JHS Ross Distortion vs MXR Prime Distortion
The JHS Ross Distortion and the MXR Prime Distortion are both pedals sharing bright. The JHS Ross Distortion leans tight. The MXR Prime Distortion leans aggressive. Current prices: $129.86 vs $76.69.
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Blended 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.51% — moderately similar
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Derived from overlapping tonal signals across both listings.- bright
JHS Ross Distortion
JHS Pedals · pedal
MXR Prime Distortion
MXR · pedal
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Citation/mention fame — how often this gear is cited across artist rigs and gear discussion.$129.86via Reverb
$76.69via Reverb
The JHS Ross Distortion is a faithful recreation of the vintage Ross Distortion, a 1970s distortion pedal that used a circuit topology closely related to the ProCo RAT and the MXR Distortion+ family. The Ross Distortion was known for its aggressive, cutting distortion character with a specific op-amp voicing that produced a bright, punchy saturation suited to hard rock and early metal of the period. JHS recreates the Ross circuit with modern components while preserving the original circuit topology and tonal character.
The MXR Prime Distortion is a classic hard-clipping op-amp distortion pedal from MXR delivering aggressive, harmonically rich distortion suited to rock, blues, and heavy playing. The Prime Distortion uses the hard-clipping op-amp topology that defines MXR's distortion character, providing the bright, cutting, aggressive quality that made MXR distortion designs influential since the 1970s.
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Genres this gear is documented as being used in.- Metal
- Alternative Rock
- Hard Rock
- Blues
- Rock
- tight
- aggressive