Visual Sound Jekyl & Hyde Ultimate Overdrive Red

Setup: 93' PRS Custom 24 -> Analogman Comprosser -> Real McCoy Custom Picture Wah -> Sweet Sounds Mojo Vibe(uni-vibe)-> Visual Sound Jekly & Hyde -> Fender Hot Rod Deville 2x12 -> fx loop: line 6 delay module

The pedal adds a very slight degree of feedbag to the overall clean sound when not engaged. Overall, the pedal is not that noisy, nothing noiser than my old proco rat or amp distortion. Visual Sound pedals use 'Pure Tone' instead of a true bypass which is a great perk that most people are unawware of. I think 'Pure Tone' is much better than true bypass anyway. "Pure Tone, when placed first in the chain, made it sound like you were plugged straight into the amp even when going through notorious tone killer pedals." The Pure Tone puts the bite back into my tone that my wah and compression squeeze out of it even though they are true bypass. It also allows me to have an audible and balanced signal while having my wah, uni-vibe and distortion engaged.

The overdrive or jekyl channel is basically a replica of a ts-808 but with strong comptonents and capacitors. so for $120, you are already getting a sensational overdrive that is one of the most sought after sounds around. Vol knob never has to go past 12 or 1 o-clock because the pedal is extremely meaty and cuts through the mix very well.

For the distortion or hyde channel, you get an extremely versatile pallet of sounds. I can turn my fender into a roaring rectifier at will. I usually keep the channel on the blunt switch because i already have a treblely setup but without careful tweaking of the settings your tone can get completely lost in a mud of distortion of bass and low mids. The sharp option which really exentuates the high end is just too piercing at most settings. It takes a little time to find a good balanced tone that isnt too muddy or too brittle. My settings right now are 3:00, 4:00, 1:30, 2:30 which gives me a nice trey/warren haynes sound. I wish it could be a little bit smoother but i didnt expect a soldano in a $120 pedal.

havent gigged with it yet but seems very sturdy and the pedal recived a 5/5 on its build quality in a 1998 issue of "guitarist". On the bottom of the pedal there is a thick rubber piece that shields the battery opening which is somewhat imprudent in case i was to gig or play on a wet floor. Beer gets everywhere when you gig so it would be nice if the pedal had something more substantial covering it or something with a better seal to keep out all the crap on floors.

I play a lot of different kids of music in my band "Weema", (you can hear us @ www.purevolume.com/weema or www.archive.org/audio although i didnt use this pedal in any of the recordings)rock, funk, jazz and reggae and this pedal will definately take the place of my proco rat which was too thin for me and i will use this pedal much more than the amp's overdrive that I had been using because the pedal is much more transparent and just outright better. Its a very good deal considering you are getting three possible distortion channels, one being that of a vintage ts-808.

I found this pedal real easy to use. The JEKYLL channel provides us with the classic DRIVE, TONE and LEVEL, based on the same design as the ibanez 808 Tubescreamer with the same chip wich many beleive is the holy grail of tone. Also, you get a BASS BOOST switch to to get more low end out or your tone. Personly, i dont like it but it might appeal to some. You cant go wrong with three controlls and it doesnt take long to get your desired tone. The HYDE is a distortion channel similar to the boss distortion. It has the same controlls but with an added EQ controll and a SHARP/BLUNT swich to give a buzzy high or darker compresed tone giving uoi more controll of your tone. The EQ is the most important knob here as this has the potential of creating a vast tonal range alowing you to congure up any tone in your head. A bit of tweeking is needed with the rest of the controlls. Be warned it takes a while to find the tone that works for you in the HYDE with a bit of experimenting. Dont be put off by it

I use a epi dot with Gibson 57 classic in the Bridge and a Gibson P94 in the neck. I use a Fender Pro Reverb valve amp. I personly did not find the pedal to be noisey at all. you can just about get any overdriven sound you could ever want. I use the JEKYLL channel the most, and only to to drive my amp. The DRIVE is all the way down so i get a really nice silghtly overdriven sound same to the STROKES. they also use this pedal! The TONE sits about 11 o clock and VOLUME 12 o clock. I only use the HYDE channel live for hevier distortion parts that would sound like a mashall. So its JEKYLL for ryth and HYDE for leed.

It is well built and i use it every gig and rehursal. I couldnt live without it now. I would get it replaced if it were stolen!!!!!

never had to

i play everything from blues, jazz, rock n' roll to heavy meatal and reggae, r&b. This pedal has it all! Ive been playing for around 12 years now and this one takes it all. iI was originaly after a Tubescreamer but its all in the pedal, and more!!! What i love about this is that its the unlimimate tone provider. I even get people coming upto me after shows and saying how nice the guitar sounds wich to me, is the best comment anyone can make! would recomend this to any player out there who wans classic guitar tone.
Feel free to email me any questions or exchange tone settings

Easy to use, comes with a little suggested settings sheet for a number of different sounds, was easy to find a number of workable tones. Finding a usable cascaded (one distortion into the other) sound was more difficult as running both sides with any appreciable amount of distortion leads to feedback even at bedroom volumes. Using their "Slightly Soiled Boost" suggestion on the Jekyll side and a nice heavy sound on the Hyde side provided a usable cascaded tone, but then the Hyde setting was still short of what I'm capable of on my amp.

Hooked this up with my Carvin AE185 (semihollow quasi-tele) into my Carvin MTS3212 (100W all tube 2x12). Got some really nice distortion sounds, albeit not many that I couldn't easily attain using my Tube Screamer and the Lead channel of my amp. The Jekyll side has a nice Bass Boost feature, but then I crank the snot out of the bass side of my clean channel anyways. The Hyde side has a Sharp/Blunt switch that lends a nice versatility. Flipping over to the Sharp setting emphasizes the treble frequencies and helps you cut through.
That's the good news. The bad news is that this thing is NOISY. There is no way I would use this for recording and I'd be hesitant to even play it live. I have an unusually quiet guitar and the amount of noise present was shocking to me.
I'm returning it today.

The thing is built solidly; it weighs a few pounds and everything seems to made to last. That said however, Visual Sound, like so many other manufacturers, uses the flimsiest battery leads available.The slightest kink rends them inoperable and, in fact, out of the box these leads were already kinked and it took a great deal of coaxing just to get the thing to turn on. Obviously not an issue if you're using the company's excellent One Spot power adapter, but still really annoying to take it out the box and have to fix it.

I special ordered this unit from my local GC in the hopes that it could help me achieve a more cutting, crunchy punk-rock type tone. My band is all over the place stylistically and my Tube Screamer definitely doesn't cut the mustard for the heavier sounds I occasionnally need. I have a nice sounding chunk on my amp's lead channel, but live it wasn't cutting through well at all.
While waiting the week for the unit to arrive, I played a show and just made my lead/chunky channel about twice the volume of my clean channel and it sounded fantastic.
What with the noise and the redundancy, I'm returning it immediately.
This would be a great unit if a)it wasn't so damned noisy and b) I didn't have to fix it before the first time I used it, an epsidoe that sapped an appreciable amount of enthusiasm from me.

Actually, the pedal is well laid out but it is not intuitively obvious like some pedals. There are many tweaks to be had with the various combinations and the EQ knob.

Really excellent sounding pedal with many hidden sounds. The more you twiddle with it the more amazing it gets. The Jeckyl channel sounds like a Tubescreamer or a Fulltone, the Hyde channel sounds like, well, driven tube amps. The two can also be combined for yet another cascaded sound.

Very solid but with a funky battery cover and odd overall "home plate" shape.

N/A

For the sounds it can create and the price, this pedal absolutely rocks.

I picked this up after hearing about how good it is and I have to say Im very impressed.

This pedal has alot of knobs so there are so many different sounds. The controls are very responsive and Im sure thats why there are so many good settings to be found.

It was a little tricky at first. Using either side alone is easy enough (OD & distortion), but mixing them takes a little practice. Ive had it 2 weeks and thought I had a killer sound, that is untill I really started tweaking and listening intently. Now, I have the sound I have been searching for in a stompbox. Its the best Ive found as far as pedals go - it really gets you good, crunchy sounds usually not found in pedals

This thing sounds great!

It is a little mid-heavy just like the tubescreamers are, so an EQ is helpful afterwards. I just barely drop the mid frequencies and drop a hair of bass and damn it sounds so good.

The first side (OD) has that smooth tubescreamer sound, but in my opinion this pedal is way more responsive and that means alot to me.

I keep the OD side with the gain 1/2 way up just to add a little extra "meat" to my tube amps.

I keep the hyde side set so that when I engage it (on top of the OD side) it is a nice boost with good crunchy sounds. I keep it a little heavier than typical crunch, enough for good thick tones like Green Day usually uses. I dont care if you like them or not, you have to admit they consistantly have good tone. So I like that sound - great for rhythm workouts and heavy strumming, and with the boost go into harder territory.

I also like the fact that this pedal sounds good enough that I dont have to completely dime the drive controls to get good thick sounds - You can still actually hear the tone and timbre of the guitar being played and even hear the strings detail. So with a good tube amp you can enhance that warm tube crunch that is so thick yet not so overly-distorted that all you hear is a wall of distortion with no definition. Thats what I hate about most pedals, you have to dime the drive and its a sonic mess.

But with this the sound of your guitar/amp can shine through while retaining a good thick rock sound perfect for just about anything needing driven sounds!

It seems very sturdy.

I like the switches and the design, and I dont think Ill have any reliability issues considering the build of this pedal and its reputation.

Its the only pedal Ive found in my life that I would give a 9 rating overall.

Ive had a alot of drive/OD pedals but i typically try to use them as a boost rather than for thier heavier-setting sounds. Ive also had a few high-dollar pedals but with them you usually are stuck with 1 great sound, so I end up giving them a less overall score because of lack of versatility.

But with this pedal I have found just about every driven sound I could possibly want - from light blues crunch to hard rock to very hard rock and all in between - and the sounds are all great. Not just 1 or 2 good ones or alot of "so-so" ones, but many great ones.

First be warned that you have to play with the controls. Just the slightest movement of 1 control can off-set another frequency you may still want, so give it time.

Like I said before, I thought I had found the perfect setting for this only to find a much better one 2 weeks later after fiddling for a while. It is capable of many good sounds but I tend to leave it as I have it set and It covers alot of ground between drive 1, drive 2, my clean tube amps and my guitars tone/volume knobs.

So I am a very happy customer


ALSO - I am more than willing to discuss settings or give any info/thoughts about this pedal so feel free to e-mail me. I have 1 tube amp thats a little mid-heavy (like the OD on the pedal) and Ive found a setting to cure that and I have a few tube amps that are bottom heavy so I can help with that.

and through my trusty SS amp it sounds good. Not as good as through tubes but surprisingly good nontheless.

It's a dual-pedal with an overdrive and a distortion. Drive, Tone, Volume, and Bass Boost on Overdrive. Drive, Tone, EQ (Mid-Scoop), Volume and Hi-Cut on Distortion. Anyone that plays rock guitar and can't figure this pedal out really needs to go back to 2nd grade or something.

It sounds awesome. It really kicks ass. I use it with a Cry Baby 535Q in front of it, and a V.S. H2O after it. It sounds great through a Fender Deluxe Reverb. It really does what a good Rock and Roll Overdrive unit should. I use a stock Gibson SG for my main instrument and this pedal sounds perfect with it. Noisy? Every distortion pedal I've ever owned is freakin' noisy! That's the whole point! There's no A.C. hum, or anything out of the ordinary (if that's what the question is referring to).

Don't know yet. I've only had it for a a month; no problems yet, but then again I'm gentle with my equipment. I keep these 3 pedals on a SKB PS15 pedal board, with the stock A.C. adaptor, attached with Velcro to the board. Yeah, I'd use it on a gig without a backup, like I said, I'm easy on my equipment.

I've never dealt with them. I bought this pedal through the internet, through a dealer.

Lets see...I'l answer these questions as they are askeed....
1. My style is: Rock and Roll and Blues.
2. Playing for: 26 years
3. Yes, if it were stolen, I'd buy another one.
4. I love the "3 in 1" aspect, the sound, the build quality (it's a brick), The look, the way it works so well with my wah, and the price.
5. I compared it with the MXR Double Shot (I also own that pedal as well). I like the Jekyll an Hyde better. It has a better sound than the MXR, and it's a 9 volt pedal (the MXR is 18 volts). The MXR is still a good pedal though (don't get me wrong).
6. It helps me make music (redundent question, I mean "duh").
7. Nope. I've said enough.

Easy enough to use, comes with a guide to to various sounds so you can always start from there if you're unsure.

The sound is quite good but it can be a little 'spikey' but for a pedal its not bad, quite noisey at high gain settings but drowned out by actual playing.
I've used this for guitar and bass and it works well, bass loses bottom end on both channels and clarity on the hyde channel. If you want a stranglers bass sound the 1st channel will do that well but then again so will a #30 boss pedal.

Oh Dear!!!!
I bought an original silver J&H pedal about 6 years ago, in the first 6 months one of the switches broke, as I'd bought it in a local (ish!) shop I took it back and it was repaired under warranty , (I don't know who repaired it but it was fixed within a week so it must have been a local repair guy.
After 3 years and very little use due to a band split it stopped running off battery so I had to use a power supply, then the thing died and I had a local guy repair it including the wonderful (ha!ha!) "jc chips" and it know works ok!

It gets worse!!!
When I saw the new red model being advertised I thought I'd buy one as I liked the idea of the bass boost on channel one. I couldn't find it for sale in the U.K. so I bought it from the states and it was shipped to me within a week, Great!
I've had the pedal about 4 months now and discovered when doing recording over christmas that if the pedal was on for about an hour the drive and level began to fade, I tried a new battery and no joy. If I unplug and leave it for a while it works again. I tried it at a rehearsal this week and it was fine, intermittent problems are a nightmare to trace!
I could gig with it because I don't play long sets but recording is a bit of a problem.

AWFUL!!
I never had any dealings with them when my first pedal broke as I just took it back to the dealer, but as I bought the second one from the states I thought I'd contact visual sound directly, I've sent two emails explaining the problems that I've had but as yet I've received no reply.
I don't know if they're just really slow or they hope I'll give up, but its made me write this review so I hope it sends some of you elsewhere when you're looking for a new pedal.

I play the clash to the kings of leon and the stranglers to oasis.

If it were stolen I'd go and buy a Fulltone which I should have done in the first place!

If you just want the 1st channel go and buy a boss they sound so similar its not worth the extra money.

I wish I had the home address of the guy that owns visual sound.

This pedal cost around a #100 with shipping, honestly go and get a couple of Boss pedals then go and get drunk on the change!

Fairly easy for the Jekyll side.. a little more time was needed in tweeking the Hyde side. It's a bit of a beast....
Has a fairly good A4 bit of paper with a few preset settings to help you get going, although, to be honest, I ignored it.

The unit is built like a tank. Looks damn good on the pedal board too...

Fender USA Stratocaster into a Fender Twin Silverface.

I wanted the Jekyll to act as a mild overdriven boost, which it does perfectly. It still retains the clarity of the Twin, but with a nice, warm drive. It will drive hard if required though - really wide range of sounds, that retains all the lushness of my Strat/Twin combination.

The Hyde side is a little more tricky to set up. I have to be honest to say that I am not interest in using the Hyde on it's own - I wanted to use both channels on together.

So... with both channels selected, man, this thing has SO much range of possible drives. I currently have the setting set so, as mentioned before, the Jekyll is mildly overdriven, and with both selected, it a raw, yet smooth, sustain drive. Very raw with the bridge pickup selected, and seems a bit of a shock at first, but the more you use that setting, the more I loved it, until I found that using just the Jekyll channel on it's own was no where near as fulfilling as both channels selected - so be warned - this pedal is ALOT of fun!

Now with both channels selected, and the EQ on the pedal tweeked - I have a wonderful David Gilmour meets Radiohead sustain drive, especially when used with a delay pedal. Really, nice and very addictive.

I don't use the Hyde channel on it's own yet though, so I'm sorry I can't comment on that specific channel in it's own right.

Built like a tank. Nice movement in the dials.

Not sure, but the web site seemed pretty good, and the Musicians Friend site had some additional sound clips. You got to hear it in the flesh ideally though....

I play a range of styles - in my own private house I am very into banging out Hendrix and Pink Floyd etc, but in the public eye I am in a church worship band so I tame myself a little.... I have yet to inflict both selected channels on an unsuspecting congregation... ha ha - could be a laugh though to see old granny bishop having a face full of Hyde... if you excuse the expression....

Quality pedal, expensive though, but I feel worth every penny to drive a good clean amp like a Fender Twin.

Lot of knobs on this thing, so it takes longer to figure out than, say, their Route 66 (which I also own).

They could have separated the two different banks of knobs with different shapes or sizes, so I knock off three points for that lack of forethought.

Great sounds, once you dial them in. Very bold statements on the Hyde side.

I think the two sides can be used together well, with practice. But you can get some real bad sounds if you don't coordinate the two well.

So the great sounds get a 10, the bad sounds a 4, so will split the difference and knock down to 8 for sound.

I never had any probs with my Route 66 (and I've owned 2) so don't expect to have any probs with this unit. Based on my experiences with the 66 I'll predict a 10 for this category.

I love the feel of the knobs.

Never had to deal with VS.

I play all kinds of stuff from straight rock to hip hop to alt country. I can find uses for this pedal in almost everything.

Feels like a 9 to me.

In response to Stick's end-of-review affirmation:

Deep within the heart of every evangelist lies the wreck of a car salesman.
-- H. L. Mencken

The Riddle of Epicurus
Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

No problems here...if you can read and follow directions. Plug it in and set it to one of the presets in the instructions and ROCK OUT! If you're a knob tweaker...hee hee, there's plenty of room to play.

Playing with either Fender Amer Delux Fat Strat, of Melancon Tele, my setup is on a Pedaltrain 2=Crybaby BB535 Wah>keeley comp>Jeckyl&Hyde>Vis Sounds H2O>ErnBall Vol>Boss DD5 Delay>out to Laney VC30 2x12...With Boss TU2 off the Vol Pedal. This works great for what I do most of the time which is play in Praise and Worship band with occasional extra-curricular gig with local Chocolate Playing Band. The J&H absolutely gives me a PHAT tone at any volume which is cool. This thing is full of cool tones and nails ZZ TOP to Steely Dan to Lynyrd Skynyrd and THE WHO! Anything you want you can get it.
As stated everywhere else the Jekyll side is as good or better than some modified TS9's I have heard and the Hyde side gives you ZZ and beyond. What a great 2-fer!

So far so good owned for a short time only but anticipate no problems. I use it with no back-up. (Knock on wood)

Have not had any dealings with them , so can't really say. Good website though. <www.visualsounds.com>

Iv'e tried DS-1's, BD-2's, TS7's, TS9, and multi-effects and this beats them all! I've been playing for 30yrs and play a little bit of everything I guess. If it were stolen, I'd probably lose my religion, kill the sucker if I could find him, and then buy another one. It is extremely quiet so it doesn't get in the way during those seh-la moments. I love the fact that it's 2 excellent pedals in one and so versatile!! I really chose this pedal and my Visual Sound H2O Chorus after attending a Steven Curtis Chapman concert and saw Steve and the other 2 guitarists all had them on their pedal boards. I really dig SCC's music so he really sold me on them. They definately help me make music! PTL and check this out:

"Musicians Prayer"
by Ramona K. Cecil
God Please bless my music that it might glorify your name.
May using it to serve you always be my aim.
Let it be a witness to your majesty and love.
And remind us that you're watching from your throne above.
Oh Lord, I ask for guidance in everything I do.
And pray you'll make my music an instrument for you.
Amen.