In an interview with Reverb, J Mascis sat in a glitzy, perfectly branded room set to talk about his philosophy when approaching dirt pedals. Mascis, the mastermind behind the legendary alt-rock band Dinosaur Jr., demonstrated to the online marketplace his usual clean tone through a traditional Vox amp and described it as "kind of depressing." Never known for being particularly verbose, Mascis lined up a grab bag array of dirt, delay, and modulation pedals across the room's Persian-patterned carpet in an attempt to illustrate like any great author and show rather than tell. For Mascis, the dirt is the paint and the amp is the canvas.
The Origin Story
It doesn't take a long stay in the early Dinosaur Jr. catalog to absorb the tonal philosophies Mascis was laying down for the band from the very start. Even some of the band's earliest entries, You're Living All Over Me and Bug, fully capture the Dinosaur Jr. brand of guitarwork that would permeate throughout the dirt-drenched '90s. There's few places you'll find Mascis without a drive pedal and that's completely by design. Whether it's by taste, by personal brand, or by a Venn diagram of sorts, Mascis delivers a tonal consistency relatively unmatched by his rock guitar icon peers.
The Secret Sauce
By his own account, Mascis doesn't understand the intricacies of boosts or other volume-manipulating methods. What is clear is that Mascis does know about the value of feel when it comes to producing a worthwhile drive tone. With a tone like Mascis's, we're reminded of the fact that not everything about drive is in the head – a loving dose lives in the fingers, in the mix, and in the soul of the player.
Our Call
The rock and roll world owes quite a bit to Mascis and his brand of muddy yet fiery guitarwork. Though it's clear that Mascis, in turn, owes more than a bit to his utility belt of drives. In a world of amp-is-king pearl-clutching, Mascis reminds us of the little secret (dare we describe it as "dirty") of dirt pedals – everyone is using them.