Can you tell us about the amplifiers that the Dookie Drive Pedal is based on?

Bryan Kehoe: The Dookie Drive Pedal is based on Billie Joe’s two trusty amplifiers, which he’s christened Pete and Meat. They’re both Marshall 100 Watt Super Lead heads, and each has been heavily modified to have its own voice. Both amps had a master volume control added, while Pete was modified to have a smooth midrange peak, and Meat was modified for higher gain and a scooped midrange.

How did you create the sounds of those amps in pedal form?

Bob Cedro: Once we had Pete and Meat here at the shop, we plugged in and had a great time playing under a number of different conditions to really feel them out. We used our ears and our scopes to measure each amp’s distortion characteristics and tonal response individually and when combined, which is the magic behind the Dookie guitar sound.

From there, we got to work on the circuit design, and created a prototype that we compared with the amplifiers. We all agreed that we wanted this pedal to sound amazing through just about anything you play it through—not just the expensive stuff—so Billie Joe gave the prototype a run-through using a number of popular combo amps.  

He used an outboard EQ to sculpt some final adjustments to the prototype’s sonic profile, and the sound of the album really came to life in pedal form.

This is the second time that you have built a pedal based on the sound of an amplifier. How difficult of a process is that compared to the average overdrive or distortion pedal?

Bob: Both design projects have their particular challenges. With an amp-based pedal, you have the advantage of knowing what the end result is supposed to sound like. The hard work is in achieving it—you either nail the sound, or you don’t. 

In other cases, the way an overdrive or distortion circuit should sound is very subjective by nature. Pleasing everyone is impossible, and if you think that tone-chasing is time-consuming for the average guitar player, just imagine what that’s like for a guitar player who’s also an engineer!

How does this pedal work?

Bryan: Think of it like having the two separate amplifiers—Pete and Meat—like Billie Joe does when recording or when he’s on tour. On the front of the pedal, you can adjust the intensity of the Meat signal, which we call the High Gain signal, and you can also set the ratio of the two signals, adjust the overall output signal and tone, and use the Scoop switch to cut the midrange out for thicker, heavier tones. On the inside of the pedal, you can adjust the intensity and output level of the Pete signal, which we call the Crunch Gain signal.

It’s an incredibly versatile pedal with plenty of tone-chasing options for adding richness, depth, and clarity, but you don’t have to spend a ton of time tweaking to get an amazing sound. This thing will make a little amp scream and sound huge.

My modded Marshall Super Leads have been my live tone since 1994,” Billie Joe says. “The MXR Dookie Drive clones that sound in one pedal.

But the Dookie Drive Pedal isn’t just for Green Day fans—this totally unique pedal provides a full harmonic range of overdriven tones for a playing experience that is full of depth and dimension.

The power supply is the backbone of any pedal setup. The Iso-Brick and Mini Iso-Brick Power Supplies cover a wide range of needs, allowing you to run just about any pedal. Running high-end digital pedals alongside your classic dirt boxes is child’s play for either power supply, so go with the one that best fits your layout needs. Each has totally isolated outputs, protecting your signal from interference in your surroundings and making it very easy to troubleshoot connection issues—all important considerations when recording at home.

It should go without saying that you need reliable, high quality cables in any playing situation where you’re running electronics, and this is doubly true when recording. MXR Pro Series Instrument Cables are well-insulated to keep noise out—even that generated by computers—and along with MXR Patch Cables, they’re designed to transmit clean, pure tone.

The MXR Ten Band EQ is an invaluable tool thanks to its broad tone-shaping ability. Put it at the front of your signal chain if you want to pre-condition the sound of your instrument, or stick it right after your dirt pedals if you love the way that they sound, but there’s just not enough highs or lows. Try putting it at the end of your signal chain to put a final touch on your sound before it goes into your recording interface. Wherever you place the Ten Band EQ, it’s an absolute must-have when laying down tracks.

A compressor is an essential tool in any recording setup to ensure a consistent, even signal. Sometimes a change in the intensity of your attack or stepping on a particular pedal will cause a drop or a spike in level where you don’t want it. A good compressor will “correct” for these occurrences and give you control over the dynamics of your signal. The MXR Studio Compressor is just such a device, providing an array of tweakable parameters with an LED indicator to show compression response in real time.

Just about the easiest way to get creative with your playing experience is to change up the pick you’re using. There are so many different materials, shapes, and sizes available nowadays, and each characteristic has an impact on the way you sound and the way you play. Tortex® Picks are famous for their bright, snappy attack—but what if a piece you’re composing lends itself to rounder, warmer tones? Try Nylon Picks. For a brighter, more aggressive sound, try Ultex® Picks. Playing fast and need a pick with more definition and less resistance? Try Flow® Picks or Jazz III Picks. Want an easier time strumming? Try a lighter gauge. There’s a Dunlop Pick for every situation and playing style—the easiest way to see which one is for you is to check out one of our Pick Variety Packs.

As with picks, we tend to stick with the strings that we know, but they, too, are another part of your setup that is ripe for the kind of exploration that will enrich your recording experience. Experimenting with gauges, for example, will help you find the right feel for your instrument—go with lighter sets if you’re playing a longer or multi-scale instrument, for example. Heavier gauges help balance out the lower tunings that can provide a darker, heavier, or more sombre vibe to your recording.

Gauges offer more than just a change in feel, though—tracking with different gauges is a great way to bring in a different tonality to your recording. This is a great boon if you’re doing all the tracking yourself, and you don’t want all of the guitar parts to sound exactly the same. Try recording different takes with differently gauged sets, panning them opposite each other to create an interesting tone you can’t achieve any other way. If you’re strumming on an acoustic, go with a lighter gauge than you would typically play to get shimmering highs and a tight, compressed low end. For electric rhythms, go with a lighter gauge to bring out the highs and mids and, again, tighten up the low end—no matter whether you’re clean, overdriven, or distorted. Heavier gauges will fill in the low end and tighten up your chords for fast syncopated riffage. Again, play with blending different tracks of each round of gauges to create unique tonal concoctions.

Light gauges are perfect for tracking solos because they allow you to let your inspiration carry you from note to note without making your hands work too hard. Don’t worry about sounding too thin—plenty of guitar players have extracted rich, fat tones from thin sets of strings. Eddie Van Halen, Billy Gibbons, Steve Vai, and Yngwie Malmsteen can all show you something about that. Conversely, you can use heavier sets to tame a fast vibrato or control tuning issues caused by a heavy picking or fretting hand.

Bass players have as much room to experiment with gauges as guitar players do for different tones, tunings, scales, and so on. Playing around with different materials can also add another dynamic to your recording. Stainless Steel Strings bring out the mids and highs, which is perfect for taking a solo or accentuating the percussive sounds generated by slapping and popping. Nickel Wound Strings provide growling low mids and big lows for fat, funky rhythms. Check out our Super Bright™ Bass Strings for an overall brighter tonal take on each material.

Flatwound Bass Strings offer a whole other dynamic. If you want that classic rock and R&B thump, then Flatwounds are the way to go, no exceptions. Even if that’s not the specific sound you’re looking for, they generate a fundamental that’s uniquely deep, full, and round. It sounds incredible on recordings where each bass note is given the space to bloom.

With all of these options, guitar players and bass players should remember to adjust your instrument’s intonation whenever changing up your gauge or material so that you don’t run into any tuning issues later on.

Capos allow you to play in higher keys without having to change chord fingerings. If you’ve composed a piece that sounds almost perfect but there’s something missing that you just can’t identify, changing to a different key might just be what you needed. The Victor® Capo is the perfect option for playing at home—and recording, in particular, because of its superior tuning stability.

Slides add their own layer of expression to stringed instruments, and Dunlop offers a wide variety of sizes and materials that all provide their own experience. Choose a Stainless Steel Slide to electrify a solo or a Brass Slide to fatten up a riff. Other materials and finishes, from Glass to Chromed Steel, provide their own tones and timbres. All of the above can be combined with delay, reverb, and other heavy processing effects to create trippy cinematic soundscapes. Keep a slide or two on hand for those situations where you need to add a little something extra to a recording that isn’t quite popping like you want it to.

Reverb is one of those effects that can serve both utilitarian and exploratory purposes. Sometimes, recorded music sounds flat and unnatural, as if it doesn’t exist within physical space—especially if you’re relying solely on direct input. With just the right amount of reverb added to your signal, you can make it sound like you were playing in an acoustically rich environment. It can also serve as a sort of sonic binding agent to fill in the spaces between disparate elements of your sound, binding them all together for a much more pleasing listening experience. On the other hand, a really good reverb effect can help you create rich, otherworldly atmospheres to explore, to play over and through and around. The MXR Reverb does all of the above and then some, featuring six different exquisitely designed reverb styles to suit your needs and tastes. It’s easy to use with incredible sound quality, making it a must-have for your home recording station.

Delay pedals are a must-have for players looking to open up their compositions to greater dynamic potential. You could go with any number of great options, from the Echoplex® Delay to the Way Huge® Supa-Puss Delay, but we’re going with the MXR Carbon Copy Mini Delay for its rich analog warmth and simple versatility. An optional modulation circuit allows you to add tape echo warble to your repeats, and a Bright switch engages a brighter, more sparkling sound for your repeats should you feel the need to change it up.

A great looper pedal is a songwriting game changer, allowing you to develop different elements of a composition at the same time. The MXR Clone Looper Pedal is one such device—just hit the record switch, put your foundational layer down, and then add as many layers on top of that as your ear desires. It comes packed with plenty of other super fun and useful features—from reverse playback to DJ-style skipping—and it comes in a standard MXR housing, so it’ll take up hardly any space. Put the Clone Looper Pedal on your board, and you’ll wonder how you ever wrote a song without it.

The phaser is a classic effect, infusing your sound with rich, pulsing textures. Players have used phasing to make their riffs thick and chewy and add ethereal momentum to their lead lines. Look no further than MXR for the perfect example of this effect—it was the Phase 90, after all, that set the category’s benchmark. For our songwriting and recording purposes, the Phase 95 is the obvious choice. First, it comes in a mini MXR housing, so it’ll fit in easily with our plentiful array of electronics. Second, it combines the classic Phase 90 circuit with that of its subtler offshoot, the Phase 45, along with the option to use grittier modern-style phasing or clearer vintage-style phasing. That means you get a 4-way ticket for your sonic adventures, and your luggage fits right in your pocket.

The Uni-Vibe Chorus/Vibrato was a key component of the psychedelic sound created by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and other sonic pioneers. Designed to replicate the Leslie speaker effect, the Uni-Vibe Chorus/Vibrato adds lush, swirling textures to your sound. It’s similar to a phaser, but this pedal allows you to crank the rich chewiness to much greater levels, leading to truly bizarro territory that’s just waiting to be explored.

Overdrive is all about the rich, natural harmonics and overtones that come from a good tube amplifier. This can be a problem when recording at home, though—you need to crank your amp to get those sounds. The MXR Dookie Drive Pedal, based on Billie Joe Armstrong’s modified Marshall heads, and the EVH 5150 Overdrive, based on Eddie Van Halen’s 5150 head, were both designed from the ground up to deliver the same sounds at just about any level. Having both pedals in your setup gives you access to a broad range of overdriven tones, from light grit to super high-gain crunch, without killing your neighbors.

Any number of great fuzz pedals could work here, but when it comes to really getting weird and wild with your experimentation, the MXR Sub Machine Fuzz is the obvious choice. It combines shaggy vintage fuzz with both an an aggressive octave-up fuzz circuit and a subterranean sub-octave signal that you can run straight into or alongside the fuzz for a split-channel effect. Whenever you need to make your notes growl, howl, squeal, or scream, the Sub Machine Fuzz will do the job nicely.

The Cry Baby Wah is another tool that opens up your instrument to a vastly greater range of expressive possibilities thanks to its emulation of the human voice. No matter what musical melding of riffs, licks, and tonecraft you formulate, the Cry Baby Wah can transform the whole thing into an even more striking extension of your artistic intent. There are many great Cry Baby Wah models, but the go-to for maximizing simplicity and versatility is the Cry Baby 535Q Wah. It offers six different frequency range options, from high to low, with external controls to easily boost the wah signal and adjust the intensity of its response. No matter what tonal concoctions you craft, the Cry Baby 535Q Wah can be configured to mix right in.

The Volume (X) Pedal serves as both a volume and an expression pedal depending on your needs, so you can use it to create epic volume swells, control the advanced functions of pedals such as the MXR Reverb and Clone Looper Pedal, or cut your signal while you rearrange your board or change guitars.

Like the Volume (X) pedal, the MXR Tap Tempo Switch can control certain advanced functions of the aforementioned MXR Reverb and Clone Looper Pedal, and as its name suggests, it can be used to set the tempo for certain delay pedals such as the MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe Delay or the Echoplex Delay.

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Your recording space should be a place of comfort and possibilities where you’re free to work out the best possible versions of your carefully crafted compositions—perhaps for others to hear. Equip yourself with the gear mentioned above, and you’ll be well on your way to creating such a space.

Installing a set of Straplok Strap Retainers is the best way to prevent a tragedy that is all too common among musicians: your instrument slips free from its strap, and the body lands on a hard floor or the headstock smacks a wall, and the thing’s busted. Don’t be that player!

Take the initiative. Seriously, there’s a reason that the Straplok Retainer System been the industry standard for more than 30 years now. The world’s top artists and instrument builders, from the bands 311 and Trivium to the Fender Custom Shop, trust in the Straplok Retainer System to keep their instruments safe and secure.

The Straplok System consists of two components: the strap buttons for your instrument and the plunger mechanism for your strap. After installation, you just plug the plunger into the strap button, and your strap will remain locked tight to your instrument until press the plunger’s release button. Pull-tested up to 800 lbs. of pull, and with a 360º groove-and-ball design that allows rotation without catching, your instrument will not come loose under normal playing conditions.

Our most popular set of Straplok Strap Retainers is the Dual Design Set, available in 24K Gold, Black Oxide, Black Nickel, Brass, Nickel, and Vintage Nickel finishes. Its strap buttons feature a wide flange so that if you want to try out a different strap that doesn’t yet have the Straplok plungers installed, you can simply slip your strap end over the Dual Design button for a snug fit.

Super Pot Potentiometers are a cure for one of the most inconvenient and obnoxious ailments experienced by instruments: scratchy pots. It happens to everyone—it’s just a matter of time. You show up one day to practice, or even worse, a show, and you set up and plug in. You adjust the volume or tone of your instrument, and there it is, that crackling sound. It’s like nails on a chalkboard to those of us who play stringed instruments. You’ll have no choice but to eventually replace the offending pot, and if you use an instrument often enough, you’ll have to do so on more than one occasion.

Why bother with all that when you can take one simple preventive measure and never worry about it again? Dunlop engineers put a lot of brainpower and hard work to design Super Pot Potentiometers for high performance and resistance to dust and corrosion. They provide a smooth audio taper, and they won’t ever get noisy or scratchy. We tested them to 7 million cycles—that’s turning the volume knob 7 million times, in other words—and we had to just stop counting at that point. Seriously, they’re made to last a lifetime—we’re so confident about this that we put a lifetime guarantee on them. You’re going to have to replace your pots at some point. Might as well get it out of the way now.

Super Pot Potentiometers are available at 250K with a split or solid shaft and at 500K with a split shaft. If you’re comfortable with a soldering iron, these are a cinch to install—we made sure that the back of each pot is solder-friendly. Just heat up your soldering iron and create the nice, shiny flows that will keep all your wiring snugly in place.

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Every instrument is an artistic investment. Installing a set of Straplok Strap Retainers and Super Pot Potentiometers will protect that investment by keeping it safe and making sure that it sounds great. Unless you feel comfortable making these modifications yourself, we recommend that you take your instrument to your local guitar repair tech to get the job done. Make sure that you, and your instrument, live happily ever after.

Strings are your first point of contact with your instrument, and they deserve as much consideration as any other part of your signal chain. Different gauges and materials can have a profound impact on your overall sound, and they also allow you to experiment with different techniques and tunings.

Lighter gauges are great for lead guitar players thanks to their tonal clarity and bend-friendly tension, while heavier gauges are great for fat rhythms and for adding balance and stability to downtuned instruments. Of course, you can go in the opposite direction for your own tonal and tactile needs, including mixing and matching string gauges to create a set that matches your own playing style.

Bass players likewise have numerous options—lighter gauge and Stainless Steel strings provide brightness and clarity, while heavier gauge and Nickel Wound strings add fullness and warmth. And then there’s Flatwound Bass Strings, which give you that classic old school thump like nobody’s business.

As with strings, trying a different pick can totally change the dynamics of how you sound and play. There are four crucial variables to consider: material, gauge, shape and finish or grip. The material sets a baseline for the overall feel—rigid or flexible, bright or warm—and the gauge allows you to adjust for feel and tonality within the natural range of that material.

Lighter gauges tend to be more flexible with a brighter sound, while thicker gauges tend to be more rigid with a warmer sound.

The shape is where you get to really focus on your playing style. Do you want clear and articulate notes for leads and solos? Try a shape with a sharper tip such as the Ultex® Sharp Pick. Want your chords to ring out with thickness and heft? Go with a broader tip such as that of the Nylon Standard Pick. If you want to choke up and play fast, choose a smaller, more aerodynamic pick such as the Jazz III Pick in one of its many variations. Modern designs such as Primetone® Picks and Flow® Picks go even farther with specially sculpted bevels that offer an unprecedentedly smooth attack and a wide range of tones.

Finally, how do you want your pick to feel in your hand? Some players love the peace of mind that a very pronounced grip provides—best exemplified by Nylon Max-Grip® and Prime Grip® Delrin Picks—but others prefer the more subtle textured surface of Tortex® Picks. The aforementioned Primetone and Flow Picks offer something of an in-between option with a very low-profile grip.

Your strings and picks can cover a whole lot of ground when it comes to tightening up your tone and technique. If something about your creative process is feeling stale or uninspired, try changing up your strings or your picks. Maybe you just need to find the right fit.

This is a small, no-frills pedalboard for players who like to keep it simple or for players who need a setup that’s ready to go when they get a last-minute call for a gig. It’s just enough to get you through the gig.

First, you need yourself a solid power source, and in this case, we recommend the Mini MXR® Iso-Brick™ Power Supply. It’s just the right size for our purposes, and it’ll provide more than enough juice. The first pedal in the chain is the MXR Phase 95, which gives you four different phase options in a mini housing for some nice texture and coloration to your tone. Next up is the MXR Super Badass® Distortion, a super versatile dirt box that covers a whole range from dirty boost to crushing distortion. Finally, the MXR Carbon Copy® Mini Delay provides those classic warm repeats and spatiality while keeping things tight and tidy on your pedalboard.

This pedalboard is all about covering the basics with just enough options to experiment and indulge your creativity. Here, we go with the MXR Iso-Brick Power Supply, which has more than enough outputs and the power to handle more demanding pedals. A staple of many genres, the vocal and expressive Cry Baby® Wah starts off this board’s chain. The MXR Dookie™ Drive Pedal comes next for your classic amp stack distortion sound, followed by the MXR Timmy® Overdrive for when you want a nice boost or just a little bit of grit in your tone. For iconic modulation sounds, we’re going with the MXR Analog Chorus, which gives you syrupy power ballad tones when clean or super textured and ethereal riffs when distorted. Finally, the Echoplex® Delay provides vintage tape echo sounds with a hi-fi analog dry path. We’ve got it connected to an MXR Tap Tempo Switch so that you can tap in your beat for the repeats to follow.

Alright, busy players, this one’s for you. Say you’ve got a Friday night gig with your cover band, a Saturday night gig for your original work band, and bright and early Sunday morning, you’re handling six-string duties at church. If you’re playing that many shows over a three-day span, you probably won’t want to spend your downtime swapping pedals in and out of your pedal chain. We put together a group of pedals that’s comprehensive enough to be more or less multi-purpose.

Once again, we’re powering our board with the MXR Iso-Brick Power Supply for its high number of outputs and its plentiful power. The CAE Wah goes first, providing two different wah voices—one warm, the other bright and aggressive—along with built-in boost circuit and controls to tailor the sound of the pedal to the needs of your gig. In the gain department, we’re bringing plenty of options. First, the MXR Octavio® Fuzz is for when you need to break out some sizzling, synth-like saturation. Next, the MXR EVH® 5150® Overdrive provides hyperdriven amp stack tones with a three-band EQ, a boost, and a noise gate so that you can have it the way you like it. The MXR Timmy Overdrive is back again to cover the inevitable need for impeccable sounding pedal overdrive, while the MXR Booster gives you a ton of extra gain with a little tonal sweet sauce on it for good measure. We chose the Way Huge® Supa-Puss™ Analog Delay for your time-based needs—it has a ton of features for customizing the tone and behavior of your repeats, including an onboard tap tempo switch. The MXR Reverb avails you of six different reverb styles, and when combined with the Supa-Puss Delay will take you way out there on Saturday night so that you can bring back the angelic atmospherics for Sunday. The last pedal in this chain is the Volume (X)™ Pedal for when the singer complains about how loud you are, or in case you want to control the Supa-Puss Delay pedal’s delay time.

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These are just starting points, and an infinite number of arrangements exist before, between, and after the three different examples in this article. As always, experiment with these suggestions to find the best solutions to your specific needs.