JET TER
Gain Stage Green, GS3 Dual
Overdrive, and Gear Vibe
BY MICHAEL ROSS
PRODUCT REVIEW
We live in a blessed age for lovers of boutique
pedals. Every other day a company shows
up online with a bucket (brigade?) of analog
effects claiming to be the new paragons of
tone. Brad Jeter’s story is typical: a guitarist
begins tinkering with pedals seeking a sound
he can’t find in the existing models. (The extra
“t” in the company name is so people don’t
mispronounce it “jeeter”). Thousands of hours
later, he reproduces the elusive tone in his
head. Unleashing it on the guitar world, he
finds that many agree with his definition of
sonic excellence—success! Customers express
wants and needs of their own, leading him to
other models and other effects. Jetter now
offers six overdrive pedals, catering to a wide
variety of distortion tastes. Here we look at
two of his grit monsters, as well as his unique
entry into the Uni-Vibe sweepstakes.
controls—Volume, Gain and Tone—the
Jetter pedal dishes out a much wider range
of sounds than the Ibanez or its imitators.
It is also notably less compressed than that
category of pedals.
you’re looking for an overdrive pedal
with a small footprint that ranges
from mild to wild.
Buy If...
With the gain set between off and 9 o’clock,
the Green operates almost as a clean boost,
with just a hint of “give” responding to the
pick attack. At 10 o’clock a little dirt kicks
in, but it remains extremely responsive to
picking dynamics and cleans up nicely with
reduced instrument volume level. Above
noon the Gain Stage Green moves from
major crunch to sustaining gain, especially
with humbuckers.
Skip If...
you prefer your drive All-American.
Rating...
4. 5
I tested the pedals with a Fernandes Strat
fitted with DiMarzio Virtual Vintage pickups,
a Burns Steer, a Hanson Chicagoan with
mini-humbuckers, and a Danelectro Pro- 1,
into an Orange Tiny Terror head and a ZT
Lunchbox amp.
The best thing about the Gain Stage Green
is that regardless of the gain level, I never
felt like I was playing through a pedal. This
overdrive sounds and feels like a high-quality
amplifier. Going Green will definitely improve
your sonic environment.
Click here to hear sound samples
of the pedal in action at
premierguitar.com
ONTHEWeb
Gain Stage Green
The Gain Stage Green is one color in a
Crayola box of overdrive pedals offered by
Jetter that also includes: Red, listed as offering “OD tone in the style of Ford/Carlton”
(read: Dumble); Purple, with its “ 50 watt
Plexi-style tones”; and Blue, with its “Fuzz
into cranked Plexi tone.” The reference to
green might hint at the ubiquitous Tube
Screamer sound, available from Ibanez and
various clone manufacturers, but Jetter’s
Gain Stage Green sounds nothing like those
popular pedals—Jetter literature urges you to
“Think Hot Rodded Plexi.”
Jetter Gain Stage Green
Street $199
jettergear.com
GS3 Dual Overdrive
Many tone experts cascade one overdrive
pedal into another rather than use a single
high-gain model to achieve maximum distortion. This also gives them three distinct levels
of dirt: pedal one, pedal two, and both—in
addition to any grit emanating from their
amplifiers. The Jetter GS3 makes these three
stages of gain available in a single pedal.
Given the wide range of sound that hot-rodded Plexi implies, let me just start by
saying that the Gain Stage Green does
lean toward the British side of the tonal
spectrum, instantly separating it from the
more American-toned Screamer crowd.
Though endowed with the same three
The GS3 sports three switches, one for each
channel and a master On/Off. This last switch
is a great idea as it allows you to choose
whether you want Channel 1, 2, or both
before you engage the distorted sound, as
well as letting you quickly clean up your signal
with one stomp of your foot—even if both
