Vemuram Jan Ray

The Vemuram Jan Ray is a boutique analog overdrive pedal, handcrafted in Japan by Vemuram with high-quality components and a robust enclosure. Vemuram designed it to reproduce the punchy, clear tones of 1960s Blackface Fender amps, a sound often described as the "Fender Magic 6"¹. Delicious Audio's Paolo De Gregorio calls it probably Vemuram's most popular pedal, and says it recreates the classic Fender Magic 6 tone when pushed².

The pedal carries four knobs, Volume, Gain, Bass and Treble, plus an internal Saturation trimmer, and RockBoard's PedalPedia describes it as suitable for both transparent drive and amp-like breakup tones¹. It is also one of the most discussed pedals in the boutique overdrive world, because DIY builders who traced the circuit found it to be a slightly modified Paul C. Timmy, a claim at odds with Vemuram presenting it as an original design³.

A Blackface Fender sound in a pedal

The Jan Ray's stated purpose is specific: capture the sound of a 1960s Blackface Fender amp being pushed. RockBoard's product listing says it was "designed to reproduce the punchy, clear tones of 1960s Blackface Fender amps, often described as the 'Fender Magic 6'"¹. Delicious Audio echoes this, writing that the pedal "recreates the classic 'Fender Magic 6' tone when pushed"².

For a player, that means the pedal is aimed at the clean-ish, amp-like breakup territory rather than heavy distortion. Vemuram positions it as working for both transparent drive, where it adds grit without changing the core tone, and amp-like breakup, where it behaves more like a cranked combo¹. The four external knobs sit in a familiar layout: on That Pedal Show, the hosts described the arrangement as "level top left, gain top right, bass and treble" on the bottom⁷.

The enclosure is brass, a signature of Vemuram's build style. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson refers to "the brass-enclosed Vemuram Jan Ray typicaly going for £349 in the UK"⁶, and in a February 2025 piece noted the Jan Ray "would set you back ($375)"⁵.

Inside the circuit: op-amp, clipping diodes and the Saturation trimmer

The Jan Ray's circuit has been traced and discussed in detail by the DIY community, and that analysis is what made the pedal famous beyond its sound⁸⁹³.

Gain stage and clipping

The circuit is built around an LM1458 dual op-amp, though builders report that any dual op-amp will work in its place, including the 4558, LM833 and TL072¹⁰. Four diodes do the clipping, with two diodes following each other in series in each direction, making the clipping less pronounced and "uncompressing" the sound¹⁰. The original circuit had two series diode pairs in each direction; the widely shared DIY layout adds a switch for diode selection, giving the option of the Timmy's more compressed mode¹⁰.

The Saturation trimmer

The internal trimmer is the Jan Ray's main point of difference from a stock Timmy circuit. On the Vemuram website it is called the Saturation trimmer¹⁰. Delicious Audio describes it practically:

Delicious Audio, 2020²

Turning it down makes the pedal more transparent; dialing it up tames the high end for a fatter, more compressed tone². Technically, the 10K trimmer sits in series with a 680R resistor and in parallel with a 9.1k resistor, giving a resistance range between 630R and 4K9 where the Timmy uses a fixed 3.3k resistor¹⁰³. The original pedal uses a 3386H trimmer, not a 3296 multi-turn¹⁰.

Version differences

Is the Jan Ray a Timmy clone?

This is the question the Jan Ray is best known for, and the answer depends on who you ask.

The circuit evidence comes from the DIY community. Coda Effects, having traced and built the circuit, stated flatly that Vemuram "sold the Jan Ray, a pedal proven to be a slightly modified Paul C. Timmy, while claiming it was an original design"³. A builder on Guitar FX Layouts who completed a verified build reported: "it sounds frickin' great! (it should, since it sounds just about exactly like a Timmy)"¹⁰.

The component-level comparison backs this up, with small differences. The Tone pot is 10K where the Lovepedal Amp 11, another established Timmy derivative, uses 5K, shifting that pot's frequency response; otherwise the components match or fall within tolerance¹⁰. One layout correction, changing a bias resistor from 1K5 to 7K5, made the ratio exactly the same as in the Timmy¹⁰.

The press is more measured. Guitar Pedal X describes the Jan Ray as "somewhat evolved and differentiated" from the Timmy⁴, and notes the timing: the Jan Ray appeared around 2012/13, when there were no official Timmys to be had⁴. That Pedal Show puts it as "some say inspired by (some say a copy of) the Timmy pedal"⁹.

The lineage has spread widely. Coda Effects built its own Jan Ray clone with a laser engraved logo and the same vintage Fender-style knobs³, and Guitar Pedal X has covered Jan Ray-based pedals including the Gigahearts January Dynamic Overdrive³ and the Adag Audio Seagull Transparent Overdrive, an Indonesian take on the circuit³. In 2019, Ibanez and Vemuram announced the TSV808 at Winter NAMM, a collaboration pedal blending the Tube Screamer with the Jan Ray, each firm's most notable pedals¹¹.

What reviewers and builders said

On That Pedal Show, the hosts called the Jan Ray "maybe the bougiest of all bougie overdrive pedals, apart from a Klon," and put its price at "400 and something" quid⁷. In a 2026 episode they also compared it directly against the Boss BE-5M's OD/Dist sounds from the mid-1980s multi-effects era¹².

Mick and Dan, That Pedal Show⁷

The DIY verdict was positive on the sound itself. The verified Guitar FX Layouts build found it "sounds frickin' great," while noting it sounds essentially like a Timmy¹⁰. Coda Effects' own build reports were enthusiastic about the tone but practical about construction: the Jan Ray is "quite annoying to make on vero, mainly because of the four knobs to wire"⁸. The blog also noted that more gain is available with a simple mod, using a bigger value gain pot such as 1M instead of 500K¹⁰.

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