GEAR REVIEW
JHS THE VIOLET ; LARI BASILIO ’ S SIGNATURE OVERDRIVE | Michael Hodge
• Three-band EQ
KEY FEATURES
• Pre-distortion midrange sweep
• Overdrive to distortion saturation
• Perfect for stacking with crunch pedals
When cranked up , it keeps a true sense of the guitar ’ s trademark sound without being too fizzy like some others do . This pedal is super versatile . It works great as a smooth , slightly overdriven workhorse , think John Mayer , and can transform into a beautiful singing lead tone or even a down-and-dirty , crunchy rock rhythm machine .
JHS ’ s owner , Josh Scott , has recently collaborated with Brazilian virtuoso Guitarist Lari Basilio to develop a great new signature pedal . It ’ s called The Violet . It ’ s Lari ’ s first signature pedal with JHS , and maybe it ’ s partly inspired and named after her favorite color . It comes in two color schemes , Black casing with Purple Knobs , and , for this review , we have Purple casing with Pink Knobs . Lari is also an Ibanez Signature Artist and a Laney Guitar Amp Artist . She has several instrumental guitar albums and tours constantly internationally . Lari is known for having great tones and magnificent chops . I bought one of her instructional videos a while back and loved her teaching style . She is endlessly smiling and charming , yet simultaneously a ferocious guitar player demanding tremendous respect .
OUT OF THE BOX The Violet comes in the now-classic JHS cardboard box , with red Easter grass protecting it in shipping . It also includes a cool JHS sticker , optional feet , a JHS button , and a manual in seven languages . Hey Josh , you forgot to include Brazilian Portuguese ! Ha !
The pedal has a solid feel with its glossy purple metal casing that has subtle artwork , Knob descriptions , and Lari ’ s signature on the front panel . On the Top are Volume , Gain , Bass , Treble , and a Sweepable Mid Frequency EQ with a Level knob just below . The knobs have a nice feel in how they smoothly turn . Volume is for overall pedal output . You could use the pedal as a semi-clean boost with a lower
gain , showing how flexible The Violet is . Gain can go from very subtle to almost fuzzy , yet still controllable . The Bass knob controls how much woof you are looking for , and at noon , it ’ s flat . The Treble knob is also flat at noon and can be boosted or cut quite a bit . Mid-Freq sweeps to find the sweet spot you want to add or cut . Below it is the Middle knob , which is flat when set at noon , and turning it left or right cuts and boosts the Mid-Freq . This feature has a significant impact on The Violet ’ s overall gain and sound . The Footswitch has a bright purplish Indicator LED . On the Back are ¼ inch in and out with a 9vDC type jack .
IN USE : I love how the pedal looks on the board . It ’ s not too feminine for my taste , though it also comes in Black with purple knobs if you like . I prefer the Purple with Pinkish knobs vibe . I love the way it sounds lightly crunchy on the neck pickup . I can cut some mids to get more Stratty or boost the perfect frequency to cut through a track .
You will love this pedal if you are a JHS Morning Glory fan . It does a similar lovely thing and so much more . It stacks well with my Morning Glory and plays well with numerous distortion pedals on my board . That may have something to do with impedances . There is also something unique about The Violet ’ s circuit . Josh placed the Mid EQ sweep before the distortion section , which affects the pedal ’ s tone differently . The Baxandall Bass and Treble EQ circuits remain after the clipping section . Slamming or cutting the Mid sweep into the clipping circuit is a different approach and is one of the secrets to this pedal ’ s charm .
MY TAKEAWAY : If I were Lari Basilio , I ’ d be proud of this pedal . The Violet is a great all-around drive-distortion and does that smooth-slightly-edgy overdrive thing so well . It only has one drawback : deciding if you want it for a crunch or lead . It does both beautifully . I always stack several distortion pedals , including a PackRat fuzz on my pedalboard . For me , it will sit after the Fuzz and Klon and followed with a heavier distortion pedal like a JanRay or Dual Drive . I know you will like the pedal and support a great artist in Lari Basilio . The Violet pedal sells for $ 199.00 .
$ 199.00 JHSpedals . info
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66 February 2025 Subscribe for Free ...