What Kind of Lunatic Builds A Guitar Amp In A Pringles Can?
Over the past 15 years, Josh Scott has grown JHS Pedals from modifying Boss pedals in his home to a thriving business with dozens of employees. That success is surely due to the fact that Josh is a mensch. While many “influencers”, TikTokkers, and YouTubers are essentially shills, Josh goes out of his way to promote competitors’ products because he simply loves guitar pedals.
He did a short YouTube video not long ago about a cheesy little 9V battery powered guitar amp built into an El Pato jalapeno sauce can by Deluxe Amplification. He joked about waiting for a “Pringles can amp for extended dynamic range.”
I’ve been playing around with these little power amp modules based on Texas Instruments’ Class D “amp on a chip” integrated circuits. Put an overdrive, boost, preamp, or distortion pedal in front of it, really anything with a gain stage, and you have a nice little guitar amp. With a laptop power supply they can put out real wattage. I took a 60W module, stuck it in a Pringles can, designed and 3D printed end-cap speaker mounts for some very cute but very loud 2” Eminence Alpha speaker drivers, and even included a voltage regulator for a 9V jack to power pedals, and sent Josh a big box with the amp and a bunch of snack food. Unlike the jalapeno amp, it’s a really amplifier.
Josh posted an Instagram video where he’s using one of his Clover preamp pedals with my Pringles amp. First he plays the amp alone, which sounds fine, for a clean tone, that is. Watch his face, though, when he activates the preamp.
I made the amp to get Josh to promote my electric harmonica, the Harmonicaster, on YouTube and his other social media channels. Now folks want me to make Pringles amps.
Excellent work. This is brilliant. Turned out really well.
I can’t carry a tune in a bucket even if you loaded it into a truck for me and have no musical talent but can absolutely appreciate this.
We want to hear more about the harmonica though?
I love his videos. Only have one JHS thing and it’s the Little Black Amp Box “Fender Hot Rod Deluxe tamer” so I can use that amp in my house. I’d get some of his other stuff but I have too many pedals! The Pringles amp sounds fun.