Paul Gilbert

Paul Gilbert is a guitarist known for his technical playing with Racer X and Mr. Big and a long solo career, and he was voted number 4 on GuitarOne magazine's list of the "Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shredders of All Time"¹². For players interested in effects, he is a useful artist to follow because his approach is specific: a clean amp, distortion from pedals, and a small set of signature boxes designed around his own ears, which is a story in itself.

The sound Paul Gilbert is known for

Gilbert's tone is often associated with slightly pushed mid frequency profiles, and Guitar Pedal X noted that it makes sense his signature distortion is tailored around those principles⁹. His influences run back to fast players: he says he was 11 when he got the first Van Halen album and Frank Marino and Mahogany Rush Live for Christmas, and both those players were fast and really good, so he wanted to do what they did³. He also grew up listening to Alex Lifeson, and he has placed chorus before distortion for over 40 years, following what he believed Lifeson did³.

One of the more unusual threads in his sound story is his hearing. JHS states plainly that "Paul has extreme hearing loss at certain frequencies"¹⁰, a result of tinnitus¹¹. That condition shaped the design of his signature pedal, and it explains why a mid-focused distortion ended up being his project rather than a fuzz or a boost.

His earliest sound memory, told in the JHS introduction video, involves a childhood amp that could not keep up: he plugged in a guitar with a high output pickup, like a super distortion, and the amp shut off because it could not handle the power, then faded back in³. That struggling, fading response is what he later wanted recaptured in a pedal: the feeling of an amp sagging because it could not handle the signal³.

Amp distortion or pedals?

Gilbert runs his amp clean and takes distortion from pedals. In an October 2019 session with Martin Miller, he detailed the whole chain:

Gilbert's own answer to the amp-versus-pedals question has shifted toward pedals. For his signature overdrive with JHS Pedals, the PG-14 released in 2020, he drew on two existing JHS circuits he already used, the Superbolt and the Haunting Mids, and the two were combined and tweaked to push the frequencies his hearing loss affects. On That Pedal Show, Josh Scott explained the thinking: "he loved the super bolt and he loved the haunting mids and he has really extreme hearing loss and we combined this and then tweaked them in a way where it pushes those frequencies"⁸. Guitar World described the PG-14 as an amp-like pedal, and the design speaks to Gilbert's practical view of distortion: rather than relying on a cranked amp, he shapes gain at the pedalboard, in his case around a very specific need, since he has extreme hearing loss at certain frequencies due to tinnitus⁸.

That Instagram post, answering a fan's question about his amp, is what confirmed a JHS signature overdrive was in the works⁸. Guitar World had also noted that with his album Behold Electric Guitar out, his pedalboard appeared to be undergoing an overhaul⁸.

His board has changed over the years. Guitar Pedal X observed that he is not readily connected to specific effects pedals, that like most players he tends to chop and change regularly, and that besides the MojoMojo mainstay an assortment of Catalinbread, JHS, MXR, Supro and Xotic Effects pedals has been seen over the years⁹. Guitar World published a rig rundown video in December 2017 in which Gilbert, guitarist of Mr. Big, toured his live rig for the band's show at the Budokan in Tokyo, showing his pedals and how exactly he uses them¹². A 2008 rig rundown from the Guitar.com archives documents an earlier snapshot of his guitars, amps and pedals¹³.

On the compression side, Gilbert has demoed the Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone Micro pedal, explaining how he uses its compression to help him make his "Rock Face"¹⁴.

Signature pedals

Gilbert's signature pedals span overdrive, distortion, EQ, flanger and fuzz. Here they are side by side:

The JHS PG-14

The PG-14, introduced by JHS in January 2020, is a distortion pedal designed to Paul Gilbert's specifications³²⁰. Press coverage describes it variously as a distortion pedal, a tube-like FET overdrive, and a distortion and overdrive pedal that adds a dirt channel to your amplifier⁴¹⁵²¹. The name is simple: PG-14 stands for Paul Gilbert 14, his shoe size, which is why a shoe icon appears on the pedal²².

The circuit has a specific origin. Josh Scott of JHS explains that Gilbert has extreme hearing loss in certain frequencies, and that when they discussed doing a signature circuit, Gilbert had always searched for versatility and a push in certain frequencies related to his hearing. The pedal was derived from two existing JHS circuits, the SuperBolt and the Haunting Mids: the volume, tone and drive controls come from the SuperBolt side, with the Haunting Mids, a mid-range tone manipulator that is one of Gilbert's favorite stomps, folded in¹¹²³. Scott says Gilbert sent his actual hearing chart, and they used real frequency curves to shape the pedal²². Gilbert's response to hearing the result was that it was like having a therapy dog for his ears²².

What he likes about how it behaves is the sag. Scott says Gilbert loves the pedal because as you start pushing it, the FETs in the drive section give up and sag like a tube amp, and Gilbert describes wanting that suffering-amp quality made dialable so it sounds good in a real rock and roll situation¹¹. Gilbert's own verdict on its range: "It has more variety of how it sounds and how it feels than any distortion pedal I've ever played through"⁴. Scott calls it "the ultimate dirt channel box for a clean amp"⁴.

Published reviews were positive. GuitarPlayer's Art Thompson wrote that "Paul Gilbert's signature overdrive pedal is compact, powerful and a blast to play, and earns an Editor's Pick award"²⁴. Pedal of the Day described it as a unique distortion and overdrive pedal designed specifically to Paul's specs²¹¹⁸.

A demo worth watching, in which Scott walks through the circuit and Gilbert joins by phone:

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In that video Scott says that of all the JHS pedals he has released, the PG-14 does so many things that no single demo could show it all, and that while it can sound just like Paul Gilbert, it does a whole lot more¹¹.

The TC Electronic MojoMojo and the Paul Gilbert Edition

Gilbert's connection to the MojoMojo runs long: he has been a long-time user of the pedal, though he always used the same voice setting on the original⁵. TC Electronic and Gilbert later put their heads together on a high-gain signature version of the MojoMojo overdrive, the MojoMojo Paul Gilbert Edition⁵.

He uses it with the same settings always, and he still uses it even in conjunction with the PG-14¹⁸³. Gearnews noted in 2020 that he had one on his pedalboard to this day⁶, and Josh Scott called it a pedal Gilbert uses extensively to get his drive tones²⁵.

That association led to a signature edition. TC Electronic asked Gilbert to work on a special edition of the pedal bearing his name¹, and the result, the MojoMojo Paul Gilbert Overdrive, is a high-gain signature version designed to reproduce the same tone Gilbert uses on his own personal MojoMojo⁵¹⁸. Because Paul always uses the same settings on his MojoMojo, there was no need for the Voice switch found on the original version; it was swapped for a new Eleven toggle¹⁸²⁶. Pedal of the Day reviewed the edition in August 2024, noting it is built on the MojoMojo circuit with the 11 switch replacing the Voice switch and a stepped-up circuit board voltage²⁷.

The HomeBrew Detox EQ

The Detox EQ, from US firm Homebrew Electronics, is a Paul Gilbert signature pedal with a party piece: it can turn a distorted rock sound into a clean sound¹⁷. MusicRadar, reviewing it alongside the Mad Professor Evolution Orange Underdrive, describes it as an underdrive-style pedal doing a similar job¹⁶. Where a normal drive pedal pushes an amp harder, an underdrive-style box pulls the input back so a dirty amp cleans up, which suits a player like Gilbert who builds his sound from pedals in front of a clean amp. Guitar World listed the Detox EQ among his earlier collaborations, alongside the Ibanez Airplane Flanger⁸.

Other signature pedals

Before the PG-14, Gilbert had a signature flanger with Ibanez, the AF2 Airplane Flanger¹⁵⁹. On the fuzz side, the Majik Box Paul Gilbert Fuzz Universe was developed for Gilbert by combining the Majik Box Body Blow, set to Paul's favorite settings (Modern voicing and a bassier low-cut, plus a custom tone control sweep), with the Majik Box Venom Boost¹⁹.

Modulation on the board: the JAM RetroVibe

Gilbert's modulation pedal is the JAM Pedals RetroVibe, and JAM Pedals says it is proud that the RetroVibe has found a home on his pedalboard, with Gilbert part of the JAM pedals family². The RetroVibe is JAM's version of the classic Univibe circuit, and on That Pedal Show the makers explained that the original goal was to achieve the sound of a vintage Univibe, after which they took it a few steps further, using photocells as the pulsating life source of its unique and recognizable stage phasing sound, along with 2SC828 transistors and carbon comp resistors⁷.

Gilbert's endorsement, quoted by JAM Pedals, covers the practical details a working player cares about:

The RetroVibe mk.4 is listed with Gilbert among its players, and the hand-painted mk.4 editions include "Paths", "Popped Art", "Camper" and "Fishbone", plus a B-stock listing^293031323334. For players chasing that part of his board, the RetroVibe sits in the vibrato and phaser family of sounds, and Gilbert's own history with the effect goes back further: he says he has always had chorus after distortion, though he also still runs one before it, a habit traced to Alex Lifeson³.

Guitars and the rest of the rig

Gilbert is an Ibanez endorsee⁸. On the Werewolves Of Portland album sessions he used a variety of his signature Ibanez Fireman models and vintage Ibanez electrics including the Artist, Roadstar II and Ghostrider⁵. He also brought and modified a '60s Epiphone Olympic, a guitar he used to play in the early days of Racer X⁵. In the JHS video he plays his signature FRM300, which has magnets installed to hold metal slides¹¹. Guitar World also flagged Yamaha's tiny THR5 desktop amp as his other secret weapon⁸.

Taken together, the picture is consistent: a clean amp, a mid-focused FET distortion built around his own hearing, a long-trusted overdrive, and a Univibe-style pedal for modulation, with the rest of the board changing as his projects do.

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