The JHS Double Dragon is a lo-fi octave device built around 40–50-year-old analog octave divider technology—the same lineage that gave us the MXR Blue Box, DOD Octoplus, Boss OC-2, Ibanez OT10, and Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer. Pre-DSP and fully analog, the Double Dragon delivers octave the old way: imperfect, reactive, and full of character. Single notes trigger thick, riff-ready authority. Chords cause the circuit to strain, glitch, and bloom into something entirely its own.
At its core, the Double Dragon is an all-analog, monophonic octave-down and octave-up effect. The lower octave provides the chewy, foundational thump that made vintage sub-octave circuits legendary. The upper octave—engaged independently—adds a snarling octave-up distortion that lands somewhere between an Octavia and a Univox Super-Fuzz: gritty, mid-forward, and sharp enough to cut through a dense mix. It’s less about precise pitch replication and more about feel, giving your guitar a larger, more physical presence.
This is the first dedicated octave device from JHS Pedals. While they’ve explored octave fuzz before, they waited to release a true sub-octave circuit until it felt right. The Double Dragon leans into the weird and the lo-fi in a way that feels intentional—embracing analog tracking quirks as part of the musical experience rather than something to engineer away.
Controls are simple and practical: Volume provides ample output and can function as a strong always-on preamp with the octaves down; Dry blends your clean signal from articulate punch to fully wet glitch; Oct− sets the sub-octave level; and Oct+ engages the upper octave distortion via the right footswitch. The main circuit must be on for Oct+ to function by design—roll Oct− down for octave-up only. It pairs especially well with mid-forward drives (ahem, TS pedals), and consider placing a fuzz after for added chaos. With a pitch vibrato, you'll find more synth-like textures.