JHS Notaklon Pre-order shipping and locking threads

[s_mcsleazy]

not a fan of JHS so i've not been following the likely shitstorm that's followed but i'm curious what they've likely done to the circuit. i've built a few klones over the years and found i've always had to mod them to get them to do what i want an overdrive to do. the big thing being change the feedback resistor for the opamp to get more gain and change the clipping diodes.

still. don't think i'm curious enough to buy one of these klones, but if one comes across my path, i'm curious to see what they've done to make it their own.

[Dr Tony Balls]

i'm curious to see what they've done to make it their own.

Why would you assume anything?

[JackFawkes]

don't think i'm curious enough to buy one of these klones, but if one comes across my path, i'm curious to see what they've done to make it their own.

I guarantee you almost nothing has been done to make it unique (aside from cute marketing), uniqueness is antithetical to the weird fixation that is the Klon.
The majority of the people that buy the majority of Klones want it to be as faithful to the original "magic boxes" as possible; aside from maybe an additional mid control here or a little more boost* there, most people are obsessed with it being an exact replica (right down to the same unobtanium germanium clipping diodes that supposedly came from a specific 1950s manufacturer)...
Which is why I personally find it weird that people still get excited about yet another Klone, when the circuit has been known and easily reproduced since 2007.

Jack

*a +4dB boost switch is the only deviation that the NOTAKLÖN has

[Dr Tony Balls]

Also question for the mods:

Are we not allowed to dump on JHS at all? Or are we just not allowed to do it in a way that derails threads?

[cestlamort]

I think the marketing (and concept) is pretty funny and well executed (at least from the artwork I've seen). I'd have preferred that it be made of particle board and come with broken/missing parts, but that's just me.

No beef with JHS other than embodying all the ickiness of late capitalism.

[Telliot]

Also question for the mods:

Are we not allowed to dump on JHS at all? Or are we just not allowed to do it in a way that derails threads?

Sorry to be this blunt but I don’t have much time outside of work today.

Quoting from our forum rules:

1. If you don't have anything useful to add, don't say anything. Be polite and respectful. Disagreement can be good and is perfectly acceptable. Don't take it personally if someone disagrees with you. Personal attacks, insults, hate speech or trolling will not be tolerated, and neither will displays of racism, homophobia, misogyny etc. Personal attacks, insults, hate speech, slander, misogyny or otherwisetrolling outside entities are also not allowed. Examples of outside entities include, but are not limited to, YouTube personalities, celebrities, other forums, businesses, etc.

[s_mcsleazy]

i'm curious to see what they've done to make it their own.

Why would you assume anything?

honestly, because i find the klon to be a good if flawed circuit and i feel some modifications would make this more than just a paintjob and some "lol look at us referencing the memes about this pedal, aren't we cleaver" humor, which is honestly my issue with a lot of what JHS does as a company (i'm not talking about josh, i am talking about how the company markets itself)

[Fuzzbuzz]

If you don’t like them totally cool. But nobody cares about your opinion.

curious as to why a given opinion would be unworthy of posting but yours definitely IS worth it

Im happy to inform you that my opinion is the only one that matters.

Cheers!

[Jaguar018]

Are we not allowed to dump on JHS at all? Or are we just not allowed to do it in a way that derails threads?

I saw a funny (in a dark way) thread on Reddit that was titled something like "What is your 'John Lennon used to beat his wife' fact you know/always share?"

My approach to this kind of issue has evolved over time. I used to think it was really important to let people know when I was not a fan of the guitar, pedal, amp, person, band, book, movie, etc. that was being discussed in the thread. Now I will only do that if it's a pile-on thread where the topic is "I can't stand this thing, how about you?" Sometimes in those thread I will speak up for whatever it is because that's usually sort of the flow.

If you have been around guitar effects and like to nerd out then JHS is going to come up and someone will share their "John Lennon" fact. How people process that kind of stuff or roll their eyes and move on is never going to be universal. On the whole we still consume a lot of books, music, and films made by some genuinely horrible people (along with voting for them). Where JHS falls into that sphere is going to be interpreted differently and I'm not really sure how one can go to the mat and show people the light every time they come up.

[fuzzjunkie]

I’ve never been interested in a JHS pedal for a number of reasons and I don’t know the product line, but considering how many of his pedals have been copies or clones of other pedals (some that were still made by the original builder) I’m curious if he offered a clone of the Klon previously?

Re the clones of competition: It almost seems surprising if he didn’t, considering his MO.

The marketing seems tongue in cheek - is the packaging supposed to reference IKEA or the Clone Army from Star Wars? It does look very IKEA like, though the Clone Army could be hit or miss. Most likely miss.

[JackFawkes]

Yes, many of JHS' past and present product line is/has been clones of well known pedals, though usually with an added feature or two and their own specific flavor of marketing.
(I do feel like it's fair to point out that while much of JHS' product catalog is clones of other pedals, most pedal makers' product catalogs these days have at least a few pedal clones, and some sell almost nothing but pedal clones; because as we all know, Capitalism breeds innovation )

Also yes, JHS did previously make and sell a Klone; very successfully in fact, since they were one of the first popular Klones on the market back in the day (2008-ish).
In a gesture of goodwill, JHS stopped offering it when the Klon's original designer/builder Bill Finnegan announced he was working on a more affordable mass-produced version of the Klon (the KTR). Though by this time (2013-ish) the market was already well saturated with accurate Klones ranging from $50 to $250 or more...
While the KTR was on the market, JHS offered a modification service to add an additional "boost" switch on it (they used to offer modifications on lots of common/popular pedals). The KTR had a few production runs but was never able to produce enough units to put a dent in the weird Klon/klone bubble economy. After the end of the KTR line, Bill Finnegan would occasionally hand-make and sell a Klon or two on eBay but eventually he ran out of willpower and/or special germanium diodes and stopped making/selling via eBay.
Seemingly, since Bill Finnegan disappeared again and it doesn't seem like more official Klons/KTRs will be coming, JHS decided to start selling a Klone again, this time with an Ikea-inspired assemble-your-own release (which includes the additional boost switch modification).

That's it. That's basically the entire store story w/o any additional baggage/politics/commentary.

Jack

[Veitchy]

Off topic but I think this is a really level and well thought out approach. Good on you.

[GreenKnee]

KTRs are still being released in batches, somewhat sporadically. They have different diodes in than the original Klon and KTRs (have done for the last few years).

[JackFawkes]

KTRs are still being released in batches, somewhat sporadically. They have different diodes in than the original Klon and KTRs (have done for the last few years).

I did not know that! Thank you for the correction.

Jack

P.S.: I can only imagine that now buyers on the second-hand market obsess about which KTRs have the maaaagical diiiiodes and which ones don't

[GreenKnee]

You would be correct!