The Jive Reel Saturator from JPTR FX is a build-your-own overdrive. It’s super versatile. It can do anything from clean boost (40dB!), light, crackly overdrive, lo-fi tape saturation, amp-like, dynamic overdrive to meaty and fuzz-like distortion.
The toggles introduce different clipping options. The asymmetrical germanium diode (top toggle) adds a very subtle and light saturation. The symmetrical silicone diode (middle) on it’s own adds even more sparkly gain, while the asymmetrical germanium diode (bottom) sounds the most gritty and filthy.
I have no clue if this pedal truly emulates the kind of saturation you get from a reel-to-reel tape machine. But it definitely has vibe and sounds terrific to my ears.
I just wanted to try a Jive out of curiousity and to add it to the collection of “pedal souls” here on the website. But this thing delivers my perfect live tone (for when gigs become a reality again): amp-in-a-box style, lo-fi overdrive for verse and rhythm parts and velcro fuzz for lead and choruses. You can sense a hint of the velcro fuzz if you turn the gain all the way up in the demo above. But it get’s even more velcroy when you put a boost in front of it. On my pedalboard I’ll use the SM/BS Mini for this.
The Jive got me hooked on JPTR FX pedals. This won’t be the last “ugliest sound device” that I will put my hands on ;)
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Get detailed specs on JPTR FX's website
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