Anyone experience feedback issues with JHS pedals?

[Mikelamury]

I've tried 4 JHS pedals now (packrat, 3series screamer, delay and compressor) and I've noticed that when they are turned on with my other pedals that they create runaway uncontrollable feedback. If I have just use the pedal (s) turned on and everything else in the chain turned off they work fine but when I turn any other pedals on with them it creates the feedback really bad. I sent the packrat into JHS for repair and they replaced the circuit and it still does it as do the other JHS pedals I've since bought. Has anyone else had a problem with JHS pedals?

 

[GuitarStv]

I've only got their PG-14 pedal, but have no issues at all with it running along with any of my other pedals. Stupid question, but are you only getting the runaway feedback when running the gain pedals or with all of them? Running a rat, screamer, and compressor could easily push you close to uncontrollable feedback territory.

 

[Bogner]

What are the other pedals and what order? Are your cables good? Do you have good power?

 

[Mincer]

Yes, sometimes the power source can do this. Does it happen if you have the distortion fairly low on the dirt pedals, too?

 

[Mikelamury]

What are the other pedals and what order? Are your cables good? Do you have good power?

Yes cables and power adapter are good. I'm using a fender full moon distortion which I just swapped the packrat out for and a angry driver which I have set to low blues driver setting and a tuner and the screamer. I've already returned the compressor and delay as it was just too noisy with all of them. And there was a GE7 equalizer in the signal chain when the JHS pedals where in the chain. I can get them to work by themselves and still get the screamer to work when I turn on the distortion but when I turn on the blues driver and other pedals after that it starts the feedback. It's getting very frustrating as I've had to just take the JHS pedals out of the signal chain for it to be silent. When I get my new Marshall in the mail I'm going to take some of the pedals off as I'm going to use the amp distortion so hopefully I can get the screamer to be silent with the Marshall with less pedals in the chain

 

[Mincer]

Maybe the Blues Driver is slamming the other pedals? A gain-staging issue?

 

[NegativeEase]

I would guess your gain stacking, speakers and type of pickup is creating this.

 

[GuitarStv]

I use my PG-14 with a blues driver pretty regularly. The BD-2 does have a huge amount of output in it . . . What settings are you using on it? It's an easy pedal to overdo. If I have the gain at noon and the volume at 9 o'clock I'm starting to make the guitar louder.

I usually run the pedals at pretty low output / low gain when I'm running them together.

 

[Mikelamury]

I use my PG-14 with a blues driver pretty regularly. The BD-2 does have a huge amount of output in it . . . What settings are you using on it? It's an easy pedal to overdo. If I have the gain at noon and the volume at 9 o'clock I'm starting to make the guitar louder.

I usually run the pedals at pretty low output / low gain when I'm running them together.

I have the blues driver gain at 9 o'clock and the level at 1 o'clock.

I do have a distortion and 2 overdrive pedals in the chain but I have them all set fairly low. The distortion is at 11 o'clock and the screamer was around noon and the blues driver set low. Do you think that's what causing it?

 

[GuitarStv]

I have the blues driver gain at 9 o'clock and the level at 1 o'clock.

I do have a distortion and 2 overdrive pedals in the chain but I have them all set fairly low. The distortion is at 11 o'clock and the screamer was around noon and the blues driver set low. Do you think that's what causing it?

It might be. The BD-2 should be boosting pretty hard with those settings . . . so if it's boosting into something with a little gain and you've got the volume on your amp up, feedback is likely to happen. How loud are you playing when you notice the problem?

 

[Bogner]

Anytime you start stacking gain pedals on top of each other there is a high potential for unwanted noise. Even though each pedal is set fairly low when you layers them it adds up. Have you tried all the pedals in the signal without stacking the gain pedals and just used one gain pedal by itself to see what the noise level is? I would have all the pedals I use in the chain and just use one at a time and see what produces the most noise. I would add things in from there (meaning turning on more than one pedal at a time) and see what it is that is pushing things over the edge. That would be a good way to isolate things.

On a side note, I don't know that it is completely necessary to use a bunch of gain or drive pedals together on low settings to achieve your desired tone. I don't know your rig and I don't know what your desired sound is so maybe it is necessary but I lean towards it not being the case. The more you add to the chain, the more chance for issues of all kinds.

Regarding JHS pedals being noisy, the few have are not noisy and work well with other pedals. If you do feel you need to use multiple pedals stacked to get your tone, I would throw some noise gates into the mix as well.

 

[Mikelamury]

Anytime you start stacking gain pedals on top of each other there is a high potential for unwanted noise. Even though each pedal is set fairly low when you layers them it adds up. Have you tried all the pedals in the signal without stacking the gain pedals and just used one gain pedal by itself to see what the noise level is? I would have all the pedals I use in the chain and just use one at a time and see what produces the most noise. I would add things in from there (meaning turning on more than one pedal at a time) and see what it is that is pushing things over the edge. That would be a good way to isolate things.

On a side note, I don't know that it is completely necessary to use a bunch of gain or drive pedals together on low settings to achieve your desired tone. I don't know your rig and I don't know what your desired sound is so maybe it is necessary but I lean towards it not being the case. The more you add to the chain, the more chance for issues of all kinds.

Regarding JHS pedals being noisy, the few have are not noisy and work well with other pedals. If you do feel you need to use multiple pedals stacked to get your tone, I would throw some noise gates into the mix as well.

That's a good idea about the noise gate. Would the boss noise suppressor work or is that for different kinds of noise? I'm using the 3 pedals together because I use the distortion for distortion (obviously) and I'm using the blues driver to boost my bottom end as the full moon distortion doesn't have the thickest low end( I think it's part of the great clarity at high gain tactic fender used for designing the pedal) and I use the screamer for overdriven tones to complement the distortion.

 

[Mincer]

It may be noisy with multiple gain pedals, but it seems like the real issue is the feedback. A limiter might help, but I might try to approximate the actual tone without boosting the signal so much.

 

[Bogner]

That's a good idea about the noise gate. Would the boss noise suppressor work or is that for different kinds of noise? I'm using the 3 pedals together because I use the distortion for distortion (obviously) and I'm using the blues driver to boost my bottom end as the full moon distortion doesn't have the thickest low end( I think it's part of the great clarity at high gain tactic fender used for designing the pedal) and I use the screamer for overdriven tones to complement the distortion.

The Boss NS-2 works. There are a lot better (IMO) but it can handle the job. I am on the high gain side of things so I have found better but for non over the top heavy tones it will work fine for you. It still sounds to me like you are nailing the amp with so many pedals together that it is causing you some issues. Once an issue is magnified, everything in the signal path helps amplify it from pickups to amp, etc. The louder you play the more magnified the problem is as well.

Back to the Noise Gate issue, you mentioned the Boss but for even less money and I feel it is a better and more versatile product, I would go with the Donner Soph Gate. I believe it retails for around 75 bucks and often times there is a sale or discount code. They sell out of them quick but that would be my bang for the buck gate for your rig if I were in your position. Did you isolate the pedals and then add to them like I mentioned doing previously? I would be curious to what you discovered.

 

[Mikelamury]

The Boss NS-2 works. There are a lot better (IMO) but it can handle the job. I am on the high gain side of things so I have found better but for non over the top heavy tones it will work fine for you. It still sounds to me like you are nailing the amp with so many pedals together that it is causing you some issues. Once an issue is magnified, everything in the signal path helps amplify it from pickups to amp, etc. The louder you play the more magnified the problem is as well.

Back to the Noise Gate issue, you mentioned the Boss but for even less money and I feel it is a better and more versatile product, I would go with the Donner Soph Gate. I believe it retails for around 75 bucks and often times there is a sale or discount code. They sell out of them quick but that would be my bang for the buck gate for your rig if I were in your position. Did you isolate the pedals and then add to them like I mentioned doing previously? I would be curious to what you discovered.

I did isolate the pedals and it happens to start squealing when I add in the jhs screamer. All my other pedals work perfectly quiet until I add a jhs pedal to the chain. Adding them one by one I can have them all on and no noise until I turn on the jhs screamer. If I put the screamer on first I can get that and the distortion on quietly but when I turn on the blues driver it starts acting up. Thanks for the noise gate suggestion I'll definitely check it out.

 

[Bogner]

I did isolate the pedals and it happens to start squealing when I add in the jhs screamer. All my other pedals work perfectly quiet until I add a jhs pedal to the chain. Adding them one by one I can have them all on and no noise until I turn on the jhs screamer. If I put the screamer on first I can get that and the distortion on quietly but when I turn on the blues driver it starts acting up. Thanks for the noise gate suggestion I'll definitely check it out.

It's a stacking issue.

 

[Mincer]

It's a stacking issue.

This is what I think, too. I don't think it is the pedals themselves. What if you set each pedal at unity gain (adding distortion, but no boost at all).

 

[Mikelamury]

This is what I think, too. I don't think it is the pedals themselves. What if you set each pedal at unity gain (adding distortion, but no boost at all).

What exactly do you mean by unity gain? Do you mean have all the levels at noon? Sorry I'm fairly new to the pedal game.

 

[Mincer]

What exactly do you mean by unity gain? Do you mean have all the levels at noon? Sorry I'm fairly new to the pedal game.

Set them so the volume doesn't change when you turn them on (just the drive pedals).

 

[Mikelamury]

It's a stacking issue.

Thanks for the help, I found a soph gate for 60 and ordered it.