6 Guitar Inventions Explained (Electric Guitar. Overdrive, Fuzz, Distortion, Reverb)

Welcome to another Monday Monolog with Josh. This live talk will be about why different people seemingly invent the same things at the same time throughout guitar and world history.
Josh will reference this 1922 study and encourage you read it: www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/2142...
www.thejhsshow.com/
www.jhspedals.info/
JHS Fresh Clips: / @jhsfreshclips7880
#jhs #thejhsshow #fendertelecaster #mxrdistortionplus #dod250 #lespaul #inventions #invention #innovation #cloning #technology #fuzzpedal #distortion

[@jhspedals]

I meant 1830s regarding the Martin guitar :-)

[@modestoney1577]

;o)

[@mykhedelic6471]

@@TheGhostComputer Well, there things like the EQD Arpanoid or Rainbow Machine, or the Digitech FreqOut, the EHX Superego. I guess they're all springboards or specific quirks of other pre-existing effects, but, so is everything. Phase, Chorus and Flange are all considered distinct but are very much siblings, and they are kind of children of delay technology. And all of them came from tapeland, first. Ring Mod is old but is still the King of Weird.

[@daverice2426]

Phew, you fixed it before you could be descended upon by hundreds of fact-locusts

[@TheUnknownBass]

@@TheGhostComputer There are so many crazy, unique pedals coming out. Chase Bliss and Earthquaker always releasing interesting stuff, to name just 2

[@chepad1]

We know.

[@stuminnis4050]

Lavoisier (one of the oxygen guys) wrote, "We live submerged at the bottom of an ocean of air," which has to be one of the most poetic lines in the history of science.

[@TheToneLounge]

This very format needs to become a regular thing. I've enjoyed the regular content for years, but this was packed full of knowledge. Keep 'em coming.

[@TheToneLounge]

@@stoneysdead689 I've seen the others, I was referring to this particular video.

[@haveajasonday]

This was fascinating Josh! Thanks so much. I feel like that term “Adjacent Possible” is going to stick with me for a long time. Keep up the great work!

[@waltonadams3483]

Awsome

[@edlib02169]

James Burke did a number of PBS series and books, most notably “Connections” that dealt with how we ended up with modern technology thanks to some relatively obscure discoveries centuries, and in some cases millennia ago. He also covers how many people often invented the same thing simultaneously around the world without knowing about each other. I think many of the episodes are available on KZbin. I dig this stuff. Sounds like you do too.

[@edlib02169]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/jpbXoZ9-mLJql7M

[@danmiller1981]

My favorite documentary show ever.

[@johnandre5558]

@@danmiller1981 I used to watch that with my dad. Great series. I’ll have to dig those up and watch them with my daughter.

[@daverice2426]

Came here to say pretty much the same thing; "The Day the Universe Changed" was great too

[@shredbot65]

I love that show. Also great is The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski

[@dcwwwcp]

This was absolutely your best Monday morning video so far. Thank you Josh for bringing up the adjacent possible. I struggled with this when I thought I had created something and somebody had ripped me off. And then I realized that we were all just coming to the same conclusion at the same time relatively. It is really good to hear somebody else bring up the importance of people invent things and create things not corporations. Thank you for doing this on Monday mornings. I am just around the corner from you here in Kansas City. Once again thank you very much for doing this. Hope to meet you one day. Have a great day.

[@ScottfromBaltimore]

This is like the BBC show, Connections, from around 1980. It's up there with Cosmos. Thanks for doing all of this work and sharing it, Josh!

[@jackodonnell3463]

This is the best JHS video and highly relevant to not just guitar players but every human on earth. What a great message dispelling the myths of progress and creative success.

[@johnkelly748]

Regarding “You may have written a song and you ask yourself ‘Where did I hear that?’ The best example of that is Paul McCartney and ‘Yesterday.’ McCartney went around for months playing it for various songwriters and composers asking them if they recognized it. He wasn’t sure he hadn’t heard the melody somewhere.

[@EclipseAtDusk]

I once rewrote the main riff to Testament’s The Preacher despite having never listened to testament at the time

[@mondoke]

Another example I really like is King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's Float Along - Fill Your Lungs. For those of you who don't know it, it was an important moment for the band, because it set ground for them using weird time signatures on future albums. The guy who wrote it said that after composing it, he realized that he might have based it on the alarm of his car.

[@BrianOboylemusic]

@@mondoke and now I’m googling them lol

[@DaveGraw]

i “wrote” the main riff to soundgarden’s rusty cage. i was sooooo bummed when someone told me it was already a song. so i never tried to write another song again😔

[@edlib02169]

@@DaveGraw I was once noodling on my guitar with my buddies, and came up with a catchy repeated arpeggio riff in A minor. We jammed on it, and turned it into a Satriani-type instrumental shred tune. But something about it always struck us as weirdly familiar. Playing it later, I changed tempos, and it sounded even closer to something I couldn’t quite identify. Then one day I experimented and put it up an octave. REALLY familiar. What if I change keys? G... no F... hmmm... but no... E... waitaminute... E-flat... oh... I just re-wrote the intro lick to Sweet Child of Mine. Well... damn.

[@stratfanstl]

In addition to "the adjacent possible" as applied to technology, there is a concept about what constitutes "art" that all artists should ponder. Author Jose Ortega y Gassett wrote a series of essays around 1925 trying to explain then-recent trends in the art world involving cubism, surrealism and other non-human centric visual styles. The collection of essays, called The Dehumanization of Art, defined art as creative work that lies on an ever-moving boundary between the commonplace as structured by standards and norms and the completely novel / unique that follows no known / accepted conventions. The true measure of the resulting art is how enjoyable the product can be while a) following enough current conventions so the average person can grasp how much skill was required to master those conventions in a particular medium and b) how far astray the artist can go from the current conventions to advance the art. If you are too far within safe conventions, the work has no bite. If the work is too far outside the lines, few can grasp the point and it doesn't click with the masses.

[@happycadaver]

Another glorious day at JHS university. Thanks as always for sharing your knowledge and findings with us, Josh. I always enjoy learning from you!!

[@wazcooper401]

This was a great talk - it’s great that you’re not just limiting these talks to pedals and guitar Josh. You’re passing on knowledge with wisdom, which is great. Keep it going. This talk not only made me feel at ease with my own creativity, it’s also been liberating. Making things is part of the joy of life and living.

[@TheGuitarBling]

I didn't expect a pedal designer to share thoughts that would completely change the way I think about the world. Thanks Josh.

[@thatderek]

This, my friends, is exactly why people have so much respect for Josh Scott in this industry. Excellent talk.

[@wisconimike7590]

Love the term "adjacent possible." Also heard it similarly called "the peak to peek principle" - reach a peak and from there you can peek to new places

[@CarolMatzPiano]

oh i like that

[@aaronmcnair1829]

I'm not obsessed with guitar pedals because I discovered this channel. I'm obsessed with this channel because discovered guitar pedals.

[@floydgrobinson]

every field of intrest needs a version of this talk

[@modestoney1577]

"6 on one side" is even older than Martin`s approach: "By 1825/30, the instruments usually had a headstock in a figure eight shape (similar in shape to the guitar's body). In 1825 Stauffer invented the machine heads named after him: a metal plate with an asymmetrical "scroll" headstock, machine heads with worm gears mounted on the plate, arranged in a single line on the upper side of the head stock (six-in-line). This "Stauffer" headstock and design was reproduced by his son Anton, and copied by many luthiers in the 19th century." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Georg_Stauffer From Vienna with love

[@SirSneakerPimp]

Thank You for the link. That was really informative.

[@taraniuk68]

Great topic. In line with what you discuss, there was a British documentary series created in the late ‘70s called “Connections”. It was hosted by a leisure suit attired guy named James Burke, who in part traced the various historic inventions that led to the creation of modern day items (like cars). It was fascinating.

[@MichaelRohaly]

Yup, this brought it up to me too, and Josh would probably enjoy it. Great series.

[@MrWhitmire]

His ‘Connections’ series was great too. Similar concepts.

[@chiselcheswick5673]

I guess we are all standing on the shoulders of giants in what ever we think and do. Fantastic talk, really fascinating... thanks!!

[@mattewmackes]

Absolutely outstanding. Josh, thank you for continuing to take an analytical (and sometimes silly) approach to everything you do ! We need more of this in our world.

[@stephenquanbeck632]

The history buff in me just LOVES this episode Josh. Well done.

[@Vecsen12]

I’ve been watching this channel for some time now and I really think this is my favorite episode. I love history and I love guitars so this subject is right up my alley…I hope you’ll do more videos like this one. Well done.

[@connorbettge3810]

i LOVE this more academic, thoughtful content from josh-super interesting stuff, and he does an excellent job explaining things. please keep this series up :)

[@buhlir]

Dude, this might be one of the best videos on KZbin ive ever seen. I have thought about this so much, and to see someone in your status in life talk about it. It is so so inspiring . Your the best and thank you!

[@discopreacha]

Finally got a chance to watch this! No joke, I live my life by most of these principles ... thank you !!!

[@Hesohi]

I LOVE this kind of stuff. I hope this format is enjoyable for Josh and we can keep getting granular about things.

[@ryanwiseman9141]

I love these monologues Josh, offers a great balance between your various shows. I love the carefree vibe of the live shows, but these scratch a different itch. Great work, 👍👍

[@sejrec56]

I love when you get like this , it’s really amazing how many things evolve from other things.

[@RetiredOldAccount]

Several episodes ago, you featured a “red remote” in a cable jack. I actually invented that several years ago and when I saw it on the episode, I thought someone must have stolen my idea. Upon talking to the maker of the one you featured, it came out that we really just both stumbled upon the button fitting in the jack based on being pedal nerds making stuff. It was a pretty simple idea and we both came to basically the same conclusion. Parallel thinking is wild.

[@alexanderhelmer9245]

I love this series. Thanks Josh! This was a really enjoyable talk and had a really positive message that I was deeply encouraged by. Really appreciate your effort to give us this free content. Cheers.

[@jeansimard3022]

If someone from JHS Is reading this Josh should really read Marshall McLuhan's "Understanding Media: The extensions of man". It touches on sociological impact of each invention and could be applied to the invention of every effect pedal.

[@levigarrett7931]

Absolutely love discussions like this. I find it extremely captivating and essential for positive and constructive progression. Thank you!

[@davidh1154]

Josh, Love the History lessons! Keep 'em coming. You're the reason I picked my guitar up, after 20 years of it sitting in a corner, collecting alot of dust! Much respect, Guitar Dave🎸👍🏻

[@huckleberrymack7865]

Recently discovered JHS's channel and it's an absolute goldmine. As a fan of music technology (eurorack and pedals) I know I'll end up watching every episode eventually. Please keep the content coming!!

[@Tony-Jabroni]

You’re the best josh. You slide tone is better that rhett, and your appreciation of the tubescreamer makes you an overall better person then rhett.

[@actionless]

I been in a massive JHS video worm hole the last few months, love them all. Bought The Bender and absolutely love it. The history/education vids are my favs. This video has to be the most interesting I have ever watched on youtube, learnt so much! The way you explain intention, the steps from one to another was so well explained. Top Marks!

[@actionless]

Adjacent possible is what really blew me away, possibilities all over the place!

[@the1khronohs40]

This was, for me, the most interresting episode I’ve seen you do! I’m facinated! I’ve been thinking about this things a lot through the years, and now I even have a 9-year old son who swears he’s gonna be an inventor when he’s done with school. This episode really pulled the strings together for me, and brought up many interresting things. Really inspired me to do a deep dive into this stuff! Thank you, Josh! Please, do more of these! ❤️

[@jhspedals]

♥️

[@markblance9639]

The "scroll" headstock is a homage to the headstocks of the Violin family.

[@sejrec56]

This is probably one of the most interesting shows you’ve ever done!!! Also a very inspiring show too! I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF THIS EPISODE

[@harrisfrankou2368]

An amazing Lecture truly hit me on decades of music that I love. Just great.

[@inewham]

Fascinating stuff, I've often wondered about this in a totally different field but you really put a lot of meat on the bare bones. Thanks and please keep this kind of thing coming

[@codywitten1714]

Hey Josh great video I really enjoyed it. I took a Psychology course on Creativity in college a few years ago. This book was one of the required readings "Johnson, S. (2010). Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation. New York: Riverhead Books" You might find it interesting.

[@TheTacticalButterknife]

That Sanford Clark song is straight savage but vibey. Holy cow.

[@bleeknoir]

Josh, you’re a fountain of knowledge. Thanks so much. Endlessly interesting.

[@thesquigglespin]

Love these Josh Talks. Keep 'em coming.

[@raedellwood6911]

Josh, you need to do this as a TED talk, it's better information than 95% of what they usually pedal . Breaks down the "lone genius" needed for progress myth that has seemed to have taken over so much of the discourse today in all fields. Unfortunately most of those "lone genius" guys and gals are just modern snake oil salesman trying to take credit for all the previous work they did not do to come up with whatever usually small but they claim is huge "innovation" they came up with. Love these Monday talks to get the brain engaged, keep it up.

[@jhspedals]

Would be fun

[@JordanSeal]

Others have said this before, but these Monday videos remind me of your earliest vlog/Show entries. The Show has gone in a different direction (that I love), but I'm so glad to have this back. You're filling several different voids in the internet guitar community.

[@craigswensen434]

I love this type of content!!! Thank you, and please don't stop.

[@ousley421]

Seriously, I feel an exam coming. Josh Scott has found his calling and the secret formula, quite professorial...keep these coming.

[@aigor9668]

this was super fun and instructional! thanks for sharing Josh. Keep it up we love to listen to these pieces of wisdom

[@DirdyBirdy]

Thanks for input on innovation. I really appreciate all the research you do to provide us with facts based on historical information. I totally agree with you on your statement that there's no inventing without imitating...

[@timandness61]

Keep these coming! This is my favorite thing you do, love the history.

[@kickstartonly2527]

I’m a bit late to this live stream, however thank you!!!!! One of the best things I’ve ever watched!

[@FuzzImp]

Hey Josh love all the new series. What would knock my socks off is if you could do something like the Plate on an RV2, which has that slight lofi crunch to it

[@svsleipnir]

Love dork out Monday's...and I mean that with 100% sincerity. Thanks for the knowledge dump Josh, from one deep diver to another. Cheers

[@dzamora9256]

Love that video. Really good time with it.

[@ferdinandobarisciano6934]

There's another famous video about this topic, it's called : "everything is a remix". It comes to the same conclusions of yours. Great video btw, thanks for all the inspiration and good energy you give us constantly!

[@pirhala]

I love this! Thanks for the history lesson. It’s so awesome to know where everything comes from.

[@davidmahoney1248]

Thank you Josh! I think I grinned through the whole thing. 😁 As a visual artist, and history nerd these are concepts I've been contemplating for quite some time, and as a self taught, perpetual amateur guitarist I found it a real treat to hear them talked about through the prism of modern guitar technology.

[@christindall2066]

My favorite series of your videos, and I love all of the JHS videos. Thanks for sharing.

[@nigelcristobal1185]

Thanks for the wonderful words of affirmation towards the end! Came out when i least expected it, but i really needed that for my mental health.

[@xavierroy1115]

Awesome one , this format is so cool !

[@leascaart]

Dear Josh, if you did lectures across the country on this, you would win.

[@chuckthaalchemyst3539]

This was amazingly eye opening, thank you Josh.

[@shredhed572]

Love your channel Josh. Your corny dry humor is adorable too lol

[@dfuzzybuzzy]

This was AWESOME. I cannot stop learning. Its so fun.. Thanks Josh!

[@waltonadams3483]

I don’t know if you can pull another Monday chat like this again but… this is one of the best videos I’ve seen on KZbin ever. Don’t let it go to your head.

[@jamesgreene6077]

Favorite talk so far, Josh. THANK YOU

[@CritterElectronics]

Josh, thank you for this speech. I run a small pedal op as a job. I appreciate your knowledge and kindness to share.

[@majordabalert]

JHS is such an inspiring group of people. Thank you for bringing so much cool info to us all

[@Doomchild2XL]

Bless you, Josh. That was amazing.

[@awwwyeaboyeeee]

Dude your Monday fireside chats are da bomb.

[@markarsenault95]

Josh, as a seasoned electronics engineer, thanks for the history. The concept of similar inventions happening at the same time is fascinating. It is refreshing your clearing up of so much of the bullcrap that I see on other popular guitar channels. If only the concept of transfer functions could be explored for your audience. Everything along the guitar signal chain can be broken down into individual "boxes" with associated transfer functions acting on the sound. Also, why does noone consider using a spectral analyzer to examine the effect on tone of various popular stomp boxes, amps, pickups, gold standard vintage pickups, tonewood etc. Science. I am certain the developers of DSP effects are aware of these concepts. Thanks for all you do. Such an exciting time on youtube.

[@blues61]

Good talk Josh. Context is everything. I recognized your main argument decades ago when I went to a Picasso retrospective at MOMA in NYC. I just assumed he came up with his crazy abstract stuff out of thin air. I was blown away to see that he studied the classic masters and created work in their styles before he evolved his own unique style (as did his contemporaries). Also, a lot of new technology comes from trying to solve problems or optimize existing solutions. During that process, innovations often come from the "adjacent possible".

[@realjohnnysorrentino]

thank you yet again for this series Josh...cheers

[@matthewdcarver]

Nice job. I was listing through my workout. I always like learning stuff. Keeup it up!

[@itsmewildbill2296]

This was awesome - nerdy, some of it was over my head: but this was fascinating and perfect! Sorry I wasn't here live, can't wait for next Monday!

[@jasonbone5121]

Very well done! Love this format!

[@duckfootguitars76]

There’s a cool video of Carl Thompson talking about his dad building an electric double neck in the 30’s/40’s because he was into jamming with his buddies and traded it for a little lap steel. Pretty cool video. These guys were everywhere tinkering in basements!

[@mikaeljohansson83]

Totally awesome Josh. Loved this video👋

[@iainjohnston9833]

Great video. Thanks Josh. Just, serendipitously, saw Stuart Copeland video where he made the point that without the bass drum pedal, there’d be no rock and roll. Before that humble invention, there were different drummers for different drums and there was no groove!

[@adawofford2732]

"Here's some wattage, play rock n' roll" is a good shirt idea.

[@jonghj]

Great session. Learned a lot of geeky details. Love that! 👊

[@paulbressie8239]

Perhaps my favorite of your shows. Well done.

[@alancampbell6670]

Speaking of the development of bucket brigade I.C.s, I recently repaired a well-used mid-80s Scholz Rockman X100. To my pleasant surprise, all the BB chips, although currently unavailable, were functioning perfectly. Several TL072 chips had bit the dust, the contacts of the battery connections and slide switches were corroded, needing thorough cleaning, and there were several other minor issues, but once all that was done the device worked perfectly and sounded great, and the owner was quite happy with the results.

[@taylormoon3561]

Amazing talk, this is why I love this channel

[@malcolmfrancis4543]

Fantastic Mr. Josh!! No one saw that end thought coming. 100% A. O. K

[@fenderdude0bob109]

These educational videos are why I'm here. Thank you, Josh!

[@adehorton7287]

After watching this till the end my mind has just gone 🤯 That’s more than just a video about evolution of thought, that’s inspirational! 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@chrisphillips9385]

Thaaannnks Professor Pedal!

[@JDStone20]

So true Josh! We are all standing on the shoulders of giants!

[@chrisjohnstone6164]

Loved this -- skirted around it a bit in the past --- you put it well in guitar terms -- great listen -- thanks

[@UmasPapa]

Josh, I listened to Go on Home, and I believe that guitar is buzzing on frets, and is also clipping at the input of the amp. The combination of these two create a fuzzy sound.

[@UmasPapa]

The guitar is tuned to E flat and it is the low string that buzzes the most. Also low frequencies clip more. Cool sound

[@scotthutchens1203]

I listened to it too and I agree. The Howlin’ Wolf and the Bob Wills songs are great though. My own personal favorite is Chuck Berry-Maybellene.

[@UmasPapa]

@@scotthutchens1203 thanks Scott 🎸🎶

[@scotthutchens1203]

@@UmasPapa You’re welcome! My WWll era parents would be surprised to know some of these “hippie” things were actually done first much earlier than in the late 60’s. Exp: the term “Hipster” actually came from their day long before the 60’s.

[@Backtoblack005]

Genuinely loved this! I think it can be summed up with the phrase ‘…standing on the shoulders of giants’ fantastic fun.

[@aaronhuisinga2531]

SUPER AWESOME episode.... great information!

[@kalkidasofficial]

What an amazing episode Josh!!

[@SmilinJack69]

This is interesting subject I’ve often wondered about myself. Thanks for bringing it up.

[@chasing_tone]

Your discussion reminds me of good talks I've had with retired Motorola engineers. Different applications, but same appreciation and passion. Nerd on!

[@BillyGoht]

Hell yeah man. I think I really needed to hear that last bit.