JHS Punchline

[kazuhank]

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This is a pedaltrain nano. There is just enough space for the Punchline and a full size tuner. I’m hoping I won’t have any issues daisy chaining from the power-out on the Peterson tuner into the power-in on the punchline. I guess we’ll find out. I still haven’t plugged in and tried it.

I use a Pedaltrain Nano as well and went with a mini tuner to let me squeeze in a chorus pedal:

Ok first impressions… P bass with flats: I absolutely love this thing so far! I like every function on this pedal, including the amp sim (even going into an amp, which can be hit or miss). I have an outdoor gig tomorrow night at a fairly large venue with a dedicated sound man and house sound system. It will be a good “sink or swim“ test for how this pedal sounds direct. I know people have been complaining about the lack of features for practicing at home (headphones, aux in, etc), but I view this as a professional working musicians tool… That being said, I would have liked to have seen an unaffected parallel output in case you want to use this pedal for FOH, but not into your amp. Like I said, it sounds great into my little practice amp so far, but I may run into issues when trying to set the EQ to work for both my stage rig and the front of house. I guess we shall see. I’m extremely happy with my purchase so far. I like it better than the Origin 64 black panel that I used to own. The punchline is very similar, but I feel that it’s better executed. The box is also cool…
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I can second what @nixdad said and say that straight to FOH using the Punchline DI got me through summer festival season. Nothing but compliments on my tone going straight to FOH with the 1/4" out warming up whatever backline was provided for stage volume. It's a killer bit of kit.

 

[Texican]

Well it’s official… I love this pedal! Worked incredibly well live in a six piece band. I look forward to more gigs with such a simple board and setup that sounds this good. I sound checked with my Mesa Subway stack turned off so that I could gauge how the punchline sounded through front of house and my in ears. Sounded great! It’s the first time I’ve ever enjoyed my tone through my in ear monitors. I definitely could have done the gig without my amp on stage even though it was an outdoor gig. That’s no easy task. JHS hit it out of the park with this pedal, and I am thankful to have it.

 

[TaySte_2000]

I’m extremely excited for it to arrive on Monday

 

[nixdad]

Well it’s official… I love this pedal! Worked incredibly well live in a six piece band. I look forward to more gigs with such a simple board and setup that sounds this good. I sound checked with my Mesa Subway stack turned off so that I could gauge how the punchline sounded through front of house and my in ears. Sounded great! It’s the first time I’ve ever enjoyed my tone through my in ear monitors. I definitely could have done the gig without my amp on stage even though it was an outdoor gig. That’s no easy task. JHS hit it out of the park with this pedal, and I am thankful to have it.

 

[TaySte_2000]

Mine has arrived and initial impressions are really positive.

Between this and my box of war I don’t think I’ll be buying a drive pedal without a blend again.

My favourite thing so far I think is the amp sim, taking some fizz out of the drive. Without the blend and the amp sim the drive is pretty unremarkable, quite possibly terrible but with them it’s stunning.

I’ve left the eq flat for now and I’m still experimenting with the comp (been a long time since I’ve used the compressor) but it feels a very “studio” tone just the right amount of subtle magic to really make things sound great.

Got my first gig in a couple of years on Saturday so will see how it performs.

 

[nixdad]

Mine has arrived and initial impressions are really positive.

Between this and my box of war I don’t think I’ll be buying a drive pedal without a blend again.

My favourite thing so far I think is the amp sim, taking some fizz out of the drive. Without the blend and the amp sim the drive is pretty unremarkable, quite possibly terrible but with them it’s stunning.

I’ve left the eq flat for now and I’m still experimenting with the comp (been a long time since I’ve used the compressor) but it feels a very “studio” tone just the right amount of subtle magic to really make things sound great.

Got my first gig in a couple of years on Saturday so will see how it performs.

Looking forward to your report!

 

[TaySte_2000]

Setup for my gig tomorrow.

The drive turned out to be better than the box of war for this band.

The boost is to just add a little lift during the guitar solos. I could probably go without it but then there would be a space on the board.

Compression is fairly light with the light coming on here and there. Amp sim I have the presence about 3 o clock and it’s still pretty dark (which is my preference) but it is DRASTICALLY changing the sound of any fuzz pedal I run into it. Then the 3 band eq is set flat I might even end up cutting the bass and mids (since it came out of its case like this and sounded great) and I have never cut bass on an eq in my life.

Also, fits nice in a Peli case (pre changing of fx)

 

[Holdsg]

Moar k-nobbies

 

[musicman556]

Gigged the Punchline in a rock band context for the first time Saturday night. It was GREAT! I didn't miss my Tone Hammer, MojoMojo, or 1176 at all. This is now a permanent fixture (until GAS strikes again sometime next Spring probably) on my shrunk-down gigging pedalboard.

Having a nicely volume-matched "dirty channel" that keeps all the depth and punch of the clean signal (thx blend knob) was just fantastic.

I made a goof right at the beginning of our show. Sound check was great. Things sounded awesome. I went and had a burger, and then we shuffled some things around right before we started the show and I thought things sounded a little weird as we began playing. I had plenty of volume, but I lost my "punch" and there was just some weirdness when I was digging in hard. I looked down and the Threshold knob was fully zero/counter-clockwise, haha! I must have bumped it. I had a stack behind me as a monitor, but our main sound was through FOH with a house-supplied engineer. I didn't want to throw things too far off in his mix, so in those breaks during "Honky Tonk Women" I went back and forth adding some threshold and pulling back on the master volume, trying to keep overall output about the same and continued through the first set. At the break I went and told sounds guy what I had done and we had a laugh. Then I went and adjusted things to normal, he compensated on his end, and we had a great rest of the night.

I'm still deciding/playing around with how I'm going to use the amp sim/DI in different situations. In this place, we have amps on stage but also send feeds to their capable FOH. This time I used the 1/4" out with the amp sim ON, sending that over to my Tone Hammer 500's instrument input and then used the DI from the Tone Hammer to FOH. I set the EQ on the TH flat, Drive at zero, and Gain just barely bumped up to like 8 o'clock. I figured by using the instrument input of the amp vs the effects return I was allowing myself the ability to quickly add a little EQ at the amp on the fly vs having to bend down to the Punchline for adjustments. Not sure if this was better/worse than just feeding the DI from the punchline and then sending a line down to my amp for monitoring. I asked the engineer and he was fine with either way. The only EQ adjustment I made through the night was to push a little more mids at the Tone Hammer.

What are you guys doing in terms of using the amp sim where you may have an actual amp downstream? Howbout DI from the Punchline vs DI from an amp downstream? If you would, please share your use case/routing scenarios!

I neglected to take a pedalboard pic, but here's a gig rig pic because why not.

 

[TaySte_2000]

For my gig report.

A little bit of background, I’ve been travelling full time for nearly 3 years now so my musical output has been fairly limited, mainly jams and some studio sessions.

I got the opportunity to dep for a band I played with 3 years ago. 25 minute support set, 7 songs, 5 of them new to me.

I ran my 4003 Mapleglo Ric with rounds into a Mojohand Cream Pie (GE Boost) - JHS Punchline - This then went out to the main acts Blackstar, I want to say 200w 1x15 combo and the DI out on that.

I have no idea the settings on the amp or if the DI was pre or post eq.

The amp served as a monitor for the rest of the band and I was on my IEMs.

Punchline I had the compressor on, but a fairly light touch so the light only coming on occasionally (even with the boost). Drive was quite high but so was the blend for 1 song, Amp sim on presence at about 3 o clock and the 3 band eq set flat.

Matched the volumes as much as possible and a touch of gain throughout.

I was a little bit sad not to be using the DI out to really get an idea of how it sounded. But all in all I was very happy. I had a great gig. Sounded great in my in ears. Didn’t touch anything on the pedal. Just felt like a very “studio processed” tone, clean but with a bit of magic to it.

The distortion didn’t sound great on stage but listening back on the videos it really cut through front of house. I love how the amp sim makes the distortion and other fuzz’s sound. I’m now looking into other pedals that might just do that part, but really I should just be happy with this as a do it all and the all be loads of usable “clean” tones.

It’s a great pedal, I have some time this week to try it on my other Ric with flats which has made me sell every pedal as it just sounds its best through a Countryman Type 10 and everything else is too subtle or loses the pillow sub bass I like having.

Anyway that’s my ramble.

 

[Johno Dunn]

For my gig report.

A little bit of background, I’ve been travelling full time for nearly 3 years now so my musical output has been fairly limited, mainly jams and some studio sessions.

I got the opportunity to dep for a band I played with 3 years ago. 25 minute support set, 7 songs, 5 of them new to me.

I ran my 4003 Mapleglo Ric with rounds into a Mojohand Cream Pie (GE Boost) - JHS Punchline - This then went out to the main acts Blackstar, I want to say 200w 1x15 combo and the DI out on that.

I have no idea the settings on the amp or if the DI was pre or post eq.

The amp served as a monitor for the rest of the band and I was on my IEMs.

Punchline I had the compressor on, but a fairly light touch so the light only coming on occasionally (even with the boost). Drive was quite high but so was the blend for 1 song, Amp sim on presence at about 3 o clock and the 3 band eq set flat.

Matched the volumes as much as possible and a touch of gain throughout.

I was a little bit sad not to be using the DI out to really get an idea of how it sounded. But all in all I was very happy. I had a great gig. Sounded great in my in ears. Didn’t touch anything on the pedal. Just felt like a very “studio processed” tone, clean but with a bit of magic to it.

The distortion didn’t sound great on stage but listening back on the videos it really cut through front of house. I love how the amp sim makes the distortion and other fuzz’s sound. I’m now looking into other pedals that might just do that part, but really I should just be happy with this as a do it all and the all be loads of usable “clean” tones.

It’s a great pedal, I have some time this week to try it on my other Ric with flats which has made me sell every pedal as it just sounds its best through a Countryman Type 10 and everything else is too subtle or loses the pillow sub bass I like having.

Anyway that’s my ramble.

Thrilled that it’s working for you! I am going for a similar “studio” chain with my board. Humboldt>DG Harmonic Booster>tuner>CabZone Bass>FOH or my live rig (or provided back line).

 

[TaySte_2000]

The studio chain idea is something I’ve been after for a while with very little success.

This was a great buy

Just got to see how my new fuzz turns out tomorrow

 

[Johno Dunn]

The studio chain idea is something I’ve been after for a while with very little success.

This was a great buy

Just got to see how my new fuzz turns out tomorrow

I’m discovering (again!) that I’m not much of a Dirt guy, so I run my whole setup as pristine as possible. Maybe an octave a synthy tone and a filter, on rare occasions. Playing mostly Worship and Funk these days.

 

[TaySte_2000]

For my gig report.

A little bit of background, I’ve been travelling full time for nearly 3 years now so my musical output has been fairly limited, mainly jams and some studio sessions.

I got the opportunity to dep for a band I played with 3 years ago. 25 minute support set, 7 songs, 5 of them new to me.

I ran my 4003 Mapleglo Ric with rounds into a Mojohand Cream Pie (GE Boost) - JHS Punchline - This then went out to the main acts Blackstar, I want to say 200w 1x15 combo and the DI out on that.

I have no idea the settings on the amp or if the DI was pre or post eq.

The amp served as a monitor for the rest of the band and I was on my IEMs.

Punchline I had the compressor on, but a fairly light touch so the light only coming on occasionally (even with the boost). Drive was quite high but so was the blend for 1 song, Amp sim on presence at about 3 o clock and the 3 band eq set flat.

Matched the volumes as much as possible and a touch of gain throughout.

I was a little bit sad not to be using the DI out to really get an idea of how it sounded. But all in all I was very happy. I had a great gig. Sounded great in my in ears. Didn’t touch anything on the pedal. Just felt like a very “studio processed” tone, clean but with a bit of magic to it.

The distortion didn’t sound great on stage but listening back on the videos it really cut through front of house. I love how the amp sim makes the distortion and other fuzz’s sound. I’m now looking into other pedals that might just do that part, but really I should just be happy with this as a do it all and the all be loads of usable “clean” tones.

It’s a great pedal, I have some time this week to try it on my other Ric with flats which has made me sell every pedal as it just sounds its best through a Countryman Type 10 and everything else is too subtle or loses the pillow sub bass I like having.

Anyway that’s my ramble.

So I tell a lie, my presence is closer to 1 o clock.

Spent a few hours this evening with my two Ric 4003’s. One with flats, one with rounds.

Honestly I love this pedal, I often gush about gear, but that’s mainly you’ll only ever hear about it if I like it, if I hate it it’s for sale within minutes of playing with it.

This really is what I’ve spent recent years searching for. I had one instance where I was thinking hmmm the ric with rounds isn’t sounding great, noticed I’d turned the amp sim off, switched it back and on and boom back to sounding awesome again.

It just smooths everything out, processed studio tone is the term that keeps coming back to my mind. I can quickly dial in anything I want. Granted that’s mainly clean tones and nothing too extreme but as someone who’s main rig has been a countryman DI into A LOT of studio outboard gear for recording and jam sessions (held in said recording studio) it’s great.

It nailed my gig, all the videos have sounded great and it turns out the whole gig was recorded and filmed so I might have something a little higher quality to listen back to.

I will say I don’t think the amp sim plays that nice with my fuzz’s, but I have such a love hate with fuzz anyway it could be as much me as it is them. On one hand it’s taming the fizzy high end you get with a direct signal on the other hand it’s verging on muffled. Could be how dark I’ve got it set and could be the love hate thing. But really, I’m never going to use a fuzz pedal in this setup, I’ve not gigged one in like 10 years, it’s nice to have a bit of grit from the drive or the boost I stick in front of it.

The drive I’m getting a bit more versatility out of, the clean blend seems to go to 100% so you can set it as a clean boost, this does bypass the tone knob and the drive knob does need to be up for it to work as that also goes to 0%. But you can crank the volume, the drive and the blend and have a wholy clean boost and anything in between. Also works really nicely for a bit of grunt with the clean around mid way, drive at 9 o clock and tone at 9 o clock.

My favourite part is definitely the amp sim, that’s doing most of the work for me. The EQ I’m never touching and the compressor is nice tonally here and there.

 

[nixdad]

I will say I don’t think the amp sim plays that nice with my fuzz’s, but I have such a love hate with fuzz anyway it could be as much me as it is them. On one hand it’s taming the fizzy high end you get with a direct signal on the other hand it’s verging on muffled. Could be how dark I’ve got it set and could be the love hate thing. But really, I’m never going to use a fuzz pedal in this setup, I’ve not gigged one in like 10 years, it’s nice to have a bit of grit from the drive or the boost I stick in front of it.

My son just experienced this last weekend. I LOVE my Punchline. My son recently purchased one as well, but he reported some strange noises happening during a gig he had last weekend. Long story short, he discovered his fuzz pedals don't like the Amp Sim, so once he turned it off, the problem was solved.

He plays in 4 different bands so there are times when he absolutely needs his fuzz pedals. However, he also LOVES the Punchline, so he's going to experiment more to see if he can get enough grit from the Drive section to meet his needs and keep the Amp Sim engaged.

 

[musicman556]

My son just experienced this last weekend. I LOVE my Punchline. My son recently purchased one as well, but he reported some strange noises happening during a gig he had last weekend. Long story short, he discovered his fuzz pedals don't like the Amp Sim, so once he turned it off, the problem was solved.

He plays in 4 different bands so there are times when he absolutely needs his fuzz pedals. However, he also LOVES the Punchline, so he's going to experiment more to see if he can get enough grit from the Drive section to meet his needs and keep the Amp Sim engaged.

I appreciate all the mentions of this interesting outboard fuzz/Punchline amp sim interaction. I have been toying with the idea of adding a fuzz option as I've never actually used a fuzz pedal of any kind before, and this is a good thing to be aware of. More than likely I would just have used whatever pedal in front of the Punchline with the amp sim ON, and then just blamed the fuzz pedal for not liking some odd result.

Oddly enough, it's my sheer delight with the distortion section of the Punchline that is making me want to explore more/heavier drive options now. Until the Punchline, I never had a drive/distortion pedal with a clean blend, and I was always unhappy with how the low-end just disappeared under heavy clipping. I had heard about the idea of blending in clean signal and how that helps in theory, but didn't fully grasp what a big deal that is in practice. It is EVERYTHING, IMHO. For the first time ever at last weekend's gig I was FULLY satisfied every time I kicked on the drive channel for some extra dirt and chunk.

Also, @TaySte_2000, thank you for saying what you did about the way you can use the Drive section as a clean boost! I may not ever do this myself, but the concept is great and helps me get a better understanding of the true flexibilities inherent with the organization of the Punchline. This may sound dumb to all you experts here on TB, but the Punchline is really teaching me a LOT about gear and signal processing, etc. Like... I literally went to school to be a recording engineer, but even still, this well-thought-out little box of knobs and switches is teaching me things, along with the great ideas and experience that all of you are sharing here. Thanks!

 

[TaySte_2000]

The thing with fuzz is it’s so interactive, my Kasleder Freaky Stone arrived today and that’s playing far nicer with the Punchline than the Box of War of Giza was. But both of those fuzz’s are huge dark sounding walls of fuzz, so you add something that’s rolling off more top after it then it gets pretty mushy pretty quickly.

I’ve had good experiences now with the more vintage fuzz’s like the Kasleder and the Tone Factor Huckleberry and I imagine something very modern would like be fine and cut through quite well.

Gritty boosts though, they are a thing of beauty with the Punchline.

 

[nixdad]

I appreciate all the mentions of this interesting outboard fuzz/Punchline amp sim interaction. I have been toying with the idea of adding a fuzz option as I've never actually used a fuzz pedal of any kind before, and this is a good thing to be aware of. More than likely I would just have used whatever pedal in front of the Punchline with the amp sim ON, and then just blamed the fuzz pedal for not liking some odd result.

Oddly enough, it's my sheer delight with the distortion section of the Punchline that is making me want to explore more/heavier drive options now. Until the Punchline, I never had a drive/distortion pedal with a clean blend, and I was always unhappy with how the low-end just disappeared under heavy clipping. I had heard about the idea of blending in clean signal and how that helps in theory, but didn't fully grasp what a big deal that is in practice. It is EVERYTHING, IMHO. For the first time ever at last weekend's gig I was FULLY satisfied every time I kicked on the drive channel for some extra dirt and chunk.

Also, @TaySte_2000, thank you for saying what you did about the way you can use the Drive section as a clean boost! I may not ever do this myself, but the concept is great and helps me get a better understanding of the true flexibilities inherent with the organization of the Punchline. This may sound dumb to all you experts here on TB, but the Punchline is really teaching me a LOT about gear and signal processing, etc. Like... I literally went to school to be a recording engineer, but even still, this well-thought-out little box of knobs and switches is teaching me things, along with the great ideas and experience that all of you are sharing here. Thanks!

I'm glad this Amp Sim/Fuzz Pedal info is helpful.

My son has owned a ton of Fuzz pedals through the years, so I've gotten an education at arm's length. The cool thing is that there are a gazillion choices, and there are plenty of YouTube videos giving you the opportunity to listen in on how many of these sound on bass.

IMPORTANT - Something I recommend that you consider as you're reviewing Fuzz pedals (besides tone) are two important factors:
- Do you require a pedal which is silent, or is some noise is acceptable?
- Do you require a blend control which allows you to blend your "dry" bass signal with the Fuzz or not?

In my case, I needed a silent Fuzz pedal which had a blend as well. Many bassists don't require both. Granted, I only need to use a Fuzz if specific songs are on my band's setlist.

Like you, I've recognized that the Punchline is simply an amazing piece of gear - the more you gig with it, the more it's appreciated. As you're doing, I certainly recommend starting with this as the foundation and building from there. For me, with the exception of a tuner, the Punchline is all I need.

 

[nixdad]

It looks like Sweetwater is running out of Punchlines. I don't recall seeing the warning before.

 

[TaySte_2000]

I’m really considering getting a second as I just feel once these sell out they’ll be unobtainium.