JHS Fumble Clean Boost Pedal
The aptly named Fumble is JHS taking a mistake and turning into a small platform boutique Dumble style boost at a not-boutique price point. In 2025 JHS Released their second solderless pedal kit with two different Dumble Circuits. One problem. The wrong circuit was included. JHS owned up and fixed the mistake for the V2 NOTADUMBLE offering, but the Fumble circuit had made it out into the wild. JHS saw the opportunity for a new boost offering, and poking fun at themselves decided the self deprecating "Fumble" should, this time intentionally, see the light of day.
This simple boost is a clone of a clone of a clone. Originally this circuit was a recreation of a John Mayer owned Dumble BBC-1. However, after doing some digging it was found that the BBC-1 isn't really a Dumble circuit at all. It's a JFET preamp lifted almost part for part from a Barcus Berry acoustic preamp made in the 1970s — the kind of small utility box that bridged piezo pickups into electric guitar amps in an era when nobody had a modern acoustic preamp. This means that some of the most coveted Dumble amps are recreations of old JFET preamps, John's BBC-1 is a recreation of that, and the Fumble is a recreation of that. Wild.
With all that in mind, the Fumble is the perfect stackable boost with true bypass switching, offering that coveted Dumble sound. Your output knob simply acts as a master volume. Your input knob however, attenuates bass and input gain at the front of the circuit simultaneously. Fully right has no cut — consider it a bypass of the control. As you turn the knob to the left, bass and gain are gradually attenuated. Roll it down for a thinner, tighter response. Roll it up for a fuller, louder one.
This versatile pedal can be used in many ways including as a buffered clean boost, to slam in front of your overdrive of choice, in front of an overdriven amp, or as a solo boost at the end of your chain. This might just be the best mistake JHS ever made.
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