I worked at DOD/DigiTech from 1984 to 1993. From 1986 to 1990 I ran the repair department. Those were such great times - and those of us that played guitar and worked there were so very much into what we did! I remember David and John asking us what we thought of new pedals when they made modifications, or came out with new ideas. Such wonderful memories of a great era and even better people.
Eric, working with you was awesome. Not only were you funny and clever but you could do back flip! As I recall, you played a killer saxophone as well as awesome guitaring!
I was DOD's very first employee, working for John and David when I was a teenager. All I remember was assembling parts on circuit boards and soldering. I wish I had accepted a copy of all the first pedals as partial payment for wages.
I don't think I've ever seen you post at TGP. That would mean you were interacting with fans, which seems to be something you aren't interested in going by the lack of interactions in your comment section.
Good lord Josh you must make Ken Burns blush with your thoroughness. Truly you are capturing the history of the industry in a way that future generations will deeply appreciate. An absolute legend
This video intersects with my life a bunch. I grew up in Salt Lake, started taking guitar lessons about 1990 at Progressive Music, got my first electric guitar about 1991, which came with 4 DOD pedals (including an fx50). Pedals got me interested in electronics around high school. After high school, I was a mormon missionary in Argentina for two years. After that, went and got a degree in Electrical Engineering. My first job out of college was for Harman Music (i.e. DOD/Digitech). My time at Harman didn't last long due to the 2008/9 recession layoffs. But the few years I was there was by far the best job I ever had.
It’s kinda crazy the number of audio design/manufacturers in Utah. From ProAudio to Stupidly expensive home audio (Wilson and Kimber anyone?!). If I only knew about this growing up visiting my great grandfather (Provo) and my dad’s best friend (sandy) growing up.
This channel wouldn't work without the obsessive compulsive urge josh has. I love all of the enablers around him that allow this to come to fruition. And I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for this madness.
Thanks for the love JHS crew! Even though I was a part of Dig/DOD there are time periods and changes that are completely lost to time. Mysteries Abound! Oh and everybody in SLC called it Dee Oh Dee.
Hey Tom! It is weird and cool to hear your name on here (more times previously as well), and glad you took all that knowledge to do something on your own. Don't know if you remember me, but I was the Pedal service guy when assembly and service moved to Elkhart, IN. So anybody reading this, if you had your DOD/Digitech pedals factory repaired between 2013 to 2017, I was the one who did it! Good luck with Spiral, I will definitely check it out!
A wonderful example of how to be a historian: follow your interests, examine primary documents and materials/artifacts, conduct interviews with key individuals and experts, and put it all together in a narrative to tell an informative story, with a unique perspective. Well done!
Josh really knows his stuff and I agree with 98% of all he said here about the 250 pedal. I do differ in opinion when it comes to OpAmps though -- I DO think they can make a difference in the same circuit. After I quit managing Yngwie and working with DOD on the YJM308 pedal ---- I worked with Analog Mike to offer some 250 Mods. We resoldered some pedals with a socket so we could easily compare opamps in the same circuit ----- our general opinion was SLEW RATE of the opamp made the biggest difference in the pedals character ----- perhaps more in feel and touch than tone.... It seemed older single chips like LM741, UP741 and others with a slower slew rate FELT more tubey and had better sag or touch sensitivity The newer dual opamps like KA4558 with a much faster slew rate seemed a bit stiffer and a tiny bit more transistory edge Keep in mind these differences were not big ..... but it was enough for all of us to be able to FEEL and HEAR when playing and comparing all the chip substitutions inside the same circuit with eyes closed
I hear ya but I don't think that is a valid test. You need a control with instant switching of said opamp. The human ear and mind are influenced by way more than sound. It has to be an unbiased observation and to do so you can't have a time delay or visual. I promise you can't tell in the proper scientific situation.
I whole heartedly love the collector pride Josh has for his boxes and cards. I cant be sure if it is sincere or sarcastic, but it is certainly endearing.
Man I'm so glad I finally followed through with my dream of learning to play electric guitar. This is, by FAR, the BEST COMMUNITY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. The automotive community doesn't even come close to the Guitar/music community. Wow! It's part of why I love playing my guitars so much!
Hope your still playing, just beware there's a lot of strong opinions not unlike the car community. Just nod and smile when someone starts with "goldtop Les Pauls sound the best".
DOD was a big big part of my first years learning how to play and what I loved about tone. You guys REALLY need to have the Thrash Master in a video. I know you have one, its on the shelf behind Josh in almost every video from 2019. The Bright Pink one!
Trah master was also my first pedal, i was so impressed by the huge gain compared with the overdrive of my little Aria AG 20 amp. I finally was a true metal guitar hero. Ahhh the memories..
DOD was awesome back in the 90s. All their pedals had features Boss didn’t. My first distortion pedal was a DOD Hard Rock distortion pedal. It had a delay knob on it that was pretty much a chorus/ doubler. For a 13 year old kid with a 10 watt Crate amp, it was a major upgrade in sound.
The Rubberneck is my favorite analog delay in the world. I'm so shook I don't hear more people talk about them. holy cow. It's an analog delay that you can control every detail on and it has the double time control and the infinite loop thing it does too. And that description doesn't even do justice. You can control the modulation, how noisy and imperfect it is or not, it has a tone control for the repeats. Plus I love the huge spacestation knobs on the top. Without the bells and whistles it just sounds so good too. heck yes. edit: AND TAP TEMPO 2nd edit: aNdDd aN eFfEcTs LoOp!!!
@@Aaron-zh4kj it does have some neat features, I rarely use them. But I just love the way it sounds! So warm, and you can take it from fairly clean to just gritty. I love running my walrus slo in the loop 😉
Ken (last name Kitamura) had an endorsement deal with Fernandes guitars, and has many custom guitar models to his name (one of the most famous being a red strat with red fingerboard and red pickups - look up LA-85KK) so I can see why this love driver pedal mentions Fernandes on the brochure.
Very cool episode!! History, interviews, rants, jams, lots of pedals, a collector's pedal, and a brand new pedal. Wins the internet for today! No contest.
I can add some history detail for the YJM308 version of the pedal..... I was Yngwie's manager 1999-2002 I negotiated the deal with DOD for them to introduce their first signature series pedal. This YJM308 was SUPPOSED to be an accurate reissue of Yngwie's favorite Grey DOD250 We even took photos of the circuit boards and sent to DOD for reference ... I can't recall if his favorite was using the LM741 or UA741CP opamp. However DOD decided instead to keep manufacturing costs low and consistent by simply making modifications to the current yellow reissue version of the time. Yngwie still liked the pedal and used it for years -- although he ran the BASS higher on his Marshalls when using the YJM308 If I recall from 23 years ago (wow time flies) -- when he used the real Gray DOD250 pedals, the Bass setting on his Marshalls was down around 4 But when using the YJM308 pedal (that had a more drastic low cut), he ran the bass around 6 or 7 on the Marshalls
Hey! I own yngwies 250 , got it this time last year That’s pretty cool history on it. I missed out on his 308. If you’ve got any Yngwie stuff you might want to part with, I’d be interested!
Thank you very much for telling this story. I am a Salt Lake native and live in Sandy, where the DOD/Harman plant used to be. Quite a few of my friends worked there and I have owned several DOD/Digitech products. Including the short lived Johnson Amplification series amplifier. It is a particularly interesting story as John Johnson is my second cousin. We have certainly met, and spoken to each other over the years, but we are not close. So it's a cool little peek into a company created by my family. Cheers JHS! P.S. I own the Lucky Cat and I love it, and think that everyone should have one on their board.
Dear Josh, one of the major reasons I watch these JHS videos is because i love watching you guys jam on these pedals. Anyways, I like the style of your playing. I'm more the type of guy who plays quick stuff, but lately I've been modeling my style off of your slower style. It's really quite pleasant sounding.
I'm so glad you mentioned Tom Cram and his Yellow Spiral overdrive! I currently have his Secret Chord boost (a modded version of his White Spiral boost, his take on a JFET-based Barcus Berry circuit, but with some elements of the 250 added-in) in front of a Maxon OSD-9. It's a combination that has been working great so far! Tom is one of the greats in the business!
i built a bunch of 250 clones like 15 years ago. I kept one and it's honestly never left my board. When you get a good one it's such an excellent pedal. Full spectrum gain with a nice chime.
Thank you for honoring the beautiful Tom's work. I was waiting for it to be shown here for a long time. Thank you for blaming it where it belongs too, Samsung
This channel is seriously the best. My first ever guitar pedal was the Buzz Box, which was supposed to be a combination of the blue box octave pedal and the grunge pedal. It sounded absolutely terrible, but I loved it! Also, this probably get said a lot, but Nick is an amazing drummer!
Lotta history here...and we know it's done right cuz it's coming from JHS and nobody I trust more about circuits and the history than Josh... awesome work man...🤘😜🎸🎶🔥❤️
Just watched RJ ronquilio absolutely crush this pedal on LP and strat... sounds more open w a strat but LP unreal as well..looks awesome Josh...thank you all
I really liked the last dod version and especially the Yellow Spiral. Your slide playing reminded me of Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider, one of my fav. one-hit-wonders.
The guitar solo tone on Time and Money is insane. The vibe/phase on breathe is crazy good. The weirdness of tone on Brain Damage is hypnotic. This album could and should be used as a benchmark of tone on a future JHS vlog. Peace out.
Dear Josh and the people of JHS. First of all I want to thank you all for the top quality show, it really is informative and entertaining - a testament why nobody watches regular television programs anymore and a really good reason to pay all these modern day internet connections and computers ect. Seeing somebody enjoy doing something they are passionate in is truly inspiring. Thank you, excellent job. Now, the reason I'm writing to you is a little selfish but I think you could help me with a problem I have been facing for a while now. I live in Finland and I've been trying to sell my Akai D1 Shred-o-matic distortion pedal on the local used gear market but nobody is interested on buying the damn thing. I know more pedals is more good and there shouldn't be any reason for getting rid of this pedal but the thing is; lately I´ve been collecting only Boss pedals (thanks to your boss related episodes) and the Akai doesn't fit my pedal shelf and it doesn't look good next to my little Boss collection. Your influence on the used pedal market is undeniably that great, it can affect desirability and the prices of any product you mention on any of your shows, even here in the periferia, the eastern border of civilized world. Could you do me a favor and drop in a casual "akai d1 shred-o-matic is cool" in some of your future videos? I bet I could get rid of the pedal (although I don't have the box) in matter of minutes. Keep up the good work and thank you for your help in advance. Your biggest fan, JJ
DSOTM was my favorite until I heard Meddle. Perhaps I was just really high, but hearing the song Fearless for the first time was a moment where my life changed forever. However, Wish You Were Here and Animals are also badass albums. Honorable mention: David Gilmour’s self titled album may be my favorite work of his. Also, you guys are awesome. I love you.
This is a great episode. Having started playing guitar in the mid-80's DOD has been a huge part of my journey. So many cool pedals. The Tom Cramm ones have become some of my favorite pedals. I would love to see more of the interviews you conducted for this. Hopefully you'll post longer parts. Thanks for putting in the time.
After watching your 70's op amp distortion video, i found & bought one of the V8 DOD 250. Initially thought of using it with my guitar rig, it made its way to my bass rig & I love it! Gives such an amazing range from clean boost to "tube-esque" grit, to chaotic dirt. Super versatile, & i wouldn't ever trade it against anything.
I have the DOD 250 gold version, I also have 2 of the rubberneck delays and it is probably my favorite delay ever. The subtle dig at in and out fries, was awesome!
32:50 holy shit, three players at once, and every single one of them actually listening to each other, slow down at the exact same time, to wait for one single guitar note, tempo sag to the same degree and come back on the next beat all together without blinking an eye like you're watching some live action DAW augmented reality automation. that was awesome, it's so satisfying to see a group of players playing *together*...it sounds amazing when it's right
My favorite overdrive!!! Thanks so much for covering this. I’ve had to justify this pedal to my friends since I started playing electric guitar. I have 3 versions/eras of the 250, plus the Earthquaker Grey Channel. Love it!
"He has the box" never gets old. I laugh harder every episode. I feel like the timing of the segway gets more sarcastic each episode, if thats a thing. 🤣
That’s how I feel about “I don’t have this pedal.” Especially the bit at the end. “I just have to have that pedal.” Like a loud fart, it makes me laugh every time.
Another great deep dive. A few things stood out. First, if your “You get what you get…” line is a reference to the children’s book of same name, I’ll be very happy. Second, glad to see you mention Black Arts Toneworks: they seem to have really interesting stuff and I’d love to see an episode overview of their pedals.
Thank you Josh! We know that you must have spent a ton of time and resources assembling this 250 show, finally some reliable information on the history of this amazing pedal! Hoping the future includes more info on the DOD/ Digitech pedals/history!
Congratulations on an excellent piece of work. Thank you Josh and team. Having watched this video 3 or so times, I took the plunge and snagged an 80’s DOD 250 and it is epic. It’s my first DOD, but will not be my last. Thank you.
Thank you! This takes me back to being a teenager and buying a yellow 250 for $19.99 at GC in Sherman Oaks. My first pedal. Awesome history and fun hearing you jam with the various versions of the 250.
Right as I started watching this video, I was changing the strings on my PRS CE24 that I purchased from Progressive Music back in 1998. Also, it’s impressive to realize the impact members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have had on rock music. My wife’s great uncle is Bob Myer who helped design the Big Muff at Electro-Harmonix. And now I learn that at least one of the founders of DOD (if not both) was a member as well. Funny I also never know growing up that DOD was based in Utah.
I loved this episode, and I appreciate the exhausting amount of research and confusion involved. The labor of love is unquestionable in the JHS pedals and show, and whether we realize it or not, I think that’s what makes so many people connect with this brand/content. I’ve always dug the sound of 250s but not having played one (exactly), I didn’t know what made them so special before. To me they have amazing sag and visceral analogue chewiness, which doesn’t sacrifice anything in the punchy and direct sound you need in OD/dist. When I lived in Salt Lake, I spent a lot of my lunch breaks from work at Guitar Czar. I still remember plugging in the Spiral Effects Yellow in and being blown away! Tbh I tried it cuz it looked cool and the guy said they’re new and local. That thing rules though, and as Josh often says, “I don’t have that pedal, and I’m totally ok with that. I’m fine! …What eyebrow twitch?”
Never had distortion pedal, sound is not for me, so………great episode. So interesting and context of everything is brilliant. Great work. Also, I lied - had an MXR ‘78 Badass when I first got an electric guitar, loved the name, thought it would make me sound like Cheap Trick or Kiss, had no idea at that stage, probably still don’t, gave it to a mate who won’t give it back. Bastard.
@@skatertrev7 Boomer ?????? Thats a. terrible insult down here in NZ. That cut deep. Ironically ‘Trev’ is a catch phrase here of a boomer comedian from the 70’s loved by boomers many if whom named their boomer sons Trev. Nice one Trev….
@@alantomlinson1135Yeah, sorry. I was in a pissy mood last night. That was dumb of me to say. Cheap Trick and KISS rule. I'm gonna go crank up "The Flame" and "100,000 Years". Peace
My favorite Pink Floyd is their performance at the base of Mount Vesuvius, playing for the ghosts of Pompeii. My favorite 250 is the Yngwie, as I'm a fan and I've had 2 of them.
I don’t even have any pedals but I love this show so much I can respect being jazzed about little things like the free tshirt paper being in the og box, I enjoy the authentic passion and hope to be half as much about something when I grow up 😂
I love everything Pink Floyd and it's just impossible to pick favorites. Huge fan of the 69-71 era, for instance. But Dark Side of the Moon probably changed the art of production more than any other album I can think of. It's worlds apart from anything before it.
I had the DOD Milkbox Compressor for my bass when I first started playing because I read you “need” a compressor for bass. It definitely sounded good but I think I got rid of it because a) I didn’t know what I was really doing with it, b) it didn’t make cool noises like other pedals. 😁
You don't need a compressor or limiter for bass unless you're recording... All I want for bass is 1000 watt head with one input and a volume control and nothing else!😅, one 2x15 cab and one 4x10 cab
This was such a great video Josh, and you've now just schooled me on an iconic pedal that I would of otherwise overlooked and now eager to discover! Not really relevant to your initial personal journey through 250 lore, but more as a follow up comment to how you ended the video. I was personally really bummed after Tom Cram and DOD got shut down by their parent company Samsung. Especially after putting out such an ambitious and sonically unique run IMO that included some super fantastic sleepers stomp boxes like: The Obscura, The Boneshaker, The Rubberneck, The Nautila, The Freq Out, The Looking Glass, The Gunslinger, Carcosa, and many more... All are absolutely freaking AMAZING pedals with visually beautiful designs of either retro minimalist or visually artistic printed case graphics. The Boneshaker on bass guitar is honestly one of the most brutal tones that I've ever recorded. A super versatile "low end" geared distortion pedal with a parametric EQ that once literally sold online at a liquidated price of just under $40 during the end! Seriously, if you happen to stumble upon one, or any other of that run? Buy it. Buy it without hesitation. Do it! Thank me later.
Who would have thought one of us Lds missionaries would have a part in Pedal History!!! Lol! Thanks for telling this story Josh! Grabbed a #75. I guess I lucked out you guys posted this later than usual!!!
Every time you play the “he has the box” stinger I throw a pedal box away. No matter what’s in it the box goes to a landfill. I’ve started with the most limited and expensive pedals I own. When I run out I’ll start throwing away boxes owned by friends. When they run out I’ll find strangers with pedal boxes. Eventually I’ll find you. Enjoy your precious boxes now while you still can.
"Wish You Were Here" is my favorite post Syd Barrett Pink Floyd album. I've never been able to determine which I like better "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and the early Floyd singles or "Wish You Were Here". Obviously they are completely different, yet both closely tied to Syd.
Correction and clarification: The FX-50B is not sort of like a Tube Screamer, at all. What it is like is the FX-55B, which is a stellar metal distortion. In fact, I’m certain they’re the same pedal in different enclosures made at the same time. I own 2 of each, and all 4 are totally indistinguishable from each other at the same knob positions. If you want to know what they sound like, imagine a Rat with a boost in front. It’s high gain and very tight.
I think the Overdrive Plus (and the Classic Tube FX53 in the upper parts of the gain control has a boost that gives more gain and mids. To me that pedal is like the Tube Screamer without the mid bump-of course until you max out the gain. I miss those pedals, I got them new when Jeff Healy used them and sold them later to fund a Dual Rectifier amp.
I have 2 55Bs and..., 'I Have the Boxes!'. Not a metal player, but I had to drive a 12-watt '64 Princeton against a Marshall stack and a bass player's Ampeg!? Even playing mostly rhythm my tone still cut through the mix. ;)
Oh you’re talking about the Supra Distortion. The Overdrive Plus is more like the TS without the mid bump. I had a Supra Distortion and didn’t like it; lacked low end so I got rid of it. Wish I still had the Overdrive Plus FX50B and the Classic Tube FX53.
Only a few minutes in but the story of a missionary being asked to make a fuzz pedal so some Argentinians can sound like the stones is too funny. Seems like a Wes Anderson character’s backstory.
Wow! Such a cool episode Josh! Only you and your team could bring out so much great info about this classic pedal company. So many things to learn from this video, and I’m one of those guys who grew-up in the 70’s and 80’s playing the FX50 yellow. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with where I’m from, but in the early 80’s most of the music shops in my home town (Colorado Spring & Denver) where pushing Boss pedals pretty hard. I have a very fond memory though of a good friend of mine (Jon, who’s over EHX) back in 1990 in Boston using a DOD Envelope Filter to get some incredible sounds. It just blew my mind and changed my thinking of how great DOD was/is! Rock on Man! 🤘🏻
I enjoyed this history of DOD through the 250 lens. I’m glad Tom Cram is back in action at DOD-excited to see what comes next. Just ordered a Carcosa and love the Looking Glass.
OH MY GOD; at 32:15 that was my "board!!! LOVED the FX60 Chorus. I hated how my FX50 cut the bass, but it wasn't a screamer and it wasn't a fuzz, so I was pretty happy with it.
The Grunge pedal will always be my favorite. It made my tiny solid state combo sound like a full stack. 😊 I found a Tech 4X at a pawn shop that had the Grunge and 250 in it.
Great episodes as of lately! I’ve watched most of your stuff and not saying any of it was bad, but you guys have really taken it up a notch with the new year.
I used the FX-50-B for my distortion for many years. From the 80's up to early 2000's. I always thought it was called overdrive plus because if you turn the drive up almost all the way to where it says boost, it's distortion not overdrive to me. I could do tapping and feedback with my '65 mustang, nothing else seemed to work for that. Great show 👍
I have a “gray” 250 with no bottom cover that had been sitting in a flooded basement. I removed the pc and cleaned and washed board with Everclear (pure ethanol ). I put it in the low temperature curing oven we used for doping speaker voice coils for a couple weeks. I found the IC was bad possibly from the dunking. Being a repair guy I installed an 8 pin socket. I’ve tried multiple op amp ICs and aside from variations in the noise floor they seem close. It sits on my vintage pedal board before pedal boards were popular. It has germanium diode’s IIRC.
I worked at DOD/DigiTech from 1984 to 1993. From 1986 to 1990 I ran the repair department. Those were such great times - and those of us that played guitar and worked there were so very much into what we did! I remember David and John asking us what we thought of new pedals when they made modifications, or came out with new ideas. Such wonderful memories of a great era and even better people.
Thanks!!! 👍💪
Eric, working with you was awesome. Not only were you funny and clever but you could do back flip! As I recall, you played a killer saxophone as well as awesome guitaring!
Great to virtually see you again Eric! I had a great time working with you, albeit not at DOD.
Yes.. it was great working with you guys ..
Awesome!
I was DOD's very first employee, working for John and David when I was a teenager. All I remember was assembling parts on circuit boards and soldering. I wish I had accepted a copy of all the first pedals as partial payment for wages.
This is exactly what I love about this channel.
edit: Gearpage Legal Case is the name of my side project.
Josh's slide tone is better... but your new vintage SG is WICKED COOL (and a slide machine)!!!! :)
@@dmock66 No kidding. Awesome guitar. I never knew they made a SG with a P90.
@@mikecorey8370 I believe they have some current SGs w/P90s (BEST pickup ever 🙂)
I don't think I've ever seen you post at TGP.
That would mean you were interacting with fans, which seems to be something you aren't interested in going by the lack of interactions in your comment section.
@@JC-11111 truth bombs
Good lord Josh you must make Ken Burns blush with your thoroughness. Truly you are capturing the history of the industry in a way that future generations will deeply appreciate. An absolute legend
This means a lot to me!
@@jhspedals I bet you could kick Ken Burns' ass in boxing or MMA too.
This video intersects with my life a bunch. I grew up in Salt Lake, started taking guitar lessons about 1990 at Progressive Music, got my first electric guitar about 1991, which came with 4 DOD pedals (including an fx50). Pedals got me interested in electronics around high school. After high school, I was a mormon missionary in Argentina for two years. After that, went and got a degree in Electrical Engineering. My first job out of college was for Harman Music (i.e. DOD/Digitech). My time at Harman didn't last long due to the 2008/9 recession layoffs. But the few years I was there was by far the best job I ever had.
Woah... wait... are you...?
@@jhspedals
Yep, that's him.
whos this?
@@CarpeDiem23 wait who is he
It’s kinda crazy the number of audio design/manufacturers in Utah. From ProAudio to Stupidly expensive home audio (Wilson and Kimber anyone?!). If I only knew about this growing up visiting my great grandfather (Provo) and my dad’s best friend (sandy) growing up.
This channel wouldn't work without the obsessive compulsive urge josh has. I love all of the enablers around him that allow this to come to fruition. And I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for this madness.
Thanks for the love JHS crew! Even though I was a part of Dig/DOD there are time periods and changes that are completely lost to time. Mysteries Abound!
Oh and everybody in SLC called it Dee Oh Dee.
Hi Tom!
@@rkharper Hey Man!
The Brute is on my shopping list. I absolutely love the Carcosa
That last DOD pedal run with sleepers like the Boneshaker, Carcosa, Obscura ect...
Are some of my favorite pedals of all time!
Soo great!
Hey Tom! It is weird and cool to hear your name on here (more times previously as well), and glad you took all that knowledge to do something on your own. Don't know if you remember me, but I was the Pedal service guy when assembly and service moved to Elkhart, IN. So anybody reading this, if you had your DOD/Digitech pedals factory repaired between 2013 to 2017, I was the one who did it! Good luck with Spiral, I will definitely check it out!
A wonderful example of how to be a historian: follow your interests, examine primary documents and materials/artifacts, conduct interviews with key individuals and experts, and put it all together in a narrative to tell an informative story, with a unique perspective. Well done!
Thanks for interviewing my dad!
I bought a DOD 250 in 1981 and I still have it. I use it as an "always-on" pedal. It sounds great and just keeps working.
Josh really knows his stuff and I agree with 98% of all he said here about the 250 pedal.
I do differ in opinion when it comes to OpAmps though -- I DO think they can make a difference in the same circuit.
After I quit managing Yngwie and working with DOD on the YJM308 pedal ---- I worked with Analog Mike to offer some 250 Mods.
We resoldered some pedals with a socket so we could easily compare opamps in the same circuit ----- our general opinion was SLEW RATE of the opamp made the biggest difference in the pedals character ----- perhaps more in feel and touch than tone....
It seemed older single chips like LM741, UP741 and others with a slower slew rate FELT more tubey and had better sag or touch sensitivity
The newer dual opamps like KA4558 with a much faster slew rate seemed a bit stiffer and a tiny bit more transistory edge
Keep in mind these differences were not big ..... but it was enough for all of us to be able to FEEL and HEAR when playing and comparing all the chip substitutions inside the same circuit with eyes closed
I hear ya but I don't think that is a valid test. You need a control with instant switching of said opamp. The human ear and mind are influenced by way more than sound. It has to be an unbiased observation and to do so you can't have a time delay or visual. I promise you can't tell in the proper scientific situation.
I whole heartedly love the collector pride Josh has for his boxes and cards. I cant be sure if it is sincere or sarcastic, but it is certainly endearing.
You don’t collect things in box with all the paperwork sarcastically lol
Man I'm so glad I finally followed through with my dream of learning to play electric guitar. This is, by FAR, the BEST COMMUNITY IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. The automotive community doesn't even come close to the Guitar/music community. Wow! It's part of why I love playing my guitars so much!
Hope your still playing, just beware there's a lot of strong opinions not unlike the car community. Just nod and smile when someone starts with "goldtop Les Pauls sound the best".
More of this! Your long-form, detailed video-essays like this are brilliant!
The amount of research that has gone into this is on a level I never knew I needed to know. Thank you JHS!
the People need a nardwaur/jhs Mashup!!! 😂
23:49 yrp exactly what I had new. The Yellow 250 and blue DOD delay. yep. What a sound, baby. See you at NAMM 2023.
DOD was a big big part of my first years learning how to play and what I loved about tone. You guys REALLY need to have the Thrash Master in a video. I know you have one, its on the shelf behind Josh in almost every video from 2019. The Bright Pink one!
Same great taste!
DOD Thrash Master was the first pedal I bought with my own money. To my teenage ears it sounded ..... MAGICAL through my little Crate amp. 👻🤣😂
A Thrash Master with a gain knob that went below 10 would be awesome.
A whole breakdown of the DOD HM-2 based circuits would be awesome. Thrash Master, Metal Maniac, American Metal, SUPER American Metal.
Trah master was also my first pedal, i was so impressed by the huge gain compared with the overdrive of my little Aria AG 20 amp. I finally was a true metal guitar hero. Ahhh the memories..
DOD was awesome back in the 90s. All their pedals had features Boss didn’t. My first distortion pedal was a DOD Hard Rock distortion pedal. It had a delay knob on it that was pretty much a chorus/ doubler. For a 13 year old kid with a 10 watt Crate amp, it was a major upgrade in sound.
Always loved the tank like build of DOD, and my rubberneck is my favorite pedal- amazing what the rubbernecks are going for now!
The Rubberneck is my favorite analog delay in the world. I'm so shook I don't hear more people talk about them. holy cow. It's an analog delay that you can control every detail on and it has the double time control and the infinite loop thing it does too. And that description doesn't even do justice. You can control the modulation, how noisy and imperfect it is or not, it has a tone control for the repeats. Plus I love the huge spacestation knobs on the top. Without the bells and whistles it just sounds so good too. heck yes.
edit: AND TAP TEMPO
2nd edit: aNdDd aN eFfEcTs LoOp!!!
@@Aaron-zh4kj it does have some neat features, I rarely use them. But I just love the way it sounds! So warm, and you can take it from fairly clean to just gritty. I love running my walrus slo in the loop 😉
@@Aaron-zh4kj thank Tom Cram
Ken (last name Kitamura) had an endorsement deal with Fernandes guitars, and has many custom guitar models to his name (one of the most famous being a red strat with red fingerboard and red pickups - look up LA-85KK) so I can see why this love driver pedal mentions Fernandes on the brochure.
Very cool episode!! History, interviews, rants, jams, lots of pedals, a collector's pedal, and a brand new pedal. Wins the internet for today! No contest.
I can add some history detail for the YJM308 version of the pedal.....
I was Yngwie's manager 1999-2002
I negotiated the deal with DOD for them to introduce their first signature series pedal.
This YJM308 was SUPPOSED to be an accurate reissue of Yngwie's favorite Grey DOD250
We even took photos of the circuit boards and sent to DOD for reference ...
I can't recall if his favorite was using the LM741 or UA741CP opamp.
However DOD decided instead to keep manufacturing costs low and consistent by simply making modifications to the current yellow reissue version of the time.
Yngwie still liked the pedal and used it for years -- although he ran the BASS higher on his Marshalls when using the YJM308
If I recall from 23 years ago (wow time flies) -- when he used the real Gray DOD250 pedals, the Bass setting on his Marshalls was down around 4
But when using the YJM308 pedal (that had a more drastic low cut), he ran the bass around 6 or 7 on the Marshalls
Hey! I own yngwies 250 , got it this time last year That’s pretty cool history on it. I missed out on his 308. If you’ve got any Yngwie stuff you might want to part with, I’d be interested!
I came here to learn more about YJM’s OD, but mostly he just said “pissy”
Thanks for providing the information!
Thank you very much for telling this story. I am a Salt Lake native and live in Sandy, where the DOD/Harman plant used to be. Quite a few of my friends worked there and I have owned several DOD/Digitech products. Including the short lived Johnson Amplification series amplifier. It is a particularly interesting story as John Johnson is my second cousin. We have certainly met, and spoken to each other over the years, but we are not close. So it's a cool little peek into a company created by my family. Cheers JHS! P.S. I own the Lucky Cat and I love it, and think that everyone should have one on their board.
Dear Josh, one of the major reasons I watch these JHS videos is because i love watching you guys jam on these pedals. Anyways, I like the style of your playing. I'm more the type of guy who plays quick stuff, but lately I've been modeling my style off of your slower style. It's really quite pleasant sounding.
I got over halfway through and I hadn’t even realized this was an hour long episode, hell ya my dudes & dudettes - keep on crushing it
I'm so glad you mentioned Tom Cram and his Yellow Spiral overdrive! I currently have his Secret Chord boost (a modded version of his White Spiral boost, his take on a JFET-based Barcus Berry circuit, but with some elements of the 250 added-in) in front of a Maxon OSD-9. It's a combination that has been working great so far!
Tom is one of the greats in the business!
i built a bunch of 250 clones like 15 years ago. I kept one and it's honestly never left my board. When you get a good one it's such an excellent pedal. Full spectrum gain with a nice chime.
Thank you for honoring the beautiful Tom's work. I was waiting for it to be shown here for a long time. Thank you for blaming it where it belongs too, Samsung
I love DOD, the carcosa is my favorite bass fuzz ever and I can't wait to support Spiral pedals as soon as I can afford to
This channel is seriously the best. My first ever guitar pedal was the Buzz Box, which was supposed to be a combination of the blue box octave pedal and the grunge pedal. It sounded absolutely terrible, but I loved it!
Also, this probably get said a lot, but Nick is an amazing drummer!
I have a bud box MXR Phase 45 but it’s painted block style-the paint is extra thick like they painted over a script style… the pot is 1982.
Whacky😎
Lotta history here...and we know it's done right cuz it's coming from JHS and nobody I trust more about circuits and the history than Josh... awesome work man...🤘😜🎸🎶🔥❤️
Just watched RJ ronquilio absolutely crush this pedal on LP and strat... sounds more open w a strat but LP unreal as well..looks awesome Josh...thank you all
Genuinely laughed out loud a couple times. Super informative. DOD = instant upvote
I really liked the last dod version and especially the Yellow Spiral. Your slide playing reminded me of Lunatic Fringe by Red Rider, one of my fav. one-hit-wonders.
The guitar solo tone on Time and Money is insane. The vibe/phase on breathe is crazy good. The weirdness of tone on Brain Damage is hypnotic. This album could and should be used as a benchmark of tone on a future JHS vlog. Peace out.
I really appreciate all of the work you put into these, you can really see the passion behind it.
Thank you, JHS
Thank you!!!
If they don’t, who will?!
Dear Josh and the people of JHS.
First of all I want to thank you all for the top quality show, it really is informative and entertaining - a testament why nobody watches regular television programs anymore and a really good reason to pay all these modern day internet connections and computers ect. Seeing somebody enjoy doing something they are passionate in is truly inspiring. Thank you, excellent job.
Now, the reason I'm writing to you is a little selfish but I think you could help me with a problem I have been facing for a while now. I live in Finland and I've been trying to sell my Akai D1 Shred-o-matic distortion pedal on the local used gear market but nobody is interested on buying the damn thing. I know more pedals is more good and there shouldn't be any reason for getting rid of this pedal but the thing is; lately I´ve been collecting only Boss pedals (thanks to your boss related episodes) and the Akai doesn't fit my pedal shelf and it doesn't look good next to my little Boss collection. Your influence on the used pedal market is undeniably that great, it can affect desirability and the prices of any product you mention on any of your shows, even here in the periferia, the eastern border of civilized world. Could you do me a favor and drop in a casual "akai d1 shred-o-matic is cool" in some of your future videos? I bet I could get rid of the pedal (although I don't have the box) in matter of minutes.
Keep up the good work and thank you for your help in advance.
Your biggest fan,
JJ
DSOTM was my favorite until I heard Meddle. Perhaps I was just really high, but hearing the song Fearless for the first time was a moment where my life changed forever. However, Wish You Were Here and Animals are also badass albums. Honorable mention: David Gilmour’s self titled album may be my favorite work of his.
Also, you guys are awesome. I love you.
This is a great episode. Having started playing guitar in the mid-80's DOD has been a huge part of my journey. So many cool pedals. The Tom Cramm ones have become some of my favorite pedals.
I would love to see more of the interviews you conducted for this. Hopefully you'll post longer parts. Thanks for putting in the time.
3 cheers for Tom Cram. A pedal gangsta, visionary, and a sweet guy I have the pleasure of talking to from time to time.
After watching your 70's op amp distortion video, i found & bought one of the V8 DOD 250. Initially thought of using it with my guitar rig, it made its way to my bass rig & I love it! Gives such an amazing range from clean boost to "tube-esque" grit, to chaotic dirt. Super versatile, & i wouldn't ever trade it against anything.
I’m as old as the sun and I have all of the small box DOD pedals. My friends called them DUD’s. It’s good to be an old pedal hoarder.
I have the DOD 250 gold version, I also have 2 of the rubberneck delays and it is probably my favorite delay ever. The subtle dig at in and out fries, was awesome!
32:50 holy shit, three players at once, and every single one of them actually listening to each other, slow down at the exact same time, to wait for one single guitar note, tempo sag to the same degree and come back on the next beat all together without blinking an eye like you're watching some live action DAW augmented reality automation. that was awesome, it's so satisfying to see a group of players playing *together*...it sounds amazing when it's right
My favorite overdrive!!! Thanks so much for covering this. I’ve had to justify this pedal to my friends since I started playing electric guitar.
I have 3 versions/eras of the 250, plus the Earthquaker Grey Channel. Love it!
"He has the box" never gets old. I laugh harder every episode. I feel like the timing of the segway gets more sarcastic each episode, if thats a thing. 🤣
That’s how I feel about “I don’t have this pedal.” Especially the bit at the end. “I just have to have that pedal.” Like a loud fart, it makes me laugh every time.
"We're going to walk through each. and. every. iteration." Josh, you are a joy and I have now seen someone who is as neurotic as I am.
Another great deep dive. A few things stood out. First, if your “You get what you get…” line is a reference to the children’s book of same name, I’ll be very happy. Second, glad to see you mention Black Arts Toneworks: they seem to have really interesting stuff and I’d love to see an episode overview of their pedals.
Loved it. Nerdy deeds done dirt cheap. We obsess, therefore we exist. Making sense in a senseless world. Onward!
Thank you Josh! We know that you must have spent a ton of time and resources assembling this 250 show, finally some reliable information on the history of this amazing pedal! Hoping the future includes more info on the DOD/ Digitech pedals/history!
Excellent as always. I love the Gray Spec breakdown. JHS and crew rocks.The best Channel on the UA-cam
Congratulations on an excellent piece of work. Thank you Josh and team. Having watched this video 3 or so times, I took the plunge and snagged an 80’s DOD 250 and it is epic. It’s my first DOD, but will not be my last. Thank you.
Another beg for act II of the Pedal Musical.
I see Addison has behaved well enough to earn additional up-front screen time.
Respect the bass!
Thank you! This takes me back to being a teenager and buying a yellow 250 for $19.99 at GC in Sherman Oaks. My first pedal. Awesome history and fun hearing you jam with the various versions of the 250.
Great pedal . Nick,Thanks for putting Addison in the Jam shot . Bass players all over the world appreciate it !
Am I the only one who walks around humming “he has the box” about 300 times a day? Love the channel guys!
I snagged a sparkly reissue when they were in final clearance, and it is one of my favorites, almost always on
Right as I started watching this video, I was changing the strings on my PRS CE24 that I purchased from Progressive Music back in 1998. Also, it’s impressive to realize the impact members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have had on rock music. My wife’s great uncle is Bob Myer who helped design the Big Muff at Electro-Harmonix. And now I learn that at least one of the founders of DOD (if not both) was a member as well. Funny I also never know growing up that DOD was based in Utah.
I bought my PRS from progressive in 98 too. That was a great shop!
I bought a V5 brand new in 1997. That pedal had killer tone pushing my Traynor 2x12 all tube combo. Those were fun days!
The biggest mistake of my life was to sell my vintage DOD 250 to Josh on Reverb for peanuts. I didn’t know what I had. He obviously did😂
heh. join the rest us us. looky up on the wall behind him
Lewser!
I sold Josh my immortal soul on reverb for weed money
@@USSLIBERTYREMEMBERER C0MMIE TROLL!
DMSProduktions schizoid
Josh Scott for president. Thanks, guys. Always a gift for me to partake in your humor, insight, and generosity in these videos
Josh. You have to do it. You have to make a batch of pedals with whatever you have. Salvaged parts so every pedal is different. 🤣 Come on! 🙏
I loved this episode, and I appreciate the exhausting amount of research and confusion involved. The labor of love is unquestionable in the JHS pedals and show, and whether we realize it or not, I think that’s what makes so many people connect with this brand/content.
I’ve always dug the sound of 250s but not having played one (exactly), I didn’t know what made them so special before. To me they have amazing sag and visceral analogue chewiness, which doesn’t sacrifice anything in the punchy and direct sound you need in OD/dist.
When I lived in Salt Lake, I spent a lot of my lunch breaks from work at Guitar Czar. I still remember plugging in the Spiral Effects Yellow in and being blown away! Tbh I tried it cuz it looked cool and the guy said they’re new and local. That thing rules though, and as Josh often says, “I don’t have that pedal, and I’m totally ok with that. I’m fine! …What eyebrow twitch?”
Never had distortion pedal, sound is not for me, so………great episode. So interesting and context of everything is brilliant. Great work. Also, I lied - had an MXR ‘78 Badass when I first got an electric guitar, loved the name, thought it would make me sound like Cheap Trick or Kiss, had no idea at that stage, probably still don’t, gave it to a mate who won’t give it back. Bastard.
Dang. I laughed. I cried. 10/10 would listen to an extended telling of this journey.
@@skatertrev7 Boomer ?????? Thats a. terrible insult down here in NZ. That cut deep. Ironically ‘Trev’ is a catch phrase here of a boomer comedian from the 70’s loved by boomers many if whom named their boomer sons Trev. Nice one Trev….
@@alantomlinson1135Yeah, sorry. I was in a pissy mood last night. That was dumb of me to say. Cheap Trick and KISS rule. I'm gonna go crank up "The Flame" and "100,000 Years". Peace
@@alantomlinson1135 Ha ha the children of early boomers born in 70's would be Gen X
Love my old 250, picked it up in 81 or so still rockin with it
My favorite Pink Floyd is their performance at the base of Mount Vesuvius, playing for the ghosts of Pompeii.
My favorite 250 is the Yngwie, as I'm a fan and I've had 2 of them.
The performance of Echoes in Live at Pompeii is my favorite PF thing.
I don’t even have any pedals but I love this show so much I can respect being jazzed about little things like the free tshirt paper being in the og box, I enjoy the authentic passion and hope to be half as much about something when I grow up 😂
I love everything Pink Floyd and it's just impossible to pick favorites. Huge fan of the 69-71 era, for instance. But Dark Side of the Moon probably changed the art of production more than any other album I can think of. It's worlds apart from anything before it.
always impressed how melodic your playing is
I had the DOD Milkbox Compressor for my bass when I first started playing because I read you “need” a compressor for bass. It definitely sounded good but I think I got rid of it because a) I didn’t know what I was really doing with it, b) it didn’t make cool noises like other pedals. 😁
You don't need a compressor or limiter for bass unless you're recording... All I want for bass is 1000 watt head with one input and a volume control and nothing else!😅, one 2x15 cab and one 4x10 cab
Ignore that fellow, you do need a compressor for bass live to tightened up the sound.
@@zepp3lin I like my bass naked and free...
This was such a great video Josh, and you've now just schooled me on an iconic pedal that I would of otherwise overlooked and now eager to discover!
Not really relevant to your initial personal journey through 250 lore, but more as a follow up comment to how you ended the video.
I was personally really bummed after Tom Cram and DOD got shut down by their parent company Samsung.
Especially after putting out such an ambitious and sonically unique run IMO that included some super fantastic sleepers stomp boxes like:
The Obscura, The Boneshaker, The Rubberneck, The Nautila, The Freq Out, The Looking Glass, The Gunslinger, Carcosa, and many more...
All are absolutely freaking AMAZING pedals with visually beautiful designs of either retro minimalist or visually artistic printed case graphics.
The Boneshaker on bass guitar is honestly one of the most brutal tones that I've ever recorded. A super versatile "low end" geared distortion pedal with a parametric EQ that once literally sold online at a liquidated price of just under $40 during the end!
Seriously, if you happen to stumble upon one, or any other of that run?
Buy it.
Buy it without hesitation.
Do it!
Thank me later.
Who would have thought one of us Lds missionaries would have a part in Pedal History!!! Lol! Thanks for telling this story Josh! Grabbed a #75. I guess I lucked out you guys posted this later than usual!!!
The amount of love and respect that I have for this level of dweebery can not be measured with human emotions and words. Hats off, Josh.
Every time you play the “he has the box” stinger I throw a pedal box away. No matter what’s in it the box goes to a landfill. I’ve started with the most limited and expensive pedals I own. When I run out I’ll start throwing away boxes owned by friends. When they run out I’ll find strangers with pedal boxes. Eventually I’ll find you. Enjoy your precious boxes now while you still can.
In 100 years people can look back on videos like this and learn a lot about niche aspects of music history. How cool is that? Epic.
"Wish You Were Here" is my favorite post Syd Barrett Pink Floyd album. I've never been able to determine which I like better "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and the early Floyd singles or "Wish You Were Here". Obviously they are completely different, yet both closely tied to Syd.
jesus christ. The fx50 into the fx60 practically steals the show. Absolutely brilliant.
Correction and clarification: The FX-50B is not sort of like a Tube Screamer, at all. What it is like is the FX-55B, which is a stellar metal distortion. In fact, I’m certain they’re the same pedal in different enclosures made at the same time. I own 2 of each, and all 4 are totally indistinguishable from each other at the same knob positions.
If you want to know what they sound like, imagine a Rat with a boost in front. It’s high gain and very tight.
I think the Overdrive Plus (and the Classic Tube FX53 in the upper parts of the gain control has a boost that gives more gain and mids. To me that pedal is like the Tube Screamer without the mid bump-of course until you max out the gain. I miss those pedals, I got them new when Jeff Healy used them and sold them later to fund a Dual Rectifier amp.
I have 2 55Bs and..., 'I Have the Boxes!'. Not a metal player, but I had to drive a 12-watt '64 Princeton against a Marshall stack and a bass player's Ampeg!? Even playing mostly rhythm my tone still cut through the mix. ;)
Oh you’re talking about the Supra Distortion. The Overdrive Plus is more like the TS without the mid bump. I had a Supra Distortion and didn’t like it; lacked low end so I got rid of it. Wish I still had the Overdrive Plus FX50B and the Classic Tube FX53.
Thank you for this presentation. I happen to like all my vintage D0D pedals. Mr JHS, the music you provided was so good.
Single handedly making TGP’ers cry 😂
🤷🏻♂
Just got a 250 and fx60 chorus from my dad so it's great to see you use them both together!
Only a few minutes in but the story of a missionary being asked to make a fuzz pedal so some Argentinians can sound like the stones is too funny. Seems like a Wes Anderson character’s backstory.
Wow! Such a cool episode Josh! Only you and your team could bring out so much great info about this classic pedal company. So many things to learn from this video, and I’m one of those guys who grew-up in the 70’s and 80’s playing the FX50 yellow. I’m not sure if it has anything to do with where I’m from, but in the early 80’s most of the music shops in my home town (Colorado Spring & Denver) where pushing Boss pedals pretty hard. I have a very fond memory though of a good friend of mine (Jon, who’s over EHX) back in 1990 in Boston using a DOD Envelope Filter to get some incredible sounds. It just blew my mind and changed my thinking of how great DOD was/is! Rock on Man! 🤘🏻
I finally came to the realization that Josh is, basically, the Joe Bonamassa of pedals.
I enjoyed this history of DOD through the 250 lens. I’m glad Tom Cram is back in action at DOD-excited to see what comes next. Just ordered a Carcosa and love the Looking Glass.
OH MY GOD; at 32:15 that was my "board!!! LOVED the FX60 Chorus. I hated how my FX50 cut the bass, but it wasn't a screamer and it wasn't a fuzz, so I was pretty happy with it.
After hearing the album my whole life, Any Colour You Like is really the song that stands out on there.
The Grunge pedal will always be my favorite. It made my tiny solid state combo sound like a full stack. 😊
I found a Tech 4X at a pawn shop that had the Grunge and 250 in it.
i love the way the dod 250 looks for some reason, have never tried but would like to.
Great episodes as of lately! I’ve watched most of your stuff and not saying any of it was bad, but you guys have really taken it up a notch with the new year.
I have a jacked up FX50 missing the foot switch 😅 this explains everything 🙏🏼 "Here is a data sheet..." was a peak Josh moment 🔌
My first pedal was the hot pink DOD Thrashmaster in 1993. I still have the 'America's Pedal' sticker on one of my guitar cases. Fantastic episode.
Fx50b was my first pedal I ever had. Still use it. Just ordered the overdrive preamp. Cheers.
Can we get this man a doctorate in pedals? Seriously years of work going into these. So appreciated
Good one Josh! Good to know you like the last version of the 250.
I luv the djent test on the greys! And yeah, headphones are very necessary.
Second that Josh, "Wish you were here" is my fave too, followed closely by "Meddle". Awesome content, thank you
I used the FX-50-B for my distortion for many years. From the 80's up to early 2000's. I always thought it was called overdrive plus because if you turn the drive up almost all the way to where it says boost, it's distortion not overdrive to me. I could do tapping and feedback with my '65 mustang, nothing else seemed to work for that. Great show 👍
Thanks for using a headstock tuner. You’re a man of the people Josh.
I have a “gray” 250 with no bottom cover that had been sitting in a flooded basement. I removed the pc and cleaned and washed board with Everclear (pure ethanol ). I put it in the low temperature curing oven we used for doping speaker voice coils for a couple weeks. I found the IC was bad possibly from the dunking. Being a repair guy I installed an 8 pin socket. I’ve tried multiple op amp ICs and aside from variations in the noise floor they seem close. It sits on my vintage pedal board before pedal boards were popular. It has germanium diode’s IIRC.