How to Destroy Your Guitar

Sometimes-- heck, most of the time --you want clean, beautifully sculpted, well-thought-out guitar tones. Many musicians spend their whole lives searching for that tone, and it’s a worthy goal.

I’m gonna level with you. This article is not about beautiful tones. It's about a question: can we destroy the tone of the guitar? Can we make it something that most people hate, but some people love? There's 3% of you reading who are going to enjoy this. 97% of you probably need to walk away. You don't need to see what's about to happen, because you're never going to recover. It's going to shake you to your core. You're going to question everything.

But if you’re willing to stick it out, Nick and I conducted a series of tests (read: jam sessions) that are going to shed light on this often misunderstood subject, as we try out seven guitar pedals that could destroy your guitar-- in the most beautiful way.

Meris Ottobit Jr

First up is the Meris Ottobit Jr. Bitcrusher and Sequencer. Honestly, this was a tight runner up for my previous JHS Show Episode “Greatest Pedal Names Ever”, but even apart from a baller moniker, it’s a really cool pedal. There is a module of this for synths, but engineers Terry Burton and Angelo Mazzocco (with the help of the brilliant creative director Jinna Kim) put it in a guitar pedal. And I’m really, really glad they did.

Full disclosure: I'm working on a bio of Meris, and they're amazing. I’d call them the King Midas of pedal makers: everything they touch turns to gold. They actually got their start with a little company called Line 6, but that’s another article for another day. Long story short: I haven't dug into the Ottobit Jr completely. I'm not even sure how to define it, but I think it harkens back to the better days of lo-bit sounds. In the jam session (which you can hear in this week’s JHS Show episode), I set it up to do a glitchy repeat, one echo, sub-octave nightmare sound. The result was what I’d imagine a dual headliner of the Talking Heads and Rage Against the Machine would sound like at Lollapalooza ’96, maybe ’97.

Nick and I conferred, and we agreed: this pedal definitely destroys the guitar.

Mattoverse Electronics AirTrash

Next up is the Mattoverse Electronics AirTrash. I just want to quote some of their copy directly, because I can’t put it any better than this: The AirTrash is a pedal for guitar or bass that sounds like absolute garbage. “Like absolute garbage.” As a pedal maker who’s embraced the branding that “JHS pedals suck” pretty successfully, I have to respect their honesty.

And in all honesty, this pedal rocks. It definitely destroys the guitar.

Death by Audio Echo Dream 2 Advanced Echo Modulation

Number three is a pedal from Death by Audio, because there’s really no way that Death by Audio wasn’t going to at least make a cameo in this article. Nick and I played the Death by Audio Echo Dream 2 Advanced Echo Modulation, which is epic. This box has lots of knobs, enough switches to make you feel like you got some options, and it produces complete and utter chaos with echo fuzz. It's a wonderful machine.

I pre-titled our jam session with this pedal Echo Nightmare. Like, when you have the same nightmare over and over for weeks, and it keeps repeating? Now you’ve got a soundtrack for that. You’ll have to watch the episode for yourself to see if we totally hit the mark, but I think we produced a beautiful yet broken sound. Mostly broken.

In answer to your question: yeah, it destroyed the guitar.

*Death by Audio Echo Dream 2 Advanced Echo Modulation*

Fuzzrocious Maggotor Gated Fuzz Decomposer

Number four in this journey of pure annihilation** is the Fuzzrocious Maggotor Gated Fuzz Decomposer. Honestly, from the name alone, you can sense the promise with this one. It's got three springs on the outside of the enclosure for freeform carnage, plus two switches: bite or squirm. When you go into “squirm” mode, the guitar doesn't really do anything, but the “bite” mode is epic.

**It honestly took a lot of self control not to do an entire song riffing off “Pure Imagination” VS “Pure Annihilation,” but I held it in. You’re welcome.

Just in case you’re curious, this pedal 100% destroyed the guitar.

Mountainking Electronics Decomposer

Next up is the Mountainking Electronics-- and yes, Mountainking is one word -- Decomposer. To quote Mountainking’s copy on this, this pedal is a “chord destroyer, sonic-take-a-parter, beyond-fuzz creator.” And I have to concur. I've had this pedal for a while, and I love it. They have some really cool options with this box, including reverb. So, for this jam session, Nick and I added a splash of reverb. You know when you're cooking and you put a little dash of salt on there? Same basic principle.

And, yeah, it destroyed the guitar. No question.

*Fuzzrocious Maggotor Gated Fuzz Decomposer*

JPTR FX Super Weirdo Glitch Fuzz Time Modulation Unit

Next up is JPTR FX Super Weirdo Glitch Fuzz Time Modulation Unit. Honestly, this is a case where the name says it all, so if you want to go back and watch this jam session to get the full experience, do it. If not, just take my word for it--

This pedal definitely destroys the guitar.

Electro Harmonix Mainframe Bit Crusher

Last but not least in this voyage of guitar tone destruction is the Electro Harmonix Mainframe Bit Crusher. This is one of my favorite pedals of last year, and Nick and I jammed to see if we could in fact crush some bits. Long story short: we could and we did.

This last pedal utterly destroys the guitar.

*JPTR FX Super Weirdo Glitch Fuzz Time Modulation Unit*

*Electro Harmonix Mainframe Bit Crusher*

To sum up, there’s definitely a time and place for Madison-Cunningham-worthy immaculate guitar tone. There are shows where you weep tears of joy at the sheer perfection of tone that you’re hearing, the shows you tell your grandchildren and great-grandchildren about. I’m not arguing that point at all.

But there’s also a time and place for beautifully broken sound. I like to think we live in a world where we can enjoy both.

Guest UserFebruary 19, 2021