The JHS All American has four main controls: Volume, Tone, Sweep, Drive, plus a three way Voice switch that controls the type of clipping. First impression is it that the tone and sweep knob have a broad and very effective range. The Sweep control adjusts the frequencies of the clipping, and for the LP the sweet spot was right around the “S” on the metallic red finished case. Full CCW is plenty bright (nice with the Humbuckers) and by moving the sweep CW, total "Tele" taming possible here. For a thicker sounding guitar like an LP, the tone knob set at 7-9 o’clock worked great. Like the Sweep control, the Drive control has a ton of range, from just clipping to dripping with sustain and harmonics.
Moving to the three-way toggle, "UP" is clipping with LED's in the circuit. It's a nice crunch that has a natural tube breakup sound, and you can adjust to taste with the drive knob. Middle on the toggle is Diode clipping, and it is a little fuzzier than the LED's but still in a natural way. Tone-wise it is different versus the LED's, so again another choice. I felt my basic guitar tone stayed pretty true in these two modes, and also reaction to pick attack was pretty natural compared to "real" tube breakup.
Now for some big fun move the toggle down. There is a volume drop and the compression goes up. The drive goes into an open clipping style that is just wild. Even with the Drive knob on 9 o'clock its got tons of sustain. With the P90’s it’s very reminiscent of Leslie West in the heyday of Mountain. Pinch harmonics are easy and with the drive up into the silly zone and it's a blast. Hit an open "A" chord and let it wring out: Soon some frequencies build, others drop out and that "A" rolls over into a nice little sustaining feedback. And all of this is achievable at reasonable volume levels that won’t drive your other half crazy, or have the neighbors pounding on the ceiling.
In summary, the JHS All American is a versatile Fuzz/Overdrive pedal with enhanced tone shaping that covers everything from mild clipping, old-school distortion, to modern higher gain sounds.
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