JHS Pedals has discontinued its new Notadümblë pedal just weeks after its launch because of a circuit error that founder Josh Scott has described as “the biggest mistake” of his career.
The build-it-yourself stompbox was launched as a spiritual sibling to the hugely popular Notaklön, which has been hailed as one of the most affordable and unique Klon clone pedals out there.
By comparison, the Notadümblë overdrive pedal had been described as JHS’ “take on two sounds from the Dumble sonic universe”, with its split personality defined by Dumble’s “violin lead tones” on one channel, and an impression of John Mayer’s ultra-rare A Box Later pedal for the clean.
During the development of the Notadümblë, Mayer’s pedal was borrowed by JHS, who dissected its tonal magic for the DIY stompbox. However, a mix-up meant a different circuit was ultimately used in the final product.
The pedal has therefore been accidentally mis-sold, and Scott has been quick to own up to the mistake and take the necessary steps to rectify matters.
On May 17, Scott discovered the mistake after asking his head engineer for the original schematic used to create the pedal.
“Upon reading the end of that reply I immediately froze, knowing something was horribly wrong,” he admits in a new YouTube video.
“In 2019, I left a John Mayer rehearsal in Los Angeles with two extremely rare Dumble units in my backpack to reverse engineer,” Scott explains. One of those was the Dumble BBC-1, which Scott says he turned into “the Basic Boost that none of you have ever seen”, while the second was the Dumble A Box Later, which in turn inspired the Box It Later.
“This is what I claimed to have been the clean channel of the Notadümblë,” Scott admits. “But two weeks after the release, I realized I made a huge mistake. I accidentally used the more rare Dumble BBC-1 instead of the Box It Later.”
The mistake came to light when the schematics didn’t show support for an effects loop, an integral part of the pedal. “In that exact moment,” Scott says, “I began to go, ‘Oh no, what have we put in the Dumble?’”
Panicking, he scrambled through its R&D database but could find no record of the Box It Later circuit. He did, however, find photos from his 2019 visit to Mayer’s rehearsal space, and it turns out the two units were mislabeled.
“I do not take lightly your choice to buy our products,” he adds. “And honesty and transparency are absolutely more important than how many of these pedals sell or don’t sell.”
Of course, the flip side is that many players may be more excited by the prospect of a BBC-1 build, and a limited number are still available to buy, despite them being pulled. Expect the once-humble price tags of these first edition pedals to rise on the second-hand market.
The ‘wrong’ version of the pedal has been discontinued, with the 15,000 units planned now reduced to 7,500. The last batch was released on Friday, May 23, with 2,500 ready to ship, and 5,000 available as pre-orders. These are set to be turned around at a pace of around 1,000 units per week.
“I’m sorry for that and I’m sorry for how this all went down,” Scott continues. “It was unintentional but it happened.”
He adds that a second, kerfuffle-free version of the pedal is now in production, but is unable to give a timeline for its release.
Those who bought a Notadümblë and want to return it for a refund can do so until the end of June by emailing support@jhspedals.com.
Dumble amps – masterminded by the late Alexander Dumble – have gathered a mythical mystique over the years, and have been used by the likes of Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, while Joe Bonamassa went to great lengths to get his hands on Lowell George's famed Super Overdrive Special.
After the firm was given a stealthy relaunch late last year, the new Dumble Preservation Society has told Guitar World it will be back “to keep his legacy alive” – using “trade secrets” to boot.
