Pedal Line Friday – 9/24 – Josh McDowell

Today’s pedal line is from Josh McDowell. If you have a pedal line (doesn’t have to be in a board) for your rig, please email me a photo, bio, description of pedals and routing to pedalline@nulleffectsbay.com. Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

Hello, my name is Josh McDowell and I play in a post-punk band called The Dirty White http://thedirtywhite.com .  Here’s my current set-up.

Right to Left:

VOX Standard Wah -> MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay -> MXR Phase 90 -> MXR Ten Band EQ -> Behringer DR600 Digital Reverb -> Fender PT-10 Tuner.  Powered by a Behringer PB600 Pedal Board.

Above: Tech 21 SansAmp Classic (needs repair).

Below: Footswitch for a Fender Super-Sonic Amp

Not pictured:  BOSS DS-1, MXR Blue Box, DOD FX20B Stereo Phasor, Danelectro Milkshake Chorus, Hamiltone Homemade FUZZ

Notes:

All effects run into a Fender Super-Sonic Amp with a Marshall MF400 4×12 Cab

Guitars: Fender Strat, Fender Squire Jagmaster, ’64 Gibson Melody Maker, Epiphone Les Paul Deluxe, Epiphone Les Paul Junior

First is the VOX Wah. I prefer the classic standard wah sound, since I don’t use it a lot.  It seems like it needs to be first in the chain to get the proper input signal to get the signature “throw” sound.

Next is the MXR Analog Delay. The modulation switch makes this pedal quite versatile. I like to twist the delay knob while the regen is cranked to get some killer swells and loop effects.  It’s also great for getting U2 type delay sounds. Putting this early in my signal chain gives it a more pronounced sound.

After that is normally my SansAmp distortion.   I bought it on ebay after I heard Kurt Cobain used it on the In Utero tour.  It’s my favorite pedal by far. Tons of switches and knobs allow you to get Vox, Marshall, and Mesa Boogie tones all from one pedal. Currently, it needs repair so I’m using my amp distortion which I like as well.

In place of the SansAmp is the MXR Phase 90 (1996). I modded it after reading a web tutorial that would make it more like the script model.  It sounds better after the mod too. At the 45 degree mark, you can really hear that “Love Hurts” tone. I like to max it out sometimes to get a “wobbly” sound.  It requires a separate power supply as well as the SansAmp because they both use a male adaptor.

The MXR Ten Band EQ is pretty standard, I use it to refine my tone.  Of course 10 bands are better than 6 and so on. If I had to lose this pedal live, I could. It also uses a separate power source because it requires more that a 9V.

Next is the Behringer Reverb.  This has a digital after taste that I could do without, but it gets me by until I can upgrade it.  It actually sounds better with vocals.

Finally is the Fender tuner. It’s not extremely precise, but it has a bypass that makes it perfect for shows.  The Behringer pedal board itself has some noise interference, but it beats buying 9V batteries by the pound. It has a 6 point daisychain, but it does not adapt to male end plug.

One other remarkable pedal is the MXR Blue Box. It can be one of the most useless pedals for a mainstream guitarist.  I play in a noise rock band so I’ll occasionally use this pedal to get some absolutely ridiculous fuzz sounds. At its most controlled setting, it sounds like an 8 bit videogame, at the other extreme it’s a note-less monster of noise.

Thanks for letting me share my love of pedals with you. Please check out my band, The Dirty White, if you have time.