JHS introduce the Twin Twelve, a pedal that reproduces the preamp and overdrive tones of the Silvertone 1484 Twin Twelve Amplifier.
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This pedal is meant to faithfully capture and replicate the tones found on the humble amp that started small yet ended up being used by big name guitarists and professionals.
So what separates the Twin Twelve from the ocean of overdrive pedals available in the market? According to its designer, this pedal gives out a unique classic tone that closely resembles the Silvertone 1484, and behaves much like an old tube amp.
They were able to achieve this by utilizing multiple transistor stages that discretely operates to take the place of the original tubes. Each of these transistor stages are said to be meticulously hand-tuned to achieve the ideal voltage that helps the pedal recreate the valve tone of the original amplifier.
JHS Pedals provided the back story behind the pedal, “In 1963 Silvertone* introduced the 60 Watt Model 1484 guitar amplifier. Originally a student model amplifier, the 1484 has since become legendary, hard to find, and coveted by some of the biggest names in music. From the time of its debut in the Sears Catalog until its discontinuation only four years later in 1967, the model 1484 “Twin Twelve” amplifier is considered a Van Gogh of sorts as it developed a great appreciation and worth years after being discontinued. Artists such as Beck, Death Cab For Cutie, The White Stripes/Jack White, and more recently Vampire Weekend and Coldplay have brought this rare amp to the forefront of popular music. The JHS Pedals “Twin Twelve” channel drive is the first ever all analog stomp box that replicates the classic preamp/overdrive tones only found in the Silvertone 1484 “Twin Twelve” amplifier.
The pedal comes equipped four control knobs, adding a Drive knob to the original amp’s Volume Bass and Treble controls. The volume knob on this pedal acts as the master volume that was not present in the amp, this will let you drive the transistors to high-gain at lower volumes. The drive knob behaves like the volume knob of the original amp, but it is tweaked to give more overdrive and tube saturation. The bass and treble EQ knobs are said to be a very close approximation of the Silvertone’s baxandall tone circuit, with some improvements on balancing the sweep of the EQ knobs. Note that both the bass and treble are active, to allow for better control over the high and low frequencies.
Check out one of the video demos:
I have to say that I’m quite pleased with the sound of this pedal based on the video demos (there are more of them available). They aren’t bluffing when they said that they got the feel of tube amps down.
Since this is a tube amp in pedal format, you can use it in a variety of ways, most notably as a solo booster, as a subtle preamp to beef up your tone, and as your main overdrive. You can also use it for treble boosting, adding more dirt to another overdrive pedal and more.
The JHS Twin Twelve pedal is now available for preorder with a price tag of $199. Visit JHS Pedals for more information.
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