Just Some Audio Effects Is Churning Out Warm, Gritty Pedals To Fit Any Rig

Plugging in a boost, compressor, and overdrive led to a lot more tonal options than I anticipated.

Today’s pedal review has us turning our attention to a UK-based builder who I’ve been following for some time now. JSA (Just Some Audio) Effects had my attention for a few reasons, most notably because they have very reasonably priced boutique pedals. But also, despite having a pro audio background and making some truly interesting pedals under the hood, I love the very industrial aesthetic. Simple, classic, easy to interact with, and no wasted energy otherwise.

Today we’ll be covering the JSA Effects Eureka Compressor, Hot Toddy Overdrive, and Little Treble Maker Boost in detail, and I think you’ll find these pedals have a lot more going on than their humble exterior may suggest.

Let’s dive into the demo and then I’ll break down some of the features!

Demo Time

Here I’m using my Maybach Little Wing (P90 bridge pickup) and my UAFX Dream amp/cab sim for the demo.

Key Features

Eureka: Toggle switch has 3 compression release speeds (slow-medium-fast), as well as a blend knob for mixing uncompressed and compressed signal.

Hot Toddy: Similar layout to Timmy (2-band EQ) but not just a Timmy clone.

Little Treble Maker: Clean boost based off the Klon, but without the magic diodes for that low gain sound.

Eureka Is The Early Favorite

I definitely think that JSA Effects is on to something with the Hot Toddy and Eureka. The Little Treble Maker is a fantastic pedal as well, but another klon-style clean boost isn’t as exciting to me. Meanwhile, the Eureka is definitely something a bit newer to me. I’ve spent a lot of time with compressor pedals in recent months, learning how to dial in the Summer School Half Day and the Case Study Effects Studio Compressor. The Eureka though is sort of a blend of both? It nails the simplistic and boost-like performance of the Half Day, but it has far more versatility and sensitivity in the controls, similar to the Case Study pedal.

Specifically, using the blend knob has been really fun to mix in compressed and uncompressed signal. To me, that’s the secret weapon, as I always like to keep some noise and grit in my signal chain. This does exactly that, while still leading to a smoother and more sustaining sound without the “sterile” effect of other compressors. I love the Case Study pedal because it can be sterile or it can be a hugely compressed distortion. JSA Effect’s Eureka however is almost always a compressed overdrive, slotting in sort of in-between the two sides of the recently reviewed Studio Compressor.

Hot Toddy Does EQ Brilliantly

As for the Hot Toddy, it’s easy to look at it and write it off as another Timmy clone of some kind. But it’s really not nearly as glassy or transparent as the Timmy-style pedals I’ve reviewed before. But here’s the thing, that makes me love it more. I found a lot of Timmy-style pedals to be a bit thin at times on single coil pickups, but the Hot Toddy is not thin at all, and I bet that owes to the transistor-based circuitry. It has some of that raw bite that perhaps a Boss SD-1 might have. It’s not compressed or perfectly transparent, but it plays nicely with others thanks to the 2-band EQ.

And that 2-band EQ is a big part of why I’m high on this pedal. Yes, at first glance it’s not that exciting to see another overdrive pedal. I have reviewed a lot of them. But, this has some of the most sensitive high and low EQ controls I’ve experienced. It’s actually refreshing how dialed in this pedal is. When you crank the treble knob you don’t get the ice pick highs that are unusable. No, you get a surfy, trebly, and snappy sound that’s COMPLETELY usable. Most drive pedals, in my experience, can’t do things like that super well.

I think the key is that it actually doesn’t let you control that much of the treble and bass frequencies. Maybe it’s just my naive ear, but the Hot Toddy can’t really be pushed to uncomfortable or overly muddled sounds.

Final Thoughts

While I didn’t wax poetically about the Little Treble Maker, it’s not because it is a bad pedal. It’s simply hard for me to get too excited about another Klon-style clean boost. That being said, the LTM sounded great, played very nice with its siblings on either side. It’s a clean boost that’s really a light overdrive, what more can I say? It sounds good, it’s not overly expensive, and clearly JSA Effects knows how to make a good pedal. But the Hot Toddy and Eureka were bigger winners for me, as I feel each showed off some unique features and just “wowed” me when I was messing around with them.

The Hot Toddy and Little Treble Maker are about $124.93 USD (converted from GBP), while the Eureka is $151.43, so we’re not talking about obscene prices here either. In fact, getting a nice boutique overdrive with such great EQ for under $130 USD feels like an absolute steal to me. If you’re looking to grab your own, which I suggest you do, head over to Reverb or hit them up on Instagram!