JHS Pedals Fumble JFET Boost Effect Pedal

Oops! JHS made an uh-oh, but this mistake is anything but. The Fumble JFET boost effect pedal delivers a tone accidently introduced in their NOTADÜMBLË V1 pedal, now in a standalone enclosure that provides the long-cloned history of a Dumble BBC-1 circuit that was actually sourced from a 1970s Barcus Berry piezo acoustic preamp. The history is messy, the reasoning is complicated, but the sound is superb.

This two knob clean boost, inspired by a clone of a clone of a clone of a etc., performs JFET boosting with a unique control scheme that shapes your sound like no other in its class. The output control works as such—crank it up or turn it down to the desired output volume. The input control, however, behaves differently than expected. When the knob is fully to the right, it can be considered as a bypass for clean JFET boosting. When the knob is turned to the left, bass frequencies and gain start attenuating simultaneously, resulting in a slightly thinner, but overall tighter response. No other boost delivers this sort of shaping, and can be assigned the "secret weapon" label when applied properly.

Here's what you do: use it as a permanent tone shaper and boost at the front of your board. Set it however you want and never turn it off. Alternatively, the Fumble can be the overdrive lift you've been searching ages for. Rather than muddying with another pre-drive drive (what a headache), the Fumble adds more level and color to your favorite characteristic dirt. Push a driven amp, boost your board at the end of the chain, or, if you're feeling adventurous, try it as originally intended in the 1970s with an acoustic guitar. Let us know what you think about that one.

With analog circuitry, true bypass switching, and standard nine-volt center negative power requirements, the Fumble JFET boost proves that some wrongs can, in fact, be made right.