I did Industrial/Mechanical Design for Dod/Digitech for 23 years. Worked with Jason on all of these products and many more. Jason was an amazing dude and is missed like hell. This video is an awesome tribute to him & his creative genius! Thanks for doing it!
@@alexanderhudson47 i'm actually going to go buy a corrosion pedal as soon as possible. even on youtube it sounded great to me. i play thrash/punk/death metal but i can see this on my board
Well done. I worked with Jason for 15 years during my time at DigiTech/DOD. Spent many a fun evening throwing back cold ones talking music. He was as unique a person as one could imagine. Still can’t believe he’s gone.
I own one for Bass, there is no other pedal on the planet like it, dunno if it’s my J-Bass or the ‘83 Carlsbro Amp, but the shock and awe it can punch into a crowd...
an MXR "blue box" story- dinosaur jr came to Mtv in london in early 1993 to do a studio session for "120 minutes". while I was helping the roadies set up mr mascis' tons of effects, one of them said "he wants to use this, but we think it's broken." we plugged one of J's guitars into the thing & it made *that* noise. "perhaps it needs a new battery", I offered, & duly fitted one. afterwards, it sounded exactly the same. we shrugged, & left it on the floor, on J's big perspex pedalboard. later, during the camera rehearsals, we watched as J went for the pedal during a solo. he switched it in for maybe half a bar, pulled a face & switched it off. we never heard the thing again.
Shit legit annoys me. People will buy them, post them on Instagram, /r/Guitarpedals, and piss around with them for an hour and leave them in a drawer, or on their desk, and the prices will go up for no reason.
Man, does this bring back memories. 14 year old me with a cheap Samick Strat from the General store, smashing down on a DOD grunge pedal with all the knobs dimed and thinking "Man, this sounds like shit, whatever, it says grunge on it"
removedot He looked down on everyone. Heck, he looked down at Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam, ffs! He really was a Pretentious F***! Noone wants to say it because he's dead. I don't hate him or anything at all. I remember exactly where I was when I heard Teen Spirit - it was the defining moment of my adolscence... Even so, Kurt Cobain was a the sort of Snob that would put bike-riding, quinoa-chomping hipsters to shame!
Luey Sixty-six I would argue that he was extremely cynical, and skeptical of some of his contemporaries. Cobain was into subverting expectations, whereas Pearl Jam and the Smashing Pumpkins were both using “grunge” and “alternative” as marketing labels in order to fill arenas and make money. Cobain was brilliant but extremely immature (at least in my opinion, and I attribute it to early fame and drug addiction), and what comes of as pretentious may have been a sort of naive belief in artistic purity. Hell, he was right about Billy Corgan being a poseur, and Cobain died around the time Pearl Jam decided to embrace authenticity over arena rock. Say what you want about the guy, but Kurt was nothing if not a perceptive observer of his contemporaries.
It was first pedal that i bought in the mid-90s and i was pretty disappointed at the time and gave it away a few years later. I saw the newer Digitech version in a store last week for $25 and snapped it right up. It sounds a bit different but i'm loving it.
I loved the Death Metal back in the day. It gave me the gain I needed on my practice amp. 20 years later I got it out of the closet and decided to run it into my Marshall Jubilee stack. I could not believe how good it sounded into a dirty Marshall. Later I read that it was designed to be run in front of a dirty Marshall.
Pedal snobs: "DOD Buzz box sounds bad; it's worthless and unusable." *Introducing the Bee Barrel from Earthquaker Devices for $229* "What a brilliant, creative pedal! I'll take 7!"
A lot of people just don't know how to use pedals in a creative way. There are tons of useful sounds you can get from this line, if you stabilize the Buzz Box a little bit and use it on the higher end of a bass it sounds like an droning electricity generator, run vocals through it it can sound like killer bees (obligatory Wu Tang reference here), or if you want some absolutely insane tones run a drum machine through it or a drum kit for actually sonic destruction
I ignored them and lost interest in DOD even though we used Digitech crap a lot. I did like the bucket brigade Supersonic and hope it’s still around here somewhere and I have a phaser that’s not mentioned that sucks volume badly so it needs surgery that I may never get around to. The problem is that Josh is such a pedal geek that he makes us all want to play all of them for ourselves all over again.
Agreed. And I like it even more as Corrosion of Conformity has been a favorite of my wife and mine since the 90's. It sounds like that pedal could be used to approximate some of their guitar tones from over the years.
Favourite grunge records no one talks about are the first two Silverchair albums 95’s Frogstomp and 97’s Freakshow Fantastic song writing, the heavy songs have amazing riffs and crushing tone and an amazing production all round Plus the fact they were still in high school when they wrote them just adds to the vibe
Just pulled that album out .frog stop, the other day. And I wondered what had happened to the boys and of course I looked it up on google add found only sad stories. The singer developed some kind of funky arthritis and then drummer died. Turns out they had five studio albums though.
@@incredifunk dunno where you read it but Ben Gillies is alive and well as are all members Dan's had some issues with Alcohol and isolation in recent years after battling arthritis and Anorexia in his youth and Chris the Bassist lost his sister to suicide but that's about it No one in the band is dead or completely fucked up at least
Eh... I dunno. There are so, so many out there. And they do still sound like crap (including this demo). I would take any kind of regular RAT over it any day.
That's the big problem with these "hidden gems" videos. They essentially put a countdown on the collector's market ruining things for the working musician.
@@gregmerritt9366 It can become the hedgehog's dilemma for guitar pedal makers/buyers. Josh wants to point attention to underestimated/overlooked makers/pedals/fx but yet again since the boutique market has a big chunk dominated by JHS, their influence will cause a price/rarity increase.
@@gregmerritt9366 That is true though. I have put up buying this thing or another for years, and then Josh or Hainbach or whoever does a video on that specific thing and bam, they are expensive now.
I care too. I always keep all of the original packaging from my pedals too. Still have my Punkifier (first pedal I ever purchased) and Death Metal Distortion in the box on the shelf behind me.
Haha, my thoughts exactly but it’s hard not to watch Josh geek out about pedals and even the overlooked ones. It’s bad, worse than a comic book collection I suppose.
One day you will have to decide on playing it or putting it in the pedal museum - Until then Make music that relates to giving up your favorites in life. I can already feel your pain ...
The Death Metal has actually had a surprising revival among Noise musicians because the maximized gain and ludicrous EQ is perfect for making contact microphones scream. Plus they're much cheaper than similar dirt pedals like the HM-2 or Metalzone because they were bought and swiftly collected dust in droves.
I somehow fail to be upset by that after listening to that clip. I have a very strong feeling it was going to do the impossible and make it sound worse.
@@tondebruijn5424 His pedal didn't sound right, it sounded like a ring mod was on there too. I own that pedal and it sounds awesome. Well it did until I plugged the PSU in with the wrong polarity and it died :(
“I’m sorry, he forgot to eat lunch that day...” This is a brilliant vid Josh!!! “In Bloom” is my fave Nirvana track by a country mile! Grunge kind of passed me by as I was into more home grown UK bands. As a link, you mentioned Blur tonight... Graham Coxon’s distortion on “Battle” is heavenly and raw... I’m sure you’ve heard it. You make Thursday night fun! Cheers!
I’m going to have to ask for people to stop watching these, the pedal market cannot handle such inclines in 25 year old products, it’s causing the economy to collapse
And then the chinese kmockoffs come along, and that'd only fix things if they managed to knock it out of the park on a few pedals. They'd need to do the gonkulator and the meat box, and they'd need to do them well.
The used market perpetuates the economy, because those weirdos that need the newest new get to sell thier old stuff and buy new stuff with other peoples money.
The Meatbox is easily my favorite pedal. Pretty much every time I show up at the venue, if the sound guy knows their shit, they won't let me use it on my bass. It pretty much destroys every cab it's played through at volume.
80’s ARIA with super microphonic pickups and a peavey pa/Bass amp, set up to play in drop b, I think I had the lowest low ends of my local hardcore scene in the late 2000’s when I kicked that did death metal on.
I honestly never cared for any other brand just because DOD made TANKS! Also they had cool paint jobs compared to Boss & whoever else. Idk its just me I guess but yeah this was a blast from the past!
The re-issued meat box is a staple for crushing live sounds. It’s so low on bass it makes your guts hurt. It’s fantastic. If you are a bassist you need one.
I got turned on to it by Janek Gwizdala from his synth sounds demos. I use it for huge sound scapes, big breakdowns, and as a foundation for making analog synth sounds on bass. What do you all use it for?
Dustin Anderson that’s cool. I have a black one too with the original sticker on the pick guard, case candy and all. I will make a video on it in the near future.
I have a Corrosion fx70c that I bought new in the 90s. Multiple wires broke off the board from opening up to tighten/fix inputs, and to fix that crappy switch that would always fail, and I didn't know where to solder them back. I kept the pedal around for years and finally last year (2018) was able to figure it out. I've learned a lot more about electronics over the years.. anyways, all new pots, a better switch and she's rockin again. I love that DOD sound!
"I love Thursdays" that could be a very cool name for a band!! Think about it...."Next up from I Love Thursdays, Pedaling my way to fame!!" Okay, maybe that sucks but you get my drift, lol. You know the whole pedal thing with Josh being into bicycling...Okay, I'll see myself out now, lol.
@@jackallen6261 Quite a few of the RU-vid channels I follow release a video every Thursday. So this could be a cultural thing that people might relate to. I know if I hear someone say "I love Thursdays." that's exactly what I assume they are talking about.
I was 13,it was mid 90’s, Got cannibal corpse’s Bloodthirst and was like, of course THIS is what death metal boys MUST use. It’s labeled just for them!
Absolutely. Without question. Still my “go to” album when I want something good and great. From the opening drum refrain to the closing decay it’s non stop awesome. Saw them on that tour and is still one of the best sounding shows ever. And Darcy. Oh sweet sad Darcy. Such a slinky bass goddess. I don’t think they ever reached that height again, that sound and tone and dynamic songwriting. Saw them on the Siamese dream tour and they sounded terrible. Corgan was well into his self destructing I don’t care pity party by then
The Grunge is probably my favorite Distortion pedal that I've ever used. I'm not really a big Distortion user, especially using single coils where distortion can get a bit brash. It had enough low-mid that just worked really well. It's also the ONLY useable pedal in this line, or at least it can be used for more than 2 song. We have an independent record shop in town. The owner had a record company back in the 80s and 90s that worked with "noise rock" bands. If you're thinking "oh noise rock, like Sonic Youth,I like Sonic Youth," no that's not the noise rock I speak of, this is actually NOISE. It's pretty much only popular in the Merrimack valley in Massachusetts, and Japan; and that's not an exaggeration, look it up. These pedals sound like that record store.
Um... your shirt? Again, when are we getting a Mike McCready pedal?!? Favorite Track from Vitalogy... Last Exit and Tremor Christ. UGHHHHH so great. But for me, the studio version of Corduroy is absolutely pure magic, and for me, the best they sounded.
Vitalogy was a great album. I haven't listened to it in years, and I keep meaning to pick it up on vinyl. Nevermind was, of course, fantastic. I think my favorite grunge records were Facelift and Dirt by Alice In Chains, and In Utero by Nirvana. If you haven't heard the 2013 remix of In Utero, you should. It's much closer to what the band originally envisioned, and I think it's a far superior mix. The noisier songs that the label insisted be toned down particularly benefit from the remix. Also, I just recently discovered this channel and it's fascinating. There's a whole bunch of these I want to try. Especially the one made for bass, since I'm a bassist much more than a guitarist.
druwk Yes I remember that very much. I still love 80’s hard rock to this day. But by 1991, bands like Trixter, Dangerous Toys and Sleeze Beez were just played out. When Nevermind came out it made me excited to be a rock fan again.
I just turned 40 this year, and had fallen away from guitar playing for some time. im just getting back into it and have been interested in buying some new pedals and came across your show and I'm really enjoying it. I love the music of the nineties (and some late 80s stuff like sonic youth and Dinosaur jr. that helped usher in that era) so this episode really hit home with me. I personally like In Utero better than Nevermind, but i understand how important Nevermind is and it does have my favorite song of theirs on it "In Bloom". That being said, one of my favorite nineties albums came out a bit later in the decade, but its Hum's Downward is Heavenward. Anyways, keep up the good work!
Same. Of all the dozens of guitars ive owned over the years, the only one I still have is the Fender Strat my mom and Uncle bought me waaaayyyy back in the 90's. I remember the DOD lineup well. Mom wouldnt buy me one. I eventually bought a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone. So, yeah, same incoherent tonal mess. hahaha
Dino and Sonic Youth are always some of my faves. I'd agree that In Utero is better, but nothing gets me as riled up as Territorial Pissings. I haven't heard of that last record you mentioned though, I'll have to check it out
@@controllerstruggle8737 I remember seing Hum on Conan one night at a friends house when their first album came out. I got friends to listen to it years after that said "i really would have liked this at the time, and like it now. Why didnt you say something!?" The radio was so saturated with "that sound" a lot of great stuff got overlooked. One of my closest friends even got to meet some of the people they recorded with in Champaign while he was working on his own music.
Jar of Flies by Alice in Chains. I was very, very depressed when I was young and being able to know that someone else was hurting was comforting. Now, I wish someone had reached out earlier to help. But it was incredible.
I've seen them on the Dirt Tour in in Cologne germany 1993 with a friend. They opened with Rotten Apple and it got so intense in the venue my buddy had to leave. Unforgettable show and Band.
This was the time period that I started playing music and I remember friends having so many of these pedals. My first pedal was the Deep Freeze (bass version of the Ice Box). Thanks for letting me relive some of those memories.
I never saw the recto pedal by DoD. but the grunge is one of my favorite. sometimes I'll put it through my jcm 800 on a clean setting and it's a nice tone for like a left side layer when I'm recording . I actually use it a lot and get some really cool sounds recording. live it's a little too much . but nonetheless I love it.
I just purchased a brand new never used (still in the box) Ice Box with the snowflake ❄️ graphics on it for the 1990’s price of $75 usd (it was actually $79.99 back then but anyway its going to join my MINT FX69 Grunge pedal my dad got me back in 1994. I just need the FX747 Supersonic Stereo Flanger & the FX22 VibroThang to complete the pedals I want from that era. Actually if they weren’t going for $250-300+ on ebay Id try n get more of the LAMB line up but I digress. Excellent video and awesome comments! Keep on keeping on ! 🤘🏻🎸
I had just gotten my first amp around the time these started being advertised and I wanted one sooo bad. The ads in Guitar World were so cool to my 14 year old eyes. My little Crate had distortion but how I longed to be able to go loud-quiet-loud like Kurt did. I ended up getting a Rockson DS-1 clone from some mail order catalog for $30 and I was in grunge heaven. I went into a Lechmere (remember those?) and picked out a Smashing Pumpkins CD called Pisces Iscariot, which having no idea was just a bunch of demos and B-sides, proudly proclaimed I had their new album only to be dressed down by my older friends haha! I remember my buddy letting me borrow a Nirvana bootleg CD which had a lot of their unreleased stuff like D7 and Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol etc. I was Nirvana crazy at that point (always will be) and starting to discover bands like Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh who were from my town and made it seem possible to make this music thing a reality.
I hated DOD pedals in the 90s, and though I now feel nostalgic about them, I am still not a huge fan. BUT - I love the sheer passion in the storytelling here, the history lesson and yes, you do need the missing one... 👍🏻
The first Distortion I ever bought was a DOD Death Metal. Being 13, playing in a punk band and a total guitar noob, I just picked the distortion with the coolest look. And wow did it sound mean. Great memories. Thank you for this vid!
I own a Bass Grunge pedal of this series. And it is amazing. A little bit weird but I really like it. PS: Rumour has it that a bass player can kill PA-Subs with a Meatbox.
Actually surprised at what you got out of some of these. Even as a young impressionable teen, these always came across as someone trying to cash in on trends. Of course I'm sure they would have sounded like shit through my 8'' combo amp.
I remember when "Nevermind " came out, my kids were watching MTV and "Smells Like Teen Spirit " was in heavy rotation. I was lost at first, but after hearing it a gazillion times I was hooked. Rock On Josh.
Thanks so much for the smiles. I was binge watching ALL the JHS Pedals vids, but had to slow down out of fear of running out. OK - so now I'm on my 2nd time thru on some and 3rd or 4th watch on others. Thanks so much, JHS - really ! Serious "thumbs up"!
Yeah, I like knobs that inform you of their function. The stupid knob names alone would stop me from ever wanting to experiment with their sounds / functions. If you ask me, it seems like a "poser" marketing ploy that wasn't very well thought out.
I'm glad someone else is as into Pearl Jam as I am. Not as a novelty, but as my actual favorite band of all time. Favorite 90s grunge album: Pearl Jam - No Code
If you haven't played a Meatbox pedal into a huge bass rig and genuinely been concerned that your house might collapse on you, I'm not sure you've really lived.-Samson
I love this vid - brings back many memories. I live in Salt Lake and was using Digitech Valve FX and 2120’s as a kid - we were always able to go to the factory and visit the guys making these. They gave my friend a Punkifier because we played a lot of U2 and they said Edge used one on the Pop album..(I think Mofo was the song?) I got the death metal one from them. They were so much fun. I even remember the technicians would go to music shops and take measurements (with an oscilloscope). To get their “modeling” that they were starting to do (right before the GNX line). Cool Vid Josh!!! And you mentioned Cram!! He one of the main guys we would visit. Love him!!
Aic were a little outside of the grunge circle, but opposite from pearl jam. Soundgarden and Mudhoney are the epicenter of grunge to me. Nirvana were a little more punk, pearl jam a little more jam, and aic a little more glam/hair
I still have one of you want to buy it- just message me. The battery cover and top for 2 of the knobs are missing, and it has an Emperor Palpatine sticker on the switch, but works great. I never use it.
I recently found my DOD Grunge pedal in my mom's house. Hadn't touched it in 20 years, and now I'm crazy about it again! Off Topic: You should do a review on Ibanez's Soundtank line. They were super cheap 90's pedals that were plastic. My favorite was the Thrashmetal one. I like it so much that I have a backup. Don't let the name fool you, It's actually not super distorted. It's perfect!
So DOD survived because of a Cobain joke. That is awesome, the pedals not so much!! Real Pearl Jam fans know Vitalogy is the best Pearl Jam record. Tremor Christ and Bugs
