What is the JHS 3 Series Screamer?
JHS 3 Series Screamer
This week, we’re releasing a brand new 3 Series pedal into the world: the Screamer.
Okay, yes, it’s another Tube Screamer. Does the world need another Tube Screamer? Probably not. Are there already literally hundreds of Tube Screamer-style pedals on the market right now? Yes, there are. But hear me out: the Screamer may be a modified version of the most popular guitar effect ever made, but it still has something unique to offer.
Basically, it's super usable, it's insanely versatile and it gives you the JHS Strong Mod in a pocket-sized enclosure. Plus it's only $99, which is like two cups of coffee. This pedal deserves to exist, people.
First, though, let me explain how we got here. If this were a movie, I’d add in a record scratch sound effect and a pithy voiceover, but I think we can skip that for now.
The Evolution of the 3 Series Screamer
I first started tinkering with the circuit of the Tube Screamer around 2008 when I was learning to modify and build pedals and to understand classic circuitry. In 2009, I developed a modification for the Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer called the JHS Strong Mod. It became a very popular alternative for people who liked the OG Tube Screamer, but wanted it to be louder and clearer. This kind of mod was unique enough that no one else was doing it, so it made for good business.
Even so, as I modded the TS9s, I remember saying, “I'll never make a Tube Screamer pedal. There's just too many of them. But I'll do the mods.” That didn’t last long. To paraphrase my good friend Harvey Dent, you either die a modder or live long enough to see yourself develop a Tube Screamer.
Here’s what happened: a good friend of mine said, “Hey, can you build a dual enclosure and put the Tube Screamer and your Morning Glory together?” I said yes, and the Double Barrel was created. Ten years later, we’re still making the Double Barrel, so players seem to like it. But even so, people kept hounding me to release the Tube Screamer version inside of the Double Barrel as a standalone pedal. Again, I said yes, and we created the singular Tube Screamer pedal called the JHS 808.
Now, the JHS 808 did really well, but I simply did not want to do a traditional Tube Screamer in the JHS lineup, so we discontinued it so we could do a different take on the circuit. The original idea was to make a Tube Screamer for bass players, which was called the Low Drive. The Low Drive sold well, but not the way we expected: instead of bassists, all of these famous guitarists started using it because of the low end content it let through. One thing led to another, so we updated the Low Drive and made the Moonshine, which is technically the V2 of the Low Drive, which is a modified version of the JHS 808, whose circuit was originally pulled from the Double Barrel, which was developed from the first Tube Screamer JHS Strong Mod.
It’s so simple, you guys.
Alongside the update to the Moonshine a little bit later, I finished my second multimode pedal, the Bonsai, which featured nine analog Tube Screamer circuits in one enclosure. The Bonsai is one of the bestselling pedals we've ever done, and it includes a JHS mode that recreates the sound of the original JHS Strong Mod from 2009.
Why the Tube Screamer Matters
Now that you've got a little background on the 3 Series Screamer, let’s ask the bigger question: why in the world are there so many Tube Screamer-style pedals out there? It helps if you think of the Tube Screamer as being in the same ballpark as the SM57 microphone, the Fender Stratocaster and the Yamaha NS10 speakers. It’s a basic necessity for all electric guitarists. Everyone uses them. It’s not something to be ashamed of, any more than you should be ashamed of using a light switch or a remote control. We live in the year 2022. This technology is available to us. Why wouldn’t we use it?
The Tube Screamer’s journey first started when BOSS released the Compact Series in 1977, which included a pedal called the OD-1. Two years later, a Maxon engineer took this circuit and altered it into the TS-808 by adding a tone control, a different symmetry of clipping and a couple of other small changes, which then later turned into the TS9. It’s gone through a few different updates over the years, but broadly speaking the Tube Screamer has held its place as the most important pedal ever made.
I would venture to say, if NASA cared to show aliens exactly what guitar pedals are, they would have sent this up on Voyager next to the record of Chuck Berry's “Johnny B. Goode”. This is the pedal of all pedals. It works in literally every single genre, and regardless of whatever else you may think about it, the numbers don’t lie: the Bonsai has consistently outsold every other pedal in the JHS lineup, and for a good reason: all of us use Tube Screamers.
Obviously, you’re going to get more out of this if you go back and watch the jams in the episode this article was based on, but if you don’t, here are the highlights of what we uncovered through this week’s episode:
If you lower the gain and pump up the volume, you can brighten up your tone quite a bit. In fact, it pains me to say this, but those settings really tighten up the low end, too. That’s a buzzword (phrase?) and I hate that I had to use it, but it’s true, and I did… so deal with it. Tube Screamer style circuits are known for this.
You can stack literally anything with a Tube Screamer. I’d even venture to say that the 3 Series Screamer is even more stackable because of the way our mods open up some of that crunchiness in the mid-range.
You can use a Tube Screamer on bass. In fact, sometimes in professional recordings and professional live music sets, the sound tech purposely removes some low end. The 3 Series Screamer does that for you for $99. Not too shabby.
The Tube Screamer is amazing. It’s a classic for a reason, and I 100% stand by my theory that this is the pedal we should send into space. The Tube Screamer is the definition of versatility; it works in every single genre, everything from jazz to country to heavy metal.
TLDR: just grab a Tube Screamer and play it with an open mind, and chances are you’ll have just found yourself a new favorite pedal. If you want to buy the 3 Series Screamer, cool. If you want to buy one of the other million other variants out here, cool.
Just try a Tube Screamer. That's what's important.