JHS Kilt 10

From JHS:

After ten years, the Kilt gets a refreshed voice and reimagined aesthetic. An updated clipping section delivers more headroom, smoother attack, and a richer, more dynamically useful drive range than ever before.

WHERE IT BEGAN

In 2015 we launched the ultimate dirt pedal with Stu G (legendary guitarist, writer, producer, and founding member of UK band Delirious?), and we never looked back. He wanted a pedal that could cover any ground he needed for his studio work and extensive touring gigs across the globe. From that request, the Kilt was born, and ever since, it has been one of our best-selling overdrive/distortion pedals year after year.

THE EVOLUTION OF OVERDRIVE

The original Kilt carved out its own space in a crowded field by focusing on clarity, versatility and musical responsiveness. But over the years, we kept hearing the same requests: more headroom for cleaner tones, more audible effect from the flat/cut toggle, and more control over the low-gain textures. The Kilt 10 addresses every one of these requests while maintaining the DNA that made you fall in love with the Kilt in the first place. It’s what you love but better.

WHAT’S NEW FOR 2025

An Updated Look – The finish returns to polished aluminum as a tribute to the original Kilt V1, now paired with classic Expandora-style knobs. It’s wrapped up with a refreshed Kilt icon that cleverly nods to both the Scottish flag and the Roman numeral “X” to represent ten years.  

Improved Gain Control: The gain knob now offers a far more usable range from 0-25%, unlocking articulate, low-gain textures that weren’t previously accessible. No more dead zones — just smooth, musical breakup from whisper-quiet to full saturation.

Enhanced High-End Clarity: We’ve refined the top end to help the pedal cut through a mix with greater definition, which is especially noticeable in live band settings where every bit of clarity counts.

Increased Volume Headroom: More output on tap translates into a more responsive tone across your entire rig, adding dimension and feel whether you’re hitting a clean amp or stacking with other drives.

Refined Toggle Switches: The gain toggles have been tweaked for more usable gain parameters while keeping the pedals original feel and settings. The Low-Cut toggle is now far more amp-friendly, working well across a wider range of amplifiers (including amp modeler pedals and software).

Diode Choice Enhancement: A new clipping circuit adds more touch-sensitive feel and nuance without departing from the pedal’s core identity. It has slightly more compression, distortion on tap, and a smoother attack. Think Kilt V2 but bigger. From the first chord you play, you will love how it feels.

HOW TO USE IT

The beauty of the Kilt 10  is that it functions exactly like the Kilt V2. With G1 down and G2 up, it acts like a higher gain stage boost—perfect for pushing your amp’s front end or stacking with fuzz. Flip both toggles up and you get that massive wall of saturated British overdrive that made the original famous. The improved gain sweep means you can dial in everything from edge-of-breakup rhythm tones to singing lead saturation to all out gated spitting fuzz.

The enhanced headroom and clarity make this version particularly suited for complex chord work and intricate picking patterns that would get lost in lesser overdrives.

And don’t forget—the Kilt comes equipped with proprietary JHS Red Remote circuitry that allows you to switch the gain toggle on-the-fly for instant changes between overdrive and distortion, or distortion and fuzz!

CONTROLS

VOLUME – Controls the output volume. Left is less, right is more.. More headroom means you no longer have to turn your volume up past noon and you have more ability to use as a boost. 

GAIN – Controls the amount of drive or distortion. Left is less, right is more. Never before has the first 25% of the gain range been so usable. You will find transparent overdrive textures that were never before possible as well as the familiar and much loved gating fuzz abilities that the last 25% of the range offers. 

TONE – Controls the amount of brightness. Left is darker, right is brighter. High-frequency control with enhanced clarity and improved amp compatibility. 

G1 / G2 TOGGLEs – These toggles work together to give you up to 4 different resistance clipping options. Both toggles down is the lowest gain setting. G1 up gives you more overdrive. G2 up gives you more fuzz. Both toggles up gives you the heaviest gated fuzz the Kilt offers! The G2 toggle can also be engaged by a Red Remote.

LOW-CUT TOGGLE – The down position is flat EQ, while the up position is the “cut” mode with less bass. In “cut” mode lows are reduced  for an overall tone that cuts through the mix like never before. 

JACKS

INPUT – Lower jack on the right side of the pedal.

OUTPUT – Jack on the left side of the pedal.

RED REMOTE – Upper jack on the right side of the pedal with a red washer.

The Kilt 10 isn’t about reinventing the wheel — it’s about perfecting it. We’ve taken a decade of player feedback, countless hours of refinement, and distilled it into what we believe is the most complete version of this classic circuit we’ve ever made.