These are selected questions and answers from the Ask Me Anything (AMA) that Zach from Mythos Pedals does every Friday on Instagram. The questions and answers have been edited slightly to adapt them to text format and provide context. Any errors or misunderstandings are our fault. With that said, enjoy this wealth of information from Zach at Mythos!
How can I get the best sound out of my guitar and amp?
Zach thinks the secret to finding out if you like playing something is by playing it loud.
Get to a place where you can turn it up. If you can’t get a good basic tone with just your guitar and amp, it’s time to get new stuff. Matthew from Mythos says, when it’s the right gear you should be able to get a good sound out of it without trying too hard.
Why don’t more people talk about the Mythos Oracle pedal?
Matthew of Mythos is a passionate Oracle pedal user. His guess is that people equate features with goodness. The Oracle is a simple delay pedal designed for people who know exactly what they want. It sounds good in an effects loop or in front of the amp. It has been designed for people who like their delay pedal to get out of the way so that focus can be placed on the music.
Matthew’s main takeaway is that the Mythos Oracle delay pedal is underrated because not enough people have tried one. Spread the word and he is confident other people will come to the same conclusion about it being a great analog delay pedal.
Why does Zach prefer the OD808 over the TS9?
Zach thinks there is something about the “808 mod” to change the output buffer stage that gives it more responsiveness and clarity. There is something marginally better to Zach’s ear about the 808 but he says they both have their place. He thinks the TS9 works better to tighten up a higher gain amp like a cranked Soldano. The vintage TS10 also has a vibe that is different from the other two TS circuits. These are slight differences and overall they all sound similar.
Is there any difference between the original Joey Mjolnir and the current Mjolnir?
The very first small version of the Mjolnir pedal started with germanium diodes. Then it went to a 125B pedal enclosure with top mount jacks. These were a little different with a little less treble, a little more bass, a little more forward in the mids and a little less gain. These are probably the cleanest of the bunch. The larger current Joey Mjolnirs are built without a charge pump circuit and use germanium again. Zach loves them all but the current ones are his favorite.
Pedally Comment: The Joey Mjolnir refers to a special edition of the Mjolnir pedal built for guitarist Joey Landreth.
Which Mythos Pedal is best for Doom music?
If you’re going to do doom, Zach recommends the positron fuzz pedal. The Positron works really well with lower tunings. The Positron even works well with lower gain if you’re trying to blend your guitars into a thick mix.
Zach recommends you put the Loud switch into loud mode and turn the gain down. The Positron isn’t an overdrive pedal by any stretch of the imagination. Instead it will give you a weighty tone that sounds great with baritone guitars and bass.
What is Zach’s favorite “Brown Panel Deluxe” style amp?
Zach says he hasn’t played all variations of this amp. The Suhr Hombre is pretty good. The Hombre fixes all of the shortcomings of the vintage brown deluxe amps. (but it’s not versatile for much else) The Cutthroat Audio Down Brownie is the main solution to getting this style of amp. In one channel you get an 18W Marshall circuit and the other side gives you the brown deluxe sound. Zach thinks Cutthroat Audio has fixed many of the issues that plague the original brown panel amps. The Cutthroat Audio amps are not as farty as the originals and don’t fall apart, plus many modern amp features have been added.
Pedally Comment: A brown panel deluxe amp refers to a Fender 6G3 Brown Deluxe amp.
Does Zach like the Epiphone acoustic guitars?
He thinks they are good but hasn’t checked them out. Zach plays acoustic guitar maybe once every 6 months. He would rather play an electric guitar quietly than plan an acoustic. Due to issues with his wrist, playing acoustic guitars is uncomfortable for him.
Did the NAMM Show help with the release of the Herculean pedal?
Yes, Zach thinks it helped get the pedal in front of people’s eyes. A lot of people came by the booth and played the Herculean. The build up of anticipation prior to the release also helped with the success of the release.
Pedally Comment: The Herculean has been on backorder to Mythos dealers. We have several of them in the mail to us. I expect to see them arrive in our shop on Tuesday!
What are Zach’s 3 favorite music venues in Nashville?
The original Basement. the Mercy Lounge and Third and Lindsley.
Which side of the Herculean does Zach usually run first?
He used to think the Runestone into the Herc was the way. The more he played with humbucker guitars, he now prefers the Herculean into the Runestone side.
The Runestone give you a flat platform that you can shape with the Herc. It has a little bit more of responsiveness. The other way around is a little more compressed under the fingers.
Try both ways to see which way works best for your style of playing.
The internal dipswitches are set to the way that Zach prefers the pedal. Soft-clipping on the Runestone side. Zen clipping on the Herculean. There are a lot of sounds in this pedal. Zach is super proud of it.
How do you keep your guitars clean?
One thing you can do is keep your guitars in their case. Zach doesn’t keep many guitars hung up in his house. He also recommends dusting your house as a way to keep your guitars clean. 🤣
What pedals would Zach recommend to a new player?
This is hard because it depends what kind of music you want to play. Zach recommends you start with either an overdrive pedal or a delay pedal.
Zach’s first pedals were an Ibanez Smash Box distortion pedal and the Dunlop Crybaby Wah. This was 1999.
The kind of music that you like is the key factor to a good pedal recommendation.
A customer bought the Chupacabra Overdrive and loves it!
Zach is excited and loves it too! He says once you play it, if you’re a guitar player who likes to feel the music in your fingers and adjust your touch with your picking hand, it is so responsive. It’s such an interactive pedal. Even if you have it fuzzed out with the dials turned up to the max, it still sounds right. It’s a fun pedal and I hope more people get into it. It’s not only for ZZ Top. It’s a useful overdrive pedal for everything that it does.
Do Fuzz Pedals work better with 6V6 or EL34 based amps?
Zach doesn’t concern himself with which tubes are inside of an amp. It’s the sound of the end product that is most important to him. Besides basics like wattage, he doesn’t look at spec sheets for an amp.
The pre-amp gain and EQ sound of the amp are what he looks for when matching fuzz to an amp. Let your ears and hands guide you.
Pedal recommendations for Rock/Blues
Zach doesn’t like to think in terms of genre specific pedals. He thinks it’s an individual decision on what works best for your style of playing. (how hard you hit the guitar, etc)
For Rock/Blues he recommends the Mjolnir and the Herculean Deluxe. They will do pretty much everything for a rock/blues player.
Is Analog or Tape Delay better for slap?
Analog delay works well for slap. The Mythos Oracle echo pedal works great for slap.
A player gave thanks to Zach for the hard work he puts into Mythos Pedals.
Zach gave a very heartfelt message. I’m going to quote his instagram reply verbatim:
“Thank you. We wouldn’t be here without you guys depending on us for drives and delays and chorus and fuzz and all of the things.
I appreciate you guys so much. Being able to do something in the guitar space was something that I had always hoped for.
I didn’t know what I wanted to do.
I went to school. I was a career student. I had 5 majors before I settled on Psychology of all things. But even then, I didn’t know. I just knew that I loved guitar and I loved music and I loved making things.
And so to be able to be in this world and have a team who I care about, and works really hard, and is proud of what they do, and is able to afford us all of these incredible opportunities in life and just be able to put so many cool things out into the world, it’s an incredible thing.
And thank you all for being part of it.”
We at Pedally couldn’t say it any better. Thank you all for reading our blog, supporting Pedally and playing guitar.