JHS Artificial Blonde – Madison Cunningham Artist Signature 2-Speed Vibrato Guitar Effect Pedal
When Madison recorded her second full-length album, Who You Are Now, her producer Tyler Chester had already contacted JHS about getting a few modulation pedals to develop her new foundational sound. Madison ended up using the JHS Emperor Vibrato and Unicorn Univibe on that record, which not only became fundamental to her sound. It became a signature sound.
Over the next few years, Madison and Josh became good friends, and he’d often stop by her concerts as an unofficial guitar tech. During a soundcheck in Lawrence, KS, Josh noticed that even though her Emperor was always on and in vibrato mode, Madison kept reaching down to switch the setting to another sound. Sensing an opportunity to make it easier to use during live shows, Josh first modded the pedal and then ended up developing an entirely new stompbox.
Thus, the Artificial Blonde was born.
Madison actually toured with the prototype for a full year (you may recognize it as the black nondescript stompbox labeled “Blonde”), but JHS is releasing it officially as the newest member of the JHS lineup and as Madison Cunningham’s signature pedal.
At its core, the Artificial Blonde is a very simplistic approach to Madison’s signature sound: a never off, always on slightly 3D pitch vibrato sound. The secondary footswitch switches between the two speed/depth preset sections. It’s a true pitch vibrato modulation pedal with two easy-to-access modes for live use. Out of all the signature pedals they’ve done, this is the most signature. Simply put, this is Madison Cunningham in a box: clean Fender-style amp, Jazzmaster electric guitar with flatwound strings tuned down, and a 3D wash of vibrato.
VOLUME - Controls the overall volume of the pedal. Left is less, right is more.
EQ - The EQ control is an active tilt EQ. Noon is flat. Turning to the left boosts lows and cuts highs, while turning to the right boosts highs and cuts lows.
SPEED - Controls the rate of the vibrato. Left is slower, right is faster.
DEPTH - Controls the depth of the vibrato. Left is less, right is more.
INPUT - 1/4” jack on the top right receives your instrument’s signal.
OUTPUT MONO/STEREO – 1/4” jack outputs. Use the MONO output for a mono signal path or use both the MONO and STEREO output jacks for a 3D stereo soundscape.
POWER - Uses 9V DC Negative Center. Do not use more than 9V DC. Damage may occur and your warranty will be voided.
BYPASS - Left footswitch turns the effect on and off. When off, the pedal is buffered bypass and both outputs pass the normal dry signal.
PRESET – Right footswitch changes the preset to A or B. On power up the default is preset B. Each preset has the same speed and depth range and allows you to create two different switchable settings.