Nearly 40 years ago, Nuno Bettencourt walked into Mouradian Guitar Co. in Boston, where Pat Badger was working. They formed a bond that would change their worlds—and ours—with the multi-platinum band Extreme. In March of 2024, Badger, Bettencourt, and their tech John Thayer invited PG’s John Bohlinger to talk through their current rig.
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Washburn Wrecking Crew
This Washburn N4 was developed in collaboration with Nuno Bettencourt, Washburn, and Seattle-based luthier Stephen Davies. The guitar was introduced in the mid-to-late 1990s and became Bettencourt's primary guitar. The 4N features a balanced alder body with a Seymour Duncan ’59 in the neck and a Bill Lawrence L-500 in the bridge, plus an ebony fretboard and a Kahler whammy that was featured on the earliest iterations. Later production models included a Schaller tremolo before landing on the current Floyd Rose dive bomber for off-the-rack N4s. Nuno’s strings are a custom set of GHS Boomers (.009–.052) and his custom-made picks come from Grover Allman in Australia.
Sweet As Honey
This is “Bumble Bee,” a custom-painted N4 tribute to King Edward that was done by the luthier Craig Stofko behind CHS Custom Guitars, based out of Carmel, New York. It’s a standard Nuno Washburn signature, but with a maple fretboard (a first for Nuno and the N4 series).
Softer Sounds
This Washburn Festival EA20S-Nuno Bettencourt is in the video for Extreme’s song “More Than Words,” which was filmed over 30 years ago.
This custom-painted Washburn 12-string acoustic is heard on “Hole Hearted.”
Triple Duals
Nuno tours with three Marshall JCM 2000 Dual Super Leads. Usually, he only runs one through a Marshall 4x12 cab. (There are six total onstage but only one is hot and mic'd.) All the cabs are loaded with Celestion G12T-75s that combine a huge, tightly controlled low-end and aggressive mid-range with a softened top-end.
Nuno runs few effects. In front of the amp, there’s a battery powered Pro Co RAT (which stays on all the time), a Boss OC-5 Octave (plugged in and connected for just two solos), and a script logo MXR Phase 90 without a light. There’s also a Boss GT-8 that runs through the effects loop of the Marshall for delays.
Kingly Gifts
This Mouradian CS-74 bass is Pat Badger’s number-one. The alder-bodied bass, fitted with an EMG pickup, was built for Tom Hamilton from Aerosmith. About two years ago, Tom gave the bass to Pat. This and all of Badger’s basses are strung with Rotosound Ultramag Strings (.045–.105).
This Mouradian one-pickup bass was built for Michael Anthony from Van Halen. Michael passed it along to Pat a few years ago.
This classic ’80s Hamer Blitz bass is a recent Reverb purchase.
Badger's Den
Badger tours with two Ampeg amps: a SVT-4 Pro and a SVT Classic. There’s a wall of 4x10 cabs underneath them, but only one is used.
Pat runs his bass into a Boss TU-3 tuner, Boss GE-7 EQ, EHX Micro POG, Pro Co Rat, Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, and EBS Billy Sheehan Signature Drive.
Shop Nuno Bettencourt & Pat Badger's Gear
Washburn N4-Nuno Vintage USA Electric Guitar
Washburn Nuno Bettencourt N4 Authentic Signature - Natural Matte
Seymour Duncan SH-1n '59 Model Neck 4-conductor Humbucker Pickup - Black
MXR CSP026 '74 Vintage Phase 90 Pedal
Pro Co RAT 2 Distortion / Fuzz / Overdrive Pedal
Boss OC-5
EMG 35DC Active Ceramic Modern Humbucker Bass Pickups
Rotosound UM45 UltraMag Type 52 Alloy Bass Guitar Strings - .045-.105 Standard 4-String
Ampeg SVT-CL 300
Ampeg SVT-810AV 8x10"
Ampeg SVT-4PRO 1200-watt Tube Preamp Bass Head
EBS Billy Sheehan Ultimate Signature Drive Pedal
Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI V2 Pedal
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG Polyphonic Octave Generator Pedal
Boss GE-7 7-band EQ Pedal
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner Pedal with Bypass
![Rig Rundown: Eric Gales [2023]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-eric-gales-2023.jpg?id=33375134&width=600&height=400&quality=85&coordinates=33%2C0%2C167%2C0)
“The songs that sound like they don’t have a lot of technique are actually the hardest ones to play,” he admits. “And the ones that people think showcase the most amount of technique are actually the easiest to practice and perform.”
Satriani has long understood that guitarists cannot live on shred alone. With the release of his 18th studio album, The Elephants of Mars, he proves himself a living example of this message, showcasing the electric guitar as a lyrical, emotionally attuned instrument that can exist on a chromatic spectrum of senses—particularly when it’s in the right hands. The album covers a range of ground, from the Middle Eastern-influenced “Sahara”—whose release was accompanied by a music video directed by Satriani’s son ZZ—to the melancholic ballad “Faceless” to “Dance of the Spores,” which features a full-on circus music breakdown.
Joe Satriani "Sahara" (Official Music Video)
Having an extensive body of work makes it that much harder for some players to keep things fresh, but Satriani pulls it off. For Elephants, he decided to use the isolation of the early pandemic to focus creatively and give remote recording a shot, calling upon bandmates bassist Bryan Beller, drummer Kenny Aronoff, and keyboardist Rai Thistlethwayte to contribute.
When Satriani’s previous album, Shapeshifting,was released in April 2020, he and his team imagined that its promotional tour would be postponed for about three to six months. He considered recording a vocal album to offer as a free supplement, but months later the world was still on hold—and he realized that his audience would be expecting an entirely new project the next time he was to release something. So, he got to work on what would eventually become Elephants.
“I’m always a bit shy around people and it gets reflected in how I play.”
The remote recording experience created a significant change of pace. “For the last couple of records, I really enjoyed going to the studio, having the clock on the wall ticking fast,” he shares. “In a way, having a schedule is good; it just gets you motivated to work hard. If everybody’s stuck at home and there’s no clock on the wall, then we can’t use that as an excuse anymore. Now it’s just you listening to your performance, and it comes down to whether you’re going to stand behind it.”
As the guitarist became more patient and considered, he asked his band to do the same, telling them, “I’m not going to send you anything until I think it’s the best version that I can give you, and I expect everyone else to take their time. Don’t feel pressured by me to just get it done. And if you want to do something different, change my mind with a great performance.”
TIDBIT: Recording remotely gave Satriani access to a broader range of emotions while working. It’s a first for the guitarist, who says he “never would have felt that vulnerable or comfortable” if he weren’t alone while tracking.
That freed the instrumentalists from the restraints of both time and peer pressure, and for Satriani, performing all his parts in solitude yielded a more peaceful creative process: “[If I hadn’t been recording alone,] I never would have felt that vulnerable or comfortable. I’m always a bit shy around people and it gets reflected in how I play, so this setup worked for me in a way that it’d never worked before.”
“Guitars are made of wood and wood comes out of the ground, so you have only so much control; nature really has most of it.”
But wouldn’t that environment, free from time constraints, give way to extreme perfectionism? Not if you set rules for yourself, Satriani says. His solution was to remind himself not to “sit there and fix everything,” but rather to make sure he was tuned in to the moods of the tracks he was recording. He was sure that if he wasn’t having fun while recording the upbeat, bass- and synth-driven “Pumpin’” or the funk-infused “Blue Foot Groovy,” the music would bore his audience. And on “Dance of the Spores,” he immersed himself in pure fantasy. “I came up with this idea where, while we’re worried about politics and the virus and the environment and all this kind of stuff, there are spores having parties because everything’s great for them,” Satriani muses. “Like SpongeBob: It’s so insane, it’s so impossible, and yet it’s so funny and sad and cute. Everything about life is in that absolutely ridiculous concept. So, what would that sound like?”
Joe Satriani’s Gear
Reaching for a big bend on a guitar that bears his likeness, Satriani picks ecstatically at a concert at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.
Photo by Frank White
Guitars
- Ibanez AR3212 12-string electric
- Ibanez JS1CR No. 3
- Ibanez JS2480 MCR No. 2
- Ibanez JS2450 B&W Paisley prototype No. 1
- Ibanez JS2 Gold Chrome Hum-Sing-Sing prototype (1989)
- Ibanez JS Sing-Sing-Sing Blue prototype (2005)
- Ibanez JS6 Style 7 String prototype No. 1 (2001)
- Jerry Jones Electric Sitar (1997)
- Ibanez JSA20 Acoustic prototype No. 1 (2012)
- Martin HD-28E Retro (2014)
Amps
- Avid SansAmp plug-in
Effects
- TC Electronic Sub 'N' Up Octaver
- EHX Micro Q-Tron
- Dunlop Hendrix ’69 Psych Series Octavio Fuzz
- VOX BBW wah
- Palmer Y-Box splitter
Strings & Picks
- Extra heavy celluloid picks
- D’Addario .010 sets
On the other end of the emotional spectrum, Satriani spent days repeatedly trying to embody the grief he wanted to convey on the darker “Desolation.” Finally, unrehearsed and unpracticed, he improvised something that fit perfectly. “I never would have done that had we been in a studio with people standing around,” he says.
Since around 1999, Satriani’s standard protocol for tracking has been to record direct and reamp later. But this time around, reamping “seemed to get rid of a certain percentage of my personality and replace it with ‘general electric guitar.’” Instead, mixing engineer Greg Koller employed the Avid SansAmp plug-in to the guitar tracks for the entire album.
“I’m not sure if that’s a letting go of ego or just realizing your place in the big scheme of things. But I had to realize that it wasn’t all about me.”
“I plugged into a Millennia Media HV-37 Mic Pre and went right into Pro Tools,” Satriani elaborates. “A couple of times there was a wah-wah pedal, a [TC Electronic] Sub 'N' Up, a [Dunlop Hendrix ’69 Psych Series] Octavio Fuzz, or an [Electro-Harmonix] Micro Q-Tron. And that was it!”
If you’ve read Satriani’s autobiography, Strange Beautiful Music, you know that the guitarist is obsessed with gear. He spends several chapters—each devoted to the making of a different album—sharing every technical approach and gear combination that went into each recording. When asked about his signature guitars, he’s a bit Zen. “Guitars are made of wood,” he says, “and wood comes out of the ground, so you have only so much control; nature really has most of it.”
Donning his other signature item—black Oakleys—Satch boogies down at the Fillmore in Detroit.
Photo by Ken Settle
But that hasn’t stopped him from refining the design of his signature models over the years. “All these changes that I’ve requested and that Ibanez made really did help me bring my music forward to a higher level of expression.” Picking up his Ibanez JS2450 B&W Paisley Proto, Satriani points out some of those refinements: “the height of the bridge, the fact that the edge bridge is such a well-made machine piece, the Satchur8 pickup, the size of the frets, and the fact that Ibanez now stock puts in the Sustainiac in the bridge position. It’s a 24-fret model, with a compound-radius neck. Everything about this guitar helps me express myself, and I’m still working on it. I’ve never changed my pursuit of trying to make the guitar less resistant to my musical ideas. I feel more like I have so much to say, and my body just will not cooperate to let me get it out properly,” he says, laughing.
Satriani has been searching for ways to express his ideas ever since his early days growing up in Westbury, Long Island, where he not only dedicated himself to his music, but to sharing what he’d learned by modeling his educator mother, Katherine, and, at the age of 15, famously teaching a young Steve Vai. “I realized everything that my mother learned in life she hands over—without holding anything back—to these kids that she’s teaching,” he explains. “So that’s what I should do for this little Steve Vai kid who’s just got these amazing hands, great timing, and really sharp ears. I’m not sure if that’s a letting go of ego or just realizing your place in the big scheme of things. But I had to realize that it wasn’t all about me.”
“Playing a ballad with a few notes and making every note count—that is a skinny mountain road and any variation is death. You’re plunging off the road into ultimate failure.”
That concept still permeates his music. It comes back to expression of melody, and Satriani cites Tony Bennett as an inspiration for knowing when to pause or use fewer notes. “The amount of technique that he has to use to nail it is far more intensive. He has to edit every little bit,” he says. “It’s not like playing your fastest and sticking your tongue out and running around the stage. That’s the easy part. That is a six-lane highway with no lines on it. But playing a ballad with a few notes and making every note count—that is a skinny mountain road and any variation is death. You’re plunging off the road into ultimate failure.”
Authenticity and humility are at the heart of making truly meaningful art, and, speaking with Satriani, it’s clear that those ideals are deeply entwined with what he does. He’s a dedicated practitioner who is still growing, learning, and sharing. “This only works if you give it away,” he adds. “You can’t make people think about your music the way you thought about it—it becomes theirs. When they hear it, it becomes the soundtrack to something in their life. And it’s got nothing to do with you, ’cause you’ve given it away.”
Joe Satriani - Always with Me, Always with You (from Satriani LIVE!)
No song better exemplifies Joe Satriani’s penchant for expressive melodic leads as his classic “Always with Me, Always with You” from Surfing with the Alien. This 2006 performance features all the slick moves of the original with an extra dose of live energy.
Alec Palmer: Brand Loyalist
I use my board to practice and record from home, and I love jamming with a couple of my musician buddies every so often. I’d say my favorite pedals are the EarthQuaker Devices Plumes and the Big Ear Albie. I can get a ton of different effects out of the Albie, and the Plumes is the best overdrive I’ve ever played. I’m a bit of a brand loyalist. When I find a pedal I love, I tend to go back and buy more pedals from that specific company. Lately, that company has been Mythos Pedals!
Signal chain: Mythos Pedals Golden Fleece (Au79 Mass Street Music exclusive), Ibanez BigMini Tuner, Boss OC-5 Octave, EarthQuaker Devices Spatial Delivery, Mythos Pedals Positron Collider Fuzz, Mythos Pedals Wildwood Vipera, Onkel Amplification Stratoblaster, Ryra Klone, EarthQuaker Devices Plumes, Big Ear Pedals Albie (2), Mythos Pedals Oracle Analog Echo, and a TC Electronic Ditto Looper.
Brad Konick: Is It Humble, Though?
Here’s my humble pedalboard submission for your consideration. Each pedal is listed in order of the signal chain. I’m also including a photo of the electric guitar I use, which I made a few years ago. It’s a handbuilt custom solidbody, black walnut T-style electric guitar, with handcarved bas-relief and handmade steel inlay. Pickups are a Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded humbucker set: Jazz (neck) and JB (bridge). The guitar plugs first into the Boss volume pedal listed below.
Pedals - Signal Chain:
- Boss FV-30H Volume Pedal >
- Korg Pitchblack Mini Tuner >
- Kokko Mini Compressor >
- Electro-Harmonix Synth9>
- EarthQuaker Devices Arpanoid V2 Polyphonic Pitch Arpeggiator >
- DOD Carcosa Fuzz >
- Boss BD-2 Blues Driver>
- Death by Audio Echo Dream 2 Advanced Echo Modulation >
- TC Electronic T2 Reverb >
- Pedal Projects Undertow Tremolo >
- EarthQuaker Devices Organizer Polyphonic Organ Emulator >
- MXR Phase 95 >
- MXR Six Band EQ >
- EarthQuaker Devices Aqueduct >
- Electro-Harmonix Canyon Delay/Looper >
- Walrus Audio Slö Multi Texture Reverb >
- Roland JC-22 Jazz Chorus (amp)
Power and Cables:
- MXR M239 Mini Iso-Brick Power Supply
- Donner DP-2 Power Supply
- Snark 9-volt power adapters
- 1/4” Audioblast pancake patch cables (6", 8", 3')
- Fender tweed 1/4” TS 15' instrument cable
I’m also including a photo of the electric guitar I use, which I made a few years ago. It’s a handbuilt custom solidbody, black walnut T-style electric guitar, with handcarved bas-relief and handmade steel inlay. Pickups are a Seymour Duncan Hot Rodded humbucker set: Jazz (neck) and JB (bridge).
Chris Gibbs: Load In, Load Out
This is the pedalboard I use for gigs with my band, Triple Engine, in York, Western Australia. The board is actually the lid of a Craftright tool/accessory case.
When the gig is finished, I can pack leads, extra pedals, power supplies, and more into the case, flip the board so that it becomes a lid again, re-insert the removable hinge pins, and load out!
Here’s how it flows: DigiTech HardWire HT-6 Polyphonic Tuner > Outlaw Effects Hangman Overdrive > MXR Phase 90 >Vox Satchurator Distortion > Outlaw Effects Vigilante Chorus > Tech 21 Fly Rig 5 > Outlaw Effects Boilermaker Boost.Clint Roth: Vision Board
Hey PG,
Here’s my current small board I’m using for writing with my band, Big Jaw. I plug into a TC PolyTune 2 Noir that feeds a Loop-Master A/B Box. The “A” loop is my JHS Charlie Brown overdrive, and the “B” loop is my fuzz, which is an old EarthQuaker Devices Hoof fed by a TC Electronic Sub ’N’ Up Octaver. I usually use the octave and fuzz together so it’s helpful to have them on a loop like that so I can switch to both with one click. The output of the Loop-Master feeds my TC Electronic Flashback Delay, which is usually just giving me a little slapback. Thanks!
David Reaume: Bass and Bow
Here’s my bass board! I use it mostly for ambient music to create textures, but it covers a lot of territory as you can see. I use a cello bow frequently. Paired with the octave and additional reverb, it really makes for a convincing string section.
Signal Chain:
- TC Electronic PolyTune 3 >
- Boss OC-5 >
- Chase Bliss Audio Automatone Preamp MKII >
- Gamechanger Audio Plasma Pedal >
- Dunlop DVP4 Volume (X) Mini >
- Boss DC-2W Dimension C (split in stereo for the rest of the chain) >
- Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo >
- Strymon Flint Tremolo & Reverb >
- Neunaber Audio Immerse Reverberator MKII
All powered by a Strymon Zuma power supply on a custom board (made by yours truly) with custom-length Mogami patch cables. The Analog Endeavors Dual Favorite switch is for the Strymon pedals.
DeMatt Harkins: The Dishwasher
My name is DeMatt Harkins and I live in Jackson, Mississippi. I made my pedalboard out of a wooden dish rack from Target.
Signal Path:
- Guitar ->
- Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner ->
- Catalinbread SFT Overdrive ->
- TC Electronic Vortex Mini Flanger ->
- JHS 3 Series Chorus ->
- MXR Phase 95 ->
- Danelectro BLT Slap Echo ->
- Strymon Flint Tremolo & Reverb ->
- EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master
Thanks very much!
Jack Thompson: The Alan Parsons Project
I’m a musician based out of the Twin Cities, Minnesota, and I saw that you were taking pedalboard submissions! So, here’s mine. I’ve been refining and building this in a variety of ways the last seven years. I hope you enjoy and get a laugh.
High Level Overview:
The board consists of two loops (two different boards) controlled via EarthQuaker Devices Swiss Things. This sends the signal to a Mesa/Boogie Mini Rectifier 25 and Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III. The left board is pre-loop, and loop 1 (distortion based) with Dr. Evil in a moonsuit holding Austin Powers’ mojo. The right board is loop 2 (modulation based) with Dr. Evil holding Mr. Bigglesworth. My guitar cable is an orange Divine Noise Curly Cable, purchased from Chicago Music Exchange.
Pedalboard 1 (left):
- Pre-loop section:
- Guitar goes straight into an Emma Electronic Okto Nøjs.
- Then to a Pigtronix Philosopher’s Tone Germanium Gold Micro (this is an “always on” pedal).
- Next is the Dunlop Dimebag Cry Baby from Hell Wah.
- And then finally a MXR Uni-Vibe set at minimal settings (this is typically an “always on” pedal).
Loop 1 (via EarthQuaker Swiss Things):
- Behringer SF300 Super Fuzz
- Horizon Devices Apex Preamp
- Electronic Audio Experiments Model feT
- Boss DD-7 Digital Delay
- EarthQuaker Devices Afterneath V2
Pedalboard 2 (right):
Loop 2 (via EQD Swiss Things):
- JHS Bonsai (minimal drive settings, “always on”)
- Subdecay Quasar Phaser
- EarthQuaker Devices Rainbow Machine
- Moog MF Flange
- Dwarfcraft Devices Witch Shifter
- Black Cat Pedals Black Cat Vibe (Proline expression pedal on the far right is hooked up to it)
- EarthQuaker Devices Avalanche Run
- EarthQuaker Devices Astral Destiny
And that’s it! I’m fortunate to play with some of my best friends in a band called the Electric Honeycomb. Blessings to all of you.
Joe Grant Jr: Satisfying Symmetry
My pedalboard is a Temple Audio TRIO 43 Templeboard. All cables—patch, power, and MIDI—are hand-soldered. I have USB ports on the side to update firmware and program MIDI.
Underneath the pedalboard:
- Strymon Zuma
- Strymon Ojais (2)
- Voodoo Lab Control Switchers (2)
- Goodwood Audio Audition
On top:
- Goodwood Audio The TX Interfacer
- Kingtone Battery Box (2)
- Xotic RC Booster
- Dunlop Volume
- Origin Effects Cali76
- TC Electronic Ditto Stereo Looper
- Mythos Argo Octave Fuzz
- Peterson StroboStomp Tuner
- Mythos High Road Fuzz
- Wampler Ratsbane
- J. Rockett The Dude
- Analog Man King of Tone
- Walrus Audio Julianna
- Chase Bliss Automatone Preamp MKII
- Strymon TimeLine
- Chase Bliss Gravitas
- Chase Bliss Thermae
- King Tone The Duellist
- Walrus Audio Slö
- Chase Bliss CXM 1978
- Electro-Harmonix POG2
- Eventide H9 Max
- Universal Audio Golden Reverberator
- Universal Audio Astra
- Universal Audio Starlight
- DigiTech FreqOut
- Catalinbread Echorec
- Morningstar MC8 Midi Controller
Malcolm Carmichael: Like Angels Singing
So many pedals, so little time. I don’t think there’s one pedal I haven’t tried out at some point in time but now I just keep it as simple as possible to have everything I need for the setlist my band plays. Also, I’m terrible with patches and programming. All of these are powered just by a simple Power-All 9V/2A wall wart. I’ve tried lots of power supplies and this is light and reliable.
First, the Mooer Baby Tuner is very simple, works every time. Next, is the Dunlop Cry Baby Mini Wah. I’m the rhythm player in my band, but there are a couple tunes where I solo, and I use this when I’m just winging it. It helps and makes me sound better than I am! I think all distortion pedals are a trade-off, but the MXR Distortion III is as good as any and it’s tried and trusted.
Then we have the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano. Everybody needs a Holy Grail! I’m always surprised how many pro pedalboards I see it on. Very versatile pedal and easy to use. Next is the Hotone Eko delay: I go through all sorts of these little pedals. I find them in bargain bins. This delay is perfectly fine with all the adjustment you need. The Donner Echo Square is a little gem. It’s got everything, including a reverse, which is what I use it for on an original song we play, but it’s got a lot of other great options as well. I like the TC Electronic Stereo Ditto Looper because it’s so simple.
Lastly, I have one of the best ABY switchers in the game, the Radial BigShot. With this, I send out into a Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue and a Vox AC15. Together they are like angels singing. All we have to do now is get this craziness behind us so we can get gigging again. Cheers!
Matt Straw: The Blackboard
I saw the all-white pedalboard from last year’s reader pedalboards, and it reminded me of my black one. My pedalboard(s) are constantly in a state of evolution: I’ve since ditched most of these and gone back to basics. I was using this board from 2014-2016 back when I lived in Nashville and was in the band Things That Crawl. I’ve always hated branding of any type, and I found the varied colors and designs kinda messy and a distraction.
I’m also a professional guitar tech (Robert Plant, Bonnie Raitt, Jack White, Shania Twain, etc.) and am used to fans trying to sneak a peek at the pedals onstage, so I liked the idea of keeping a bit of mystery there (not that anyone could care less about what I was using).
Here’s the list of pedals:
- Boss Tuner
- Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
- Ernie Ball Volume Pedal
- ZVEX Super Hard On
- Electro-Harmonix POG
- Tech 21 NYC SansAmp
- Electro-Harmonix Bassballs
- Electro-Harmonix LPB-1
- Boss DD-7 Digital Delay
- Red Witch Medusa Chorus Tremolo
- Electro-Harmonix POG2
- MXR Classic 108 Fuzz
- Marshall The Guv’nor
I eventually added two EarthQuaker Devices pedals (Organizer and Talons), plus a TC Electronic Alter Ego and an MXR Ten Band EQ.
In 2016, I formed a short-lived band called Buffalo (before moving to Joshua Tree) and built a totally new pedalboard with the El Rey Mystic Fuzz, El Rey Fuzz De La Muerte, Electro-Harmonix POG, TC Electronic PolyTune, and a Lehle Dual. Both the El Rey pedals remain unpainted as I think they look super cool! Enjoy.
Nedim Kirlic: Streamlining in Sweden
I’m a guitarist in Sweden. As a 40-year-old, I decided to build my first pedalboard because I wanted to simplify my rig and give myself fewer options than there are in my Line 6 modeler products. Having said that, I quickly realized that it’s not as simple as just putting a few pedals on there. I wanted a pedalboard with a simple pitch shifter-overdrive-distortion-chorus-delay-reverb setup. But it turns out I needed four utility pedals, and more than one overdrive. I was never into fuzz, but I decided to go for it.
The board right now consists of the list below, with the signal chain in order. Though the Boss delay will probably be moved early in the chain, along with a second reverb that I haven’t gotten yet.
- T-Rex pedalboard, 70 cm wide
- T-Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon isolated power supply, mounted underneath with a rail (two pieces)
- Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
- TC Electronic Brainwaves Pitch Shifter
- MXR Uni-Vibe
- Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer
- Donner Noise Killer Noise Gate
- Donner Ultimate Comp Compressor
- MXR GT-OD Overdrive
- Boss BD-2 Blues Driver
- Mad Professor Fire Red Fuzz
- ProCo RAT
- Boss DD-8 Digital Delay
- Electro-Harmonix Canyon Delay & Looper
- TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 Reverb
- Ibanez Tremolo Mini
- Boss RC-3 Loop Station
- The empty spot is reserved for a Boss IR-200 Amp & IR Cabinet
The signal chain right now is going straight into the front of the amp, but sometimes I use the FX loop. In that case, I put the delay, reverb, and tremolo pedals into the loop. And lastly, the loop pedal is last in my signal chain for trying out quick ideas: I record a riff, loop it, and see what bass notes and what sort of bass line I’m going to play over it. The bass line makes a huge impact on the idea and on the finished song.
Ronald Caminati: Aesthetically Pleasing
Here’s my list of pedals: Dunlop Cry Baby Mini Wah, TC Electronic PolyTune3 Mini, Sweet Sound MoFaux Vibe, Toms’line Cream Distortion, Stax Phaser, Mooer Hustle Drive, Rowin Chorus, and finished off by a Boss FB-2 Feedbacker Booster. All powered by a Pedaltrain Volto.
Steve Kellett: The Family Tree
I recently decided to take a family portrait of my pedalboards. I had to take two photos to get it all covered! Spoiler Alert: I have 12 pedalboards.
In the first image, there’s a custom-built flight case containing a TC Electronic Nova System plus extension footswitch and a Dunlop Mister Cry Baby Super Volume/Wah.
Pictured above that, is a Gator Pedal Tote board with the following on it:
- Boss TU-2 ->
- Barber Tone Press ->
- Fulltone Ultimate Octave ->
- Fulltone Full-Drive 2 FM ->
- Om Labs Sahasrara Overdrive ->
- Fulltone Mini-Deja’Vibe ->
- ZVEX Box of Rock Vexter
(Just to prove that nothing is permanent in the pedal world, the Sahasrara has since been replaced by a Fulltone GT500.)
The second photo (do I really have to do this?) ... DEEP BREATH.
Top row from top left we have my Leftovers Board:
- A beat-up CNB case containing a cheapo tuner
- XFX Boutique Destroyer (Friedman BE-OD clone)
- DemonFX King of Drive (clone of a guess what)
- Twinote Pi Fuzz
- Reverend Drivetrain II
- Twinote BBD Chorus
- Twinote BBD Delay
- Ibanez TS-9 RI
Moving clockwise to the right is my Workhorse Board 1:
- Cry Baby Wah
- LY-Rock King of Tone clone
- ProCo Vintage RAT
- Korg G4
- Rowin tuner
- Ammoon Nano Delay
- TC Electronic Spark Mini Booster
Next, to the right, Grab and Go Board 1:
- Boss BCB-30 board
- Boss DS-1 40th Anniversary Edition (which I won from PG’s Stomboxtober giveaway in 2018)
- Keeley-modded Boss BD-2
- ’80s Ibanez AD9
- Fender in-line tuner that gets used when required
Moving on to the second row and starting on the very left is my Chopping Board 1:
- Rowin tuner
- Muslady Golden Horse (Klon Klone)
- Mosky Red Fox (Timmy-based overdrive, CE-2-based chorus, and a delay; FX loop between overdrive and chorus)
- Mosky Black Rat in the FX loop
- Mosky Spring Reverb
Moving to the right is Chopping Board 2 (Yes, they really are bamboo chopping boards that fit into laptop slip cases):
- Rowin tuner
- Rowin Frenzy fuzz
- Mosky DTC (Suhr Riot-based distortion, TS-9-based overdrive; FX loop, and delay)
- Rowin Nano Phaser in the FX loop
Poor Person’s Pink Flow Board:
- Ghost Fire case
- Tomsline AGF-3 G-Fuzz (Germanium Fuzz Face clone)
- Mosky Mini Muff
- Rowin Tuner
- Mosky Tone Bus (Dyna Comp, TS-9, and OCD clones plus power supply for the board)
- Tom’sline AMS-3 Mod Station
- Mosky Tone Makestation (Plexi distortion, FX loop, EP booster, and delay)
- Mastersound Flanger in the FX loop
- Tom’sline ASR-3 Shaper (cab sim)
- Mosky Mini Clean Buffer
Grab and Go Board 2:
- Ammoon pedalboard (containing all XFX Boutique pedals)
- Nine O Nine (TS-based low-gain overdrive)
- Tikus (RAT clone)
- Classic 741 Distortion (MXR Distortion+ clone)
- Slowpick Analog Delay
Bottom row from left to right:
Workhorse Board 2:
- Boss BCB-60 board
- Korg Pitchblack Mini Tuner
- Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer
- Keeley DS-1 Ultra Mod
- Keeley SD-1 Overdrive
- Boss JB-2 Angry Driver
- Orange FS-1L
- Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
- Boss DD-8 Digital Delay with Mosky tap tempo
- Mooer Pure Boost
The Cheese Board:
- Pedaltrain Mini
- cheapo tuner
- 6 ModTone Mini-Mod pedals (Fuzz, Distortion, Overdrive, Chorus, Delay, and Boost)
The Hendrix Board:
- Ammoon pedalboard
- Dunlop Hendrix 70th Anniversary Fuzz Face
- Hendrix Octavio
- Hendrix Univibe
Whew! And that concludes my family tree of pedalboards. Strewth!
Taylor Schlupp: Tom Bukovac Inspo
Hey guys! Here’s a pic of my studio board that I use for recording music and YouTube videos. It’s got a bit of Tom Bukovac inspiration here after seeing his Rig Rundown lol.
Signal Chain:
- TC Electronic PolyTune
- J. Rockett Blue Note Overdrive (always on)
- Wampler Belle Overdrive
- Nobels ODR1 Natural Overdrive
- Boss GE-7 EQ
- Joyo Ironman Molo-Trem
- Wampler Faux Tape Echo
- Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 Reverb
- Truetone 1 Spot Pro CS7 Power Supply
Tom Foreman: Tone Hunters
Hi Folks,
I hope all is well with each of you. I look forward to seeing the issue with these photos because it’s always nice to hunt for ideas. I made the pedalboard out of some hardwood sugar maple wood bits left over from a “music-lesson-for-lumber” trade I did with a local forester. It is roadworthy and weighs a ton (just in case I ever need to stun a drummer with it, I suppose).
This board serves a dual purpose with supporting my acoustics and electrics. For acoustic, I run a 1963 Gibson J-50 and a Crafter D6/N through the Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre Preamp with a SolidGold FX Horizon Compressor in the effects loop.
For the electric side, I run a Gibson ES-339 or my Tele into the following:
- Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
- Midnight 30 Music Upstate Drive (Always on, always awesome! Josh Eiler makes some absolutely killer gear, and this pedal was one of the earlier ones.)
- Late 1980s Pro Co RAT (I got it from Not Just Another Music Shop in Vancouver, BC, while on tour sometime in the early ’90s ... I think)
- Stomp Under Foot Civil War Fuzz (sometimes it sits in for the RAT)
- Barber Electronics Barb E.Q. (boost, grit, chime)
- MXR Six Band EQ (for when I blow a string on my 339 and have to shift over to the Tele mid song)
The effect-loop chain includes: a Line 6 Roto-Machine or TC Electronic Thunderstorm Flanger, a Line 6 DL4, and a Marshall RF-1 Reflector Reverb.
Everything goes into a Dr. Z MAZ 18 NR and a Port City Waves 2x12 cab that I think has one vintage Greenback and one WGS Veteran 30 speaker, but I haven’t looked under the hood in a long time so who knows? Love the magazine and I look forward to it showing up each month!