JHS Pedals Angry Charlie V3 Overdrive Effects Pedal 

JHS initially made their name by producing some illustrious mods of existing pedals from other manufacturers. Since those early days, they began to build pedals all their own and quickly became an established and extremely highly-regarded boutique pedal builder in their own right. One of their all-time stand-out pedals, that helped establish their reputation as a builder, is the Angry Charlie Overdrive. 

It is so highly respected in fact that Boss, the company who’s pedals JHS started out by modifying, recently chose the Angry Charlie as the circuit to incorporate into their 40th-anniversary pedal, the ‘Angry Driver’. This stands as a full-circle testament to the quality and respect that both JHS and the Angry Charlie have garnered in the industry.

How To Hold A JCM800 In The Palm Of Your Hand

The Angry Charlie lives in high-gain town. It bases its character and tonality on that of the much-beloved JCM800 from Marshall. This amplifier was the flag bearer for the blistering tone of the 1980s. The glorious, powerful, hair-metal guitar sound that echoed through that decade were more often than not the product of that historic amp and it is exactly that tone that JHS has aimed to capture in their Angry Charlie V3.

The Angry Charlie possesses all the hefty bass, thick mids, characterful highs, and face-melting power that was originally present in the JCM800. It harnesses all that big, 80’s, British soul and packs it all into a small red box.

What’s New In Version Three?

The Angry Charlie is in its third evolution. The biggest change with the latest version comes in the form of a fifth knob. This new knob brings with it a move to a 3-band-eq functionality. Gone are the “Presence” and “Tone” controls from previous iterations. 

The tone controls of old did allow you to shape the pedal for the various guitar and amp combinations but this move to a 3-band-EQ allows much finer shaping of the tone. This allows for much greater flexibility and control with the new V3 and also edges the pedal that bit closer to the Marshall amp it is so carefully paying homage to. 

Control

Aside from the new 3-band-EQ, there are two other knobs to pay attention to. The first is a “Volume” knob. This is fairly self-explanatory, it sets the volume level of the pedal. The second is the “Drive” knob. This is essentially the gain setting, how driven the pedal is, how much distortion is present.

The aforementioned EQ controls are worth mentioning too. They work on a cut/boost basis. This means that when the knobs are set at noon, they are having no effect on the sound. You can then turn them clockwise to boost the bass, mid, or treble frequency amounts up past unity. A turn anticlockwise acts to cut each of those frequencies. This allows for really powerful and intuitive tone shaping.

Why Bonners?

Here at Bonners Music, you have the opportunity to try one of these great JHS effects pedals yourself. Just give us a call on 01323 636141 or better still, visit our showroom! If you can't see the JHS pedal listed that you are after just call 01323 636141 for availability and the best price.