JHS Pedals Double Dragon: Analog & Wild Octaver!
Vintage-style Lo-Fi Octave Pedal
The Double Dragon is JHS Pedals’ take on the vintage, classic analog Octave Up and Down effect. Expect wild, crazy, fuzzed-out, and synth-like tones with this latest stompbox.
JHS Pedals Contents
Double Dragon
The JHS Pedals Double Dragon Lo-Fi Octave Device uses vintage octave-divider technology from the 40/50 years ago to create octave effects. Both Up and Down Octave effects are in one compact, modern pedal that is fully analog and offers an authentic vintage effect.
It is a mono effect and straddles fuzz and distortion tones amongst the octave effects. Expect odd tracking and weirdness. All desirable artifacts of this older-style analog octave effect.
Simple Controls
This bright yellow pedal has nice, bright red knobs with easy-to-dial-in controls. Volume adjusts your master output level and provides plenty of extra boost. Try turning the octaves off and the dry mix fully on; this turns the pedal into an always-on preamp.
Use Dry to blend your clean signal with the octave effects. JHS recommends starting with this dialed all the way up. Rolling it entirely off leaves you with a fully wet signal, perfect for achieving authentic, glitchy vintage synth textures.
The ‘OCT–’ knob adjusts the volume of your lower sub-octave mix. The ‘OCT+‘ knob controls the level of your upper-octave distortion. It is nice and easy to use, which I love, and it is all clearly labelled.
Finally, the left footswitch serves as your master on/off control. The right switch engages just the OCT+ circuit. Keep in mind that the main pedal must be active for the OCT+ side to work. If you want to use the octave-up completely by itself, simply dial the OCT– knob all the way down.
It has a neat layout, includes top-mounted jacks, silent-buffered bypass switching, and runs from an external 9VDC centre-negative power supply.
Who Is It For?
If you like vintage octave effects like the MXR Blue Box, Boss OC-2, or the Electro-Harmonix Micro-Synth, then this is the pedal for you. The tracking is nice and analog, so not perfect, and the limitations of the design are really its major strengths.
I’m a big fan of these vintage analog effects, so it works for me. However, if you prefer perfect octave effects, then this may not be the effect for you.
This pedal is perfect for fuzzy, octave effects, and synth-style texture. If you like a little chaos in your creativity, then you will appreciate this pedal. It will also be perfect on bass, so you can have fun with it in multiple settings, not just on the guitar.
Price & Availability
The JHS Pedals Double Dragon is available at Thomann for $198 / £175 / €199.
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