Modal Effects: A New Pedal Format

[@MorphicEffects]

Thank you guys for all the support and an incredible demonstration of the pedal! Nick, your jokes were killer, as always

[@xebio6]

Cool idea and well implemented. Any plans to add modulation/delay/reverb modules?

[@mykhedelic6471]

You guys got some beautiful stuff.

[@V.Niel75]

cool idea but there is already a Modal Electronics..

[@jeffrey.a.hanson]

This is an incredible concept. I could see each of us creating our own “Signature” pedals. My feedback- Keep it simple. 1. More modules are better than more options on the device. 2. Keep it white and a surface we can create designs on. That’ll get people turning heads and talking at band rehearsal.

[@clemesis]

PLEASE, PLEASE : add a parallel/serie switch for the first 2 slots !! That would add sooooo much options !!

[@nilsx3020]

That U2 style jam was off the charts. The musical talent at JHS is really impressive!!

[@ChurchWorshipandvideo]

I started singing "In the Name of Doug" over this. It was sooooo good!

[@Mark70609]

It does sound cool.

[@ebeep]

Came to the comments to say exactly this!

[@teknomanning]

I gotta steal that edge riff

[@Guitarwolfluke]

Yeah this fool can jam!

[@Viper-dz2kw]

I always wish these modular style pedals would take more advantage of their modular nature and come up with some really strange and unique modules that would only work in that format instead of just recreating all the most basic effects possible

[@Viper-dz2kw]

@@JoelGrindMusic the only one I’ve seen do anything cool is that one distortion pedal with automated faders that you can use the eq automations to make a distortion controlled auto wah which was super cool

[@darrellstyner0001]

Exactly. We've all got boost, distortion, EQ, reverb, delay, modulation, etc. Where's the next frontier? Impress me, pedal builders!

[@Ruefus]

This is the same argument people make about guitar design "Make something different!!!" *company makes something off the wall* NOT WHAT I MEANT...(nobody buys it)....second verse, same as the first.

[@Viper-dz2kw]

@@Ruefus I mean that answer doesn’t really matter to me since I go out of my way to buy weird off the wall guitars.

[@bripslag]

My college freshman engineering 101 class in 1977 required us to invent and build something. My project was a modular guitar effects system. A few years later one of the major companies (DOD?) introduced a modular effects system, which was bought up by one of the other companies and shelved. Years after that a similar system was introduced, but as I recall it didn't sell well. I wish Modal Effects much success.

[@newgravity4155]

Thank you guys for promoting others and not viewing other pedal companies purely as competition...also so cool to give a shout out like this to a talented start up trying to make it

[@davidperezgonzalez1839]

Imagine some collaborations with this guys, jhs, Keely, Wampler, vertex. Some special modules with the touch of Josh or Brian... Just as an idea...

[@chrishepburn1503]

Vertex 😂

[@jallenshaw]

@@chrishepburn1503 He’ll just go ahead and put his name on them, claim it’s his idea and circuitry 🤣

[@jallenshaw]

Yes to the collaborations!

[@moo3992]

These not this

[@skatertrev7]

Right! It'd be interesting for them to market the pedal as a creative platform, offer up their own modules as a "budget line" and then get partners like JHS, Wampler, ect to make licensed mods you can buy

[@markcolvin8129]

I didn't know you guys were all multi-instrumentalists. Nice work! Some solid grooves happening there.

[@Floortile83]

Addison is also an lawyer for day job, and Nick is the accountant for a cowboy.

[@Floortile83]

@Ceres Lee I think Josh is a librarian irl.

[@poissonpuerile8897]

This thing *really* needs to be 8 mods wide!

[@HootHinge]

LiveMaster 10 space controller ;)

[@evgenyti3250]

Or better just take the Line6 approach, they have pedal modelers in form of M5 for one pedal at a time, M9 for three pedals at a time and M13 for five pedals at a time. I could see Modal making different docks for different numbers of modules like that too

[@xdoctorblindx]

So you mean a pedalboard?

[@prsfan01]

@@xdoctorblindx My thoughts....

[@Chaddilaculus]

Like a pedalboard but with a smaller footprint and the ability to change the signal path WAY faster!

[@DavideGuerri]

would be really cool if the company shared the specs to make modules, and have this become the 500 series of guitar pedals

[@ff-qf1th]

yep. but also probably wouldn't be too hard to hack it anyway

[@HootHinge]

WANGS LiveMaster is already doing this

[@terezip2213]

if they dont share the specs and allow other companies to create their own effect modules, this is gonna flop. its a good idea but it needs to allow the organic development of a creative ecosystem where others can develop and produce their own modules.

[@razifraship]

That U2 sound wicked!!!

[@slash196]

For such a fancy gizmo, it does vintage sounds really well.

[@darthzen]

This looks cool, but they're missing a great opportunity by not having it look like some sort of NASA control console. Analog gauges with bouncing needles, huge toggle switches, blinky LEDs, all that jazz.

[@bobbyadamson2333]

I love how much you guys love this stuff. It’s infectious. Great show. Miss you Josh

[@buckrogez87]

This literally just shows that this channel is just gonna win no matter what. You carry an episode well my man.

[@Sagerydian]

I'm not feeling 100% comfortable hanging out with you guys without Josh.

[@togeproductions6013]

Dude! I’m enjoying these so much lately, so funny and high quality yet the jams are unbelievable! Also, not surprised at all that Nick loved Mac deMarco, why do I feel like I knew this already?

[@skyviewdesign]

Been following the progress of this concept for a long time over several companies. It’s a really cool idea! Modular synth vibes for sure.

[@AvvieLanche]

Okay so it's not just me that remembers this being a thing before.

[@skyviewdesign]

@@AvvieLanche oh I remember seeing this like 5 years ago. I actually corresponded with the developers on it at the time and gave them some notes. They kicked around with it for a couple years, but then it disappeared. Until now…

[@iancraigen]

Kickerstarter fully funded, well done guys on a great promo video.

[@hlyangel1]

Ok first off, Your Time Machine/ Battle of the Bands format is now and without any doubt always will remain THEE single most awesome pedal demo format achievable. Your brilliance and abundance of creativity and marketing expertise came together in a fondue of the most creamy and tasty advertisement. Also this product seriously sounds great! Thanks for making this fun, funny and informative

[@DevilMayAsian]

I remember checking this out at the Summer NAMM show....2018, I think it was. I knew this had potential and was looking at the next big thing in pedal culture. Blew my mind. Originally, the prototype had a signal chain that flowed from the left to the right, as opposed to how it works in this video. Glad they addressed it and made the change. They're super cool guys, too. Excited to get my hands on it!

[@andrewfuentes1632]

I played this in Los Angeles and talked to one of the guys who worked on it. Compared to other “modular” pedals, this one felt real. It felt like a real pedal and not just some toy. It was easy to understand and overall the sounds were great.

[@moorecreativ]

with so much new gear constantly being made, all claiming to be the next hot thing, its easy to overlook something that is truly innovative. this is truly innovative, it looks easy to use, it looks fun to use. it looks easy to customize / paint (which is something I'm into). i want to all of this

[@xdoctorblindx]

Is it, though? A pedalboard itself is already module in this way (change the order and combination of effects). It's different and it looks great, but I don't think it's a legitimate innovation.

[@moorecreativ]

@@xdoctorblindx its not a pedalboard. its to a pedalsboard and pedals what the iPad is to iPhone and mac. its an in between item

[@michaelinglis8516]

@@xdoctorblindxI think it's useless, in reality it's more limiting than traditional pedals which are already modual as you mentioned. It's not like nobody thought of this. We all did but the difference is we thought it through.

[@TinkerToneworks]

this is a case of "don't fix what isn't broken"

[@jjrusy7438]

NO. this is the first time YOU have seen this. everything here is available in a generic format like pedal switchers, pedal boards, even tiny effects that mount into the guitar was tried already. read my long post from the perspective of an EE who had to deal with th ereal world which includes costs, flexibility of use, long term maintenance and durability. this is a couple of sharp, but green, dudes' first foray. they are going to learn a bunch of lessons from this, and it will make them better for it. but i have reservations about this being a blazing success.

[@nj1255]

They created a pedal chain you can use in your pedal chain. That's some inception type shit right there!

[@samueltillman4216]

Well done! Love this concept. Every so often you could plug a bass into something...

[@GaryCareyMusic]

The Biyang Livemaster system lets you clip pedals in any order in a loop switcher - 4, 7 or 10 spaces. Which is a similar concept but with greater flexibility and control. Cool and good sounding pedal but I'd need a killer module in there to tempt me.

[@luckyhodcastellana3366]

This is so freakin cool. They got their own niche with this thing. And im not gonna lie it sounds really good.

[@pimpacciaturpe]

You definitely are the best moustache duo ever in the history of time traveling

[@evanmiller2579]

Well done. Great tones. Couldn't believe the Edge tone with the distortion maxed. Super cool.

[@shorerocks]

Addison's drum faces on the first jam set the bar to a new level.

[@evgenyti3250]

Honestly a more practical and most likely less pricey solution would be to just put all these small modules in 1590a enclosures and sell them as standalone pedals, the whole industry is already modular and you don't need a proprierary dock station to use any other stompbox. It's just a gimmick that you put these small boxes in a bigger box connected with pins rather than on a big plate connected with patch cables

[@Izaeusprism]

I think an amp with built in space for modules via eurorack would be cooler but I still feel like this is kind of a dope concept

[@stevenspector4273]

My thought, too. Aren't pedals already modular? I guess the two advantages to this are: 1- There may be some cost savings vs. buying all these pedals separately. More of a marketing thing, than something inherent in the technology, but still likely to be true. Particularly for some of the modules (such as the simple filters) that might not have much of a market on their own. 2- The organization is nice. It's a very compact way and clean way to combine 3 pedals. Plus you get a single footswitch to control them all by at once. So, yes, not a revolutionary product, but I could see it still doing OK.

[@-processdrone-]

yeah every time I see this in a guitar forums it seems to be a little contentious. It doesn't just divide opinion, it divides opinion loudly.

[@mechmat12345]

Imagine buying this with every module they offer and then realizing 20 minutes into fiddling with it that all the pedals you already have sounds better.

[@gerolamovi408]

Besides the idea what impressed me were the actual tones that you pulled out from that thing!

[@model_number_band]

They need to make an entire modular pedalboard!!!!!!!!

[@CarolMatzPiano]

Exactly! I couldn’t afford it I’m assuming, but it would be really fun to play my friend’s lol

[@knickglay]

the biyang livemaster is set up that way

[@kirillgulyaev1770]

Ugh... like a common pedalboard but magnets instead of patches? Why would you limit yourself to one company only?

[@model_number_band]

@@kirillgulyaev1770 Maybe standardize a platform for all builders to "build effects modularly towards". I think this is about appreciating the engineering of the platform, and less the effects per se.

[@jocallaghan]

These jams are somehow getting better every episode!

[@BlueSkyDogs]

This is a great product can't wait to see where it goes..... Perfect for the creativity of everyone on the internet!!

[@skatertrev7]

It would be cool if each module did "more". It seems silly to dedicate a whole mod space to a high pass filter. OR, add more spaces, keep the mods simple and sell it as more a ''build your own gain pedal' platform. Have different gain types like a rat, blues breaker, tubescreamer, klon, muff, ect. That you can mid boost or cut, boost into or after, change clipping diodes in each (if applicable), ect. Different tone stacks even. Want a GE muff with a booster in front and a 4 band active EQ? Well, here you go! These guys are on to something, but haven't won me over yet. At least at this price.

[@mechmat12345]

Yeah, you have to use a spot just for a tone knob. In practice, this is less versatile than a dual boost pedal like the jhs sweet tea or d and m drive, etc.

[@TheNomios]

JHS is the best set of hosts ever! xD Also, the jamms were lit :) thanks!

[@chaddio72]

Nick, I love your dedication to the riff! ( End of Roaming In Wyoming)

[@WotanSkyFather]

"Glamdring" was great! Really had that NWOBHM sound. NOICE.

[@squirelova1815]

DUDE! We LOVE hanging out with you.

[@Fallub]

It doesn‘t need Josh for a great episode. Thank you. Interesting stuff.

[@evansteidtman962]

Great record time today! My favorite Mac record and one of my favorites in general.

[@kwaapie]

You did super well! Amazing episode!

[@glaubenshelden6448]

I did. like the „U2“-jam veeeeery much!!! Amazing stuff happening here, guys!!!

[@TraneFrancks]

Great EP, guys. Liked the pedal. Always fun to see you guys mix up the instruments you're playing.

[@tepetti]

Korg had little bit similar idea back in the 80’s. It was called PME 40X. It was a huge pedalboard with 4 footswitches and slots for 4 modular effect boxes. A relative of mine had one and I had lots of fun playing with it.

[@susancorgi]

You guys are such great musicians. Just love all your jams and also your jokes 😬 love the pedal

[@gaebcardinale729]

That’s a new take on the Korg PME 40X. It was exactly like this but kinda more like an Atari console. Looks way less clunky and sounds great- but not sure it can hang with the Wave Shaper cartridge from the Korg. That was an incredibly cool fuzz! Nice video guys. 👌🏼

[@Ste_Va]

The jams in this episode were top notch!

[@ericbuzzard2041]

Dude that paper towel joke totally killed me! Lol! Oh, and you guys absolutely need to make an "Award winning tone" t-shirt 😂😂😂😂

[@JedNadin]

6:20 yo!! That manual hand switching was flawless.

[@jacobpittman1996]

Great jams, Fellas!! Thank you.

[@nedim_guitar]

That's a really cool modular pedal! Fun episode and great jams too!

[@beertifuldotcom]

I sure hope those magnets holding the modules in are alnico, otherwise how could the toanz be ?

[@matzer8846]

That's some cool design ... and it does sound well! Thanks a lot for sharing!

[@cartoonvillains7080]

Great job guys! It’s about time J stopped yapping and made some pedals 😁

[@cyface]

Dang that U2 tone at 8:50 is amazing!

[@jamesleaver6652]

Had no idea Josh could rip like that. Fun video. Cool pedal engineering. Continue to LOVE how JHS supports pretty much everyone in this business. It demonstrates your confidence in your own business model and it's unbelievably refreshing.

[@jhspedals]

It was Nick!

[@jamesleaver6652]

@@jhspedals D'OH! That's what I meant! Sorry Nick! Also, just got a Muffuletta and LOVE IT!

[@patogli]

The stache, tele, and the hat... makes the perfect billy-zep-heavy-country personna

[@Martyr9991]

That first drum groove by Addison was sick and funky fresh. Had to rewatch the jam because I didn't listen to the guitar at first.

[@MACKHAWKSS]

i love that everyone can play multiple instrument, makes me happy. louder is more good

[@sidneysnottley6414]

Great episode - Even unsupervised, the kids played well. ;-)

[@WadeGlass]

You did it! Congratulations! Best Irish Pizza in Kansas City. Great job everybody! It’s great to meet you.

[@jonathandranoff1721]

Oh, Nick, mon ami. Your Etoile Grande song was on point. Chris Bell would be so proud.

[@Chaddilaculus]

Would love to see wider versions of these, and perhaps add some digital effects to the roster. They could even call it a pedalboard, but the clip-in style would make the footprint tiny, and REALLY easy to change the signal path! Kudos on the start of a great idea and a great company!

[@williamhawkins69]

Well done Nick and Addison

[@SuperdangerStudios]

lol @ "In the name of Doug" Great titles, great video guys. Josh will be proud.

[@tomburahz4141]

Great show, no worries Josh, they got you.. and Bono too.

[@yoshiobermeyer2867]

ingenious idea of that company! and great jams, dudez

[@JenkemFactory]

Hey, I'm just now doing my batchelor thesis in mecanical engineering and I happened to sketch up this exact idea last summer haha. Just the econmical factor alone. I mean, for each module there are no jacks, foot switches, leds, patch cables etc. Plus you can go nuts with a central voltage supply, bipolar and high power, super bulky and expensive to put in each pedal. These are the things that actually cost money and limit what is actually worth while buildning. Great job getting this idea out there! I hope to se a larger, more flexible platform :)

[@TheOlesarge]

What a great idea! I love it! I mean, doing the show without Josh is GRRRRREEEEAAAATTTT! Oh, Yeah, that's a great idea for the pedal, too!!!! Fantastic. Gotta get it.

[@daelinblack6681]

Captured the vibe well.. classic jhs vid

[@RobertFisher1969]

Nice job, guys! I really enjoyed this episode. The one thing that appeals to me about this product is being able to put some EQ both before & after a drive stage. But I’d want a lot more flexibility in the EQs.

[@Donaldsilverman]

This is great and you guys are great. Thanks for being informative and entertaining.

[@richardsp2794]

I'd buy that. Great studio and song writing tool to be able to switch the drive chain like that. That's on the shopping list for sure.

[@KartikHariharan]

Great idea! Ikea Pedal! Love it.

[@nickolasecker9596]

What a cool concept! Refreshing and space saving.

[@隠れた]

I mean it’s a cool thing to own but it’s not gonna replace a pedal board and it would be redundant on a board itself and cause problems in chain order, it’s essentially mini pedals and a mini switcher. It seems a lot of people have tried pushing things like this and they never stick, this is the best one I’ve seen most likely and it’s kinda cool but I would rather just stick to buying the pedals I want for my board and not having to stick to one brand and three pedals by that brand

[@michaelinglis8516]

EXACTLY! This is such a dumb idea its offensive. I build guitars, pedals and do amp mods. This is just a way to try to make money off idiots by selling them a proprietary interface. I'm legit pissed that people are so dumb they are reacting positively to this. Why is the world getting so bland and dumb. I know you're probably not bothered by this and were only making an observation but you're right and im so fucking glad to see someone with some sense.

[@pedalthang2079]

I don't know why anyone would buy something like this with proprietary (therefore expensive) lock in. Buy three mini pedals for the same price or cheaper. They'd give you more choice, more control, more flexibility and allow you to buy what you want not what they're serving.

[@bldallas]

BINGO, only you can buy 10 or 12 really good quality mini pedals for the $480 MSRP on this new modular gadget.

[@michaelinglis8516]

@TC I couldn't possibly agree more.

[@w13rdguy]

Magnets are better than Velcro, ami wright?

[@yrj77]

I was curious about Modal. Thanks for the video.

[@SurfaceMarsAudio]

RECORD TIME SUGGESTION: HUM’s “You’d Prefer An Astronaut” Please check it out if you haven’t. This album takes “shoegaze” and smashes it with walls of trippy driven guitars, backed by unique, jaw dropping, drums. It a perfect use of the “shades of colors” sound, and “beautiful quiet to heavy” formula. It blows me away that after 20 something years of listening to this album,Im still hearing new sounds and textures. They are still so influential to me and countless others..

[@richardnagamitsu1582]

Wow, best Centerfield tone I’ve ever heard!

[@manixsage8706]

A vocal effects chain would also be killer! Thanks for the laughs and cool demo.

[@leascaart]

DANG!! Addison is a fantastic drummer. And his fills are so on point. And his facial expressions. And his hair.

[@funnystonervideos]

Addison on the guitar and Nick on the drums is the tone man

[@russianvideovlogguy]

The modular thing is really gimmicky, but the tone on these things is classic - they nailed those TOANZ

[@KaninTuzi]

Modular effects is exactly what a pedal board is. This definitely seems much more compact and easy to switch around etc. Which I really like. But of course, you would be locked into their ecosystem like when you decide to buy an iPhone.

[@steveschulz3647]

Counterpoint, if you’re only looking for a few effects, something like this is about as small /compact as you could get. You’re sort of setting up your own boutique pedal.

[@kristenvespera4835]

@@steveschulz3647 For the same price or less, you can get a small multi-FX of similar size that would do everything this does but also modulation, delay, reverb, etc. but with greater flexibility in terms of switching, ie you can switch effects completely with a footswitch rather than having to physically rearrange the mods which is impractical to do during a song. Also realistically, if someone only want to run a few effects, they probably would be fine with the space that separate OD, fuzz, distortion, and EQ would take up since they probably are only running like two or three pedals and you can get those individual pedals for less than what this costs and the individual pedals would give you significantly more options since a) you're not limited to one brand's limited offering, b) each pedal has more controls, and c) you can set the pedals in any way you like and you can turn them on and off. With this pedal, you're limited to what Modal Effects offers, the mods each have only one control other than the mode switch for the dirt mods, and you can't turn all of the mods off individually (since only the first mod can be turned on and off). I don't see why I need to set up my own boutique pedal when there are already hundreds of boutique pedals out there that cost half or a third of the price.

[@michaelhinchliffe3245]

Love this, Nick and Addison you rock!

[@angel2of7death]

Have you seen the theramin pedal on Vintage Audio Nagoya (VAN) reverb channel?

[@hock4540]

I dislike small pedals with side jacks, which take up more space than a full size pedal with top jacks.. so this is really awesome solution to use a small pedal format with top jacks and get more in a compact package. Well done!

[@less_concerned1221]

You guys sounded really good!

[@theskraful]

I've been laughing almost the whole episode!! Nick, good stuff. Great jams, boys.

[@iDog-kv8nc]

Clicked on the notification immediately- week already made better

[@iainjohnston9833]

Good work gents - very cool!

[@josephknudson5097]

Nick love the theme. Job well done.

[@jmacc9876]

That first Zeppelin-killer song sounded great! Drum sound is fire too.

[@jmerrill72]

Just because Josh is not 'present' right now, please "DON'T LET IT END!" hAHAH

[@wilky1189]

This guy does a really good Josh impression

[@dallanby]

The moustaches have taken over! Great stuff. Josh with a mo? A mo-trio? Trio-mo? Do it.

[@stevierayvaughan3270]

Edge jam was amazing, great tone there!

[@Tape_Echo_Player]

That pedal is so cool. And congrats on the video.

[@funnystonervideos]

"Mid scoop mod" sounds like a winner to me