JHS Pedals has partnered with DIY pedal specialist Coppersound for its latest make-it-yourself stompbox, the Short Circuit.
It becomes the latest build-at-home stompbox to bear the JHS Pedals name, following the Notaklön and Notadümblë drive pedals. It also joins Coppersound’s generous lineup of DIY pedal packs.
That said, this one is slightly different. It foregoes the IKEA-style, white enclosure in favor of a more rugged chassis in keeping with the Coppersound aesthetic.
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It does sort of keep the naming style, though: the $119 Short Circuit has been described as a versatile, three-in-one Boost-a-Drive-a-Fuzz pedal.
The industrial pedal has controls for Volume, Gain, and Filter, as well as a Mode switch to flick between those three voices. There’s also a sole footswitch and the customary ‘On’ LED indicator.
Notably, the Short Circuit looks to be a far more involved DIY project, vastly more hands-on than anything JHS Pedals has released in the past. The foolproof Notaklön and Notadümble pedals only needed a few cables connecting and some screws tightening.
The Short Circuit is a much more advanced project. It has a PCB board upon which you’ll need to attach an assortment of electrolytic caps, film caps, diodes, resistors, transistors, potentiometers, ribbons, power jacks, and more.
You’ll also need a bunch more tools, including a soldering iron, an array of wrenches, a screwdriver, flush cutters, needle nose pliers, and – if you’re feeling really fancy – a multimeter.
So, yes, fans of the first two pedals, expect a big step up here. Equally, it looks like a nice level to graduate to for those who felt that the Notaklön and Notadümblë were a bit too easy.
The Short Circuit has been in the works for a while and marks a sizable release for JHS Pedals founder Josh Scott. As he explained in a build-along livestream, it was the project he was working on before he suffered a horror bike accident last year.
In August 2025, Scott was forced to take a step back from his business to recover from the accident. John Mayer kindly stepped in as a temporary pedal demo-er in his absence.
“This is a bit of a personal marker for me,” Scott says. “I was in a pretty hideous mountain biking accident and I did almost die. I broke my nose in two places [and needed] 29 stitches on my face.
“I broke my back, I broke my hand, I was lacerated all over my body. It was pretty nuts. I did all this right before that.”
Scott opened up to Guitar World about his accident in an interview last year, and revealed how Mayer’s impromptu demo of the 424 Gain Stage came to pass.
The Short Circuit is available now for $119.
Head over to Coppersound to find out more.
