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pedals  
For 20-plus years I’ve played Marshall JCM 800s.  
Last year, I started getting into the Marshall Origin  
Series. I bought the combo and the 50-watt head, and  
most recently—and I know this may be taboo with the  
TQ crowd—a Fender Tone Master digital modeling  
amp because I recently started playing in a Hank  
Williams tribute band and figured that would be a  
good fit. I’ve been using that almost exclusively and  
set the amp between 5 and 6 to get that expressive  
touch sensitivity, on the edge of break-up, and kick  
in the pedal from there. It stacks well, too. You can  
run a TS style pedal in front of the Hot Brown and,  
man, it’s wonderful. It works great in a bluesy context  
with chunky rhythm chords. Back to the Origin Series  
Marshalls really quick, I played in an AC/DC tribute  
band for 20 years, and we just mutually agreed that it  
had run its course. Those Origins sound amazing, and  
the 50-watt essentially replaced my JCM 800 in the  
later days of the band. It can nail Angus’ tone. I read  
an article recently where Tracii Guns was raving about  
those amps.  
TQR: The Contour control is mysterious because  
it doesn’t do an obvious midrange sweep.  
Instead, it’s entirely interactive with where  
you set the tone and gain. We find many OD  
pedals to be voiced bright and your pedal can  
be darker and chewier.  
What I love about the pedal, and this goes back to  
Eddie, is that while his tones were broken up and  
distorted, they were still clean from the perspective  
of clarity. You could hear all of the notes. That’s  
what I was going for with the pedal. I have it on all  
my pedalboards.  
TQR: Riverhorse loved the 20-watt Marshall  
SV20H, their hand wired shout-out to cranked  
Plexi tones at lower, but certainly not quiet,  
volumes. So, what’s next? What else are you  
working on?  
TQR: How would you describe what the Contour  
control is doing?  
It is about the midrange, but I run mine with the  
Contour all the way off. It shifts through the tone  
spectrum. All the way left, it’s not scooped, and all  
the way right, it’s not over-the-top mid push. It’s hard  
to describe.  
TQR: No one would mistake this for a clean  
boost even at the lowest gain setting and  
volume up. It’s still overdriving the amp in  
a pleasing manner.  
Live Greg Martin, photo by Christie Goodwin  
Right. The gain is from the JFET transistors. Wampler  
used J201s and I use J202s, which are a little hotter.  
Right now, I’m working in collaboration with a small  
music store/guitar shop in Bowling Green, Kentucky,  
called All Things Guitar. We’re making a pedal that  
will exclusively sell through their shop called the ATG  
828. We recently received nice accolades and praise  
from Billy Gibbons, and he ordered four of them, so  
I hope to finish them up this weekend and get them  
out to him. It is my take on the Nobels ODR-1. We  
tweaked the circuit a bit, enhanced the EQ with a  
bass control, and apparently he really likes it. I spoke  
with Greg Martin a couple weeks ago and he shared  
with me that he and Billy went down the rabbit hole  
with the pedal for about two and a half hours. To me,  
holy cow—this is Billy Gibbons, one of my and Greg’s  
biggest influences. To have him even know anything  
about my small pedal company just blows my mind.  
Buddy Guy also picked up a couple of them.  
TQR: What type of amps do you play, and where do  
you set them to where you feel the KY Hot  
Brown shines?  
TONEQUEST REPORT V.25 N.8 June 2024  
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