JHS Pedals relaunches Ross Electronics with five reissue pedals
January 1, 2023 · 2 sources
JHS Pedals announced the return of Ross Electronics on August 15, 2023, with five pedals: the Ross Compressor, Distortion, Fuzz, Phaser and Chorus1. The project dates to 2020, when Josh Scott approached Cameron Ross, grandson of founder Charles "Bud" Ross, 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 that switches between two modes1. The Compressor uses the same OTA-based compressor circuit as the original, with a reduced noise floor, soft switching, top-mounted jacks and a Vintage/Bright switch1. The Chorus is an all-analog bucket-brigade design with a V3207 chipset, Rate and Depth controls, and a Chorus/Vibrato switch1. The Distortion is an op-amp hard-clipper with Level and Distort controls and a switch between germanium and silicon modes1. The Fuzz takes its circuit from Kustom amplifiers, with Level and Fuzz controls and Vintage/Modern voicings1. The Phaser reproduces an OTA-based Ross phaser circuit with Rate and Recycle controls and a switch between phaser and Uni-Vibe modes1.
A review in Guitar World describes the pedals as having large enclosures, top-mounted sockets and power inputs, and soft-touch bypass footswitches2. It says the Distortion, Phaser and Compressor replicate the circuitry of the '70s US-built pedals, the Chorus is based on a later Taiwan-made pedal, and the Fuzz is not based on any previous pedal2. The review gives the dimensions as 89 (w) x 130 (d) x 55mm (h), with power draw between 37mA and 47mA from a 9V DC adaptor depending on the model2.
"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."
The line was available at launch priced at $1891.