1970's Op-Amp Distortion
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 ก.ค. 2024
- In the early 70s a new kind of pedal was invented: the op-amp distortion. I go through a brief history of this wonderful circuit and do some real rocking out with the pedals that created a new generation of rock n roll. In the comments tell me about your favorite pedal from today, what it was like to see the first distortion pedals on the market (if you were there ;), and your favorite rock album from the 70s!
www.thejhsshow.com/
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www.jhspedals.info/
Check out all the gear in this video here: reverb.com/c/jhs-pedal-picks?...
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Josh's amp can be found on Sweetwater.com
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Gear in this video:
1:22 MXR Micro Amp
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2:23 MXR Distortion +
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2:23 Dan Armstrong Blue Clipper
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4:59 Gretsch Controfuzz
5:30 Roland BeeGee AF-60
6:35 DOD Overdrive Preamp / 250
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8:04 Guyatone Zoom Box
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9:03 DeArmond Square Wave
9:17 Ross Distortion
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10:08 ProCo Rat
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11:09 Boss DS-1
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12:22 Bobtronics Bobulator
12:56 Coron Distortion 15
13:19 Marshall The Guv’nor
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13:28 JHS Pedals Angry Charlie
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13:31 Pelican Noiseworks 50/50
13:44 Jet City JHS Pedals Boost Overdrive
14:03 Ibanez SD-9
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14:11 Keeley DS-9
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14:17 Fulltone OCD
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14:24 Big Ear NYC Wood Cutter
14:30 Walrus Audio Iron Horse
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14:34 Klon Centaur
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Record Time:
Big Star #1 Record
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Josh’s record player is by U-Turn Audio:
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#jhs #thejhsshow #guitarpedals - เพลง
I see you put the tone knob on the DS-1 past noon. I too like to live dangerously.
A lot of the pedal had the tone up in the demo I noticed.
Me thinks new guitar is a dark low mid voiced beast.
She looks light and bright but I have a feeling she is more of a Soundgarden kinda crowd girl.
I still can not get over that neck.
I was frightened when I saw the tone knob that high. I knew I was in a rough neighborhood.
Lol thought the same thing
That riff reminded me of Henry Van Holtman. Hey Josh, do you listen to Psycotic Pineapple?
DS1 sounds best* with Tone knob at 3ish and I will fight you to the death over this claim.
*Through an amp. Through DI DS1 can just GTFO
I worked with Dan Armstrong in the UK developing his original line of six, jack plug effects units. The original effects you see most often are those made by Musitronics in the USA, like the one you have, but my recollection (which could be wrong, it's a long time ago) is that the six effects were first released in England using the extruded aluminium enclosures sold by Vero Electronics. These pedals have much finer corrugations on the extruded sides than the later units. Dan owned the company, he was the name and face and would come up with the outline ideas of what he wanted. Dan had some quirky ideas and the small box with a jack plug sticking out of it was his idea. As time has shown the product range would have been more practical as a floor pedal with a foot switch and might have been more successful in that format.
The main engineer on the project was George Merriman. He was the man turning Dan's rough concepts into working circuits. I helped out and did development work that George did not have the time for. With some suggestions from George I designed the Purple Peaker and the Yellow Humper, essentially the same circuit with different filter cap values. One of the principles of designing these pedals and I think this was true of all effects pedals at the time, was that the circuit had to use as few components as possible to save on manufacturing cost and it didn't matter if, as a result, the circuit did not function quite as well as it might if it had a few more parts.
I re-drew the circuits (in those days in pencil on a piece of sectioned graph paper) to provide a cleaner copy for manufacturing of all of the pedals, from George's original rough pencil sketches. Amazingly I still have the copy of the circuit I produced of the Blue Clipper. It is dated the 7th of April 1975. It is probably safe to assume that the English units were in production within two months of that date. The English Blue Clipper used a 741 op-amp and a back to back pair of 1N4148 silicon diodes for the clipping.
Terry Relph-Knight way cool background story!
That was so awesome to read. I wish you were in the room with Josh talking about all this. Now that could make a great episode. Thanks so much for sharing.
WHERE IS THAT JFET FROG PREAMP? NO ONE CLAIMS TO HAVE ONE THEY'VE SEEMINGLY DROPPED OFF THE FACE OF THE EARTH
Terry Relph-Knight please email me! Vlog@jhspedals.com
@@jhspedals Yeah, dude. Please email him! I'd like to hear ALL you've got to share. We all would, I'm sure.
Me watching old JHS videos over and over again
That "Electric Funeral" with Roland, sounds sooo mighty
REFLEX IN THE SKYYYYYY
"Sold 50 Buhmillion Units"
more than a kajillion for those who don't know.
Gotta say, the Rat will always have a special place in my heart. I worked at ProCo in the late 80’s in Kalamazoo and soldered untold hundreds of cables, snakes, and yes, the Rat. If memory serves me right, employee pricing was $25. Many local musicians paid their dues working at ProCo to get employee pricing. :)
woo hoo! 50/50 shout out! thanks josh ;-)
Favorite 70s rock album.. The Stooges' "Funhouse"
Very important record!!
I love the "Loud Is More Good" on your amp. So often I find that when I'm dissatisfied with my tone, everything gets better when I turn my volume knob up. Volume might be one of my most favorite "effects." :)
I have a friend who puts boost on his stuff all the time. Like, his base tone is boosted because it sounds better. I'm like, man, it's louder! Have a little restraint! Louder is more better, so be less better so you can be more better when you need to be... betterer.
@@cmck1777 Eloquently put! :)
I too make it louder! ‘1 louder’
This one goes to 11, so its “1” more louder...
“Louder is gooder”...
Favorite 70's rock album has got to be Marquee Moon by Television. Such inventive playing on that record
Hungry Moose yeah, such a hidden gem!
And played with no effects outside of amp reverb, if I'm not mistaken.
My favorite has got to be queen, live at the rainbow 74
Marquee Moon changed my life
Which Vox amps (model/year) did they use for that album?
As someone who completed a EE program in 1984, seeing the op-amp circuit brought a nostalgic sniffle to me!
Television - Marquee Moon
Tom Verlains guitar tone was described by Patti Smith to sound like “1000 blue birds screaming”
How about Richard Lloyd's? 10,000 blue birds?
@@mattgilbert7347 People always overlook Richard Lloyd, but he is one of my favs.
Lloyd is an animal. I definitely prefer his playing to Verlaine’s. He’s more sophisticated and phrases more.
Glad they left in the "you're such a dork"
That’s got to be a T Shirt!
Definitely not scripted
Yes, our dork,,,, and I couldn't be more proud.
The 70's is by FAR my favorite era for any kinda music and 1973 is the best year for music period. So it is always really hard for me to pick my favorite.
Favourite pedal today: I'd have to go with the Proco RAT. Favourite 70ies rock album: Raw Power by The Stooges
Rush - Hemispheres 1978. God, I love the distortion sound on that record.
This is one of my favorite you tube channels ,You are really passionate about pedals and are quite the historian on them.
You Tube, more like You Solid State
Yup
I had a Roland sustainer pedal that looked exactly like that distortion one you got. Don't know what happened to mine since I have all kinds of old stuff from early days.
I especially dig how he has respect for all the other brands and doesn't explicitly promote his as the best ever.
That St.Vincent guitar is so cool and sounds great. Favorite Albums: Machine Head by Deep Purple and Highway to Hell. But also a lot of punk like Ramones, Pistols and Stranglers.
Was just here to comment on the guitar too. One of the coolest designs on the market. Having said that I don't think she even uses a pink one that is distracting. Guitar center has these for roughly half the price of a comparable Gibson so also not a bad deal for top line instrument
@@dirkbonesteel Me too. Love the blue color ones, though I'd rock this pink one, just because!
Looks like one of the original rosewood neck models too.
Fun House by The Stooges is not only one of my favorite 1970s records but probably my favorite of all time. Not just because it’s so good but because a lot of my favorite bands were inspired by it. Thanks for another great episode!
"Holy Trinity",~ Pop, Bowie, and Reed,~
There’s no other youtube channel that goes so deep into the history of music production as this one.
Plus your love for the subject translates so easily through the screen, it’s truly mesmerizing!
"Because we're all really nice on the internet" lmfao.
At least in Mister Rogers Pedal Neighborhood.
WATT ? At least that's a great IDEAL we can all strive for.
My cat has a DS-1
My dentist has a Bad Monkey but that's a whole different story
Josh is a real pedal savant. Thanks for nerding out for our edification and enjoyment
Love your videos Man! It's great to have someone who is so crazy about the unique tone of every kind of circuit talking People around them! Keep it up you crazy pedal lover!!!
A trip down memory lane. Everybody had these MXR and Ross boxes in the late 70s when I started. I even had a Rat, that I sold to my bud. He made it his for 20+ years.
Man I look forward to these every week! Been with you guys from the beginning, love seeing this new online success!
Promoting his product in an educational way, excellence in action
Absolutely enjoyed this episode. The amount of music history that Josh presents in his content is just amazing. I learn something new every time I watch this channel.
Man I really love your videos. You’re honest and open, have no problem citing brands despite they’re competitors. The music clips are awesome, the camera shots are great, scenario, music, all so tasteful. I guess that’s the word: tasteful. Thanks so much
"You're such a dork"
That's a compliment.
...but if it isn't - here, hold my Op-Amp...
My favourite rock album of the 70s is Sheer Heart Attack by Queen. It still would be with Killer Queen as the only track on it.
I don't like Queen much, but Killer Queen is astonishingly good.
You are such a dork. Also, please never change I enjoy these videos too much and feel like it's a master class in using guitar effects pedals. It's just the right amount of technical explanations with straightforward explanations on how (and the order) to use them in depending on the sound your chasing. Thanks for the videos!
I’m so happy this video format is back! Your knowledge of pedals and their history is incredible.
You scared me, Josh... I thought I wasn't gonna get my Thursday fix!
Bravo! Keep 'em comin'!
Favorite 70's rock album? Too many good choices, but I'll throw King Crimson's "Red" out there. Awesome distorted guitar on the title cut.
UFO live in Germany.
Favorite 70s (and also best rock album ever) album is BY FAR Dark Side of the Moon. David Gilmour's guitar will always and forever give me chills.
I’ve had I don’t know how many DS1’s and it’s is a pedal that always sounds better when someone else plays it. That pedal just doesn’t take me very well!
That BeeGee AF-60 sounds absolutely killer!
Ya, i agree. The first thing I thought of was very early Black Sabbath tones...
With an ES335 in front and an AC30 behind it I sounded the best I have ever been. The WEM copycat helped. Sadly gear theft is the bane of guitarists.
Maybe it was partially what he was playing but I agree.
7025??
I love how you play just different enough to not get blocked 👏🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽🤘🏽
Another great video! I love the way you mix the history, music and a little bit of engineering & science. I do science for a living so I appreciate hearing about it in the context of guitar tone.
This guy is great! He puts a smile on my face everytime. I've also upped my pedal game.
Favorite 70’s album: Deep Purple’s Machine Head and Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
70’s rock album: Toys in the Attic by Aerosmith.
Dude, you’re awesome for doing these videos. Love pedals and I’m actually learning cool stuff. Keep them coming!
Fantastic playing guys! And thank you for the great content as always.
Physical graffiti... best 70s Rock album!!
MXR Distortion + is an awesome pedal and served me well in the 80's with a Marshall Jubilee 2555 and Fender Twin!
This whole video series is absolutely brilliant. I've learned so much from them. They've also been giving me a whole new layer of GAS.
I have no idea how you do it, but you’re the only person I’ve ever heard (or read from) that makes all the internal works of a pedal/ amp interesting. I wish we could be best friends and I could just absorb all of that circuit knowledge
I’m always impressed by your general love for pedals and how you’re not at all reluctant to recommend another company’s pedals
My favorite rock album of the 70's is STILL "Cheap Trick: Live At Budokan." It's got everything! As for favorite distortion pedals, it's got to be my '86, small-box, RAT (the so-called 'Jeff Beck RAT'). It's, well, basically, perfect. I picked it up in 1999 at Johnny Guitar in Hollywood (across the street from the GC mothership) for $76.00. I still can't believe that.
Thankyou for taking the time showing these great pedals memories of pedals i had in the past that i never should of sold, MXR distortion plus my first my favorite 1977.
Great video - Thanks for taking the time to produce it!
Led Zeppelin III is my favorite; the members still had that fresh energy with them but they had reached their peak status as musicans, and the album contains so many variations in style, each sounding equally fantastic. From the soft timbre of gallow's pole to the head banging heartbreaker, that album's got it all.
"Heartbreaker" is on Led Zeppelin II.
when i hear gallow's pole "soft timbre" doesn't come to mind
2 > 1 > 3
I think you are referring to Inmigrant song instead of Heartbreaker
Finally someone mentioned my favourite! The Marshall Guv’nor, which sits on my board, is phenomenal and gets nowhere near enough love! Tone shaping and gain for days!!
SO glad you left the Iron Horse in there - I have the V2 and it's just perfection, covers everything from smooth overdrive to OMG WHAT THE HELL IS THAT distortion.
Love this content Josh! A big hug from Argentina 🇦🇷
Another fab show, N.o 1 for me the "Blue Clipper", sounded immense !
Great video and info, as always! My favorite 70s Rock album is Rush: Hemispheres. Of course, my favorite album of any decade starting with the 70s is going to be a Rush album. Alex Lifeson's playing pretty much inspired me not only to start playing guitar, but to use pedals. Every early pedal (BOSS) I had was attempt to sound like my favorite Rush songs. Flanger, Phaser, Overdrive, Chorus, Distortion, T-Wah (ok, I didn't really understand how Wah pedals worked, lol), they were all so I could sound like Alex Lifeson and, to a lesser extent, Rik Emmett of Triumph.
Spent my early guitar years at a buddy’s house learning Sabbath tunes with an Ibanez SD-9 into a Fender Bronco. Great fun! Favorite 70s album has to be Kiss Alive II. It’s the album that started my love of rock music!
Awesome video Josh. Listening to you play that DS1 brought back some memories.
Bruce Springsteen, “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” - catch the short solo on Prove It All Night. Screaming guitar!
Love that st. Vincent
This channel brings me great happiness.
For over a decade I used a Ross distortion as my main dirt pedal. It has a slightly browner sound than a MXR distortion plus. It didn't sound good into a clean amp, but running into a distorted amp it is glorious! I was pretty much a head banger back in those days, but have since moved on to music more suited to fuzz. Thanks for the great episode!
Favorite Big 70s Rock albums (in no particular order)
Stones - Sticky Fingers
Kiss - S/T
The Kinks - Lola vs. Powerman and the Moneygoround
T.Rex - The Slider
Bowie - Diamond Dogs
Thin Lizzy - Black Rose
I'm a little surprised that this was the first comment I read mentioning `The Kinks'. I thought they would get much love on this subject.
Favorite 70's rock album: Pink Floyd Animals. Colorsound Power boost into a hiwatt. So hot...
The things I would do to get my hands on a Colorsound Power Boost 😥
@@enkiea8322 I have one. I love it. The 9v version is the way to go.
@@McLguitars By 9 volt version do you mean one of the reissues? I've had my eye on those since I doubt I could swing $1500+ for an original. They just sound so damn good.
@@enkiea8322 yes, the reissues are made with exactly the same stuff in the same building with the same equipment. The 9v is the Gilmour tone.
@@McLguitars Thanks for the tip!
Love how the camera vibrates with the demo music - makes it 1000x cooler
Josh is such a good teacher in my opinion. I wish I had an AP Pedalboard class that he taught. would love to take the Op-Amp exam sometime soon
I loved that roland bee gee. I think I might need one now. Also the guitar sounds and looks amazing.
The DOD is 250 is such a sleeper pedal. It's my secret weapon and usually always on.
same
You do such a great job with your show. Love this stuff and super good presentatiion of what could get bogged down in circuitry diagrams or muddled explanations by a less skilled and less knowledgeable host.. Always fun to watch. Thanks.
The best subtitles ever! Great video
Love the series! Cool topics and Josh has so much interesting pedal past knowledge. PS. the DOD Preamp ist my favourite because I have one and it always sounds great with all my guitars and amps.
Other than the shape of the Coron Distortion 15, which you were right in assuming I’d like, the sound from your custom Ernie ball guitar was worth waiting to hear.
I know this video was posted a year ago but i just picked up a black Ross Distortion and I’m really impressed with how great it sounds. Cool to see it featured in this vlog!
I don't have any of those pedals you're missing but I would gladly take a JHS pedal off your hands :) Love this podcast, it's so great, informative and entertaining!
First, I love these, and your obsessive and unhealthy collector-brain makes me feel a lot better about my own hole into which I throw money periodically.
Top 70s rock record is a tough one. But if I'm thinking about the distortion sound I quested after as a kid it's David Gilmour's cranked lap steel guitar on One Of These Days from the Meddle LP. To this day every time I hear that song and the full band kicks in with that rolled-up, big distorted chord the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
My first "pedal" was the Electro Harmonix Muff Fuzz that had a quarter-inch jack built into the output. You plugged it straight into the amp's input and plugged your cable into the input. It had a slider switch and a single knob on it. I didn't have an amp early on, so I used an adaptor from Radio Shack to plug it into the tape input on my bedroom stereo and within about two months I'd totally shredded my speakers and realized I needed to hustle and get an amp.
I graduated to a Boss DS-1 that I bought in 1979 at Leo's Music in Oakland. I still have that pedal and it shows up in my board to this day off and on. People see it, scoff and then shut up because I know how to dial it in for the sound I want. Mostly though I leave it at home because it's got a ton of sentimental value for me.
One of the riffs you played reminded me of “Feel” but I wasn’t sure, and then you pull out Big Star for record time! That was awesome
Thanks Josh! Awesome history 👍
One of the coolest things about guitar players is that we are all so different. I love the St. Vincent guitars .... Some people don't. Everybody likes a different flavor of fuzz or distortion. And Josh is so cool he shares all his pedals with us .... not just JHS pedals ...., all the cool pedals. Thanks Josh !
The greatest 70S guitar tone is David Gilmour hands down!! His dirty and clean sounds are both absolutely iconic
Gilmour is certainly my favorite and yet, oddly, my favorite ever tones tend to be different than his. I especially love his clean and chimey atmospheric sounds with boat loads of delay and reverb, but for distortion I tend to lean towards Ritchie Blackmore in Rainbow and some of my favorite stuff (tonally) is early Rush. Alex Lifeson on `Working Man' and `Limelight' ooooph, it just doesn't get any better. `Working Man' isn't so distorted but is just such a massive sound.
his ethereal quality is one of the biggest influences on my playing. the solo in "time" is a perfect example - distortion and reverb with enough space between the notes to really let them ring out and breathe so you hear every nuance of that tone
ALRIGHT ALREADY! I'll get the St. Vincent guitar!
Dake Townsend exactly. That pink is 🔥🔥🔥
I'm just really digging the 3 mini-hbs
I love everything about it. 😅😅
Same. Been eyeing it for a while now
Do it....I have an Indo one in blue, it's a fantastic guitar, I play it constantly, loves distortion, fuzz, crazy pedals like the EQD Acapulco Gold, great in drop D, just tons of fun.
My parents told me they were taking a trip to Memphis so I mentioned (in passing) that one of my favorite bands was from Memphis and recorded at a studio called Ardent. So my 70+ year old parents took an Uber to Ardent, walked in the front door and were greeted by Jody Stephens (drummer for Big Star) while I was toiling away in a cubicle at a soul crushing corporate gig... I digress. Even though I was only 5 years old when #1 record was released Big Star was a huge part of my musical journey. Thanks for shining a little light on this under-appreciated band. Alex Chilton and Chris Bell were way ahead of their time.
Loved the tone with the jhs amp, ernie ball and distortion plus! Awesome video
Rocks by Aerosmith, 1976. Nasty 70's distortion.
Oooh, nice pick! Great production by Jack Douglass on that album and it's one of his personal favorites. Last Child and Back in the Saddle are two of my favorite songs.
My pick also. I Idolized Joe Perry when I was first taking up the guitar. I loved Brad Whitford's playing also, but I IDOLIZED Joe Perry. I wanted to BE Joe Perry, but somehow also be in a band with Joe Perry. I wanted Aerosmith to get a third guitarist, and that would be me, Joe Perry II. Anyway, Rocks is one of the best hard rock albums ever made.
Rocks is one of my favorites! Such layered production with guitars subtly sneaking into your headphones.
A great album, but better than Toys in the Attic? I'm not sure.
#1 Record might be my favorite trad rock record from the 1970s. I might also call attention to Zappa's tone on much of "Apostrophe;" a SG with monster preamp gain into a Pignose amplifier.
mason s. Yeah, fabulous record, one of my absolute essentials. And also Apostrophe got much play on my turntable ( the only Zappa record I bought) Hey , you got great taste
that is the coolest st. vincent guitar I've ever seen. well done, amigo
Thanks for turning me onto that Big Star album! It's good stuff!
I love the sound of the BeeGee (although it could be that glorious Sabbath riff!). I love that fuzz goodness!
I kept waiting for an ode to the Smashing Pumpkins with a nice 70's Op-Amp BMP...............still waiting.
Rowland S Howard used to use the MXR + His sound is amazing ! All through the Birthday Party, Crime city solution and his solo albums.
For a 70s album ? Everything where Mick Ronson played...but that was fuzz !
Hands down the best pedal channel ever!.
J playing some Sabbath on "distortion" vid, my world make sense again ❤️
stanislavmigra what’s the original song ?
@@Hamzeh669 Electric funeral
70s albums I frequently listen to are Marquee Moon by Television and both T Rex albums, Electric Warrior and The Slider.
Love the Rat. And not blowing smoke but I regret selling my JHS All American. Loved and still love. Its one of best Rat style pedals Ive played. I just love that it can be an overdrive, distortion and then get into fuzz territory all with a turn of theknob. Love the vlog too. Thanks Josh and team
This Channel needed to exist. Great History Class
I'm all about the original op-amp Muff... Big Muff episode soon???
YES, please!
Agreed, my favourite going into the front of a clean Marshall.
I *looooooooooooooove* that "Siamese Dream" sound!
It's great, I regret selling mine - BUT - got a Keeley Rotten Apple modded opamp on the way.
Someday!
As always, excellent video. Let us pray it doesn't get a claim on the awesome Birmingham-style riffage.
Great episode! 🤘 😎 My first distortion pedal was the DOD FX-57 Hard Rock Distortion it has a 40 ms delay on it that gives some king of "guitar voice" changes to your tone, that I use at 9 - 11 o'clock to get some punk rock. And then I got the Boss DS-1 Distortion that I consider the most versatile pedal ever, you can rock the tone from the 1970 to 20xx. With the tone knob at 10:30, drive knob between 1 - 2 o'clock and level knob full up (5 o'clock) it's the real heavy blessed distortion ever.
Loved your video. Very informative. I gotta try your pedals.
My first one was Boss HM-1. I bought in 85 or 86. My second one was Rat 2. I kinda miss that rodent.