Few people know pedals like Josh Scott. As the founder of JHS Pedals and a passionate collector of over 5,000 effects, Josh’s perspective on what makes a great pedalboard is uniquely insightful.
In a recent chat with Sweetwater’s Don Carr, Josh walked us through the gear he relies on for recording sessions, collaborations, and creating content for the JHS YouTube channel. It’s a fascinating look into the mind of one of the industry’s most passionate pedal lovers, revealing a philosophy centered on practicality, feel, and the art of gain stacking.
The Foundational Tone: Guitars, Amps, and Picks
Before a single pedal is engaged, Josh establishes his foundational sound with a few core principles.
He starts with a clean amp, often a Fender-style platform like the Tone Master Deluxe Reverb used in the video, with EQ knobs set straight to noon.
While at home he might reach for a Sovtek MIG 50 or his Tim Marcus-designed Loud is More Good combo, Josh is a big fan of amps like the Fender Blues Deluxe, which he calls the “DS-1 of amps” and on which many JHS pedals were designed. The goal is a great clean sound with balanced bass, mids, and treble, letting the pedals do the heavy lifting for gain and ambience.
His guitar of choice is typically a single-coil instrument, favoring the offset body of a Jazzmaster. For this session, he played a Squier Classic Vibe ’60s Jazzmaster, proving that incredible tone isn’t tied to a high price tag.
Perhaps the most surprising element of his core tone is his choice of pick. Once a skeptic, Josh is now a firm believer in the impact of a thick plectrum. “I used to make fun of people about picks. I would say, ‘You’re out of your mind if you think the pick matters,'” he admits. “Now I started using these really thick Gravity picks… it really does something. And I feel crazy explaining it, but…I hate playing without this pick.”
The “Always-On” Base Layer
The first and most crucial pedal in Josh’s chain is his very own Morning Glory V4. This isn’t just an effect; it’s part of his clean tone. “Stage one is never off,” he explains. With the gain set low, the Morning Glory adds a touch of compression and harmonic richness that makes the amp feel more alive and responsive. “It feels like the amp is twice as loud, and everybody’s happy, and kids aren’t screaming, and blood’s not coming out of people’s ears.” This always-on pedal provides a consistent, dynamic foundation that he builds everything else upon, starting with a quick tune-up on his PolyTune 3.
Empire of Dirt: Stacking Gains for Expressive Textures
With the Morning Glory establishing the baseline, Josh’s approach to dirt is all about stacking. His main drive sound comes from adding a Klon KTR into the mix. He runs the gain high, creating a rich, dynamic overdrive that he calls “the tone of dreams.” This combination covers the rock sounds he loves, from Pearl Jam to Radiohead’s The Bends. He notes that while he has an original KTR, players can get that iconic sound from a multitude of incredible Klon-style pedals available today. “I don’t think there’s a better drive sound that I’ll ever find, because it just works.”
To add another level of intensity, Josh uses a JHS Prestige boost placed *before* his drive pedals. This isn’t for a simple volume jump but to slam the front end of his drives for more saturation and sustain. “It’s more about even how it feels and how it’ll hold the note,” he explains. For solos, he might kick on a treble booster to slice through the mix, emphasizing the high-mids where the guitar lives.
Fuzz holds a special place in his setup. He sees it less as an effect and more as an instrument in itself. “When you turn on a fuzz, it’s like you have to play to it,” he says. For this, he uses a custom-built hybrid germanium/silicon Fuzz Face, which he often pairs with a dirty octave pedal for Hendrix- or Jack White-inspired tones.
Modulation, Pitch, and Texture
Beyond the dirt, Josh’s board is all about adding depth, movement, and texture to his sound. He uses modulation subtly to create a sense of space without being overbearing.
First in this section is a JHS Warbletron, an early version of the Unicorn V2. Instead of the classic chewy Uni-Vibe sound, he runs it as a subtle vibrato. “When a band’s on, it feels like you put on 3D glasses, but you’re not sure what’s happening. It just sounds good.”
For pitch-shifting, Josh forgoes a large Whammy pedal for the compact and effective Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork. He uses it exclusively for an octave-up sound, praising its characteristic glitchiness. “I don’t want the clean octave. Get me away from it. It’s like a plague,” he jokes. “I want this glitchy thing.”
Next up is a classic Boss CE-2W Chorus. Josh celebrates the return of this iconic effect, often running it with all knobs up for that quintessential ’80s and ’90s shimmer, perfect for everything from alternative rock to shoegaze soundscapes.
Creating Ambient Soundscapes
To craft his signature ambient textures, Josh relies on a couple of key pedals. The Milkman F-Stop provides classic amp-style spring reverb and tremolo, perfect for “spaghetti western surf” tones. His favorite “new era” pedal is the EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master V3, an all-in-one delay and reverb powerhouse. He uses it for huge, immersive sounds, particularly with a slide or an Ebow, to transform the guitar into a melodic, textural voice.
His final pedal is a TC Electronic Flashback 2 X4 Delay. Despite his access to countless boutique DSP units, Josh prefers the Flashback for its straightforward user interface. He says, “I want to look down and see big knobs that are like dum-dum proof… and move on with my life and just make music.” He primarily uses three settings:
- A warm, quarter-note analog delay to fill space in a mix.
- A stacked quarter-note and dotted-eighth delay for creating complex, rhythmic chaos.
- A reverse delay to create unique textures and make the guitar “not sound like a guitar.”
Discover Your Signature Sound at Sweetwater
Josh Scott’s pedal choice affirms the reality that sound starts with the player — not their gear. And while he may have access to some of the rarest and finest effects money can buy, Josh’s ability to pull professional tones from off-the-shelf gear proves that it’s all about musical choices: dialing in your core tone, then using effects as textures to serve the song.
If you’re inspired to build your own always-on base layer or find the perfect ambient texture, give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call. They can help you explore all the gear mentioned here and find the right tools to bring the sounds in your head to life.