How the circuit works
The Hard Drive's signal path is built from cascaded gain stages and a hard limiting circuit, followed by a class AB amplifier section that drives a "sweepable midrange" EQ and Baxandall bass and treble controls1. A Baxandall control set, familiar from hi-fi and amp tone stacks, gives independent cut and boost of bass and treble, while the sweepable midrange lets a player pick where in the mids to shape, which is the kind of control set usually associated with modern high-gain amps rather than compact pedals.
"In 2016, Josh Scott had the idea to develop a circuit that covered the best high-gain distortion tones of the '90s and 2000s."
The design work was finished by Cliff Smith, and the pedal is not based on a previous circuit or classic topology, so it does not trace back to an older distortion design the way many drives on the market do1.
What reviewers said
Pedal of the Day reviewed the Hard Drive on its release in August 2024. Their reviewer found the pedal could dial in everything from grinding tube amp crunch to a bona fide wall of distortion that can easily cut through any stage or studio mix, and summed it up as a pedal that "instantly transforms your sound into the heavy, amp-crushing tone you've probably been searching for years for"1.
Videos
R.J. Ronquillo
Pedal of the Day
Questions
Is the JHS Hard Drive based on an older distortion circuit?
No. According to Pedal of the Day's review, the Hard Drive is not based on a previous circuit or classic topology. JHS describes it as the company's first attempt, in its fifteen-year history, at a full-blown modern distortion, built from the ground up rather than adapted from a known design.
Who designed the JHS Hard Drive?
Josh Scott, JHS Pedals' founder, had the idea in 2016 to develop a circuit covering the best high-gain distortion tones of the 1990s and 2000s. The final design work was done by Cliff Smith, and the pedal took eight years from conception to release.
What kind of distortion does the JHS Hard Drive make?
It is a modern high-gain distortion. Pedal of the Day found it could dial in everything from grinding tube amp crunch to a wall of distortion that cuts through a stage or studio mix, and said it transforms your sound into heavy, amp-crushing tone.
How long did the JHS Hard Drive take to develop?
Eight years. Josh Scott conceived the idea in 2016, and the pedal arrived as a new release in 2024, with final design work by Cliff Smith.
Sources (1)
- JHS Pedals Hard Drive Modern Distortion, Pedal of the Day, 2024-08-15
