Most battery-powered guitars and basses are active and will produce as much as 7-Volts when played at maximum volume. Since typical direct boxes are only able to handle about 3 volts, they choke. The trouble is caused when the input signal is greater than the internal rail voltage. This creates all types of distortion: bass sounds thin and lacks punch, guitars sound scratchy and tend to have sporadic peaks, and they lose their natural body resonance. Because the J48 has more ‘horse-power” (current to work with), it is able to handle these transients without choking. This extra headroom signifi cantly reduces harmonic, phase and inter-modulation distortion. And when you fi x all of the problems, a funny thing occurs... you get great sound!