I SEE RED
One of the first things I noticed is the new shape and casing. Still keeping the vibrant red colour, the J&H’s tough folded metal design is more of a typical double pedal rectangle shape with top mounted jacks. Size wise it’s handy too, smaller than some similar featured pedals from other brands. On the left is the Overdrive side of things with main controls for Drive and Tone and new Bass and Clean Mix controls. Hyde – the distortion channel retains its original tone but adds Bass and Mid controls for more EQ options as well as a Voice switch that toggles between a classic open sound or a more saturated modern tone. As a double pedal, the Jekyll & Hyde was one of the first to give the user two levels of gain in a single pedal. Truetone have now taken that concept a step further with individual outs for both sides of the pedal for added switching capabilities, and you can also swap the order of the pedals for different stacking options. Both ‘Jekyll’ and ‘Hyde’ also have the option of True Bypass or Buffered depending on your preference. So we know it has a truck load of features, but how does it sound?
OPEN ROAD
The Overdrive side of this newly revamped J&H is based on Truetone’s Open Road pedal. Relating to the aforementioned name it does have a clear and open vibe to it that can be slightly pushed and broken with the clean mix adding an extra element to your tone. Flick to the Hyde side and you get some extra gain in the mix. Classic rock grind through to more modern saturated tones it really lets you run from just dirty to thick and ballsy. Truetone seem to be in full swing with their new name and branding, and if the V3 Jekyll & Hyde is any indicator of things to come, they’re up for plenty of attention. Even if you’ve played the old versions it’s worth checking out the new model. Also, the Truetone gang are so confident in their product, it comes with a lifetime warranty. It’s a great product and I’m excited to see what comes next.