$4,000 Big Muff V.S. $99 Big Muff
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- Опубліковано 18 тра 2024
- In this week's episode, not Josh, not Nick, not even the godlike Addison tries to hear the difference between elite and cheap. No, it's the beloved Joshua. There's no partiality here. Only tone.
The Pedals:
EHX Triangle Big Muff vs. EHX Triangle Reissue
Univox Superfuzz vs. JHS Supreme
Marshall Bluesbreaker vs. Mooer Blues Crab
www.thejhsshow.com/
www.jhspedals.info/
JHS Fresh Clips: / @jhsfreshclips7880
#jhs #thejhsshow #canyouhearit
About 15 or more years ago, Mike Matthews gave an interview to a business magazine. One of the things he noted in the interview, aside from business issues and relocating some things to Russia, was that in the 70s, you could take any 4 consecutively made Big Muffs off the assembly line, and they would all sound different from each other. Basically, he was scoring parts from different sources, and if the cap value was nominally 0.1uf, that was good enough for him. There was NO hand-selection of components. So what is the "classic" Big Muff sound? You tell me. And tell Mike while you're at it, because I doubt he knows either.
Taper shmaper. You have to pay bigger money than what a Big Muff costs to get two pots of the same *nominal* taper to measure the same at any given position. They are certainly in the ballpark, but they won't be exactly the same just because the knobs are pointing to the same position.
LOVE this.
That is why they usually attempt to source a dozen or so of the best sounding original units, and then try to narrow it down to an approximation of what the typical unit probably sounded like upon release. Sometimes, I assume they just pick whatever the best sounding unit is in the office and start making reissues from that jump point. I’m fairly certain the Rams Head Muff reissue I have doesn’t sound like the majority of real Ram’s Head Muff. So I agree that it’s really impossible to ever make a true recreation.
@@thomascunningham2919 That's a good strategy for resurrecting a product people want. I get a little skeptical, though, whenever I see a video of someone doing a "shootout", or comparison of different issues, using only a single example of each pedal. Are the characteristics being touted or noted true and consistent across ALL pedals of that kind/issue or is the one being demoed unique in some manner? Maybe , maybe not. We don't know, and maybe the presenter doesn't, either. Not a criticism of the person. Just a reason to be more meticulous and systematic in such comparisons.
That said, 40 years ago, using 1% resistors for pedals simply didn't happen, and caps had huge tolerances. Components are a lot more consistent these days, and pedalmakers able to turn out products that all sound consistent. Assuming we're still interested in pedals in 40 years from now, we won't have to look for a "good" example of something made in this decade, merely one in working order.
Aura and magic attaches to the desirable, and rare objects of any collector of anything you can name. Good thing Martin guitars don't have the Muff inconsistencies. There's no joke there, I was careful.
$4000 isn't that expensive. That's only about 3-4 cups of coffee
"It's a Big Muff, Michael. How expensive could it be? Four thousand dollars?"
It’s only a few gas fill ups
This comment will eventually become true.
No fair, that missing screw changed the tone of the vintage Big Muff!
😂
I can yell
I like that at 6:40 you can actually see it shedding the screw.
I can confirm that Joshua is a sweet person. I sent a long, rambling email to the JHS email a couple of years ago and his response was very nice. If you see this, Joshua: I'm sorry for not responding back, but I really appreciated it, and also congratulations on your Masters.
Thanks! It's me!
guys are buying vintage pedals with older components because they care about that 5% difference in tone. will always be people who think that small difference isn't worth it, and some who think that it is. You (Josh) should be a little more upfront and honest about the fact that older pedals used a different component spread. Most of those parts are no longer available. Most of the time newer pedals are just fine, depending on your purpose. I use a mix of both on my board. There are a million A/B comparison videos and you can tell a difference. It's a dumb argument at this point. You either care about the difference or you think its too insignificant. To deny it exists is stupid.
The way Josh had to step and give a disclaimer after the words “Succulent flavors of a $5 foot long” might be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve been laughing for a solid 15 minutes, and my wife is looking at me like I’m crazy.
Congrats on your masters degree, Joshua! You rock!
Thanks!
@@jhspedals What's it in?
@@maschoff69 A really nice envelope.
@@maschoff69 Masters in Sass
Just make it a podcast Josh!!!! Give the people what the want!
Yeah!
Joshua was very professional and polite when I contacted JHS concerning a shipment.
Glad to see him on the show often.
🤗
I concur
The way Josh dons his white gloves...you can really tell how much he enjoys doing so. It's endearing in a way.
Glad to see this series returning. On the Fuzz - I preferred the JHS pedal. I'm NOT sponsored, nor was I paid to say this or do I own the pedal. YMMV
I agree. It's easier to make a circuit and have better choice of components. I know many here, with the notable exception of Josh Scott, the Behringer version is one of the best especially with the 3rd position switch with boost.
I finally got my first JHS pedal yesterday! I got the space commander, and I absolutely love it. It’s been my meditation sound to just forget the past few months. Thank you guys so much for making musical gear. It’s truly been therapeutic watching, and now playing your pedals. Y’all have no idea how much laughing and comfort I’ve gotten from a few friends just playing music together. It’s helped so much.
Awesome!
So glad you're doing more of these. Hope you do reverbs and delays eventually
For sure. I'd love one for chorus.
I love the show man
You guys have been saving my life at work this week
Thanks for watching! :)
I love this show, keep doing this! I’m waiting for digital vs analog delays.
Honestly love the extra chatter in between
That masters degree is REALLY paying off in subway cards 😍
ooh wish i had caught this live. GREAT SHOW Y'ALL!
I thought the Blues Crab was sparklier. I liked it better.
It would seem that when in doubt, always pick the loudest pedal as non-vintage.
Seems like it!
Which is normal I assume, as modern replicas-tributes often try to improve on the original designs..
The butcher knife on the table really sets the tone for how high the stakes are.
I feel like, without the pedals being keyed in before hand, it's kind of a mess. That being said, the Supreme and the Super Fuzz were essentially identical.
Jhs singlehandedly exposing the vintage pedal market 😆
no. he isnt. he is just misleading people who don't know any better.
I just want to say, that I love your guys' show. Not only is it super entertaining, but really informative and just makes me want to try making pedals more and more. Its also my favorite thing to put on while I draw. Keep it up! I love all the live streams! No matter how nerdy they get lol
Glad you enjoy it!
You guys are so hilarious and entertaining!!! Love it.
YES so glad this is back.
You guys should do a comparison video between linear and audio taper pots and demonstrate the difference. Like A:B the same pedal, one with linear taper and one with audio taper pots. That's super intriguing, I think.
You can just measure pots with your multimeter, it would be less painful to pull off and self explanatory imo
It makes a huge difference. I built a Klone but used an A taper for the volume pot and it's a much smoother transition.
@@srfrodoxd ??? you can't measure the experience of a pot with a multimeter. The difference between tapers is the ease of use for selecting different tone or volume positions
When I built guitar pedals I much preferred using linear pots for volume, as opposed to audio taper, which seemed to be the norm. But my philosophy was that if your pedal only reaches unity gain at 03:00, it's time to rip out the audio taper pot and stick in a linear. Similarly, unity gain at 09:00 with a linear pot? Audio taper might be better. 12:00 is the ideal position for unity gain in my opinion. Plenty of room to dial back or add if you need too.
In the good old days, stereo and guitar-amp makers would use linear taper volume pots, even though it was by that point common knowledge that log pots were required for volume. The reasoning seems to have been marketing. The innocent consumer would turn the volume control up to the 9:00 position, impressed with how loud it was, and thinking there was so much more volume to be had. Meanwhile, because of the pot taper, the amp had already hit about 85% of its maximum volume.
Best pedal show period!
Great one, pretty funny when 4 of you are together
Xy
These were a lot easier than ep1, they did the obvious thing of the "vintage" pedals tended to sound less gainy and not as modern overall, and were also more likely to have the ability to set the controls to get a bad sound. So far the hardest one was still the Rat from ep 1.
One thing I would add is, don't do the above the table camera of Josh when he's moving the pedals or plugging them in, because the clunk of a large pedal being set down or the chonk of when the cable clips in to a big old pedal, is audibly different from plugging into a tiny pedal, so I could tell one of them by what side his hands were on when he dropped the pedal / plugged it in.
Regardless, all the less expensive pedals sounded great, and could do the main thing the vintage pedal was known for. It does add difficulty to have someone have to tell someone else what to play, to roll off volume, etc, and telling Josh how to set various knobs.
Love the campness of this episode don't know why i just do 🥰
GREAT EPISODE !
These game show-esk videos are pretty dope!
New rule for this game: If the "contestant" loses, everyone in the chat has to purchase a JHS product.
I cheered out loud when I saw a new episode
this episode made me giggle like a sweet little innocent baby boy
As a non-muff/fuzz guy - I never liked them (because they disappear in-the-mix, with a live band) until I got the Thorpy Fallout Cloud. It's like a hi-fi Big Muff = love it.
I always liked the deluxe big muff because it has 2 knobs and a switch dedicated to mid range frequency, amount of mids, and whether the eq peak is wide or sharp
Stack it?
"Even if I get the next one wrong, I have a Master's degree." Missed opportunity.
Holy cow, that Super Fuzz was just uncanny.
When he was switching back and forth quickly trying to get a tell, it really sounded like you were just feeding him the same line bound to two inputs. Excellent reproduction!
I have watched the JHS demo on the four vintage JHS Fuzz units. However I do not remember the JHS Supreme sounding so good. Because of this video it's on my next purchase list. Loved and enjoyed this show. Thank you Josh.
Se
Nice!! Thanks for watching :)
don’t mind the old phone and the Slinky but that massive hunting knife had me on edge😀
I bought the Wren and cuff Forrest for the trees cuz I needed an all in one fuzz. Haven't gone back to any other fuzz except for the regan fuzz from noise kick effects.
Yes! I have the Blues Crab and love it.
A masters degree in fearlessness
🙏🏼
My two cents: it would be more fun to watch this series if the pedals were pre-dialed in to sound as close to each other as possible. When you watch a “kemper vs real amp” video, the amp and the kemper aren’t set to completely different settings, they don’t sound like completely different components, one isn’t 75% louder than the other - they are as close to exact as possible so that the “blindfolded” person trying to guess, real has to listen for nuances. What makes those videos fun is that it’s basically impossible to actually tell the difference. I thought this series was supposed to be that: get the pedals as close as possible and see how well the cheaper versions stack up to the way more expensive legends they were modeled after. But only giving 60 seconds to someone and neither pedals are ever really dialed to their “best sound” or even volume matched is just kind of a train wreck, maybe that’s what you’re going for but if you’re looking for feedback from a fan, I’d retool this format a bit and see what happens 🤷♂️
This.
Totally agree, this is pretty much a waste of time.
The whole point of this is for the listener to not know which pedal is which, not to see how closely a vintage and a re-issue sound to each other. Trying to make them sound identical is not the point here.
I would argue that part of the comparison/shoot-out is to see how the pedals react overall. There’s a bunch of crappy knock-offs or cheap pedals that sound great but only in one position, and if you change the knobs from that it falls apart, whereas the nice pedals are useable and good-sounding throughout the range of the knobs.
Think about it this way: you could probably get a Porche and a Camri to feel the same backing out of the driveway, but what about when you’re taking a curve at 90 mph?
@@zachary963 but all of that is irrelevant when they force everything to be done in 60 seconds. that’s no where near enough time to explore everything you just outlined
"It definitely doesn't make me feel uncomfortable." Laugh of the Week
😂
Looking in awe at my boxed Bluesbreaker that is now apparently valued at more than I paid for my 2002 PRS Cu22 10 top.
It got knocked off my board by a Sixty buck KOT clone...
Hahahahahahahahha gold.
How about EQ pedals? Fish and Chips or Joyo vs Boss vs MXR. Boost or cut the same frequencies on both pedals.
I also think with the Klon you can keep going because there are so many Klones.
Also how about comparing some digital spring reverb pedals to analog spring tanks? Specifically the Fender 63 outboard spring unit.
Subway originated in Milford Connecticut in the 70s. Some friends of mine had a very successful local band called Little Village. They did Subway's first radio jingle. I still remember it. "When you're hungry,make tracks for Subway.." done to a Bo Diddley beat. It was quite catchy.
Brilliant comedy! Bravo!
I have the feeling that he is used to getting things splashed in the face🤣
Tried a few old a new Muff pedals and ended up going for a simple solution.
Big Muff Pi Deluxe, which can sound like a 70's, Ramshead, Triangle or Op Amp Muff on top of having a usable gate that does not suck tone nor cuts when it shouldn't and a boost with adjustable frequency.
Although I just found a sound I like across several guitars and stick to that.
Not using the expression input which can be used to have a WAH alike effect either, sticking to my trusty old DIY modified VOX for the WAH sounds.
Reminds me.
Josh, if you ever decide to build a good TB Mk1 alike Fuzz that has some tone control and without the originals idle noise, I'm all in. :D
Did build one myself which works fine, but the idle noise and lack of some frequency control is a bit annoying.
Guess that there is something modern that can be used instead of the germanium transistors that sounds the same but without the idle noise.
You may wonder why the Mk1 instead of 1.5, 2 or 3, well, I don't want the sustain those add.
Got a nice show, a good reference of knowledge. Is a compressor is the same on bass and guitar or is there a frequency issue?
That laugh track gets me every time
"i have a masters degree"
crowd laughter
lol 💁🏻♂️
YES!!
Once again you make fun and games party with fine gentlemen. Good to hear Pink Floyd lyric,
It's like a quiz show where peoples' lives will be changed forever if they win.
Heartfelt and poignant. Kudos
Joshua repeatedly chose the slightly worse sounding pedal as the vintage one... I agreed in that sense.
It'd be good to do a 3 way compare the real cheapest cheap (£20) with a normally affordable pedals (£50-£200) with a silly posh version (£300+), but not vintage but rather the "super boutique" shiz.
Yeah true... cause a lot of the vintage stuff is expensive due to it's collectable value... not always cause it sounds "better".
Yeah i would like to see a "how much tone does your dollar buy" kind of thing... like a $20, 100-200, and then some kind of ridiculous boutique thing... already set up to sound similar and then the player has to go by the feel of how it responds etc.
Hm just wrote a song/poem with : Nothing works at noon... Joshua was never so funny before! Keep it up man.
Please at some point compare the fz-2 with the Behringer sf300 super fuzz- love this series
Joshua is the man! Love this episode!
Thanks!!! 🥰
Josh lost the third round because his head wasn't in the ACTUAL game! He was thinking more about how the answer would not be "B" three times in a row and let it determine his answer, rather than making his decision based solely off the sound of the pedal...
Master's Degree... REVOKED!
😲
Like a prophecy!! John Mayer looked at the Blues Breaker
Huge knife on the table was a bit menacing haha!
I keep it on me.
Well, now everything in my life gets a "This is not a podcast."
i could definitily tell b was the univox fuzz but during the test i loved the sound of the jhs so much more.. that break up on b in the beginning screamed vintage to me though although not a fan of it compared to the jhs ... josh definitely dialed them in to sound pretty identical in the end though. think i know what pedal is next on my list.
I bought a big white square piece of paper, and a role of Gaffer's tape, and taped a piece low horizontal and a piece left vertical, with the piece of paper laying with one of its corners down. Then i painted the litte triangle made by the two pieces of tape dark blue. It cost me about 10 dollar and 5 minutes to do and it's as good as any painting of Mondrian.
🖤🖤🖤
Great podcast
Thanks :)
A great and very funny episode, love the format of this episode. Full marks to Joshua for always being right even when wrong, it definitely helps having a Master degree, well done to Joshua on getting your Masters he definitely is the star of this episode and the next time we see Joshua on another live he will probably be another 2stone heavier eating his foot longs from Subway.
Should start calling Joshua Master Joshua
I've already made people start calling me that around the shop. lol
Nice episode, could you do a silver screw Boss CE-2 next?
For anyone curious, Mooer and Donner both have a triangle muff clone as well (Mooer Triangle Buff or Donner Stylish Fuzz).
And in this demo the reissue and vintage definitely did not sound the same, but that could have been due to the settings.
I’ll hit u up for one
@@michaelpacinus242 ? Not selling any.
Too late
@@michaelpacinus242 You off your meds, buddy?
@@BlueBarrier782 you mean my custom medication that gets delivered in discrete packaging? Yes
I use the Russian big muff on my board sounds awesome, stack it with the Blues driver gives it a bit more crunch
Great entertainment!!!
Got them all!!!! Thought the new ones all sounds better though
Well done!
@@jhspedals the hardest was the super fuzz. (Which one of my favourite pedals.) by that time I was just guessing the one I liked would be the new one.. it was a total guess though.
congratulations on the masters degree
Thanks!
the muff round would have been tough without the volume drop from the broken bypass switch. Round two, cheap overdrive is always too bright. The super fuzz round was fun. The difference in bias on the super fuzzes was the only tell. My gut said the vintage one would sound more gated and the jhs one would let more noise/sustain inti the signal. Dwarfcraft necromancer is a super fuzz clone with a bias knob. (and a ridiculous bypassable active eq...)
JHS supreme was noisier than the 40 year old Superfuzz!
My Shinei Superfuzz was that
Noisy before I got it fixed does that mean it’s not worth as much as the JHS?
The missing screw is technically a modification
I used to make good money going backstage at John Mayer shows and making him look at blues breaker pedals, until his security staff got wise.
"Time is an illusion. Lunch time, doubly so."
Because nothing works at noon, really.
I have an original 1974 MXR phase 90 everyone swears sounds better than the production models. They may be crazy. Please add this one next!!!
I think it's time for the Josh t-shirt release for us Josh fans - "If it sounds good, it is good! .... I have a masters degree." Or maybe a nice sticker? "Kansas City - Home of Josh' "
You guys should get J. Mascis for a big muff episode, he probably has the biggest collection of vintage muffs.
I second this.
Get all the Bigmuff guitarists on here at the same time. Billy Corgan, J Mascis, idk who else. Have them all shoot out and compare their collections
@@knives_on_static yeah that'll never happen
@@knives_on_static Mark Arm from Mudhoney
Hell probably carry them all in his cargo shorts too.
I guessed that B was the vintage every time, but I much preferred the newer one in every test.
Ah. I owned and sold two Bluesbreakers in about 2008 for maybe £50 each. I was pleased at the time having bought them for about 20 quid, but 1500 bucks? (Yes, I had the box.) I was trying out the overdrives that were around at the time, and also bought and sold the first edition Nobels ODR-1 as well...
could you make an episode stacking bonsai-muffuleta-rat? (hence all the possible combinations) ;-D
That huge knife in front of the laptops!
This should be fun....I have a Blues Crab. Don't use it much since I got a Royal Flush.
Subway should totally sponsor this show…through $5 gift card reimbursements… as they are won in the show 😂😂😂
Joshua logic crushes tone snobs. Amazing.
Lol, thank you.
Why is Mayer such a market influencer? He's a very standard player outside of a few unique fingerpicking pieces.
Too bad I’ve missed the live broadcasts… so far I have gotten 4 of 5 guesses right (reading comments spoiled the Klon for me before I could guess). Looking forward to more of these episodes, to see if I can keep getting 80% or better correct.
If you could just add a row of alien creatures like Mystery Hi Fi Theatre .
Joshua, you nailed it. Since you now have a masters degree your guesses are really educated. Poet slam. Et cetera. I was going to make a joke about sub standard, but I draw a blank.
Lol, thank you.
You guys should do it with the rams head big muff
Next episode: one of them has a master degree - can you hear it?
I got all 3 right, but I'm in the UK and I'm gluten intolerant so it really could not matter less.
it's not actually all that hard, modern pedal builders tend to match/standardise the volume output better than the originals because they'll catch hell if they don't (probably shouldn't have typed that because , if it's true, it's a game ender.)
I want a f*****g lizard Queen, EH... make it happen.
“Nothing Works at Noon” would be a great band name.
“Let’s hear A with the mode switch engaged”. Kinda gave it away in the last one, and no one picked up on it…. For the record, I couldn’t really tell which was which for any of them just by listening to the tones.