JHS Pedals JHS 4 Wheeler

The JHS 4 Wheeler is a bass fuzz pedal from JHS Pedals, built to sit in a bass rig and push the whole signal into fuzz territory. JHS describes the V2 as covering "everything from 60's jam band to modern electronic fuzz," which puts it in the same family as the wooly, saturated bass fuzz sounds of the late 60s as well as the tighter, more aggressive tones used in modern electronic-influenced music¹.

The pedal is analog, and JHS says there is enough volume and headroom to shake any stage and to drive an amp as hard as you would ever need². It is discontinued: the V2 is listed under discontinued and rare gear on the JHS product pages, so it is no longer in the regular lineup³.

What it does to your bass sound

JHS positions the 4 Wheeler as a pedal that can handle a variety of bass fuzz sounds, from 60's jam band sounds to modern electronic fuzz sounds, with plenty of volume and headroom for any size stage³. In practice that means it covers both the looser, warmer fuzz character associated with jam band records and the tighter, more clipped sounds bass players reach for in electronic and synth-adjacent music.

The circuit also lives on elsewhere in the JHS range: the right side of the JHS Pandamonium pedal is built on the "4 Wheeler Fuzz" circuit, which JHS says can dish out almost any fuzz tone your bass desires⁴. If you find a Pandamonium, you are hearing a close relative of this pedal.

The controls

The 4 Wheeler keeps the control set simple: four knobs and, on the V2, one toggle²³¹.

The Gate knob is the control that sets the 4 Wheeler apart from a standard fuzz. JHS says the gate control "can give you those much desired synth break-offs or just the right amount of jab for that perfect riff"². A gate here means the fuzz cuts off when your note decays past a threshold, so instead of a note slowly fizzling out in hum and hiss, it stops cleanly, the way a synthesizer note ends. Turned up tight, that gives the abrupt synth break-offs JHS describes; set lighter, it adds punch to riffs. RockBoard's write-up adds that the Tone and Fuzz controls, when combined with the Gate control, are perfect for playing synth-like sounds and riffs³.

The Hi/Lo toggle, added on the V2, is a voicing switch rather than a boost. One position gives a deeper sound with more low-end focus than the normal V1 setting, and the other matches the original¹³. For a bass player, that low position is the one to reach for when you want the fundamental of the note to stay fat under the fuzz.

History and versions: V1, V2 and Hand Paint

The 4 Wheeler went through two main versions, and JHS's own product pages lay out the differences plainly²:

Alongside the printed versions, JHS also produced a Hand Paint edition of the 4 Wheeler, part of the company's hand-painted line that includes pedals such as the Calhoun Hand Paint and the Panther Cub V2 Hand Paint⁵. The hand-painted 4 Wheeler carries the same control set and the same description as the printed V2, with the hand-finished enclosure being the difference²⁶.

Power and practical notes

The 4 Wheeler V2 runs on 9V DC with a center negative plug and draws 100mA³. That current draw is on the high side for an analog fuzz, so it is worth planning for a dedicated 9V output on a pedalboard power supply rather than sharing a low-current daisy chain with a handful of other pedals.

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