• Subscribe
    • Franklin Living Magazine
    • Services
      • About Us
      • Subscribe
      • Policies
      • Terms of use
      • Submit a news tip
      • Submit a photo
      • Birth announcement
      • Birthday announcement
      • Engagement announcement
      • Wedding announcement
      • Submit a Classified Ad
      • Letter to the Editor
    • Classifieds
    • E-editions
    • Public Notices
      • Public Notices
      • Alabama Public Notices
    • Subscribe
    • Franklin Living Magazine
    • Services
      • About Us
      • Subscribe
      • Policies
      • Terms of use
      • Submit a news tip
      • Submit a photo
      • Birth announcement
      • Birthday announcement
      • Engagement announcement
      • Wedding announcement
      • Submit a Classified Ad
      • Letter to the Editor
    • Classifieds
    • E-editions
    • Public Notices
      • Public Notices
      • Alabama Public Notices

Franklin County Times
  • Home
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyles
  • Obituaries
  • Records
  • Subscribe
  • Services
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Policies
  • Terms of use
  • Submit a news tip
  • Submit a photo
  • Birth Announcement
  • Birthday announcement
  • Engagement announcement
  • Wedding announcement
  • Submit a Classified Ad
  • Letters to the Editor
  • Classifieds
  • Public Notices
    Franklin County Times
      • Site logo
      • Home
      • News
        • Russellville
        • Red Bay
        • Phil Campbell
        • Franklin County
        • Photo Galleries
        • Sponsored Content
      • Sports
        • Belgreen Bulldogs
        • Phil Campbell Bobcats
        • Red Bay Tigers
        • Russellville Golden Tigers
        • Tharptown Wildcats
        • Vina Red Devils
        • College Sports
        • Sports Columnists
      • Opinion
        • Letters to the Editor
        • Columnists
        • Editorials
      • Lifestyles
        • Birthdays
        • Births
        • Couples
        • Food
        • Features
      • Obituaries
      • Records
        • Sheriff’s Report
        • Marriages
        • Land Transactions
        • Police Reports
      • Special Sections
      • Site logo
      • Home
      • News
        • Russellville
        • Red Bay
        • Phil Campbell
        • Franklin County
        • Photo Galleries
        • Sponsored Content
      • Sports
        • Belgreen Bulldogs
        • Phil Campbell Bobcats
        • Red Bay Tigers
        • Russellville Golden Tigers
        • Tharptown Wildcats
        • Vina Red Devils
        • College Sports
        • Sports Columnists
      • Opinion
        • Letters to the Editor
        • Columnists
        • Editorials
      • Lifestyles
        • Birthdays
        • Births
        • Couples
        • Food
        • Features
      • Obituaries
      • Records
        • Sheriff’s Report
        • Marriages
        • Land Transactions
        • Police Reports
      • Special Sections
    Archives
     By  Staff Reports Published 
    5:12 pm Friday, August 28, 2009

    Belgreen grad making his way in music

    By Staff
    Sheena Barnett
    For the FCT
    Behind every great guitar player is a great guitar pedal maker.
    While pedals don't get the glory that guitars receive, they're just as an important part of music as the instrument itself. It's the guitar pedal that turns an ordinary guitar sound – called dry or straight – into something bigger, more distorted or unique.
    Most non-guitar players know them as the small boxes laid out in front of guitarists at a concert. Guitarists can turn a knob or stomp a button on the pedal and change the sound of their guitar.
    Tupelo, Miss., resident and Belgreen High School graduate Heath Scott hand-crafts pedals and modifies existing ones, and his business is starting to get as loud as the sounds his pedals make.
    Scott, 27, got his start in the pedal biz by playing music.
    "I was a typical kid; school got on my nerves," he said. "I started playing guitar in ninth grade…by 10th I had started my own band."
    After high school, he was a session and touring player for bands.
    When a pedal broke, he became interested in what made the small devices work.
    "I literally would sit about three hours a night, for years," tinkering with the circuitry in pedals. "I destroyed about 10, 20 pedals … I'd take a part out, put another part in and learn what it did."
    The more he practiced, the better he got, and he was finally able to go fulltime with his own pedal-making and modifying business, JHS Pedals, a few years ago.
    Scott has made pedals for the likes of the Black Crowes, Switchfoot, Dashboard Confessional and Wavorly, a Christian band based out of Tupelo, as well as a host of session players.
    "I hear stuff on the radio every two or three days that has my pedals on it," he said.
    The average price for a Scott-made pedal is about $150, but premium models can cost as much as $350.
    Blue wires, red wires
    Scott himself builds the guts of a pedal – the circuitry inside the box. He starts with a copper board and prints the circuits he needs and then places the board in acid. The acid eats away at the copper until the circuits he needs are left. He builds from there, connecting tiny blue, yellow and red wires to the knobs on the box.
    He oversees a staff of three – two fellow modifiers and one artist, who paints pedal boxes.
    He does it all in his small shop, dubbed the Pink Palace for its pink insulation lining the walls, located behind his house in Tupelo. It's in the Pink Palace where he makes, modifies and repairs pedals, as well as trains his employees and prepares pedals for shipping. Scott
    estimates he ships out about 35 pedals a week, all over the world.
    "They love me at the post office," he said, laughing. Orders are simple, he said.
    "They tell me what they want to hear and what they want it to look like," and he gets to work on them.
    Besides the huge pedal-making businesses, like Boss, there are few people who work at Scott's level – maybe 10 in the U.S.
    Still, "it's a surprisingly huge industry," he said. Besides guitarists, collectors also look for one-of-a-kind pedals to add to their collections, he said.
    And those major corporations don't mind if Scott takes one of their models and tweaks it.
    "There's no copyright in circuits," he said. "You buy a Honda Accord, you can do what you want with it."
    He'll also remake older model pedals.
    "I call them clones," he said.
    Every guitar, amp, pedal and player are different, and all mix differently together, which Scott finds interesting. He also loves how even his mistakes can be a blessing in disguise.
    "What's cool is when you think you built it right, but you built it wrong," he said.
    For example, he created a brown pedal he named the Charlie Brown. He made a mistake in the process of building one, and it sounded totally different than it should have. So he kept it, replaced the white knobs with red ones and dubbed it the Angry Charlie Brown.
    "And what's funny – I sell way more of the Angry Charlie Browns," he said. "That's the humbling factor."
    Word of mouth
    Scott has done no marketing for himself, besides his company's Web site and Twitter account. He sells pedals on eBay and relies on word of mouth.
    He's considering a few business opportunities to take JHS Pedals to the next level, but he wants to focus on making a quality product in a timely – and personal – fashion.
    The wait to get a JHS Pedal is anywhere from two weeks to a month. In making just one pedal, there may be several e-mails and phone conversations to go along with it, to ensure he makes just what the customer wants.
    Besides, he has fun crafting unique pedals for unique guitarists.
    "You can tell me to build a petal and put Ronald McDonald on it," he said, "and I'll do it."
    This story was written by Sheena Barnett of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo, Miss.

    Also on Franklin County Times
    4 honored duringRHS Performing Arts Signing Day
    Russellville Golden Tigers, Sports
    4 honored duringRHS Performing Arts Signing Day
    By Maria Camp camp@frankllncountytimes.com 
    May 28, 2025
    RUSSELLVILLE - Four Russellville High School graduates were honored during the annual Performing Arts Signing Day. Just as student-athletes commit to ...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}{"newsletter":"Newsletter"}
    West Elementary gets new assistant principal, adds math coach
    Main, News, Russellville, ...
    West Elementary gets new assistant principal, adds math coach
    María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
    May 28, 2025
    RUSSELLVILLE Gayla Mills has been named the new assistant principal for West Elementary School. She has been employed at West Elementary for 29 years ...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}{"newsletter":"Newsletter"}
    Delta Kappa Gamma welcomes new members
    Columnists, Opinion
    HERE AND NOW
    Delta Kappa Gamma welcomes new members
    May 28, 2025
    The Delta Kappa Gamma Alpha Upsilon Chapter recently held a banquet at North Highlands Church of Christ. Hostesses were Emily Rush, Cheri McCain, Leah...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}
    Father-son honored for heroic fire rescue
    Main, News, Z - News Main
    Father-son honored for heroic fire rescue
    María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
    May 28, 2025
    LITTLEVILLE – Without firefighting gear but armed with experience and courage, a father and son saved two strangers from a burning home – an act that ...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}{"newsletter":"Newsletter"}
    It’s time to usher in the Golden Age of America
    Columnists, Opinion
    It’s time to usher in the Golden Age of America
    May 28, 2025
    When I was growing up, most products at the store had a tag that said “Made in the USA.” These days, it’s more common to see things are “Made in China...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}
    Longtime Russellville coach Tim Townley retires
    Russellville Golden Tigers, Sports
    Longtime Russellville coach Tim Townley retires
    María Camp maria.camp@franklincountytimes.com 
    May 28, 2025
    RUSSELLVILLE -- VILLE - Tim Townley is getting ready to start a new chapter of life. After 38 years in the Russellville City School system as a coachf...
    {"epopulate_editorials_prism":"epopulate_editorials_prism"}{"newsletter":"Newsletter"}
    Vina School Class of 2025
    Franklin County, Galleries
    Vina School Class of 2025
    May 28, 2025
    Red Bay High School Class of 2025
    Galleries, Red Bay
    Red Bay High School Class of 2025
    May 28, 2025

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    ❮ ❯
    Latest Local News
    West Elementary gets new assistant principal, adds math coach
    West Elementary gets new assistant principal, adds math coach
    RUSSELLVILLE Gayla Mills has been named the new assistant principal for West Elementary School. She has been employed at West Elementary for 29 years ...
    May 28, 2025
    There’s still time to get your STAR ID
    RUSSELVILLE — Franklin County residents who don’t have the STAR ID added to their driver’s license could experience delays in airline travel until the...
    May 28, 2025
    Grand jury charges 5 with drug trafficking
    RUSSELLVILLE — A Franklin County grand jury has charged five people with various drugrelated charges, including drug trafficking, according to court r...
    May 28, 2025
    Father-son honored for heroic fire rescue
    Father-son honored for heroic fire rescue
    LITTLEVILLE – Without firefighting gear but armed with experience and courage, a father and son saved two strangers from a burning home – an act that ...
    May 28, 2025
    Vina School Class of 2025
    Vina School Class of 2025
    May 28, 2025

    More Local News

    Latest Stories
    Obituaries
    Roy Lee Gober May 20, 2025 Roy Lee Gober, 80, of Russellville, passed away May 20. Visitation was held May 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Spry Memorial Chapel...
    May 28, 2025
    Congratulations, Class of 2025,now go forth and conquer
    THE ISSUE: Graduations are more than formal ceremonies, they are a symbol of completion and progress. It’s a time to celebrate all you’ve been through...
    May 28, 2025
    Birthdays
    May 28 Mikaila Fuller Brad James Madi Willis Shawn Hines Jr. Brandy Bullock May 29 Amy Vandiver Chris Montgomery Chloe Erin Brown Jennifer Fugate Jani...
    May 28, 2025
    There’s still time to get your STAR ID
    RUSSELVILLE — Franklin County residents who don’t have the STAR ID added to their driver’s license could experience delays in airline travel until the...
    May 28, 2025
    Marriages
    May 5 • Timothy Wayne Gann to Jamie Lynnette Gann May 6 • Timothy Allen Baker to Sheila Ann Cornelison
    May 28, 2025
    Latest Sports
    4 honored duringRHS Performing Arts Signing Day
    4 honored duringRHS Performing Arts Signing Day
    RUSSELLVILLE - Four Russellville High School graduates were honored during the annual Performing Arts Signing Day. Just as student-athletes commit to ...
    May 28, 2025
    Longtime Russellville coach Tim Townley retires
    Longtime Russellville coach Tim Townley retires
    RUSSELLVILLE -- VILLE - Tim Townley is getting ready to start a new chapter of life. After 38 years in the Russellville City School system as a coachf...
    May 28, 2025
    Belgreen hopes state playoff run ‘builds confidence’ for future
    Belgreen hopes state playoff run ‘builds confidence’ for future
    OXFORD — The tears started when Belgreen gathered for the handshake line. They continued when the Bulldogs gathered their things and exited the dugout...
    May 21, 2025
    Bulldogs’ inspired run comes to end against Pisgah
    Bulldogs’ inspired run comes to end against Pisgah
    The Belgreen Bulldogs’ inspired run through the Class 2A state softball tournament came to an end in the Final Four last week, marking the culmination...
    May 21, 2025
    RHS tennis player selected for All Star match
    RHS tennis player selected for All Star match
    Russellville High School tennis player Lily Cate Pace has been selected to play in the North-South Tennis All Star Match, which will take place July 2...
    May 21, 2025

    More Sports Stories

    x

    Sections

    • Home
    • News
    • Sports
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyles
    • Obits
    • Special Sections
    • Sponsored Content
      • Home
      • News
      • Sports
      • Opinion
      • Lifestyles
      • Obits
      • Special Sections
      • Sponsored Content

    Services

    • About Us
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise With Us
    • Policies
    • Terms of use
    • Submit a news tip
    • Submit a photo
    • Birth announcement
    • Birthday announcement
    • Engagement announcement
    • Wedding announcement
    • Submit a Classified Ad
    • Letter to the Editor
    • Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter
      • About Us
      • Subscribe
      • Advertise With Us
      • Policies
      • Terms of use
      • Submit a news tip
      • Submit a photo
      • Birth announcement
      • Birthday announcement
      • Engagement announcement
      • Wedding announcement
      • Submit a Classified Ad
      • Letter to the Editor
      • Sign Up For Our Free Newsletter

    Follow Us

    Copyright

    © , Franklin County Times