Guitarist

Michael Haynes

The top dog at Sleeping Dog FX explains how his rare breed of pedals stays ahead of the pack…

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1 What was the first pedal you built and how did the design come about? “Years ago, I had a Boss DD-5 Digital Delay pedal with a tap tempo input that I thought would be cool to use, but the prices of the switches seemed extortiona­te for such a simple circuit. I figured I could build one myself, so I did. And that’s how it all started! I was lucky because I began to get custom orders very early on from some relatively wellknown guitarists in the UK, such as Chris Turpin [Kill It Kid/Ida Mae]. The very first Sleeping Dog FX-branded pedal was the You Dirty Dog. It started life as a RATstyle distortion pedal but got taken a lot further with all sorts of tweaks and mods.”

2 What do you think makes Sleeping Dog FX unique? “I’m primarily a guitarist and have been playing in bands for many years, so I always approach my builds from the user’s point of view by making pedals that I would use regularly on my own pedalboard. I also try to squeeze in as many tonal variations as possible, to suit the individual.”

3 What’s your best-selling pedal and why do you think that is? “I’ve recently made a recreation of the old Tapco/Intersound IVP rackmount unit in pedal form called the Sleeping Dog FX Instrument Voicing Preamplifi­er. It’s got everything the original rackmount version had, aside from a DI output. It has a clean side and a dirty side, along with a tube emulating option in the circuit, which, unusually, uses an audio transforme­r for distortion. You can get an incredible amount of tonal variation from it and it doesn’t sound quite like anything else. It’s a very unique sounding unit.”

4 Which notable players/bands have used Sleeping Dog FX pedals? “Steve Albini at Electrical Audio studios in Chicago has used them; Pelican, who are a brilliant post-rock band from America; Alan Sparhawk of Low; Mogwai… It’s really taken off, but I also work in social services looking after people in children’s homes, which I’m really passionate about. It’s all about pedals and social equality for me! [laughs]”

5 What’s new on the horizon with Sleeping Dog FX? “Most of my work involves custom builds. People will ask me to build them a pedal you can no longer get, or maybe they have a certain sound in their head and they want me to make it happen for them. There’s always something interestin­g going on. I’ve recently built a batch of the old WEM Project V Brian Eno fuzzes and a tremolo in a wah-wah pedal casing that speeds up as you rock the treadle forward.”

6 What’s your best tone tip? “You don’t have to have the pedal gain on full. A lot of people just automatica­lly whack it up on full, without exploring anything else, but it can oversatura­te your tone. Let your fingers do some more of the work, as well as your pedals – it’s nice to have a balance between the two.”

7 Name some common mistakes that guitarists make with effects… “Being unsure about which order to chain your effects together in is very common. Typically, the correct way might be to start off with your EQ-ing pedals at the beginning, followed by dirt and gain stages, followed by modulation, then delay and reverb. Obviously, it’s all down to personal preference, but it’s good to know the ‘standard’ order.”

8 What new pedal triggers your GAS most now? “There are lots of amazing pedal builders in the UK, such as Tom George of Cog Effects, Ian Sherwin of Ghost Effects, who does some incredible vintage fuzz recreation­s, and Alex Millar of Zander Circuitry. They all have lots of interestin­g things happening right now.”

9 What’s your favourite vintage pedal and why? “I like the Univox Super-Fuzz. It uses silicon transistor­s with germanium diodes. It’s got that upper and lower octave, guttural, mid-scooped/boosted fuzz sound. I like its nasty sounds and looks! I also really like the 80s Boss DS-1; I grew up listening to a lot of Nirvana and I really like that heavily distorted tone.”

10 What pedals are on your own effects ’board right now? “I got heavily into looping, so I use a [TC] Ditto Stereo and an Akai Head Rush with some of the Sleeping Dog FX pedals such as The Fuzz Hound, You Dirty Dog, Trembrule and Instrument Voicing Preamplifi­er. I also use a Boss DD-5 and a DigiTech Supernatur­al reverb, which is gorgeous – it’s one of the warmest and deepest sounding reverbs I’ve ever heard.” http://sleepingdo­gfx.co.uk

 ??  ?? The IVP pedal is Michael’s recreation of an original rackmount unit
The IVP pedal is Michael’s recreation of an original rackmount unit
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