JHS Pedals relaunches Ross Electronics with five pedals
August 17, 2023 · 2 sources
JHS Pedals announced the return of Ross Electronics on 15 August 2023, unveiling five guitar effects pedals inspired by cult classic designs and a documentary on the brand and its founder, Charles "Bud" Ross1. The project dates back to 2020, when Josh Scott approached Cameron Ross, Bud Ross's grandson, and suggested a partnership to bring the brand back; the pedals are made at JHS Pedals' Kansas, Missouri headquarters1. Ross died on 10 March 20181.
The line comprises the Compressor, Chorus, Distortion, Fuzz and Phaser, each with 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 Vintage and Bright modes; Level controls volume and Sustain controls compression1. The Chorus is an all-analog bucket-brigade design with a V3207 chipset, Rate and Depth controls, and Chorus and Vibrato modes1. The Distortion is an op-amp hard-clipper likened to the Rat, the DOD 250 and the MXR Distortion Plus, with Level and Distort controls and a button toggling "Era 2" germanium and "Era 3" silicon modes1. The Fuzz takes its circuit from Kustom amps, with Level and Fuzz controls and Vintage and Modern voicings1. The Phaser reproduces an OTA-based Ross phaser circuit, with Rate and Recycle (feedback) controls and a button choosing between classic phaser and a late '60s Shin-Ei-esque Uni-Vibe1.
The line is available now, priced $1891. Guitar Pedal X, reviewing the pedals against near-equivalent MXR models, put the same $189 price point on them and wrote that JHS's pedals recreate the Chanute, Kansas, 2nd Era enclosures with modern top-mounted jacks and limited controls, adding that the internals are likely different from the originals2.
"JHS's new Ross pedals recreate the Chanute, Kansas, 2nd Era enclosures, with modern top-mounted jacks and limited controls"
That review called the five "all brilliant replica projects" but described the form factor as "really extremely limited" and the range as "very much a nostalgia surge"2. It picked the Ross Phaser over the MXR Phase 100 for its Uni-Vibe voicing and the Ross Distortion over the MXR Distortion+ for its clipping modes, while preferring the MXR Analog Chorus, DynaComp Deluxe and Hybrid Fuzz2.