JHS Pedals VCR Volume Chorus Reverb

Having been fans of Ryan Adams’ music for years, we were pretty stoked about his collaboration with JHS Pedals and PaxAm Records in the form of today’s featured effect, the VCR (Volume-Chorus-Reverb). Inspired by 80’s guitar heroes and Ryan’s signature sound, this pedal takes three effects, crams them into one box and gives you a ton of combination options for adding slight nuances of sound or bold, fat tonal washes to cover your signal. The best of a bunch of worlds in one stompbox, let’s put this retro, vintage-sounding pedal to the test.

Designed to emulate Ryan’s classic clean tone, the VCR is a three-in-one effect, with the options for Volume, Chorus and Reverb, and any combination of the three. The Volume is an all-discrete, transparent circuit, perfect for leaving on all the time as a booster/tone enhancer. The Chorus (and the pedal’s aesthetics) takes you immediately into a time warp back to the 80’s, with warm, lush tones, that full analog sound and a “glory days of chorus” setting at noon.

Up next is the Reverb section, which has been carefully tuned again by Mr. Adams, and goes off into the Hall direction. Add in glorious ambience in an instant, especially when mixed in with a little Chorus flavor. The toggle switches on each section let you put in or take out of the signal path, mixing and matching as you deem fit. Plus, with only one control knob per portion, you’re not going to get caught up in an overpowering clusterfuck of noise, just a straightforward, easy to use, 3-in-1 pedal. Not to mention it looks like a badass retro video game console, but that’s just the smiling kid in us, we suppose.

Artist collaboration pedals are always fun to explore, and this one has been one of our favorites so far. Getting all of these effects added to your tone in an instant is a wonderful idea, and the sounds produced by the VCR make it even that much more fun. And, when the artist in question is one of your favorites, it’s even more fun to explore their signature pedal. Thanks to JHS, PaxAm and Ryan Adams for this most excellent design and execution of it into pedal form – we hope to hear it on many albums and live shows for years and years to come.