TRUETONE
JEKYLL &
HYDE V3
REVIEW BY PHILLIP DODGE
STREET PRICE $179.00
The original Visual Sound
Jekyll & Hyde came out
back in 1997 (18 years ago
for those keeping score).
The world of “boutique”
guitar effects has seen
many changes, fads,
and fables in that time
frame. Through all of the
transitions, Visual Sound
kept cranking out the great
two-in-one overdrive and
distortion pedal and it kept
selling. A few months ago,
Visual Sound changed its
name to TRUETONE and
released a re-designed
Route 66 dual overdrive
and compressor. Now
they’ve done the same
for the Jekyll & Hyde. I’m
surely in the minority, but
60
GEAR REVIEW
//
I kind of liked the design
of the old “home base”
enclosures—especially the
later version which had
the raised ridge protecting
the knobs—but the new
smaller sized enclosure
with rear-mounted jacks is
pretty great.
Along with the new name
and new enclosure, comes
new features and even a
new circuit for the “Jekyll”
overdrive sound. Let’s
start with the high-gain
Hyde side of things. Like
the original Hyde, the
distortion side continues to
be based on the Marshall
Shredmaster. That’s right
you Radiohead fans, this
pedal is a gateway to some
Truetone Jekyll & Hyde V3
of those Ed O’Brien tones.
The Hyde has knobs for
Volume, Hi-Gain, Treble,
Middle, and Bass and
switches for Voice and
Bright. The Hi-Gain control
is a slight misnomer given
that the Hyde is practically
clean at the lowest settings
(especially on Voice B).
But crank this dial and the
sound runs from crunch
to scream. Even at the
highest gain settings, hiss
and hum are not a concern.
The interplay between the
Hi-Gain and Voice controls
is very impressive. Voice A
is the classic Hyde sound
while Voice B is louder
and less compressed.
The Bright switch is also