You should make a pedal with true bypass, germanium transistors and a JRC4558 chip, all parts through-hole mounted and call it "The Uncopyable Boutique Pedal" - and fill it all up with goop!!!
Or… don't do it, say you did, cover it with goop and do a listening test episode. What do I know… I'm just the bass player. Loved the episode. Great stuff.
Or just make it buffered with silicon transistors, all surface mount, fill it with goop and call it the "Uncopyable Boutique Pedal" and we'll never know the difference ...
Ill tell you as an engineer, haven't had this with pedals, but sometimes I'll be tweaking a compressor or eq for 5 minutes, really thinking I'm hearing a difference, only to realize it's in bypass. That's when I know it's time to take a break.
I have done it, too! Work for hours, thinking I’m hearing a tone/sound effects pedal change…..only to notice that the change seems really slow and small…..ah- ha!! The pedal was off!!! All inside my head •••••••beautiful noise from the “Sweet Spot” between my ears!!!!!!! 🤔👍😎
Yup, and the same in the studio, tweaking away on some eq or compressor vst, thinking you can hear the difference, only to realise you're on the guitar DI track that's muted.
and nowadays you have to fake it cuz peeple are on the Flat Earth crap and u cant leave the Flat Earth although Columbus almost sailed of the edge of the globe, Um, I mean theres no globe
Loool! Stupid statement!!! There is a telescope satelite orbiting the moon. You can go online with your cell phone (!!!) and see the pictures of the rover tracks, and other stuff we left there, so the "faked moon landing" myth shit is dead...duh doi oi!!! Loool
I'm an electronics engineer with 50+ years industry experience. 66 years old now. I agree with everything this guy says. He knows what he is talking about, which is unusually refreshing from such a young guy.
Capacitance of a guitar cable is 30 picofarads/ft. Capacitance in the tone control knob is roughly microfarads. Doesn't seem like true bypass should affect tone at all. What am I missing?
@@arkie87 Guitar tone caps are actually in nF, 22-47nF are common. Source impedance of a guitar is ~6-8k ohm for a single coil, double that for a humbucker. Even with short cable runs (10 ft to pedal board, 5 ft through pedal board, 10 ft from board to amp, or 25 ft total) you are getting 750pF (0.75nF) of capacitance. Cutoff frequency for a humbucker through a 25ft cable (with volume maxed) is 1/(2*pi*750pf*16k) = 13kHz, already in the "air" of the audio spectrum. Start rolling that volume off (adding more resistance) and you are effectively rolling high frequency off at the same time. Double the cable length to 50ft. and you are starting at 6.5kHz, already affecting presence and high overtones. Putting a buffer in the middle of that cable run basically breaks the capacitance in half - only the capacitance of the cable to the buffer affects tone. Also note if you have an effect that is always on, like an overdrive, or EQ, or compressor, you get the same effect as a buffered bypass.essentially
I love how you and Brian Wampler give shoutouts to eachother and other builders. The lack of animosity in the industry is refreshing. Bravo sirs. You have a new subscriber.
Greg Barth I don’t think Devi Ever or Runoffgroove would feel the same way. Josh straight up cloned their designs, then called it original work. Shameful.
@@aixpert291 Wampler and Josh are both right wing, church guys. If that's your thing, great. But for the rest of us? Yeah, not the type of ppl u wanna do business with.
As a pedal builder, what if I were to tell you most pedals are rehashed clones of previous pedals? Except for someone changing the tone stack or IC or switchable diodes... Its all been done.
Yep. Every video I watch on this channel is great, and greatly appreciated. He does not have an agenda to push his own brand, but to help us consumers. Much appreciated!!
Everyone is talking about the pedals but i Just loved how he gave a second pedal because the guy was depressed, YOU'RE A BEAUTIFUL PERSON MAN! Thanks for bringing Joy to people!
Well, it's complete but it isn't necessarily correct - I'll cop to using an extra "." in the ellipsis. A four-dot ellipsis is a journalistic notation which means that some part of a quotation has been removed from the cite - clearly not the case here. Top marks for the BA level knowledge. That said, an unfinished sentence is not, grammatically speaking, an incomplete one. Especially if it's being used as a rhetorical device. Extra grammar fun fact: The guy who proofread Hitler's speeches was the original Grammar Nazi.
I work in a music shop. We carry your pedals. I really appreciate that you yourself are the face of your channel. You tell things as they are. You promote other brands. I really appreciate what you do, Josh. Thank you.
Dear Josh, If I simply bought your pedals because they sound rad and look super cool that would be good enough but a larger part of why I love JHS pedals so much is YOU. It's just refreshing to see someone so transparent and genuinely passionate about what they do. Promoting other brands and not just your own. Always staying positive and not running people over as alot of the internet loves to do. Your honest and real and your video content is SUPERB! I currently own five of your pedals and counting. To me they're like little works of art with each one having their own voice and personality. Thanks for keeping it real! On a side note, it would be cool to see some "Special Edition" pedals. Like maybe a morning glory painted a different color or possibly a special run of hand wired angry Charlie's with unique packaging. Something along those lines. Kuddo's on the box candy too. The stickers, buttons, picks are all great touches. I love it all!
Thanks so much!! We've done some special edition Morning Glory's for Rogue Guitar Shop and others in the past, but have gotten away from that lately. Watch out for a release of my hand wired pedals tho!
It is worth noting that engineers tend to design analog circuits to be immune to variations in the characteristics of the individual active components (tubes, transistors, op-amps). So the designer is actually working against you when you hope that swapping active components will make a difference. Thanks Josh for being a voice of reason and a force for good in the world!
I’m an electrical engineer at an aerospace company and every circuit is built with surface mount resistors. If rockets can depend on surface mount resistors then so can your pedals.
It's not uncommon that people ignorant to the topic makes an opinion around a myth which then somehow becomes a "fact". Just look at audiophiles and cables - exactly the same thing. Pumping thousands of dollars into "special" cables which more ofthen than not, not really differs to cheaper ones. It does not matter what the box contains, as long as you get the desired outcome. People need to stop propagating idiocrazy and just enjoy their pedals! :)
Those boards in the rocket ships, are also Class III electronics, conformal coated, and require perfection! I'm hoping most pedals are Class II, BUT, since they are consumer electronics, they are most likely Class I. I haven't seen any ads on ANY pedals advertising build class. Wish I did!
I've been saying that to guitar snobs for years. Actually, when it comes to guitars, I add a little more: If it looks good, feels good, plays good, and sounds good, then it IS good.
If it doesn't give me heartache to hear what the guitar does to my notes, then I can surely live with it. My skilz are thin enough I don't need any additional punishment. Actually, it sounds a lot like rock these days. (Still looking like rubbish). woot.🎸
Absolutely. If you can't put it down and you play it well, then it's the best guitar in world regardless of where it was made, who else plays one, or what you could sell it for.
@@OddTimeMan same here and to add a thing to it , if it looks good , feels good , plays good , and sounds good , it IS good , and if it costs a fragment of the magical brand it is even better haha
I had a RAT modified years ago because "if it doesnt have the LM308 chip its trash". The pedal sounded the same, but it didnt feel the same... if that makes sense. I sold it to some cork sniffer and bought another one.
The whole Klon clone thing intrigued me. I ended up buying an “exact same electronics “ as the Klon. It was a gift for my son. All the “pros” think it sounds better, nothing like it, darker, cheaper, to much high end, warmer, not warm enough etc. What you said makes complete sense. When I started professionally in 1971 you didn’t have many choices for pedals. As life continued on, I definitely did not feel any remorse for trading or selling those pedals. Thank for putting everything in perspective. I am now a fan and subscriber. Be well…..
Myth #1 "True Bypass is Better than Buffered" UNLESS IT'S HISSY. A.K.A. Behringer Vibrato Myth #1 " " UNLESS IT'S the great 'needs to be a dedicated pedal' BUFFER in a WEM WATKINS COPICAT Mk IV
'Magic's just science that we don't understand yet.' Considering how little an average guitar player knows about electronics, it's no wonder we continue to assign various magical properties to them.
@@joestevenson5568 Yeah, it's really crazy if you study some electronics and then read some of this stuff circling around. And, we're not even talking about state of the art stuff like maybe Kemper or something... Most of the gear is literally century-old technology and people are still somehow mystified by it.
I don’t understand jack about electronics and will carry on calling some stuff “magic”. I know it’s all scientific but it feels cooler to call it “the juju”.
Well suddenly your channel is one of my favorites! You speak calm, you don't rush, you are unbiased and more importantly, you are logical! Thank you for this.
I've been around guitars my whole life and I'm just starting starting to seriously learn to play at 50. Your videos are great as I need equipment that is super versatile and inexpensive. You show me great affordable equipment and give real explanations.
Once bought a gallon of the absolute cheapest plastic-bottle gas station vodka available, and fraudulently poured it into Grey Goose bottles for a party. Everyone raved at how great Grey Goose is.
@@devolve42 Was the plastic bottle vodka made by Karkov, by chance? I call Karkov the "Fantastic Plastic*" vodka. *only applies when used in mixed drinks and not when consumed straight.
I saw something like that years ago on a cheap beach restaurant.. the food was sooo god an the wine (poured on glasses) was perfect for the mixture... some guys at my spend a good time trying to guess the brand, year and strain of that nice white wine... turns out it was box wine. I was almost obsessed with true bypass... until my wha was modified
@@ManuelMartinez09 Don't you mean the opposite? Vintage Wah's are noted for being tone sucks because they didn't bypass or buffer. You always passed through the circuit... just the tone (wah) part was disabled.
@@jimistheman9732 I'll explain myself: I knew about tone sucking of vintage pedals but I loved the tone of that VOX pedal, I was obsessed with true bypass (all my other pedals were TBP) so I modified it and two things happened: 1.- I recovered My beloved tone, 2,. Every time the wha was activated my signal was unaudible (full band playing) and the tonal difference between on/off was so notorius that I realized TBP is not the best for every pedal (maybe a buffered TBP was needed in this case)
Josh, being late to reply but just discover your channel recently. I’ve worked in professional studio, so obviously we were always researching the “best” quality possible, to the point to get caught into chasing some gear. So we did plenty of A/B/X test from Mics, to Preamps, or even audio converters... And I noticed that how our brain can trick us sometimes. After doing all those tests, I came to two conclusions: 1) we don’t hear as great as we think we do. 2) most of the time, gear don’t matter so much than everything else (artist talent, engineer knowledge, etc...). So here’s the little anecdote: After all those tests, I was more fearless regarding my technological choices even when some artists wanted “their” preferences because they heard it was better. So when someone was telling me: no, I would want you to use xxx instead of yyyy because xxx is better, and I knew that was a pure myth choice, I was giving an audio check to the artist. I was duplicating an audio file and renaming them “with” and “without”, claiming that one was with the outboard gear, preamp, effect, whatever.... and the second was without it, even thought both were just the same copied file. And I was asking to the artist/producer to actually listen to both and to tell me which one was “better” and should be used for the record, making sure he could read the file name (with or without). Very rarely I got someone to tell me: Oh, I can’t hear any difference then pick whatever you want. 99.9% of the time, the answer was: Oh yeah, with... it sounds so much better, let’s use it. And then I was simply explaining them they heard twice the same file and it was their brain messing with them, so they should just trust my instinct and choices for the song. Once, a guy was so deeply angry with me showing his non-sense that he doubled down and claimed that the file quality changed when I renamed it and the action to rename the file was making it sound worse now... I swear to god that’s what he told me. I just told him we couldn’t work together anymore since I “have to rename” files in my process of editing and mixing, so it wouldn’t work for him. I never heard from him again. I guess he’s probably still convinced to this day that he was “right”. For me that was probably the time I stopped chasing unobterium gear and stopped listen to myths and just started to just trust my gut. If it sounds good, it is good... So, I’m glad you did this video that actually confirms what I’ve been saying since years now after my experience in studio. Kudos to you.
(1 year late reply) Would've been fun if after your pedantic artist said "I like it better with it" you just went "okay, with this equipment it is" although there was no actual difference between the two.
Especially faking it ...because NASA finds it hard to hire politicians. NASA's low wages drive away these skilled BS geniuses that can do better in Federal politics.
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing You learn that on a forum? I would think it's not true of all or many of them, most engineers are thrilled more in being creative than in being controlling.
Also........I have a $299.00 Bugera V22 amp I use in church and smaller gigs. It looks strikingly similar to a Bad Cat combo amp. I sent off $20 to Bad Cat and purchased one of their logos. I removed the Bugera logo from the amp and replaced it with the Bad Cat logo. I played a small club with it just last Saturday night and you would not believe the compliments I got on my Bugera/Bad Cat amp. One guy even offered me $800 cash on the spot. I just didn't have the heart to tell him. Of course I would never sell someone a fake amp. You are so right on about peoples perception of certain products especially in the boutique pedal market.
You know how the trend among some amp builders is to have a cool retro vibe logo? I have a bassist friend in a band that has an old bass amp, can't remember the brand (maybe Ampeg?), but a famous maker. Simply for fun he took off the logo and put on an old appliance badge off an old fridge, because it had a cool retro look he liked. He had some visiting musician buddies hounding him about his "boutique" amp.. he got them going real good and then finally spilled the beans.. "That came off an old freezer junked in my neighbors backyard! Looks great though!" lol..
V22 are honestly super underrated. I was given one 9 years ago, and it pissed me off because it sounded so good (clean channel only, the other one shouldn't exist). I replaced the speaker and rolled in some better tubes, and it's amazing. I own tons of great amps: old Fenders, new Fenders, Orange, old Marshalls, Matchless etc. I honestly take the v22 to shadier bar gigs instead of something more valuable, and I honestly think it's on par or better than anything else I've got. Laugh all you want, internet. That's a no joke great amp.
@@davidschwartz3427 The Bugera V22 is a decent sounding little amp. Can't beat it for the price. I used it instead of my Marshall JCM2000 because there was about 100yds of gravel to get to the stage. The EL84's sound better the hotter they get. Still a Marshall guy though!!!
More like boomer ideology! You should see the old men in some of these forums, man. They sound like they know alot but its literally just spouting other stuff they read on forums.
@@7hotfuzz7 Couldn't have said it better myself. I am a member of several "audiophile" groups on Facebook, you have NO idea what's being blurted over there, and how boomers make love to snakeoil all the time...
It reminds me of hifi buffs. I've worked with producers and engineers who wire their studios with good quality electrical copper wire. That's it. Then you see some guy who's spent £150 on a phono cable for his hifi to get the the "true sound". It's bullshit.
Biggest myth I believed was that I needed to play heavy guage strings it order to have good tone. All those years I put 11’s on my strat. I’m so glad I switched to 9’s/10’s depending on the guitar scale length
Partially agree. You don't need the heavier Guage to have good tone. But there is a difference in tone. I actually like my Strat with 10s as opposed to 11s. Has a more bell like quality. But my Jazzmaster and Gretsch both have 11s (mostly because they behave better that way). My D18 sounds MUCH better with 13s than with 12s.
Same here! Use to think 11's were "better" because they offered more "tone". They certainly do have a different tone but by no means better. That's what amps are for. I like 10's now, easier on the fingers and more flexible. I feel like I can smash the strings more and they give out a little. I encourage people to even try 9's. They're bendy and slinky and have a really cool tone all on their own. Sure, sometimes a certain gauge string will/won't play nice on certain guitars but hey, that's the guitars preference not a tone requirement.
Billy Gibbons had a similar mindset till he met BB King and found out how thin his strings were and he still had this massive tone. If you can find the interview it's really interesting and great to hear about the early days of ZZ Top.
@@auberginedreams00 that’s not because heavier strings give you a heavier tone though. It’s because if you downtune on a standard scale guitar (24.75” to 25.5”) you have less string tension which can make your riffs sound “muddy” or “flubby” or “less tight” (pick your preferred adjective). Heavier gauge strings require more tension to reach the same pitch. You get a similar effect with an extended scale (or baritone) guitar without the need for as heavy a gauge of string.
@@bradmodd7856 With some boss pedals I definitely notice some tone suck, but I have not noticed it with the Waza craft line. I usually place a buffer in the beginning, middle and end of the chain with the TU-3w at the end. I think the problem might be more with the quality of said buffer than it being buffered bypass or not. Some boss pedals(the non waza SD-1) have an awful buffer while some of the others have an incredible one(any waza pedal and even the non waza TU-3).
@@bradmodd7856 Exactly. Tone suck does occur when you have a bunch of unplugged buffered pedals on front of your amp. The snake oil is in thinking buffered pedals don't sound good...they did, and of course still do.
ASCII is pronounced 'Askey' For all you Brits of a certain age; Arthur Askey has now changed his name to Art Unicode and works in a coffee bar in Hoxton.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. I am new to guitars however I am loving the fact I can now use all the electronic knowledge I learned 30 year ago that I thought was obsolete in the software age
one thing i love about josh is ive seen him advertise boss pedals more then his own he never pushes his pedals but the more i look into them the more i see they are fn good pedals n he knows they will sell themselves once musicians use them , thats a talented creator of anything! i have alot of respect for josh hes just a really awesome guy n gives me alot of knowledge in a very un-bias way!
Well going to the moon......that was through hole technology and a state of the art crude computer system that was probably a lot less than a commodore 64.....let alone a commodore 128.....and hmmm how much RAM. But then again perhaps we should ask the Israeli's about crashing into the moon and the "communications failure"....since that's technically only a few day out of the box. I actually favor the Israeli's as they build some impressive devices & firearms considering the conditions......I haven't been there since the 1970's People erroneously cite these technologies not realizing that they have a short service life or that the package has a big service contract on the back end. If you talk about medical hospital equipment..... The tax man calls it depreciation You can buy a model T and it will run or a 57 chevy…….there is no computer or electronics involved, but buy a post 1980's vehicle that's early computer or well into the electronics age....and good luck if the vehicle will run reliably...….and I trust you aren't planning to go to the moon or need life support systems
@@mikecamps7226 One should try to keep a machine as simple as possible, for the task at hand. Overcomplicating a design to achieve the same result is wasteful and, indeed, potentially dangerous. After all, the more parts in a system, the higher the chances something will break when you need it the most.
Digital technology is not only inherently obsolete by the time it is first used it is also highly degradable. Analog technology is impossible to degrade. A shovel made today is the same one as a shovel made a thousand years ago. A shovel can't be made obsolete.
Good vid. I think one of the most overlooked sound changer is the room you're playing in. For example, I set my sound in my living room. Go to a gig and the room is bigger, had to readjust everything. Sometimes it's brighter, louder, thinner, or muffled. So, maybe when you played a gig and everything just sounded great, it might not have been your playing, the band you played with, or your new pedal.
Love your videos. I'm an old war horse of musician. Growing up in the biz I got sucked into a myriad of b.s. regarding pedals and amps. You are saving newbies a ton of grief by giving them good information and saving them money in the process..
I've definitely bought into the "boutique" and "true bypass" myths in the past. Gotta say that the JHS (and Wampler) channel has definitely changed my thinking on pedals in general. Thanks for making this. Also, congrats to the winners. Super cool of JHS to send that second pedal to Justin
I love the statement that the sound of a pedal is colored by event, the memories of the experience as well as the actual sound of the pedal. Great point.
As a drummer and engineer who is constantly fascinated by what goes into making things, I found this video to be honestly and refreshingly captivating!
Thanks for the reassurance josh ,I’ve been use a cheap clone brand of pedals purely because I can’t afford The way cooler so called “boutique “ stuff that’s available I Have to chuckle to my self when at a gigs I’m approached by musicians who wanna compliment me on my guitar Sound but when they look down at my board they start a lecture about how much better it would be If I was using a so and so! . Go figure 👍
Brand loyalty is fucking toxic. I can't stand musicians that sit around talking about how this piece of gear is better than whatever piece of gear you have. People get too sucked up into thinking they're "supporting" a brand when they're literally only paying extra for a stupid fucking logo and a cultivated identity around it that they've formed. Most people blindfolded wouldn't be able to tell a fuckin hollowbody from a hard tail, let alone the differences in a pedal. I wish when I went to guitar stores I didn't even have to see the brands, because it biases my own opinions too. I'd love to be able to just get a fuckin pedal that sounds good to me and not worry about what stupid name it has on it or who's gunna talk shit about it.
Robert DeVincentis Exactly. I'm huge fan of 'cheap' pedals. One of my favorites is a First Act Delay that I got on clearance for $29.99 at... Toys R Us.
You are my kind of gear head. I get the same thing as a synth player because I use cheaper modern synthesizers. But the same people who are disappointed were still dancing their asses off 5 minutes earlier.
I would argue that true bypass (or even passive bypass) does have one advantage which cannot be denied... when I was a young and couldn't afford a power supply for all my pedals, and couldn't really afford to change all batteries for every gig; true/passive bypass meant that my guitar signal still got to the amp halfway through the song. If a battery dies, just stomp the box off... all is fine. Unless the switch broke of course... Would be very interested to hear more about op amps in hard clipping pedals vs tube screamers etc.
I had two versions of the Boss CE-5 for a while - one older analog, the other newer and digital. Could I even hear the difference? Nope. Did I persuade myself that I could hear the difference? Yup. Am I even sure that I had it right which was which? Nope. Did I replace them both with a 1979 CE-2 that I got for a ridiculous price? I did. It's awesome. Would I be able to tell the difference between that and a cheap clone? Almost certainly not.
You're trying to reason with some people who still think the world is flat.......:) In my 40 years of playing I've lived by the words of the great Joe Meek - "if it sounds right it is". Amen.
totally agree. everyone's so worried about every one else's tone. if you like it? it's right. bottom line. I'd choose an Carbon Copy over a Timeline every day.
I've been caught up in some of this myths and hype, athough where i live (little town in the Pacific coast of Mexico) it's practically impossible to go try gear at a store other than Behringer and maybe some Boss or TC stuff, so if we want to try something you'd have to buy it and wait for it to get there (shipping can also take a while). I do try to focus on getting good tone outta my own fingers rather than to rely on specific pedals or stuff to get them tonez, and watching this channnel as well as some others like TPS, Antertons TV, Pete Thorn channel, etc has actually been VERY helpful in shedding some light on not only to actually know what it is your getting for your hard earned cash, but also on HOW to use such things, or HOW they work and WHY they work in such way! I strongly believe ALL of y'all guitar players out there should learn more about WHY your gear works the way it does, learn how things react the way they do with each other, and (not implying anything here, do buy from all the great gents out there trying to give the world better guitar tones, just like Josh here!) I promise you'll have a better tone overall and will be saving a lot of cash! Not to mention putting an end to all of these myths surrounding gear all over the web! Me for example I'm out the door to go get me a nice Behringer SuperFuzz, thanks for the recomendation Josh! (Octave Fuzz 101, and the Behringer episode, go watch them now!) And thanks for taking the time to do these kind of honest and very helpful videos, instead of just saying whatever it takes to promote your own brand! Share this videos people!
I sat in with a band a few years ago. The"sit in guy"s gear on offer was a $350 Fender MIsomewghere guitar, and an old solid state Fender amp that a band member pain $300 for at yard sale. At the first break the lead guitar player came to me and remarked that he'd never heard that amp and guitar combo sound so good. When I showed him the EQ and drive settings I used he was really surprised, saying that he would never have thought to to set the amp up like that. When he told me how much he paid for it I immediately offered to buy it from him. He said, '"No, but I would have sold it to you 20 minutes ago"! Twiddle Those Knobs guys! 🙂
I like Boss pedals, even some of their overdrives and distortions. They sound good, almost never have a problem with them, and it's always easy to track one down if something does go wrong. Oh, and they come in cool colors.
I’ve been playing for 22 years in all facets of style, I’ve been very blessed to have a huge range of experiences musically. I went through a ‘naturalist’ stage where I only had a volume pedal, tuner, my channel selection pedal for my Fender 4x10 Deluxe, and a wah that I would turn on and leave set in a tone that I liked at the time. I’ve been at the other end of the spectrum and had pedal after pedal on my board, as many as my power supply would let me. At the end of the day, your tone is your voice and your playing is your message, so hook up with other musicians and try out their gear, pick their minds and open yourself to new processes. The more versatile you become, the more versatile your experience with music is.
I was a “TB” jerk. Grew distain when I saw a rig with a boss pedal. Then I just dropped it after being given a Keeley BD2 fuzz mod pedal(rare), and that year I started building pedals. I realized every thing has a purpose or can work towards your advantage. Now I just buy, try and if it works great and makes me excited to play I keep it I sell to find something new. Oh and the pedal that changed my mind on smd was MXR badass 78’, still one of my favorites and I buy constantly and give away cause it’s super versatile as a stand-alone distortion or boost pedal
geez , how old ARE you ? ( relax, this comment was left by someone old enough to know who Mr Rogers IS! so it's more a salute than anything. The whole age range is here !)
I haven’t gotten to play any JHS pedals yet, but I do feel confident and qualified to say that JHS media content is more compelling and comforting than any other pedal company. Thank you, exemplary work.
Favorite Guitar Instrumental Album is a tie between Micheal Hedges "Aerial Boundaries" and Jeff Beck "Blow by Blow" (you probably have those so I will add as a less likely choice Duke Levine "Country Soul Guitar". Love the channel, keep up the great work!!
Three instrumental records that absolutely blow me away every time I listen to them 1) Hold Your Horse Is by Hella 2)Dive by Tycho 3)They Fall but You Don’t by Mondkopf All three of these records are drastically different and equally profound.
As an Electronics Engineer and musician, I am so glad to hear a popular pedal builder speak about the truth on these circuits. Electrically, the silicon and Germanium have different barrier potentials and must be biased differently which cause them to react (sound) different. I also get tired of hearing about how hand wired is better than PCB. If you take the exact same circuit and components and hand wire one and solder the other to a PCB, you would hear no difference. The main difference in manufacturing between the two is that most companies use WAY cheaper parts in their production line products and better parts in the hand wired stuff. Most PCB issues are more component quality and quality control itself. Also, different op-amps are just variations of the original designs that may have different specs that are enhanced for different arrangements. I love what he said about its how the circuit is designed around the part, not the part. 100% correct!
As a repairer of guitar related electronics, from reliability and ease of fault finding and serviceability perspectives I prefer through hole components and products that use them. Everything else I'm in full agreement with you. The only time I think a true bypass is needed is if driving a pedal such as a fuzz face, is if you are trying to replicate particular recordings or sounds such as those of Hendrix. There is a particular interaction between the guitar (passive) electronics, namely the volume pot and the input of the fuzzface. A directly connected guitar to this pedal will allow the amount of distortion/fuzz to drop or reduce drastically with only a slight "nudge" of the guitar volume in the downward direction alowing you to go from filthy overdrive to a relatively clean sound for cleaner playing. If there is a buffer between these two, this interaction will not exist and the change from full drive to clean is spread across major part of the volume pot rotation. Whether this is a good or bad thing really depends on what you are after and your musical tastes. Thanks for the great video.
@@gringopig : Yes and no, depends on the complexity and density of the board being worked on. If removing components for any reason and this is more related to SM technology I would need to have a new replacement as I would not trust reusing the old one even if the old component was considered OK. I prefer to do a number of tests on the circuit especially when dealing with analogue signals. With or without access to a schematic (with being preferable) you can do a whole lot of tests such as dc voltage measurements signal tracing to find out where the signal is getting to or not. Very rarely do I need to pop off a component to find out what is wrong, SM or through hole.
Just watched it for the second time. Love that episode! Here's my thought: I think many people will get obsessed over details to unconsciously not do the actual work: practicing, playing, composing, etc. (I know I do.)
Yup, many great players are completely technically clueless, whilst many not so great players may tell you how to build a perfect rig. Few are as talented at both.
You build really good products. I also respect you have never trash talked anyone or acted negative towards others in the industry. There is enough business for everybody. Guitar players will never run out of excuses not to buy more pedals and gear. =]
One Saturday morning, back when I was still a wee lad in short pants, I was spending the weekend with my grandparents. I was planted in front of their massive console television, watching Hong Kong Fuey, a bowl of Trix on a TV tray in front of me... Suddenly, a commercial for Children's Palace popped up on the screen. The Palace was a precursor to Toys R Us (R.I.P., sweet giraffe) and learning that there existed a chain of stores that had inventories that consisted 100% exclusively of TOYS?!?!?!? Well, I lost my mind. In an instant I had leapt to my feet, launching my cereal and toppling over the tray, soaking the carpet and my Planet of the Apes pajamas with pink, sugary milk. Accompanying this mayhem a guttural, feral sound emitted from eight year-old me... Anyway, I'm 52 now and, just now? At the 3:04 minute mark, when I got my first look at that wall of pedals? Same experience. Also, amazing video, sir.
Yes, but to clarify, they were BENEATH The Planet of the Apes pajamas, not pajamas solely related to the original 1968 masterpiece. My apologies if I have (even unintentionally) misrepresented the situation at hand.
Really enjoyed your comment. I'm 57, for a few more months anyway. Made me feel nostalgic. I trip out sometimes when I realize I've been a guitar geek for about 47 years now. Happy to say I still get excited about new gear (toys), new licks, etc. Still waiting to be a rock star though! 😉 Thanks Stan ( that was my brothers name, bless his soul).
"We live in 2018... we have gone to the moon... or at least faked it...either of those is incredibly difficult" - Josh Scott I love this man and his pedals!
@@robbymayer5987 Hi, about his germanium pedal he won't say nothing "weird", Vibe pedals do not use germanium transistors, silicon are much better for that., the problem is how he makes people think germanium is empty, obsolete, , with no power, he make fun on them.
I am a (more recent) pedal junkie/collector. For overdrives, I have several, and a DOD 250 preamp/OD I bought couple years ago is one of my fav ODs. That said, I also have a JHS 3-Series OD pedal and I love that sound too. I also have the JHS Foot Fuzz and love that too. Every pedal brings something different to my sound and interacts differently to my various guitars. Josh' pedals are awesome and love his honesty in his UA-cam videos. (disclaimer: I do not know Josh, dont work for JHS, and wasn't paid for this seemingly promo). Keep up the great videos Josh!
The DOD preamp 250 is my favorite od as well. i had an old one stored since the 80s and nver used it until a few years back. Now its my go to distortion. Simple circuit, great sound.
For the tubescreamer thing, I think sometimes a guitarist might prefer the sound of a TS808 over a TS9 or vice versa, and not be aware of why one sounds more preferable to them.
This is what I've been trying to tell my brother. He likes true bypass only but doesn't understand impedance & maintaining the tone. I really like that you spoke the truth here. Way too many people hear with their eyes & are snobs & most don't know how to read a schematic nor do they understand how electronic components work. They don't understand that these companies use what was cheap & they miss the fact that you mentioned the circuit is designed around certain components just like the FF & Big Muff. Another thing is the original FF had 20% tolerances & that's why you hear the stories on this was a good one it had the magical parts. These days we have 1% tolerances & we can create equally or better sounding gear but sadly we will always have people ignorant to the fact the components in old gear dry out & at some point you will need to change those parts out.
I’m really enjoying your channel more and more. I previously watched Wampler’s video and it was enlightening. I think it’s very cool how you guys (the actual builders) are debunking myths when you could in fact be propagating them and trading off them. I used to worry about these things, now I close my eyes and listen. If it sounds good, and gives me a buzz, it stays in the rig.
And that's the real key to finding GOOD tone as opposed to POPULAR tone! I wish more people would do as you say and just close their eyes and listen instead of spouting off and/or being sucked in by uninformed opinion.
I bought a Fat Rat because the op amp was socketed so I could replace it with the "magic" LM308. Was it magic? No. Did it sound different? A tiny bit, yes. Was it worth the $199 I spent on the Fat Rat? No. I could have had a $70 regular Rat pedal and nobody would have known the difference but me.
I had a VFE Alpha Dog, built from the same type of Rat circuit, changed op amps, etc. it did make quite a difference with one of the suggested chips, but it was an undesirable difference that made the pedal sound awful. The other op amps, well, the result was so minuscule that I kept the original and just enjoyed that as is.
Yes ...LOL the killer is that the old chip had more bottom end but in a band the drums and bass smother out any low end from the old Rat. All you need is the new one ...and it's cheap.
Would love to see an episode on differences with Fuzz Pedal placement in the chain and how that affects sound. Plus how different types of fuzz react different in different places in the chain.
I must admit to buying about a dozen different op-amps years ago. The pedal (Biyang OD-8 X-Drive) has an op-amp socket and a switch for different kinds of clipping and I believe one of them is op-amp clipping. I re-recorded the same guitar chord through different op-amps and was able to hear an ever so slight difference. But practically in a mix or band setting it's still negligible.
He's selling you a load of pr to get you to buy his pedals. Through hole IS BETTER, because they are primarily built by hand and CAN be repaired when something goes wrong. JHS Chinese populated SMD pedals are nothing but more toxic fodder for the landfill when they go bad. Thing is EHX will charge a fair price for their SMD pedals, whereas JHS will charge 3x that amount. Don't believe his hype.
@@dboy6400 So why not just buy a Donner pedal from China for $30. Same shit, a clone. Except Donner isn't charging $220 for their smd, machine assembled clone.
@@bivvystridents3752 Hi Richard. I'm a retired electrical engineer that began playing guitar in the 8th grade. I've heard so many speculative theories, some being hilarious and based on innocent ignorance, about what "sounds" the best, but hardly ever any discussion about fragility. That's the only point I was making. Circuit design is by far the hugest determinant of transfer function (what it will do to your signal) than the mechanics of construction. Components chosen can have some effect on sound if their in-circuit electrical characteristics differ greatly from the ideal.
i´ve fallen for the myth of true bypass and buffered bypass. A great episode would be on how to create a balance between the two in your pedal board. great episode by the way
you can run all true bypass and then just build a buffer for $25 (Im canadian might be cheaper USA) as your very last pedal. buffer is better the further in your chain it is, if you run 30 ft of cable from your guitar to your board to your amp, its better to have like 10 ft to your amp from your board, and 20 ft to your board than the opposite
My takeaway is why don't I have a JHS pedal on my board? Really enjoyed this episode and another myth maybe that you could cover is this whole theology about compressor pedals. So trying to decide if I really need one. Thanks!
I've definitely been guilty believing into the boutique myth. At this point, I've dismissed a lot of "boutique" drives that just didn't work for me as well as some "cheap clones" did, but it took me a while to really be able to try to listen honestly while ignoring the price and reputation differences.
One myth we struggle with at Sioux Guitars is most guitar players are hung up on 12"s. Thing is the classic 4-12" cab was designed 50 some years ago using speakers specifically designed for mid-range. Jim Marshall was smart enough to know the limitations of the speakers he was using so to compensate, he put them in an oversized box. Because the air volume of the cabinet was too big for the speakers, it robbed high end frequencies to simulate having low end because the speakers are only designed for mid-range and can't produce low end. That was ok back then, but listening to recordings from the 60's to the 70's to now, our taste in music has gotten much deeper. Now you have guys playing super heavy gauge strings, 7 or 8 string guitars, baritones, and drop tunings, they come to us claiming their sound is muddy and when explaining their set up we question their speaker, since it is the one piece that actually makes sound, and sure enough they are using the classic over sized 4-12" with speakers designed for midrange. If we can get them to take the Pepsi challenge, they always agree that a smaller cab with a wide bodied 15" or 2-15"s sounds better than the 4-12"s, but for some reason everyone assumes they want 12"s because that's what's always been equated with guitars. If you don't believe me, that's fine, trust your own ears and a smaller cab with something like the Jensen Ceramic Classic 15" is going to sound way better than that oversized Marshall 4-12" with Greenbacks.
Dear Sioux Guitars Please get at me I have questions about your statement on speakers you may be able to help me.. If I'm hearing right 15's may be better then 12's tone wise???
Well, guitar IS a midrange instrument at heart so there is a reason why 12" is preferred. 7 string and baritones are pushing the limits but it is still manageable if you tighten the low end a bit before it gets distorted. However 8 string at its lowest string is seriously going into the bass guitar department. Is there a 15" speaker that can produce the lows just as well as the mids or do we need to start mixing cabs/speakers? Or is digital modeling, which does not have these acoustic limitations, the best option for super wide range guitars?
The 4x12 or 2x12 Marshall cabinets are great for getting low end on a Strat. However, I prefer 4x10 cabinets because there is something called a Bass guitar that can do the guitar low end.
Yes. Not only the size, but also what frequencies are the speakers designed for. Most Celestion are designed specifically for mid-range and can not produce the low end frequencies that are being sought by modern players. Jim Marshall knew the limitations of those speakers and put them in an oversized cab because the excess air volume of the cabinet ate up some of the high frequencies to simulate a fuller, rounder sound. If you go with a full-bodied speaker, vs one designed for mid-range, you'll get more of those fuller, deeper sounds. The size of the 15" gives it a wider foot print to hit the lower notes that people are craving these days, but it you were to swap out 12"s designed for mid-range, guitar speakers, for full bodied, 12"s that could be marketed as being bass or P.A. speakers, you'll get better tone. Find a smaller 1-15" cab with a Jensen Ceramic Classic 15" or one of those old Fenders with a JBL to get that fuller tone.
It's more about what the speakers are designed for. Full bodied speakers that are marketed as bass or P.A. speakers will get you more coverage despite the size than Celestion Greenbacks that are designed specifically for mid-range. The design of the Greenback simply can't produce lower frequencies like a full bodied speaker.
Thanks for providing clarity to loads of guitarists who waste their cash on useless upgrades. It's all about what you like, not what someone tells you is best.
I really liked your Boss video. I have actually watched it a few times. I bought a TON of Boss pedals early on and then stopped playing them (except for the tuner) solely because I fell into the trap that more expensive pedals are better. I actually think I was bullied. I think it would be interesting to see you compare boss (or boss type) pedals with their "boutique counterparts." Also - I vividly recall combing the internet for yellow Ledbetter tabs when I was younger. Learning the solo was my only goal in life.
Hell yeah Josh! Oliver from Toronto, Canada here and I love your show. 2 times I've been held up recently, and then got wise: 1) Was thinking about getting a Proco Rat and was caught up between trying to get a vintage 80s Rat and a modern Rat II, and I had seen a bunch of reviews, but honestly, I think I saw here and on Schnobel a A/B comparison and couldn't tell the difference. I plugged into a Rat II in my local shop and it sounded so good! Spongy, full of saturation, and the Hard-clipping circuits to many peoples surprises clean up really well! Bought it then and there and haven't looked back, still one of my favourites on the board! 2) The other was tubescreamer 808 vs Joyo Vintage Overdrive. Both, and I repeat, BOTH have the RC4558 chip in it, and I was thinking ok, a metal enclosure overdrive with the same chip, come on marketing companies and forums, its a simple circuit it shouldn't cost as much as the 808s go for now! Same thing when researching too - couldn't tell with headphones in blindfold comparisons. Bought it and haven't looked back - sounds so money! I've even had some of my friends try out the Rat II and the Joyo Vintage overdrive, and with both of them costing at least 4 times less than their vintage counterparts, its time to make music and have money for drinks after! Cheers Josh! Cool is not cool, Good Is Cool - Josh Scott.
Back in the 90's I had a TS-9 that sounded great through my '65 Vibrolux. I sold it and bought a TS-9 with the "magic" chip (4558) but regretted instantly. I somehow thought my original TS-9 sounded better. Now it makes sense... the 4558 was not as magical as everyone told me at the time. I should have kept the original!
For my pedal rig I start with a Blues Driver plugged into the guitar (have a bunch of true bypass pedals after that) and then end my signal chain with a Boss Digital Delay. Essentially having a buffered pedal at the start and finish of my chain. It seems to remedy any tone loss that otherwise would be occurring.
The buffered bypass at the end of your guitar cable is a good thing as explained. But realize the electronics in all pedals have buffered outputs which can drive more cable much better than the high impedance guitar pickup. The worst case is all non-buffered pedals with all of them switched off.
i am the Myth Buster as well, but on Polish side of the UA-cam, trying to convince the guitarists its all in the heads and hands first thing... the rule is simple, if something sound good its good... the biggest importance is the pedal is made sturdy, it willlast stepping on it, doesnt make any stupid unwanted noises and doesnt change the tone when off... all what u said is the myths which are repeated on forums by ppl who wants to write something, but most of them doesnt even had the pedal i in their hands, not talking bout playing. BTW the collection behind U is amazing i love it so much. keep on rockin !
Biggest myth I’ve ever heard and proven wrong is that better gear = better tone. I’ve played gigs where nobody saw my gear, and everybody asked me where I got my tone from because they didn’t see a pedal board. As it turns out, I played on a Roland Cube 40XL amp and used my volume & tone on my Tele to control the sounds that I got. Tone is 100% in the fingers
The thing about some exotic wood being a major factor on the sound of an electric guitar is, in my opinion, one of the biggest controversies of our days... It's stupidly expensive but I don't think it's actually a major factor for the sound.
Great episode, I wish we had more of this honesty, great show. I bought a Germanium Fuzz based on the 'must be Germanium bias' and it doesn't sound better than my Mini Dunlop Fuzz FFM3! I now prefer my FFM3. I would love to see a show on how to get the Delay and Reverb pedals play nicely together.
A little behind on this video, but “true bypass” and “analogue” were words that I used to look for. I now trust that advancements in technology in either case are for the benefit of my sound. Bottom line: when I hook my guitar into it and I like the sound, it’s a good pedal. As far as instrumental records go, Secret Chiefs 3’s “Book of Horizons” is an incredible (mostly) instrumental album and a great introduction to Trey Spruance’s ongoing project.
You should make a pedal with true bypass, germanium transistors and a JRC4558 chip, all parts through-hole mounted and call it "The Uncopyable Boutique Pedal" - and fill it all up with goop!!!
lol
Or… don't do it, say you did, cover it with goop and do a listening test episode.
What do I know… I'm just the bass player.
Loved the episode. Great stuff.
Filled with poop.. Just to be sure no one would even buy it to copy ;D
I'd probably buy it
Or just make it buffered with silicon transistors, all surface mount, fill it with goop and call it the "Uncopyable Boutique Pedal" and we'll never know the difference ...
Ill tell you as an engineer, haven't had this with pedals, but sometimes I'll be tweaking a compressor or eq for 5 minutes, really thinking I'm hearing a difference, only to realize it's in bypass.
That's when I know it's time to take a break.
I have done it, too! Work for hours, thinking I’m hearing a tone/sound effects pedal change…..only to notice that the change seems really slow and small…..ah- ha!! The pedal was off!!! All inside my head •••••••beautiful noise from the “Sweet Spot” between my ears!!!!!!! 🤔👍😎
Amen.
Just reading about this, I want to pat you on the back and buy you some food.
Yes well...
You are not alone
😊🙃😏
Yup, and the same in the studio, tweaking away on some eq or compressor vst, thinking you can hear the difference, only to realise you're on the guitar DI track that's muted.
"We have gone to the moon, or at least fake it. Either of those is incredibly difficult." I love this channel!
Yes.
Ask Stanley Kubrick, he knows.
and nowadays you have to fake it cuz peeple are on the Flat Earth crap and u cant leave the Flat Earth although Columbus almost sailed of the edge of the globe, Um, I mean theres no globe
It’s not easy to fake a third foot.. You rarely see people doing it.
Loool! Stupid statement!!! There is a telescope satelite orbiting the moon. You can go online with your cell phone (!!!) and see the pictures of the rover tracks, and other stuff we left there, so the "faked moon landing" myth shit is dead...duh doi oi!!! Loool
I'm an electronics engineer with 50+ years industry experience. 66 years old now. I agree with everything this guy says. He knows what he is talking about, which is unusually refreshing from such a young guy.
Josh ain't that young. He's like 40.
@@JC-11111 Ah, these days that is young.
@@JC-11111 Bro, I'm 40 and I don't feel (nor look) that old 😅
Capacitance of a guitar cable is 30 picofarads/ft. Capacitance in the tone control knob is roughly microfarads. Doesn't seem like true bypass should affect tone at all. What am I missing?
@@arkie87 Guitar tone caps are actually in nF, 22-47nF are common. Source impedance of a guitar is ~6-8k ohm for a single coil, double that for a humbucker. Even with short cable runs (10 ft to pedal board, 5 ft through pedal board, 10 ft from board to amp, or 25 ft total) you are getting 750pF (0.75nF) of capacitance. Cutoff frequency for a humbucker through a 25ft cable (with volume maxed) is 1/(2*pi*750pf*16k) = 13kHz, already in the "air" of the audio spectrum. Start rolling that volume off (adding more resistance) and you are effectively rolling high frequency off at the same time. Double the cable length to 50ft. and you are starting at 6.5kHz, already affecting presence and high overtones.
Putting a buffer in the middle of that cable run basically breaks the capacitance in half - only the capacitance of the cable to the buffer affects tone.
Also note if you have an effect that is always on, like an overdrive, or EQ, or compressor, you get the same effect as a buffered bypass.essentially
And Woodstock was ruined when it was discovered Hendrix didn't use true bypass pedals.
Tele Caster at least everyone wasn’t recorded him on their stinkin’ phones
electricity ruined everything
WTF JIMI, FIX YOUR CHAIN
He didn't even used any pedal at all LMAO
@@jas_bataille
guitargearfinder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hendrix-woodstock-rig.jpg
C: VOX wah pedal
D: Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face
E: Uni-Vibe with expression pedal
QOTD: "We're smart people. We live in 2018. We have gone to the moon or at least faked it. Either of those is incredibly difficult." Josh Scott
That one worried me a bit
Stephen C are you kidding? it was hilarious!
Great quote !
That’s not a question...
One of the type of remarks that keeps coming back to JHS. They are both difficult so besides being humorous, it’s a sound point.
I love how you and Brian Wampler give shoutouts to eachother and other builders. The lack of animosity in the industry is refreshing. Bravo sirs. You have a new subscriber.
Greg Barth
I don’t think Devi Ever or Runoffgroove would feel the same way. Josh straight up cloned their designs, then called it original work. Shameful.
Too bad Brian wampler felt the need to go after Phil McKnight. Classy.
@Matthew Andrews I actually have looked into it, goofus. Including comparing the schematics. Can you read schematics? Josh can...
@@aixpert291 Wampler and Josh are both right wing, church guys. If that's your thing, great. But for the rest of us? Yeah, not the type of ppl u wanna do business with.
As a pedal builder, what if I were to tell you most pedals are rehashed clones of previous pedals? Except for someone changing the tone stack or IC or switchable diodes... Its all been done.
Only just discovered Josh, but the more I hear him talk, the more I like him. Total common sense and a wickedly dry sense of humour.
I've been buying a variety of pedals and JHS just got on the list. I started watching these videos and I'm buying his stuff, too. Loo
Yep. Every video I watch on this channel is great, and greatly appreciated. He does not have an agenda to push his own brand, but to help us consumers. Much appreciated!!
@@croftperkins ppl lol l,wd fe w ew. Geop
Just a guy who cares about the craft and the community.
Yeah... Josh, Brian, Jamie and Robert are the only guys that go on my board. I trust them with my gigging reputation!
Everyone is talking about the pedals but i Just loved how he gave a second pedal because the guy was depressed, YOU'RE A BEAUTIFUL PERSON MAN! Thanks for bringing Joy to people!
I'll never get one then because I just can't get depressed. Oh well.
But the comment was not a single sentence, therefore it was ineligible....
I'm severely depressed attempted suicide and was put on 72 hour 5150 hold four times in one month I don't get anything for free. FML
@@shanewright2772 your comment isnt a complete sentence either.
Well, it's complete but it isn't necessarily correct - I'll cop to using an extra "." in the ellipsis. A four-dot ellipsis is a journalistic notation which means that some part of a quotation has been removed from the cite - clearly not the case here. Top marks for the BA level knowledge.
That said, an unfinished sentence is not, grammatically speaking, an incomplete one. Especially if it's being used as a rhetorical device.
Extra grammar fun fact: The guy who proofread Hitler's speeches was the original Grammar Nazi.
I work in a music shop. We carry your pedals. I really appreciate that you yourself are the face of your channel. You tell things as they are. You promote other brands. I really appreciate what you do, Josh. Thank you.
Dear Josh,
If I simply bought your pedals because they sound rad and look super cool that would be good enough but a larger part of why I love JHS pedals so much is YOU. It's just refreshing to see someone so transparent and genuinely passionate about what they do. Promoting other brands and not just your own. Always staying positive and not running people over as alot of the internet loves to do. Your honest and real and your video content is SUPERB! I currently own five of your pedals and counting. To me they're like little works of art with each one having their own voice and personality. Thanks for keeping it real!
On a side note, it would be cool to see some "Special Edition" pedals. Like maybe a morning glory painted a different color or possibly a special run of hand wired angry Charlie's with unique packaging. Something along those lines. Kuddo's on the box candy too. The stickers, buttons, picks are all great touches. I love it all!
Thanks so much!! We've done some special edition Morning Glory's for Rogue Guitar Shop and others in the past, but have gotten away from that lately. Watch out for a release of my hand wired pedals tho!
Absolutely agree. Josh is an absolute breath of fresh, sweet smelling air.
It is worth noting that engineers tend to design analog circuits to be immune to variations in the characteristics of the individual active components (tubes, transistors, op-amps). So the designer is actually working against you when you hope that swapping active components will make a difference.
Thanks Josh for being a voice of reason and a force for good in the world!
I’m an electrical engineer at an aerospace company and every circuit is built with surface mount resistors. If rockets can depend on surface mount resistors then so can your pedals.
so much yes
It's not uncommon that people ignorant to the topic makes an opinion around a myth which then somehow becomes a "fact". Just look at audiophiles and cables - exactly the same thing. Pumping thousands of dollars into "special" cables which more ofthen than not, not really differs to cheaper ones.
It does not matter what the box contains, as long as you get the desired outcome. People need to stop propagating idiocrazy and just enjoy their pedals! :)
Those boards in the rocket ships, are also Class III electronics, conformal coated, and require perfection! I'm hoping most pedals are Class II, BUT, since they are consumer electronics, they are most likely Class I. I haven't seen any ads on ANY pedals advertising build class. Wish I did!
just don’t stick a peanut jelly sandwich in there... that will screw up anything... even a BOSS pedal.
They are less fun to solder though.
“If it sounds good, it *is* good.” -Duke Ellington
I've been saying that to guitar snobs for years. Actually, when it comes to guitars, I add a little more:
If it looks good, feels good, plays good, and sounds good, then it IS good.
If it doesn't give me heartache to hear what the guitar does to my notes, then I can surely live with it. My skilz are thin enough I don't need any additional punishment. Actually, it sounds a lot like rock these days. (Still looking like rubbish).
woot.🎸
THIS IS SO SO TRUE
Absolutely. If you can't put it down and you play it well, then it's the best guitar in world regardless of where it was made, who else plays one, or what you could sell it for.
@@OddTimeMan same here and to add a thing to it , if it looks good , feels good , plays good , and sounds good , it IS good , and if it costs a fragment of the magical brand it is even better haha
As an electronic engineer I can state that everything you've said is accurate!. Best regards mate
Hey... you said the exact same thing as me :-) Rock on Enrique :-)
I had a RAT modified years ago because "if it doesnt have the LM308 chip its trash". The pedal sounded the same, but it didnt feel the same... if that makes sense. I sold it to some cork sniffer and bought another one.
...and LM308 are going for RIDICULOUS money. $10 each
@@daddyosink4413 best thing about guitar snobs is... they make the rest of us rich.
Thank you sir, I was waiting for yet another "youtube comment engineer" to verify these claims. 🙄
The whole Klon clone thing intrigued me. I ended up buying an “exact same electronics “ as the Klon.
It was a gift for my son. All the “pros” think it sounds better, nothing like it, darker, cheaper, to much high end, warmer, not warm enough etc. What you said makes complete sense. When I started professionally in 1971 you didn’t have many choices for pedals. As life continued on, I definitely did not feel any remorse for trading or selling those pedals. Thank for putting everything in perspective. I am now a fan and subscriber. Be well…..
3:02 Myth #1 "True Bypass is Better than Buffered"
4:39 Myth #2 "Boutique is Better"
6:36 Myth #3 "You cant copy that pedal"
8:18 Myth #4 "Germanium is Better"
10:17 Myth #5 "Surface mount parts suck"
12:52 Myth #6 "Magic Op-Amps"
thank you!
Why?
Glenn Lilley, some people have less free time than others and want to know if it’s things they already know so they don’t waste time.
@@anthonyp9316 Yep, I just want to see the points and stay around the for interesting ones.c
Myth #1 "True Bypass is Better than Buffered" UNLESS IT'S HISSY. A.K.A. Behringer Vibrato
Myth #1 " " UNLESS IT'S the great 'needs to be a dedicated pedal' BUFFER in a WEM WATKINS COPICAT Mk IV
'Magic's just science that we don't understand yet.'
Considering how little an average guitar player knows about electronics, it's no wonder we continue to assign various magical properties to them.
Does that mean science is magic?
@@zenistermister9695 No.
Its mind blowing to me that nations could think surface mount would be inferior.
@@joestevenson5568 Yeah, it's really crazy if you study some electronics and then read some of this stuff circling around.
And, we're not even talking about state of the art stuff like maybe Kemper or something...
Most of the gear is literally century-old technology and people are still somehow mystified by it.
I don’t understand jack about electronics and will carry on calling some stuff “magic”. I know it’s all scientific but it feels cooler to call it “the juju”.
Well suddenly your channel is one of my favorites! You speak calm, you don't rush, you are unbiased and more importantly, you are logical! Thank you for this.
He's also an Evangelical.
peppe and funny
peppe
He seems like one of the few good ones. I’ve never seen him bring up jesus.
I've been around guitars my whole life and I'm just starting starting to seriously learn to play at 50. Your videos are great as I need equipment that is super versatile and inexpensive. You show me great affordable equipment and give real explanations.
woah!! that's so awesome! i'm glad you're playing and having fun :)
Put a box wine in a fancy bottle and watch em' praise the wonderful wine.
Once bought a gallon of the absolute cheapest plastic-bottle gas station vodka available, and fraudulently poured it into Grey Goose bottles for a party. Everyone raved at how great Grey Goose is.
@@devolve42 Was the plastic bottle vodka made by Karkov, by chance? I call Karkov the "Fantastic Plastic*" vodka.
*only applies when used in mixed drinks and not when consumed straight.
I saw something like that years ago on a cheap beach restaurant.. the food was sooo god an the wine (poured on glasses) was perfect for the mixture... some guys at my spend a good time trying to guess the brand, year and strain of that nice white wine... turns out it was box wine.
I was almost obsessed with true bypass... until my wha was modified
@@ManuelMartinez09 Don't you mean the opposite? Vintage Wah's are noted for being tone sucks because they didn't bypass or buffer. You always passed through the circuit... just the tone (wah) part was disabled.
@@jimistheman9732 I'll explain myself: I knew about tone sucking of vintage pedals but I loved the tone of that VOX pedal, I was obsessed with true bypass (all my other pedals were TBP) so I modified it and two things happened: 1.- I recovered My beloved tone, 2,. Every time the wha was activated my signal was unaudible (full band playing) and the tonal difference between on/off was so notorius that I realized TBP is not the best for every pedal (maybe a buffered TBP was needed in this case)
Josh, being late to reply but just discover your channel recently. I’ve worked in professional studio, so obviously we were always researching the “best” quality possible, to the point to get caught into chasing some gear. So we did plenty of A/B/X test from Mics, to Preamps, or even audio converters... And I noticed that how our brain can trick us sometimes. After doing all those tests, I came to two conclusions: 1) we don’t hear as great as we think we do. 2) most of the time, gear don’t matter so much than everything else (artist talent, engineer knowledge, etc...).
So here’s the little anecdote: After all those tests, I was more fearless regarding my technological choices even when some artists wanted “their” preferences because they heard it was better. So when someone was telling me: no, I would want you to use xxx instead of yyyy because xxx is better, and I knew that was a pure myth choice, I was giving an audio check to the artist. I was duplicating an audio file and renaming them “with” and “without”, claiming that one was with the outboard gear, preamp, effect, whatever.... and the second was without it, even thought both were just the same copied file. And I was asking to the artist/producer to actually listen to both and to tell me which one was “better” and should be used for the record, making sure he could read the file name (with or without). Very rarely I got someone to tell me: Oh, I can’t hear any difference then pick whatever you want. 99.9% of the time, the answer was: Oh yeah, with... it sounds so much better, let’s use it. And then I was simply explaining them they heard twice the same file and it was their brain messing with them, so they should just trust my instinct and choices for the song. Once, a guy was so deeply angry with me showing his non-sense that he doubled down and claimed that the file quality changed when I renamed it and the action to rename the file was making it sound worse now... I swear to god that’s what he told me. I just told him we couldn’t work together anymore since I “have to rename” files in my process of editing and mixing, so it wouldn’t work for him. I never heard from him again. I guess he’s probably still convinced to this day that he was “right”. For me that was probably the time I stopped chasing unobterium gear and stopped listen to myths and just started to just trust my gut. If it sounds good, it is good...
So, I’m glad you did this video that actually confirms what I’ve been saying since years now after my experience in studio. Kudos to you.
(1 year late reply) Would've been fun if after your pedantic artist said "I like it better with it" you just went "okay, with this equipment it is" although there was no actual difference between the two.
LOL at "Gone to the moon, or at least faked it. Both are incredibly difficult." Best.
Brilliant I agree with, moon landing bit had me rolling on the floor, Josh could have been a writer for SNL. He's very funny and very smart
Especially faking it ...because NASA finds it hard to hire politicians. NASA's low wages drive away these skilled BS geniuses that can do better in Federal politics.
thanks i'll check it out, that movie has been suggested viewing from a few of my friends,
i will watch it
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing You learn that on a forum? I would think it's not true of all or many of them, most engineers are thrilled more in being creative than in being controlling.
When he said that, some Diet Coke went down wrong. I was coughing and laughing at the same time.
I'm not even a guitarist, but your videos are enlightening. Truth, when it's accessible and elegantly explained, is forever interesting.
I am basically a beginner when it comes to guitar pedals. I appreciate the straight and unbiased talk about the myths. Helps me a bunch. Thank you.
Also........I have a $299.00 Bugera V22 amp I use in church and smaller gigs. It looks strikingly similar to a Bad Cat combo amp. I sent off $20 to Bad Cat and purchased one of their logos. I removed the Bugera logo from the amp and replaced it with the Bad Cat logo. I played a small club with it just last Saturday night and you would not believe the compliments I got on my Bugera/Bad Cat amp. One guy even offered me $800 cash on the spot. I just didn't have the heart to tell him. Of course I would never sell someone a fake amp. You are so right on about peoples perception of certain products especially in the boutique pedal market.
You know how the trend among some amp builders is to have a cool retro vibe logo? I have a bassist friend in a band that has an old bass amp, can't remember the brand (maybe Ampeg?), but a famous maker. Simply for fun he took off the logo and put on an old appliance badge off an old fridge, because it had a cool retro look he liked. He had some visiting musician buddies hounding him about his "boutique" amp.. he got them going real good and then finally spilled the beans.. "That came off an old freezer junked in my neighbors backyard! Looks great though!" lol..
@@drumsNstuff79 That's hilarious. Thanks for sharing.
V22 are honestly super underrated. I was given one 9 years ago, and it pissed me off because it sounded so good (clean channel only, the other one shouldn't exist). I replaced the speaker and rolled in some better tubes, and it's amazing. I own tons of great amps: old Fenders, new Fenders, Orange, old Marshalls, Matchless etc. I honestly take the v22 to shadier bar gigs instead of something more valuable, and I honestly think it's on par or better than anything else I've got.
Laugh all you want, internet. That's a no joke great amp.
If I'm not mistaken Bugera is making clones which just goes to show how much you pay for the name. But that's universal.
@@davidschwartz3427
The Bugera V22 is a decent sounding little amp. Can't beat it for the price. I used it instead of my Marshall JCM2000 because there was about 100yds of gravel to get to the stage. The EL84's sound better the hotter they get. Still a Marshall guy though!!!
This video's real title is "JHS denounces hipster ideology.''
Bingo.
More like boomer ideology! You should see the old men in some of these forums, man. They sound like they know alot but its literally just spouting other stuff they read on forums.
@@7hotfuzz7 Couldn't have said it better myself. I am a member of several "audiophile" groups on Facebook, you have NO idea what's being blurted over there, and how boomers make love to snakeoil all the time...
@@7hotfuzz7 Basement warriors!!!
It reminds me of hifi buffs. I've worked with producers and engineers who wire their studios with good quality electrical copper wire. That's it. Then you see some guy who's spent £150 on a phono cable for his hifi to get the the "true sound". It's bullshit.
Biggest myth I believed was that I needed to play heavy guage strings it order to have good tone. All those years I put 11’s on my strat. I’m so glad I switched to 9’s/10’s depending on the guitar scale length
Partially agree. You don't need the heavier Guage to have good tone. But there is a difference in tone. I actually like my Strat with 10s as opposed to 11s. Has a more bell like quality. But my Jazzmaster and Gretsch both have 11s (mostly because they behave better that way). My D18 sounds MUCH better with 13s than with 12s.
Same here! Use to think 11's were "better" because they offered more "tone". They certainly do have a different tone but by no means better. That's what amps are for. I like 10's now, easier on the fingers and more flexible. I feel like I can smash the strings more and they give out a little. I encourage people to even try 9's. They're bendy and slinky and have a really cool tone all on their own. Sure, sometimes a certain gauge string will/won't play nice on certain guitars but hey, that's the guitars preference not a tone requirement.
Billy Gibbons had a similar mindset till he met BB King and found out how thin his strings were and he still had this massive tone. If you can find the interview it's really interesting and great to hear about the early days of ZZ Top.
It depends on the genre. You definitely need heavier gauge strings if you play metal and want to chug.
@@auberginedreams00 that’s not because heavier strings give you a heavier tone though. It’s because if you downtune on a standard scale guitar (24.75” to 25.5”) you have less string tension which can make your riffs sound “muddy” or “flubby” or “less tight” (pick your preferred adjective). Heavier gauge strings require more tension to reach the same pitch. You get a similar effect with an extended scale (or baritone) guitar without the need for as heavy a gauge of string.
True Bypass was the first snake oil I was sold 😂
I keep a buffer or 3 on my board, no problemo, but put 6 boss buffers in a row and tell me it doesn't tonesuck...buffers add up to create problems.
Craig mine was a “ modeling “ amp. Either do one thing really well or not at all.
@@bradmodd7856 With some boss pedals I definitely notice some tone suck, but I have not noticed it with the Waza craft line. I usually place a buffer in the beginning, middle and end of the chain with the TU-3w at the end. I think the problem might be more with the quality of said buffer than it being buffered bypass or not. Some boss pedals(the non waza SD-1) have an awful buffer while some of the others have an incredible one(any waza pedal and even the non waza TU-3).
@@bradmodd7856 Exactly. Tone suck does occur when you have a bunch of unplugged buffered pedals on front of your amp. The snake oil is in thinking buffered pedals don't sound good...they did, and of course still do.
No joke I just got an ad for a true bypass pedal before this video 😂
love the fact that you respect and link stuff from Wampler. respect over Competition. Props for ya!
He literally said before he got to that part that they're friends. ;)
ASCII is pronounced 'Askey'
For all you Brits of a certain age; Arthur Askey has now changed his name to Art Unicode and works in a coffee bar in Hoxton.
Yes
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. I am new to guitars however I am loving the fact I can now use all the electronic knowledge I learned 30 year ago that I thought was obsolete in the software age
one thing i love about josh is ive seen him advertise boss pedals more then his own he never pushes his pedals but the more i look into them the more i see they are fn good pedals n he knows they will sell themselves once musicians use them , thats a talented creator of anything! i have alot of respect for josh hes just a really awesome guy n gives me alot of knowledge in a very un-bias way!
“This is 2018. We’ve gone to the moon. Or at least faked it. Either of those is incredibly difficult.” 🤣
Well going to the moon......that was through hole technology and a state of the art crude computer system that was probably a lot less than a commodore 64.....let alone a commodore 128.....and hmmm how much RAM.
But then again perhaps we should ask the Israeli's about crashing into the moon and the "communications failure"....since that's technically only a few day out of the box.
I actually favor the Israeli's as they build some impressive devices & firearms considering the conditions......I haven't been there since the 1970's
People erroneously cite these technologies not realizing that they have a short service life or that the package has a big service contract on the back end. If you talk about medical hospital equipment.....
The tax man calls it depreciation
You can buy a model T and it will run or a 57 chevy…….there is no computer or electronics involved, but buy a post 1980's vehicle that's early computer or well into the electronics age....and good luck if the vehicle will run reliably...….and I trust you aren't planning to go to the moon or need life support systems
@@mikecamps7226 One should try to keep a machine as simple as possible, for the task at hand. Overcomplicating a design to achieve the same result is wasteful and, indeed, potentially dangerous. After all, the more parts in a system, the higher the chances something will break when you need it the most.
The comedian said : "you can't fix stupid !"
check out the show : Adams ruining everything ,on this matter
Digital technology is not only inherently obsolete by the time it is first used it is also highly degradable. Analog
technology is impossible to degrade. A shovel made today is the same one as a shovel made a thousand years ago. A shovel can't be made obsolete.
“We live in 2018”
Not me
Used to. But I left it behind.
I wish I was living in 2018...
A wild slime appears. Player uses MegaMagic! 😂
Im from the future in 2020. Everything is gonna be fine, dont worry bout it, but can ya please kill Chuck fuckin Whoolery
I am from the even further future of 2021.
Good vid. I think one of the most overlooked sound changer is the room you're playing in. For example, I set my sound in my living room. Go to a gig and the room is bigger, had to readjust everything. Sometimes it's brighter, louder, thinner, or muffled. So, maybe when you played a gig and everything just sounded great, it might not have been your playing, the band you played with, or your new pedal.
That's what sound check is for
Love your videos. I'm an old war horse of musician. Growing up in the biz I got sucked into a myriad of b.s. regarding pedals and amps. You are saving newbies a ton of grief by giving them good information and saving them money in the process..
*MY* iPhone is tube powered, through hole electronics only! I'd show you a picture, but Instagram is too main stream. /S
lol
Oh damn! I want one. LOL
@@Paul_Lenard_Ewing I knew they'd sell out and it'd go mainstream. Stupid iTube...
hahahahaha
You should have gotten the point to point edition, so much warmer with a slight woody sound in the ring tones.
I've definitely bought into the "boutique" and "true bypass" myths in the past. Gotta say that the JHS (and Wampler) channel has definitely changed my thinking on pedals in general. Thanks for making this.
Also, congrats to the winners. Super cool of JHS to send that second pedal to Justin
I love the statement that the sound of a pedal is colored by event, the memories of the experience as well as the actual sound of the pedal. Great point.
As a drummer and engineer who is constantly fascinated by what goes into making things, I found this video to be honestly and refreshingly captivating!
Thanks for the reassurance josh ,I’ve been use a cheap clone brand of pedals purely because I can’t afford
The way cooler so called “boutique “ stuff that’s available
I Have to chuckle to my self when at a gigs I’m approached by musicians who wanna compliment me on my guitar
Sound but when they look down at my board they start a lecture about how much better it would be
If I was using a so and so! . Go figure 👍
Brand loyalty is fucking toxic. I can't stand musicians that sit around talking about how this piece of gear is better than whatever piece of gear you have. People get too sucked up into thinking they're "supporting" a brand when they're literally only paying extra for a stupid fucking logo and a cultivated identity around it that they've formed. Most people blindfolded wouldn't be able to tell a fuckin hollowbody from a hard tail, let alone the differences in a pedal. I wish when I went to guitar stores I didn't even have to see the brands, because it biases my own opinions too. I'd love to be able to just get a fuckin pedal that sounds good to me and not worry about what stupid name it has on it or who's gunna talk shit about it.
@@Southboundpachyderm hollowbody and hardtail aren't exactly comparable terms...
Robert DeVincentis Exactly. I'm huge fan of 'cheap' pedals. One of my favorites is a First Act Delay that I got on clearance for $29.99 at... Toys R Us.
You are my kind of gear head. I get the same thing as a synth player because I use cheaper modern synthesizers. But the same people who are disappointed were still dancing their asses off 5 minutes earlier.
@@Southboundpachyderm Talking about that brand loyalty and mindless fanboyism, hat down to apple.
This channel has been far more educational than I would have imagined. Your passion for this subject makes it fun. Keep it up thank you.
"Don't believe the things you read on the internet... I think George Washington said that in the 1300s"
😂😂😂
Yea, I couldn't believe what I heard 😂 I'm new on this channel, and totally didn't expect that this guy would joking like this
I really like the comment but ithas 69 likes. I'll let someone else desecrate it. Good day
Oh c'mon. That was Napoleon.
sounds reasonable.
Yep, I was there!
I would argue that true bypass (or even passive bypass) does have one advantage which cannot be denied... when I was a young and couldn't afford a power supply for all my pedals, and couldn't really afford to change all batteries for every gig; true/passive bypass meant that my guitar signal still got to the amp halfway through the song. If a battery dies, just stomp the box off... all is fine.
Unless the switch broke of course...
Would be very interested to hear more about op amps in hard clipping pedals vs tube screamers etc.
I had two versions of the Boss CE-5 for a while - one older analog, the other newer and digital. Could I even hear the difference? Nope. Did I persuade myself that I could hear the difference? Yup. Am I even sure that I had it right which was which? Nope. Did I replace them both with a 1979 CE-2 that I got for a ridiculous price? I did. It's awesome. Would I be able to tell the difference between that and a cheap clone? Almost certainly not.
Congratulations! You've won the thread.
Made in Japan or in Taiwan, though? You can totally hear the difference, they have different accents. ;)
You're trying to reason with some people who still think the world is flat.......:) In my 40 years of playing I've lived by the words of the great Joe Meek - "if it sounds right it is". Amen.
totally agree. everyone's so worried about every one else's tone. if you like it? it's right. bottom line. I'd choose an Carbon Copy over a Timeline every day.
Thank you!
Amen to that brother!!!
It is Flat
It is flat!!! :))
I've been caught up in some of this myths and hype, athough where i live (little town in the Pacific coast of Mexico) it's practically impossible to go try gear at a store other than Behringer and maybe some Boss or TC stuff, so if we want to try something you'd have to buy it and wait for it to get there (shipping can also take a while). I do try to focus on getting good tone outta my own fingers rather than to rely on specific pedals or stuff to get them tonez, and watching this channnel as well as some others like TPS, Antertons TV, Pete Thorn channel, etc has actually been VERY helpful in shedding some light on not only to actually know what it is your getting for your hard earned cash, but also on HOW to use such things, or HOW they work and WHY they work in such way! I strongly believe ALL of y'all guitar players out there should learn more about WHY your gear works the way it does, learn how things react the way they do with each other, and (not implying anything here, do buy from all the great gents out there trying to give the world better guitar tones, just like Josh here!) I promise you'll have a better tone overall and will be saving a lot of cash! Not to mention putting an end to all of these myths surrounding gear all over the web! Me for example I'm out the door to go get me a nice Behringer SuperFuzz, thanks for the recomendation Josh! (Octave Fuzz 101, and the Behringer episode, go watch them now!) And thanks for taking the time to do these kind of honest and very helpful videos, instead of just saying whatever it takes to promote your own brand! Share this videos people!
I sat in with a band a few years ago. The"sit in guy"s gear on offer was a $350 Fender MIsomewghere guitar, and an old solid state Fender amp that a band member pain $300 for at yard sale. At the first break the lead guitar player came to me and remarked that he'd never heard that amp and guitar combo sound so good. When I showed him the EQ and drive settings I used he was really surprised, saying that he would never have thought to to set the amp up like that. When he told me how much he paid for it I immediately offered to buy it from him. He said, '"No, but I would have sold it to you 20 minutes ago"!
Twiddle Those Knobs guys! 🙂
Favorite instrumental album: Wes Montgomery Smoking at the Half Note.
Nicholas Bousley 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻
I’m waiting on my copy to show up
I can’t get past Bumpin’ my all time fav
I want a trough-hole smartphone now. Lol
sure thing, it's about the size of a small laptop for "no reason" , ya ready?
(Electronic engineer passed by)
(genuinely liked this comment)
Don't forget to make it true bypass and fill it with gup.
@@MiguelBaptista1981 smartphones are by definition true bypass, you just put the thing down and talk to people. :D
@@grilledspaghetti True DAT .
I really want to see someone attempt this. Like, really.
I like Boss pedals, even some of their overdrives and distortions. They sound good, almost never have a problem with them, and it's always easy to track one down if something does go wrong. Oh, and they come in cool colors.
I’ve been playing for 22 years in all facets of style, I’ve been very blessed to have a huge range of experiences musically. I went through a ‘naturalist’ stage where I only had a volume pedal, tuner, my channel selection pedal for my Fender 4x10 Deluxe, and a wah that I would turn on and leave set in a tone that I liked at the time. I’ve been at the other end of the spectrum and had pedal after pedal on my board, as many as my power supply would let me. At the end of the day, your tone is your voice and your playing is your message, so hook up with other musicians and try out their gear, pick their minds and open yourself to new processes. The more versatile you become, the more versatile your experience with music is.
I was a “TB” jerk. Grew distain when I saw a rig with a boss pedal. Then I just dropped it after being given a Keeley BD2 fuzz mod pedal(rare), and that year I started building pedals. I realized every thing has a purpose or can work towards your advantage. Now I just buy, try and if it works great and makes me excited to play I keep it I sell to find something new. Oh and the pedal that changed my mind on smd was MXR badass 78’, still one of my favorites and I buy constantly and give away cause it’s super versatile as a stand-alone distortion or boost pedal
everybody knows fiesta red strats sound better
100% true.
They smell better too.
Gary Moore's one sounds ok ;-)
Boy from the Crowd strats are obsolete
That's a myth! Black strats sound better ;)
He's like the Mr Rogers of guitar pedals
geez , how old ARE you ?
( relax, this comment was left by someone old enough to know who Mr Rogers IS! so it's more a salute than anything. The whole age range is here !)
Perfect! Josh IS exactly the Mr. Rogers of pedals!!!!!!
I haven’t gotten to play any JHS pedals yet, but I do feel confident and qualified to say that JHS media content is more compelling and comforting than any other pedal company.
Thank you, exemplary work.
Favorite Guitar Instrumental Album is a tie between Micheal Hedges "Aerial Boundaries" and Jeff Beck "Blow by Blow" (you probably have those so I will add as a less likely choice Duke Levine "Country Soul Guitar". Love the channel, keep up the great work!!
Three instrumental records that absolutely blow me away every time I listen to them
1) Hold Your Horse Is by Hella
2)Dive by Tycho
3)They Fall but You Don’t by Mondkopf
All three of these records are drastically different and equally profound.
I learn so much from your channel and trust your judgement 100%. Thanks for all you do.
As an Electronics Engineer and musician, I am so glad to hear a popular pedal builder speak about the truth on these circuits. Electrically, the silicon and Germanium have different barrier potentials and must be biased differently which cause them to react (sound) different. I also get tired of hearing about how hand wired is better than PCB. If you take the exact same circuit and components and hand wire one and solder the other to a PCB, you would hear no difference. The main difference in manufacturing between the two is that most companies use WAY cheaper parts in their production line products and better parts in the hand wired stuff. Most PCB issues are more component quality and quality control itself. Also, different op-amps are just variations of the original designs that may have different specs that are enhanced for different arrangements. I love what he said about its how the circuit is designed around the part, not the part. 100% correct!
As a repairer of guitar related electronics, from reliability and ease of fault finding and serviceability perspectives I prefer through hole components and products that use them. Everything else I'm in full agreement with you.
The only time I think a true bypass is needed is if driving a pedal such as a fuzz face, is if you are trying to replicate particular recordings or sounds such as those of Hendrix. There is a particular interaction between the guitar (passive) electronics, namely the volume pot and the input of the fuzzface. A directly connected guitar to this pedal will allow the amount of distortion/fuzz to drop or reduce drastically with only a slight "nudge" of the guitar volume in the downward direction alowing you to go from filthy overdrive to a relatively clean sound for cleaner playing. If there is a buffer between these two, this interaction will not exist and the change from full drive to clean is spread across major part of the volume pot rotation. Whether this is a good or bad thing really depends on what you are after and your musical tastes.
Thanks for the great video.
Much easier to pop off a SM component to fault find though.
Too true!
@@gringopig :
Yes and no, depends on the complexity and density of the board being worked on.
If removing components for any reason and this is more related to SM technology
I would need to have a new replacement as I would not trust reusing the old one even if the old component was considered OK.
I prefer to do a number of tests on the circuit especially when dealing with analogue signals.
With or without access to a schematic (with being preferable) you can do a whole lot of tests such as dc voltage measurements signal tracing to find out where the signal is getting to or not. Very rarely do I need to pop off a component to find out what is wrong, SM or through hole.
You seem like you'd be a really cool dude to have a coffee with and talk favorite albums :)
I probably am ;)
David DiMuzio No shit!
I'm brewing coffee, come on over
@@jefflitchfield4950 I am a year late but I would have a coffee with JHS and you guys...ha!
Maybe, there are a lot of people who regret meeting people they admire. Though he seems fun.
Pelican are my absolute favourite instrumental band. Watching them live is great, they use their pedal boards like it was another instrument.
Just watched it for the second time. Love that episode!
Here's my thought: I think many people will get obsessed over details to unconsciously not do the actual work: practicing, playing, composing, etc.
(I know I do.)
Bingo!
Yup, many great players are completely technically clueless, whilst many not so great players may tell you how to build a perfect rig. Few are as talented at both.
Would absolutely love to see a video on the difference between soft and hard clipping.
yes please
Yup
Ditto
Yep, same here. I kinda think I know what it is but...well, you know, there's a ton of misinformation out there so...school me bro!
Yay for Hard clipping vs soft clipping
This has actually become my favorite channel. Always entertaining with a backbone of information.
You build really good products. I also respect you have never trash talked anyone or acted negative towards others in the industry. There is enough business for everybody. Guitar players will never run out of excuses not to buy more pedals and gear. =]
I can’t help but notice the large amount of Ibanez pedals behind you. I’m a fan of the tone-lok series. Please do a history of Ibanez pedals episode.
Saving this for later ;)
The history of the Tube Screamer in a pedal would be cool for a pedal... oh wait
hAHA i SEE WHAT U DID THERE!
@@jhspedals I would also really like such an episode! Huge fan of the Tone-Lok series myself.
I noticed the same thing, I too am a fan of the tone lok. My favorite is de7 delay/echo.
One Saturday morning, back when I was still a wee lad in short pants, I was spending the weekend with my grandparents. I was planted in front of their massive console television, watching Hong Kong Fuey, a bowl of Trix on a TV tray in front of me... Suddenly, a commercial for Children's Palace popped up on the screen. The Palace was a precursor to Toys R Us (R.I.P., sweet giraffe) and learning that there existed a chain of stores that had inventories that consisted 100% exclusively of TOYS?!?!?!? Well, I lost my mind. In an instant I had leapt to my feet, launching my cereal and toppling over the tray, soaking the carpet and my Planet of the Apes pajamas with pink, sugary milk. Accompanying this mayhem a guttural, feral sound emitted from eight year-old me... Anyway, I'm 52 now and, just now? At the 3:04 minute mark, when I got my first look at that wall of pedals? Same experience. Also, amazing video, sir.
Yes, but to clarify, they were BENEATH The Planet of the Apes pajamas, not pajamas solely related to the original 1968 masterpiece. My apologies if I have (even unintentionally) misrepresented the situation at hand.
Really enjoyed your comment. I'm 57, for a few more months anyway. Made me feel nostalgic. I trip out sometimes when I realize I've been a guitar geek for about 47 years now. Happy to say I still get excited about new gear (toys), new licks, etc. Still waiting to be a rock star though! 😉 Thanks Stan ( that was my brothers name, bless his soul).
Stanley Culler Freaking hilarious. I hope you are a writer by trade.
"We live in 2018... we have gone to the moon... or at least faked it...either of those is incredibly difficult" - Josh Scott
I love this man and his pedals!
He lies about germanium transistors.
@@LucasFrancisco-uv6xv proof?
@@LucasFrancisco-uv6xv I own 2 JHS pedals with germanium transistors. The mini fuzz and the univibe pedals so I'm genuinely curious.
@@robbymayer5987 Hi, about his germanium pedal he won't say nothing "weird", Vibe pedals do not use germanium transistors, silicon are much better for that., the problem is how he makes people think germanium is empty, obsolete, , with no power, he make fun on them.
He wanted to avoid the "Q" followers going nuts in the comments.
I am a (more recent) pedal junkie/collector. For overdrives, I have several, and a DOD 250 preamp/OD I bought couple years ago is one of my fav ODs. That said, I also have a JHS 3-Series OD pedal and I love that sound too. I also have the JHS Foot Fuzz and love that too. Every pedal brings something different to my sound and interacts differently to my various guitars.
Josh' pedals are awesome and love his honesty in his UA-cam videos. (disclaimer: I do not know Josh, dont work for JHS, and wasn't paid for this seemingly promo).
Keep up the great videos Josh!
The DOD preamp 250 is my favorite od as well. i had an old one stored since the 80s and nver used it until a few years back. Now its my go to distortion. Simple circuit, great sound.
For the tubescreamer thing, I think sometimes a guitarist might prefer the sound of a TS808 over a TS9 or vice versa, and not be aware of why one sounds more preferable to them.
We should all see this video once a year. You tend to "snob up" over time.
Thanks Josh! Thanks for being honest.
i could listen to this guy all day. i've learned so much. thank you!
This is what I've been trying to tell my brother. He likes true bypass only but doesn't understand impedance & maintaining the tone. I really like that you spoke the truth here. Way too many people hear with their eyes & are snobs & most don't know how to read a schematic nor do they understand how electronic components work. They don't understand that these companies use what was cheap & they miss the fact that you mentioned the circuit is designed around certain components just like the FF & Big Muff. Another thing is the original FF had 20% tolerances & that's why you hear the stories on this was a good one it had the magical parts. These days we have 1% tolerances & we can create equally or better sounding gear but sadly we will always have people ignorant to the fact the components in old gear dry out & at some point you will need to change those parts out.
I’m really enjoying your channel more and more. I previously watched Wampler’s video and it was enlightening. I think it’s very cool how you guys (the actual builders) are debunking myths when you could in fact be propagating them and trading off them. I used to worry about these things, now I close my eyes and listen. If it sounds good, and gives me a buzz, it stays in the rig.
And that's the real key to finding GOOD tone as opposed to POPULAR tone! I wish more people would do as you say and just close their eyes and listen instead of spouting off and/or being sucked in by uninformed opinion.
I bought a Fat Rat because the op amp was socketed so I could replace it with the "magic" LM308. Was it magic? No. Did it sound different? A tiny bit, yes. Was it worth the $199 I spent on the Fat Rat? No. I could have had a $70 regular Rat pedal and nobody would have known the difference but me.
Man, I've been jonesing for a FatRat for years, just never had the spare scratch. I think you just talked me out of it.
I had a VFE Alpha Dog, built from the same type of Rat circuit, changed op amps, etc. it did make quite a difference with one of the suggested chips, but it was an undesirable difference that made the pedal sound awful. The other op amps, well, the result was so minuscule that I kept the original and just enjoyed that as is.
Yes ...LOL the killer is that the old chip had more bottom end but in a band the drums and bass smother out any low end from the old Rat. All you need is the new one ...and it's cheap.
Yeah, the new Rat rules and I've never regretted the 60 or 70 bucks i paid for it.
So buy a $90 Rat from ProCo. It will be just as solid as whatever JHS is calling their $250 Rat clone.
Would love to see an episode on differences with Fuzz Pedal placement in the chain and how that affects sound. Plus how different types of fuzz react different in different places in the chain.
To add to that ^ I'd like to see fuzzes used with other forms of distortions, boosts or methods to create a variable palette of tones.
I know it’s not guitar-based, but John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme is pure art.
I can listen to that from beginning to end every time.
I must admit to buying about a dozen different op-amps years ago. The pedal (Biyang OD-8 X-Drive) has an op-amp socket and a switch for different kinds of clipping and I believe one of them is op-amp clipping. I re-recorded the same guitar chord through different op-amps and was able to hear an ever so slight difference. But practically in a mix or band setting it's still negligible.
Man, I love the anti bullshit attitude. Yet again I've learned things from your videos. Thanks dude.
💪💪💪
He's selling you a load of pr to get you to buy his pedals.
Through hole IS BETTER, because they are primarily built by hand and CAN be repaired when something goes wrong.
JHS Chinese populated SMD pedals are nothing but more toxic fodder for the landfill when they go bad.
Thing is EHX will charge a fair price for their SMD pedals, whereas JHS will charge 3x that amount.
Don't believe his hype.
@@bivvystridents3752 Dependability/fixability and what it sounds like are separate subjects.
@@dboy6400 So why not just buy a Donner pedal from China for $30. Same shit, a clone. Except Donner isn't charging $220 for their smd, machine assembled clone.
@@bivvystridents3752 Hi Richard. I'm a retired electrical engineer that began playing guitar in the 8th grade. I've heard so many speculative theories, some being hilarious and based on innocent ignorance, about what "sounds" the best, but hardly ever any discussion about fragility. That's the only point I was making. Circuit design is by far the hugest determinant of transfer function (what it will do to your signal) than the mechanics of construction. Components chosen can have some effect on sound if their in-circuit electrical characteristics differ greatly from the ideal.
i´ve fallen for the myth of true bypass and buffered bypass. A great episode would be on how to create a balance between the two in your pedal board.
great episode by the way
Yes! I was just thinking the same thing
Good idea
you can run all true bypass and then just build a buffer for $25 (Im canadian might be cheaper USA) as your very last pedal. buffer is better the further in your chain it is, if you run 30 ft of cable from your guitar to your board to your amp, its better to have like 10 ft to your amp from your board, and 20 ft to your board than the opposite
Not sure how I missed this. Josh is so helpful and transparent. Thank you.
My takeaway is why don't I have a JHS pedal on my board? Really enjoyed this episode and another myth maybe that you could cover is this whole theology about compressor pedals. So trying to decide if I really need one. Thanks!
whenever I see a demo of compressor pedals I think "wow, that makes sense" and then when I try one it always just sounds like a boost.
I had a panther cub. Traded it for an el cap. Now I miss my panther, and will probably get another one. Truth is I want both, for different things.
theology /myths about compressors? example ?
I just got the new Boss Compressor pedal & it ROCKS - buy one.
I've definitely been guilty believing into the boutique myth. At this point, I've dismissed a lot of "boutique" drives that just didn't work for me as well as some "cheap clones" did, but it took me a while to really be able to try to listen honestly while ignoring the price and reputation differences.
One myth we struggle with at Sioux Guitars is most guitar players are hung up on 12"s. Thing is the classic 4-12" cab was designed 50 some years ago using speakers specifically designed for mid-range. Jim Marshall was smart enough to know the limitations of the speakers he was using so to compensate, he put them in an oversized box. Because the air volume of the cabinet was too big for the speakers, it robbed high end frequencies to simulate having low end because the speakers are only designed for mid-range and can't produce low end. That was ok back then, but listening to recordings from the 60's to the 70's to now, our taste in music has gotten much deeper. Now you have guys playing super heavy gauge strings, 7 or 8 string guitars, baritones, and drop tunings, they come to us claiming their sound is muddy and when explaining their set up we question their speaker, since it is the one piece that actually makes sound, and sure enough they are using the classic over sized 4-12" with speakers designed for midrange. If we can get them to take the Pepsi challenge, they always agree that a smaller cab with a wide bodied 15" or 2-15"s sounds better than the 4-12"s, but for some reason everyone assumes they want 12"s because that's what's always been equated with guitars. If you don't believe me, that's fine, trust your own ears and a smaller cab with something like the Jensen Ceramic Classic 15" is going to sound way better than that oversized Marshall 4-12" with Greenbacks.
Dear Sioux Guitars
Please get at me I have questions about your statement on speakers you may be able to help me..
If I'm hearing right 15's may be better then 12's tone wise???
Well, guitar IS a midrange instrument at heart so there is a reason why 12" is preferred. 7 string and baritones are pushing the limits but it is still manageable if you tighten the low end a bit before it gets distorted. However 8 string at its lowest string is seriously going into the bass guitar department. Is there a 15" speaker that can produce the lows just as well as the mids or do we need to start mixing cabs/speakers? Or is digital modeling, which does not have these acoustic limitations, the best option for super wide range guitars?
The 4x12 or 2x12 Marshall cabinets are great for getting low end on a Strat. However, I prefer 4x10 cabinets because there is something called a Bass guitar that can do the guitar low end.
Yes. Not only the size, but also what frequencies are the speakers designed for. Most Celestion are designed specifically for mid-range and can not produce the low end frequencies that are being sought by modern players. Jim Marshall knew the limitations of those speakers and put them in an oversized cab because the excess air volume of the cabinet ate up some of the high frequencies to simulate a fuller, rounder sound. If you go with a full-bodied speaker, vs one designed for mid-range, you'll get more of those fuller, deeper sounds. The size of the 15" gives it a wider foot print to hit the lower notes that people are craving these days, but it you were to swap out 12"s designed for mid-range, guitar speakers, for full bodied, 12"s that could be marketed as being bass or P.A. speakers, you'll get better tone. Find a smaller 1-15" cab with a Jensen Ceramic Classic 15" or one of those old Fenders with a JBL to get that fuller tone.
It's more about what the speakers are designed for. Full bodied speakers that are marketed as bass or P.A. speakers will get you more coverage despite the size than Celestion Greenbacks that are designed specifically for mid-range. The design of the Greenback simply can't produce lower frequencies like a full bodied speaker.
Thanks for providing clarity to loads of guitarists who waste their cash on useless upgrades. It's all about what you like, not what someone tells you is best.
One of my favorite sounding overdrives is the Danelectro Fab Overdrive. I got it for $10.
I really liked your Boss video. I have actually watched it a few times. I bought a TON of Boss pedals early on and then stopped playing them (except for the tuner) solely because I fell into the trap that more expensive pedals are better. I actually think I was bullied. I think it would be interesting to see you compare boss (or boss type) pedals with their "boutique counterparts."
Also - I vividly recall combing the internet for yellow Ledbetter tabs when I was younger. Learning the solo was my only goal in life.
I wish someone has told me these 10 years ago, while I was spending all my money as a student :’)
Hell yeah Josh! Oliver from Toronto, Canada here and I love your show. 2 times I've been held up recently, and then got wise:
1) Was thinking about getting a Proco Rat and was caught up between trying to get a vintage 80s Rat and a modern Rat II, and I had seen a bunch of reviews, but honestly, I think I saw here and on Schnobel a A/B comparison and couldn't tell the difference. I plugged into a Rat II in my local shop and it sounded so good! Spongy, full of saturation, and the Hard-clipping circuits to many peoples surprises clean up really well! Bought it then and there and haven't looked back, still one of my favourites on the board!
2) The other was tubescreamer 808 vs Joyo Vintage Overdrive. Both, and I repeat, BOTH have the RC4558 chip in it, and I was thinking ok, a metal enclosure overdrive with the same chip, come on marketing companies and forums, its a simple circuit it shouldn't cost as much as the 808s go for now! Same thing when researching too - couldn't tell with headphones in blindfold comparisons. Bought it and haven't looked back - sounds so money!
I've even had some of my friends try out the Rat II and the Joyo Vintage overdrive, and with both of them costing at least 4 times less than their vintage counterparts, its time to make music and have money for drinks after! Cheers Josh! Cool is not cool, Good Is Cool - Josh Scott.
Back in the 90's I had a TS-9 that sounded great through my '65 Vibrolux. I sold it and bought a TS-9 with the "magic" chip (4558) but regretted instantly. I somehow thought my original TS-9 sounded better. Now it makes sense... the 4558 was not as magical as everyone told me at the time. I should have kept the original!
For my pedal rig I start with a Blues Driver plugged into the guitar (have a bunch of true bypass pedals after that) and then end my signal chain with a Boss Digital Delay. Essentially having a buffered pedal at the start and finish of my chain. It seems to remedy any tone loss that otherwise would be occurring.
The buffered bypass at the end of your guitar cable is a good thing as explained. But realize the electronics in all pedals have buffered outputs which can drive more cable much better than the high impedance guitar pickup. The worst case is all non-buffered pedals with all of them switched off.
i am the Myth Buster as well, but on Polish side of the UA-cam, trying to convince the guitarists its all in the heads and hands first thing... the rule is simple, if something sound good its good... the biggest importance is the pedal is made sturdy, it willlast stepping on it, doesnt make any stupid unwanted noises and doesnt change the tone when off... all what u said is the myths which are repeated on forums by ppl who wants to write something, but most of them doesnt even had the pedal i in their hands, not talking bout playing. BTW the collection behind U is amazing i love it so much. keep on rockin !
Biggest myth I’ve ever heard and proven wrong is that better gear = better tone. I’ve played gigs where nobody saw my gear, and everybody asked me where I got my tone from because they didn’t see a pedal board. As it turns out, I played on a Roland Cube 40XL amp and used my volume & tone on my Tele to control the sounds that I got. Tone is 100% in the fingers
Absolutely agree. The same story is about a wood and a guitar sound.
The thing about some exotic wood being a major factor on the sound of an electric guitar is, in my opinion, one of the biggest controversies of our days... It's stupidly expensive but I don't think it's actually a major factor for the sound.
He's wrong about germanium transistors.
The myth that Fuzz is horrid with humbuckers. I stayed far far away from fuzzes because of this myth
Great episode, I wish we had more of this honesty, great show. I bought a Germanium Fuzz based on the 'must be Germanium bias' and it doesn't sound better than my Mini Dunlop Fuzz FFM3! I now prefer my FFM3. I would love to see a show on how to get the Delay and Reverb pedals play nicely together.
Man... you're awesome...happy you sharing the joy!
Thanks!
A little behind on this video, but “true bypass” and “analogue” were words that I used to look for. I now trust that advancements in technology in either case are for the benefit of my sound. Bottom line: when I hook my guitar into it and I like the sound, it’s a good pedal. As far as instrumental records go, Secret Chiefs 3’s “Book of Horizons” is an incredible (mostly) instrumental album and a great introduction to Trey Spruance’s ongoing project.