JHS Pedals FUMBLE

Clean Boost, born from JHS' biggest screw-up ever.

Fumble was born from JHS Pedals' biggest mistake in its more than 15-year history. In May 2025, JHS released NOTADÜMBLË, the second solderless DIY kit pedal. This pedal features two circuits that represent the Dumble sound, and the overdrive section is a boutique-style overdrive that reproduces the lead tones that are iconic to players such as Larry Carlton, Eric Johnson, and Robben Ford. However, the clean side was originally planned to feature a reverse-engineered circuit of "A Box Later," a buffered effects loop device that Howard Dumble built separately from his amplifiers in the 1980s. After borrowing the rare original from John Mayer, who owns it, JHS analyzed and replicated it, naming it "Box It Later." This replica has been incorporated into John Mayer's pedalboard since 2021, accompanying him on tours around the world. However, a week after its release, while creating a video introducing NOTADÜMBLË, Josh of JHS noticed that it contained a completely different circuit. It was another Dumble preamp that he had reverse-engineered for John Mayer in 2019.

After JHS Pedals sold off its remaining stock, it discontinued production of the NOTADÜMBLË V1, but many users requested that the clean circuit be sold separately. This led to the creation of "Fumble." Fumble is a faithful production model of another circuit replicated for John Mayer—the "Dumble BBC-1." It's not a DIY kit, but a finished product housed in a small enclosure, and given the somewhat self-deprecating name "Fumble" due to its failure. Further investigation revealed that this BBC-1 circuit is not the original Dumble, but a JFET preamp almost directly borrowed from a 1970s Barcus Berry acoustic preamp. Howard Dumble housed this circuit in his own enclosure and provided it to some players in LA. He also incorporated the same JFET stage into his own amplifiers, calling it "FET mode." In other words, the FET sound found in legendary, high-end amplifiers was actually a clone of a 1970s piezo preamp. FUMBLE is a clone of that clone—a rare three-generation-advanced replica in pedal history.

Controls ● OUTPUT: This is the master volume. Turning it up increases the output volume.
● INPUT: This control simultaneously attenuates low frequencies and gain at the input stage of the circuit.
At the far right, there is no attenuation. Turning it to the left results in a tighter, thinner response, while turning it up results in a thicker, more powerful sound.

Four ways to use it:
1. As a permanent buffer/clean booster: Install it at the beginning of the board and leave it on all the time as a subtle, unobtrusive effect.
2. Before an overdrive pedal: Place it before pedals like Timmy, King of Tone, Klon, Morning Glory, etc., to add another boost.
3. In front of a distorted amp: Makes crunch amps like Tweed or Plexi sound louder and more defined.
4. As a solo boost at the end of a chain: It also works well as a simple solo booster that you can just step on during chorus or solos.

SPECIFICATIONS
● Circuit type: True bypass JFET clean boost ● Controls: INPUT (low frequency/gain attenuator), OUTPUT (master volume)
● Power supply: DC 9V center negative / Current consumption: 5mA
● Size: Approximately 49.8 × 99.8 × 30.7 mm
● Assembly: Kansas City, USA