John Achenbach is a storyboard artist and animation professional with a long history on The Simpsons, and a guitarist and musician1. Rather than a performing player with a rig rundown, he is known in the pedal world as an artist: his friendship with JAM Pedals maker JAM grew out of mutual respect for what each of them does, and it produced the Achenbach Series, a limited run of JAM pedals reimagined through his artwork23.
The Achenbach Series
JAM Pedals describes the series plainly: the Achenbach Series is the result of a loving friendship that developed through the years out of mutual respect for what each of them does2. Each pedal in the line is an existing JAM circuit dressed in Achenbach's character artwork, and in the case of the Harmonious Monk mk.2 the maker states the Achenbach version sounds the same as the other artwork versions of that pedal, the "Arachnid", "Beast", "Cactus Totem" and "Relic" mk.24.
The range covers many of JAM's circuits:
| Pedal | What it is |
|---|---|
| "Achenbach" WaterFall | JAM's chorus/vibrato, reimagined through Achenbach's artwork5 |
| "Achenbach" Dyna-ssoR | JAM's smooth, vintage-voiced compressor, reimagined through his artwork6 |
| "Achenbach" Harmonious Monk mk.2 | JAM's harmonic and amplitude tremolo, reimagined through his artwork4 |
| "Achenbach" Rattler and Rattler ltd | JAM's distortion pedal with Achenbach artwork78 |
| "Achenbach" Fuzz Phrase Si | Part of the Achenbach Series, with artwork by Achenbach9 |
| "Achenbach" Boomster mk.2 | A collaboration with Achenbach within the series10 |
| "Achenbach" Lucydreamer and Lucydreamer Bass | Series versions of the Lucydreamer211 |
| "Achenbach" Double Dreamer, Eureka, CE-BFcTaurus and CE-BFcTaurus NOS, Rattler Bass mk.2 | Further pedals in the series121311411 |
The series also extends to Eureka variants carrying Achenbach's artwork, including the Silver Sky Eureka, the Lilac Window Eureka, the Triocolore Eureka and the Aw Man Jay Leonard J limited Eureka15161718.
Where the artwork comes from
Achenbach has explained his design inspiration in his own words on a JAM Pedals product page, using the Achenbach Series Tubedreamer as an example. He researched the first amplifier tubes to design a JAM Pedals character, and found a Fleming tube from 1904; a photograph of a virus under an electron microscope also fed into the character designs199.
"For inspiration, I researched the first amplifier tubes to design a JAM pedals character and found this Fleming tube from 1904."
The result is a family of overdrive, fuzz, chorus, compressor, tremolo and bass pedals that share one artist's visual world, each built on the JAM circuit underneath it564911.
Questions
Who is John Achenbach?
John Achenbach is a storyboard artist and animation professional with a long history on The Simpsons, and a guitarist and musician. Through a friendship with JAM Pedals built on mutual respect, he became the artist behind the Achenbach Series, a limited run of JAM pedals carrying his character artwork.
Did John Achenbach work on The Simpsons?
Yes. JAM Pedals describes him as a storyboard artist and animation professional with a long history on the show, and several of his pedal pages for the maker call him a Simpsons artist. His connection to the show is also how the maker introduces the artwork behind the Achenbach Series.
What pedal is John Achenbach associated with?
He is associated with the Achenbach Series, a limited artwork pedal series from JAM Pedals. It spans versions of the Rattler, WaterFall, Dyna-ssoR, Harmonious Monk mk.2, Boomster mk.2, Lucydreamer, Fuzz Phrase Si, Double Dreamer, Eureka and other JAM designs, each reimagined through his artwork.
What inspired the design of John Achenbach's pedal?
Achenbach says he researched the first amplifier tubes to design a JAM Pedals character and found a Fleming tube from 1904, and also drew on a photograph of a virus under an electron microscope. He used the Achenbach Series Tubedreamer as an example of the approach.
Sources (19)
- “Achenbach” Octaurus, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Lucydreamer, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Ripple Bass, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Harmonious Monk mk.2, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” WaterFall, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Dyna-ssoR, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Rattler mk2., JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Rattler ltd, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Fuzz Phrase Si (silicon fuzz), JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Boomster mk.2, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Lucydreamer Bass, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Double Dreamer, JAM Pedals (www.jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Eureka!, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Octaurus NOS, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- "Silver Sky" Eureka!, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- “Lilac Window” Eureka!, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- "Triocolore" Eureka!, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- "Aww Man!" JLJ Eureka!, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)
- “Achenbach” Rattler Bass mk.2, JAM Pedals (jampedals.com)