VERTICAL INPUTS
JCM800 STYLE PRE-AMP
Next Batch Expected In November.
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Pre-Orders Are Closed.
Pre-orders are expected to ship early November (about 6 weeks).
VERTICAL INPUTS
Vertical Inputs began as a personal quest for a fly rig to have consistent and controllable tone that I was excited to use when traveling.
As a result, I designed a pedal based off of the pre-amp section of my favorite amp, the JCM800, and I added some quality of life modifications to expand its capabilities to work in different scenarios and to cover more tonal ground, including clean tones.
The design process was a deep rabbit hole of ignoring popular wisdom and common conversion techniques, while spending countless hours biasing the transistors by ear and modifying the circuit until the pedal matched the feel and tone of the amp that I was all too familiar with.
PRE-AMP
Consider this the "gain" knob. It works in conjunction with the BRIGHT and INPUT switches to shape the tonal character as well. Lower settings will feel brighter and snappy, higher settings will feel warmer and fuzzier.
MASTER
The output volume of the pedal.
BASS, MIDDLE, TREBLE
The EQ controls and tone stack are identical to those found on the amplifier. That said, do not be surprised if you find yourself setting them differently based on the amplifier or power amp you are using the pedal with. The preamp is not the only source of tone shaping going on in almost any guitar amplification, even if plugging directly into a power amp.
INPUT
While the INPUT switch is a nod to the low and high input jacks on the original amp, the switch on Vertical Inputs functions differently. On the amplifier, the low input skips a gain stage, which is why it sounds markedly different and can feel a bit flat. On Vertical Inputs, the switch actually functions like a Fender low input jack where it reduces the input volume coming in, but the rest of the signal path remains the same.
This is beneficial because as anyone who’s tried to dial-in a low gain sound on an 800 knows, it can sound very thin and brittle with lower PRE-AMP settings. Vertical Inputs' low input setting, however, can achieve low gain sounds without that issue and without sounding flat.
BRIGHT
The BRIGHT switch adjusts the bright cap in the circuit. The stock setting of the original amplifier is extremely aggressive and is the source of the enhanced high-end and kerrang that is so important to the amplifier’s sound. The vintage setting allows less upper mids through and is more chimey. This is akin to a Fender or older British style amplifier. If both of these settings feel too harsh or aggressive. The middle position removes the bright cap from the circuit for a more neutral and less enhanced tone.
DEPTH
The DEPTH switch increases deep low end. This is based off of a mod to the original circuit and here can be extremely helpful for adjusting the sound to your rig.
As a result of the varying options of the three modification switches - INPUT, BRIGHT, and DEPTH - there are a wide variety of total options not found in the original circuit and the pedal can serve as a clean preamp as well as achieving the classic 800 sounds.
POWER
Standard 'Boss-style' 9V DC Power with a Center Negative tip.
The current draw is under 5mA.
Power with anywhere between 9V - 18V.
Circuit was designed with 9V in mind.
No option for battery power.
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS
All international orders are not the seller's responsibility once they are accepted by the US Postal Service. If there are issues I will attempt to resolve them, but I cannot be held accountable for issues with foreign services, customs, duties, or deliveries that are beyond my control. That said there have been very few issues, so I am happy to offer this option, please just be aware and responsible in tracking and collecting your shipments, etc. Any additional fees or duties charged by the destination country are also beyond my control. Thank you for understanding.
