EarthQuaker Devices Blackout Gary vs JHS Pedals JHS Cheeseball

The EarthQuaker Devices Blackout Gary and the JHS Pedals JHS Cheeseball are both pedals sharing fuzzy, full. The JHS Pedals JHS Cheeseball leans compressed.

Similarity
citedBlended from circuit-archetype lineage, dynamic feel, tone-signal overlap and tone-vector distance — the tone vector itself is derived from editorial description text, not a measured acoustic signal, so this reflects how similarly the catalog copy describes the two, not a lab measurement. Shown only within a gear class, and only where there's enough evidence to be meaningful.

31% — somewhat different

Shared genres
citedGenres both listings are associated with.
  • Experimental
Shared tone character
citedDerived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.
  • fuzzy
  • full
Citation fame
citedCitation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.
0%
0%
Price

$199via Reverb

—
Description

The EarthQuaker Devices Blackout Gary is a limited all-black edition of the Akron, Ohio boutique builder's Gary pedal, combining an opamp overdrive circuit with a gated fuzz for a versatile two-character gain tool. Gary functions as an expressive opamp-driven overdrive at lower settings and engages a gated fuzz character at higher gain settings, producing two distinct tonal characters from a single circuit. The Blackout edition shares the identical circuit with the standard Gary, differing only in its all-black cosmetic finish. Suited for blues, fuzz, and experimental players.

The JHS Cheeseball is a boutique drive and fuzz pedal from JHS Pedals with a characterful, slightly unusual tone aimed at players who want something outside the standard overdrive or distortion archetypes. The Cheeseball delivers a thick, fuzzy overdrive with some gating characteristics and a lo-fi, compressed sound that suits garage rock, lo-fi indie, and experimental contexts where unconventional distortion textures are preferred. JHS positioned it as a fun, expressive drive with personality rather than clinical precision, appealing to players who value character and unpredictability in a drive pedal. The circuit is intended for single-coil guitars and clean or lightly driven amplifiers where the lo-fi character translates most effectively. The Cheeseball rewards experimental playing approaches and pairs well with modulation placed after it.

Genres
citedGenres this gear is documented as being used in.
  • Rock
  • Blues
  • Garage Rock
  • Lo-Fi
  • Indie
Tonal lean
—
  • compressed

Related searches