JHS Superbolt, Vintage Supro tones in a little blue box.

Nick Heser

August 14 2018

                                   

Killer vintage Supro overdrive tones, as made famous by the early Led Zeppelin recordings.

The JHS Superbolt V4 is the latest and most updated version of JHS's popular 'Supro in a box' pedal.  The newest version of the pedal offers increased gain, wider tonal range and the clever introduction of an added output jack, for controlling the pedals gain boost switch. With the use of JHS's Red Remote foot switch (sold separately) , Superbolt owners can  toggle between low and high gain setting via footswitch.   This allows for a two channel, amp like operation of the pedal, and when plugged into a clean amp, can turn any amp into a three channel vintage tone beast.  

Tones! The Superbolt V4 has quite a surprising range of tones within it. Grabbing a Strat and plugging the Superbolt into a Fender Super Champ, the tones were big, bold and unapologetic. In a good way! The tones in the low gain setting (blue) were addicting to say the least. Big and massive vintage mojo, akin to early Hendrix and Page. In the lower gain settings the Superbolt sounded very similar to a vintage Fender Tweed amp, yet with a slightly brighter mid range and darker, fluffier low end. The response was VERY dynamic and chalk full of a satisfying 'squish' with every expressive pick attack. Turning up the gain in low gain mode revealed some nice and fat vintage Hendrix tones! Now it was time for a Tele! I plugged in a Fender GE Smith Telecatser and was instantly loving the chirpy Page tones I was getting from it. Led Zepplin I and II tones all the way! As addicting as this set up was I had to put the Tele down and try a Les Paul... I went and procured a 59 reissue Les Paul and decided to switch amps to something a bit more British flavored. This time I ran the Superbolt into the clean channel of a Friedman BE100 (plexi). The results were just as amazing! Huge sounding single note riffs and big harmonic chords were foaming out of the speakers. The pedal was getting great live Zep tones, a bit of Sabbath and even some grunge era tones with ease and conviction. Switching the Superbolt's gain from blue to the high gain red mode added a fat and fuzzy edge to the tone. This is where the fun really starts. The pedals high gain mode sounds like a cranked up vintage tube amp ready to explode, in the most beautiful and satisfying way. You must truly play it to understand how cool it feels.  Inspiration struck me and I decided to throw in some slap back echo from a Strymon Timeline and I was able to get very close to Page's tone on "You shook me" Yes, this pedal is VERY good!

All in all this is a great little pedal like no other, and very inspiring to play! It has a huge amount of volume on tap, can boost amps very well, and sounds like a vintage Supro about to explode. The internal voltage booster allows for it to operate at 18 volts from a 9 volt power supply. This is what give the pedal its incredibly amp like feel and response. If you crave big and fat vintage tones, this little blue box is a winner and worthy of your attention!

Mike Hermans demo of the original Superbolt. The new one (V4) sounds just as good!