JHS Pedals relaunches Ross Electronics with five pedals
August 15, 2023 · 2 sources
JHS Pedals announced on 15 August 2023 the return of Ross Electronics, unveiling five guitar effects pedals inspired by classic designs and a documentary on the brand and its founder, Charles "Bud" Ross1. The project dates to 2020, when JHS founder Josh Scott approached Cameron Ross, Bud Ross's grandson, and proposed a partnership to bring the brand back1. The pedals are made at JHS Pedals' Kansas, Missouri headquarters1.
Each pedal has a two-knob setup and a side-mounted button for switchable modes1. The Compressor is an "Era 2" gray box with the same OTA-based compressor circuit, a reduced noise floor, soft-switching, top-mounted jacks and a Vintage/Bright switch; Level controls volume and Sustain controls compression1. The ROSS Chorus is an all-analog bucket-brigade chorus with a V3207 chipset, Rate and Depth controls, and a Chorus/Vibrato switch1. The Distortion is an op-amp hard-clipper likened to the Rat, DOD 250 and MXR Distortion Plus, with Level and Distort controls and a switch between "Era 2" germanium and "Era 3" silicon modes1. The Fuzz takes its circuit from Kustom amps, with Level and Fuzz controls and a Vintage/Modern voicing switch1. The Phaser is a reproduction of an OTA-based Ross phaser circuit with Rate and Recycle (feedback) controls and a switch between phaser and a Uni-Vibe-style mode1.
The line is available now, priced at $1891. MusicRadar reports that Ross died on 10 March 2018, and that many of his pedal and amp designs had attained a cult appeal1. Delicious Audio reports that original Ross Compressors, produced from the early to mid-1970s until around 1980 with a brief later production stint in Taiwan, have sold for up to $1,000 in recent Reverb sales data2.
"The project to bring Ross Electronics back dates back to 2020, when Scott approached Cameron Ross, grandson of Bud, and suggested they go into partnership and bring the brand back."