JHS Pedals Launches the Paul Gilbert Signature Distortion

January 11, 2020 · 6 sources

JHS Pedals announced the Paul Gilbert signature distortion, the PG-14, a new distortion pedal built to the guitarist's own specifications. The company described it as "a new and unique distortion pedal specifically designed to Paul's specifications," released as a Paul Gilbert artist signature model¹.

The announcement came out of NAMM 2020, where the PG-14 was among the show's new effects pedals. MusicRadar reported that JHS Effects had launched the Paul Gilbert PG-14 distortion pedal, and described it as "the meeting of minds between Gilbert and JHS honcho Josh Scott"²³. Gearnews characterized it as a tube-like FET overdrive pedal, noting that JHS had officially announced the highly anticipated Paul Gilbert PG-14⁴.

Gilbert himself was quoted at the launch on what the pedal offered him²:

What the launch established:

• The PG-14 is a distortion pedal in the JHS lineup, designed to Paul Gilbert's specifications rather than a clone or reissue of an existing circuit¹.
• It is an artist signature model, with Gilbert as its signature player¹.
• Coverage at the time framed it variously as a distortion pedal and as a tube-like FET overdrive, reflecting the pedal's place between those two categories of gain⁴².

Later reviews followed the launch: Guitar Player reviewed it as Paul Gilbert's signature overdrive pedal, and Guitar World reviewed the JHS Paul Gilbert PG-14⁵⁶.