The Haunting Mids is a sweepable-mids EQ preamp from JHS Pedals, and JHS is explicit about what it is not: "The Haunting Mids is not an overdrive pedal, it's a Mids pedal that when paired with an overdrive, will make you scream"1. Where an overdrive pedal adds gain, the Haunting Mids boosts or cuts one band of midrange that you choose, and adds a clean volume boost on top. It belongs to the same family as EQ pedals and preamp pedals, aimed at players who want to shape where they sit in a mix rather than add distortion of their own.
JHS describes it as working well in several situations: on an almost-breaking-up amp to push it into midrange tube-driven territory, with an overly scooped distortion to add bite that cuts through, or to tame an amp or pedal rig that is already too mid-heavy1. Pedal of the Day found it "does an excellent job at driving your favorite tube amp, adding in missing and tasty midrange frequencies to even out and add sparkle to your tone"2.
How much boost it gives
JHS states the pedal "will boost +10dB with EQ flat"1. Pedal of the Day put the ceiling higher, saying it "offers up to +15dB of boost if you need it"2. The Volume knob can also be set at unison, matching your original signal's output, so the pedal works as a pure EQ tool with no level change1.
Controls and the Hi/Lo switch
The pedal has three knobs and one toggle, and they interact: Pedal of the Day notes that "the Mids and Sweep controls interact with each other very closely, as one affects the other"2.
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Overall level; set at unison or use as a volume boost or cut15 |
| Mids | Boosts or scoops the midrange frequencies2 |
| Sweep | Selects which frequencies are boosted or cut; left is low-mids, right is high-mids25 |
| Hi/Lo toggle | Sets the width and sharpness of the frequency curve, like a Q control25 |
The sweepable center frequency ranges from 400Hz to 7.5kHz2, which covers the guitar's midrange from body through presence.
The Hi/Lo toggle is the shaping detail that separates this from a simple mid boost. Pedal of the Day describes the two positions: "Lo offers up a softer, wider and more subtle effect, while Hi is steeper, sharper and more defined"2. In Sweetwater's demo video, Don Carr put it in engineering terms: "the low high toggle switch acts like a cue function by setting the width and sharpness of the frequency curve," with low as "a wider softer peak that has more subtle effect" and high as "a sharp narrow peak that focuses in on a specific frequency"5.
Where it goes in your signal chain
Guitar.com's Cillian Breathnach, writing in a buyer's guide to boost pedals, calls the Haunting Mids "a really powerful pre- or post-overdrive shaper"6. Both placements do different jobs: before a drive pedal it feeds the drive circuit a mid-boosted signal, which changes how the drive clips; after it, it reshapes the mids the drive has already produced. JHS's own framing, pairing it with an overdrive rather than replacing one, points the same way1.
Sweetwater's Don Carr found the effect placement-dependent in another sense: "to me haunting mids is most noticeable and effective on distorted tones especially with a pedal"5. He also noted it "besides adding another foot switchable tone to your arsenal"5, meaning you can leave it off and kick it in only for parts that need to cut.
Where it came from
The Haunting Mids started as a seasonal novelty. JHS explains: "This was a limited edition Halloween thing that we put out for limited release, but we later released it as a normal product"4. It was presented at the NAMM 2018 show in January and released at the end of August 20183, and it remains in the lineup at $149.00 USD1. Guitar World lists it at $149 / £149 / €175 in its 2026 pricing7.
Its circuit has outlived the enclosure. In JHS's PG-14 distortion, an existing JHS pedal's circuitry pushes the front of the new pedal: "You also have the Haunting Mids circuit pushing the front of the PG-14"8. In the JHS demo video, Josh Scott mapped the controls across: "the mid frequency would be sweep on the hunting mids and then mid is the mids control"9.
What reviewers said
Sweetwater's Don Carr demonstrates the pedal control by control in the video below: the Mids knob sets how much the mids are boosted or cut, the Sweep determines which frequencies are boosted or cut, and the Volume is "just an overall volume" for balancing or boosting. His overall take is that the pedal is most noticeable and effective on distorted tones, especially pedal distortion5.
Pedal of the Day called it "a hauntingly excellent boost preamp pedal," praising the chance "to tame or heighten anything you're not" happy with in your midrange2. Delicious Audio's Christopher Scapelliti noted that it "focuses on the most crucial frequency range for guitar (the 'mids') through a sweepable mids boost/cut section and a toggle switch with two EQ bell curves"3.
Videos
JHS Pedals
JHS Pedals
Questions
How much boost does the JHS Haunting Mids give?
JHS says the pedal will boost +10dB with the EQ set flat. Pedal of the Day reported up to +15dB of boost, so the two sources disagree on the ceiling. Either way, the Volume knob can also be set at unison to match your original signal's output, so the pedal can work purely as an EQ shaper with no level change.
Should the Haunting Mids go before or after an overdrive?
Both placements work. Guitar.com's Cillian Breathnach calls it a really powerful pre- or post-overdrive shaper. Before an overdrive it pushes the front of the drive with midrange; after it, it reshapes the mids the drive produces. JHS itself pitches the pedal as a Mids pedal that pairs with an overdrive rather than replacing one.
What frequency range does the Haunting Mids sweep cover?
The sweepable center frequency ranges from 400Hz to 7.5kHz, according to Pedal of the Day. Turning the Sweep knob to the left focuses on the low-mids, while turning it right moves into the high-mids, so you can target anything from body to bite within that range.
How much current does the Haunting Mids draw?
JHS lists the pedal as consuming 13mA from a standard 9V DC negative-center power supply. That is a very light draw, so it shares comfortably with other pedals on a typical isolated or daisy-chain power supply, and it leaves plenty of headroom on a multi-output supply.
What does the Hi/Lo switch on the Haunting Mids do?
It sets the width and sharpness of the EQ curve, like a Q control. Lo gives a wider, softer, more subtle effect; Hi gives a steeper, sharper, more defined peak that focuses on a specific frequency. Sweetwater's Don Carr describes it as acting like a cue function for the frequency curve.
Sources (9)
- HAUNTING MIDS, JHS Pedals
- JHS Pedals Haunting Mids EQ Preamp, Pedal of the Day, 2018-10-31
- JHS Pedals Haunting Mids, Delicious Audio, 2018-08-29
- WHY YOU NEED BOOST PEDALS, JHS Pedals
- JHS Pedals Haunting Mids Pedal Review, Sweetwater, 2018-08-28
- Need a lift in signal? Boost pedals explained, Guitar.com, 2025-08-28
- OctaKing Burstphonic PAF review, Guitar World, 2026-10-12
- OUR MOST VERSATILE DISTORTION: PG-14, JHS Pedals
- Our Most Versatile Distortion: Paul Gilbert PG-14, JHS Pedals (YouTube), 2022-10-14