JFET (jay-fet) is a boost pedal rooted in my love of the JFET transistor, long-loved in the world of audio for its similarities to vacuum tubes. As always for 29 Pedals it’s a ground-up design, from a blank sheet of paper, an effort to elevate the humble boost circuit to something refined and tonally enhanced.
The JFET circuit has three modes, N for “normal,” where a typical boost might sit in terms of frequency response, almost a treble boost but not quite. “F” adds a little more weight, and “X”, my preferred mode. “X” mode flattens the circuit all the way down to below 10Hz, giving you an incredible feeling of weight without sounding like additive EQ. The extension in the frequency response also tightens the phase and gives you an incredible, solid feel. The L control sets the level, it’s a fader after the boost circuit and before the output driver. This means the gain of the first stage is set, and you can use the fader to set the level into the output stage, so THD, hair, and tone remain the same throughout the travel. The output driver after the fader ensures that the output impedance remains consistent. JFET makes about 19dB of gain.
JFET can be used after a buffer or input driver (like EUNA), and also can function as an always-on input driver at the beginning of the board. It sounds great following EUNA and also stacked with FLWR and OAMP. It will drive heavy loads and has high-headroom, making it equally happy at the end of your board. The same WHATEVER power input and relay-based switching as our other pedals, and instant-bypass whenever power is removed.
