The LS Effects Jolt is a compact overdrive and clean boost pedal from Jacksonville, Florida. It is built around a MOSFET transistor design on a through hole, point-to-point hand soldered circuit board, and it offers two jobs in one box: a transparent clean boost at low gain, or a low to mid gain overdrive when you push it. Pedal of the Day characterizes its drive side as adding "a slight amount of grit to kick your amp up to the next sonic level"1.
The controls
The Jolt keeps things deliberately simple. There are only two knobs:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Volume | Sets the output level |
| Gain | Sets the amount of drive |
"With only 2 simple controls, Volume and Gain, the Jolt is extremely easy to use," the Pedal of the Day review notes1. With the Gain low, the pedal works as a clean boost; turned up, it moves into low to mid gain overdrive territory. The review also lists a completely flat frequency response as a feature, which is the usual claim behind a transparent boost: the pedal adds level and grit without reshaping your core tone1.
How it is built and powered
The circuit uses a MOSFET transistor, a common choice in boost and low gain drive designs, and the board is through hole and point-to-point hand soldered rather than machine assembled1. The pedal is true bypass, so it drops out of the chain entirely when off1.
The Jolt is housed in a heavy duty 16 gauge enclosure, and LS Effects describes it as a smaller enclosure that makes it easy to fit into any signal chain or onto any pedalboard while still producing excellent boost and drive sounds1.
The Jolt is a small-enclosure pedal. Reviewer Mike B wrote that "the smaller enclosure makes it easy to fit into any signal chain or onto any pedalboard, while still producing some excellent boost and drive sounds"1.
What reviewers said
The pedal's published coverage comes from Pedal of the Day, whose reviewer Mike B described LS Effects as a company he discovered "by a chance acquisition of one of their overdrives." His verdict on the Jolt was favorable on practical grounds: the small enclosure fits easily into a signal chain or onto a pedalboard, and he found it produced excellent boost and drive sounds1.
If you are weighing the Jolt against other options, it sits between a dedicated boost pedal and a low gain overdrive pedal: fewer controls than most overdrives, but a wider range than a straight boost1.
Videos
LSEffects
Pedal of the Day
Questions
Is the LS Effects Jolt true bypass?
Yes. Pedal of the Day's review lists the Jolt as true bypass, meaning the pedal is removed from your signal chain entirely when switched off. The same review notes a completely flat frequency response when engaged, so it is pitched as a pedal that leaves your core tone alone whether you use it as a boost or as a low gain overdrive.
What power supply does the LS Effects Jolt use?
The Jolt runs on a standard 9 to 18 volt DC power supply with a negative center pin. That 18 volt ceiling gives players some headroom if they want to run it at a higher voltage, but any standard 9V DC center negative supply will power it.
Does the LS Effects Jolt use a MOSFET?
Yes. Pedal of the Day describes the Jolt as a MOSFET transistor design, with a through hole, point-to-point hand soldered circuit board. MOSFET stages are a common way of building soft, amp-like clipping in drive and boost circuits.
Is the LS Effects Jolt a boost or an overdrive?
Both, depending on how you set it. The review calls it a clean to medium overdrive booster: with the Gain low it works as a transparent clean boost, and pushed further it becomes a low to mid gain overdrive with a slight amount of grit.
Is the LS Effects Jolt hand wired?
Pedal of the Day describes the circuit board as through hole, point-to-point hand soldered, so the Jolt is hand soldered rather than machine assembled. The pedal is also housed in a heavy duty 16 gauge enclosure.
Sources (1)
- LS Effects Jolt Overdrive, Pedal of the Day, 2015-08-25