30 Pedals in 30 Days 2015: Truetone Jekyll and Hyde V3

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Mild-mannered and eloquent on one hand.

Destructive freakish monster on the other.

Living at opposite ends of the spectrum, but when you put them together you wonder how one ever lived without the other. When Bob Weil first introduced the Jekyll & Hyde pedal to the world in 1997, it was the first of its kind—a true two in one pedal for guitar players. Now, after making history, Bob and his company Truetone are looking to do it again with the Jekyll & Hyde V3. For 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2015, we here at TheToneKing.com had a chance to check out the upgrades on the groundbreaking original.

Formally known as Virtual Sound , Truetone has made a name for itself building unique, high-quality pedals that are versatile enough that each player can truly create his or her own sound. Two dudes standing next to each other can both be playing through Truetone pedals and have two completely unique tones. That’s big. Truetone pedals give players enough flexibility to truly be themselves.

Now Truetone is looking to take that to the next level with the Jekyll & Hyde V3. Completely re-designed from scratch, Truetone’s latest proves to be more flexible, have more great tone, and be better constructed that its predecessors. The Jekyll & Hyde V3 remains an overdrive/distortion pedal with two completely independent channels—overdrive (Jekyll) and distortion (Hyde).

Let’s start with the monster. The Hyde channel remains very close to the savage sound that made this pedal famous with two important upgrades: First, there is a Bass knob that interacts with the Treble to dial in a variety of new sounds. Second, a Voice switch toggles between distortion rooted in classic sounds and more saturated modern tones.

Now allow me to reintroduce you to the good doctor—Jekyll that is. It seems that spending too much time as the monster has left its toll. This overdrive channel has been completely modified to make it more compatible with its more aggressive counterpart. For this channel, Truetone borrowed some hints from its Open Road pedal but with the addition of Bass and Clean Mix knobs.

Aside from the versatility that Truetone pedals offer, the reliability is second to none. The chassis is built for abuse on the road, and they use Forever Footswitches which are rated for over 10 million hits. Truetone’s not shy about it either. They offer a lifetime warranty on all their products, even for second or third generation owners.

The Jekyll & Hyde V3 is also built with Truetone’s own Pure Tone Circuit—a buffer that can be enabled or disabled. True bypass or a best of the best buffer, with the Jekyll & Hyde V3, you get the best of both worlds. Another thing that struck us is how little hum or hiss there was coming from the Jekyll & Hyde V3—even when both channels were on!

We’ve played through every iteration of the Jekyll & Hyde pedals, and this one is definitely a step above the rest. Sure, we still have room in our hearts for the original. But, V3 seems so much more sinister. It’s always a blast checking out new gear from Truetone; they’re always showing us something cool and exciting. And, for 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2015, Truetone’s Jekyll & Hyde V3 has showed us that the good and evil in us really isn’t that far apart.

 

Jekyll & Hyde V3 Features:

  • Each channel can be set to either True Bypass mode or buffered, via internal switches. The buffered mode utilizes our legendary Pure Tone circuit.
  • Features the custom designed Forever Footswitch rated for 10 million hits. This interacts with relays having gold-plated contacts.
  • Lifetime Warranty… even for second or third owners.
  • Separate inputs and outputs so each side of the pedal can be used in a loop device, or midi switcher. Also possible to reverse the order of effects with a patch cable. Just like having 2 pedals, but in 1 housing.
  • Small, pedal board friendly size, with front mounted jacks. Smaller footprint than 2 MXR or similar sized pedals.
  • Comes in a black velvet bag inside the package box.

 

 

 

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Filed Under: FeaturedNewsEvents3P3D-2015

About the Author: Marc published his first novel Becoming in 2010. It’s a kick-ass book with monsters and dreams and stuff, and you should buy it. Since then, he’s written thousands of articles for TheToneKing.com, many of which have been picked up for circulation by manufacturers and other news outlets. His next book, Drugs and Pancakes, should be available early 2014 if his alcoholic editor can find time to work on it in-between destroying his liver and screaming about punctuation. He graduated from Roosevelt University with honors, which means that he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’s been playing guitar for over 25 years, which is almost twice as long as most of his students have been alive.

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