Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start
Ah, the arcade. The colorfully-patterned carpets, the warm glow of a vector graphic screen, the nostalgic symphony of primitive sound chip bleeps and bloops. Truly, what a time to be alive – and what a time to revisit. You come to an arcade, you hit the high score, you gobble cartoonish hams, you solve problems with your fists – in and out of the game...
It's at these 16-bit Shangri-Las that we've all surely cultivated some great memories. Maybe your local arcade has been shuttered since, what was it, 2002? But the sounds live on, though. Perhaps not so explicitly through guitar pedals, but with what we've got on the slab today, we can't imagine you'll feel that you're leaving the proverbial prize counter empty-handed.
This is the JHS Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device.
Enter the Dragon
Introducing the JHS Pedals Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device
Let's talk about a couple things real fast. We know we just kicked off this whole spiel with a tribute to a bygone time of sticky buttons and jostled joysticks, but let's get specific for a second. The JHS Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device is a pedal designed in tribute to an established tradition of stompboxes – though not bit crushers, not synthesizers, but octave effects.
If you're new to the party of the long, long legacy of analog octave effect pedals, let's get you caught up. Though JHS has previously taken on the realm of octave reverb, a basic analog octave effect is a first. The Double Dragon hearkens to a unique, somewhat unsung institution of effect pedals populated by the likes of the Boss OC-2, the Electro-Harmonix Micro-Synth, and MXR Blue Box. These pedals, classics in their own rights, are responsible for a pretty prominent approach to rock guitar that you may not think of immediately, but has absolutely been there the whole time.
Octave-driven playing has been the domain of plenty of alternative and indie guitarists for decades. The White Stripes, Jimi Hendrix, Rage Against the Machine, Royal Blood, take your pick from any of these classic rock acts and you're sure to get in on the octave-shifting school of thought before long. Though each act's use of octave effects became their own, they all shared the effect's quirky, chunky, noisy, and sometimes absolutely off-the-wall sonic character. Today, JHS sets out to create a modern analog octave effect in the spirit of the ones that drove so many classic rock guitar tones.
Let's talk about it.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
JHS Pedals Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device Design
As we said, the JHS Double Dragon is not a bit-crusher or a synth pedal. We did make quite a few allusions to classic arcade games and their sounds, but if you're just getting in on an analog octave effect for the first time, let's say more specifically what we mean.
If the JHS Double Dragon is your first octave effect of its type, first off, welcome! Second off, you might be inclined to imagine an octave effect as just a pitch-shifter or something a little more clean and streamlined, if you've never heard one before. Luckily, the octave effects JHS is after have quite a bit more personality than just what you might read on the box.
All About OctavesOctave effect pedals (à la the Boss OC-2), work to create – most commonly – a simultaneous octave-down effect signal as you play. The character of this octave-down is not just a one-to-one copy of your original signal shifted down. Instead, this effect, by nature, has something of a quirky, rounded, almost squeaky and synthetic tone to it. Reminiscent of the warm, almost distorted nature of an organ, your classic octave effects work to track your signal on a monophonic basis, thickening your single notes for something altogether new.
The JHS Double Dragon plays in the spirit of retro, analog octave effects. What that means is you've got a charming, thick sub-octave effect following your playing*. Let's talk about a few controls.
The best it can
JHS Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device Controls
- Volume – The master volume for the whole pedal. Mixing levels of effects is something you'll inevitably deal with, so a master control to shape the output of the entire pedal is welcomed, as you'll find.
- Oct - – After hitting the left footswitch, you've got the primary effect engine of the Double Dragon, the octave-down effect. The Oct - dial rolls in the sub-octave effect gradually, making it more prominent in the effect mix. This, when worked alongside the effect's Dry control, leads to an authentic, chunky, punched-up octave effect with plenty of finesse and room to sculpt.
- Dry – A somewhat unique but incredibly helpful addition to this octave effect experience is the Dry control that allows close dry signal mixing. Use this dial to set the ratio of affected octave signal to unaffected dry guitar signal to soothe the dragon within or let it run amok.
- Oct + – Finally, we’ve got the last head of this beast. Independently engaged, the JHS Double Dragon also features an onboard octave-up fuzz. This simultaneous octave-up fuzz can only be engaged when the octave-down engine is fired up, but can be mixed to taste or even fly solo by just minimizing the octave-down effect.
With all of that out of the way, let's talk tones.
Dragon Uppercut
JHS Pedals Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device Tones and Further Functions
Now that we've got our controls figured out and nowhere to go but up*, let's let the Double Dragon take flight.
One thing to consider about a retro effect as expressive as octave is that it's probably best explored from the deep end. Minimizing the dry signal and maximizing both octave effects is a great way to navigate the Double Dragon's tones and figure out your own personal favorite settings and riffs to play.
Or down – octave down!
"Play single notes and you have a riff machine. Play a chord and the circuit starts to stutter, jump, and fight itself, making something new. It's not trying to replicate you perfectly — it's trying to play along with you." - JHS Pedals
JHS Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device Tones
With the Double Dragon, you're empowered with quite a bit of distorted, synth-style muscle to make a statement. The Double Dragon's primary effect tone, as stoked by its sub-octave effect, is chunky, distorted, almost organ-like, and sure to fill a room. Effortlessly thickening single notes for guitar or bass, the Double Dragon turns any instrument into a bona fide riff machine as you lay down thunderous octave lines. These tones play with a definite signal-simplified, distorted, 8-Bit-flavored sound to fire up memories of your favorite beat 'em up cabinet in the corner of the arcade.
Another thing to consider with the Double Dragon is that it is, reverently to its predecessors, monophonic. One note at a time. In a pre-DSP world, this was all we had. Thus, monophonic octave effect processing meant signal tracking wasn't as pristine as you might expect. Try to strum out a three-note barre chord and you'll hear the Double Dragon lose the plot at least a little bit. This is not a design flaw, at least in JHS's eyes.
One By One All DayThe Double Dragon's monophonic design means you get quite a bit of character in its efforts to track your playing. Play two notes a little too close to each other and the Double Dragon stutters and warps in an attempt to keep up with you in charmingly glitchy ways. This is certainly where some of its arcade-cabinet-tone tendencies come from as the organic effort the monophonic octave effect exerts to follow your signal shows itself. Like so many of the analog octave stompboxes to come before it, the Double Dragon is not perfect at follow-the-leader. Of course, it being perfect would make it miss the point of the quirky, lo-fi tonal jumps, now, wouldn't it?
JHS Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device Further Functions
Wrapping this up, we've got a few smaller considerations to cover with the Double Dragon. For one, it's incredibly simple to use with a standard nine-volt center negative power connection operating at 75mA minimum – super common power requirements to fill. For another, the Double Dragon features silent buffered bypass switching that keeps things clean and quiet when switching between "on" and "off." Top-mounted jack connections slip the Double Dragon onto your board easily and its sturdy, reliable build keeps it playing responsively on the stage, in the studio, anywhere. In short, the Double Dragon is effortless JHS analog bliss as they've become famous for.
JHS Pedals Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device Final Thoughts
In a world of pristine, digital octave effects, you might think, hey, there's no room for the imperfect analogs of times passed. The JHS Double Dragon begs to differ.
If you're a fan of classic, alternative guitar tones that were never shy to get freakish, tweak-ish, noisy, and glitchy, then the Double Dragon is absolutely something to check out. Its authentic analog octave design and tone brings the classic effect archetype into the twenty-first century without getting lost in translation. Whatever kind of music you're bringing the sweet, alarm-sounding debauchery of a monophonic octave effect to, the Double Dragon delivers in droves for faithful, fiery, fuzzed flagrance. If you're just stopping by for an octave fuzz to live your '60s, Hendrix-style blowtorch soloing truth, the Double Dragon has you covered there, too. The JHS Double Dragon is a simple, fun, expressive, one-and-done representation of an analog effect truly too good to get stuck in a time bygone.
Inside you, there are two dragons. Which one will win? The one with lives left.
Game Over
