Jet Pedals Lion

What makes the Lion stand out from a plain three-knob distortion is its three selectable clipping circuits, named Cyan, White and Yellow, its preset system, and an internal 18V charge pump that runs the analog circuit at higher voltage than the 9V supply feeding it¹².

Three clipping circuits: Cyan, White and Yellow

The Lion's core sound comes from three distortion circuits you can switch between, each using a different clipping arrangement¹:

The differences matter to how the pedal feels. Delicious Audio notes that the Lion loads up by default with the symmetrical silicone diode circuit, "which offers the most amount of compression," suited to heavy thick chording or saturated lead lines². Asymmetrical clipping in the White circuit and the higher forward voltage of red LEDs in the Yellow circuit give the player two other characters to choose from without touching the knobs.

Controls

The pedal keeps its control surface simple, with four knobs and two footswitches¹:

Because the High Cut circuit sits after the gain stage, it shapes the presence of the distorted signal rather than the signal going into the clipping, which lets you fine tune the overall presence of your sound¹. The Preset switch does several jobs: tap it to activate Preset Mode, press and hold for half a second to cycle through presets, and double-press to activate the Lead Boost¹.

Presets and MIDI control

The Lion runs in two modes. In Live Mode the knobs are always active and you play it like a conventional pedal; in Preset Mode the knobs are inactive and the pedal recalls stored settings, with quick access between the two². The manual describes the workflow: while in Live Mode, select your desired algorithm and set all the knobs to their desired positions before a CC Snapshot is taken⁴.

• 3 selectable onboard presets, with knobs inactive in preset mode¹
• 100 onboard presets available with the use of a MIDI controller, with any circuit savable to any preset location²
• Full MIDI control over every knob, switch and feature²

A practical detail for preset users: the Gain and Tone knobs do not have illuminated knobs, so the Preset and Bypass LEDs flash when a knob is moved away from its saved position and return solid when it is back at the saved preset location⁴.

Changing the MIDI channel

From the factory the Lion receives MIDI messages on channel 1, and this can be changed on startup⁴:

1. Apply power and hold down the Preset switch while the pedal is in startup mode, with the Volume and High Cut knobs at their startup positions⁴
2. The Bypass LED flashes the current channel number⁴
3. Press the Bypass switch to increment the channel by 1; channels run 1 through 16, and after 16 the count starts over⁴
4. Release the Preset switch to save⁴

Lead Boost

Double tapping the Preset footswitch engages an instant Lead Boost. The boost level is user definable from 1 to 4, with a factory default of 1, and the chosen level can be stored in permanent memory through the startup configuration menu's Lead Boost level setting². For players who want a dedicated volume jump for solos, this puts a simple boost inside the pedal itself.

Power: 9V, 200mA, with an 18V charge pump

The Lion runs on a 9V DC supply with a negative tip, which is not included, and JET Pedals states it requires 200mA or larger, warning that lower power may cause performance issues¹. RockBoard's listing gives the same figures: 9V DC, center negative, 200mA⁵.

Inside, the pedal converts that 9V input to 18V with an internal charge pump, which Delicious Audio describes as delivering "maximum headroom and responsive touch dynamics"². JET Pedals credits the internal 18V conversion with the pedal's high headroom and dynamic response¹.

The circuit behind it

The Lion is an op amp based distortion with hard clipping diodes placed after the feedback loop of the op amp¹⁵. That topology places it in the same family as some of the most widely played distortion circuits. JET Pedals says its tone is "inspired by classic circuits like" the Boss DS-1, Pro Co RAT and JHS Angry Charlie¹, and RockBoard's listing likewise calls it closely comparable to those circuits while emphasizing that "it is its own unique circuit"⁵. Delicious Audio describes it as a RAT-style distortion in the same breath as noting it is its own circuit².

So it is not a RAT clone, but a player comparing them will find the same broad recipe: an op amp gain stage with diodes clipping the signal after the feedback loop, a filter to shape the result, and enough gain range to go from grit to saturated lead. The Lion's differences are the three switchable clipping circuits, the preset and MIDI layer, and the 18V internal headroom²¹⁵.

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