Ever heard of JHS Pedals? If you’ve been following Drew or Switchfoot on twitter for any length of time, then the answer is probably yes! JHS Pedals has worked with Drew and Jon for the past few years, creating custom pedals, many of which were used in the Hello Hurricane recordings. We were able to interview Josh from JHS Pedals on working with the guys, creating custom pedals and his company, so read on for the full transcript!
Land of Broken Hearts (LOBH): Josh thank you so much for taking the time for us today! When did JHS Pedals begin?
JHS Pedals (Josh): Hundreds of years ago in a mystic land……. Well… Not exactly but that would be a great story to tell. JHS Pedals started in late 2006 as a hobby that has spun into massive world pedal domination.
LOBH: How did you get involved with creating pedals for the guys?
Josh: Drew contacted me about FUZZ tones for the record and having the ability to play them live in an easy format. He loves vintage gear and a lot of the really amazing vintage pedals are almost extinct or way too hard to get a hold of. His main point in contacting us was to see if we could clone several older circuits and help develop new ideas for tones and combinations of things that he knew he wanted to use.
LOBH: Which band members have you designed pedals for?
Josh: Drew and Jon.
LOBH: What pedals did you design for them?
Josh: Switchfoot’s main tones on the Hurricane record are mainly fuzz tones into already driven tube amps. By the time we had closely worked through things, the “Astro Mess Fuzz”, “Mini Foot Fuzz” and the just released 2 in 1 “Bunrunner” fuzz were developed.
JHS Bunrunner
If you haven’t seen the original #1 Bunrunner then you’re missing out! Drew’s five year old daughter hand painted the enclosure and we put the finished pedal in that case. I’ve attached some pictures of it and you can find the other pedals mentioned HERE.
We also developed our Line 6 DL4 expression mod around Drew’s needs. Jon has a couple of Custom Shop Fuzz pedals as well.
LOBH: What’s it like working with the band? Were they very involved in the
process?
Josh: I have been a Switchfoot fan for years and was really excited to get involved on the Hurricane project. Working with the guys is by far one of the best experiences I have had with an artist. Lots of times artists are nothing like you have hoped they would be and usually for me I am very disappointed by attitudes and the way people are off of the stage. That is not the case with Switchfoot. They are top notch guys who live the songs they sing and have managed to keep their heads on straight with the huge success and publicity that they have seen.
LOBH: We asked a few fans to submit questions as well… here’s one from Scott: Which pedals did you design specifically for Drew? When will the double fuzz be available to the rest of us?
Josh: #3 above answers some of this. The Bunrunner 2 in 1 is out now HERE. Others are a custom boost, Tubescreamer style OD, our Line 6 DL4 Expression Mod and some other toys like switchers and a/b boxes.
LOBH: From Wars of our Fathers: What JHS pedals have been featured on tracks we may know (SF, or otherwise) and where?
Josh: You will hear pedals like the Astro Mess Fuzz, Bunrunner and a lot of vintage stuff. We are working on some new pedals for the new record right now. Songs like Mess of Me are the Astro “Mess” Fuzz (hence the name) and “The Sound” is also the gated type setting found on that pedal. There are other slightly smoother fuzz tones like “Bullet Soul” that are the Mini Foot tone. The 2 in 1 Bunrunner fuzz when stacked does the super gated and almost destroyed guitar sound you hear sometimes on the record. The pedals have found their way onto a lot of recordings of almost every genre and it’s honestly hard to keep track of it!
LOBH: Can you shed any light on Switchfoot’s gear set ups?
Josh: Yes. Drew is the master of great tone. His board is basically broken down on the Guitar World gear tour video HERE, even though it has changed as of a few weeks ago due to Drew getting a custom painted board from Lee Custom Shop and a few more JHS items. H=In the video he is using the PT2 size board but he now has the pro for more space. His signal path now is Guitar > JHS Custom Shop 808 Overdrive > Bunrunner 2 in 1 Fuzz > Boss TU2 Tuner > JHS Mini Bomb Boost > JHS Modified Line 6 DL4 > JHS Modified Radial Tonebone Switcher > Dual True Bypass Looper. The Dual bypass looper goes to a small board that Drew keeps at his left hand side about chest level. It is loaded with noise and ambient effects like a Korg Chaos pad, Ibanez AD9 Delay, JHS Custom Shop Count Wah-Cula, Menatone Pleasure Trem and a few other things usually like the JHS Boss DS1 Synth Drive mod. The secret to making fuzz so great as Drew does is in using a low wattage tube amp that is already overdriven. He has an old Supro Super that is pure magic. Too many people go buy a 100 watt amp and don’t realize that more wattage is not better, it’s simply louder and will stay cleaner. Some of the best tones ever recorded and played live are with low wattage 5-15 watt tube amps. The term overdrive is not original to a pedal. It is the sound from a tube amp that is naturally breaking up as it is cranked. This creates a beautiful guitar tone that is second to none. An overdrive pedal is simply trying to re-create this tone. This is where the name Tubescreamer comes from- a tube amp that is turned up and screaming.
LOBH: From MJ: Drew’s pedal is decorated with a drawing that his daughter
created – how do you transfer art onto the exact pedal?
Josh: We didn’t transfer. It is actually painted on the pedal. We sent the case to them, she painted it, and we put a heavy duty clear coat on it once we received it back. When that was finished, we built the pedal inside of the case. Here are more EXAMPLES.
LOBH: Can you walk us through the process of creating a custom pedal?
Josh: It’s really simple. You just shoot us an email at info@jhspedals.com with your idea. It could be as simple as “hey, can you combine this and this with this?” or as complex as “I have never seen a pedal that does this or this, can you make it?” Once we figure out what the pedal will do and function as, you get to design it from our Custom Colors page. You even have the option of having our artists do custom hand painted artwork on the pedal! This page explains even more.
LOBH: From Funberlin: What were some of the weirder or not typical features that you put in the pedals?
Josh: We do a lot of weird things. Our Boss DS1 mod called the Synth Drive is really out there. It does things with your guitar that are really unheard of. As far as features I would say that the way we can do fully custom work is really unprecedented. No one out there does this to the extent that we do. With us, you are not limited to a few cookie cutter designs but rather given the ability to create your sound with our help.
LOBH: From Switchfeednow: Along those lines, what’s the most ridiculous request you’ve had, from who?
Josh: About two years ago a guy bought a pedal and used it for several months. One day it showed back up at the shop completely destroyed and disassembled. It was sanded to bare metal and totally disfigured. A note inside said “I got high one night and took the pedal apart. Is this covered in the warranty?” Needless to say, the pedal and its parts are sitting on a bottom shelf of the shop to this day. We have stories that would blow your mind!
LOBH: From Twink: Are there any similarities in the Mini Foot fuzz, Astro Mess fuzz, and the Bun Runner?
Josh: The only similarity is that they are fuzz. They are very different in character. The Astro is the most modern while the Mini Foot is a cross between modern and vintage tones. The Bunrunner has the Astro in it as well as a vintage Tonebender germanium fuzz that is VERY classic and vintage sounding.
LOBH: What do you like best about your job?
Josh: Creating things that have never been created. I also like working with musicians and educating them beyond the hype and misinformation that the guitar gear scene creates through forums and such. I love the opportunity to also learn from artists and their years of experience as well.
LOBH: What’s the future for JHS Pedals?
Josh: Right now we are developing relationships with high end guitar shops across the USA and abroad. Our plan is to make our pedals more accessible to players of all types by having a couple of retailers in every state. My main concern is to stay 100% handbuilt and high quality, and to never sell out to the desire to make more money. Several well know companies have done this and there product now suffers from the fact that it is mass produced. Let us know if there is a shop near you! We are on the hunt.
LOBH: To wrap up, we have 3 questions that we ask to everyone we interview!
01. What is one questions you’ve never been asked and the answer?
Josh: Hmmm….? I have never been asked what type of toothpaste I use. Auquafresh
LOBH: 02. What is one song you wish you had written?
Josh: Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin”.
LOBH: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given/heard?
Josh: Just be honest. Don’t make excuses, just make things right.
LOBH: Josh thank you so much for your time and good luck with your company!