J Mascis

At 9:58 in this video interview, J Mascis talks about his Big Muff Pi Pedal, saying, “I got it in '87 on our first tour. Before that, I was using a Deluxe Big Muff and then I got that on tour and then I started using both of them, but I really like that one. From then on, I just used that.” He provides more detail at 10:34 saying, “It seems a bit clearer. It's really easy to play rhythm. That’s my main distortion for rhythm sounds and lead. Some Big Muffs kind of get really mushy when you're playing rhythm, it's hard to articulate the notes. That’s the main thing I notice about it.”

The Big Muff is demonstrated by J at 21:34.

According to rig diagram by Guitar Geek, he used two Big Muffs : one old, and one new.

At 17:09 in this Rig Rundown from Premier Guitar, J Mascis talks about his Carbon Copy Analog Pedal. “When that came out, I thought is sounded pretty good, and it doesn’t take up much real estate.”

At 15:30 in this video interview, J Mascis talks about his ZVex Pedal. “That’s a Zvex pedal they built me. I wanted two Box of Rocks in one pedal, so he built that, and now he’s released it as a pedal but made it smaller. The production one has a lot more little switches and you can do more stuff. It's got super hard ons in it. It's a little bit more complicated. This is just two box of rocks without the boost circuit in it. That's the prototype they just made it and then other people that worked there wanted one and so they just started making it as a paddle.” The Double Rock is demonstrated by J at 22:34.

Used during this interview with Reverb.com.

J Mascis discusses his Wah Pedal at 11:30 in this Rig Rundown from premier guitar.

Geoffrey Teese Wah, RMC 3. Now he's put the controls on the outside. They used to be inside and so it was really hard to mess with it if it's nailed down to a pedal board. The Wah, I wanted to be able to change because I ran amps a lot of times and the Wah sounds really different with different amps. It's good to be able to adjust it.

Shown up close on Mascis' pedalboard at 4:16.

"I made this mini pedalboard which is like, clones of all pedals that I use"

"'The last two albums I was thinking more about playing the stuff live and this one, I didn't worry about it. If I wanted to put some keyboard in that would never get played live or something, I just did.' Mascis adds that the palette of guitar tones used on I Bet On Sky was quite a bit broader than in the band's early work.

'I used a '58 Tele a lot for leads and different things for rhythm like a Les Paul Junior - a bunch of guitars. Basically, P-90s for rhythm, and I used this Tonebender copy that Jim [Roth] from the band Built To Spill made. I used that on a lot of lead tracks usually combined with some other fuzz.'

We mention that the woody, sweet fuzz tone on the new album's standout track Almost Fare was particularly chewy. Did that tone arrive courtesy of the Tonebender clone, too?

'Yeah, that's probably that one and maybe a [Univox] Super-Fuzz together. I was using the Tonebender on most tracks, then adding different fuzzes with it - sometimes three, usually just two.'"

"And a lot of fuzz boxes. A lot of different ones. I just plug in a bunch of fuzz boxes, like I’d use a Roland BeeBaa Fuzz, a Super Fuzz, Big Cheese Love Tone, an Analog Man. I’d just plug in a bunch of pedals together and see what it sounded like.”

J Mascis talks about his POG2 pedal in this video interview. At 16:16, he says, “I just got that for this tour to try to replicate sort of some of the sounds I had on the records. I played organ on one song and guitar synth, kind of melatron flute, on another song and I can get kind of close to those two sounds with that pedal.” J demonstrates the POG at 23:26.

At 13:35 in this video interview, J Mascis talks about his Real Tube Overdrive Pedal, saying, “I haven't had that one that long, a couple years. It was pre-beat up when I got it. The gold doesn't age as well as the black one. I really like the sound of that… That’s what I would call my clean sound, which I use to kind of turn it down a little bit so when I hit the Big Muff, it gets louder.”

J demonstrates the Real Tube at 22:45.

According to Guitar Geek's rig diagram, Mascis has Voodoo Lab Bosstone.

Shown up close on Mascis' pedalboard at 4:16.

"I made this mini pedalboard which is like, clones of all pedals that I use, like, y'know, (points to the Beano Boost) that's a Rangemaster clone (...) Rangemaster is a treble booster everybody used to use in the 60s, y'know, like, Iommi and Rory Gallagher and Queen and stuff and..."

J Mascis discusses his CAE Twin Tremolo Pedal at 13:09 in this Rig Rundown saying, “That's a Custom Audio Electronics Tremolo, only made in Japan. Bob Ratch has a rock mounted version over here, so he got me that for the pedal board. Like I said, it's only from Japan.” When asked to compare the pedal to other tremolos on the market at 14:56, he adds, “It just makes the sound that I like that I haven’t heard in other ones. It’s just this choppy, really fast sound.”

Jam Pedals quotes J Mascis on their website as saying:

“I have been using a univibe Clone since the early 90’s live. The RetroVibe is right on track with the perfect sound we’ve all heard and love. It’s way more faithful and musical than other vibe pedals out there.”

As pictured on J Mascis' pedal board. J Mascis Pedalboard – 2017

"A closeup of J's Mini Pedal Board, All the Essentials needed to bring the Gnar to the Far! A bring on flight Mini Delight. Squier Telecaster in a gig bag and this mini pedal board and almost any amp and he's ready to barge hard. @dinosaurjr"

Used during the recording of Dinoasur Jr.'s Farm. Visible at 19:36.

J Mascis uses the EarthQuaker Devices Hoof Reaper V1 fuzz pedal, as shown in a black and white version on EarthQuaker Devices' Facebook page.

J Mascis points out his Boss RV-5 Reverb Pedal at 17:20 in this Rig Rundown from Premier Guitar.

J. Mascis talks about his Deluxe Mistress Pedal at 12:05 in this video interview. “The old ones definitely sound better to me than the newer ones and that was one of the first effects I got when I started playing. I got the Deluxe Big Muff and then I got the Electric Mistress, so I've used that. Those were my, maybe, first two effects I'd be using.”

According to Guitar Geek's rig diagram, Mascis used this pedal.

J Mascis uses the Analog Man King of Tone Overdrive pedals live to achieve his clean tones, utilizing the higher gain option. This information is detailed on the Analogman website.

For his 2016 solo set at Third Man Records, Mascis used the EHX Neo Mistress. This was possibly done because NEO Mistress takes less space than his usual Electric Mistress.

For his 2016 solo set at Third Man Records, Mascis used the Keeley 4-knob compressor pedal.

In this video, Mascis is seen using the shoes/wah.

"And this a Tone Bender Mark Three. It's a reissue that they made... I don't know, in England at some point. I just saw it over there and that was always, like, the My Bloody Valentine bass sound. And then I found an original one, so I don't need the reissue anymore."

Sold on Reverb.com in 2017.

This Tech 21 SansAmp GT2 is owned by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.

The Tech 21 SansAmp GT2 allows you to mix and match three different amp models (California, British, Tweed) with three gain characters and three different virtual mic placements. This is a great stand-in pedal if you're recording direct into an audio interface for DAW work.

SN: 133897. In pretty good condition. Looks as though velcro has once been removed on the account of some missing paint. From J's personal collection.

All items sold in The Official J Mascis Reverb Shop are shipped fully insured with delivery confirmation and include a signed Certificate Of Authenticity from J Mascis.

J Mascis discusses his LO-FI Loop Junky Pedal in this Rig Rundown from Premier Guitar. At 16:44 he says, “It's a LO-FI Loop Junky just to make noise or if I break a string, I can just make a noise and make a loop while I’m switching guitars or just make a loop to play too or something.. Certain guitars are just make a loop to play to or something.”

GC: The leads for "Alone" off of Hand It Over sounded a little bit different. Can you describe the tone you got for that and how you got it?

Mascis: "Alone" had a lot of effects. I think a lot of it is the LoveTone Meatball and the Ibanez AD9 delay from the same era as the Tube Screamers everybody liked.

"And a lot of fuzz boxes. A lot of different ones. I just plug in a bunch of fuzz boxes, like I’d use a Roland BeeBaa Fuzz, a Super Fuzz, Big Cheese Love Tone, an Analog Man. I’d just plug in a bunch of pedals together and see what it sounded like.”