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.