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by Jim Button September 02, 2021 4 min read
Since the earliest days of the White Stripes, Jack White's guitar gear has centred around old mail-order department store guitars and amps, and very few - but tonally very effective - pedals.
By the time of the White Stripes' fourth album, Elephant in 2003, Jack White was set on returning to what he knew best - analogue recording techniques and the guitar gear to match. The entire album was recorded at Toe Rag Studios in London, a studio which prides itself on vintage equipment. In fact, the most modern piece of kit in the studio dates to 1963!
Jack White's main guitar in his White Stripes days was his red 1964 Valco Airline, unofficially known as the "JB Hutto" model after the blues musician who used one, and originally sold at the Montgomery Ward chain of department stores in the US in the 1960s. The body is a fiberglass construction ("Res-O-Glas") with two single-coil pickups.
White also used a Kay hollowbody from the 1950s - perhaps most noticeably on Seven Nation Army, where he not only uses it to play the main riff but also the "bass" part (actually downtuned using his Digitech Whammy) and a screaming slide overdub dosed with his fuzz of choice, the Electro Harmonix Big Muff Pi. The Kay has just one pickup, a single-coil in the neck position.
Jack's Silvertone amp, a 1960s department store find - this time from Sears - is preferred by the frontman for its thick crunch courtesy of the Jensen speakers. The Big Muff isn't always required thanks to the gain available from this amp.
A 1970s Fender Twin Reverb was also used when a spring reverb sound was required, as Jack didn't consider the Silvertone's reverb to be up to the job.
Jack White is famous for his use of the Digitech Whammy, most obviously for the piercing solos which litter the Elephant album. While the solos using the Whammy are pitched an octave up, some songs also include octave-down parts where Jack has created faux bass lines, most recognisably in Seven Nation Army.
The Big Muff Pi is Jack's only other mainstay pedal used on Elephant (and through pretty much all of his White Stripes career). Placed after the Digitech Whammy, Jack turned the Treble up quite high and the Volume was usually maxed out. He initially used an early-2000s reissue of the pedal, but by the time of Elephant it is likely - according to several sources - that White was using an original from the 1970s.
To replicate Jack's Elephant-era White Stripes tone, you'll need a single-coil guitar. You can buy modern-day reissues of the Airline, but the construction is quite a bit different - it will certainly get you the look though! A Danelectro with lipstick pickups would be a good bet, while a Strat- or Tele-style guitar will get you in the ballpark too.
The Fender Twin Reverb is a great pedal platform, while the Silvertone brings Marshall-style crunch, so an amp in either of these camps will be fine. Of course, if you have the budget then use both at once for the truest recreation of Jack White's Elephant sound!
Alternatively, you can now buy Jackson Audio's 1484 Twin Twelve Preamp pedal, developed in collaboration with Silvertone. It's a faithful recreation of the original schematic but replaces the valves for FET transistors. It's as valve-like as you'll get without using glass!
[product=jackson-audio-1484-twin-twelve-silvertone-preamp]
The Jackson Audio 1484 Twin Twelve pedal has been designed in collaboration with Silvertone to accurately replicate the sound of the brand's Twin Twelve amplifier, which was built between 1963 and 1967. While Jackson Audio is best known for its range of digitally controlled effects, the 1484 Twin Twelve is a fully analogue part-for-part recreation of the 1960s Silvertone Twin Twelve, identified in the Sear's catalogue of the day as model "1484". The beauty of this preamp pedal is that Jackson Audio have taken the original blueprint for the amp and replaced its valves for JFETs, which are known for their valve-like response. This means the 1484 Twin Twelve pedal is as close to the original as it's possible to get without building a full valve head!
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Jack White famously used the Big Muff to form his core fuzzed-out sound, while the Digitech Whammy was used to instantly adjust pitch for screeching solos.
[product=greenhouse-effects-roots-fuzz]
The Greenhouse Effects Roots Fuzz is a great-value dual-channel Muff-style fuzz, perfect for capturing Jack White's tone. The Red channel is more open sounding and smoother, with more headroom and a hint of upper octave at maximum gain, while the Blue channel is darker, denser and more compressed, with plenty of sustain and bloom.
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[product=fredric-effects-green-russian]The Fredric Effects Green Russian is based on the 1990s Sovtek "bubble font" Big Muff Pi fuzz, otherwise known as the green box Russian Muff. Built like a tank (perhaps NATO rather than Russian...), it now comes in an ever-so-cool mini-wedge chassis that looks the part without taking up extra space on your pedalboard.[/product]
[product=hungry-robot-the-monastery]
The Hungry Robot Monastery is a polyphonic octave generator perfect for emulating the Digitech Whammy parts of Elephant. It can do simultaneous octave up and octave down too, which is great for filling out your sound as a White Stripes-style two-piece!
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Ultimately, to sound like Jack White you need to play like him too. Jack White's style is all about minimalist, single note riffing with a mixture of open, bar and power chords. His playing is mostly restricted to the lower frets, using the Digitech Whammy for higher-octave stuff such as his solos. This gives Elephant a unique sound that is at once harmonically rich and thick, yet light on its feet and fluid.
Image credit: jackwhiteiii.com
by Jim Button December 21, 2022 6 min read
by Jim Button October 18, 2021 6 min read
by Jim Button September 10, 2021 4 min read
I’ve just taken delivery of this beautiful pedal.
To get a first impression I’ve put it through a Simplifier DLX and straight into a FRFR speaker. Delightful.
I’m a guitarist in a Christian Church worship band, so I’m always looking for O/D that is both subtle and musical - that makes a statement without the darkness. The Forest Song, with its rich range of driven tones delivers.
Indeed, high gain plus low volume is an interesting musical mix in this pedal. It works. My complements to the DB development team, and to Boost for supporting them.
This Pedal is easy to use and has many sweet spots! Perfectly tuned combination of two legendary circuits! Highly recommended!
super fun trem, decent sound, huge volume. havent spent a lot of time messing about with it, but did have a play with the slide and drift feature which are a nice bonus. cant wait to have more time to play around with it.
Boost Guitar Pedals are great as always, fast delivery
been playing it a few days now, and have it set up so it works with with whatever i thow at it. its in my chain after OD but Before Distortion. feedback dial is great and can have it very far clockwise before it sends you in an infinity loop, mix is a bonus, i haven't messed about with the shapes much yet because i found a dreamy setting i dont want to change. would highly recommend isolated power suppy, it did not like daisy chain or cheap single wall one, but works smooth with isloated brick
Boost Guitar is great again to got it within 24 hours of shipping
Perfect for that traynor amp growl on bass. There’s a lot of scope with gain and EQ controls (which sound ace wherever you dial them in). Had the Tronographic Rusty Box before this which I regrettably had to sell; this is a perfect (and smaller, less power hungry) substitute.
I spent months searching for an affordable vibe pedal that actually sounded authentic.
Not only does this have the very sound that I was after, without a ton of tweaking, but it is priced reasonably too. It is not at the cheap end of the market, but for a hand-built pedal with dual speeds this is unbeatable.
The sound is spot on. Warm and rich with the throb missing from many of the lower-priced pedals. The second speed makes it easy to switch between chord and solo settings.
The delivery was amazing too - ordered in Friday afternoon and delivered on Sunday morning!
I can’t recommend this highly enough to anyone looking for the best univibe around.
add another 5 stars, im no pro but i know what sounds i like and the Bloom is the sound i like. ive had Boss BD2, donner dumble drive, Tumnus and Tumnus deluxe but to me The Bloom tops them all. its a well built easy to dial in. having full gain is so clear and not nosiy. only tried with my strat single coils atm. the distortion isint the best but im comparing it to the Drunk Beaver Batv2 and have a feeling that its a layer distortion for another distortion pedal. fuzz is lush. the chip and fat switch really bring it to live and gives you more options for sound. i cant believe this is made by 1 guy. To me Drunk Beaver are up there with the best pedal makers. could send hours going on about the great things. and im only useing a boss katana mk2 no tube amp but you can get some faux tube headroom with the right switch. if you like the demos, well i got good news, it sound way better in person
Boost Guitat Pedals are great too, fast delivery, great communication. couldnt ask for a better store
Bone white Davies 1611
The Bleak District Tapescape is one of the best delay and ambience style pedals ever invented. The controls are all intuitive but highly flexible, the sounds are rich and detailed, the modulation can go from dreamy to nightmarish very quickly, and all of that inside a small footprint with a low power requirement. It's difficult to get a bad sound out of it, honestly.
Add in that Boost shipped it out quickly and it arrived with a nice note written on the invoice, is there anything else you could ask for? Definitely will be buying more from both Boost and Bleak District in future.
Part came as described. Website was easy use.
very cool pedal
Awesome service and communication all along!
Will gladly order again
I ordered a set of strings from Boost, that did not initially turn up. After contacting Boost via the website they immediately sent out another set (no questions asked). Both sets arrived a few days later (Thanks Royal Mail!). Boost were prompt in dealing with the issue (gave) me a set of strings and got things sorted out. Highly recommend you use these guys.
My favourite strings, at a great price! Very reasonable postage rates and speedy service. My first purchase from Boost, but will definitely not be my last. Hassle free, excellent...
Jazzmaster happy🙏
I didn’t know that particular manufacturer from Italy, but I definitely recommend their "Vintage Vibe”. It’s simple, intuitive, it looks awesome, the build quality seems impeccable, and most importantly, it sounds fantastic.