Every once in a while a special pedal comes along and earns a permanent place in our signal chain. This
month—as we celebrate all things stompbox—the PG editors, along with British blues phenom Davy
Knowles, name their favorite pedal. Send your essential picks to info@premierguitar.com.
Joe Coffey — Editorial Director
What am I listening to?
The Chris Duarte
Group’s Blues in the
Afterburner. Produced
by Mike Varney, this record is bold. I’m
digging the chances Duarte takes and, of
course, his usual solid Texas blues.
What pedal can I not live without?
Definitely my Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre,
which is the acoustic player’s jack of all
trades for the stage and studio. It’s like a DI,
AB/Y, EQ, piezo boost, and more built into
one, with multiple outs (pre- and post-EQ).
Andy Ellis — Senior EditorWhat am I listening to?
Duane Eddy Road Trip. Beautifully recorded in Sheffield, England, this new release opens with growling bass VI and offers all the throbbing tremolo, Bigsby vibrato, and cavernous reverb that made Eddy a star in 1958.
What pedal can I not live without?
Though I own some nice pedals—including an original TS9 Tube Screamer and a 1970 Vox wah, both of which I bought new—they all sit unused on the shelf. I roll with a purple 10' Bullet coil cord plugged straight into my amp.
Shawn Hammond — Editor in ChiefWhat am I listening to?
Ahhh—the wonder of Spotify! Totally digging older National stuff, especially Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers. “Slipping Husband” and “Available” are gorgeous and gut-wrenchingly intense
What pedal can I not live without?
The Strymon Blue Sky Reverberator. You’d never know its spring-reverb isn’t the real thing, it’s incredibly tweakable, and yet it retains a simple-stompbox ethos. I also love being able to switch between two presets.
Chris Kies — Associate EditorWhat am I listening to?
Two of the most important voices in music are showcased in these collections: Elvis’ Young Man with the Big Beat box set and Johnny Cash’s Bootleg Volume 3: Live Around the World, which show both stars at pivotal points of their careers and on point as performers.
What pedal can I not live without?
The pedal that makes me sound better every time—Electro-Harmonix’s Nano Memory Toy Analog Delay.
Rich Osweiler — Associate EditorWhat am I listening to?
St. Vincent Strange Mercy. Annie Clark’s latest effort, like much of her other material, could seem complicated and chaotic to some at first listen. But at the core are ethereal, well-thought-out compositions that highlight her stunning voice and the alter-ego rumble of her guitar work.
What pedal can I not live without?
Gotta go with my Boss TU-2 tuner. There’s just no tone without tune!
Charles Saufley — Gear EditorWhat am I listening to?
Kouroush Yaghmaei, Back From The Brink, Pre-Revolution Psychedelic Rock from Iran: 1973-1979. Kouroush learned guitar by copying Ventures records, then fused it with Persian folk phrasings, the Stones, and Curtis Mayfield-style wah into a lyrical, beguiling, and beautiful body of work.
What pedal can I not live without?
My Echoplex has been broken for about five years now, so I guess I’ll live. Anyone out there have a spare erase head?
Davy Knowles — Guest PickerWhat am I listening to?
As I write this, Joni Mitchell. Although I love the blues and rock classics, I have always loved songwriters, especially Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, CSN&Y, and the whole Laurel Canyon scene. Some beautiful songs and stories came out of that place.
What pedal can I not live without?
I just got a BK Butler Tube Driver, and I can’t stop playing it. It’s a really musical-sounding overdrive pedal.
Jason Shadrick — Associate EditorWhat am I listening to?
Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton, Play the Blues. Finally, a band that can keep Clapton on his toes while still paying tribute to the history of the genre. Clapton returns to his ES-335 roots with a meaty tone that fits in perfectly.
What pedal can I not live without?
My pedalboard is in a constant state of flux, but my Visual Sound Route 66 Overdrive/ Compressor and Boss DD-2 Digital Delay are mainstays.
Peter Thorn — Online Columnist: The Working GuitaristWhat am I listening to?
I love Cage The Elephant—best new band I’ve heard in a long time. These guys capture the spirit of what rock ’n’ roll is about, and do it in a fresh way.
What pedal can I not live without?
My new Carl Martin compressor! I love what it does for my clean tones—it just pumps things up beautifully, without weird artifacts. Since getting it, I am using compression much more than I did in the past.
