JHS Pedals has unveiled the Cheese Ball, which Joshua Scott defines as a “meticulous” reproduction of the highly sought after LoveTone Big Cheese fuzz and distortion pedal.
Although JHS wanted to reproduce the sonic features of the LoveTone pedal as precisely as possible, the Cheese Ball is packaged in a relatively more compact chassis with a more affordable price tag.
The Cheese Ball was announced via JHS Pedals’ Instagram account. According to Joshua Scott, he had not found any mass-market pedal that replicates the classic LoveTone Big Cheese—until now.
The Cheese Ball’s knobs match those of the LoveTone, but less the cheese-based labels. Although that might disappoint fanatics of quirky control names, the dials on the pedal have now become more self-explanatory. “Curds” is now Volume, “Whey” becomes Gain, and the Tone control only selects between “Bright” and “Dark,” rather than picking between “Bee” and “Hog.” The final knob, a four-position selector dial, chooses from various gain voices: 1, 2, 3, or Off.
The replica’s announcement is big news for those who do not have upwards of £600 to shed on one pedal: the LoveTone’s limited production and prominent fans, including Brian Molko, Kevin Shields, and The Edge, witness the original Big Cheese carry hefty price tags on the second-hand market.
The Cheese Ball is now available to preorder for £179.
