- 5/29/2025
Become a member (it's FREE) at https://digtb.us/signup
Buy official DTB merch at http://digtb.us/merch
On this episode of DTB’s “Gear Masters”, Jepha Howard, bassist of the rock band, The Used, shows off the gear that he uses onstage, while on the band's "25 Year Anniversary Tour." The Used is currently supporting their newest album, MEDZ.
PLAY THE SAME GEAR:
Fodera Emperor II Elite 5-String Bass - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/xLXj4d
Fodera Custom P/J 5-String Bass - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/DyAZXo
F Bass BN5 5-String Bass - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/raeq65
Darkglass Microtubes X Pre-Amp - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/kOQ1Bn
Darkglass Vintage Deluxe Pre-Amp - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/e1J5VD
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/GKo4zr
Electro-Harmonix Bassballs Nano Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/19oMqa
ISP Decimator - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/VxRvra
MXR Smart Gate - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Z6JvkQ
TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/gOLezO
Trickfish Bullhead 1K Bass Amp - https://www.trickfishamps.com/shop/bullhead-1k/
Orange OB1-500 Bass Amp - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/XmovP4
Monster Power PRO 2500 PowerCenter Conditioner - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/o4Pg2n
DR Pure Blues (.045–.130) Strings - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/09XMrP
Trickfish 410 Cabinets - https://www.trickfishamps.com/shop/tf410/
BackBeat Bass Monitor - https://getbackbeat.myshopify.com/products/backbeat-g2
VIDEO INFO:
Film Date - April 26, 2025
Location - House of Blues in Chicago, IL
KEEP UP WITH THE USED:
Facebook - https://facebook.com/TheUsed
Instagram - https://instagram.com/theused
Twitter - https://twitter.com/WeAreTheUsed
FOLLOW US:
Website/Email List - https://www.digitaltourbus.com/#/portal/signup
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/digitaltourbus
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/digitaltourbus/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@digitaltourbus
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltourbus/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/digitaltourbus
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/digitaltourbus/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-tour-bus-llc
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/user/digitaltourbus
VIDEO SUMMARY:
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Bass Guitars
09:38 Amps & Cabinets
12:44 Pedalboard
ABOUT DIGITAL TOUR BUS:
Digital Tour Bus is your backstage pass to your favorite touring artists! With daily video releases, we cover all genres, and have had the pleasure of featuring the likes of Matchbox Twenty, Twenty One Pilots, Megadeth, Machine Gun Kelly, Papa Roach, and thousands of others, over the past 15 years. "Bus Invaders" takes you inside an artist's home on the road, "Cooking at 65mph" showcases the culinary skills of artists on tour, and "Gear Masters" unveils the equipment musicians use on stage.
Affiliate Disclosure:
Some of the links in this description are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you make a purchase. Your support helps me contin
Buy official DTB merch at http://digtb.us/merch
On this episode of DTB’s “Gear Masters”, Jepha Howard, bassist of the rock band, The Used, shows off the gear that he uses onstage, while on the band's "25 Year Anniversary Tour." The Used is currently supporting their newest album, MEDZ.
PLAY THE SAME GEAR:
Fodera Emperor II Elite 5-String Bass - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/xLXj4d
Fodera Custom P/J 5-String Bass - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/DyAZXo
F Bass BN5 5-String Bass - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/raeq65
Darkglass Microtubes X Pre-Amp - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/kOQ1Bn
Darkglass Vintage Deluxe Pre-Amp - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/e1J5VD
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/GKo4zr
Electro-Harmonix Bassballs Nano Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/19oMqa
ISP Decimator - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/VxRvra
MXR Smart Gate - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/Z6JvkQ
TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir Pedal - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/gOLezO
Trickfish Bullhead 1K Bass Amp - https://www.trickfishamps.com/shop/bullhead-1k/
Orange OB1-500 Bass Amp - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/XmovP4
Monster Power PRO 2500 PowerCenter Conditioner - https://guitar-center.pxf.io/o4Pg2n
DR Pure Blues (.045–.130) Strings - https://sweetwater.sjv.io/09XMrP
Trickfish 410 Cabinets - https://www.trickfishamps.com/shop/tf410/
BackBeat Bass Monitor - https://getbackbeat.myshopify.com/products/backbeat-g2
VIDEO INFO:
Film Date - April 26, 2025
Location - House of Blues in Chicago, IL
KEEP UP WITH THE USED:
Facebook - https://facebook.com/TheUsed
Instagram - https://instagram.com/theused
Twitter - https://twitter.com/WeAreTheUsed
FOLLOW US:
Website/Email List - https://www.digitaltourbus.com/#/portal/signup
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/digitaltourbus
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/digitaltourbus/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@digitaltourbus
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/digitaltourbus/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/digitaltourbus
Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/digitaltourbus/
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/digital-tour-bus-llc
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/user/digitaltourbus
VIDEO SUMMARY:
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Bass Guitars
09:38 Amps & Cabinets
12:44 Pedalboard
ABOUT DIGITAL TOUR BUS:
Digital Tour Bus is your backstage pass to your favorite touring artists! With daily video releases, we cover all genres, and have had the pleasure of featuring the likes of Matchbox Twenty, Twenty One Pilots, Megadeth, Machine Gun Kelly, Papa Roach, and thousands of others, over the past 15 years. "Bus Invaders" takes you inside an artist's home on the road, "Cooking at 65mph" showcases the culinary skills of artists on tour, and "Gear Masters" unveils the equipment musicians use on stage.
Affiliate Disclosure:
Some of the links in this description are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you if you make a purchase. Your support helps me contin
Category
🎵
MusicTranscript
00:00Hey guys, what's up? Jeff from The Used. I'm here to show you some of my gear, which is very exciting.
00:16We're gonna go to my favorite thing that I have ever purchased in my entire life.
00:21This is my Fidera.
00:24Fucking perfect base.
00:27Let's see, it's Emperor 2 Elite.
00:34So it's an Emperor 2 Elite.
00:37This is a very fancy, fancy, fancy, fancy-ass base.
00:42Mahogany wood, flame maple, three-piece maple neck.
00:48I was gonna get rosewood, but I got this Palfaro, which is kind of a mix between the two tones,
00:55which I kind of prefer.
00:57Holly inlays too, check this out.
00:59So holly might be one of my favorite woods.
01:02So it looks like it would be shell or something, but it is definitely wood through that.
01:06You can tell.
01:07Even the F on top is half holly.
01:10This is a very nice base, man.
01:12So the best thing about this base, obviously this big horn up here helps the low end resonate through the B,
01:18which is really cool.
01:19I'm tuned regular too, so it's just, I don't have to think too much, you know?
01:23Also, I got a drop tune on here, just in case I wanted to hit a low A-bomb for something, which is nice.
01:29So actually, one good thing is these are Garrison-style pickups too, so it's kind of a little bit more in.
01:34So it's like, you know, like jazz style, but a little bit closer in, so it gets a better tone.
01:39I think it's closer actually, I'm kind of an idiot.
01:42It's just the placement is a lot better, so we'll use that.
01:46Yeah, so dialing it in, we started, so this is, it's got an active passive switch, and it has a singular double coil.
01:54So if I wanted to be more like a jazz or like a, you know, a little bit beefier, I can do both.
01:59I usually keep it on both, because I like the extra low end from all of it.
02:03And we used to do, we used to do active, and did some like high mids with some kind of like tone row back a little bit.
02:12So it kind of like punched more.
02:14But honestly, I'm a sucker for like, I don't really like digital, I like analog, I like everything kind of old school sounding.
02:21So more so now, everything I'm doing is all passive.
02:25I just think it sounds, it feels better for me to play passive, you know?
02:30Like the brights aren't as bright, and the lows aren't as low, so it kind of makes a little more round tone to me.
02:34Which I really love, it's more than anything.
02:37So basically, everything is flat now.
02:40The only thing I use is the tone knob, and the tone knob is all the way down.
02:43Sometimes during the set, like I'll kind of roll it in if I want a little bit extra like, you know, a little bit extra presence or no whatnot.
02:50If I'm using overdrive too, I'll dial it up, sometimes quite a bit depending.
02:53Or actually sometimes the opposite too, if the tone's really aggressive, I'll kind of roll it back.
02:58I used to fiddle with my mids during the show, which would fuck the sound guy up, so that's a big problem.
03:05But now I just, it was bad too.
03:07Now I just fuck with the tone knob a little bit, just giving extra girth and whatnot.
03:11That's about it, this is honestly, oh yeah, strings, I use pure blue DR strings.
03:19I've used DR for probably 20 plus years now.
03:23Like I love DR, but these are my favorite actual DR strings.
03:29Like the pure blues, pure blues.
03:31It feels like, it almost feels like they're worn in already, but they still are bright.
03:35And they last like forever, like the bright tone lasts.
03:37I'm not just kissing their ass right now because I like the people there.
03:40I really actually love these strings, man.
03:43Yeah, those are great.
03:44I think I'm 125 or is it 130?
03:46130 now, that's right.
03:47130.
03:48Yeah.
03:49So 130 is 45, it's like kind of basic.
03:52Which is really nice with the low too, especially since I do that drop A sometimes.
03:56I'll drop it, so it's kind of like a drop tuning stuff, which is really nice.
04:00It still holds very steady.
04:01Right?
04:02It still holds steady.
04:03This is a 35 inch scale too, which actually helps with the low end and the low B and the
04:08low A if I want to.
04:09So it all kind of works together with this big horn up here too.
04:14And it helps cover me so I can kind of hide a little bit more.
04:17You know what I mean?
04:18So I'm kind of an introvert, so this really helps me, you know?
04:22And yes, I play it really high.
04:24I know, it's very high.
04:25So this is the heaviest thing on earth.
04:27Like I said before, this bass is, it's mahogany.
04:29And mahogany is like super heavy, which is really nice on the back.
04:34So the addition of something else I really wanted was this.
04:38It's called a backbeat.
04:40Okay?
04:41And it's sort of like, well it is, like drummers have a butt kicker.
04:45It's a butt kicker pretty much for bass.
04:47So it hangs on my back and it rumbles semi in the frequency of what I'm trying to play,
04:51you know?
04:52So if you're playing like a cement stage or something and you can't really feel your calves,
04:57which is kind of a bummer, this helps me feel like I'm hitting the note.
05:02Or if I can't hear myself, it helps me feel like I'm actually playing and not just,
05:06you know, touching the strings, which every little...
05:09For me, like I said, I'm like analog and I like to feel things and I want things to be there
05:13and I want to exist and stuff.
05:14And so for me, any kind of presence that holds me into the reality of actually playing
05:19really helps me out.
05:20And so this thing has been like fucking blessing to have for me, you know?
05:25But it does add an extra five pounds.
05:27So I'm looking at like a 110 pound bass right here, which is really nice.
05:32But it makes it all worth it for me.
05:35So basically, I use this for everything.
05:38I don't change basses.
05:39I transpose everything because we have a bunch of different tunings.
05:41I just stick with the one bass because I like...
05:43Like I said, I don't change the tunings because I like the action the way it is.
05:47I like the tension the way it is.
05:49I don't like playing...
05:50I will.
05:51I mean, I do the drop on this and, you know, change the tension a little bit.
05:54But as a whole, I don't really like changing that.
05:57I like to keep it as it is so I can feel it as it's supposed to be and kind of get into it.
06:02But I do have other basses that I use occasionally.
06:07Before I...
06:09So it took me two years to get this bass, which is a long time.
06:12This is Buckeye Burl, which is very fancy.
06:15Fancy wood.
06:17I picked this out.
06:18It took me forever to get this too.
06:20Because it takes about two years to get one of these built, right?
06:22You put like a deposit down and then you tell them all the specs you want.
06:25And they kind of go over it and make sure it fits the vibe of what you want to do.
06:27Like I really appreciate these guys.
06:29But for the top here, this Buckeye, I had a Buckeye, different Buckeye picked out.
06:34And I just kept switching between them.
06:36And then like, I would say like a month before it was ready to be started to build,
06:40he sent me a bunch of new Buckeyes.
06:42And this one right here, I was like, are you fucking kidding me?
06:44Like, that's it!
06:45I got so excited about it because I felt like I've been waiting for years to get like the perfect top.
06:49You know what I mean?
06:50And yeah, and that's it.
06:52I'm so happy with it.
06:53It looks just like my dog, which is even cooler.
06:55Yes, my dog looks just like that.
06:57I'll show you a picture later.
06:58But before this base, I was using this Federa, which is very nice too.
07:04I can't give you the wood specs on this guy, but definitely the Palfaro neck too, which is nice.
07:12It looks like three piece maple.
07:14And this one's a little fucked up because I'm very clumsy.
07:18And I swear a lot too.
07:20I'm sorry about that.
07:21It's a different body shape.
07:23It is not an Emperor 2.
07:26I can't remember what this one is exactly.
07:28It's been a while.
07:30This one's very similar.
07:31All kind of the same specs.
07:32The difference between these two is this has a high and low.
07:35My new one has a high and low mid, and this one does not.
07:38This one just has a one mid.
07:40But same thing, active, passive, all the fun stuff, tone knob.
07:44Very, very similar.
07:45I don't think it's a Garrison style pickup.
07:47I think this is just regular.
07:48Yeah, see, it's regular jazz pickups on this one.
07:50See how the middle is twice.
07:52It's almost like an inch, inch and a half difference.
07:55Which I like because this one helps get that little bit low end punch a little bit more.
08:01Yeah.
08:02Very nice.
08:03Very fun.
08:06Before I got this, or before I got this one, this was my favorite bass that I've ever owned.
08:10So it's nice to upgrade it to this.
08:13Here is, so I don't use any of these other basses.
08:16I'm just showing you for fun right now.
08:17This is an F bass that I custom built too.
08:22Which, that's what these companies do.
08:25Same thing, mahogany, which is, you know, some of the best wood.
08:28I can't remember if this is maple.
08:30It looks like it.
08:31I kind of like jazz basses too a lot.
08:34So I like to get some specs of jazz going on.
08:37Kind of similar.
08:38This is a very fun neck.
08:39It is a, what is it called?
08:41PME.
08:42Helmut Ebony.
08:43I'm sure there's another name for it, but that's what they call it.
08:45PMEs.
08:46Which is really fun.
08:47It's kind of a hot, brighter tone compared to this guy.
08:50You know, which is still nice.
08:52I don't use this at all except for warming up, but my favorite drink in the world is
08:59matcha and you can probably see that.
09:01That's why I picked this color actually.
09:03Yes, it's true.
09:04I pick things based off things of my life.
09:07My dog, matcha.
09:08You got strings.
09:09You got this.
09:10I don't use picks and I will never use picks.
09:13Here we go.
09:17So, this has evolved.
09:20And thanks to Connor, Connor, my tech Connor has, he's really shaped out some of my tones.
09:27Cause I'm really bad at getting tones because I over focus and I over think and so I kind
09:31of screw things up.
09:32So here's my heads.
09:33Let's see if I can bend over cause I fucked my back up.
09:36Oh, kidding.
09:39It's not that bad.
09:41Um, so here's my heads right now.
09:44I switch stuff up a lot, but at the moment, this is what I'm using.
09:48I have a trick fish.
09:49It's a, let's see, Bulwark.
09:51Yeah.
09:52Bulwark, uh, 1000, I think.
09:56This is my favorite head that I've ever owned.
09:57I'm not going to lie.
09:59It is fucking awesome.
10:00I use trick fish cabs too.
10:02I have two 410s, which I usually have, uh, fuck.
10:07Before I switched to trick fish, I was using Aguilar and I had one 410, one, sorry, one
10:13810 and one 412.
10:14You know, I really liked 12s a lot.
10:16That's the only thing that I changed up that I need to get back is, um, a set of 412s.
10:21I think 12s kind of have the best overall tone for bass, but that's a different story.
10:26Anyway, I switched over to trick fish and I've never been happier.
10:29Um, but also along that journey from switching from Aguilar to trick fish, I was trying orange
10:34out.
10:35And I do love this head, the OB1500.
10:37It's, it's a great head.
10:38Um, I was using the overdrive from it for a long time until I just semi recently switched
10:45back to, um, some other pedals that I used to use.
10:50Um, the dark glass pedals.
10:51I'm back into dark glass again.
10:52I love dark glass.
10:53They're great pedals.
10:54We'll talk about that in a second, but yes, I have this, um, orange OB5, OB1500.
11:00Um, I was running this through, uh, well, I was supposed to be running this through two
11:0715s, overkill a little bit.
11:09And this was supposed to go through four, two 410s.
11:12But honestly, the, the 410s, the trick fish 410s are loud enough and strong enough and
11:18ballsy enough that two 410s are more than enough on stage.
11:21They're just, they're incredible.
11:22They're incredible.
11:23Actually one 410 is probably good enough on stage.
11:25That's how nice they are.
11:26I'm really a trick trick trick fish fan.
11:29What I'm planning to do in the future actually is sorry, orange.
11:32What I'm planning to do in the future is get another trick fish head, probably the same
11:35one.
11:36Although they do have a 3000 watt head that I'm really interested in.
11:39You can power three cabs with it, which is kind of exciting, but there's no room for
11:44it really.
11:45So I'll probably just get another one of these guys.
11:47And, um, well, so what I do with this, what we do with this is what Connor does with this
11:55is, um, so my trick fish is, um, pre.
12:00So all my pre sound comes out of this and the orange is post.
12:04So all my overdrives and everything come out of the orange head.
12:09And so what that does basically for me, um, it gives me, well I have three signals cause
12:13I also have a direct signal.
12:14So I have all three going to front of house.
12:16So if he wants to blend my overdrive or my clean or my dirty tone together or my, um,
12:21uh, whatever you call it, um, DI tone, you can blend all three together according to whatever
12:27sounds better to him out front, you know, which is good for me too.
12:30Cause on stage then I can blend all three in my ears to make it sound how I want to sound
12:34on stage.
12:35Yeah.
12:36And so, um, that leads back to my pedals now.
12:39So like I said, I used to use, um, what would you even call it?
12:44It's just the, yeah, the overdrive that comes with the orange OB one 500, which used to be
12:51my main overdrive head for a minute there until, like I said, I went back to dark glass and these
12:55are actually my older dark glass pedals.
12:57But at the moment I'm going through a micro tubes X, which is the sick pedal of course,
13:02and the vintage deluxe.
13:03Cause sometimes there's some songs where I want overkill overdrive.
13:07I want it to be disgusting and like dirty and just fuzzy and the kind of hard to get, you
13:12know, understand what's happening.
13:14And then there's other songs that I just wanted to be gritty, you know, because we
13:17do only have one guitar player.
13:18So sometimes it's nice to kind of blend in with the guitar a little bit.
13:23And so that's why I mostly use these guys.
13:25And the rest of the stuff up here is mostly for fun.
13:28This is my favorite pedal I've ever owned in my entire life.
13:31The electro harmonics pog.
13:33I only use this at sound check to fuck around.
13:36And actually I do on, um, when I can throw it in the set, I throw it in the set.
13:42Um, take it away.
13:43I play it on the bridge, you know, and that's only because I really want to use it as much
13:46as I can.
13:47So I forced myself to try to find a way to use it.
13:49This is also fun too.
13:50The Qtron electro harmonics battle.
13:52Same kind of thing.
13:53I grew up with a lot of funk.
13:54So it's really fun to have funky stuff.
13:56And then some two suppressors up here.
13:59I forget.
14:00ISP and the MXR.
14:03One noise suppressor taking care of input signal.
14:06And then the MXR is taking care of any extra buzz that the distortion pedals might create.
14:12Which is nice because I probably buzz a lot, I'm sure.
14:15Especially with this guy.
14:16So this guy's, uh, sometime was getting a lot of signal.
14:19Maybe it was going through.
14:21It was getting a lot of outside signals and stuff.
14:25But not anymore.
14:26I don't buzz at all.
14:28Thanks to that.
14:29And this is for tuning.
14:31Which sometimes I need to do and I don't realize it.
14:34This is the bass that looks like my best friend.
14:36Okay.
14:37We'll show you that in a minute.
14:38Okay.
14:39But I wanted to say thanks guys for checking all my gear out.
14:41Thanks for checking my favorite bass in the world out.
14:43Thanks for checking my favorite strings out.
14:45And my favorite fucking gear out.
14:47And it's so exciting.
14:48And hopefully you're coming to the show tonight.
14:50I know I am.
14:51Um, we have a fall tour that just got announced.
14:54Which is the second leg of the tour that we are currently on.
14:57It'd be awesome to see you there.
14:59If not, I will be there.
15:03Check our website out.
15:04Theuse.net.
15:05I'm on Instagram.
15:07Come say hi.
15:08Virtual Jeffa.
15:09That's me.
15:10Yep.
15:11Nerd.
15:12Talk about nerdy shit.
15:13Thanks guys.
15:14He's, yeah.
15:15He's part, well he's Hawaiian.
15:16You can tell by his accent when you see him.
15:17But his, uh, body type is just...
15:21He's part German Shepherd.
15:23What the fuck is a better picture of his funny body?
15:27Sorry.
15:28Let's get it.
15:29Let's get it.
15:30Let's get it.
15:31Let's get it.
15:32Yeah, that's pretty good.
15:35Okay.
15:36If you look close.
15:38Yeah.
15:39Homeboy is the exact, exact color.
15:42Exact color, man.
15:44Are you kidding me?
15:46Even like the little orangey tan bits are in there.
15:50Even some of the swirls.
15:52I mean, dude, get out of here.
15:55Get out of here.
15:56Get out of here.
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