Articulate, dexterous, and multi-faceted Brazilian guitarist Lari Basilio has been making some major waves in guitar player and instrumental music circles over the past decade. She has released three highly acclaimed full-lengths, won the instrumental category of the Samsung E-Festival in 2014, and performed for a crowd of 15,000 at the Samsung Best of Blues Festival in Brazil. In 2019, she was invited by Joe Satriani to be on the G4 tour. That same year, JHS founder Josh Scott reached out to her to discuss working on a pedal collaboration. Now, the prominent boutique effects pioneer announces the Lari Basilio Violet Distortion, a pedal that taps into key elements of Basilio’s sound and makes them easy to replicate.
“Honored to collaborate with JHS on this pedal that I’m so excited about!,” Basilio posted on social media after JHS announced the pedal. “It’s been a truly inspiring journey with such incredible people! Thank you Josh and JHS! 💜”
To promote the Violet Distortion and demonstrate what it does, JHS invited Basilio to a jam session for a promotional video for “The JHS Show.” Instead of playing lead or even rhythm guitar, Scott passed all string-slinging duties to Basilio and accompanied on bass. In addition to showcasing the diversity of the pedal, the clip illustrates Basilio’s tremendous still as a player.
JHS describes the Violet Distortion as “a new take on distortion/overdrive,” and adds, “using this pedal is like adding a new and ultra-flexible distortion channel to your favorite clean amplifier.”
THe pedal features a three-band EQ that placed the midrange control before the distortion circuit as a “powerful pre-amp distortion shaping tool.” The design allows the Violet Distortion to capture “hundreds of tones” ranging from traditional overdrive to full-on modern distortion. Treble and Bass controls are located in a more traditional position after the distortion circuit, offering familiar but extremely flexible post-distortion shaping.
The Violet stacks well with other overdrives, distortions, and fuzzes, allowing it to fit perfectly into any rig as a second or new primary dirt device and provide players a range of voices. Or as Lari says, “Why would I need words when my guitar can speak for me?”
Controls of the Violet Distortion
Volume – Controls the overall volume of the unit. Left is less, right is more.
Mid Freq – Controls which mid frequencies are boosted or scooped by the Mid control.
Drive – Controls the amount of drive. Left is less, right is more.
Bass – Controls level of bass frequencies. Noon is flat, left is cut, right is boosted.
Middle – Controls level of mid frequencies. Noon is flat, left is scooped, right is boosted. The frequency range is set by the Mid Freq control.
Treble – Controls level of treble frequencies. Noon is flat, left is cut, right is boosted.
For nearly four years, Basilio has been endorsed by Ibanez Guitars and her first signature guitar, the Ibanez LB1 quickly became one of the company’s best-selling signature models alongside guitars by Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. Her guitar features her signature pickups designed in a partnership with Seymour Duncan.
