JHS AT (Andy Timmons) Drive V2 Pedal - Red Reviews

So I got this in the mail today and lemme say it's beyond awesome!!! Before, Ive been using a Boss Distortion pedal for 4 years, yeah it's good but I couldn't get a beefy tone out of it. So I went pedal hunting to find a pedal that I can connect with, then a year ago I was introduced to Andy Timmons' music. I instantly put him as one of my favorite guitar players after hearing the way he plays. His lead guitar sound was something I've been looking for, then that's when I did my research and found this bad boy. I am forever in love with this pedal, so I highly recommend it for those who are looking for a beefy lead sound.

I bought this pedal for several reasons, first I have become a huge Andy Timmons fan, second I really appreciate Josh Scott videos with his incredible knowledge, sarcasm and humor, third I saw a video from Ben Eller running this in front of a Plexi which is what I was looking for. This pedal is perfect with a plexi for sure and so far any other amp I have tried. It is super easy to get a great sound out of it plus the added tube screamer push from the boost side covers a lot of territory in a small package. Perfect size and tone and versatility. Great job

Was able to get a used version of this pedal on sale for about $100 off the original price. It is probably the best money I have spent on a pedal. Let me preface my review by stating I tried the JHS AC v3 a couple of years ago and was not that impressed with it; however, it put the @+ on my radar. Finally got to try one recently and walked out of the store with said pedal and it wowed me not only in the store but also at home, not to mention the crowd it drew in at the store.
Was looking for a new overdrive/distortion pedal and initially I was looking to buy the new Soldano SLO pedal which is around the same price range, but had my hesitations about getting it and I am glad I got this instead. This is a deceptively versatile pedal as the "wattage" switch makes the pedal have different characteristics with the 25W mode having a tight and aggressive sound making it perfect for Van Halen/George Lynch style stuff which is my main wheelhouse. From there the 50W mode reminds me of a cranked JT45 and I think is best for metal styles like Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden. The 100W mode is worth the price alone as it's incredibly versatile and the most full sounding mode in the pedal. Below noon on this mode, the pedal has a very plexi-esque style but crank the drive and let it rip and it's an amazing, full high gain sound. And that is just the sound un-boosted. The boost itself seems to be a TS style boost with it's gain pre set and the knob on the face of the pedal is just the volume of the boost. As far as TS clones go, this is a great one as there is still a tight low end, the mids are not too aggressive, and it's not overly bright or harsh. Just the boost can be used on it's own to bring your sound center stage or the two circuits can blend together to get some amazing cascading gain sounds. The 25W mode with the boost captures a Soldano tone (thick and chewy sound with an aggressive midrange) better than most reviews I have seen of the actual Soldano pedal. This is an overall amazing pedal and wish I started with this pedal when I first began playing as it can cover so many styles with a few switch flicks and a couple of knob adjustments. One other thing to mention about this pedal is that for proper amp tones, run it at 18v. At 9v it has the sound but it feels too one dimensional and not quite right. It reminds me of the modeling amp presets: the sound is there but it feels wrong and can't hold up to a proper amp in the room. At 12v, the pedal was struggling to come to life and it just did not sound right. At 18v, everything sounds and feels more authentic and is what I recommend to use it at for proper "amp in a box" tones. In addition comparing this to other high gain amp in a box pedals such as the Friedman BE OD and the Xotic SL Drive, the Friedman is still one of the best for tone shaping and authenticity; however, I worry about taking the Friedman to a lot of places as moving one knob dramatically changes the tone and I don't want to accidentally change the sound on the Friedman. This @+ beats out the Friedman in terms of convenience as it not only has an easy way to change the nature and compression of its drive, but it also has a built in boost which is incredibly useful to have. While the Xotic SL drive had a built in boost and was one of the best easily portable, plug in and play pedals, the @+ beats it out for having an "air" or presence knob which allows for more adaptability compared to the classic 3 knob layout of the SL drive. Only con of the pedal is that the two switches are a bit close to one another and for someone like me who is rocking size 13s, I have to be a bit more calculated where I press, but it's a small price to pay to get all of these tones in one convenient and portable box. Overall if you're looking for a killer rock machine, give this pedal a try.

Many pedals boast of being a Marshall In A Box (MIB), but this little guy delivers! I have it in front of a totally clean amp and it SCREAMS! I actually have the gain setting at only about 10:30 and it gives me ALL the crunch I need. VERY full bodied and warm and not hairy. The Air and EQ pots have such a lengthy range that anyone is sure to find a tone that works for them. The overdrive boost is exactly that a transparent boost that takes a crunch and sends to full on distortion. Better still, pulling off on the volume knob on your guitar delivers afresh, cleaned up tone devoid of any crunch if you desire. I have read reviewed that this is the only Dirt pedal you will need and I agree. Cannot recommend this pedal enough - well worth the money!

I've tried a ton of great MIB-type pedals, but this one stays!
I love Andy's lead tone and it's easy to dial that in (the lead playing is a lot harder to dial in!). However, this thing can also quickly go from dirty JTM and 60s plexi tones to fire breathing dragon via the 25/50/100 watt sim switches and tone/air controls. It's chewy and fat, with beautiful overtones as you've heard from Andy, but can also go full EVH by taking the tone and air knobs up for more aggressive sounds, and that at less than 1/2 the gain setting. The dynamic response on the 100W setting is just amazing. At 50W and a PAF-type humbucker, you can get some of the David Grissom sounds he gets out of his old Marshall head.

Single coil vintage Strats and Teles also do really well with this pedal! I think I now prefer this on a low gain setting over using a Klon-style pedal in front of a dirty amp for those Mayer lead sounds. The Klon-style (EHX Soul Food) sounds tiny and pedal-y against this amp in a box.

This can go straight in front of a clean amp. The boost is an added bonus and really handy. I don't think it'll replace my standalone boost, but it's great to kick in a lead sound.
Worth every penny.

Nice pdeal. Overdrive and a boost in one pedal. Great tones

Love this pedal. It replaces both my trusty old Boss SD1 and DS1. Very inspiring to play! Put your amp on the clean channel and let AT+ do the work. I'd been looking at getting another amp to play out, but held off due to covid. So at home, I want a bluesy Fender sound. But then I want a singing Marshal... But I use a Silver face Champ at home. Well it really changes my little Champ's behavior! With just the boost, it becomes gritty and full. With just the AT... It really sounds Andy Timmons like - but from a 6 watt Champ! Now with both AT and Boost? Very beast like! I would love the pandemic to end to I can jam with a larger amp. Of course then I'll be looking for a 30 watt clean amp at that point. So if you're tired of chasing amps, This allows you keep your amp and get your tone!

This is a great sounding pedal. Sounds fantastic through a clean tube amp (Using a 68 CDX). One thing to note, the boost level (vol) only works when used as a boost only. When in AT mode, it just kicks in more saturation which gives you what you want and renders the boost level non-functional. It's perfect though. The boost alone adds a tad of grit and is very useful pushing an amp with onboard gain or just using it as a boost for a semi-grit rhythm/blues or whatever it is you like. All the modes have differences which is up to the user, but I've settled on the 50w. Although I like AT, his tone, his playing, I didn't get this to try and mimic his sound (Like buying an EJ or Clapton strat), however a good piece of equipment can get you to your sound, which this does. Only small gripe, is that paying over 200 for a pedal, the instructions were cheap with no diagram. Pretty sure my cheapo DS1 had illustrations and leaders pointing to the functions at a mere 40 bucks. All intuitive though. A Pedal Worth checking out.

I've been looking for this tone for too many years. It is capable of ripping your face off, or being just a nice soft drive, and in the middle are the smoothest overdrive tones I've ever heard from a pedal into a clean amp. This pedal has several wide sweet spots depending on what sounds you want, and it sounds amazing with various time-based effects. This one is totally awesome and is going to be the basis of my lead tone from now on.

In my opinion hands-down the best overdrive pedal ever. Makes my little solid state Marshall combo sound like a tube Marshall stack. Even with the little 8in speaker that's in it.

This is the perfect working mans pedal.Its not overkill.I used it through a Fender Hot rod deluxe.and it will turn that clean Fender tone into A Hot Rodded Lee Jackson Marshall Tone.Perfect For Rock N Roll.or roll it back and dime in some killer blues.Its a must have on any board.

I used this pedal a couple of times live at club gigs. I always get a comment from a few people about how great the tone is. Especially with the 100W setting, the tone is dynamic while still full and easy to play. Pedal shines especially with solo lines. Increasing the EQ control makes the sound tighter for rhythm lines. Overall a great amp in a box.

As usual Sweetwater wowed me with their brilliant service and speed of delivery. I live in Turkey and the pedal was in my hands within a week including the customs processes like my other Sweetwater orders. Special thanks to Josh Pippin for his help throughout the purchase process.

I purchased this pedal looking for a good utility boost/distortion for live use. Luckily it has turned out to be one of my favorite sounding drive pedals ever, especially in a mix! I regularly gig in an indie rock band, and use the boost to push my guitar to the front of the mix for leads and melodies, then use the distortion for huge walls of sound. Love it!

Great on its own and with the boost. Or just the boost by itself to push an already distorted amp. Rare to see a pedal excellent in both. Highly recommended! Thank you Sam Hillman!!

The AT is already my favorite so this just adds a boost. High gain, great sounding pedal.

JHS always is always putting out high quality pedals.
I was looking for a distortion pedal that was tailored for lead tones specifically.
This is simply the best lead pedal on the market.
Tons of control and clarity for days.

I just received from David Hess at Sweetwater today and A/B-ed it with 5 of my other overdrive pedals and a boost pedal and this is already my favorite pedal. I"ve been looking for the ultimate smooth, harmonically rich "heavenly" pedal and this is it for me. It sounds great into a clean or dirty amp and pairs nicely with a tubescreamer as well.

Very much an awesome pedal.. if you have been thinking anout buying one, Buy it !!! You won't be disappointed...

The JHS AT+ is the overdrive I"ve been searching for for the last 30 years. You can dial in warm violin like sustain or screaming hot "Marshall on 10" overdrive. This pedal is very versatile and a bargain...!!

35 years experience playing guitar. This pedal rocks with any clean to clean break-up tube amp and turns it into a really rocking Marshall JCM 800, even running the pedal at 9volts. The EQ is subtle but the effect is real, including a tone knob which is a high-pass filter and lets the mids shine through; the Air knob is also a high-pass filter letting in the highs and overall presence. The lows are solidly resonant but tight. The mids on this pedal are perfect, just like the amp, and really sounds full. I run this pedal on semi-clean platform - a THD Bivalve 30watt amp with a Traynor 50watt cabinet with 2 Celestion Greenbacks. The tone is perfect - granted I have 2 Nos RFT 12ax7 in the preamp and a Nos GE 6L6 and a Nos EL34 Winged C in the power section. But I've tried the pedal on a Fender Deluxe and it sounded great. This pedal will adapt to any amp; I run it with the bright switch on the amp turned on. It also feels good under the fingers with nice attack. It will run up to 18volts which brings up the power and headroom, but I actually prefer it at 9volts since it sounds great and cleans up really well as is. It has a switch that allows you to simulate a 100w, 50w, or 25w amp with different characteristics. The 100w setting is great - chunky and powerful but cleans up nicely, the 50w setting is pure Marshall with a spongier texture and compression but powerful, the 25w setting is good for more compressed and less dynamic leads. The boost is a perfect addition since, in sound and feel, it replicates a tube screamer - helping to define and sculpt the distortion and add sustain. I know this because it is what I used to do to my JCM back in the day. and remains an unbeatable combination in my opinion. I forgot to mention that I own many overdrive pedals and this one is the best at what it does - turning your amp into a raging Marshall with a tubesreamerish boost to boot. Really great pedal - it can do it all.

This is the pornstar of OD pedals.

I had bought a TC Electronics (starter) Distortion & OD Pedal, but this pedal does what both of those do in 1 pedal (although, for double the price lol). The sound on this baby is tighttt.

I play punk, post-hardcore, hard rock, and post-rock -- this meshes well with all.
My guitar is an LTD with humbuckers from 2008, and god, she sounds like a sexy demon even though I'm only using a small 20-watt amp (Roland Microcube/Street) at home.

The only problem I've had is combining this with other fuzz, OD, & Distortion pedals. It seems to dull the signal and make the guitar feel really far away, and it's not gratifying.

3-way headroom: Great, you get 3 dimensions of sound with varying volumes/intensity to fit the room or feel of the guitar parts.
EQ/Drive/Air: You can tweak them to make this baby sound like you want it to-- sharper or duller, farther or closer, lasting or momentary.
Independent Boost: It's surprisingly weak to be honest. You can use it on its own for a cleaner distorted tone, or a kind of classic light-rock tone, but I really thought it would be stronger. It literally does next to nothing if I don't crank it all the way clockwise. I'm hoping I didn't get a defective model ^^;

But 5/5, would buy the black version too if I was a rich lad.

I ordered this pedal after trying the original (non-boost) version a friend had. This pedal is fantastic! Everything is in the pedal from boosting a clean tone for more warmth/attack to old school metal. Not for chuggers or baritone players...having said that, it will cover much sonic territory. I bought this to turn my Orange OR-15 single channel amp into a 3 channel amp, and it sounds great. The boost is straight up...twist the knob for more volume and it adds in a nice broken up grind. The distortion side allows a lot of tonal tweaking to suit darker or brighter amps (I also own a Carvin Legacy 3, which is a darker toned amp), and it sounded great through the clean channel and I was able to brighten up the tone with no problem by using the 'Air' tone control. When you add the two together, you get an aggressive rock/metal tone (depending on the amount of gain added) that is smooth, not harsh and has a great texture to the sound. Some pedals sound too gritty/harsh/fuzzy...this one doesn't do that. The ultimate test is usually maximum gain and use the neck pick ups. Your sound and guitar retain definition in this position, and it works well with single coils or humbuckers. The toggle mode also allows flexibility with 25w/50w/100w power mode. It's compact, powerful and versatile. You won't be disappointed.

We already know JHS makes great pedals, especially pedals like the Angry Charlie. Then Andy Timmons creates his signature AT Pedal (which is a modified Angry Charlie). NOW JHS has released the AT+ Pedal! I"ve always liked drive pedals that came with a boost built in, and now JHS has done that. And they did it well. Like, really well! It plays really well with dynamics, and the "Air" control is really helpful when playing through different amps. If you"re in need of a distortion pedal that can rival amp distortion tones, just buy the JHS AT+! Also huge thanks to my Sweetwater Sales Engineer Mike Defraties!

You gotta love this thing, I know I do! Right out of the gate I got great Sounds even before I started tweaking it. I've got this right after my Boiling Point which is set for a clean boost then I have the RC Booster after. The Boost adds some really good grit to it all on its own but once you put it together with the AT man you've got a Monster set up. I love it, but ymmv.

I felt the need to write this, as I would want to know!

If you are looking for the MIAB type deal and that's it. This may not be the pedal for you! It has all that, but a few key things most should know before buying! All the reviews are true this is an amazing pedal!

However, a few things some may not like despite YouTube videos and reviews that may not mention it or very slightly gloss over this part.

This pedal can be a little noisy with Humbuckers at points when not playing. However that's pretty normal with hot pickups, and gain/volume turned up. For some they may want a gate, toggle off quick if they leave it on all the time and don't mute. Easy thing that's not a deal breaker.

Biggest thing I wish I knew that has not been mentioned much…. The low end is very tight! Take your clean sound and palm mute the low E. You'll hear a nice big round sustain there. You'll hear this on almost every pedal maybe outside a Tube Screamer. With this pedal it feels like the bottom end is very tight, and has a 120HPF going on. This could be good for some, and be perfect for lead players, open string chords and recording or live!

But there is no way to make the bottom end less tight. Compared to my clean tone and other pedals, this pedal is dialed in! The mids are warm, creamy and top end is great to dial in with any amp! They nailed that great here! But with the bottom, you get what the pedal has and it seems more suited to lead players, and Rhythm players that like a very tight bottom end with minimal sustain. I like a more natural bottom end, for grunge, punk styles and my fuzz pedals.

This is a very tight bottom end, and that's great for solo and open chords. If you palm mute for Grunge, Metal or Punk and don't like the tight end…this is not the pedal for you. Some like this, and let the bass player fill in the rest.

Many will buy this as a MIAB, and overlook Andy Timmons himself as a player. Yes it works for different genres! But I wouldn't recommend if you are a palm muter, and especially chugger. This is for the lead player and those who always want a tight bottom end with chords. Andy Timmons had this dialed in to spec. And this is one area I did not get along.

I would be glad to have this on my board any day!

But if it's your main dirt pedal, and you need that diversity on Rhythm styles 90% of the time. Remember this is a very tailored pedal. With a good focus on mids to highs and a super tight bottom end with a low palm mute sustain.

I wish this was put out there more in the description about the tight bottom on the bass, and what the pedal doesn't do. But like anything it's going to say all the great things. A bottom end tighten switch would make this pedal 5 stars, and the most versatile MIAB ever. But as great as it sounds, it does have draw backs with low end being too tight for some Rhythm players, and noise on Humbuckers when silent. Ideally single coil, lead and wanting a tight end would be the ideal buyer of this. If buying as a lead pedal and you have others that do the rest…go for it!

Best lead I've ever heard and sustain for normal soloing is awesome! This is for the shredders and sounds like Slash in a box on any amp.

My only complaint is that it isn't called "The Angry Timmons".

Don't get me wrong, I have used the fantastic @ pedal for my heaviest sound for a few years now (V1). I have always stacked it by pushing it with something before hand, usually in the TS range of pedal, to add sort of a mid-range tone bump and control to the overall sound. When my board graduated to a loop switcher, i figured this would be perfect in its own loop. I already think this pedal rolls off some bottom end, but MAN does the boost circuit completely kill the bottom end. I know you do not want flubby bottom bass with a lot of gain going, but this pedal never does that to me. Also, the boost effect becomes pretty minimal if you have the main gain past 1 o'clock, and you just end up with the whole thing over compressing. The only thing i have ever returned as I simply kept my V1 and threw a Klon type boost in front of it. Same effect with more control at the end of the day!

P.S. - If you are buying the @ version of this pedal, definitely run it at 18V and 100 watt mode if you can! Rock on...

This is an a fine overdrive, if you like it smooth. Great midrange, boost and playability.
Having been accustomed to Soldano SLO100, Soldano Hot Rod 25, and any EVH 5150 IIIs this pedal is in a totally different voicing range.
In questing for a pedalboard gig portability, I need an overdrive that sounds similar to my amp heads.
The AT+, though it has it's place, it is not for folks used to the more bite of the aforementioned amps.
If you love the JCM800, you might like this. If you are used to hi gain fullness with presence on tap, consider something different.