Why did JHS Effects covertly use a Kemper for its videos in 2022?

Josh Scott's 'Loud is More Good' Milkman combo has become a staple feature of JHS's video output, and their collection of tube amps have been centre stage in 2022. Only problem is, none of them were turned on.

Instead Scott has been using a Kemper digital amp profiler in an elaborate year-long blind test. And he's now revealed the truth, along with amp profile patches for Kemper and the Line 6 Helix he's selling.

So it's all cynical a commercial plan? Well not really because Scott doesn't roll like that and has made the Milkman profile available as a free download. Instead it's been a useful experiment for creator and audience; what we accept when we don't have preconceptions, and what a pedal designer can discover on a day-to-day basis. There's also a funny video. 

“I’m not ashamed – I’m not embarrassed that I’ve been using a Kemper for over a year, because all of you enjoyed it," says Scott in the video above. "It was helpful to me: in this situation, where we film, how we do this, it was really, really great to use."

Digital and valve; it doesn't have to be a 'better' discussion. Both have their strengths for different applications, and we can certainly see how this would be true in a studio environment. "It's not always the tube amp that's perfect," concludes Scott. "Sometimes it's the profile." 

The new Josh’s Favourite Amps Pack includes eight profiles and is available from JHS Pedals with the following models:

• 1993 Fender Blues Deluxe
• 1963 Fender Blonde Bassman Combo
• 1963 Vox AC30
• Marshall JCM 800
• Sovtek Mig 50 Josh’s #1
• Sovtek Mig 50 Josh’s Tone
• Sears Twin Twelve 1484
• Gibson Skylark

Best amp modellers: 10 hi-tech solutions for guitarists covering all budgets and styles