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Vince McLaughlin: GAS Gifts
Christmas was good to Vince McLaughlin, and his GAS just keeps on giving. He started early by grabbing a two TC Electronic stomps in November—the PolyTune 2 and the Hall of Fame Reverb. “I had the Pedaltrain Mini on my Christmas list as well as the TC Electronic Corona Chorus, and they both arrived under my tree from my awesome in-laws,” Vince says. But, he also really wanted the TC Electronic Mini Flashback Delay. “Having intentions to get the full size, I went on Boxing Day to my local music store only to find the mini version,” he explains. “The mini version is a blessing because I wouldn’t have room for the full-sized guy.” The Dunlop Cry Baby Wah was a gift from his brother earlier in the year. Rounding out the setup is an ISP Decimator 2 and his Mesa/Boogie footswitch for his amp. Powering everything is the Visual Sound 1Spot.
Toon Vlerick: Toon’s Tunes This board is housed on a Pedaltrain Pro with a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. Toon Vlerick, who lives in Belgium, uses these pedals to make his magic: Ernie Ball VP JR., Visual Sound Custom Shop Pure Tone Buffer, TC Electronic PolyTune, Fulltone ’69 Fuzz, Moog Minifooger Drive (w/ Moog EP-3 for wah and other filter effects), T-Rex Moller 2 Overdrive, Free The Tone MS-SOV SPECIAL, Fulltone OCD Overdrive, Xotic EP Booster, T-Rex Reptile, three Strymon stomps—Mobius, Timeline and blueSky Reverberator—and another Ernie Ball VP JR.
Rich Pesce: Rocker Deluxe
“I’m in a cover band,” says Rich Pesce, “that plays classic and modern rock in the area around Saugerties, New York.” His signal first hits an Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, and then flows through an MXR Uni-Vibe, a Suhr Rufus fuzz, a Boss TU-2 tuner, a Greer Amps Lightspeed Organic Overdrive, a Fulltone OCD, a J. Rockett Archer, a Ruby Red Booster and Deep Blue Delay from Mad Professor, and finally a Lotus Pedal Designs Iceverb. Pesce’s Pedaltrain-2 board travels in an ATA-approved Safe Case and gets its juice from a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2.
Tom Smerk: Nice and Light “I used to carry a big pedalboard in an Anvil case,” says Dulzura, California’s Tom Smerk, “but now that I’m getting older, I don’t need the weight. And these days I’m into a more natural tone, so this minimal setup is working great.”
In addition to the springs in his ’67 Fender Twin Reverb, Smerk relies on a Pro Co RAT set to a bluesy tone, a DigiTech X-Series DigiDelay, Ernie Ball volume pedal, a KMD Stereo Chorus, and a Danelectro DJ-5 Tuna Melt. “I use the Danelectro tremolo when I don’t want to lug my Twin,” he says. A 1000 mA wall-wart powers everything.
Nicolas Guilloux: Color Me Pretty “Once the signal leaves my guitar,” says Nicolas Guilloux, “it travels through a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, a TC Electronic PolyTune Mini, an Ibanez Steve Vai Jemini Distortion, a TC Electronic Flashback, an Ibanez AF2 Paul Gilbert Airplane Flanger, an Electro-Harmonix Holy Stain, a 5th-generation DigiTech Whammy, and a TC electronic Ditto Looper.” These stomps are housed on a Diago Showman board and get their juice from a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. Guilloux uses Planet Waves patch cables to wire everything up.
Nick Urso: Nocturnal in New Orleans
Nick Urso has a thing for Nocturne pedals. He’s got five of them: the Fez, Sleeper Drive, NailHead Tremolo, DynoBrain, and Ubangi Stomp. Other stomps on his board are a Snark floor tuner, Barber Electronics Burn Unit EQ, Strymon Lex Rotary, and another Strymon Lex (not seen—it’s on the amp).
Mark Childs: Carry On
Akron, Ohio’s Mark Childs made this pedalboard with a snap on top and handle so he can tote it around like a suitcase. The pedals are a BK Butler Tube Driver, TC Electronic PolyTune, Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, Electro-Harmonix POG2, Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-808 RI, Analog Man Sun Face Fuzz, Analog Man Peppermint Fuzz, Xotic Effects EP Booster, MXR Uni-Vibe, MXR Carbon Copy, vintage DigiTech Chorus/Flanger. It’s all powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Matt Roman: Well Lit
“A few things are common to all my boards,” says Matt. He always has a stereo output, extra power sources for additional pedals, and an extra AC outlet. On this board, he’s got an MXR Carbon Copy, Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah, Boss TR-2 Tremolo, Boss BF-2 Flanger, Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner, DigiTech Expression Factory, a Boss DD-6 Digital Delay, Boss CH-1 Super Chorus, Boss GE-7 Equalizer, Boss DS-1 Distortion, and an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer. “The Stone-O-Vibe is an Electro-Harmonix Uni-Vibe prototype given to me by Allan Otto of Electro-Harmonix,” he adds.
Louis M Moran: Ball and Chain
Louis Moran keeps it simple with this go-to setup: TC Electronic PolyTune, Xotic SP Compressor, Dunlop Cry Baby Classic Wah, MXR Custom Badass ’78 Distortion, Ibanez AF2 Airplane Flanger, MXR Carbon Copy, TC Electronic Ditto Looper, and three pedals by Electro-Harmonix: the B9 Organ Machine, Holy Grail Nano Reverb, and Big Muff Pi with Tone Wicker.
Ken Weissel: Organized Stomping
Ken Weissel’s tidy but abundant chain goes like this: an Empress Effects Compressor, Empress ParaEq, Electro-Harmonix XO Octave Multiplexer, Silver Machine MKII Wah, DIY Resistance Box, Mojo Hand FX Colossus Fuzz, Montreux Knebworth II, Providence Flame Drive, Catalinbread CB30, Ernie Ball VP JR., Boss CE-2 Chorus, Morley Rotating Sound Synthesizer, Strymon Brigadier dBucket Delay, Strymon Timeline Delay, Strymon BigSky Reverb, and Boomerang III Phrase Sampler. The Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo and blueSky Reverberator are routed through the amp effects loop.
Josh Skorczewski: Keep Truckin’
“I built the actual board myself at a truck factory I worked at,” Josh Skorczewski says. “The signal comes in from the Line 6 Relay G30 Wireless receiver, then enters the switchblade where it splits into a dry signal.” Also on the board is a Boss TU-3 tuner, an unbranded volume pedal, a Boss DD-3, DigiTech Whammy 4, Hotone Skyline Octa, Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, and a Hotone Skyline Liftup.
“The effected tone and the dry tone meet in the Behringer A/B box where I can choose between them, the idea being while the dry tone is selected I can apply a mixture of effects and then switch to them all at once,” says Josh. His signal then goes to the rack, then the amplifier, then it comes out of the effects loop to the Joyo JF-09 Tremolo to the Electro-Harmonix Worm and then back to the effects loop. His footswitch goes straight into a Blackstar amp.
Justin Blakeman: Big Boss Man “My guitar signal first goes into a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor and then to a Boss TU-2 chromatic tuner,” says Justin Blakeman. “Next it travels to a Morley Mark Tremonti wah, then a Dunlop volume pedal, and then into my amp. From the NS-2, a send feeds three more Boss pedals—a MT-2 Metal Zone, a DD-7 Digital Delay, and a BF-3 Flanger—and an old-school Ibanez SC10 Super Stereo Chorus before coming back to the NS-2 via the return.”
Blakeman’s board also includes a Marshall footswitch that’s plugged into his amp. He powers all his pedals with a Boss PSA-120S, with additional power coming from the NS-2 and TU-2. His gear sits on a Pedaltrain-2.
Jon Hintz: Getting Loopy Hartland, Wisconsin’s Jon Hintz puts a JHS Prestige buffer and booster pedal at the front of his pedalboard. From there, the signal enters a custom loop switcher from American Loopers that lets Hintz select, mix, and match a Mini Foot Fuzz and Honeycomb Deluxe from JHS, a Bit Commander, The Depths, and Disaster Transport from EarthQuaker Devices, a Soul Food and East River Drive from Electro-Harmonix (both JHS-modded), a PlimSoul and Full-Drive 3 from Fulltone, Strymon El Capistan with a JHS switch, and a Korg Pitchblack tuner. Hintz runs the whole enchilada from a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 Plus.
Jim Loveridge: Get ‘Er Done Jim Loveridge’s signal chain is as follows: Guitar, DigiTech Whammy 4, Dunlop Cry Baby from Hell, Korg Pitchblack Tuner, ISP Decimator II G-String, to the amp. His effects loop sends to a DigiTech iStomp, Boss DD-5, ISP Decimator II G-String. He’s got a Marshall JVM 4 series footswitch, and everything (except the Whammy) is powered by a Diago Powerstation. Says Loveridge: “It’s pretty basic but does the job!”
Joe Reddy: Mean, Lean Tone Machine
“My board is simple, but effective,” says Joe Reddy. “It includes a PolyTune and Alter Ego from TC Electronic, a Micro Vibe and Tremolo from Voodoo Lab, a George Dennis GD30 wah, a Catalyst and PlimSoul from Fulltone, and a Xotic Effects EP Booster. A Dunlop DC Brick powers all the pedals.”
Eddie Heinzelman: Fly with Me “This is my current fly rig,” says Nashville’s Eddie Heinzelman, “and it’s still a work in progress. After my guitar goes into a Boss TU-2 tuner, it hits an MXR Super Comp, a XTS Precision Multi-Drive, a Xotic AC Booster, a Robert Keeley-modded Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, a Line 6 MM4, and a TC Electronic Alter Ego. Though it’s not pictured, I also run a Dunlop DVP3 Volume (X) after the delay. This setup covers a lot of sonic ground in a small space.” Heinzelman’s stomps ride on a Pedaltrain JR and get their power from a MXR DC Brick.
Dave Curtis: Easy Rider
Dave Curtis’ go-to stomp station in Brighton, Michigan, has a Korg Pitchblack Tuner to a Rocktron Volume Pedal, to two Pigtronix pedals: a Philosopher’s Tone and a Fat Drive. Next is the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food, Vox Joe Satriani Satchurator, HardWire CR-7 Stereo Chorus, Boss RV-6 Reverb, and a Carl Martin Red Repeat through a Morley Hum Eliminator into a Radial Twin City ABY Amp Switcher.
Dan Lohrfink: Making Waves
This Pedaltrain Pro board uses Planet Waves cables and a Godlyke Power-All to juice up the following: Planet Waves Chromatic Tuner, MXR Super Comp, Homebrew Electronics Germania 44 (“great treble booster with just a hint of fuzz”), Vox V847 Wah, Danelectro FAB Overdrive (“best $15 I’ve spent on gear”), Tech 21 CompTortion (“stack in a box!”), Acoustic Imaginearing Quantum Drive, Boss FV-60 Volume Pedal, ModTone Harmonic Tremor, BYOC Digital Echo & Ping Pong Echo, and a Pigtronix Quantum Time Modulator (which just replaced the old Boss CE-2 just off the board). “The Boss RC-20XL Loop Station doesn't get much action at the moment, but is ready to jump on the board if needed,” Dan says. There’s a second Planet Waves tuner going into a Whirlwind IMP 2 DI for his acoustic guitar.
Daniel Arganda: Simplicity Rules “The signal chain on my board starts with a Korg Pitchblack tuner,” says Daniel Arganda. “It then goes into a Pigtronix Aria Disnortion, a Catalinbread Dirty Little Secret, two EarthQuaker Devices pedals—a Grand Orbiter and a Disaster Transport Jr.—and a TC Electronic Ditto X2 Looper.” Arganda’s pedals are mounted on a Pedaltrain-2 and powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 4x4.
Corey Tando: Highs and Lows
Corey Tando has pedalboards for both bass and guitar. His guitar board is a Pedaltrain-2 powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus. Pedals include a Line 6 Relay G50 Wireless, TC Electronic Polytune 2, Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Big Muff Pi, TC Electronic John Petrucci Dreamscape, DigiTech Whammy DT, TC Electonic Flashback X4 Delay, and a Morley Mark Tremonti Wah.
For his bass tones he rolls with a Pedaltrain JR powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus, loaded with the following toys: Line 6 G50 Wireless, TC Electronic PolyTune 2, TC Electronic Flashback Delay, and two Electro-Harmonix stomps—a Deluxe Bass Big Muff Pi and a Talking Machine.
Arturo Islas: So Exotic
Arturo Islas first plugs into an Empress Buffer, which feeds a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Mini. From there, his signal travels through a Keeley Compressor, a RC Booster and BB Preamp from Xotic Effects, a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, an E.W.S.-modded Arion Chorus, and a TC Electronic Flashback X4. “A Pedaltrain JR holds my pedals,” says Islas, “and they’re powered by a T-Rex Fuel Tank Junior. I connect everything with Monster patch cables.”
Andrea Poggetti: No Strings Attached From left to right, this is Andrea’s method to madness: Roland EV-5 Expression Pedal, Mooer Micro ABY Channel Switch, Dunlop Cry Baby Wah, Behringer TU300 Chromatic Tuner, MXR M-104 Distortion +, Vox Joe Satriani Satchurator, T-Rex Dr. Doctor Swamp Dual Distortion, and a Zoom G3 Multi Effects Pedal linked to the EV-5.
Alfredo Stolarz: Pasta and Pedals “This is my vintage-oriented pedalboard,” says Mr. Alfredo. It starts with a Bigfoot FX Spaghetti Western for an “angry bee fuzz,” then the serial #1 Badger Effects Badgerplex Trilogy, which Alfredo describes as “a wonderful-sounding Echoplex preamp with a very nice buffer.” Next he has a MarkOne Audio 2-channel True Bypass Looper with a Boss FV-50L Volume Pedal on one channel (the other channel will have a tuner). Also on the board are: a Dedalo Effects Tres (“a very nice Argentine-made tremolo”), a BigToneMusicBrewery Maggie (a Magnatone-like vibrato), and a Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo. Not pictured is an outboard reverb unit—a handwired Marsh clone of a ’63 Fender Reverb. Mr. Alfredo isn’t finished. “Apart from the tuner, I’ll add a Neo Instruments Mini Vent and a Catalinbread Topanga Spring Reverb to replace the tank when I don’t want to drag it.”
David Miller: Dual-Amp Delirium
“I just finished this new board that features a dual signal path for amp switching,” says Holland, Michigan’s David Miller. “Jon Cusack helped me navigate the signal routing and keep all the signals in their correct phase.”
Miller’s guitar first hits a Cusack splitter box, which feeds a Barber Launch Pad connected to a Bogner Ecstasy 101b head. Channel 2 from the splitter goes to a Cusack Pedal Board Tamer that controls a Barber Tone Press, a Cusack Screamer V2, a 1974 MXR Phase 90, a Modest Mike-modded Boss Chorus CE-5, a Strymon blueSky Reverberator and El Capistan, and a ZVEX Super Hard-On. This second path leads to a modified 35-watt EL84-equipped amp. Miller’s switching tools include a Cusack MIDI controller and a RJM Amp Gizmo, and a Pedaltrain Pro houses all this gear.
Jeff Roggendorf: Hi-Tech Wonder “My signal first goes into a TC Electronic PolyTune Noir,” says Jeff Roggendorf, “followed by a Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor. Next up is a Line 6 Pod HD500 that’s connected to a Bogner Alchemist. Via the “four-cable method,” I can use the Bogner’s preamp and power amp in conjunction with the Pod’s preamp and effects models. I can also run the Bogner’s preamp and/or the Pod’s preamps through the rackmount Crown power amp, which lets me blend the sounds of two different amps or use more speakers, depending on what I need. To play samples, I run a DigiTech JamMan Stereo into a DI Box that goes to the soundboard. This rig hasn’t failed me yet, and it makes singing and changing multiple effects an absolute breeze. The Pod HD500 is definitely the secret weapon in this rig.”
Kody Lovell: Epic Audio Adventure The signal from Kody Lovell’s guitar starts its sonic journey with a Xotic Effects RC Booster. Next it flows into a Dunlop DVP-1 volume pedal and a Cry Baby 535Q wah, and then a Moen GEC9 effects router. The router feeds a Line 6 M5 (configured with an expression pedal), a Mad Professor Forest Green Compressor, a Chase Bliss Audio Wombtone Phaser, an Electro-Harmonix Ravish Sitar, an Amptweaker TightMetal Pro, and a Red Panda Particle.
“My amp’s send and return also connect to the router,” says Lovell, “and this lets me run a Source Audio Programmable EQ, Boss DD-7, and Strymon blueSky Reverberator after the amp’s input. I also use a TC Electronic Ditto X2 and a BBE desktop series 282i Sonic Maximizer. A GigRig Z Cable connects to the amp input.”
Dan Hanson: Reunited and It Feels So Good
“My No. 1 is exclusively a play-at-home pedalboard,” says Dan Hanson, who hails from Waukesha, Wisconsin, aka the “Home of Les Paul.” “I can’t take the board out to a public venue,” Hanson explains, “because it contains an original Klon Centaur. My Klon has already been stolen—and recovered—once, and I don’t want to go through that again.” He bought his Klon new in ’98 for $295.
“My favorite thing about the Klon has nothing to do with its sound or functionality,” Hanson continues. “The day after it was stolen a few years ago, I spotted it on eBay because I recognized a specific ding. When I notified the Milwaukee police department, they moved in on the pawnshop that was selling my pedal and recovered it! As they handed it over to me at the police station, the officer who headed up the case complimented me on my ‘excellent detective work.’ And this is coming from real detectives.”
Moving clockwise from the upper right-hand corner in terms of signal-path, there’s a Xotic Effects EP Booster, the Klon, a Maxon OD-820, a Catalinbread Belle Epoch, a Boss CE-2 Chorus, and TC Electronic Ditto Looper. Board No. 2 is identical, except for the Electro-Harmonix Soul Food that subs for the Klon, and a Boss DM-2 Delay. “The Soul Food leaves more room on the board,” says Hanson, “so I couldn’t resist adding one more stomp. To my ears, the Soul Food actually does ‘clone the Klon,’ and it may even sound a little more crisp and lively.”
Gerald Cleveland: It’s Electric
“I think this is a pretty unique but very capable board,” attests Gerald. He either plugs direct or goes wireless to a TC Electronic PolyTune, Fulltone Plimsoul, Barber Electronics Direct Drive, Barber Electronics LTD, Xotic Effects AC Booster, Xotic Effects EP Booster, TC Electronic Corona Chorus, and a TC Electronic Flashback Delay.
On the bottom, he’s installed two Pedaltrain Volto power supplies and divided up the power load for each. “I got to thinking that the Voltos can charge as you play, so why not have an external battery pack charge the Volto?" Gerald installed a RAVPower RP-PB19 (15000mAh) and sent the USB outs each to a Volto. Both Voltos power his pedals while receiving a charge from the RAVPower. “It works perfect,” Gerald says. “I easily made it through three sets with the wireless on without a problem, and I still had enough juice for two practices after the gig. I'm still testing the limits.”
Hugo Hernandez: Keep It Simple!
When it comes to having a streamlined setup, Hugo Hernandez reigns supreme. His Savage Woodworks pedalboard houses a Vox V847A wah, which goes into the amp’s input, and a DigiTech Whammy and Malekko Ekko 616 delay that are connected to the amp’s effects loop. “My board is made of beautiful walnut and mahogany,” says Hernandez, “and underneath the board all the pedals are patched through Neutrik connectors and powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5.”
Trent Alexander: Main and Insane
Trent Alexander shows us his go-to board and also his most prized (and complicated) pedal. All lit up and ready to go, his main board features a TC Electronic PolyTune into a handwired Vox Wah, Mad Professor Snow White AutoWah, Wampler Ego Compressor, Fulltone Octafuzz, Fulltone Soul-Bender, Vick Audio 73 Ram’s Head, Paul C Audio Timmy, Fulltone Dejà Vibe, T1M Effects Mini Buffer, Tortuga Effects Manhattan, JHS Pedals Honey Comb Deluxe Tremolo, JAM Pedals WaterFall Chorus/Vibrato, Diamond Memory Lane 2 Delay/Echo, and a Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo set to buffered bypass. The pedals are powered by two Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus power supplies and mounted to a Pedaltrain Pro.
Alexander’s craziest stomp is his boutique handwired Drab and Go pedal, custom-made by Jannis at JAM Pedals in Greece. The handwired, all-analog pedal has a Retro Vibe first in the signal chain which is an improved take on the old Uni-Vibe design and features two NOS 2sc828 transistors and carbon comp resistors with four photocells surrounding a pulsating light source. The next pedal is the Red Muck it was based on the 1971 and Civil War-era style Big Muff circuits but with the added flexibility of a very usable tone knob. The switch in the center of the board bypasses the effects and goes straight to a tuner or another amp. Next is The Chill—a vintage style sine wave analog tremolo made with carbon comp resistors. Next is The Ripple, is a vintage analog phase pedal with two phase stages. Fifth in line is the JAM WaterFall, an all-analog chorus that uses two NOS Panasonic Bucket-Brigade chips: the MN3101 and the MN3007. Last in line is the Delay Llama +, which features a hold footswitch that allows the pedal to go into endless oscillation. All of this is wired up and enclosed in a Hammond-style enclosure. “It’s very portable and sounds world class,” says Alexander. “I’ve included pics of the pedal as well as the inside of the circuit—notice how clean the wiring is!”
John DiFalco: Split Personality “I divide my board into an acoustic section and an electric section,” says John DiFalco. “The signal comes directly from an Audio-Technica wireless unit into the board. On the acoustic side, the signal then goes to a Boss AC-3 Acoustic Simulator. From there, it’s routed to a Fishman Pro-EQ Platinum and then to either an acoustic amplifier or direct into the house sound system and stage monitors. This allows me to get an ‘acoustic’ tone from an electric guitar.”
When DiFalco’s Boss AC-3 is not engaged, the signal goes to a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic, and a Line 6 M5. The 4-button footswitch at the bottom of the board controls DiFalco’s main amp, a Bogner Alchemist 112.
Checking out the stomps of our fellow players never gets old—there’s so much self-expression in the way individuals assemble their boards. From classic effects deployed in imaginative ways to impressive loop schemes and a vast menagerie of hip boutique boxes, thanks for the ongoing inspiration, readers!
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