Visual Sound Jeckyll & Hyde

[Dr. Zontar]

I bought one of these last weekend. It's the first model (silver
case). I took it to my bass player's house to try it through my
Marshall Lead 100 stack. I really liked how it sounded. So much that I
used it on one of the rhythm tracks we recorded.

I left the pedal there. But when I got home, I checked some of the
Harmony Central reviews to get some background info. Unlike most of
the people on HC, I like the Hyde side of the pedal. The Jeckyll side
is basically a tubescreamer, and I've never really liked
tubescreamers. I should try it as a boost to push my amp before I make
up my mind. But right now I think I'll just use it as a boost for
solos. The Hyde side is nice, though. It has every shade of crunch I'd
want, and with a fuzz pedal in front of it, it sustains for hours.

One thing about the HC reviews confused me, though. Some people say
this pedal has a built-in noise reduction with an internal trimpot.
Others claim it was only in the version 2 (red model). Can anyone
verify this? The pedal is still at Scott's house, so I can't open it
up and check. Thanks.

- Rich

[Nil]

Post by Dr. Zontar
One thing about the HC reviews confused me, though. Some people
say this pedal has a built-in noise reduction with an internal
trimpot. Others claim it was only in the version 2 (red model).
Can anyone verify this? The pedal is still at Scott's house, so I
can't open it up and check. Thanks.

I have one of those, too, the first edition. I'm not aware that there
is any noise reduction feature - I don't believe it was mentioned in
the instruction leaflet, and I had talked to Bob Whatsisname (the
Visual Sound guy) a couple of times about the noise and he never
mentioned it.

If I think of it, I'll open it up tonight and let you know if I find
anything.

[Dr. Zontar]

Post by Nil
I have one of those, too, the first edition. I'm not aware that there
is any noise reduction feature - I don't believe it was mentioned in
the instruction leaflet, and I had talked to Bob Whatsisname (the
Visual Sound guy) a couple of times about the noise and he never
mentioned it.

There's may also be a bass boost too. At least the v2 has it. What do
you think of the pedal? I like the Billy Gibbons-ish crunch and
harmonics I can get with it. I usually set the dirty channel of my amp
like that, then hit it with a fuzz for extra sludge when I need it.

Post by Nil
If I think of it, I'll open it up tonight and let you know if I find
anything.

Thanks. It's really not a burning issue. I have a Rocktron Hush NR if
the noise gets too bad (maybe with both sides engaged). But the bass
boost would be nice to have.

- Rich

[Nil]

Post by Dr. Zontar
Thanks. It's really not a burning issue. I have a Rocktron Hush NR
if the noise gets too bad (maybe with both sides engaged). But the
bass boost would be nice to have.

Here it is with its guts exposed. There are no trim pots. "No user
servicable parts inside", as they say.

Loading Image...

[Dr. Zontar]

Post by Nil

Post by Dr. Zontar
Thanks. It's really not a burning issue. I have a Rocktron Hush NR
if the noise gets too bad (maybe with both sides engaged). But the
bass boost would be nice to have.

Here it is with its guts exposed. There are no trim pots. "No user
servicable parts inside", as they say.
http://home.comcast.net/~esionder/temp/JekyllHyde.jpg

Thanks for doing that. It looks like I may dig out the Hush pedal to
use with it.

- Rich

[LULU]

Post by Dr. Zontar
One thing about the HC reviews confused me, though. Some people say
this pedal has a built-in noise reduction with an internal trimpot.
Others claim it was only in the version 2 (red model). Can anyone
verify this? The pedal is still at Scott's house, so I can't open it
up and check. Thanks.
- Rich

I'm not sure about the older model J&H, but the V2 has internal
adjustments for both the noise gate and bass, IIRC. Here's a .pdf
manual with a "800" number included. Give Visual Sound a call.
Someone should be able to provide the info that you need.

Lulu : )

.pdf manual -
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pdf/man/m_151681.pdf

V2 Jekyll & Hyde - Visual Sounds website -
http://www.visualsound.net/index.php/products/guitar_effects_pedals/v2_jekyll_hyde

[eric weasel]

On 11/3/2010 10:21 AM, LULU wrote:
Owner's Manual from the VS website:
http://www.visualsound.net/PDF/VS%20Manual%20Jekyll%20Hyde%20COMP.pdf

Includes instructions for adjustment of trim-pots.

eric

[Geetar Dave]

Post by Dr. Zontar
I bought one of these last weekend.

I had the silver one for a long time, and LOVED the TS. Sometimes Hyde
was great, other times not; and I could never figure out why it (and/
or I) was so fickle. I sold mine about a year ago to a friend, and he
sold it on Craigslist. every few months I see it up on CL again. I
recognize the layout of the velcro I put on the bottom.

The newer versions of the VS pedals are just goofy-lookin' though.
They look all bloated, like they're in their "Fat Elvis" period or
something.

-dave-----:::
www.myspace.com/geetardave

[Nil]

Post by Geetar Dave
The newer versions of the VS pedals are just goofy-lookin' though.
They look all bloated, like they're in their "Fat Elvis" period or
something.

I think they look better now. My old one looks like the case was made
by a high school metal shop student. I once gaffer-taped the pedal to
the floor, and when I took the tape off, most of the silk-screen
printing on it came off, too. Looks like it was attacked by moths.

I like the TS part, and the fuzz part's pretty good too, but it's quite
noisy.

[The Interceptor]

Post by Dr. Zontar
I bought one of these last weekend. It's the first model (silver
case). I took it to my bass player's house to try it through my
Marshall Lead 100 stack. I really liked how it sounded. So much that I
used it on one of the rhythm tracks we recorded.
I left the pedal there. But when I got home, I checked some of the
Harmony Central reviews to get some background info. Unlike most of
the people on HC, I like the Hyde side of the pedal. The Jeckyll side
is basically a tubescreamer, and I've never really liked
tubescreamers. I should try it as a boost to push my amp before I make
up my mind. But right now I think I'll just use it as a boost for
solos. The Hyde side is nice, though. It has every shade of crunch I'd
want, and with a fuzz pedal in front of it, it sustains for hours.
One thing about the HC reviews confused me, though. Some people say
this pedal has a built-in noise reduction with an internal trimpot.
Others claim it was only in the version 2 (red model). Can anyone
verify this? The pedal is still at Scott's house, so I can't open it
up and check. Thanks.
- Rich

I had the first red version. Can't answer your query, but it was an
interesting pedal. I never did get into the TS side - just sounded too
muddy for me. The Hyde side was a love/hate relationship - sometimes I
loved the tone, but other times I found it brittle and annoying. It went on
and off my pedal board so many times. I had to sell it to stop it from
tormenting me.

That said, if I saw one of the latest ones for a bargain price, I'd probably
consider it. And regret it later.

Brett

[Geetar Dave]

Post by The Interceptor
The Hyde side was a love/hate relationship - sometimes I
loved the tone, but other times I found it brittle and annoying.  

This exactly describes my experience as well. Sometimes it would just
absolutely roar. Then other times it would sound feeble, or the two
sides wouldn't blend well at all, no matter what settings I used. I
ended up wanting to replace the Hyde side since it was so
inconsistent. So I put my trusty old Tube Screamer on the board, and
found a different distortion pedal that mated well with it.

But I still think that the "Jekyll" circuit is one of the best TS
clones out there. I wonder if the newer versions have a more
consistent "Hyde." When that circuit was dialed-in right, it was
REALLY right.

-dave-----;;;
www.myspace.com/geetardave

[Nil]

Post by Geetar Dave
But I still think that the "Jekyll" circuit is one of the best TS
clones out there. I wonder if the newer versions have a more
consistent "Hyde." When that circuit was dialed-in right, it was
REALLY right.

Did you know you can get them separately now? VS now sells the Jekyll
and the Hyde components as individual pedals, as well as the old double
J&H.

[Geetar Dave]

Post by Nil
Did you know you can get them separately now? VS now sells the Jekyll
and the Hyde components as individual pedals, as well as the old double
J&H.

Yep. But I have a real Tube Screamer and I also have a Fulldrive II,
so I have that sound. I found a distortion pedal that mated well with
them, and so I've been using those separate pedals ever since.

I am a fan of Visual Sound though. I once spent about half an hour on
the phone with Bob Weil (this was back in 99 or so), and had a nice
chat about pedals and tone shaping. Nice guy.

The H20 pedal is one of the few chorus effects I have liked any time
recently, and its analog delay is fairly tasty. They have a new series
of individual pedals that have caught my ear (the "Open Road" in
particular), and I think their "hubcap" sound dispersing speaker-cover
on their amps is a stroke of genius.

-dave-----;;;
www.myspace.com/geetardave