Marshall Jackhammer - JH-1

In my personal opinion, i'm not a fan of this pedal. It's good in some places - but very. very average in others. I've split the review up - to make it more accessible and easy to read - and leave me with a calculation at the end.

LOOKS - 7/10
This pedal does, in fact, look quite good. The entire pedal apart from the black plastic bottom is particularly attractive - a kind of metallic silver/grey. The main switch is a nice silver ...
...Jackhammer logo is quite nice to look at - well placed, as is the engraved 'Marshall'. The dials are slightly overcomplicated, though they look very good, I'll go into detail in the next section. The sides of the pedal are the same smooth colour - and the input is a hexagonal bolt. The pedal is about 5.5 inches lon

FEEL - 8/10
This pedal does feel really, really good. When picked up, it's slightly heavy, and annoyingly so when ... more

In my personal opinion, i'm not a fan of this pedal. It's good in some places - but very. very average in others. I've split the review up - to make it more accessible and easy to read - and leave me with a calculation at the end.

LOOKS - 7/10
This pedal does, in fact, look quite good. The entire pedal apart from the black plastic bottom is particularly attractive - a kind of metallic silver/grey. The main switch is a nice silver - and does not tarnish with heavy use. The large Jackhammer logo is quite nice to look at - well placed, as is the engraved 'Marshall'. The dials are slightly overcomplicated, though they look very good, I'll go into detail in the next section. The sides of the pedal are the same smooth colour - and the input is a hexagonal bolt. The pedal is about 5.5 inches lon

FEEL - 8/10
This pedal does feel really, really good. When picked up, it's slightly heavy, and annoyingly so when it has to be taken to gigs etc, as with every single other pedal i own it is very heavy. The top and side are smooth - something which will really appeal so people who pamper their guitar equipment. The button is lovely to push on it - it takes a very small but satisfying push which is perfect for absolutely hammering at. It holds up well with the abuse hurled at it every practice, and the sound remains perfect. The dials are nice to twist, they have a small amount of resistance on them. The larger dial switches between overdrive and distortion, and if i'm honest, makes very little difference to the sound. The other three dials are sectioned - they have a top half and lower half, both of which turn independently. The writing above them makes it clear which one does which, but it makes it overcomplicate. I don't see why they couldn't have dug into the shape of the pedal obove the switch and added the dials there rather than by adding them together. The input and outputs are both very stable - and do not make any difference to the sound over time.

RELIABILITY - 8/10
The pedal really is built like a brick shithouse. It's very.very strong, and really worth it for someone who would like some stability to rely on onstage. I've given it a good bashing, but nothing's changed, not a scratch. The bolts for the input and output are both prone to coming loose, but nothing a good twist can't sort.

BATTERY LIFE - 5/10
The pedal, annoyingly, is not supplied with an inclusive charger. Thus you either have to splash out on a specialised voltage one, a multi-adapter, or a 9 volt battery, which, at almost a fiver a pop (for a good one) becomes costly considering the fact that it's almost impossible to work out if the pedal is on or off during disuse. The little light on the top which indicates the power in the pedal turns off whenever the input lead is removed, no matter wether the pedal is on or off. This is massively irritating when the pedal runs out of steam.
Under heavy usage, the pedal can withstand maybe 10 hours - this is pretty poor.

SOUND - 4/10
When i used to use this pedal - it was used in a rock band, similar music to Weezer, Coheed and Cambria, Reuben, Muse, that kind of thing. Now i expected this pedal to be heavy, considering its name, and the reviews on the internet - however the sound is almost unbearable. I like my heavy music - Slipknot, Metallica, but i really think this is a stupid amount of gain. Most bass notes are almost impossible to distinguish apart from each other, and the trebles are really squeaky and boring. I much prefer (however fiddly and annoying it may be) to play around with the gain on my amp - which sounds much more real and i can adjust the trebles etc. So overall, i think that the sound is suitable to the quitarists who want to appear brilliant by hiding their mess-ups behind a wall of distortion, rather than the skilled quitarists who want to get a heavy sound.

SUPPORT - X/10
I've never had to deal with these guys but everything i've heard is good feedback. Quick responses apparently.

OVERALL - 6.4/10 - 3/5
For the money - almost £40 in store, this pedal is a very good buy - but it's only really for people who are desperate for a pedal in a rush - otherwise, save up and get a more expensive Boss. I guess it's what you get for the money. It's an average pedal, with a poor sound, but more than good looks and stability. for VERY heavy musicians. 

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