a little mushy on it's own. Nice feature, that "eq" (mid cut) knob.

I have had this pedal for a good 2 years and have gigged all over the south with it, so I have alot of experience with this pedal. My stage signal chain is: Guitar: 1990 PRS Classic 24 w/Gibson '57 classic humbuckers (among others). Pedal board: 1)modded Crybaby, 2)JH1, 3)Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, 4)Boss Dig. Delay, 5)Boss RV-5 reverb, 6)Boss GE-7 EQ, 7)Dunlop HighGain Volume pedal. Amps: Fender '67 Blackface Super Reverb or Peavey Classic 50, 4x10 (clean channel). The Jeckyll side is hailed as a TS808 clone, and as I say: it sounds like the best old TS808 you ever had! VERY tubey and growling with that nice mid hump that is not too pronounced. I set my knobs for bluesy rhythm/fills at the following: Drive-9 oclock, Tone-5 oclock, Volume-"dimed." For killer neck pickup leads, I add the sparkle drive -or- for nice marshall-like bridge humbucker leads (and for Billy Squier impersonations) I add the Hyde channel. The Hyde's knobs are set at the following: Drive-9 or 10 oclock, Tone-11 oclock, Eq-hard left, volume-4 oclock, Switch-Sharp. I love the j & h channels combined at these settings. As you can see, low drive settings on both channels combine for my version of great live rock-n-roll to blues. I have used many pedals in my 24 years of experience: TS9, TS808, Marshall Blues Breakers (BB1, black box, modded), Blues Breaker 2 (yuck), Boss Blues Driver, Guyatone, Rat, DOD 250, IBNZ sonic distortion (SD9), Boss Metal Zone (in the 80's), Fulltone FullDrive 2, ZenDrive, Oh heck, I can't even remember all of 'em now! So, my opinion is very high of this pedal with the right settings.

I've gigged with it in my pedal board since I've had it for a couple of years; no problems at all, which is better than I can say for many pedals I've been through. I depend on it very much.

Never dealt with the company personally, but my good friend and guitarist buddy called Mr. Weil once and asked about any possible mods and the man was very friendly and gave his some ideas about resistor value changes and such, so I feel good about them from that, but that is really not an opinion of any value.

I've been in a large blues/r&b/soul band that does everything from clubs to weddings to festivals for 9 years; has a horn section. I am also in a soul improvisation club band that is a lot of fun. In the 80's, cut my teeth on hard rock, metal. Been at it 24 years. Also own a '67 Gibson es-335 and a couple of Stratocasters, a Flying V, a Fender Mustang, and much, much more. If the JH1 were lost or stolen, I be on Ebay right now looking for another silver-boxed JH1! It compares favorably with everything I've ever used, hence I keep using it. I get compliments on my screaming lead tone all the time, and the inevitable: "what is that OD pedal you keep stepping on?" And I tell 'em straight out: "it's a custom-made, one-of-a-kind, high-end, boutique, experimental pedal made by an electronics genius who used to work for a big effects company, but went on his own." That keeps me from having to explain anything else (ha, ha)!

Its quite a simple 2-in-1 pedal. Its actually a clone pedal. The overdrive side is a ts808 clone with a bass boost option(I love it) and the Distortion side seemed like a ds-1 with an eq and more flexibility. I got a nice sound within about 45 mins of playing at a guitar shop.

What impression do you get when you first read the name ?Jekyll And Hyde? It sounds like one of those 2-in-1 pedals that seem to have the ?best of both worlds? and often do not. This time I really have to credit Bob Weil for creating this. This is really ultimate overdrive and distortion. With the overdrive side (a clone of the ts808) with a bass bosst which solves the problem of the original 808?s and the Distortion side which sounds like a DS-1 to me with expanded range, more gain and a EQ which is similar to the MT-2 one. I plugged it in at the shop and used a nicely crafted MIJ Fender Thinline Tele together with the Visualsound H20 Liquid Chorus and the Visualsound Route 66 American Overdrive. The tones I squeezed out of this medium sized stomp box were absolutely incredible. When you put the drive settings to max, you will get the most awesome in your face metal distortion ever, this 250 SGD(If im not wrong) baby will throw your tubescreamers out of your rig.

There have been reliability issues like footswitches having problems and the leds having probs. But its quite well built in a thick steel housing. I would advise frequent giggers to have a backup. You'll never no what will happen

I dont own it but im going to buy it.

Its seriously VALUE FOR MONEY. Before shortlisting this, i had tried the Proco Deucetone rat and rat 2. But i really prefer this. If after i got mine, and i lost it, i'll buy another one!

Very easy to use, take a few more minutes on a Fender amp (Deville/Twin), but on a Marshall ...just plug it in and it sounds good.

I use a SG thru a Fender Deville, and it sounds very Killers/Strokes, bright good attack, but the sound on a Les Paul thru a Marshall, and wow that sounds full rich, with nice dark tones, nice and round and insane sustain.

75% of time had no problems, I personally would not use anything but a 9 volt battery or the actual visual sound power pack. Why? Well it got weird on me and would not change from Jekyll to Hyde.

Bring a tube screamer if ya have to, I'd rather use Jekyll/Hyde, I have never again had a problem after sticking with a 9 volt battery.

I sent it back twice and they helped both times, and apologized.

Decent value, not for weekend warriors, stick with your onboard distortion or tube screamer, but if you spend any time in a studio, or actually have a good soundman when you play out who mikes you professionally, or if you really care, buy it now.

just as easy as any other straightfoward pedal..only more knobs than an average pedal (due to two differnt channels..), more choices..took me maybe 15 minutes to dial in the sound i wanted on both channels..never even looked at the manual actually.

oh, the sound is EXACTLY what i was looking for! naturally, with both drive knobs turned too high you will get some intence feedback when youre not playing, BUT, when you are playing with both drive knobs up high (and both channels on) you wil get ENDLESS sustain..

the jekyll channel is a real sweet gritty sound the way i use it..nice for some gritty rhythm tracks, but set other ways it can be real rockin'

the hyde channel is nice for some sweet leads, ranging from the "supershread metalhead" overdrive to youre average sweet rock tones.

there is no type of overdrive tone i cant get with this wonderfull pedal..

and, to top it all off, i use this pedal mostly for bass. (yes, up untill now i've been rating its uses for guitar.) i'm mainly a bassist, and this thing does what i need it to do. really it does the same thing on guitar and bass, but think of the jekyll side for bass to give you that low bass overdrive groove kind of sound (think larry graham..) and (as with guitar) like the hyde side for sweet leads.

really a winner for guitar and bass, i was especially amazed at how well it worked on bass..

havent had it for so long yet..but, it does look nice and sturdy. cant immagine having any problems though, i definately would not use a backup.

never talked to them.

i play jazz, funk, blues, (old and new) rock, latin, and i'm sure i'm leaving out a few..but anyway, this thing does do it all. for bass just as well as guitar. great match for (guitar) blues/rock/heavy rock/metal/ANYTHING! i've been playing for 6(ish?) years, and use a '61 gretsch guitar into a fender deville. for bass i use a carvin XB76 into a GK400RB with brickhouse cabinets (www.mcfrost.com for more info on brickhouse cabs)

either way, this thing can cover it all. i wouldent suggest this if youre playing in a metallica cover band or something like that, playing the same style music all the time, cause this thing for me is an easy way to cover it all. if you want one pedal to specialize in youre ONE genre, then look elsewhere (although to my ears this pedal sounds nicer than all other pedals meant for one genre, like a blues driver or metal zone for example..)

very easy to use, just knobs and switches, just the way i like it

it's a very quiet pedal, even with both od and distortion on at the same time. i can adjust settings midsong and not miss a note, it's a great pedal. I use it with a Line 6 delay modeler, and run it thru my Fender Hot Rod Deville 212. it gets me the basic rock tones, great blues tones, and even some nice beefy hard rock tones as well. the leads have a nice fat bite to them.

never had one problem with it. I used a route 66 pedal, and actually prefer it over the J/H, but I went thru two of them before i settled on the J/H 1. It keeps up with me, and never craps out.

N/A

I play alot of different styles, reggae,rock,blues,funk, whatever..this pedal is vary versatile! I have been playing for almost 25 years, and I am a bit of an OD pedal junkie...this one is good enough to gig with...
if it were stolen or lost, i would buy another, no problem!
i wish it had compression...

I think this is a fairly easy pedal to use. I can only give it a 7 because of all the options, especially on the "Hyde" side. The "Jeckyll" side is pretty easy - very much like a Tubescreamer, just with a bit more "bite." The Hyde side has a tone AND EQ knob, and those two interact to produce everything from almost metal to classic, thick dist. Add to that a Sharp/Blunt switch and you have a TON of options/tweaks to go through. It's more than I prefer to fiddle with, but the results have been well worth the effort.

Visual Sound does provide an owners manual of sorts with some sample settings (also available in .pdf format from their website) that help you get started; I highly recommend taking their suggestions as starting places for your tones.

I think this thing sounds AWESOME. I've gone through a few different OD/Dist options, trying to find my "voice": Fulltone FD 2 and Dist Pro, TS 9, etc., etc. My big dilemma was finding a unit that would work with both my Fenders AND my Gibsons. The Fulltone really worked as an OD for my Fenders, but just wouldn't "get there" for my humbucking guitars. And I just couldn't find anything that would crunch without getting too flappy on the low end or too much into metal. I gave this thing a whirl, and it's soooooo well worth the $$!!! It navigates ALL my guitars equally well.

Yup - been gigging with it for about a year now, and it's never given me ONE problem.

Their customer support is EXCELLENT, I think. They're on AOL Instant Messenger, and I IMd them once with some questions, and they were totally available.

As I also mentioned above, their manuals give sample settings that help you begin to dial in the pedal. VERY helpful!

This pedal is so versatile, that it's become a staple of my rig. It's quiet, and it works solidly every time.

I play a variety of different styles; do some studio work and a lot of "hired gun" stuff. The best thing I can say about this pedal is that it reproduces the tones I hear in my head. The OD sounds solid, with an appropriate mid-range boost that helps it sit well in the mix. The Dist ("Hyde") side sings and sustains well for me.

My rig: Fender 93 Am Std Strat (Warmoth Neck, Duncan Quarter pounder in bridge); 98 Fender 52 RI Tele; 92 Les Paul Standard (Duncan Alnico II in bridge); 91 335 Studio --> Ernie Ball Volume --> Budda Wah --> CS 3 Compressor --> Jeckyll & Hyde --> Line 6 Rotory Speaker Emulator --> Fulltone 69 Fuzz --> Line6 MM4 --> Line6 DL 4 (with expression pedal). For pics see www.myspace.com/ericcase

The only thing that I have to watch for is the position of the "bass boost" switch on the OD (Jeckyll) side. I step on it accidentally from time-to-time (I prefer it off), and sometimes, if it gets lodged in between the two positions, you lose almost all volume. Otherwise it's a grea piece.

My unit is not the "RED" version with the bass boost on the Jeckyl side...it's the older one. This unit seems pretty easy to get good sounds...just twist the knobs and hit the buttoms. No patch editing. The "manual" is just a sheet with some suggestions for settings...I didn't find them very useful, but that's just me.

I am running an '83 Squier Strat with Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 4x10 and an Epiphone Valve Special. The Fender suffers from a bass-boominess and the Epiphone is very dark. This pedal seems to be made for these amps because it does cut the bass a bit on the Jeckyl (Overdrive, think TS808) side, something that is a complaint for some but is a bonus for me. It seems to tame these amps quite well. The Hyde (distortion) gets some great sounds with low levels of distortion, but isn't really great for Strats when the gain is turned up because the leads get a little odd sounding...I've had this problem with Tech21 stuff, and with other "Marshally" sounding distortion units...leads get odd artifacts and screechiness mixed with the sound that just turn me off. I've fiddled with the treble and EQ to no avail...I think it's a shortcoming of this particular circuit, that apparently is shared with similar products. This "effect" goes away when you go with humbucker equipped guitars. Not a big deal to me...I prefer Jeckyl's TST808 type sounds.

As far as noise, Jeckyl is pretty quiet and Hyde gets a little noise when the gain is turned up. I tend to go for the typical strat blues sounds, and this works well for them. If you have an amp that lacks bass, Hyde at low gain setting would be a great choice.

Only had it for a week. It seems built well.

I've heard nothing but good things, but I bought the unit used so I expect nothing.

I tend to like Strat-style blues sounds like SRV, but I don't necessarily play blues exclusively. This pedal seems to be what I was looking for. If lost or stolen I'd buy another or just go with a TS808 reissue, TS9 reissue or a Sparkle drive because I don't think I'd pay full price for a new one considering I don't use the Hyde side.

Got this pedal as a gift, so not sure of price. Very easy to use for most players; perhaps not for a novice is why not a "10" and because you have to be carefull which switch you activate since they are so close together. Overdrive side has "drive", "tone", and "volume"; Distortion side has the same plus an EQ for scooping the mids and getting a great metal edge(for those who like metal). 7 knobs total. One switch for the Overdrive side which gives a bass boost (awesome) and one switch on Distortion side for sharp/blunt. As far as using the pedal, just don't step on the wrong switch/button because you will activate the other side (on/off switches are close together).

I'm using the pedal with a Fender Strat through a '66 Fender Deluxe Reverb. Pedal sounds great! Has same chip as original "tubescreamer". I have found the settings I like and usually leave them there (Eric Johnson, SRV, Randy Rhoads, and many, many more!) Pedal is very versatile... from smooth overdrive to screaming metal crunch, and everything in between. Two sides can be used separate or in cunjunction. NOT TRUE BYPASS!!! Though I have not been able to notice signal loss. Pedal uses 'high impedence buffering" or some crap. I give an "8" because its not true bypass, so it probably doesn't sound as good as some botique pedals, but a great sounding pedal (it should be noted that I have little experience w/effects pedals). I think it sounds better than a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, if that helps any.

Very sturdy metal casing. No backup. Be carefull what you step on! One wrong move and you'll squish those little switches or drive the push button through the circuit board (push buttons go through circuit board, analog man does not recommend, so an "8").

never dealt with them; I was impressed with the company from their website, though.

Great pedal overall. I recommend trying it out. Very sturdy but be carefull stepping on it, probably will eventually break a switch. I gig with it every week and it does excellent...so far. All of my gear is premium and I am a bit of an audiophile. Most will love this pedal; some audiophiles (like those who have to have true bypass) may not like it. I would probably not be able to find something that sounds as good and is so versatile for the same price, so I would probably buy it again. I love the ability to use both pedals simultaneously. I use the overdrive side for my overdrive rhythms and kick in the distortion side with it during leads for more edge and a volume boost (great for volume boost with out having to control your guitar volume and lose tone at lower levels/use a volume pedal/etc...). Tried Boss SD-1, I liked JH better. Never tried Wylde overdrive, but here that JH has more versatility. Gets a "9" because "10" is for THE best...this pedal is not perfect, you know!

This pedal is quite easy to use. With the simple twist of a few knobs you can go from a classic garage sound to down and dirty compressed metal. I'm quite impressed with the dynamics this pedal holds.
I found mine on ebay, used with on manual. Luckily the V.S. website has it in adobe I believe.

THis has been upgraded with the red version with an extra switch.

Set-up:
guitars-Fender Jazzmaster early 70's Epiphone Coronet
amps-Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 1x12 and Fender Hot ROd Deville 2x12

Pedal is great and doesn't get noisy unless both sides are engaged and turned very high.

I use this with both fender amps

I get everything I want from this pedal. I buy, sell and trade gear all the time, but I've kept this Jekyll and Hyde for 4 years now. It's fantastic and I'll never get rid of it.

I love the grit and gain of bands like the Kinks and Rolling Stones. I can go from classic garage overdrive to real grit like the Strokes and Ramones. I love Television, and this pedal can also be used as a clean booster which is great for me. Occasionally I'll scoop the mids and play some old Metallica riffs for nostalgia at practice.

The effect is fantastic, the pedal really seems to turn my amps into a real tube beast.

I've depended on this thing for 4 years gigging, not to mention I bought it used form someone who gigged it before me. I've never ahd any problems with it, even with Whiskey spilled on it. It's enver let me down and that's why I've held on to it for so long.

I've been gigging regularly for 2 years now with this pedal. I never carry a back-up.

I've never called the company, but the website was helpful.

I perform throw-back pop and rock with my band "Tracer Matula." this pedal fits my every need. I've been playing for 5 years now. I own a few guitars (mentioned above) plus a taylor big baby. I own a few amps (above) and several pedals:
mxr micro amp, ibanez delay/echo, danelectro dan-echo, whirlwind a/b box, boss tu-2 tuner, sovtek big muff (green), ibanez lo-fi

If I lost this, I would sadly look for another one. I love this pedal. It's helped define my sound. I love the dynamics and range of the pedal. My favorite feature is the fact I can combine both sides to great effect and boost. This pedal is inspiring to me because it's so universal.

I considered other overdrives but settled on this one after seeing one of my favorite high school pop bands (BLEACH) using it. I was glad to see that the Strokes use this pedal on both guitars, and in the studio for vocal tracks.

You really can't go wrong for price, versatility, craftsmanship and integrity with Visual SOund's pedals. I plan on picking up an H2O liquid chours soon...used of course!

It takes some time to dial in the sound you're looking for, but that's just a testament to its wide range of capabilities. Everything is thankfully pretty straightforward, and making it sound the way you want costs nothing more than a few minutes of your time. The settings diagrams that come with it are a great starting point.

The two footswitches are mounted close to one another to accomodate simultaneous switching, but I'm also worried about doing so unintentionally in a live setting. I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Setup- Fender Standard Tele with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails > Jekyll & Hyde > Carvin X-100b with Sovtek 6L6 tubes > Carvin and Fender 4x12 Cabs.

Using full gain on the distortion channel or moderate gain on both channels combined is rewarded with pretty intense feedback. If you don't already have one, buy a noise supressor if you plan on using this for extremely high-gain stuff.

Maxing out the EQ knob results in a comical mid-scooped distortion sound that isn't good for much other than making fun of bands with bad tone. Otherwise, it's hard to find any truly unpleasant settings. The distortion has a big bottom end, kind of of reminiscent of a Mesa Boogie without the muddiness. It sounds really natural, like amp distortion. It's a million times cooler than my amp's distortion channel, though.

The overdrive isn't something I'm used to, because I've never really had a use for anything other than sparkly clean and ulcer-inducing crunch, but it's fun to play with and as far as I can tell it sounds pretty high-quality. It's supposed to be a TS-808 type sound, and although I can't guarantee its accuracy I can assure you that it's versatile and pleasant-sounding.

I've had it for two days, so I can't really attest to reliability. It does look really solid, though.

Never dealt with them.

I play mathy hardcore and some instrumental Hella/Don Caballero/Tortoise/Oxes kind of stuff. I like big, fat distortion tones with a fair amount of volume boost, and this pedal serves that purpose quite well. I bought it to replace an old script-logo MXR Distortion+, which is a great pedal in its own right but isn't as well suited to my style as the Jekyll & Hyde has turned out to be.

If it were lost or stolen, I'd shop around but I have a feeling I wouldn't find anything better for the money. I think I'd end up replacing it with another J&H.

Using the settings suggested in the instructions will get you started, but it might take a couple of days of tweaking to get the sound you are after.

I am a hobbyist who plays mostly at home using an Ibanez S series guitar through a Zoom 505 effects pedal and a Boss Noise suppressor to solid state amps.

All I can tell you is that it radically improved the sound of my set up. By using the J & H for distortion and setting up patches on the Zoom 505 for occasionally used delay, reverb, chorus, wah, flanging or phase shifting, I have been able to get just about any sound I'm looking for.

On the noise issue, ALL of my stuff is noisy when plugged straight into an amp. However, when I plug the guitar into J & H and effects and then go to the "effects return" or "power amp in" jacks on my amps the noise disappears. If you want total silence when not playing, you might consider using a noise gate like the Boss NS-1.

I really like the wide range and tweakabilty of sounds. Whether I am jamming along with U2, GNR, Clapton, SRV, Third Day, or Hendrix CDs at home or playing in the church praise band, appropriate sounds are just a dial away.

While a new piece of gear may not make me a better player, the dramatic improvement in tone has inspired more practice!

The key to this pedal is learning how the knobs switches, and both sides react to eachother. it can be a little tricky at times. I have the newer Red edition J&H.

The bass boost on the jekyll side also gives a little more gain, but other than that, its fairly straight forward.

The hyde side is a little trickier. The EQ knob controls how much mids are present. turning it all the way down means it has full mids. The Tone control is the same as the one for the jekyll side: it controls treble/bass of the sound.

Experimenting is deffinitly needed to aquire the sound you want if you plan on using both sides at the same time. Overall though, any OD/Dist sound is possible with this pedal.

Setup: Ibanez RG350/Tokai Super Edition V/BC Rich p7 mockingbird >>>> J&H>>>> Marshall MG250DFX (GE-7 equalizer in effects loop).

This pedal sounds excellent. If you dont think so, either you do not know how to set it properly or (more importantly) you are not using an EQ. EQ pedals are amazing tools and should be used by everyone. I can get everything from light OD to heavy metal distortion. I use them both at the same for when i play solos. Only small problem is i have never really liked those small footswitches. i perfer the boss-style ones, but its no big deal.

Thing is built like a tank. Actually rivals the durability of Boss pedals. I would gig without a backup, but i have another pedal just in case anyway (Boss XT-2 Xtortion).

Never dealt with them. They have made some very generous offers though on their warranty and all.

Great pedal. You should at least try it out if you are looking for a new OD/Dist pedal. With both inside the box, its very veritile and costs less than buying the 2 effects separate. I highly recommend it.

If you have any common sense its very easy to use. Jekyll side has 3 knobs: Drive, Tone, and Volume. It also has a bass boost switch. On the Hyde side there are 4 knobs: Drive, Tone, EQ(whcih you use to scoop out the mids), and Volume along with a sharp/blunt switch which changes between very bright and dull.

My setup is: Schecter Hotrod 39 ---> Dunlop Crybaby orignal ---> Jekyll & Hyde ---> Peavey Studio pro 112. This is the best distortion pedal I have ever used. It can go anywhere from a slightly soiled clean to a screaching metal distortion. This pedal is so versitile its unbelieveable that the price is so cheap

Ive had visual sound effectss before and they are built like tanks. Its has an all metal pentagon housing that is gonna protect this pedal through anything you can dish out.

This pedal can fit any style of music that you play. Blues, Punk, Metal, classic rock, southern rock, you name it this will do it. There isnt a thing about this pedal that i dont like, great sound, easy to use, no wasted functions, this pedal is the best.

Jekyl channel is extremely easy to get a good sound out of. The Hyde channel takes a little more tweaking. Its a little too touch sensetive for my taste, but once you nail that sound, you'll be happy.

Sounds awesome. I recently re-discovered this pedal. I had used it for a few gigs, then switched over to a Fulltone Fulldrive 2, and then a tubescreamer and tobebone classic combo. I took the Jekyl&Hyde out last night and was amazed at how much better it worked for my needs then either of those pedals. The Jekyl channel has that great ts-808 sound to it. I a/b'd it with the fulldrive and they honestly sounded VERY similar. Maybe the Fulldrive had a touch more warmth to it, but it was barely noticeable. However, the Jekyl channel is what sets this thing apart from the others. The diversity is simply amazing. Crank the gain and you can get all the distortion you could possibly want. Set it at 1:00, and you get a nice cranked Marshall feel. Hit both channels simultaneously, and you get a nice volume boost for solos. By the way, I use both Gibsons and Fenders, playing out of the clean channel of my Fender Deluxe.

3 of my knobs have fallen off, Ive had to superglue them back on. At one gig, the Jekyl channel went bezerk on me. Sounded horrible. I think it may have been an input problem though. Its never done that since.

great value. Costs much less than a Tonebone and is way more versatile. I would definitely buy another one if I lost this. In fact, Im thinking of selling my Tonebone as I just dont have a use for it now that the J&H is back in the rotation. My one complaint is that it does scratch easily and the knobs fall off easily. Other than that I think it is built pretty solidly.

For an overdrive pedal is does have quite a lot of knobs and switches. This appeals to many people but not to me. They are also quite small and in close company which makes adjusting tiresome

I really like the sound of this pedal. The Jekyll channel produces a lovely sound remicisent of the old ibanez tube screamers. However, I really bought it for the Hyde channel. This channel has a lovely sound that never sounds fake or digital. Also, you can scoop the mid and make it into a lovely creamy distortion. I don't think much of it as a heavy metal pedal, it really is suited more to medium gain settings. Again, you are spoiled for choice with all the knobs. But nevertheless, there is something special and unique about the sound of this pedal that appealled to me.

Quite a heavy pedal. Much heavier than my big muff or trem pedal. Battery connection seem strong. My only quip is the plastic knob seem a little cheap for such a great unit.

nil

Great unit overall, with a unique sound that you won't find elsewhere. Definately a pedal to help you create your own sound on.

I couldn't get a bad sound out of it. I have owned Big Muffs, Rats, multiple Boss distortions and overdrives, and a marshall shredmaster, and this is still the best overdrive/distortion I have ever played. The Jekyll side is a pretty close reissue of the ts-808. I think it is much closer than the ts-9 or ts-7. The Jekyll side has a good metal sound, and the eq control makes it even better. I will never remove this from my pedalboard. I know that they were making a new version when I bought mine, but I don't care because the sound I am getting out of this one couldn't be better. I also like the silver more than the new red version.

The JH-1 works well with my rig. I have also tried it with a strat and with a les paul, and with a vox ac-30 and a marshall half-stack, and the sound was great with those too. The effects are very strong. Very noticeable, and all of the settings sound great. Noise is also NOT a problem. My favorite bands are Radiohead and the Strokes and I get there sounds easily with this pedal. Both Albert and Nick of the Strokes use the JH-1. You could also use this pedal for metal and blues.

I have only had it for a month, but so far I have had no problems. The casing is very durable, so I wouldn't need a backup if I was gigging.

I called them to ask them about info on the H20 chorus/echo, because I am interested in all of their effects now. They were very friendly. I felt like they were trying to help me rather than try to sell me an item. I haven't had any problems and I don't need an upgrade.

I play indy and mellow alternative, and this is the perfect overdrive for me. I run this through two amps, a Sunn 50 watt Sorado head through an unknown speaker cabinet, and a Fender 60 watt 2x12 deville. The only other pedals I use are a guyatone phaser and delay, an mxr micro-amp, a marshall shredmaster, and a boss tu-2. My guitars are a gibson es-333 and an epiphone casino. I have been playing for about 5 years, and have played many other overdrives, distortions, and fuzzes, and this is definitely the best. After playing this, I am going to look into purchasing the Visual Sound Route-66 and the H20.

I plugged this sucker in the second I got it and it instantly transformed my Fender Deville into a screaming heavy half stack. Pretty basic and easy to use, volume, tone, and gain on the Jekyll side, the same plus an EQ for midrange on the Hyde side. Very basic manual, with some starter settings.

Using this with an Ibanez S540fm with EMG's, Strat Plus with a Hot Rails, a 61 SG reissue, and a LP Custom. Sounds good across the board, but you need a good tube amp to really get this thing cooking. A little noisy if you crank the gain on both channels to the max and engage both at the same time, but you don't need to do that. To much gain equals muddy mess equals you're tone sucks equals people don't like you. The Jekyll side is very similiar to a warm tube screamer, the Hyde side packs the extra punch lacking in the tube screamer. Together they sound ok, but a little too noisy if the gains are set too high. At times with the wrong setting it can sound a little nasal, but you can tweek it to change that. The sharp/blunt switch is a very cool feature as well, which can make you're sound mellow and bassy, or trebbly and a little more piercing on the sharp setting.

Built like a tank, looks like home plate. I'd gig with her without a backup. I don't like the screw off battery compartment, though, and the fact that the battery sits between the circuit board, so it's only getting a 7.

Never dealt with them, although I've heard they are excellent.

Overall it's a great overdrive pedal at a good price. Great for many styles ranging from blues to modern rock to metal. If it were lost or stolen, I'd be pissed, and probably by another used or something. In comparison to the tube screamer, the jekyll almost nails it, but it's more of a versatile pedal because of the addition of the hyde channel.

This pedal is fairly straight forward, with a few knobs and a switch. It was farily easy to figure out how to use it properly after a bit of tinkering and following the suggested settings manual. The manual is farily sparse, but sufficient to get you going. for ease of use I would say somewhere in the middle

Here is where I want to weigh in. I have read other reviewers saying their unit is quiet. The Jekyll and Hyde I used, had a very bad hissing white noise when used with both my Stratocaster and Les Paul guitars. I emailed the company and they said to send it in for a check. Living in Europe, I did not find this cost effective, so I declined the offer. I am using a Siegmund MS single ended amp, and a Custom Roccaforte 40 watt 2x12 combo. Some of the sounds, particularly the Blues sounds I found nice, everything else was pretty much a wash out for me. I was a bit skeptical of this pedal before having read about it, and the fact they are not true bypass. I found this to color my tone too much for my liking as well so I am not going to give it hign marks for these reasons.

The pedal looks fairly sturdy itself. The areas of contention for me were the flimsy battery cover, the little rubber feet on the bottom came off rather quickly, which is not a big deal, however I was only using it in my flat, and never gigged so I thought it a bit odd. I also took the pedal apart and found the pre printed circuit board to be housed in too large a container. I think the pedal could have been designed a bit smaller to still acheive the same effect looks wise and saving pedal board space. I understand that in mass produced materials the common sizes will keep cost down, however I found this also to be a design flaw.

I am a bit at odds here. I was not happy with the pedal due to the hissing sounds I was getting out of it, and the way it colored my tone too much. I will give them high marks for offering to take it back and have a look at it. I really wanted to like this pedal, but it is just not the one for me. I also emailed another well known pedal modifier to have it looked at and they indicated they would not touch it. I was stuck with it.

Our band plays 60's-70's rock music and some blues. I was looking forward to this pedal based on an interview with the owner of the company and the following review of the pedal line. I was not happy with the sounds that came out of it and the horrible noise as stated earlier. I would not buy one of these again if it were lost or stolen nor would I recommend them to anyone serious about getting good tone. I read the arguments for not making the pedal true bypass, and they make sense to me. I for one will not buy a non true bypass pedal anymore as I believe them to color the tone of the guitar to much for my liking. I sold this to a friend for what I bought it for, thankfully, and got my money backout of it. I have read the client list and it is impressive. This pedal is not my cup of tea and I think for a modest imcrease in spending, you could get something superior to this pedal for instance, any number of Boss pedals in this category. I compared this pedal to a KOT from analogman, an original Tube screamer, a HAO Rumble Mod, a Foxrox fuzz face, and a modded Boss Metal drive, and a DS-1. I found them to be superior in Tone to the Visual Sound pedal. One could argue that, these pedals cost more than the Visual sound, and I would I would counter with you get what you pay for. I am not going to completely disregard the pedal, I think there is a market for it, sadly I am not in that market anymore.

It's not a rack unit so no problemo! You can get every sound you want by twisting 7 knobs overall, it's quite simple and anyway, I think it's fun to explore a bit any new unit to see his capabilities.

I think you have to run this unit trough a good tube amp in order to achieve a descent tone. My set up goes like this. Fender strat with humbuckers-cry baby-Ibanez ts-10-JH-Digitech digidelay-Fender deville2X12. Simple set-up, awesome tone. I first bought the unit for the hyde side but I enjoy the jeckyll side as well. I owned every distortion on the market and this one's a killer! Jeckyll side is very warm and sweet, great for Eric Johnson sound and blues, it nails the overdrive channel of my Deville wich is to thick, not warm at all. The pedal can be a great clean boost and also great for low drive leads. The hyde side is a kickass gain maniac!!! Lots of drive and sustain without too much loss of clarity and too much noise...hey, it's a distortion so it has to make noise right? Very warm trough the tube amp, great harmonics and pick attack, I love it. However, I'm a bit disappointed about the bass lost you get when you conbine both channels together. This is not happening when I put my ts-10 before the JH, this way, I get a great boost for solos without any bass lost. Maybe this is due to the chain signal of the JH, it's seems like it is configured for the hyde signal to come before the Jeckyll signal in the chain effect. But you still can get great sound from combining both channels.

Got it for 2 months, no problems so far, seems to be built like a tank, but like any other effect, you should use a power supplie, battery sucks!!!

I play rock, blues and metal. It fits all those style very well. I don't play gigs anymore so I bough it for home playing, it souds good at room level, and awesome with the amp cranked. I've been playing for 15 years and I've owned a lot of device over the years. This is the best distortion I ever played trough and the price is fair concidering this is two unit in one. I've never used it with any other amp but I'm sure it's sound great trough any good tube amp.

Pretty simple to use- all the other reviews really explain it well. 2 channels - Tone, overdrive and volume on Jekyll: T, O, V and EQ on Hyde with a Sharp / Blunt switch.

Killer... thats all I can say. I run a 75 Tele dlx through a 74 Twin - pedal board consists of original KIng Vox Wah, Boss CS3, MXR Phase 45, Danelectro Cool Cat and a Boss DD-6 delay. Needless to say, the board is a little noisy... so I was afraid that the Jekyll and Hyde would put the noise a little overborad, but it is VERY quiet. I was shocked especially since I am using SC pickups. The pedal sounds great once you get it tweaked out. The Jekyll chanell took me all of 2 minutes to get my sound. Simple enough - Drive, volume, and a "tone" control that acts as a mid-range boost. The Jekyll chanell took a little more work to get a good tone going.. working with the "sharp / blunt" is the key. But after a few minutes messing with it, I dialed in what I wanted. I play everything from the Police to Govt. Mule, so I was looking for something that would have the range. The Jekyll sounds like an old AC30 - i am getting that great "Mike Campbell" tone. The Hyde sounds like a Marshall stack if you dial it in just right. Perrrrrfect for the Warren Haynes / Santana solos... only caution is running the 2 channels together... too much drive on either channel will cause uncontrollable feedback.

So far so good.....

Never dealt with them....

Trying to find an OD that suits a Fender Twin is difficult if you ask me. I've had everything from Danelectro Daddy O's (gooood pedal) to Maxon OD's... some sounded as good, but this gives me the most versatility. I've only had it for a few weeks, but I feel that I am going to fly with this pedal for a looooong while. Definitley worth the cash...

No problem at all: 2 OD's one with vol/tone/gain the other with vol/tone/eq/gain and a blunt/sharp switch.
extremely simple, no worries about finding a good sound

I play an Epiphone SG (brute, classic rock, and warm cleans) and a Pacifica (more modern sound, with capababilities of wonderful wimpish pop tones) then the J&H, then into a H&H V-S Musician 100 or a Fender Eighty-Five.
Green Light gives a nice overdriven tone that works very well using a Rhythm pickup, and is good for strumming some open chords on. A bit weak if you want to play some scorching leads, which i'm fine with as i am a rhythm player. To get the best tone out of it, you would need to crank your amp up, so dont worry if it sounds a bit wimpy when you're in your room.
Red Light is pretty much for anyone. Tones available are some bluesy stuff, britpop, indie rock, and heavy metal/hardcore punk. Nothing to fault for this, but make sure you dont crank up the treble way too high if you paly live, and use chords, and they kind of dont standout too well, unlike the Green OD.
Both Together is standout my favourite tone, being a Hardcore/noise rock fan. turn the amp up, and it is quite impossible for it to stop feedbacking, unless you cut off your guitar. play it through a Solid State amp (like Black Flag) and you really do get some raging sound that will be suited for DIY/Lo-Fi kinda rock.
This is Pretty much suited to anything and everything, but may need tweaking when moving from your bedroom to a Stage.

All Metal Chassis, indestructible the way i treat it. only quip is that you need to remember to unplug your power pack to let the electricity drain off or else the pedal will lose alot of it's power. haven't tried it with a battery.

I bought Mine 2nd hand, so i dont know anything aobut customer support.

I play in a rock band that basically needs all types of overdrive, from smooth bluesy, to 70's rock, to 80's hardcore to modern indie rock, and i can safely say that it will cater for pretty much everything. The Jekyll and Hyde is my first OD pedal, and i havent had a craving for another pedal (except possibly an extra J&H for my live setup)
seriously, anyone with 120 quid or can find a 2nd hand one, consider this as a companion for any type of rock music

The Jekyll side is real easy to use...3 knobs just like a tubescreames. Hyde took a little tweaking. I messed with it for a few days before finding the right sound for me. It's a very versatile piece of equipment...to the point where at first finding the right sound can be a little overwhelming.

My setup: Fat Strat Texas Special > Analogman Chorus > Phase 90 > Jekyll & Hyde > Twin Reverb '65 RI
Jekyll sounds alot like my old tubescreamer...maybe even a little sweeter. Hyde gives me a decent marshall/mesa type sound.
Using them together is where this thing really shines. I get a nice crunchy lead tone with lots of harmonics.
Jekyll is nice and quiet. Hyde gets a little noisy when you crank the drive up real high, but that's to be expected, and it's not bad.
I'm resisting giving this a 10 because nothing is perfect.

Haven't owned it very long so I couldn't tell you. Maybe if I gig I'll throw my TS-9 in the car just in case. But it sure is built solid...the only possible weak spot may be the switches. Time will tell.

Haven't dealt with them but I hear they're good.

I was using a TS-9 for my overdrive...and as great as it sounded, it's a very tame pedal. I play alot of funk and bluesy rock and it was great for that but I wanted the option of a much heavier overdrive, and I NEEDED more for really smoking leads. I thought of putting a Rat or even a SECOND TS-9 in my chain. Then I started hearing about the Jekyll & Hyde and found this one on ebay for $89.00. I figured TWO overdrives in one pedal means less cables, less signal loss, less batteries or wall warts...etc. The guy said it was new...and it seemed like it was.
It turned out to be just what I was looking for. I still get my tubescreamer sound, PLUS I have my heavier crunch, PLUS I can run them together and get great sustain & harmonics.
If stolen I'd replace it ASAP.

7 knobs 2 footswitches a sharp/blunt switch... 2 pedals in one easy package... love the metal buttons, tight rubber knobs and heavy duty look... wicked!!!

i use my custom made lespaul type copy thru my jeckyll n hyde thru a peavey classic 30 (great affordable tube amp) great sounds with this pedal lots of versatility and most of the settings are very usable... the od sides gain control is usable at all settings and is very warm and transparent, one of the best i've tried... cuts a bit of bass but it still sounds great thru the clean and dirty channels of my amp... it could use a bit more output for that clean boost... the hyde channel is extremely versatile... it can copy the sounds of the ds1, proco rat and metal zone, maybe even slightly better... the sharp/blunt switch along with the powerful eq and tone knob gives this lil monster the edge above the rest... another plus is that its very transparent... from classic rock to scooped metal the guitar sound still comes through, it hardly colors your tone... i dont give effects a 10 rating coz nothing is perfect... this gets a 9.5

2 years spit on stomped on dropped and puked on... no backup no problems... stomp on it!!!

i duuno about the company but i never had to deal with em

i play punk blues classic rock and some metal... black crowes, acdc, razorback, ramones, rancid, zztop, black label society, metallica, ozzy, sabbath etc. this pedal can do it all with great quality... if you can find one of these grab it!!! i guarantee that you will stop buying other overdrive/distortion pedals.... well maybe for a while at least :)

easy to get god sounds out of jeckly side, hyde has more range so was a bit harder to get "my sound"

Flying V with EMG's- crybaby-jeckyl and hyde- fender hot rod deluxe. not too noisy, but with emgs, you get alot of output which equals more noise. it sounds pretty darn good to my ears. i can get just about any tone out of it, from classic to new.

i thought it was pretty solid until it stopped functioning properly, it is currently producing slight distortion while switched off which is a huge problem. i am in process of contacting the company, and with what i have heard, a repair should be quick and cheaply performed by the company.

i hope they are good

good sounds, not too relaiable, hopefully a fluke. well suited for styles fromblues to rock to punk to that new crap if you play that.

It's a 2 channel pedal. Each one has it's one tone, gain and volume. The Hyde has an EQ knob. You shouldn't need a manual for simple stompboxes like these. Just turn it on and start playing with knobs. Kinda like a woman.

My rig is a '02 Les Paul, '03 Strat into a Marshall Plexi. I'm running a dunlop wah, boss tu2, boss flanger, boss phaser, boss dd3. I have a Dan-o Spring King and Pro Co Rat I haven't taken the time to configure in to my pedal lineup. The J/H sits at the end after the delay. My sound is dependent on my mood, but I mostly go for medium to heavy overdrive. I try to retain some clarity for solos and funny chords. I got this pedal for the overdrive when the Plexi is broken up at higher volumes, and the distortion for quieter playing. Anyway, the overdrive is blase at lower volumes on the plexi. Turning on the sharp setting ups the treble and makes it brighter, but not much. When I turn it up the overdrive sounds a lot better. The distortion is really versatile. I got pretty much everything from blackface sounds to muddy, mesa type stuff. It's a well-rounded pedal. Since there's so many knobs on it, I still like to twist them around and see what else it can do. I only took off one point for the "eh" vibe I got from the overdrive at low volume.

The thing lets well built. I'd gig with it. I've only had it for a week though.

Haven't had to deal with Visual Sound.

I'd say this will do everything except high gain metal. You can get a Mesa-type sound from it, so if you're into something bassy and thick you can get it. But anyone into Opeth should probably try elsewhere.

Two overdrives in one pedal .
If you don't understand how this pedal works then you must be a drummer :-).
Suggested settings in the manual are a welcome addition though.
Controls for the "Jekyll" side are drive, tone, volume.
Controls for the "Hyde" side are drive, tone, EQ, volume.
One mini switch for sharp or blunt (darker and more compressed)
Two footswitches allow you to select both drives separately or together.

I'm currently playing a standard mexican Strat and a Cort M600, plugged into a Marshall VS100r.
I've been playing 20 years or so and have been through quite a lot of different overdrive units (Boss SD1, Zoom Driver, Marshall drivemaster, Boss Metal Zone, Pearl Overdrive, my amp's ownoverdrive channels...) all of which failed to convince me in the long run as they sounded too harsh for my likings.I was looking for an smoother sounding overdrive .
Jekyll's drive remains politically correct and is supposed to emulate the now much sought after TS808. I never owned one and probably never will, given the bonkers money you must now for out to get hold of one. Visual Sound say they used the same operational amplifier, but I'm not going to open up the stompbox and check if it's true, since all settings on this side sound great and really make sense. Full arks for Jekyl's drive.
Just in case you would be deaf a red led indicates the Hyde overdrive is on. Plenty of gain. Great tone control that never make s your sound muddy or harsh. Eq control lets you boost or cust the mids so as to obtain a "classic" or "metal" distortion. I personally let the "sharp/blunt" switch on "blunt". As far as noise goes,yes there's hiss when you set everything on "10" but any hard pushed amp also hisses, so this is not really a problem. Besides you don't need to go for extreme settings to get a good sound.
Switch both drives together and you're rewarded with a volume boost and controllable feedback.Great.

Seems ruggedly made and able to widthstand the knocks of life on the road. As I've just bought it, only time wille tell. If it fails I will have to use my amp's own overdrive channels.

Never had to deal with them, so I can't tell.

I play heavy pop/rock and this unit really fills my needs. It's not one of those multi fx boxes with just one or two interesting sounds and all the others barely useable. I live in Belgium and purchased it on the web from Musik Produktiv.com (Germany) who were able to deliver fast and at a better price. Full marks for this company. I doubt it will ever get lost or stolen since I always keep an eye on our band's gear. Should this happen (and provided I'm am not taken to court for murdering the culprit) I would certainly buy another one.

Two footswitches, a handful of knobs, and one switch. It can be a bit intimidating, but once you realize it's two pedals in one, it's pretty easy. No funky lables here, i.e., "cheese=tone, beef=drive, etc." it just says "tone, scoop, drive," and so on.

You can set everything at about 12 o'clock and get a good sound out of both sides. The manual is brief but provides some good settings (really, for a stompbox, you shouldn't need more than a "set the dials here for a good sound" instruction).

I run a fender strat with texas special pickups and a Epi Sheraton with Alan Holdsworth pickups through this, occasionally run other fx, and either amp it through a Behringer V-Amp or an old Peavey Classic tube amp. The tone is very transparent, so if you have a good guitar and a good amp, the pedal will make it sound like your amp's natural overdrive.

Its two pedals are the Jekyll side, which mimics the Ibanez Tube screamer, and the Hyde side, which has more controls, a bit heavier of an overdrive, and can capture some more metal/hard rock tones.

Two cool features: 1, its "enhanced bypass" mode, which even when no effect is on, it modestly boosts your tone so that other effects don't drain it (it works on my Vox wah), and 2, the dual distortion effect. You can turn both OD's on at the same time to take your solos over the edge, and the footswitches are close enough that a single stomp can turn both on, both off, or switch between the two.

One downside, the pedal is a bit heavy on the high ends, even when you EQ them out at the pedal. BUT the easy solution to this is to roll your tone knob(s) on your guitar back a touch if it really bothers you.

It's got a steel chassis and the footswitches are pretty heavy-duty. My first JH toured with me for 2 years of daily playing in lots of hot, outdoor settings, and other than getting a lot of "character marks," or scratches, the only things that went wrong with it were the op-amp chip (which VS sent me a new one at no charge), and a shorted-out input jack, which was easy to repair. It is dependable and I would use it without a backup.

A lot of users complain about the battery setup, but Bob Weil, president of Visual Sound, claims that the setup is safe, and I've never had a problem with it.

Another aspect of reliability is its ease of repair. The JH is a bit time-consuming to disassemble and reassemble due to the large number of knobs, but anyone with basic soldering skills should be able to open this puppy up and fix it.

It's a small company with great customer support. I can't say enough good things about them; basically if you have a problem, they will do their best to repair their product or help you out, usually at a minimal cost to you.

I play mostly contemporary Christian stuff, which means everything from country to metal, though usually just straightforward rock. The JH gets a lot of different sounds, but they are all very good and very practical.

This is the whole reason I'm writing this review--my first JH was stolen AND I am replacing it. That's how good of a pedal it is.

3 knobs for the Kejyll side, 4 for the Hyde and 7 together..Extremely simple.

Awesome, marvelous, perfect, great crunch, the best overdrive i never heard. The two sides used at the same time, simply kicks all the other dist/drive pedals around the world. Perfect for brit-rock, garage, punk, grunge, hard rock, etc etc... Nick Valensi from Strokes uses it.
I have a Boss SD-2 Dual Overdrive and a Ds-2 Turbo distortion too, but this pedal ROCKS!

NO PROBLEM

Never dealt with

I play from Rolling Stones to AC/DC,,,Beatles to Oasis, Strokes to Smashing Pumpkins... it's a fantastic match.
If it were stolen or lost i'd buy it again and again.

This thing is easy as pie to get great sound out of. There is no "patch editing", which is why I got it to begin with. 3 knobs on the Jeckyl side, and 4 knobs plus a sharp/blunt switch on the hyde side. The manual is a sheet of paper with some starter settings to get you going.

The Jeckyl side of the pedal is a TS808 clone that really gets it right IMHO. I play Fender guitars (Strats, Tele) through Fender amps (DRRI & Blues Junior) and I can nail any sound you can name using this combination. The Hyde side gets you the "harder edged" sounds you may crave and makes even my classic rock/blues leaning rig sound as scooped as it gets. As a true child of the 70's, this guitar->pedal->amp gives me the sounds I remember so well.

This is my second Visual Sound pedal, the other being the Liquid Chorus and Echo (which is also superior). These pedals are well engineered with a truly silent bypass that neither adds nor subtracts any tone that I can detect. It is not a true bypass design, but according to Bob Weil (the company president), the "pure tone" bypass actually improves the signal quality in a long signal chain. I don't know about all that because I only have 5 pedals, but I can tell you that this pedal does not suck tone at all and it is built like a tank.

How many comapnies have you called via a toll free number, and gotten the company president? Bob Weil seems to be a genuinely good person, and I have little doubt that he would do whatever it takes to make anything that might go wrong right again.

As I said, I am a classic rock/blues fanatic with a shmatering of jazz throw in these past few years. I have been playing for nearly 32 years now and I am very particular about my sound. This pedal does exactly what I want it to do -- gives me a good solid-state (yet not digital) tube screamer tone. The Hyde side is a bonus for me and it feeds my dark side quite nicely when I want to headbang. I also own a Tonebone Classic Tube Distortion pedal that I just love too, and this pedal compliments that one beautifully. I also have a Carl Martin compressor, MXR Phase 90 RI and a Visual Sound Liquid CHorus and Echo pedal in my chain.

Jeckyll-side, three knobs, drive, tone, volume, simple huh?
Hyde-side, four knobs, drive, tone, EQ, volume...
pretty easy to twist to a good sound.

I use a handmade Patrick Eggle Berlin Plus, Epiphone Gibson SG, Ibanez Artcore AM73T into a JH-1 wah into the Jeckyl&Hyde that goes to a Boss NS-2, CE-2, DD-5 into amp.
When I use my cheap Vector transistoramp it sounds like shit. When plugged into my London City DEA130 MK5, it produces such sounds like Zakk Wylde's to SRV, it RULES!!
I use Hyde-side the most and when I kick in the Jeckyll it adds a boost for solos! Alone, the Jeckyll gives subtle soft overdrive.
Hyde channel is certainly capable for deathmetal gainiacs, when you use the right amps.

Worth your money! Two distortions in one box!

Very easy to use and dial in great tones

I was very impressed with this unit, I had read both good and bad reviews on this site, let me start off saying I play mostly originals in a Bowie/ Beatles/ Aerosmith style, and also do alot of covers and I think this pedal is great, I have been playing for 22 years and think this one of the nicest sounding, natural distortions I have ever played. Now, I'll note that some reviews said this unit is too trebly, but in my case I'm playing fenders and gibsons through a mesa rectoverb, which as we all know are very bassy and muddy sounding amps, and I did not like the gain on the Mesa, I think of it as harsh with not enough clarity and sustain, so I got this pedal on Ebay and tried it yesterday at rehearsal and loved it, I set my mesa to the clean channel w/ a little bit of gain (think petty or the stones), and set the jeckyll (overdrive side) with the gain on half so when I kicked it on it took me to an Aerosmith, Zeppelin type of clear gain, then I set the Hyde side on full gain and used this for lead work which sounded incredible (very clear note definition and sustain for days), I currently just use this pedal and a boss delay dd5 but plan on getting a compressor unit and EQ as well and did not find this unit to be noisy

seems to be built well

I think it is a very transparent unit capable of getting a wide variety of OD/ Distortion sounds that are smooth and not harsh like rats or some of the boss pedals

Just two devices in one case - very easy to set up when a friend plays guitar and I turn the knobs.
For me the eq (off) and the switch (blunt) are both useless.
The tone controls are not good enough and the lower half of the eq brings no further change.

I wanted two sounds:
One really bluesy overdriven sound suitable for chords and single notes. Jekyll is able to deliver this sound but even with the tone off it is a little too bright. Drive at 10h, tone off, vol on 5.
My Vox Valvetone responds better to dynamics.
The second sound I searched was a big fat solo sound - and yes, I found it within Hyde.
Drive 12-14, tone off, eq off, vol on 12.
Even with tone and eq off it is a little too bright.
Extra bonus: Both parts together produce a creamy solosound -
Now this is it for me !
This device will get noisy with extreme settings !
I used relatively low settings - so it works for me.

I play blues, rock, funk, pop and independant music.
J&H is good for blues and rock, but for funk I prefer my Vox Valvetone.
I compared many Overdrives and the J&H is really one of the best.
It does NOT fulfil my dreams but I think I will use it for a while.
I will continue my search.

It is STUPID simple. Two channels. Tow sets of controls (treat them as two separate pedals and you're off to the races...

This is where the pedal shines. Although I primarily use the pedal with full "Drive" I have fooled around with other settings. All dials noticably affect the sound (unlike some pedals)

Although I have only had the Jekyll & Hyde for a week, I also own the Visual Sound H20 and Route 66 for a year or so and have had NO problems so I don't anticipate anything less with the Jekyll & Hyde..

Never dealt with.....

Love it... Love the series... Nice short & sweet manual with examples.

Each section of the pedal was fairly easy to use, but as it combines two pedals into one, it requires that you know how to operate both individually as well as in tandem (in order to make full use of the pedal). There are, overall, some eight or nine different controls / switches.

The sound quality of this pedal is described most aptly by its name. It has both some really fantastic sounds available (The Jekyl side set for a semi-dirty tone) and some rather unimpressive ones as well (just about any setting with the Hyde side in 'blunt' mode). I used this pedal through two different amps, a 100w Fender Dual Showman ('89 'red-knob' head) and a Reverend Hellhound (amazing). For guitars I used a stock American Series Stratocaster, a '71 Hagstrom H2N, and a Guild Bluesbird.
No matter which guitar or amp combination I used, the characteristics of the pedal remained pretty consistant. The Jekyl side produced every thing from a mild clean boost to strong, medium-gain tones that remained clear, if a bit compressed. The tone knob was equally useful in mellowing out a brighter tone as it was adding clarity and bite to the humbucker equipted guitars. However, with the tone knob turned all the way up, the treble frequencies tended to sound a little artificial. Though really, it's a smooth-sounding versatile overdrive in it's own right, and probably worth the price of the pedal alone.
Now for the Hyde side. Despite the versatility and musicality of the Jekyl side of the pedal, I simply could not find a tone I really liked with the Hyde mode. No matter what the EQ setting and reguardless of weither or not it was set to 'Blunt' or 'Sharp' mode, the Hyde section of the pedal sounded artificial and seemed to lack any complexity. It sounded as though the amp was rapped in tinfoil, and while it produced tons of gain, never really seemed to very punchy or full. What's more, the when the Hyde section was combined with Jekyl side, the tones seemed to become even less natural and distinct, while the background hiss rose dramatically. The only use I could find for having both modes engaged was producing feedback, but even that sounded metalic and not very musical (rats!)

I can't really give an acurate estimate of the reliablility of this pedal, as I only kept it for a couple of months, but, from the looks of the thick metal housing and well-seated rubber knobs and switches, it ought to be pretty sturdy.

There are two ways to consider this pedal. One is to think of it as a solid, versatile overdriver / booster (Jekly) with the added ability of making some pretty over-the-top(if somewhat uninspiring)sounds (Hyde). Seen that way, it's probably well worth the price. Alternatly, the Jekyl & Hyde can be seen as a pedal that makes a promise of being an all-in-one distortion machine that delivers both blistering grind as well mellow overdrive and boost, but seems to fall a bit short of the mark. Thus, in deciding if the Jekyl & Hyde is the right overdriver for you, it would make sense to consider if you are looking for something that is the best of both worlds, or simply an tube-screamer-esq overdriver with a little something extra. For me, I was hoping to knock-out the distortion / overdriver problem in one shot, and found myself a little disappointed.

This thing is two pedals in one and it is set up like two pedals sitting next to each other. Easy... yes. The controlls are very basic and effective. One side is a lighter to medium gain. The other is a medium to high gain. There is also a blunt/sharp switch which is a good and bad thing. Which I'll explain under the sound and overall chunks. Each side has drive, tone, and volume knobs. The high gain side also has an EQ knob.
Only one compliant. That is the battery compartment is the worst design idea I have ever seen. Its on the bottom and the lid is a piece of plastic that swivels open on a screw. Even worse then that is the fact that the circuit board is what holds the battery in. Either I'm pessimistic or thats mojo gone bad comin' right at ya. Hence the 9 rating.

Well I play a Epi Les Pual custom with a Duncan JB in the bridge. Amp is a Red Bear MK120 Lead head into some old Ampeg 4x12(which by the way is really big!! As in size and sound.)loaded celestions. Effects in order of guitar to amp are Vox wah,Ibanez DL-5 delay,Ibanez FL99 analog flanger,Ibanez PH99 analog phaser,Vox V830 distortion booster, and the J&H.
First the lighter distortion side or the "tube screamer" side. Astounding would be a good word to use. It sounds just like some old tube screamers I played with. Even the tone knob reacted the same. Good for pop,country,blues,funk, or any time a half clean half dirty sound is needed. Soooooo tubey.... it had me playing for hours. I now like the lighter driven sounds I now get.
Now for the high gain side. What else can I say but this is so far the thickest, ballsiest, well defined distortion tone I've ever heard. This side of the pedal is amazingly versitle and clear. The magic is in the EQ knob and blunt/sharp switch. Once again its sooooo tubey. It resonates like no other pedal.
Use the two together and bam your instantly the lead guitar guy! Yeah three cheese blend baby!

Well the only other pedal I got from this company crapped out on me. So the store gave me a replacement and that one broke too!!! So if you see a Visual Volume pedal anywhere do not buy it. But this one is a much more solid unit. So far its been fine. Although I've only had it for 4 months

Haven't ever dealt with them.

I've been playing for... 11 years... I think. I play all forms of music but, I mainly play a darker,odd chorded, odd timed hard rock. The notes I play come out crystal! Everything is heard and beautiful.
If it were stolen I would find them and do not so nice things to them. I would get a back if I could afford it. Even though its probably not needed.
Now the compliant about the blunt/sharp switch. Another arosol huffing moment for the designers... its attached to the circiut board! If it gets stepped on in a bad aim miss happ it will crack the board and buh bah crunch box.
Still kick ass sound!!!

The pedal is pretty straight forward. There are two sides and a set of control knobs for each side.
Jeckyl:
Drive, Tone, and Volume
Hyde:
Drive, Tone, EQ, and Volume
They could train a monkey to use this pedal.

I'm running the pedal through an 80s model Fender Blues DeVille with an Epiphone Dot guitar or my Fender Squier. The sound is awesome. The pedal even turns my Epiphone into a monster. My band plays punk, blues, and straight ahead rock, so I need versatile gear, and that's what this pedal gives to me. I can get a SRV sound and a Jimi sound, and the next second get a sound like Angus Young. I'm sure this pedal can do a lot more than that, but that's all I've really used it for.

It's pretty solid and I've gigged without a backup for this bad boy.

Haven't used it yet

I've been playing for about 6 years now and this is, by far, the best pedal I've owned. If someone stole it from me, I'd buy another one. If versatility is what you've been looking for, this is the pedal for you.

This thing is simple enough for beginner to expert to use, with only 7 knobs and one switch (for comp. on the hyde side), and EXTREME versatility of overdrive/distortion sounds, it has just enough knobs for nearly anyone's sound.

This is only the second review I have felt so inclined to post. This pedal is AMAZING. The dude at Visual Sound really knows what he's doing... I'd say that it must be God-thing for him to design such a wonderful sounding gizmo.

On the left side (green), of course, one has the Jekyl, a very tube-screamer sounding channel only it DOES NOT suck out low end and is a bit less compressed (or just compressed differently). TOTALLY smooth and creamy from chords to subtle single notes. The tone control is superb... You can get extreme mellowness to extreme high end bite around 2-4 kHz.
The Hyde side (red) is a totally different story. It is stricly heavier than the prior. MUCH more crunch and growl to it. Definately more heavy rock, marshall, vox/mesa (sort of) sounding... The EQ knob. Ha! What a suprize. It's only got ONE EQ knob. But you just wait and see (or go stinkin' try it)... That knob will take you from beautiful rich and punchy drive to almost COMPLETELY SWEPT out midrange for the more hard core sound. Also on this channel are the tone knob and compression switch. They work hand in hand. You want compression? Turn up your tone. You don't want it? Turn down the tone.

This is, though not by far, one of the best overdrive/distortion pedals I have ever used. I mean, anyone who has used a variety of pedals KNOWS that every overdrive and/or distortion pedal has its own unique qualities and characteristics. The thing is, this one covers quite a few of them (or REALLY DARN close to them) VERY well, and well... It just has this very 3D sweet spot all over it (especially on the Jekyl side). Let's put it this way... For the Jekyl alone, I would buy this pedal. The Hyde (even when you run them both at once and balance them nicely) is just a HUGE bonus.

My great thanks and appreciation to Mr. Visual Sound... Everyone I have talked to (several friends/professionals/etc...) loves your Ultimate Overdrive, and I feel that it is a title WELL deserved. Why this pedal is so cheap, I have NO idea. I know it's not completely true bypass, but really, for this baby, I don't care. Thanks.

YES. It's rugged. Hard-core switches. Today is my birthday. I've had the Jekyl for about 11 months now. No worries about it breaking, but if it did, Mr. Visual Sound (I have no doubts) would save my day.

I've spoken with him once via email. A gentleman and an electronically inclined poet. Shalom to him. Haven't had a breakdown of any pedal yet, so I only give it a 9.

Any person seeking a wonderful overdrive pedal should get this. I am VERY impressed, and I recommend this to everyone I talk to -well, everyone who plays guitar worth anything. Shalom to all.

Great manual with cool suggested settings
Very easy to get a good sound

Not too noisy
Makes a great sound (sounded huge on volume 4 on a small Fender combo)
Great variety for all three switching settings

I would definately depend on it
I would use it in a gig without a backup (mainly because I'm skint)

Their website seems quite informative

Good for all styles
I would buy a new one if it were stolen or lost
I bought it due to the good reviews on the site and all the good things that I heard are true

I play bass and guitar, the guitar sounds great at almost any setting, BASS takes some noodling, but it pays off when using the distortion side, Jack Bruce or Tool type tone with good bass production. I use the OD side as a signal boost for solos or to give major distorto bass tone combined.

On Bass I use an modulus Fretless 4 into EBS BassIQ envelope filter, then Jeckyl/Hyde into a DBX 166 compressor then to SWR Bass 750 and Eden 4x10 speaker. Great bypass, I'm a true bypass weenie. Boss sucks! Pretty good grit like Geezer or Jack Bruce, Justin Chancellor, and Claypool big distorto tones for dynamic surges are great too. The perfect distortion is a raging Ampeg tube amp, so I have to give a 9.

Been gigged and "spilt upon" for 6 months, good on battery life too. I don't use a backup at all, never failed.

No failures. Friends use the rt 66 for bass too, no problems ever, he's addicted to it (rt 66)

I play Funk and Jazz, Sabbath and improvisational music. Great for short bursts of grinding texture or to add grit when needed. When used with the envelope filter it can do some cool triggering type effects for soloing. I've played for 17 years, great match for my style and would be very cool for metal players too. I'd replace it again and again, I tried many distortions and this gets the nod for subtlety and the in your face super gain too. I love it, it says "blunt" as one of it's settings (compressor), what more can you ask?

Couldn't be any simpler! All the controls do exactly what they say, with a nice smooth transition from each end of their scale to the other. I've just been fiddling about with mine, and with a bit of patience, you can get nearly any driven sound you want - right from a slightly driven jazz tone to full-on fuzz and thrashy tones. I find that combining the two channels and making use of the sharp/blunt slider is the best way to call up different tones. Also, the fact that there are dual volume pots means that you can use them more as mix controls when both channels are on, giving even more tonal flexibility.

I use a dual humbucker Tanglewood and homemade strat with high output Kent Armstrong single coils, sometimes a Les Paul special, into a Laney HCM65R, with a Korg multi-effects unit giving some occasional modulation, and I always find I get a great sound from this pedal.

With the drive from the pedal switched off, there's no true bypass, but I can't detect any colouration to the tone of my guitars.

Kicking in the Jeckyll side, you can get pretty much anything between a nice, twangy country tone through to a Keith Richards-ish, overdriven vintage amp tone. One thing I would say about this side of the pedal is it's a little too trebly for my taste sometimes, and I can't really fill it out with extra mids or bass with the pedal itself (I have to use my amp's EQ) but that's mostly personal preference. I tend to use this side to supplement the Hyde channel - it's great for boosting gain and knocking off a bit of fizz if you've got the Hyde running in 'Sharp' mode.

Moving on to the Hyde, there's much more scope for different tones. I play medium to heavy rock in my band, and I never need to use anything but this side of this pedal for rhythm playing. There's a great range of gain, and its worth experimenting with different settings on the EQ, tone and Sharp/Blunt controls to find great tones for different styles. Again, it's extremely versatile.

The only overall comment I'd make about the sound is that it doesn't really do very bassy tones - the only sound I struggle to get out of it is a really warm, Slash-style sounds, or modern high-gain, rectified stuff, although you can get close by combining both channels, and you can still get fuzzy, thrashy stuff out of it.

If it wasn't for that one complaint, it'd get a rating of 10 for tone.

I've had this pedal for about 2 years now, and I had one brief problem with the power socket (it's a bit flimsy), but the shop I bought it from replaced it easily.

It's all contained in a solid metal case, the switches, pots and jack sockets are build like fekkin' rocks, it gets gigged a fair bit, and I've got total confidence in it. More than my shitty Korg...

No idea!

This pedal does pretty much everything I want it to, and for the price it was a bargain, although it was supposed to be #120-ish (I think). That said, it'd still be a bargain at full price.

I think they're pretty rare, so if you see this pedal, buy it. Could be a classic for the future.

Very straightfoward dual stomp box, which can yeild a lot of different sounds, without being complicated to use. Left side is OD, right side is distortion, with a bright (sharp)/ duller (blunt) voicing switch for the distortion pedal. Just turn the knobs and go for it. I was able to find a useable sound from both sides in less than a day

This pedal can definetely fill gaps. I own a Carvin Legacy amp, and it has a smooth high gain sound, similar to say a Mesa Boogie Mark or an amp in that realm. With the od side, I can get a slightly broken up sound, perfect for a bluesy sound. I don't have any guitars with single coil pickups, but I imagine it would sound wonderful with say a strat. Of course it also sounds great with a humbucker equipped guitar. I set the distortion to sharp, and I can get a very sizzly soldano-ish high gain sound, with a good bit of clarity. I would advise against setting the gain too high on this pedal, the sound tends to get mushy with the gain jacked up. I set the distortion gain at 10 oclock, and the od gain at 8 oclock, and that is working for the sound I want out of it. For the money its a great pedal to put infront of a single channal amp. Just set the amp to clean and let this thing do the dirty work. Its a nice cheap alternative to a Fulltone Fulldrive, or a Tonebone, or any of those more expensive pedals.

I just got it, so I can't just tell yet. The switching is pretty silent, and the "virtual bypass" is alright. Its not as good as true bypass, but its ok. First time I bought a Visual Sound pedal, I received a defective h20 chorus/echo. I exchanged it for another one, and I have been loving that unit ever since. I like these Visual Sound pedals.

I have never dealt with Visual Sound, but it seems like a reputable company, and I like their product

I traded an MXR dynacomp for this thing, and I think its well worth it. Its a good looking pedal, that sounds great, and doesn't need to be tinkered with.

7 knobs, 1 sharp/blunt switch 2 on/off switches for each side, easy!!
Most if not all the settings in this mean looking box is very usable although it took me quite a while to figure out how to get a good sound with both sides turned on

I use a custom made guitar(mahogany body set neck dual buckers and a les paul bridge)->boss tu-12 tuner->jeckyll n hyde->boss ph-2 phaser->fender bassman 10

this box can really kick! It turns my clean sounding amp into a fuckin' marshall stack with just a single stomp!

jeckyll:
a mellow overdrive that is great for driving a tube amp. they say that it uses the same parts as a ts-9 but i never had a chance to compare the two. this is a very warm sounding overdrive that will not color your tone. i think it will satisfy tone freaks and gear snobs out there that are very picky with their overdrive. it's perfect for rock and blues when i crank the volume and just add a tiny bit of gain and tone thru my bassman 10. I get srv, clapton, ccr when i use it this way. with more gain i get classic rock sound(led zeppelin, black crowes, jimi hendrix etc.)

hyde:
has great bass and sounds great at any setting from distorted crunchy sounds to no holds barred metal, and it is very natural sounding but makes a bit of noise in high gain (it's high gain distortion duh!). I set this thing in many different ways, gain:10-12 o'clock, tone:zero or just a lil' bit, eq:10-2, volume: 12-3 set to sharp for a standard distorted tone. when i want a warmer effect i just put it on blunt and i raise the tone somewhere between 10-3. these settings are great for your standard hard rock/grunge distorted tone(acdc, black sabbath, soundgarden, razorback, collective soul etc.)
for metal this hing kicks ass! eq 3o'clock to max( i usually use 3 coz it has more definition this way) tone cranked set on blunt to get that mid scoop kick ass palm muting metallica sound.

both sides together:
two words... Marshall stack!! activate both sides together and keep the tone pretty low both sides, gain and volume set close to each other but don't crank it coz it will be noisy, set on sharp. use eq to shape desired tone and voila! Marshall stack type GRRROWL hehe:) were talking wild animal growl here not muddy toneless distortion.

I do gig with it without a backup. got it used but in great condition with the manual and box. its made of metal with metal switches and sturdy rubber knobs. never failed me before but the plastic sharp blunt switch scares me

never tried

I play rock, blues, classic rock and metal(not that slipknot korn shit i play sabbath, ozzy, metallica)
Amazing box!! the guy who sold it to me switched from guitar playing to bass and I got a great bargain P3000. you can play any distortion sound you want with it blues, metal and everything in between. both sides on and i'm talking growl with a unique voice that has given my guitar playing a unique voice. This is surely designed by guitar players for guitar players, they thought of everything. they set the switches close enough so you can manipulate both sides simultaneously, rubber knobs, metal chassis, heavy duty switch, never gets muddy sounding, 2 fx in one but uses 1 9v battery and it lasts pretty long plus it looks wicked!! too good to be true? believe it! I'd give this a 10 rating overall if it had true bypass on it and a metal sharp/blunt switch but I think thats askin for too much

it's about as easy as analog knobs can get.
very straight forward.
10

i play 6-string bass through a Hartke 3500 w/ 4-10's & 1-15.
rack mounted compressor/gate, 31 band eq, & a sonic maximiser in the head
boss octaver, crybaby wah, jekyll & hyde u.o., boss chorus ensembal & a
zoom mult-effects processor for special f.x. on the floor

i set the jekyll side pretty light as to get a smooth and creamy bite and mixes
well with the guitarists fucking heavy distortion as well as the cleaner stuff

but when i want to cut through the rhythm for a solo or exentuate our low-b-of-
doom death grind, i kick on the hyde side which i set the opposite from the jekyll side for extreme bottom-heavy fuzz that really screams bloody murder
10

ive had this for a year, so i cant really say for sure how reliable it is, but its built
like a tank, so im sure itll last for many years to come
10

i got no manual.took 10 minutes to get good sound

using a 1969 fender jazzmaster and a rehearsal peavey amp that sounded like it was gonna blow up once the hyde kicked in.i like guided by voices,sleater kinney.jim o rourke.i had the best gat sound i have ever had last night,i like the psychocandy sound on occasion. this is more of a strokes sounding pedal-the tone is good too.pretty vicious hyde action .big sound .i live in seoul so am at mercy of whatever amp is the house amp so this is my saviour.i freakin hate marshall solid state jcms and while i am at it ,why the hell cant fender make amps like they did in the 1960s with a warm overdrive that comes on when the volume gets loud to a point.out of the states ya never see old vintage fender amps.

id steal one if i saw one.sure. ihad a danelectro overdrive box that i never used anymore.this rules over it.

The pedal is easy, but you need to get a little crafty to get a sweet sound by mixing the two sides together.

I use a mid 70's epiphone sheraton with humbuckers, and an epiphone les paul standard with dimarzio humbuckers and I run through the J/H and a big muff into my sovtek mig-50 tube head and a fender dt-412 cabinet. It sounds great with just the overdrive slightly on, and my tube amp cranked up.

I have had this pedal for 2 years now and have not had a problem since I first got it. The right side swtich would not click for a little while, but the problem corrected itself somehow. I ahve not gigged with this pedal.

Never called them.

I love this pedal. I am now looking for a harder fuzz/ 60's garage sound. I'm looking into the Nick Greer Razor burn pedal. It's so awesome.

In my opinion, this is a very easy pedal to use. You dont really need anything other than he actual pedal, to understand what the controls do. Its basically a two channel tubescreamer clone/metal distortion pedal, although the Hyde can get blusey. Easy to get a good sound out of it. In fact, the only bad sound was with everything up full.

Maverick SF1 Custom>Crybaby>Jeckyll&Hyde>Digitech Whammy>Boss DD3>Marshall DSL100

If you keep the gains on both channels below 3 o clock, I dont really notice "alot" of noise at all. Its when the two channels are combined that hiss problems start, but you can tweak it out. I love the Hyde side. I use it to boost my solos, and it does a very good job. The Hyde side im less impressed with. Although it is a GREAT sound, there is just too much mid cut gooing on. I know its mainly to be used for metal (or which it does and admirable job), but a bit more mid wouldnt hurt? Its great for Grunge/Punk/Metal, though. Combining both channels is when the fun starts. If you start off with a metal rythmn sound, and set the Jeckyll side up with a bit more volume, you get a nice mid/volume boost for those widdly solos. Exellent. It feedsback like a mo'fo' tho' when you let go of the strings (only at extreme settings, I might add) Great sounds all around.

It looks absolutely solid, while still looking very cool. I would depend on it. Im not one to abuse my pedals (or my stuff in general). In fact, I really look after my gear. Its still early days, but the first impression is a thumbs up.

Ive heard they are great. The website has some nice info, and soundclips, which is a big bonus. Im sure they are cool. A mention to Peach Ideas in England though, for their outstanding turnaround (ordered saturday, came tuseday morning! on normal post!)

Ive moved away from shred and metal now, and ive really got back into oasis, nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam ect... This pedal does its job exellently. Very versatile. How can anyone not find a use for it? Solo booster? You got it. Metal Pedal? Yup. Blues box? You bet.

This is a great pedal with amazing crunch. Versitle! Just turn the knobs and you are there. Volume knobs for each ditortion side and two switches.

Jekyll side is a very nice solid state tube screemer but the Hyde side gets really noisey, crunchy and bitey. Byut what do you expect from a Overdrive?

My amp fell on it durring a concert. I broke the jekyll side and was lost eith out it. Aside from a 60 pound amp falling from 3 feet high on top of it I found it to be very dependable and I've owned it since `98.

When I broke the pedal I called the customer service and Bob himself picked up the phone. He said that if I would ship him the pedal he would fix it and send it back for free. He is a wonderful guy to talk to and very easy to work with! If I could give him higher than a 10 I would.

I would recomend this pedal as anyones #1 in the distortion arsenal. It's reliable, great customer service, and not to pricey at all!

tubescreamer on the left.stack on the right.

goes from fat to scooped on the stack side by turning the eq knob.

it's a doddle!

The best way I found to use this is straight into the front of an old, single channel, clean tube amp. I used to use it with a Boss DS-1 (for extra gain on the TS side) and a wah in the front all going into a Marshall Super Bass (really clean).

I found it's only really noisey if you run it into an amp with a stacked pre amp stage. Old amps usually have a lot less gain to start with so the sound is cleaner and the amp doesnt "magnify" the hiss as much. Anyway, stand next to a dual rectifier with the gain and the master way up and tell me it's quiet.

Using both pedals together will probably make your eyes bleed

I gigged it, dropped it, lost it, found it again, threw it at the drummer and dropped my amp on it and it's still in one piece.

I know a guy who broke the switch on his (GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT HE DID TO IT. MAYBE HE DROVE OVER IT WITH A ROAD LEVELER) so they sent the store a new switch and paid for the engineer to fit it no questions.

Probably the most flexible distortion box I've come across.

I've played bluesrockjazzmetaldungeonrappunk and ska, and does it all!

It's worth having one in your bag just in case you ever do a shared backline gig and the guys amp sounds like a biscuit tin. You can wrestle a good sound out of nearly any amp with this little box (Have I tried? oh yes!)

the only way they could make it better is by putting the the channels the other way round. Then you could use the TS side to drive the stack side........ yes, that would be cool..

but they did'nt so just
Buy one anyway!

10...simple as any OD box.

well...i didnt have a ggod time with this peadl AT ALL. I play a gibson Sg with iommi bridge pickup through a 70's sunn solara (exremely quiet and clean head)and a nice 2x12 with soun city speakers. I excitedly race to the practice room to try this pedal when it came...UGH. In a word NOISY. My vintage script bluebox puts out about ooohhhh a TENTH the noise this pedal does on the jekyll setting. the hyde channel was a nice bluesy ts-808 type sound and nice and quiet...but maaaan try to use this thing on jekyll for metal and watch out...hiss city. Now...it can be gated out..but who wants to deal with gatey sounding palm mutes...yuk. I think visual sound dropped the ball on this one a little. i even tried it through my other guitar players les paul/soldano 50/4x12 setup and same this...hiss. Now i also tried his varidrive through my exact rig to make sure it wasnt my guitar and/or pickups and viola...no noise at all. It seemed like the tone was there with this pedal too...except buried in hiss. I sent this pedal back...post haste. Do not buy a jekyll and hyde with the intention of using it for high gain applications my friends. Sorry visual sound.

seemed solidly built *shrugs but a plastic battery cover and no adaptor???

didnt bother with them sent back to AMS

i cant in good concience give this pedal a good rating as in my opinion it does not do what it promises...not for me at least. why would you have all this amazing crushing tone virtually BURIED in hiss and hum? could be a great pedal with some redesigning, but in my opinion, right now, it's just not. A noisy noisy pedal when used for anything but bluesy semi-dirty gain.

This is an update to my review of about 4 months ago... since I've now had the pedal for 6 months and some serious gigging. It's still extremely easy to use- although the main setback is that now instead of just 15 or so knobs on your guitar amp, you now have 7 more from the J&H... oh well. In my pedalboard I have about 50 settings that I have to remember... so I just have my basic settings for everything jotted down and I can tweak from there.

My setup has changed very little since the last review. I still use a hot rodded Epi LP and now my Cort strat copy (and occasionally my Alvarez artist acoustic) into my pedal board. My pedal board- Guitar -> Dunlop Crybaby -> J&H -> Boss EQ (for mid cut EQing) -> Rogue EQ (Set for solo boosts) -> Arion Flanger (my fave flange on the market- buy it!) -> Morley wah/volume -> Ibanez Delay -> Fender Power Chorus 2x12 400W amp... Of course with a setup like this, I will always get a relatively large amount of buzz, but considering how many effects I have running in series, I just take it as the nature of the beast.

BTW- I've discovered (at least in my amp) that although the J&H shreds in front of the amp (ie between guitar and amp), it sounds powerfully weak in the effects loop- Jekyll side barely sounds dirty even at full gain. Doesn't bother me because I don't like using the extra cords anyway, but I thought I'd mention it.

When you click on distortion, of course it gets a little more buzzy (especially on the Hyde side - and even more if you try both sides), but you'll find that with any distortion. After all, how many times will you click on distortion and just leave it on when you're not playing? Jekyll is quite quiet, although I only have gain up to about 50 percent.

As for sounds of my favorite artists, I don't really care. I get my sound and if I'm covering songs, I just bend their songs to sound like me. Typically I've found the J&H to be a little muddy when playing chords that require all 6 strings to shimmer through (ie Creed and such)- but I'm guessing that's mainly because of my settings.

Since I submitted my last review, my Crybaby started crackling up on me, my Boss EQ started buzzing, my footswitch on my amp died, my input jack on the amp went AWOL, and even my beloved Arion Flanger started overdriving itself, but the ole J&H has kept itself and everything else reigned in wonderfully. Again, I've only had it for 6 months, but it has passed the "baby" phase and now takes as much of a beating as the rest of my equipment... and seems to be handling it quite well. Now if it can last 7 years like my Flanger without many problems, I'll be pleased.

Haven't had the pleasure.

I play sort of bluesy southern rock inpired rock. I also take some flavor from late 80s early 90s rock (so the Jekyll side gets a lot of lead work). I've been playing now for nearly 8 years, and I already let you know what other effects I use (not counting the stuff that's made it to my effects graveyard- my advice- DOD stands for "Dead On Delivery").

If it was stolen, I'd chuck DOD pedals at him until he dropped my J&H (cuz after all, DOD pedals are worth far less than other things I could throw, including rocks and pop cans).

My favorite part of the J&H is going to pro shows and counting how many pro pedalboards have this exact pedal running their 5 or 6 Marshall stacks.

Since I bought the pedal, a friend of mine bought the Boss Metalzone, and boy, am I glad I didn't buy that piece of junk. It's tinny and flat. No tone whatsoever. The only thing that I've found that's easier and sounds better is the Line 6 FlexTone amp... but I have a fear of all digital amplifiers... something that complex and expensive tells me that as soon as I would buy one, something important and expensive would break and then I'd be out of luck.

I love this thing. From slightly distorted to raucus punk, it does the job.

Many knobs...

But thats okay. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure out how to use this baby. This has got to be the BEST dang pedal I have ever bought in my entire life!

How to get good tone out of the Jekyll and Hyde:
Step 1: Turn on unit
Step 2: Plug in Guitar and Amp
Step 3: Play Guitar. Turn knobs only if you have to!

This sucker ROCKS.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE. You want SRV? Jekyll. You want POD? Hyde. You want UNGODLY sustain? Both at same time. I use the dirty channels on my VS-100 Marshall only in extreme circumstances lol!

This thing is a freakin tank! Its acually made of sturdy metal, a concept unknown to most effects pedals....

Dunno, but I have heard great things about them.

I dont think I have stressed the awesomeness of this pedal enough. If someone stole my J/H I would track the jerk down and get it back. This is the best Distort pedal on the market. End of story.

pretty easy to use. it has lots of knobs but don't get overwhelmed, it's really just two pedals in one- one with three knobs(drive, tone, volume) and one with four (drive, tone, eq, volume). Two stomp switches, one for each section. Use them one at a time or at the same time as well.

I bought the pedal for use with bass guitar. Most of the review will deal with the sounds as used on bass, but when i used it on guitar i will make a note of it.

The first section of the pedal, "jeckyll" is an overdrive. Gets a little gritty and sounds pretty good. I would compare it to a marshall jmp or 800 getting on the verge of distortion. Very nice rounded overdrive sound.

The second section "hyde" is similar to a Boss Metal Zone or similar sounding metal distortion. The difference is the eq knob, which allows a much more drastic change in tone, allows you to get a big mid cut.

Used together is where the pedal really shines. Great, overdriven sounds... full and rich. However, not much bass when used with bass guitar. Not as much as some others when used with guitar either, hard to get good chugging low end outta it.

dunno. Seems built well. Loses points for the battery door on the back, which is a flexible piece of plastic screwed down at one end. You lift if up and swing it out of the way to access the battery. Pain in the ass.

didn't get to that point

pretty good pedal. I can think it would be best used by a guitarist in a cover band who needs metal distortion for a few songs and then some overdrive when he plays some clapton or something. Sounds damn fine with both on at the same time. If you're going to buy a Boss or DOD pedal, spend another $40 and get the Jeckyll and Hyde.

The complication on this product is proportional to the many settings you can get out of this box. I would not say is easy to use I will say it has a lot of differents posibilities really usables.
Still sounds great just when you get it out of the box.

I have Fender strat and gibson 345. It is not noisy at all just a little when you put both effects togheter but in a musical way. I never had or hear an overdrive or distortion from you can hear what Pick-up (in your guitar) are you using. With the J&H you can say for example in a strat if you are in position 2 or 4. I love it. I never like distortions or fuzz cause I always prefer the dirty channel of my Marshall JCM 2000 but since I have the J&H I use only the clean Channnel and use the pedal for all my overdrives. I also have a Mesa Nomad 55 and the same. In the Jeckyl part you get SRV in a box. I use this channel even for clean sounds cause I love the warm I get just with a little drive. I use it like this:
Jeckyl: Drive 9 0'clock Tone all Down Vol. 3 o'clock.
Yes I thinks in this pedal (like somebody said before) you don't have to add any tone or trebble to your sound because it sounds very natural and organic.
The Hyde part is another thing.
Drive 3 o'clock or up, Down or whereever you want. Eq Down Vol: 12 o'clock.
You can get all tipes of distortions from this. If you turn the Eq knob all the way up you get sounds like old british stacks and in the other side you get more compressed american styles I think.
You can really hear every note out of this box even at hi distortions settings. It is amazing. Shure you also get all the sustain you want ala Santana, Gary moore, EVH but in the jeckyl you can get also a really clean but drived sound ala Robben Ford. I don't do cause as I said before I use the Jeckyl side just for warm my clean sound.

I think this is the better pedal ever build. Is really nice to have two switches to pull down under your feet.
The leds are really bright and the box looks very solid. I don't see how a musician can break this. Do you?

I'm a guy who lives in Argentina so I did a lot of questions to Bob because I could not try the pedal up here and he always answer and help me really fast.
I remember I send an e-mail on friday'night and I found his answer on saturday morning when I supposed I would wait until monday.
Thanks a lot Bob.

I play rock and pop and this pedal is perfect for all modern styles I think. If you turn the EQ knob all the way up you can turn the pedal in a metal way and interacts all the others knob.( what I hate)I like the Eq Knob all the way down so I get a very fat compressed kind of middle focused distortion what I like. If you want that kind of bee screaming like zzzzzzzz then try the other. Even you can get a really nice Fuzz face or Big muffing sound.
I've been playing almost 35 years and try all kind of stuff and I can tell you you cannnot get a pedal like this anywhere.
I love the warm It has. You can drive but still hear the particular sound of your guitar even at hi levels of distortion. I've hear this a lot of times about other boxes but it was not true. They never distort so extremely. I don't want to name others brand but I can say I try almost everything including all boutiques stuff and I never found nothing to replace my marshall drived sound until I bought the J&H. I don't know how can Bob Weil sells this beauties at this price range comparing with the others. When I bought it I didn't think the true bypass will work as I've heard but it does.
This pedals have a great versatility.
By the way Is up there any chorus that sound really good?
Thanks for help.

I have a strange guitar/pedalboard/amp setup , using a Wendler guitar which has the BEST clean/jazzy tone i've ever heard..it has Kent Armstrong thinbuckers, and i've been shopping distortion/OD pedals to find a compatible one. Unfortunately, the J/h wasn't it.its a VERY good pedal , especially if you're looking for ts808 tone, which i don't care for.

this pedal is great in that you get 2 for 1 overdrives.

very dependable

i wish this one had worked for me, i'm sure most folks would be thrilled with it.i'm trying a combination of Zinky True Grit and Jacques Fuseblower for medium/hot applications. Will review them when i've had 'em long enough.

Well like the other reviewers said before me, it has 2 sides, very easy to udnerstand, and its harder to dail in an ugly sounding setting than a good sounding setting. I dont liek giving tens, so here's a 9 :)

I use this baby with my slightly mndded squier strat (it has a great single coil in the brige) and with my "custom build" guitar. Its a guitar with a basswood body, maple neck, rosewood fretboard, A HIGH OUTPUT P-90 IN THE BRIDGE and a great strat single coil in the neck. Both that custom guitar and J&H are recent purchases, but it seems like theyre fucking made for eachother! I dont care about noisyness and i dont really pay attention to that coz noise is cool and noise gates are for lame people who cant find their guitar's volume knob. Im using it on a 150 watt solid state amp but i tried it on some other amps and it gives u this big fat ROAR in the Hyde mode ive had in my head for years. But the great focussedf bottom end disappears when u turn the volume on the Hyded down it sounds cold and ghey like a boss DS-1 or a cheap fuzz or whatever thats the setting i dont like. The bridge p90 really rocks in combination with the hyde mode it gives u just fucking all u want. And the neck strat like pu in my basswood body sound fucking great in the Jekyll mode, great for all thoseb lues lovers coz that side gives u a smooth sound with a great mid punch, thats also a reason why its a good booster. But I think the hyde will sound better with a p90 in the neck position instead of a single coil, but i dont use my neck pickup with high gain coz thats where the brridge pickup is madee for... Hmm im so in love with both my guitar and J&H.
The thing doesnt sound as good through my squier coz the hyde side isnt really comfortable with single coils in the bridge position, but it sounds better than anything ive tried before.

So whatever tone/style u like, this pedal will give u want u want, it takes some time to find the settings but once ur there... no 10 coz its the best, but not perfect :)

Im very carefull with pedals and i dont gig much so i cant really tell, but it looks like its build as an i dont know... and im not gonna test it either :)

Their site has a great faq and that other guy told me they respond well 2 email... but no opinion for me.

I dont really play one style of music, i just try to fuck around but it always ends up in my own style based on alternative rock, i like versetailityrt or whatever its spelled, and this pedal gives that to me. Only thing i need is a great clean valve amp.
I also own aunivox superfuzz and ive played many od's and distortion's when i tested the pedals in the store and i endeed up with this one, coz my budget was "unlimited". ID FUCKING DEFINATLEY BUY IT AGAIN IF I LOST IT OR WHATEVER! I love the versetaility and the big sound it gives u, the thing i dislike is uhhh... i dont really know :)
I wish it had uhhhh.... ah yes, a better boost funnction, coz when i use the J as a boost it always adds some gain, if that were to be cleaner it would be slightly better, but still :).
Nothing more to say... just try it out whenever u meet one... AND use p90 pickups with the hyde mode in both neck and bridge positions they really rock and i bet its a solution to that treble problem.

Again no 10, sorry guys :D

Well, as most of the other reviews have said, it takes some twisting of knobs to get your sound, and even from amp to amp, it takes further tweaking. However, the important thing is that it does get the sound you're looking for... and plus, it's only as complicated as it would be to get the sound out of your amp ANYWAY... lol

Ok, well here's my setup. I play an Epi LP Standard into a Fender Power Chorus. My pedalboard goes like this- LP -> Ibanez Compressor -> Jekyll and Hyde -> Boss EQ -> Crybaby -> Arion Flanger -> Rogue EQ -> Morley Wah/Volume -> Ibanez Delay -> Fender amp (with onboard reverb and chorus). I had noticed a lot of tone loss when I ran through this setup (before the J&H), but when I was researching the J&H prior to the (relatively expensive) purchase, I saw the complaint (on their own website) that it didn't have true bypass. Well, crap, I thought. They went into some junk about how they have a "tone booster" in there that it supposed to push your tone through effect chains, but I figured that it was just Visual Sound trying to cover their own butts and I'd have to AB switch around the J&H. Imagine my surprise when I popped the pedal into the board and suddenly my guitar's tone was back! ANYWAY, the actual distortion and overdrive on this baby are choice. I still need to tweak my amp a bit, because it sounds a little harsh through my Fender. The one complaint I have is that the Hyde section has so much bass that's pretty hard to pull out without EQing the amplifier... which throws off clean tones too... but then I only noticed that yesterday when I was playing through a keyboard amp for one rehearsal... no big deal.

Well, I've used it on one full week of camp leading worship twice a day. I've used it on an album. I've used it on various worship leading opportunities... but I've only had it for about 2 months. Once I learned to use the thing (hitting both switches at the same time to switch from OD to Distortion is kind of weird), it was cake. Would I gig without a backup? Heck yes, although my amp has onboard distortion that could work in a pinch. But have you SEEN this thing? Looks like it could bully a whole crew of Boss pedals and still come away untouched. Choice.

Don't know, but they seem to be small enough to care... Hopefully, I'll never have to find out (cuz this monster is a freaking TANK... and I still baby it... lol).

I am called upon to play anything from heavy metal to jazz on almost a daily basis. This pedal, albeit with a little tweaking, handles it all flawlessly. I've been playing for 7 years. If it was stolen, I'd track the punk down and beat him in the head with the J&H, then take it back to my pedalboard and STILL be able to use it, cuz it's such a tough mofo.

If you've been looking for THE pedal, and Boss metal zone isn't it for you, pick up this baby. It's worth the extra 20 or 30 bucks... lol

Great pedal!!!
It takes a bit of twiddling to dial in your sound(s), but turning knobs is a hell of a lot easier to deal with than (most of) that programmable garbage out there.

The switches are a bit close, and I wish there were a gain stacking option, in which the Jeckyl side could be cascaded into the Hyde side. But that might be asking too much...

I run my Strats into a Cry Baby wah, followed by a Boss SD-1 overdrive pedal, then the J&H, a chorus pedal, and a Boss DD-3 delay. The amp is a Traynor YBA-1 BassMaster, and the cab is a 2x12" Marshall model 1936. I have also used this pedal into Hiwatts, and Fender amps. I think any decent sounding amp with mucho clean headroom will sound good with this pedal.

I don't use the Jeckyl side much, but the Hyde side gets me most of the way there. I juice up the signal with a Boss SD-1 pedal (gain stacking) for soloing. The notes ring out nice and clear and there is a lot of flexibility of distortion/overdrive tones available, from blues to metal.

I think I'll be keeping this pedal a while without worries. It is built strong. Just don't drop it on the control knobs. The pots, like on most other pedals, could bend or break in such an event.

Bob (Weil) gets a "10" here for one reason alone. He actually answers your emails. I asked him a few questions about the J&H pedal, and even criticized the pedal about some minor details. He answered the questions accordingly and with respect. Awesome, Dude!!!

I rate this pedal a "9" overall because I have yet to discover the holy grail of pedals. This pedal does tonal justice with my Strats and my tube amps.

To use this pedal it is pretty straight forward. There are two foot-switches(green led/right, red led/left) on this unit: left switch which has three knobs(drive, tone, and volume) is the Jekyll sound where it is more or less of a crunch tone. The right switch which has four knobs(drive, tone, eq, and volume) is the Hyde side where the overdrive is able to have a lot more gain or saturation. The Tone works as a treble/bass cut and the EQ knob works like a mid-scoop. Both sides can be combined for even more saturation of the overdrive. There is a sharp/blunt switch, only works on the Hyde side, that can boost the higher frequencies(especially when overdriven). To use just dial the knobs to the desired setting and hit decided footswitch and then start jammin. To change batteries it does take a phillips screwdriver to remove that one screw in the back. This unit does come with a pamphlet the briefly desribes its effects and comes with suggestion on how to dial in the crunch/overdrive that you desire. The true bypass switching is ofcourse true.

This unit is ran through a Marshall and is connected to a Warmoth guitar that has a seymour duncan humbucker on the bridge. The Jekyll side is really warm and does work well no matter how the amp settings are dialed. I like it when I turn my guitar's volume knob down just a hair and it gets that almost break-up sound (it does good with that).

The Hyde side is of course the dirtier sound. I find that combining the two switches(Hyde and Jekyll both energized) does give the optimal effect.
The sharp/blunt switch does its job. I also run it through a couple G&Ls (one with single coil and the other with a P-90s/soapbar.) It does well with these. The Gibson SG it does mediocre. With the Carvin guitar..well, it gets a bit noisy especially on the Hyde circuit. The unit really shines with cheap amps. All-in-all I find it performs well with the bridge single coil and even humbuckers which can be a smidgen rarer with boutique type effects. It does well with other effects as long as it is after the chain as i figured out so far.

I had this for a while and so far this is very dependable. No problems yet. I would definately use this on a gig without a backup.

Never needed it yet

First of all, it well take a lot for me to give something a 10; a unit would only have 1 knob so it can dial in almost any overdrive/distortion that is desired and cost cheap). So I give it a 8 for trying. I've been playing for over 15 years. I play rock, ska, hard rock and sometimes metal (the shredders metal). This unit, depending how it is dial can be used with all types of styles it can be versatile. I wouldn't say this pedal is the one to nail that very saturated sound(i.e. speed, death, grunge type or distortion). If it were lost or stolen I would consider to buy another one. I like playing with this pedal and it is almost always a part of of my effects chain with the footswitch turned on.

Very easy to use and understand. Very easy to find the tone and distortion level you need (if one side of the box doesn't have it, the other side will).

The best of both worlds. A clean overdrive on the Jekyll side can be driven to get great distortion and yet hear each note in a chord clearly and distinctly. It has that clean hard rock sound that Aerosmith had on "Get Your Wings". The Hyde side can achieve more levels of distortion you might get in a typical distortion box, but has two knobs that help control the tone for an extremely wide range of sounds. The Hyde side can also get some great sustain. Many distortion, and overdrive pedals will give you a couple usable sounds, but I seem to be finding more usable settings on this box than non-usable settings, and that ... is refreshing. Also, somebody ranked the sound quality a "5" because when both sides where on, he got feed back. Well, if you have the drive up on both channels, you are driving the signal twice. So if you don't want the feedback and you want to use both channels at the same time, then turn down the drive! It seems like your complaining that the unit is flexible.

No problems. Metal box, heavy duty switches.

Never dealt with them, but hear good things.

My quest for the holy grail of distortion pedals is over. I play progressive and hard rock. I have been playing for 25 years, but not as a serious musician, more of a dabbler. I would definitely get this pedal again if mine were to disappear. I love everything about it and can't think of a reason to hate it. When I made this purchase, I was deciding between the J&H and the Boss OS-2. I choose the J&H because it seemed like it would have greater flexibility ... and it certainly is flexible. It is a permanent part of my chain, and I can also remove two pedals, that after hearing the J&H, seem lame by comparison. I can't speak for all styles of music, but I would think that this thing covers more genres than any other distortion pedal on the market.

Plug in, everything up half way and you immediately get the impression of the general sound of the unit. Bought secondhand, no manual, but uis easy enough to work out: drive tone vol (green - tubescreamer), drive tone eq vol (red - Marshall JCM 900).

Setup: Fender Strat Plus w/ JB jnr, Crybaby, Jekyll and Hyde, Boss Super Phaser, H-band flanger and DD3 delay into Laney LC50.
Green channel: very warm, smooth (compressed) overdrive like a tubescreamer. Very good for getting low volume feedback. Also is very good to use this channel specifically for Ebow use - set at a lowerthan usual volume with a nice smooth warm sustaining overdrive sound. This channel can be a bit glassy and sharp with the tone control full on, but backed off to halfway it is very mid-rich.
Red channel: This sounds very similar to my father-in-law's Marshall JCM900. A warm sounding overdrive/distortion, generally one-voiced but very versatile, especially wwith the EQ control (similar to the Contour control on Marshall valvestate amps). With the EQ knob on full, the sound is too waspish to be heard above bass and drums, but backing off a quarter of a turn, fattens things up without sounding too friendly. Many different tones are available, but I've found that with my set up, there will be two or three genuinely good sounding settings on each channel.
Both channels together is excellent for feedback. I often have the green channel set purely for volume boost (ie. solos etc), getting my main sound with the red channel. With all knobs on full, and both channels on this pedal becomes 'My Dying Bride' in a box. Fat and sustaining for ages into glorious feedback at any volume. With added delay, this nails the 'Cry of Mankind' intro perfectly. Noise is only a problem with both channels on at once. Both channels are very quiet.

Very good build quality. Wicked looking case with unique graphics. Very smooth action on metal footswitches. No annoying clicks or pops when switched on. A very efficient pedal. Only problem is that mine doesn't have rubber feet on the front left and front right corners and can tip over if trodden on over-enthusiastically. I think the newer pedals have more feet.

N/A

Very good pedal with a fantastic low end. Very useful for bedroom practice as it sounds massive even when quiet. I play miserable rock and metal and this pedal is very applicable to all situations. This pedal is not true Bypass, BUT it has a buffered output which cleans up your guitar signal, allowing your guitar's tone to reach the amp in spite of going through long cable lengths or many pedals. My guitar sounds better going through this box bypassed than when it goes straight into the amp (no pedal). Also very good overdrives for effcectively the price of one. I think that I would have even paid more if only for the Red channel alone. Superb.

I don't buy a lot of effects, so i have little to compare it to for ease of use. myself, it took me around a month of dicking around to find what i wanted, and six months to get perfection. but i was inexperienced when i bought it.

I play a cheap epi lp-100 through a peavey bandit 112. when both sides are engaged, there is lots of feedback and noise when not playing. once you're strumming, it's great, but until then, it's rather unbearable. the seperate sides are great, but together, it's .

well this is a complicated part. when i first got it, i was very impressed with how sturdy it was, so i treated it badly. not surprisingly, it broke. the surprise was what broke. one of the burly silver stomp buttons broke right off of what i thought was the chassis. but no, they're mounted to the board. quite retarded. now the jekyll side is always on, unless i get on my hands and knees and flick this little plastic switch. the jekyll side is what i like anyway, but i basically have to play it all the time, for clean and dirty. i'm not impressed at all with this development, but am reluctant to go for warrantee action because i was so hard on it originally.

as mentioned above, i never pursued it cuz i was hard on the pedal.

good if you treat it right, will never replace driving a tube amp hard.

The first moment I plugged it in and used it it sounded great (ala Marshall stack on the Hyde channel) then I fiddled with one of the knobs and lost it for a while. The manual has some good settings to start with and with some tweaking you will find some great crunchy sounds/smooth bluesy drive. I give it a 7 'cause like most really really adjustable pedals/amps it takes a little more time to learn the nuances.

I use a Gibson LP Classic and a Fender USA Strat through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe with JJ Tubes and a Weber P12B speaker. Both guitars are able to get a serious Marshall type crunch on the Hyde channel. I was astounded because I never heard my fender (in the 2nd pickup position) sound so full and crunchy. It made the combination of the two single coils sound like a double humbucker like I have never heard before. The LP had no problem with crunch, but to get a smoother lead type sound with the crunch I had to work a bit. I will need to write down the settings when I find the perfect sounds. The Strat was tough at first, sounded much better on the Jekyll channel for obvious reasons (single coils) but with som adjustment I could get a sweet tubey lead sound on the Hyde channel. I have never heard my strat sound like this. Anyhow I fear that this is the kind of pedal that will need tweaking when you move the amp around or play in different rooms, but once I get more familiar with the knobs I should not have too tough a time dialing in what I want. Bottom line: I now have great Marshall style crunch coming out of my fender amp. In comprision to other pedals (I have been trying out every piece of crap boutique pedal at every store within 20 miles of Boston) this one kills them all! I give a 9 'cause sound quality can always be done one better.

Well, I just bought the pedal and it appears to be sturdy, although some other people have complained that the knobs are attached to the board. Whatever, it appears as though the company is not afraid to help out the buyer. Ways to contact the company are plastered everywhere; on the box, in the manual, on the back of the freakin' pedal.

Have not had to deal with them, but see previous entry...

I play (20 years) everything from clean folky stuff to bluesy stuff to old school rock (Zeppelin, Sabbath, Hendrix) as well as old school speed metal (old Metallica, Maiden, Megadeth, Crumbsuckers...) This pedal is extremely versatile and has been able to go from smooth blues to full blown crunchy stack sounds with no glaring shortcomings.

This pedal comes as close to a marshall stack as I have ever heard a pedal do. They should market the Hyde half as a single pedal and call it "Stack in the Box." The Mid scoop knob is cool it really is the key to Hyde side of this pedal. When I scoop out the mid it brings me back to 1989 when I used to play Metallica covers with "Senseless Destruction" <~~ my first band. My tastes have matured since then and the tonal differences that can be had with that knob make this pedal fun to mess with.

It is fairly quiet when drive is cranked.

I have not had any inclination to use the Blunt side of the "Sharp/Blunt" switch. Maybe it's just me, but The Sharp side of the switch brings much needed clarity to the Hyde part of the pedal.

The pedal seems to give definition (even with the full blown crunch) to chords and so I must agree with others who have said that your notes ring true through the effect.

I really love this pedal and have never heard anything like it before. It is superior to every pedal I have ever tried during my search, and I have tried many. For $129 bucks you cannot go wrong. I was skeptical when I read all these other people imploring to "go out and buy this pedal now," but I have to admit it has been very close to everything that they have said. This is the "Stack in the Box!" My 1x12 combo sounds like 4x12 Marshall half stack.

In order to balance out the ratings I gave earlier on ease of use and sound I am going to give this a 10. I realize that Harmony wants you to be critical, but I wouldn't post a rating for giggles. If I came across a piece of crap I would not waste my time further by writing about it. This pedal deserves a strong rating and that is why I am here.

it's easy to use. people have been thrown off by the eq knob, but just remember this simple peice of advice: to the left is very midrangey, to the right it becomes very mid-scooped. the sharp-blunt switch is useful as well. i use the blunt setting to give my strat some girth, and i use the sharp setting to help my les paul speak clearly. the tone knob should really be labeled "bite."

my main guitars are a strat with a duncan jb in the bridge and a les paul with stock 490r/496t pickups, and i'm using a fender deville 4x10. i have a korg multieffects ROBOT, but i'm in the process of converting everything to analog. this pedal was the first step, and i'm glad i did it. the overdrive section goes from oatmeal to cream of wheat. it sounds a bit marshall-ish which is nice because i can get the fender-6L6 drive with my amps footswitch. this section (jeckyll) is not quite as powerful as i expected; it falls just shy of, say, voodoo child but nails wind cries mary. the hyde section really carries it's own weight. i use it for everything from the more distorted zepplin to crunch and metal. it also does the alternative/grunge thing well. i give it a nine because the first section doesn't offer a great amount of drive.

i could probably drop my amp on it and it would be fine.

i ordered mine from the "gear closet" on ebay. it was supposed to be new, and $10 cheaper than the other new one on ebay. they sent it to me with a scratch on it and it was obviously used. don't order from Gear Closet. they sell their stuff on ebay so watch out for them.

great for blues, classic rock, rock, hard rock, and any music that utilizes overdrive or distortion. it covers the entire spectrum of distortion.

It's pretty easy to use. At first I had some trouble balancing out the tone and eq knobs to get the perfect sound for me. Just experiment with it until you find what you like!

I can nail any Pantera, Metallica, and even any death metal tone I want with this thing! It's tonal range is huge! The sharp/blunt feature is useful also!

I haven't had any trouble with it yet. And i've had it for a month!

Well, i haven't had any problems to report to customer support about it yet!

great! I would've paid even more for it if i had to!

I read the reviews, and let me say something here...you can't base your choice on these or other ratings you have to consider the type of music, your equipment and stye of music. This unit is marginal for heavy metal.
Now let me comment on this unit. First of all I think it is the easiest pedal I ever used right out of the box for it's capabilities. Meaning an old MXR is simple to use, but it is what it is. This is easy. This is not a bad thing.

This unit has got a good sound. I drive Marshalls, a Boogies and Fenders. I own a lot of amps, Soldanos, Bogners. There is something to be said for the sound it delivers, it ain't 101 effects in a box. It's not noisy, although the distortion channel gets a little bit of noise, but way less than the older designs, But it has a very good sound.
Strat>J&H>amp period.. It kills me that when I tried it out all of the amps were set for scooped mid metal in the store..?...A little amp tweekage and there she is.

I don't know what the construction looks like, I haven't opened her yet...give me a few days...

no idea...but VS has a pretty good endorsee right now...

Blues, hard rock, original, classic rock. Gets em all. I have been eyeing this pup for awhile. I think from a simplistic point of view this is one unit to have in the signal chain.

I gave this pedal a 9 because depending on your situation sounds can be hard to generate, however if you use some of the recomended settings as defaults, you can tweak them from there to get a great sound.

Well worth the money. This is the only distortion pedal I will ever use again. It can generate any sound you would like from shimmering blues to metal shredding. This is the best if used before a tube amplifier, becauselets face it a tube amp overdrivin is the best sounding in the world. I go from a gibson les paul to this pedal to a mxr phase 90 to a mesa boogie triple rectifier solo head with recto 4x12 throught the effects loop i have a boss chorus ensemble and digital delay. I just really use this as a boost so its higher gain settings dont not really apply to me. However they can easlily produce the goods. I use both channels combined for my solos, and the first channel for like a "crunch" type of sound while the 2nd channel i have set for metal playing with a zakk wylde type of sound. This is the only distortion pedal in my eyes, its so versatile and it can do anything. so just because it can do extreme gain settings dont think it cannot produce low ones also.

had it for a week not too sure, however controls stick out and can be moved out of your desired position easily which sucks

Only distoriotn pedal, most reliable, well worth the money.

This peddle is easy to set-up. The booklet has good starting tips to get you going.

I've been playing guitar for 25 years and have bought many distortion and overdrive peddles and this one has impressed me the most. I'm using a LesPaul Standard and a 70s Strat into a 70s Fender Twin reverb with Weber speakers and this peddle kicks booty! The noise is pretty minimal except when using to much drive in the Hyde mode. The Jekkle side gives you a nice TS-808 crunch without messing with your tone whatsoever, it doesn't roll-off any low end and the Hyde side is like a Marshall stack-in a box. If I had to choose only one pedal to use on a gig this would definately be it. Buy it!

I've had this pedal for nearly two years and never had a problem. It seems well built.

This is a solid company and I'm sure that Bob would look after you if need be.

I play old school hard rock and blues and this peddle can cover just about anything. This is one peddle that I'd replace if lost or stolen, I'd buy it again. This peddle is the best FX purchase I've made in the last 25 years and I've been through a pile of gear. Highly recommended!

Takes some work to get a good sound, but the rewards are worth it.
The manual is a good starting point.

My setup is as follows:
Fender Strats->Guyatone compresser->Fulltone modified wah->Fulltone 70->Voodoo Labs Proctavia->Fulltone Distortion Pro->J&H Ultimate Overdrive->Line 6 Delay->a/b box->Rocktron Intellifex->2 Marshall JTM 45 combos.
The J&H Ultimate Overdrive is a little noisy on the high gains stuff, but I am using an noise gate for that.
As far as getting sounds of my favorite artist, I am working on my own tone.

Built like a tank, I don't forsee any problems.

The owner is very easy to contact and is very helpful. The guy loves his work and it shows!

I posted a negative review of the J&H Ultimate Overdrive earlier, but after working with this pedal I must recant! The J&H Ultimate Overdrive pedal is a great pedal, it has become a main stay of my rig and I will be purchasing another one just for backup. I love the tones this baby is capable of producing! This pedal works especially well with the combo amps and is cable of producing some bottom heavy tones, it really fattens up the sound of my Marshalls and also cuts thru the mix very well. It can be very extreme sounding, at times it sounds like my amps are about to blow, cool. I have been playing over 30 years and have played just about all types of music. I currently play Christian music at church and have been involved in several projects as a band member or as a session guitarist. If you interested check out my web site http://www.geocities.com/kingtonez. The guys in the band at church are all players and this really allows for some free music form at times. We play everthing from fusion style jams to edgey musical stylings.

Straight forward, my 6 year old should be able to figure it out. It comes new with a page showing 14 different settings, 4 for the Jekyll side, 8 for the Hyde and 2 for Jekyll & Hyde combined. The Jekyll is three knobs, drive, tone & volume. It was a sinch as it is exactly like my 80's TS9 Tube screamer. Hyde on the other is like an orgy with a JCM800, Duel Recto & a Soldano slo100. Four knobs & a sharp/blunt switch. Drive, tone, EQ(seems like a mid)and volume. No screwdriver needed for battery pull is a +, seems very sturdy.

81 fender strat with gilmore emg's, samick tele with vintage fenders, 335 & a Danelectro 59dc. Right now I'm playing through a peavey bandit112 w/112 closed back ext. cab. and a marshall master reverb 30.
The Peavey is really clean (I don't use the od channel), The Jekyll turned on sounded just like a fender twin and a ts808, The Hyde turned on made it seem that my 100watt peavey with 2x12's (one open back, one closed) could sound just like a high end boogie, dial a little and it sounded like a jtm45. I can't wait to crant this through a 65 twin to glory in the ability to go from crystal to full on driven stack. when you pump on both the jekyll & hyde together, (careful of the feed back, it takes a few tweaks to cut it down) you have all out thrash, hard core punk or super harmonic mayham.

So far so good, good steel housing and rubber legs, battery life I'm not sure of yet, but who needs it when you can plug almost any barrel type adapter in it. I would use it with out worrie.

N/A

I play anything from Dokken, Pink floyd, The Cure, rock, punk.. I have an odd style where I go from a hard core sound to a mellow. This pedal is it, between both channels alone & combined I'm set. I already have five friends going out to buy one, it has many applications for all types of music, the jekyll could be used in country and pop easily, the hyde can do anything. The size looked odd in the photos, but it's not much bigger then 2 boss's side by side. The switching is smooooth, I don't tend to wear shoes when I play so I awas afraid that like on my mxr distortion + it would hurt my feet, not at all. The sound samples at musiciansfriend are great as are the ones at musictoyz.com

I found the J&H very easy to use and to find the sounds I was looking for. Its very straight forward and you can get anything from SRV to Metallica out of it. The manual gives you the basic setups to get certain types of sound (i.e..british, blackface, etc....). I got lucky and found a couple that were close to what I was looking for and tweaked from there.

My setup looks long, but if you notice there are only 3 effects. I run a Tom Anderson -> Shure UHF wireless->Boss TU-2 (tuner)->Crybaby->J&H->Ernie Ball Volume->Line 6 DL4 Delay->Deluxe Reverb. The J&H is very quiet on the Jekyl side. The Hyde side has a little of the typical high gain noise when you dime the gain and fire up the level a bit, but overall its pretty quiet. The sound quality of this unit is great. Really good overdrives and distortion (Hyde cranked). Very versatile unit. I can get Hendrix, Van Halen, Ozzy, Eric Clapton, Deep Purple, Stones. I play in a country band and a rock band so my gear has to be really versatile. I used to use a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver (which I liked), but the J&H can emulate the Boss to perfection plus deliver all of the other sounds. Great pedal!

I depend on this pedal every gig. It hasn't given me any indication that I should be concerned with its quality. The chasis is built pretty solid. I have had the pedal around 4-6 months and haven't had any problems. I don't know how hard it is on batteries. I power it with my Boss TU-2 Tuner.

I sent an email to Visual Sound before I ordered the J&H to inquire about the Rt. 66. I was unsure which pedal (the Rt. 66 or the J&H) would better suit my needs. They were quick to respond and answered all of my questions. I'm delighted with the pedal, so they obviously took note of the sounds I was after and recommended the best option for me.

I play in two cover bands (1 Country and 1 Classic Rock) as well as write my on which is usually soft rock. I really like the tones I get when combining both sides of the J&H and adding a touch of delay. I get the huge spacy long noted leads similar to Pink Floyd.
I have been playing for 23 years and have played many different types of amps (solid state and tubes alike) and guitars. I also, like so many guitarist, have went back and forth with rack setups to pedal boards and vice-versa. I prefer pedals for live shows for the simplicity. I play Tom Anderson guitars almost exclusively now and my main amp is a Fender Deluxe Reverb in the studio as well as live. I would definitely replace this pedal if it were lost or stolen. My favorite feature is having 2 great pedals in one and the versatility they both give me. My only gripe (very minor) is the volume jumps up a bit if you kick in both sides at the same time. This pedal really helps my sound. I could get the sound by having other pedals, but why keep a closet full of different overdrives and distortions when this pedal will cover most all of them.

I think the 10s I give this pedal across the board speaks for itself. I don't give all 10s out very much. In fact, the only other all 10 I have given is on Anderson guitars.

If you know the sound you're going for, this is not hard to figure out. However, changing the setting just a bit can really change your sound, so you can end up tweaking the details for a while.
It's probably harder to get a BAD sound, though.

This pedal saved me. For the first time in my musical career I can get my guitar to sound like the sounds in my head. And that has changed everything.

I'm done buying effects. Done buying guitars (for this month) all that's left to concentrate on is my playing (which I have fallen in love with all over again thanks to my lush tone).

I use a Epi Les Paul w/ Seymor Duncan Antiquity's and a stock American Tele through a Fender Twin Reissue. I've tried TS9, Guv'nor, Jackhammer, Rat, Big Muff, Boss - this smokes them all. Haven't tried the Fulltone yet, but I think this has more gain.

The first channel is a great overdrive...just enough crunch. Very warm and true to my instrument.

The second channel is just more of what's to like in the first channel. Great fat, marshally sound. Killer Santana-esque leads. Chords sound awesome. Harmonics everywhere. It's just so fun to play. Actuially inspires new ideas.

Get this pedal today and stop worrying about your sound and focus on your abilities. Like I said, I've fallen in love with playing the guitar again all because of this pedal. It's really that good.

I hope it lasts...cause it has now become my #1 pedal. I should by another one just in case, but I'm a bit of a freak.

I hear they're pretty good but I really have no idea.

I sent them an email thanking them for making such a kick ass product.

This is my sound. With my Fender Twin, I had perfect cleans but my distortion wasn't cutting it. Tried TS9 and it was good, but not enough for leads and hard rock. This sounds better, warmer, fuller, TRUER than the TS9 and has every gain setting you could ever want. It so good, in fact, that I've kicked out some other pedal from my chain. Now it's just a Boss Tuner, The JH1, wah and delay. Couldn't be happier. All I want to do is play the guitar now. With the Paul, I can nail Slash on "Sweet Child O Mine" or any Santana lead sound. With my tele, think Radiohead "Bends" album. That's what it sounds like to me. Check out my band at http://www.finrocks.com - didn't use the JH1 on these recording but I can't wait to do so. My sound is so big and distinct now. I'm in love.

I have been playing guitar for around 37 years & this is the first pedal that I have ever bought that I fell in love with the first time I used it. I would give it a 9 on ease of use. it's so simple. Very few knobs to turn but the control is great. Have not even looked at the manual but any idiot can set this up.

Using this with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe & Fender American fat strat Texas special & 67 Gibson ES 335. What is great about this is that it is two pedals in one. I set up one side for a slight overdriven sound & the other for any sound you want from Southern rock to heavy metal. The pedal is slighty noisy with the distortion side on but what pedal is not. It had to be a gutar player that designed this unit!

I have not had the unit that long but it looks like it's built like a tank. I would use without backup.

Have not had the unit that long, but the way it's built, it should not need repair. I have been to visual sound's web site & it seems like they would respond to any complaint rather quickly because they seem liek a smaller company.

I play mainly in a very contempory Christian Worship band & some country rock. Playing for over 37 years. I would replace if stolen. I have been through at least 6 different distortion pedals & this is where I am stopping!

Pretty easy to get a good sound. Lot's of dials on the pedal, so you could get lost for awhile tweaking for that exact tone you want. All in all, pretty decent first plugged in, no tweaking.

I think this is a dynamite piece with my other equipment. Tom Anderson Swamp Ash (s/s/h), Budda Twimaster 10 tube combo amp.

dunno

dunno

Very cool sounding pedal on either side. I have played quite a few overdrive and distortion pedals since I've picked up this guitar amp. Fulldrive II, Fulltone 70's, 69, every Boss. Carl Martin. The Fulldrive II sounded great, as did the Boss OD-3. None of the other pedals produced any kind of sound I want. Sometimes it can be tough to capture the sound you hear inside, on the outside. For now, I can do that with this pedal, which means it's highly rated at this time.

How easy is it to get a good sound out of it?
EZ!

Very easy to dial-in the sounds from Glassy SRV Blues Tone to Steve Vai Sweet-bottom-end Overdrive.

This is my first (like)TS808 Tubescreamer to get the SRV sound plus more... I very glad to have Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive then having to spend $300 for the Original TS808 Tubescreamer.

What setup(amps)are you using this with?

Own Guitar Amps like the (bare-bone 100/60 Watt. with a Long-reverb-tank Mark-2 Amp and Subway Blues Mesa Boogie), the 1966 Fender Vibro-Champ with a WEBER 10" P10Q 3.2 ohms. Speaker, and the Carvin Vintage 33 Amp.

What(guitars)are you using this with?

Left-handed(1991 Erickson Guitar PRS copy w/ Barcus Berry Pickups hums.) and a LH (Carvin The Bolt w/ one Barcus Berry Pickups hums. on the bridge with two 59s? Single-Stack Noise-less Seymour Duncan Pickups).

The next new Erickson LH Guitar will have Bill Lawrence Pickups on it with an Ericksons'new product unit,the Tone Hound preamp.

Anything else you'd like to share?
Very good friends? Web-site: http://www.ericksonguitars.com


What setup(certain effects)are you using this with?

My new Setup is having the Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive played through the DigiTech.RP100 effect unit. I believe having an Analog Pedal like the Jekyll & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive get an alive warmer and vibrant Tone to please the ear. Digital Overdrive is great, but the advance guitar player knows that Analog is the best way to go.

Can you get the sound of your favorite artists? Who are they?

From a "Tone-wise-point", an advance ear can dial-in to get great sound characteristics of players like: SRV, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Gary Moore, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, and even get the "Low bottom-end" and "Smooth Punch Compressed" sound of Steve Vai... In respect having a great tube-amp like Mesa Boogie, Fender, Carvin, and Etc. to play through.

Can you depend on it?
Yes

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
YES!!!

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
Very helpful/friendly!!!

I live in Santa Ana, CA, just got this Pedal from the Jan. NAMM 2002 in CA from the Visual Sound Owner himself,(Bob Weil)... A Godspeed man!!!

Even the player The Edge of U2 loves his pedals! Saw one of the Visual Sound (H2O) pedal on top of speaker-cab at the backround from The Edge when he was playing on the (Elevation 2001 U2 Live from Boston DVD.

A must have Pedal, it makes gear stand for it self...

What style of music do you play?
Many styles.

How long have you been playing?
Over 18 years.

What other gear do you own?

Other effects gear are two Tech21,NYC GT2 SansAmp pedals, but the downfall is that it lacks (Upper Mids?) it's good for other applications when needed.

What is your favorite feature?
Getting in the Zone-Tone!

What do you love about it?
Tone, Tone, then more Tone.

Just got it yesterday. On the one hand, yeah it's easy to use. On the other, there's a lot of tweaking that can be done , so in this sense it can be a bit trying to dial in "THE" tone. As far as using both sides of the unit, I'm thinking this might border on tweaking insanity, but it's nice to know its there. My minor gripe is the space available to get the battery in. It's kinda tight and I had to keep playing with it to get it to sit in there.

I originally gave it a go with a Blues Jr. I immediately dug the "Jekyll's tone setting of the drive all the way off and settinf the volume and tone to match the unaltered sound of the amp. A bit of smooth dirt, compression, sustain and punch. I absolutely loved it.
At first I wasn't that crazy about the "Hyde". Sounded a bit artificial in the bass with some shrillness, especially with the tone turned upwards. However, that night, I plugged it into a Hot Rod Deluxe and turned it up and while using a Strat, I was extremely pleased with much of the dial twisting I was doing. I was getting some outrageously good tones. I am satisfied. I'm looking forward to using it in front of the clean side of a Marshall jcm2000 and see what happens using it as a bit of boost for the OD channels, especially with Fenders. Overall, I'm very pleased with it and even though I'm a "plug straight into an amp" person, I'll surely be using this as a front end because it sounds so good. I also gave it a cursory try with setting it for distortion driving an already distorted amp. This generally is a disaster, but with the JH I wasn't immedaitely offended by the sounds that issued forth.

Can't say since I just got it. It certainly looks rugged.

Don't know yet.

I've bought pedals in the past but never warmed to any of them enough to always have a place between guitar and amp. This one definitely will. The beginning of a new era!

Lots of knobs and switches, but if you pair them down to the two different channels, it's pretty easy.

It sounds superior to anything else in its price range. I've already reviewed this product, but am resubmitting in light of a recent discovery. The most frequent complaints about this pedal is that it produces a high-end frequency noise that cannot be dialed out. But I have found the solution: not in the pedal, not in the amp, in the guitar. To remove the high-end noise, roll back the tone on your guitar 1-3 notches. I haven't experimented with how this will affect clean playing, but it seems to reduce or remove the noise inherent in the JH design with little or no loss of tone when the OD is on. Give it a shot if you're really frustrated. You might also be able to achieve this effect by placing an EQ pedal before the JH. One other feature the pedal has is "enhanced bypass," which is a tone-boosting circuit that actually reduces tone loss typically found in pedals without true bypass, like most wah pedals. This function is always on, even when distortion isn't, and it really does work.

Very reliable. My amp is an old peavey classic without distortion, so this is the one pedal in my rig that absolutely cannot fail. It's had a few bugs--some wires popped loose and stuff, but nothing I couldn't fix myself. None of the problems have been show-stopping ones, and I've never used a backup. Even with the enhanced bypass always on, and two distortions to power, this thing is pretty conservative with batteries. But you should never walk into a gig without spare 9Vs and strings.

Dealt with them several times, they're great. Sent me a new op-amp very quickly, and have been excellent in other troubleshootings I've had.

Other than the high-frequency noise, which can be dealt with, it is a great pedal. If it were stolen I wuold replace it.

a little more involved than a 'normal' OD,but still easy to use-if you want both channels at once it can take a sec to get the right volume you want

used it w/a tele thru the clean channel of a mesa tremoverb-will most likely be using it more thru a fender deluxe...both channels together can be noisy,but not really more than 2 seperate OD/distortions at once. that said,the J&H sounds VERY good and both 'sides' have great voicing-the blunt/sharp switch is good for tailoring this to different amps,and it would be a good pedal to bring if you were using an unfamilliar setup. this box kicks!

some cheaply made pedals last a long time,and some fancy"handmade" pedals crap out in a hurry-this looks pretty solid even though the pots and switches seem to be attached directly to the board(they tried to keep the cost down)...if it breaks,i'll send it back.

heard good things...

i've heard enough others to know that this is one of the more versatile
OD/distortions i have owned-not sure if it'd be the best choice for REALLY heavy stuff,but it pretty much would cover anything else,IMO. pretty impressive...

Easy enough, but it does have a slight learning curve. Players should spend a bit of time tinkering with it -- the control knobs are very interactive and sensitive. But basically it's two pedals in one -- both sides having a volume, tone, and gain controls... but the Hyde side also has an EQ (that actually works in reverse than what you might suspect in that clockwise is less mids...) - the Hyde side also has a blunt/sharp switch. So, I'd rate it very high on the features dept., but since this is the ease of use dept., I'm giving it a strong six.

Here's where this thing accels in all capacities. I use this as one of several effects boxes between my main guitar (either an SG or a Sheraton) and my Hiwatt Custom 50. Other effects include: an EH Q-Tron; a Dunlop Crybaby; an Ibanez Digital Delay; a Fulltone Soulbender; a Boss Blues Driver; and a Danomatic tuner. The J&H is an integral part of this setup, and I have placed it second to last in my chain (last being the tuner, as it also serves as a mute...).

First, the Jeckyll side: As others have pointed out, the J side is a TS-808 (tubescreamer) circuit. And it sounds pretty darn close to the original Ibanez TS-808. I find the tone to be midrangey and bluesy, which can be very cool - as it cuts through no matter if you're playing leads or rhythms. But, truthfully, I've got it set up as a slightly soiled boost rather than dimed with gain. I actually like my Boss Blues Driver (which also is a tubescreamer clone) better for my heavy/grittier bluesy rhythms -- it seems to have more gain. The two used together are heavenly.

The Hyde side I really like. It's mantastic. Totally a Plexi-in-a-box. Made my crappy Peavey Decade practice amp sound like a Marshall stack. I basically set it up on the manual's suggested "British stack" setting, and add some more mids -- and look out. It will make your super clean Fender roar like a lion. I do not know why people have problems with this side -- I find it very, very usable. Super-duper lead tone... it's easy to produce musical and controllable feedback-on-demand, especially with my humbucking hollowbody. Also, the J side set as a boost makes a nice boost to this side when I need a few extra dBs to cut trough in a live band situation.

I've had mine several months without a problem.

Have yet to have to deal with VS.

I cannot say enough good things about this pedal. Basically, if you're looking for both the Tubescreamer sound and the vintage pushed-Marshall lead sound in one pedal, this is it. It's basically an Ibanez TS-808 and a Menatone King of the Britains in one box.

Very easy to use.
Manual is a good starting point.

I am using this pedal with a Fender Strat Plus and Fender Hotrod Deluxe.
Fairly quiet.
see Overall Rating.

Well built, solid construction. I have had no problems with reliability.
Would use without backup.

Excellent customer support!

I place all types of music, but this pedals was just not a good match for me.
I have been playing for a long time. If your interested check out http://www.geocities.com/mariotorresguitar/
If the pedal were lost or stolen I would not replace it.
Bob is a cool guy, and he really cares about his customers, and builds greate products, but the Jekyll&Hyde is just not for me. Before purchasing the Jekyll&Hyde I had read the reviews and was really excited about this pedal. But after months of trying to get it to work with my rig I have given up. I replaced the Jekyll&Hyde with with a Danelectro FabTone. The problems with the Jekyll&Hyde:
The Jekyll does sound like a TS808 but is not as aggresive/intense sounding as the TS808. It sounds tame, it just never reaches the intensity of the original TS808s.
The Hyde introduces a high frequency to the sound which can never be dialed out. A user on Harmony Central stated "DOES ANYONE KNOW A GOOD WAY TO GET CLARITY WITHOUT TREBLE??"
The plus is that chords are clear sounding even at max distortion settings, but the highs the pedal introduces add an unpleasant character to the over all sound. I emailed Bob about this and was told this is how the pedal is designed to work.

Easy - the best OD pedal out there, vast range of tones - you're spoilt for choice with this one.

Excellent - quiet on "J" side, a litlte noise (to be expected, of course) on "H" side. Superb blues > metal tones possible. Found that "J" side sounds slightly better with a Strat s/c pup and Hyde side sounds better with h/b, but quality tone compromises can be reached, if you are prepared to spend the time with your amp of choice getting the set-up right. Previous fave was original Marshall Guv'nor, still good but this beats it due to "twin channels" and better sound quality.

Used on f/cased pedalboard regularly using external regulated supply. Never lets me down, even written down optimum settings for my main guitars.

Seems good, from reading the other postings here

Main Setup - Fender Strats or a Les Paul to CryBaby (with wired out true bypass) > JH > Supervibe (with wired out true bypass) > Boss CH1 Chorus (with wired out true bypass) > Amps (Vox AC30's, Marshall JMP's or Fender Twins. Reverb comes via 19" rack units. At Home, Vox Cambridge, Marshall Jubilee 25/50 combo and Peavey Renown in garage)

Great musical OD/distorted tone, puts your playing under the microscope, rather than burying it all under buzz-saw noise. Would defintely get another.

Other OD/Dist pedals consigned to storage... Vox Valvetone, homemade MXR distortion + clone (from geofex.com), ProCo RAT, Boss (DS-1, SD-1, BD-2), Marshall Guv'nor (Mk1 & MkII), Marshall Bluesdriver plus Multi FX OD stuff (Zoom & Digitech - now "for sale"!!!).

This pedal is very easy to use. I was dialing up great sounds right out of the box. If you've used a distortion pedal before (what guitarist with an effects rig hasn't), the controls here are similar, very intuitive. The Jekyl side models a tube screamer pedal, and gives a very nice overdrive. The Hyde section has a few extra tone alterations to attain almost any sound from punk to 80s metal to a nice crunchy stack. The dual switches for both distortions make this pedal very versatile. Putting both sides on at once can be done provided the gains on each are rolled back just a bit to prevent feedback.

The sound on this pedal is amazing. Many distortion pedals try to put their own tone on top of the signal, and end up cutting sound quality. I use this with a peavey classic tube amp from 1977, with no built-in distortion. My guitar sounds very rich through this amp, and the JH preserves that original tone of my guitar-amp combo. The distortions on each side are tuned to each other, no annoying interference when both are on. Even if you don't have a good amp and guitar, this thing still sounds better than most other stompboxes, and outdoes everything else in its price range. This pedal also enhances tone slightly to drive long chains of pedals.

The odd home-plate shape of this pedal makes it tricky to pack into certain effects rigs, and the battery placement is right next to the board, which makes me nervous, but in a year of use, neither has given me a problem. The metal chassis is very sturdy, and has taken quite a bit of abuse. Despite the range of functions used (two distortions and tone-enhancing circuitry), this pedal is pretty economical when it comes to battery use.

Customer support is great. I had some problems with a chip, and had it shipped very promptly with emailed instructions on installation. If you're not good with a soldering iron, VS can repair the pedal for you.

I have played on a variety of guitars and amps, and even when plugging into another band's marshall stack (which I did several times), I used the JH over the amp distortion. If you want a good OD pedal and don't want to shell out 2-300 on other units, this is a wise buy. It makes even cheap equipment sound good and can outdo the internal distortion of a marshall stack.

Easy

Buy it, try it, you will keep it.

Seems solid.

Excellent...E-mails fast.

Got this for 80.00 new on Ebay.....figured I d try it. This is the best buy in OD/distortion pedals. I have tried tons of them (some over $200.....what a waste). I am not really crazy about Jekyll, but Hyde is it!!! It can do almost anything including pretty chunky metal. This is still a good buy at $125, becasue you are getting two pedals in one. I am pretty sure if you buy it, it will be a keeper.

It is not tough to use. It is tough to decide what sound you want. There are so many things you can do with it... The manual is very easy to understand. Does give you a starting point in tuning the pedal to your liking.

Setup: SRV Strat - MXR Dyna Comp - Morley Alligator - Morley Bad Horsie - JH-1 - Ibanez CS-9

No noise unless you are using an insane ammount of gain. With a compressor in front of it, the pedal sounds so smooth and warm. Without it is a little harsh. It is the best sounding OD/Distortion pedal I have had.

I can depend on it. It is beer proof. All steel "Gothic Homeplate".

I have an ART PPS Xtreme that is my backup for my entire pedal board. Always have a backup.

... Like everyone else I e-mailed them with some questions and ideas. They responded the next day. Has not broke, so I have comment on repairs.

I play Hard Rock I suppose. Some blues... I have been playing for 8 years. If it were lost I would buy another. I compared it to a Korg 104ds HyperDistortion and my ART PPS. It is not as flexible as the Korg or the ART PPS. It is much more reliable than the Korg and sounds warmer than both units.

I have also had Boss overdrives, a Big Muff and a Carl Martin. I still like the J&H. It will be with me a long time. Definately check out the pedals I listed here, they all have their own style...except for the Boss stuff.

A bit of a learning curve because you have 2 pedals in one, each with a bunch of knobs. Once you get the hang of the pedal it is fairly easy to use.

BRAIN MAY IN A BOX!

This thing is KILLER. Very dynamic.....it responds appropriately to hard or soft attacks on the strings. The overdrive is beautiful. You can play cool chords with sharp 11's and major 7's and all of the dissonant tones will come through crystal clear. If you're going for an Adrian Belew or Andy Summers type of overdrive then this is a must. You can also get everything from Metallica to Stevie Ray sounds as well.

The other thing I love is how this works with single coil strat pickups. It has been my experience that many distortion boxes sound really really muddy with distortion. NOT THIS. Your single coil pickups will have an amazing amount of punch and clarity with the Jeckyll and Hyde.

I have been using a Proco Rat (sorry to say) for a really long time, and I have moved my Rat to the closet ever since I got this. My current setup includes a vintage Marshall JCM 800 and my pedals include a Jekyll & Hyde for Overdrive/Distortion, a Fulltone 69 Pedal for ugly fuzz, and a Prescription Electronics Experience pedal for really cool octave stuff.

Killer. Run and buy one today.

its pretty easy to use.

sounds great. i use the jekyll to boost my marshall, and use the hyde as a great overdrive. the jekyll sounds similar to a tubescreamer, im not sure how close it is to a ts-808 but i own a ts-5 and its pretty similar, but is a little more transparent with more gain. the hyde side can get pretty heavy, and is really versatile. really good sound quality.

looks solid, only had it for a few days though. i like the red and green lights on it!

this is a great pedal. i play many types of rock, punk, metal, blues. this pedal is versatile for all of them. you're getting two great pedals in one.

Easy to use if you understand that it is two effects and not one. They're just in the same box. Manual was good. I didn't use it. They have no idea what setting will sound good with your guitar/amp anyway. Ease of use really doesn't seem important to me. Sound Quality is probably 20x more important to me. But I guess some people care, so I gave it a 9. Just because yyour drummer probably couldn't figure it out

Sound quality is good for the most part. I have a kick-ass strat-type guitar and a killer "vintage" tube amp (Reverend Avenger and Carvin Bel Air 2x12). I have always hated having just a tone knob. What if i want less treble but want the low strings to sound the same? Well, I have to deal with it. Soung quality is good, it's just EQ that pisses me off. DOES ANYONE KNOW A GOOD WAY TO GET CLARITY WITHOUT TREBLE??
THE JEKYLL SIDE:
The Jekyll side sounds kind of boxy like the TS-9's. Boxy midrange. The 4th position in a strat puts out hardly any mids, so it sounds really nice in that setting. I have my amp set anti-mids (I don't play metal). Still a little boxy. Am i spelling boxy right? Boxy. Boxey. Yeah I think i spelled it wrong, oh well. It still sounds the same. I hate English. I wish it had bass, mid, treble, and presence knobs on it (Presence is important) so I could get the sound I want. I think I would trade in the Hyde side for some real EQ and a little more gain. I use the Hyde side to boost the Jekyll anyway.

THE HYDE SIDE:
The Hyde side isn't an overdrive at all. It's a freakin distortion. If I turn the gain down past 12 o' clock it sounds like an overdrive with way too much bass. Basically not useable. It sounds really good with dark humbuckers for heavy rock/metal stuff. Really "Marshally". Only problem is I have a strat (Reverend Avenger actually) and the Hyde side is just too trebly. If I turn the treble down on my amp my clean sound is all dark. That's no good. So I flip the switch to "Blunt". It immediately dampens all of my strings. I turn the tone knob up to where i can actually hear the low strings, then the high strings are too trebly again. IT'S A NEVER ENDING SHRILL TREBLE PERSONAL TONE HELL!!!!!!!!! So basically, If you use single coils with a good amount of treble, the Hyde side is worthless, except to boost the Jekyll side which is just adding a dash of gain, bass, and treble (The treble problem isn't really evident with them both on).

Pretty stable. Made of, uh...metal. That metal stuff is pretty strong from what I've heard. However, I heard that the buttons and stuff being mounted to the case or whatever is cheap and unsturdy. I don't know, ask someone else. Mine's Fine.

The dude there (Bob Weil) is cool. He worked with Joe Naylor on Joe's Drivetrain Overdrive (from Reverend) which I actually think is better. It has bass and treble knobs with less permanent midrange which causes the "boxey" sound in this thing. I'm just poor and can't aafford the Reverend one.

I think I'll get that new Boss EQ-20 Double Mondo Super EQ pedal. The normal boss one only goes up to 6.4k in treble which isn't very high at all. The presence knob on my amp controls the 20k range so I need something to cancel that super high stuff out when I hit the OD or Distortion. I founf the Ibanez DS-7 to be better than the Hyde for heavy rock stuff. I dont do the scooped mid's metal thing so I don't care that the Ibanez doesn't have the mid's knob. MY ONLY COMPLAIN: THE JEKYLL SIDE SOUNDS GOOD WITH SINGLE COILS AND THE HYDE SIDE SOUNDS GOOD WITH HUMBUCKERS. NOT VERY CONVENIENT IS IT? I'm guessing both of them blended together would sound really cool with soapbars. Just kidding.
Oh yeah. Please E-mail me with suggestions on this question. I've tried the Marshall ED-1 Compressor and it makes my guitar darker instead of more punchy, clear and transparent. I want the sound that Stone Gossard has from Pearl Jam (great great band, check them out) in that back up clean part in "Jeremy" and also in the intro on "Do The Evolution". Not the Dirty intro part but the second guitar that is clean. It almost sounds acoustic. Anyway, heres the question:

DOES ANYONE KNOW A GOOD WAY TO GET CLARITY WITHOUT TREBLE??
DOES ANYONE KNOW A GOOD WAY TO GET CLARITY WITHOUT TREBLE??
DOES ANYONE KNOW A GOOD WAY TO GET CLARITY WITHOUT TREBLE??

There are a lot of knobs on this thing. The manual helps get you started on getting a good sound. It isn't very hard to get a good sound on this thing.

My setup is either a Gibson LP studio or an Ibenez RG 520QS into the J&H, Snarling Dogs wah, MXR phase 90 into my sovtek mig 100h. I like both sides of this pedal. The jekyll doesn't sound exactly like a tube screamer, but it does a very good job approximating the sound. You get a very nice sound easily from the J side. I thought the H side was a little harder to get what I wanted. My only problem with that side is that it buzzes. Also, if you use the blunt switch it sounds like you covered the amp in a blanket. I just use more eq and leave the switch on sharp. I haven't found a use for both of them together yet. Very versatile though!

I haven't done much gigging with this pedal yet. Looks tough. I usually take good care of my pedals, the only pedals I break are wahs.

I haven't dealt with them

This is a great deal! You get two very good sounding overdrives for around $130. It's very versatile, it can play blues up to lighter metal. I play rock, blues and some jazz. I've used this pedal for all of my styles of play. I love it!

The J&H is pretty easy to use; the Jekyll side is just standard drive tone and volume, the Hyde side adds an "eq" knob which adjusts the midrange and a sharp/blunt switch which boosts or cuts the treble. It can take a little while to find your sound.

My setup is Gibson LP Standard->Vox Wah->Ibanez TS7->J&H->Boss BF2
->Boss DM3->old Peavey Deuce. The onboard gain on the Deuce is pitiful, so I got the J&H. I get great sounds with this pedal, the Jekyll side sounds a little different than the TS9; I think it sounds better actually, it has more clarity. The Hyde side is a killer od/dist, it can go from blues territory to near metal. It can, however, be a little muddy, and the gain just doesn't get to fully saturated in my opinion. I've found the best sound with Hyde on full drive and "blunt" by using the TS7 w/drive low before the J&H as a boost. This gets rid of all the muddiness and boosts the gain into metal territory, sounds fairly "Marshally" with great string definition. Awesome sound. There are good sounds using both channels, they're just harder to find. I've found a great classic rock sound using both channels on w/ drive and volume at 12 on each, Hyde set on blunt. Sounds great on position two on my friend's Strat. Very versatile pedal. I've played it on tube and ss amps, sound better with tube amps although it can get good sounds on ss too.

Seems really well constructed, it gets knocked around a lot and nothing has gone wrong yet. But, I have other dist/od boxes for backup.

Never dealt with them.

I play a lot of styles, from classic rock to alternative to hard rock & metal. This pedal can get many different sounds to suit pretty much everything I play. I wish the Hyde side had a little more gain, and the Jekyll side had a little more bass response, but other than that I can't find any flaws with this pedal. I've compared it with various boss od/dists, Ibanez TS9/TS7, Rat 2, Fab-Tone, MXR Distortion+, and this box is superior to all of these, it sounds more "authentic". And at $110 new, this thing's a great value.

fairly easy, but may take a while to really nail the sound you want, b/c of all the parameters. The manual does give some very useful settings. I use it with a plexi, and the "british stack" setting sounds remarkably close to my amp with everything on 10. This is probably the best sounding pedal I've ever heard, and I've owned quite a few. The jekyll side is incredible through my plexi, thickens it up just enough with the greatest light distortion. The hyde is quite impressive as well; there are a plethora of sounds that can be coaxed out of this side, and all good sounding in their own right.

As I said, this is the best sounding pedal I've ever heard, and the most versatile as well. It is very silent on the jekyll side and noisy on hyde, but its a distortion pedal, what do you expect? I am using it with a 69' plexi 50-watt witha marshall 2x12 with one greenback and one weber alnico with a PRS custom 24, strat plus, and 52 RI tele (both w/ fralin pu's). Sounds great with all, amazingly good with sc's. There are so many sounds in this pedal, I'm still finding new ones.

excellent pedal. I use it for everything from blues to heavy alternative.

Pretty easy for all the features.

Very good and creamy sounding TS808 style overdrive on the J side.The H side is even more versatile and "rougher" sounding yiu can get sounds ranging from heavy rock drive to down and out distortion.AMAZING note transperancy you can play 7th and 9th chords and listen clearly to all the notes.It is a bit noisy on the H side but common it is a distortion pedal!

Very well built.

The BEST.Mine came without a suggested setting manual.I e-mailed them and responded IMMEDIATELY saying they will post one right away!

I bought this one after my DADDY O started sounding ice picky and unnatural.I did a shoot out between this pedal and a VOX VALVTONE A TS9,a MARSHALL BB II and a NOBELS ODR1.No comparisson the J&H simply sounded smoother and better.

I had this pedal for over a year, playing with a couple of bands in rehearsal and on stage. I had considerable difficulty getting and keeping a *tone* I liked. It has a variety of sounds, and considerable white noise, but I finally gave up on this one in terms of tone. I bought it used, and referred often to the little manual that came with it. It was easy enought to plug up and turn on; but that was it.

I ran this one every way imaginable trying to get a workable, likable tone; nothing worked. Tons of white noise -- deplorable. The "808" side was in no way "round," and I have to stretch my imagination to call that sound "brown." It was terribly compressed, compacted, and seemed to choke down the tone of my p90 pickups (and I use several types throughout my guitars: gibson, fralin, WD, Rio Grande; the pedal
choked down their expressive range everytime). Ironically, I found a tone I liked on the marshally hyde side, where it had a nice dirty side at lower volumes. But both were incredibly muddy, and half way through a gig the mids in my Deluxe Reverb were soaking down all tone. I had to take it out of my chain to get the highs back up. I also found that the pedal did affect the tone when passive in the chain. Taking it out of the chain improved the tone right away. The 808 side was disappointing -- I have used modded ts-9RIs, ts-10s and ts-5s
and they all had better tone than this (although the noise from the Ts-5 and the ts-10 was about the same as the noise of the J&H).

The gothic homeplate is certainly sturdy. It holds up.

No experience -- although I sent a couple of emails to them for inquiries, they never responded. So it wasn't for a lack of trying on my part. No rating, however, because I did buy it used.

Vastly overrated. Was glad to trade it off. I liked that one marshall type tone, as it was very different from everything else in my chain.
But ultimately it wasn't worth the noise, or the fact that the big homeplate thing took up so much space in my pedalboard. I am glad I didn't pay top dollar for it. There are certainly many other effects out there with great tone, less noise (if any) and that cost much less.

Not very hard to use but a lot of bells and whistles that are not needed to get a good overdrive sound.

Sounds good in sharp mode, pretty close to a tube screamer (which is what this thing is a copy of).

This thing is CHEAPLY made, with switches mounted to the board like Taiwanese pedals. It would cut out all the time on me because the sharp/blunt switch was not attached to the board well. The other switches were not soldered on well either. I really prefer effects that use point-to-point wiring as you just can't make a reliable STOMP box with the parts mounted to the board. After resoldering them a few times I gave up and got rid of it.

I would not use it on a gig without a backup, a good stomp or accidental stomp near the Sharp switch could kill it.

I have heard they were very supportive but I got it used so I had it fixed myself.

It is not a bad copy of a tube screamer, but the reissue TS9 is not expsensive and it's even better when modified to an 808 so that is what I use now. I don't need the bells and whistles, just a good tone.

THis pedal is pretty simple to use, it has three controls for the Jeykal, (Drive, Tone and volume) and four for the Hyde part (Drive, Tone, EQ and volume). However, the pedal is so verstile that a hge range of effects can be at your command. What can be quite annoying is that the two switches are quite close together, so it can be very easy to switch both of them on at the same time if they are both already off. The advantage of this is that you can start of with one pedal one and then when you use your foot to switch it you can turn one off and the other one will come on. It's so simple to use that even a child could use it!

One of the best things about this pedal is the fact that you can make any sort of sound with it, whether it be blues, hard rock, country or even full on thrash metal. I currently run it through my MArshall VS100R amp while playing on my Ibanez GRX20 and i really crank on it's drive nad EQ. IT sounds amazing! Especially since i tune down to Dropped B tuning (Dropped D down 1 and a half steps), so it really gives that heavy metal feel that i love. It is the most aggressive pedal i have ever used. the only major comment i have to make is that, despite what other reviews say, when both pedals are turned on, it sounds too fuzzy and messy and unless that's the sort of tones you want, it really ruins your sound. Also, it is slightly easy to feedback if yo use too much gain, but hey, that's what we want right?

I have used this pedal in a number of gigs and it is very relible. It gives me the power and anger in my music that I need. Plus it's tough as nails as well! It can take a beating and still produce the sound you want.

THis is the best pedal i have ever used. It's so versatile and it sounds great. ALthough i use it for really heavy metal, i would recommend this pedal for any sort of band, whether it be blues, country or even brit-pop! I've tried other pedals before, but none of therm compare to the Jekyal and Hyde! Even the distortion pedals from BOSS don't compare to this, and no one does better effects than BOSS! I have been using this pedal for three years now and i intend to carry on using it until i die! However, it is not the cheapest stompbox in the world, #150, so you will need to save a bit of money. BUt then evey penny is worth it as your don't just get one, but hundreds of different sounds. Incidently, if anyone wants to sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan, the JEykal sounds a lot like the famous Ibanez Tubescreamer pedal. plus you get other effects in one. If i could keep just one effect in my rig setup, the Jeykal and Hyde would definatley be the one!

The Jekyll & Hyde (J&H) is a mean-looking pedal with a lot of possibilities. Plenty has been said already to praise the "Jekyll" (green) side. I offer not a whole lot more there. It sounds great. There, I said it. It's a circuit ripoff of the old TS-808 tube screamer, and it does the job admirably. The "Hyde" (red) side is a bit more dicey. It's more of a scooped-mid pimply teen adolescent 'stortion sound by itself. Expect the Metal Zone crowd to have strong opinions about it. Me, I'm kind of indifferent to it, but it pushes the Jekyll channel nicely for a singing solo drive. When I set Hyde to do this, it ends up not working too well BY ITSELF(gets all thin and quiet). So I think of "Hyde" as the distortion pedal driving my amp ("Jekyll") harder. Then it works quite well.

I run my guitars- (Fender teles & strats, Gibson LP, and a bunch more) through a compressor into the J&H, then into stereo effects processors (mostly delays) into 2 class-A tube combo amps for a true-stereo field. I use a combination of Fender and Vox amps for a big clean (only slightly furry) tone. Jekyll dirties them up nicely. Hyde makes Jekyll make them REALLY howl. I can get a note to just sing and sing and sing.... But most of the time, Hyde stays turned off.

Well.....
Who would suspect their overdrive pedal of being the problem? Not me. That's why it took about 6 agonizing weeks of trying to track down intermittent problems with my gear to figure it out. My first J&H started going bad, and I thought it was a patch cable or an amp tube. The volume level dropped to about one-third, and got all trebly and thin (like a wah pedal just left turned-on). I would get MOST of the way thru a set before it started doing this. Finally I figured it out. But how does a pedal go bad, when it's fastened securely to a pedalboard? Well, I don't know. But I have a second J&H now. I also have a whole small-ish backup rig I carry along just in case. I rate this reliability a 5, because I played in front of thousands of people (dying inside) over the course of this process until I discovered the J&H was screwed up.

Truly heroic- Visual Sound had me ship it back to them, where they diagnosed and fixed the problem for free. Turns out some blah-blah-blah electronic thing went bad inside. I had it back in about 10 days' time. The main guy out there (sorry I forgot the name already) was very courteous kind and helpful.

I play some odd combination of ambient avant-garde pop and old bluesy rock- like The Edge and Andy Summers combined with Jimmy Page and David Gilmour. The J&H works well for me. It's sort of helped spawn a host of imitators. There are now a bunch of guitarists I know who have since gotten J&H's after hearing mine. That's kinda cool. I've been playing for about 20 years,and have kind of made a name for myself around my area. I have settled (for now) on the J&H after comparing to dozens of other drive pedals (owned and/or borrowed)- Boss OD-1, OD-2, DS-1, OD-2r, BD-2; Ibanez TS-9, TS-808, Marshall Bluesbreaker, Chandler Tube Driver, Danelectro Daddy-O, Ross Distortion, Electro-Harmonix Muff Fuzz, Dunlop Hendrix Fuzz, etc, etc etc.

I like the J&H's tones, but recognize that separate pedals can do them better. However, it only requires ONE power supply, and takes up less space than 2 Boss-sized pedals would. I hate the battery-cover. I removed it and pulled the rubber feet off the J&H, and fastened it to my pedalboard. I'm dubious now about its reliability, but aside from that one problem I mentioned, it has worked fine. In a perfect world the 2 footswitches might be farther apart. It's a little too easy to step on both at once.