JHS Pedals unveils 424 Gain Stage preamp pedal based on Tascam Portastudio

August 11, 2025 · 5 sources

JHS Pedals revealed the 424 Gain Stage on August 11, 2025, after a teaser campaign of riddles and image grids on its Instagram account that set off speculation in gear forums and on social media¹². The pedal is a preamp based on the Tascam Portastudio 424 MK1 multi-track cassette recorder, the device at the center of Mk.gee's guitar rig¹³.

JHS describes the pedal as a "historically accurate recreation" of the 424 MK1¹². According to Gearnews, the circuit uses the original UPC4570 and NJM4565 op-amps⁴. The layout is one footswitch and five knobs: Volume, Bass, Treble, Gain 1 and Gain 2¹². Guitar Pedal X lists the controls as Volume (master), Gain 2 (second-stage gain), Gain 1 (input gain), Bass and Treble, and says the Bass and Treble replicate the Portastudio's Low and High controls³. JHS claims the pedal delivers "rubbery clean tones, high headroom and smashed-out fuzz"¹⁴.

Connections are mono 1/4-inch input and output plus a balanced XLR output with a ground lift switch¹³⁴. Gearnews reports buffered bypass and 9V DC power with no battery option⁴; Guitar Pedal X lists 9V DC at 50mA³. Guitar World later reported soft-touch switching in a standard-sized housing⁵.

The 424 Gain Stage is $249 and available now¹²⁵. JHS said the pedal is not a limited run and that it had more than a thousand units in stock ready to ship¹. Gearnews gave a price of $282⁴, which differs from the $249 cited by Guitar World, Guitar.com and Guitar Pedal X¹²³.