Features

"The SuperBolt is the result of my slight obsession with old Supro/Valco amps from the 60's. A few years ago I was working with an artist and he had a Super at the center of his rig and I fell in love with the old but perfect overdrive/distortion sound that went with anything. I remember at a sound check I turned the amp up to volume 8 and started strumming chords and was overcome with the loudest rock sound I'd ever heard from an amp with only one knob and an 8" speaker. I then started collecting Supros and other Valco amps, like Gretschs, Nationals, Airlines and Vegas, and built a little collection around the country that gave me a general understanding of the brands and designs. My Thunderbolt was found in an attic in Mississippi and had been fully restored, and my Supreme was secured at a garage sale in Kansas, and so I've collected about 10 amps in the last 2 years. My goal was simple: I wanted to develop an overdrive pedal that could recreate this tone and feeling for any amp." - Josh Scott / JHS Owner

When we released the Superbolt in 2012, we never dreamed it would become one of the most recognized and celebrated pedals in our history. With the V2, we've kept everything we've built and made it even more advanced, simply giving you more flexibility and options in your drive pedal. Let's see what it can do.

From the start of Supro in 1935 until its demise in 1968, no other amplifier brand had such a fascinating, mysterious and legendary story. The Supro® amps defined the tone of rock and roll, from Jimmy Page's legendary Led Zeppelin recordings and Brian Setzer's early Stray Cats tracks to the thumping sounds of Drew Shirley of Switchfoot. If you've ever played one of these vintage amps, you know there's nothing quite like a sound like it. No matter how loud you turn it up, it produces a smooth yet penetrating tone that has made it into countless recordings over the last 75 years.

At its heart, the JHS SuperBolt overdrive pedal is a discrete circuit designed to emulate the tone and character of 1960s Supro® amps. With touch sensitivity that subsides tube color at higher gain settings, the SuperBolt is versatile enough to forge new tones with any guitar rig, evoking some of the greatest sounds ever recorded. Three simple control knobs, labeled VOLUME, TONE, and DRIVE, plus a GAIN toggle switch, will inject vintage soul and attitude into any guitar rig.

To understand how the SuperBolt works, let's start with the DRIVE knob. Turning up the DRIVE feels like turning up the volume knob on a small boxy vintage amp: the more you turn it, the more distortion you get. Next, the VOLUME knob acts like a master volume. None of the vintage Supro® amps have this control, but it works perfectly to get the SuperBolt's DRIVE knob to create louder distortion and the VOLUME knob to dial it down. The V2 has an improved taper with a wider "sweet spot" so you can dial in the volume that's just right for you. The third knob is the TONE control, which stays true to the design of many of these vintage amps. Our TONE control will be a breath of fresh air for those who are tired of the useless, treble-dominated TONE controls out there. Fully clockwise produces a biting, sharp tone that is extremely usable and easy on the ears; fully counterclockwise produces a darker, more focused tone suitable for jazz and more subtle styles.

The GAIN toggle switch has two gain settings, similar to a High/Low input jack found on many amplifiers from the 50s and 60s. The down position gives you the cleanest, slightly darker and more mellow tone. The up position gives you the most rock-hard sound with huge headroom and more distortion in the highs and mids. When the GAIN toggle switch is engaged the status LED turns red. The GAIN toggle switch can also be remotely switched using the 1/4" jack on the right side of the pedal. With the pedal in its normal setting, use the Red remote to instantly access a second tone without taking up any extra space on your pedalboard.

The Superbolt is powered by a 9V power supply, but the 9V is boosted internally to 18V to give it massive punch, headroom, and overall powerful character. Please do not use an 18V power supply with the Superbolt.

The overall tone of this pedal is open and full, without the compression of many overdrives on the market. The compression of this pedal drives more beautifully and matches any rig - we've tried many. If you want to boost your amp for a natural overdrive, you've never heard anything like it with the SuperBolt. This pedal will turn any amp into a blazing distortion machine. If you need a classic tool for any style in your rig, the SuperBolt is for you. We believe this pedal is truly unique among the many overdrives on the market...try it today and see the difference!

The power supply can be a standard 9V DC/100mA center negative adapter.
Size: 56.0mm x 109.2mm x 38.1mm

If you like the Superbolt, you'll also love the Ruby Red 2-in-1 Overdrive/Boost pedal...click on the product name to find out more!!

History of versions:
V1 = 3 controls, Hi/Lo toggle switch, and some of the early stamped ones have a "3 stage lightning bolt", most others have a 4 stage bolt.
V2 = The Hi/Lo toggle switch has been changed to a GAIN toggle switch and a Red remote system has been added.