
Long to try your hand at building a pedal but can't help feeling overwhelmed? Let us enlighten you on the tools, materials, and available resources, as well as teach you how to build a critical, oft-overlooked testing device.
The DIY guitar-pedal world has been exploding over the past few years—so much so that it's likely at least a few of you have dipped a toe in already. I know I did. After using pedals for so many years and becoming pretty much obsessed with them, I felt a burning desire to learn what's going on inside these contraptions. But initially I was pretty intimidated. There is so much to learn! And even though we live in an age when all the information we need is practically at our fingertips, it's sometimes difficult to know how to word things in a search engine to get what we're looking for. Luckily, there's an immense DIY community out there, too—blogs, forums, and general-information reference sites. In my experience, just about everyone in the community is eager to help each other, so it didn't take long for me to feel welcome and encouraged.
Even so, two big things have become glaringly obvious to me during my years of pedal building. First, while there's a ton of information and lots of goodwill on the scene, there isn't really a single place that pulls together both the most important foundational concepts and a comprehensive list of the tools a novice needs to have not just a fun time, but a successful first building experience. No one likes spending a bunch of time and money on parts, tools, and assembly only to have a worthless hunk of junk that doesn't work at the end of it all.
Secondly, very few places mention one of the most important, helpful, and time- and wits-saving tools that a would-be pedal builder can have at their disposal. No matter how experienced you are, no matter what you're building, the simple fact is that if you don't have a circuit-tester box, you're probably losing a lot of time and getting way more frustrated than you need to during a pedal build.
What exactly is a circuit-tester? It's a special, prewired "dummy" pedal you can use over and over again to test any circuit you're working on. In other words, it will function as the vicarious housing for any DIY pedal project you're working on, allowing you to hear it and know that it works before you install the project in a housing with its own jacks, etc. To that end, I put together this brief tutorial for a DIY tester box. Besides being very useful for any future pedal projects you might undertake, the tester-building process itself will be great practice for upcoming pedal builds, too. Once you've mastered this, you'll be ready to move onto building your first pedal, whether it's a kit or a copy of a popular circuit.
Let's start with essential tools, since there are so many options on the market that might seem fine but actually aren't well suited to pedal-building tasks.
Essential Pedal-Building Tools
Soldering iron. You don't need the fanciest one around, but a cheapie can definitely make your projects a lot less fun. An iron of 40 or more watts will get the job done. And while you don't have to get one with a digital readout, it's a heck of a lot easier to use. Otherwise, you'd need to rig up a way to test your iron's temperature to ensure it stays at an appropriate, steady temperature for creating good solder joints. I solder at anywhere from 600 to 750 degrees, and I like the set-it-and-forget-it aspect of digital soldering irons. If the temperature drifts, the readout will reflect that fluctuation and readjust within seconds. I've tried about six different soldering irons, including an expensive Weller digital model. I keep going back to the Hakko FX-888D, but if you're not quite ready to plunk down a hundo on your iron, the Weller WLC100 40-Watt Soldering Station will work just fine, too.
Soldering tips. Soldering stations typically come with one soldering tip, usually a large one that's not very useful for pedal building. There are many sizes to choose from, but I tend to use two sizes mostly: a .8mm conical tip and, much less often, a .8mm chisel tip. In my experience, it is better to purchase original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) brand soldering tips, as after-market tips often don't last long.
Solder. The type of solder typically used for this type of work has an activated rosin flux core and is composed of approximately 60 percent tin and 40 percent lead, although lead-free options are available. I have tried many kinds—lead-free, silver-bearing, no-clean, you name it. I've found lead-free solder incredibly difficult to work with, though perhaps I will find one that works for me in the future. Some folks like a bit thicker diameter of solder than the Kester .02"-diameter solder that I use. I find anything from .02" to .03" in diameter acceptable for pedal building. (Note: Even if you've been soldering for a while, I also recommend finding out more about it from a source such as ElectronicsAndYou.com. There's also a wonderful tutorial video by trusted electronics outfit Pace, Inc.)
Something to clean your iron. This is something you should be doing quite frequently! A moistened sponge works, while something like the handy Hakko 599B Tip Cleaner helps prevent solder blobs from flying in your face or hair.
Smoke absorber. Solder fumes are highly toxic, so a de-fuming fan/smoke absorber is essential—even if you're working in a well-ventilated room. I use a Hakko FA-400, but I still keep all shop windows open and use a ceiling fan to keep the air circulating out. Placing a soldering station right next to an open window with the de-fumer blowing the fume-y air out is the easiest way I have found to keep solder smoke from lingering.
Pliers. I use three different sets of pliers every time I build: a flat long-nose variety with no teeth, a skinny long-nose with no teeth, and flat long-nose pliers with teeth.
Wire cutters. For snipping wires and component leads. I tend to break wire cutter tips rather often, so I keep a few pairs around. I have a robust pair for cutting thick wires and metal, a pair of Xytronic AX103 Side Cutters for most everyday clipping work, as well as a fancy, sharp pair for more dainty work (like snipping leads off of PCBs).
Wire strippers. For trimming a small piece of each wire's outer coating (or "jacket") to expose the bare wire underneath. I like models like this Hanlong 20-30AWG stripper because they can strip a few different gauges of wire. "Self-adjusting" wire strippers like models from Irwin are also popular with some builders, though I find them a bit clunky to use. Note: When I'm not using wire salvaged from unused electronics, I prefer Teflon-coated wire because its outer jacket won't melt. One disadvantage, however, is that it's slippery as can be and nearly impossible to strip with the previously mentioned strippers. The tiny Jonard ST-550 works wonderfully with Teflon—and any other kind of jacket material.
A drill and drill bit(s). A powered hand drill will work fine, however I like to use a step bit like the Irwin 10231 Unibit self-starting fractional step drill bit so I don't have to change the bit every time I want to drill a different-sized hole. You might also want to pick up a center punch like those from Starrett, as well as a very small bit (1/16" or 1/8") that's made to go through aluminum or metal to drill pilot holes for the step bit.
Rocket Sockets. They're not absolutely necessary, but they make installing jacks and hardware easier, faster, and safer. (Trust me—if you use pliers to tighten hardware, they're almost guaranteed to scratch the finish.) Rocket Sockets come in a set that includes all the sizes you'll need for building pedals.
Circuit-board blanks. Two kinds of circuit-board substrate are most widely used for pedal circuits: stripboard (Veroboard is a common brand) has preprinted, horizontal copper rails, while perforated board (aka "perf board") looks similar but doesn't have copper rails (although some types of perf boards have copper tracing around each of the holes). Parts get directly loaded through the top of the board and are connected to each other on the underside. Note: Because we'll be wiring all our circuit-tester parts together directly (aka "point to point"), you won't need circuit-board material for the direct purposes of this article.
Helping Hands circuit-board holder. This affordable Radio Shack accessory is incredibly useful for holding boards and parts while you solder them.
Digital multimeter. This isn't absolutely necessary for our project, but if you expect to keep building pedals it will definitely end up being the most important tool in your kit. Why? To avoid massive headaches at the end of your build, it's a good idea to get in the habit of testing all components before adding them to the circuit. A multimeter is also useful for checking continuity when you solder any two (or more) points together. Cheaper multimeters have a rotary dial that must be set to certain ranges of values to get an accurate reading. I prefer "auto-ranging" multimeters, which automatically test the exact value of an electrical component simply by putting a probe on each of its "legs." The affordable Vici VC97A works well in my experience.
Semiconductor analyzer. The Peak Atlas DCA55 is one of the most-used tools in our shop. We use it to quickly and accurately measure transistors and diodes.
Screwdrivers. One standard-size flathead and one standard-size Phillips head are a must. I also use small screwdrivers for all sorts of things, including forming leads, pushing wires and components into place in tight spaces, and installing knobs. Radio Shack's RS Pro 6-Piece works just fine.
X-Acto #1 precision knife. I can't tell you how handy and necessary these are in every aspect of my creations!
Scissors. I like Fiskars Softouch Micro-Tip Pruning Snips, but just about any kind will work.
Radio Shack Hot Holder. This silicon block has molded compartments for holding everything from 1/4" jacks to footswitches, RCA and XLR plugs, and even pickup switches while you solder parts onto them. I initially balked at the price, but I have to admit I'm using it often.
Desoldering bulb. Learning to desolder is an invaluable skill, as even the most seasoned pedal builders make soldering mistakes, and circuit-board pads and traces don't typically stand up to a lot of reheating while you try to do the job with just your soldering iron. A great way to practice is by desoldering components off PCBs from old or broken electronics. This is one of my favorite things to do, because you get comfortable with the process while saving a precious transistor or two from landfills. (There are other ways to desolder—some folks like to use a pump or solder wick. But I find the bulb to be the easiest, cleanest method, because you can apply different amounts of pressure to desolder more delicately.)
Parts Needed for Our Circuit-Tester Project
Hookup wire. 22- and 24-gauge stranded, pre-bond hookup wire is most common in pedal building, as anything thicker than 22 won't fit some hardware and some circuit-board holes, while anything thinner than 24 won't be robust enough. Jackets can be made of a few different materials— cloth-covered, polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon)-coated, or the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) type most builders use. You can even get your preferred wire type in pre-cut, pre-"tinned" sets. However, knowing how to strip and tin wires (condition their tips for proper conduction—we'll talk more about this later) is a valuable skill, so I suggest using raw wire like the 24-gauge options available from LoveMySwitches.com.
DIY TIP: Although many pro pedal builders use a single color of wiring for their circuits, it's a good idea for new builders to purchase red, black, green, and blue wire, since, when you go a-hunting for layouts to build, you'll find that many use this color-coding scheme to denote positive, ground, input, and output wires, respectively—just as we have in our circuit-tester project.
Testing leads. Most pedal circuits have four wires coming off of the circuit boards: input (the green lines in our diagrams), output (blue lines), positive (red +9V lines), and ground (black). That means we'll need four testing leads. Because our circuit-testing box will be used over and over again, we should invest in quality, durable leads. I've found Mueller BU-2031-A-12-0 leads to be robust. (If you prefer longer leads, Velleman sets will work as well—but be sure to buy two packages, since each only comes with three.) The alligator-clip end of each lead hooks onto the input, output, positive, or ground wires of the circuit board we are testing, and the "banana-plug" end of each lead plugs into the corresponding banana post (see next entry for more) on the tester pedal.
You can also make your own leads to the exact lengths that are ideal for your workstation. If you go that route, Keystone Electronics 5046 alligator clips are a nice choice. Mueller even has a helpful video showing three different ways to attach an alligator clip to a wire. Meanwhile, AudioTrendsTV has a helpful video showing how to solder a banana plug. (Solder-less screw-on plugs are available, but in my experience the soldered variety are much more durable. If you buy the screw-on type, I recommend soldering the wire in for extra strength.)
You'll also need four banana plugs, and Mueller tapered-handle models are a good option. "Banana plugs" are single-wire electrical connectors used for joining wires to equipment, and the awesome thing about them is that the leads are removable, so you have a ton of options as far as tester leads go. Just be sure to buy the ones with an alligator clip on one end and a 4 mm male banana post on the other.
Banana posts. These are the jacks that the detachable test lead cables with alligator clip ends will plug into when the tester pedal is finished. They are also sometimes referred to as "binding posts" or "terminal binding posts," and you'll need four of these, too.
A metal enclosure. Aluminum enclosures are the most widely used for guitar pedals. For our project, I used an aluminum 1590BB-size enclosure I already had from a previous project. LoopholePedals.com is one of many places that offers drilling services for those who don't have the tools to do so themselves.
Jacks. Our test box has two 1/4" female audio jacks, as well as one 2.1 mm barrel power jack. I use Switchcraft #11 monoand #12B stereo jacks, and Lumberg or Mouser DC jacks.
9V batteries. Batteries are terrible for the environment, but we sometimes need them for circuit testing. I always plug into a circuit powered by just the battery at first. Once it powers on properly, I switch to a 9V DC center-negative power supply for further testing. Rechargeable 9V batteries help ease environmental impact and are easy to charge via USB cable. They don't seem to hold a full 9V charge, but since I only use them for the initial test, the 8.6V I've measured from their leads is good enough.
• 9V battery clip connector (center-negative) power-supply cable. To connect the rechargeable battery to the tester pedal's power jack without having to remove the back of the enclosure. (Don't worry—if you prefer a regular 9V connector, I'm including the wiring scheme for that, too.)
9V, center-negative regulated power supply. Clean power is crucial for a pedal, but especially so when you're testing it. I use the Electro-Harmonix US96DC-200BI, because the power seems to be clean and less noisy than others (I've tried more than a dozen brands).
A latching 3PDT (triple-pole, double-throw) switch. It can be either a footswitch or a toggle.
Note: Speaking of switches, it's a good idea to research how they work if you haven't already done so. Understanding how the internal mechanisms connect and how the connections change as the switch is engaged makes the whole off-board-wiring experience much less daunting. BeavisAudio.com has some very useful information on the subject, and DIY Guitar Pedals has an informative video, too.
Bypass LED (light-emitting diode) and LED holder. Pick any color you like. 5 mm and 3 mm models seem to be most popular for pedal building.
1kΩ 1/4-watt resistor. LEDs are quite robust, but they need a resistor attached as a current limiter so they don't blow. You can use a 2.2k or 4.7k resistor too. The higher the resistance, the dimmer the light will be.
The Pedal Builder’s Best Friend: How to Build a Circuit Tester
Okay, I think I've hyped this killer tool enough. Unless you need to take a sec to go online and consult our Soldering 101: A Step-by-Step Guide, let's build this thing! Here's a wiring diagram.
1. Drill the housing. Before we can start wiring, the enclosure needs holes drilled out to accommodate the input, output, and power jacks, as well as the LED and bypass (on/off) switch. If your enclosure didn't come with predrilled holes, you can drill for the jacks on the housing's top or sides, whichever you prefer. I prefer power and audio jacks on top, with the power jack in the center and the input and output jacks opposite each other whenever possible.
We also need to drill four holes for the banana posts that will be connected internally. As mentioned earlier, every circuit you build will have input (green diagram lines), output (blue), positive (red), and ground (black) wires that need to be connected to your tester pedal. Note: The enclosure I'm using already had four holes on top, so my layout reflects this. You might choose to put the banana posts on the side(s), top, or someplace else. That's the beauty of DIY!
I have a mantra: Measure three times, drill once. You can use a Sharpie or other marker to mark the spots you want to drill. Hit each mark with the center-punch tool, then drill pilot holes. Once pilot holes are drilled, you're ready to install your step bit in the drill. (Reminder: The step bit is marked on its side with size values so you know where to stop drilling for the desired hole size.)
PRO TIPS: Some DIY sites have drill guides you can download and print out to make the process easier, but it's still good to learn how to do it manually. Also, Barry Steindel from GuitarPCB.com has a great video tutorial on how to drill pedal enclosures with a hand drill, and DIY Guitar Pedals has one for those who prefer a drill press.
IMPORTANT: Most component and hardware manufacturers publish data sheets listing characteristics and specifications—including physical measurements—for their products. It's a good idea to consult the data sheet for each of your components prior to drilling so that you know how many steps of your step drill bit (or which sizes of standard drill bits) to use.
2. Prepare the switch. To start with, let's connect a couple of "jumpers" on the underside of our 3PDT switch so it functions as a "true bypass" switch (which provides the most transparent signal for circuit testing). This can be done a few different ways, but my preferred method is to add a wire between lugs 1 and 8, as well as lugs 6, 7, and 9. (As you see in the image below, some builders use a 0Ω resistor rather than a bare wire for the jumper between lugs 6, 7, and 9. It's perfectly fine to use a simple wire for this, which is why I didn't include a second resistor in the list of necessary parts for this build.) For now, only apply solder to the three bottom lugs, since the two other lugs (1 and 6) also need to accommodate the wires we'll add in later.
Note: Although you can use regular hookup wire, I use snipped-off leg pieces from resistors or other components for these jumpers.
3. Prepare the LED wiring "harness." First, we're going to trim the LED's ground (cathode) lead, which is the shorter leg. Then we'll "tin" the trimmed end by touching the soldering-iron tip to it, applying a tiny dab of solder, and then sliding the iron tip back and forth along the ground lead for a brief moment until the solder melts and the entire surface of the leg appears shiny. Why? Tinning limits corrosion of the metal leads and helps components fuse together better at solder joints. The LearnElectronics channel has a useful tinning demo video.
Next, cut all but a 1/4" off the 1kΩ resistor's legs, then tin the short end. Put the LED's body into one of the "hands" of the Helping Hands tool, with the legs facing inward, then put the long lead of the resistor in the other "hand," with the snipped, tinned leg facing in. Push the "hands" together until the two short, tinned leads of each component overlap. Touch the soldering-iron tip to the junction for a brief moment, add a dab of solder, and remove the iron's tip once the solder has pooled and settled in, nice and shiny. A shiny solder joint is generally a solid solder joint.
The leftover leg on the 1kΩ resistor is sometimes long enough to be soldered directly to the footswitch, as is the case here. But if your LED hole is further away than ours, you'll need to add a wire. To do this, trim the resistor's other leg to 1/4" and tin it. Next, strip and tin a piece of black hookup wire long enough to reach from the 3PDT switch to the LED hole. Now snip the LED's longer leg (the positive or "anode" lead), again to a 1/4", and tin it. Cut another wire long enough to reach from your power jack to the LED hole, then strip and tin the ends. Load the stripped, tinned wire into the other Helping Hands holder and push the "hands" together until the end of the wire overlaps the LED's anode. Solder them together so that the solder has pooled and settled, nice and shiny, as before.
Although it's not crucial, you can encase these two solder points in 1/8" shrink tubing for extra stability, neatness, and to help keep the joints from shorting out against each other or the enclosure (don't use electrical tape instead—you'll regret it!). The YouTube channel MrJustDIY has a helpful video on how to do so. The most important thing is to make sure your solder joint is good before you cover it. I recommend testing for continuity with a multimeter before adding the shrink stuff.
4. Install the enclosure's hardware. With our footswitch and LED harness ready to go, we're set to use those Rocket Sockets (or other appropriately sized socket wrenches) to attach the footswitch and the input, output, and power jacks.
As for the banana posts, they have a hollow, threaded column with an insert at the top that accepts a banana plug. IMPORTANT: You don't want that metal post touching the metal enclosure at all. Thankfully, banana posts come with plastic insulators that go around the post, ensuring that they don't short-out the circuit. Install the banana post from the top, as shown below.
Next, put the plastic insulator cylinder over the post, followed by the little tab thing, then the nut. Tighten it snugly, but be careful not to crack the plastic insulator by over-tightening.
Note: If you're wondering why my LED isn't installed in a holder/bezel, it's because my recycled enclosure already had an LED glued in. It's much cleaner and sturdier to use a holder or bezel, however. If you aren't using shrink tubing around the joints, it's imperative that none of the bare leads touch the bezel (if it's metal) or the enclosure. We don't want it to short out—or worse, to blow! When you install your LED, make sure the positive and ground wires are properly oriented before you push the LED into the holder. Point the positive wire toward the power jack, and gently bend the ground-plus-resistor lead toward the bypass switch.
5. Wire and solder the circuit. Measure the distance to and from each of the points that need to be connected, as per the wiring diagram—and, ideally, in the same colors. Be sure to add a couple extra millimeters on each wire, as it's really annoying to get in the building groove only to realize a wire is too short! Next, use your wire strippers to strip 1/4" of the plastic jacket off the ends of each wire. As you tin each wire end, keep in mind that PVC jacketing melts very easily, so don't apply heat too long or you'll end up with a mess. The tinned wire ends should look shiny all the way around, like they're encased in chrome.
TECH TALK: Let's discuss 1/4" jack anatomy for a second. We are using two types—our output jack is mono and has two tabs, while our input jack is stereo and has three tabs. Turn the input jack sideways, and you'll see three protective wafer layers separating three metal terminals on the jack. These are commonly referred to as the "tip" and "ring." The ring is above the second wafer. The tip is the terminal above the first wafer, just above the base of the jack itself. The ground tab, or sleeve, is connected to the center part of the jack at the base, floating above all three wafers, and does not have a protective wafer on top. The output jack will only have two protective wafers separating the two metal conductors (the ground and tip tabs). If you decide not to add the battery snap internally, you could use two mono Switchcraft jacks as you would not need the additional ring connection used for turning the battery on and off.
Okay, let's insert and solder all the ground wires first. I always use black wire to avoid confusion and match the diagram. Again, make sure each solder joint is shiny before you move to the next one. Also, be sure none of the wires are too taut, or they're likely to eventually come loose.
Next, I like to insert and solder the red, positive-connection wires. This is easier than ground wiring, because it only connects in two spots and one wire is already attached to the LED's positive leg. Note: Although the diagram looks like only one wire is attached to the power jack, a separate red wire will go from both the LED and the positive banana post to the power jack's sleeve pin (see photo). Both wires should fit there fine, but don't solder that joint until both wire tips are gently squeezed into the hole.
If you want to install a battery snap, do that now. Strip and tin the ends. Note: Soldering the red wire to the power jack's one remaining empty tab prevents the battery from losing juice—but only if you remember to unplug your 1/4"instrument cable from the input when you're not using the box. Plugging into the input connects the battery. Unplugging disconnects it.
Now let's install our input (green) wires. One goes from the tip of the input jack to lug 2 (middle lug in the leftmost column) of our 3PDT switch. The other green wire goes from the input banana post's tab to lug 1 (top left) on the switch, along with one end of the jumper.
To connect output (blue) wires, route one from the tip of the output jack to lug 8 (middle of rightmost column) on the switch. The second blue wire goes from the output banana post to lug 7 (top right) on the 3PDT switch.
Lastly, connect the LED's ground leg to lug 4 (top row, middle) on the footswitch. Remember, my example looks a little different and your ground will be the black wire coming off the LED.
6. Test the circuit with a multimeter. Set your meter to "continuity" mode (consult its manual if you're not sure how to do so), touch one of its probes to a solder point in our circuit tester, then touch the other probe to the solder point on the other end of that particular connection. For example, touch one probe to the solder point located on the input-jack tip, and touch the other probe to lug 2 (middle lug in the leftmost column) of our 3PDT switch. Your meter should beep or light up if you have a solid connection. Once you've tested and found continuity in all our circuit tester's connections, you'll know it's ready to start testing guitar-pedal guts.
Using your new circuit tester is really easy. First, make sure it's got power from a 9V battery or an adapter, then simply plug your guitar into the tester's input jack, and your amp into its output. Then attach each of the circuit-tester's four leads (input, output, ground, and positive) to the corresponding wires on the circuit board you're building or testing. In other words, connect the alligator clip from your new circuit-tester's input lead to your project pedal's input wire, connect the alligator clip from the tester's output lead to the output wire on your project pedal, and so on for the positive and ground connections, as well. That's it! Engaging the bypass switch will connect the circuit. Bypassing will yield a clean guitar signal.
Now you have a simple, easy way to test all the wonderful DIY effects you'll be building. Congratulations! Hopefully, this article has shined a little light on the processes involved with learning to wire a pedal. Moreover, I hope you had as much fun building it as I did! In fact, I'd love it if you'd share your tester-pedal shots with Loe Sounds (@loesounds) on Instagram Stories.
I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Steve Daniels and the crew at Small Bear Electronics for their dedication to providing education and reliable supplies to the DIY pedal community for 22 years. At publication time, Small Bear had announced it would soon be closing its doors. Pedal builders everywhere will miss them dearly, and we can only hope someone comes along to carry the torch and fill the big void Small Bear will leave.
DIY Pedal Sites You Should Check Out
- The DIYStompboxes.com forum is my go-to. It's where I met invaluable mentors like Pink Jimi Photon (of PJP Effects), and Dino Tsiptsis and Phil Moulder, whose Dead End FX site has intermediate to advanced projects and PCBs, including some pretty rare stompbox gems.
- The Effects Layouts blog features some of the tidiest PCBs and layouts for perf boards based on popular guitar-pedal schematics.
- The Tagboard Effects blog has Vero-type stripboard layouts for popular pedal schematics, as well as a helpful forum.
- Madbean Pedals hosts a forum with lots of really nice, helpful folks. They've also got downloadable PCB layouts, sell quality PCBs, and some of the most well-documented projects out there, from beginner to advanced level.
- Beavis Audio Research has a whole bunch of great information, including well-laid-out, easy-to-read diagrams.
- R.G. Keen's Geofex. Keen is practically the godfather of DIY guitar effects. Most of us couldn't be doing what we are doing without what we have learned from this invaluable site!
- RunOffGroove.com is an old-school site with great, bare-basics schematics and articles.
- ElectroSmash.com is a treasure trove of projects, schematics, component information, and detailed breakdowns of popular pedal circuits.
- MusicFromOuterSpace.com features mostly DIY synth stuff, but I learned so much from their articles. Ray Wilson's contributions to the DIY community are too many to count.
- Experimentalists Anonymous allows you to make your own layouts from dozens of schematics.
- DIY Layout Creator offers freeware for designing layouts and is great for learning.
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Stevie Van Zandt with “Number One,” the ’80s reissue Stratocaster—with custom paisley pickguard from luthier Dave Petillo—that he’s been playing for the last quarter century or so.
With the E Street Band, he’s served as musical consigliere to Bruce Springsteen for most of his musical life. And although he stands next to the Boss onstage, guitar in hand, he’s remained mostly quiet about his work as a player—until now.
I’m stuck in Stevie Van Zandt’s elevator, and the New York City Fire Department has been summoned. It’s early March, and I am trapped on the top floor of a six-story office building in Greenwich Village. On the other side of this intransigent door is Van Zandt’s recording studio, his guitars, amps, and other instruments, his Wicked Cool Records offices, and his man cave. The latter is filled with so much day-glo baby boomer memorabilia that it’s like being dropped into a Milton Glaser-themed fantasy land—a bright, candy-colored chandelier swings into the room from the skylight.
There’s a life-size cameo of a go-go dancer in banana yellow; she’s frozen in mid hip shimmy. One wall displays rock posters and B-movie key art, anchored by a 3D rendering of Cream’s Disraeli Gearsalbum cover that swishes and undulates as you walk past it. Van Zandt’s shelves are stuffed with countless DVDs, from Louis Prima to the J. Geils Band performing on the German TV concert seriesRockpalast. There are three copies ofIggy and the Stooges: Live in Detroit. Videos of the great ’60s-music TV showcases, from Hullabaloo to Dean Martin’s The Hollywood Palace, sit here. Hundreds of books about rock ’n’ roll, from Greil Marcus’s entire output to Nicholas Schaffner’s seminal tome, The Beatles Forever, form a library in the next room.
But I haven’t seen this yet because the elevator is dead, and I am in it. Our trap is tiny, about 5' by 5'. A dolly filled with television production equipment is beside me. There’s a production assistant whom I’ve never met until this morning and another person who’s brand new to me, too, Geoff Sanoff. It turns out that he’s Van Zandt’s engineer—the guy who runs this studio. And as I’ll discover shortly, he’s also one of the several sentinels who watch over Stevie Van Zandt’s guitars.
There’s nothing to do now but wait for the NYFD, so Sanoff and I get acquainted. We discover we’re both from D.C. and know some of the same people in Washington’s music scene. We talk about gear. We talk about this television project. I’m here today assisting an old pal, director Erik Nelson, best known for producing Werner Herzog’s most popular documentaries, like Grizzly Man and Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Van Zandt has agreed to participate in a television pilot about the British Invasion. After about half an hour, the elevator doors suddenly slide open, and we’re rescued, standing face-to-face with three New York City firefighters.
As our camera team sets up the gear, Sanoff beckons me to a closet off the studio’s control room. I get the sense I am about to get a consolation prize for standing trapped in an elevator for the last 30 minutes. He pulls a guitar case off the shelf—it’s stenciled in paint with the words “Little Steven” on its top—snaps open the latches, and instantly I am face to face with Van Zandt’s well-worn 1957 Stratocaster. Sanoff hands it to me, and I’m suddenly holding what may as well be the thunderbolt of Zeus for an E Street Band fan. My jaw drops when he lets me plug it in so he can get some levels on his board, and the clean, snappy quack of the nearly 70-year-old pickups fills the studio. For decades, Springsteen nuts have enjoyed a legendary 1978 filmed performance of “Rosalita” from Phoenix, Arizona, that now lives on YouTube. This is the Stratocaster Van Zandt had slung over his shoulder that night. It’s the same guitar he wields in the famous No Nukes concert film shot at Madison Square Garden a year later, in 1979. My mind races. The British Invasion is all well and essential. But now I’m thinking about Van Zandt’s relationship with his guitars.
Stevie Van Zandt's Gear
Van Zandt’s guitar concierge Andy Babiuk helped him plunge deeper down the Rickenbacker rabbit hole. Currently, Van Zandt has six Rickenbackers backstage: two 6-strings and four 12-strings.
Guitars
- 1957 Fender Stratocaster (studio only)
- ’80s Fender ’57 Stratocaster reissue “Number One”
- Gretsch Tennessean
- 1955 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty” (studio only)
- Rickenbacker Fab Gear 2024 Limited Edition ’60s Style 360 Model (candy apple green)
- Rickenbacker Fab Gear 2023 Limited Edition ’60s Style 360 Model (snowglo)
- Rickenbacker 2018 Limited Edition ’60s Style 360 Fab Gear (jetglo)
- Two Rickenbacker 1993Plus 12-strings (candy apple purple and SVZ blue)
- Rickenbacker 360/12C63 12-string (fireglo)
- Vox Teardrop (owned by Andy Babiuk)
Amps
- Two Vox AC30s
- Two Vox 2x12 cabinets
Effects
- Boss Space Echo
- Boss Tremolo
- Boss Rotary Ensemble
- Durham Electronics Sex Drive
- Durham Electronics Mucho Busto
- Durham Electronics Zia Drive
- Electro-Harmonix Satisfaction
- Ibanez Tube Screamer
- Voodoo Labs Ground Control Pro switcher
Strings and Picks
- D’Addario (.095–.44)
- D’Andrea Heavy
Van Zandt has reached a stage of reflection in his career. Besides the Grammy-nominated HBO film, Stevie Van Zandt: Disciple, which came out in 2024, he recently wrote and published his autobiography, Unrequited Infatuations (2021), a rollicking read in which he pulls no punches and makes clear he still strives to do meaningful things in music and life.
His laurels would weigh him down if they were actually wrapped around his neck. In the E Street Band, Van Zandt has participated in arguably the most incredible live group in rock ’n’ roll history. And don’t forget Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes or Little Steven and the Disciples of Soul. He created both the Underground Garage and Outlaw Country radio channels on Sirius/XM. He started a music curriculum program called TeachRock that provides no-cost resources and other programs to schools across the country. Then there’s the politics. Via his 1985 record, Sun City, Van Zandt is credited with blasting many of the load-bearing bricks that brought the walls of South African apartheid tumbling into dust. He also acted in arguably the greatest television drama in American history, with his turn as Silvio Dante in The Sopranos.
Puzzlingly, Van Zandt’s autobiography lacks any detail on his relationship with the electric guitar. And Sanoff warns me that Van Zandt is “not a gearhead.” Instead he has an organization in place to keep his guitar life spinning like plates on the end of pointed sticks. Besides Sanoff, there are three others: Ben Newberry has been Van Zandt’s guitar tech since the beginning of 1982. Andy Babiuk, owner of Rochester, New York, guitar shop Fab Gear and author of essential collector reference books Beatles Gear and Rolling Stones Gear (the latter co-authored by Greg Prevost) functions as Van Zandt’s guitar concierge. Lastly, luthier Dave Petillo, based in Asbury Park, New Jersey, oversees all the maintenance and customization on Van Zandt’s axes.
“I took one lesson, and they start to teach you the notes. I don’t care about the notes.” —Stevie Van Zandt
I crawl onto Zoom with Van Zandt for a marathon session and come away from our 90 minutes with the sense that he is a man of dichotomies. Sure, he’s a guitar slinger, but he considers his biggest strengths to be as an arranger, producer, and songwriter. “I don’t feel that being a guitar player is my identity,” he tells me. “For 40 years, ever since I made my first solo record, I just have not felt that I express myself as a guitar player. I still enjoy it when I do it; I’m not ambivalent. When I play a solo, I am in all the way, and I play a solo like I would like to hear if I were in the audience. But the guitar part is really part of the song’s arrangement. And a great solo is a composed solo. Great solos are ones you can sing, like Jimi Hendrix’s solo in ‘All Along the Watchtower.’”
In his autobiography, Van Zandt mentions that his first guitar was an acoustic belonging to his grandfather. “I took one lesson, and they start to teach you the notes. I don’t care about the notes,” Van Zandt tells me. “The teacher said I had natural ability. I’m thinking, if I got natural ability, then what the fuck do I need you for? So I never went back. After that, I got my first electric, an Epiphone. It was about slowing down the records to figure out with my ear what they were doing. It was seeing live bands and standing in front of that guitar player and watching what they were doing. It was praying when a band went on TV that the cameraman would occasionally go to the right place and show what the guitar player was doing instead of putting the camera on the lead singer all the time. And I’m sure it was the same for everybody. There was no concept of rock ’n’ roll lessons. School of Rock wouldn’t exist for another 30 years. So, you had to go to school yourself.”
By the end of the 1960s, Van Zandt tells me he had made a conscious decision about what kind of player he wanted to be. “I realized that I really wasn’t that interested in becoming a virtuoso guitar player, per se. I was more interested in making sure I could play the guitar solo that would complement the song. I got more into the songs than the nature of musicianship.”
After the Beatles and the Stones broke the British Invasion wide open, bands like Cream and the Yardbirds most influenced him. “George Harrison would have that perfect 22-second guitar solo,” Van Zandt remembers. “Keith Richards. Dave Davies. Then, the harder stuff started coming. Jeff Beck in the Yardbirds. Eric Clapton with things like ‘White Room.’ But the songs stayed in a pop configuration, three minutes each or so. You’d have this cool guitar-based song with a 15-second, really amazing Jeff Beck solo in it. That’s what I liked. Later, the jam bands came, but I was not into that. My attention deficit disorder was not working for the longer solos,” he jokes. Watch a YouTube video of any recent E Street Band performance where Van Zandt solos, and the punch and impact of his approach and attack are apparent. At Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., last year, his solo on “Rosalita” was 13 powerful seconds.
Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen’s relationship goes back to their earliest days on the Jersey shore. “Everybody had a different guitar; your guitar was your identity,” recalls Van Zandt. “At some point, a couple of years later, I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to Telecaster. At that point, I was ready to switch to Stratocaster.”
Photo by Pamela Springsteen
Van Zandt left his Epiphone behind for his first Fender. “I started to notice that the guitar superstars at the time were playing Telecasters. Mike Bloomfield. Jeff Beck. Even Eric Clapton played one for a while,” he tells me. “I went down to Jack’s Music Shop in Red Bank, New Jersey, because he had the first Telecaster in our area and couldn’t sell it; it was just sitting there. I bought it for 90 bucks.”
In those days, and around those parts, players only had one guitar. Van Zandt recalls, “Everybody had a different guitar; your guitar was your identity. At some point, a couple of years later, I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to Telecaster. At that point, I was ready to switch to Stratocaster, because Jimi Hendrix had come in and Jeff Beck had switched to a Strat. They all kind of went from Telecaster to Les Pauls. And then some of them went on to the Stratocaster. For me, the Les Paul was just too out of reach. It was too expensive, and it was just too heavy. So I said, I’m going to switch to a Stratocaster. It felt a little bit more versatile.”
Van Zandt still employs Stratocasters, and besides the 1957 I strummed, he was seen with several throughout the ’80s and ’90s. But for the last 20 or 25 years, Van Zandt has mainly wielded a black Fender ’57 Strat reissue from the ’80s with a maple fretboard and a gray pearloid pickguard. He still uses that Strat—dubbed “Number One”—but the pickguard has been switched to one sporting a purple paisley pattern that was custom-made by Dave Petillo.
Petillo comes from New Jersey luthier royalty and followed in the footsteps of his late father, Phil Petillo. At a young age, the elder Petillo became an apprentice to legendary New York builder John D’Angelico. Later, he sold Bruce Springsteen the iconic Fender Esquire that’s seen on the Born to Run album cover and maintained and modified that guitar and all of Bruce’s other axes until he passed away in 2010. Phil worked out of a studio in the basement of their home, not far from Asbury Park. Artists dropped in, and Petillo has childhood memories of playing pick-up basketball games in his backyard with members of the E Street Band. (He also recalls showing his Lincoln Logs to Johnny Cash and once mistaking Jerry Garcia for Santa Claus.)
“I was more interested in making sure I could play the guitar solo that would complement the song. I got more into the songs than the nature of musicianship.” —Stevie Van Zandt
“I’ve known Stevie Van Zandt my whole life,” says Petillo. “My dad used to work on his 1957 Strat. That guitar today has updated tuners, a bone nut, new string trees, and a refret that was done by Dad long ago. I think one volume pot may have been changed. But it still has the original pickups.” Petillo is responsible for a lot of the aesthetic flair seen on Van Zandt’s instruments. He continues, “Stevie is so much fun to work with. I love incorporating colors into things, and Stevie gets that. When you talk to a traditional Telecaster or Strat player, and you say, ‘I want to do a tulip paisley pickguard in neon blue-green,’ they’re like, ‘Holy cow, that’s too much!’ But for Stevie, it’s just natural. So I always text him with pickguard designs, asking him, ‘Which one do you like?’ And he calls me a wild man; he says, ‘I don’t have that many Strats to put them on!’ But I’ll go to Ben Newberry and say, ‘Ben, I made these pickguards; let’s get them on the guitar. And I’ll go backstage, and we’ll put them on. I just love that relationship; Stevie is down for it.”
Petillo takes care of the electronics on Van Zandt’s guitars. Almost all of the Strats are modified with an internal Alembic Stratoblaster preamp circuit, which Van Zandt can physically toggle on and off using a switch housed just above the input jack. Van Zandt tells me, “That came because I got annoyed with the whole pedal thing. I’m a performer onstage, and I’m integrated with the audience and I like the freedom to move. And if I’m across the stage and all of a sudden Bruce nods to me to take a solo, or there’s a bit in the song that requires a little bit of distortion, it’s just easier to have that; sometimes, I’ll need that extra little boost for a part I’m throwing in, and it’s convenient.”
In recent times, Van Zandt has branched out from the Stratocaster, which has a lot to do with Andy Babiuk's influence. The two met 20 years ago, and Babiuk’s band, the Chesterfield Kings, is on Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool Records. “He’d call me up and ask me things like, ‘What’s Brian Jones using on this song?’” explains Babiuk. “When I’d ask him why, he’d tell me, ‘Because I want to have that guitar.’ It’s a common thing for me to get calls and texts from him like that. And there’s something many people overlook that Stevie doesn’t advertise: He’s a ripping guitar player. People think of him as playing chords and singing backup for Bruce, but the guy rips. And not just on guitar, on multiple instruments.”
Van Zandt tells me he wanted to bring more 12-string to the E Street Band this tour, “just to kind of differentiate the tone.” He explains, “Nils is doing his thing, and Bruce is doing his thing, and I wanted to do more 12-string.” He laughs, “I went full Paul Kantner!” Babiuk helped Van Zandt plunge deeper down the Rickenbacker rabbit hole. Currently, Van Zandt has six Rickenbackers backstage: two 6-strings and four 12-strings. Each 12-string has a modified nut made by Petillo from ancient woolly mammoth tusk, and the D, A, and low E strings are inverted with their octave.
Van Zandt explains this to me: “I find that the strings ring better when the high ones are on top. I’m not sure if that’s how Roger McGuinn did it, but it works for me. I’m also playing a wider neck.”
Babiuk tells me about a unique Rick in Van Zandt’s rack of axes: “I know the guys at Rickenbacker well, and they did a run of 30 basses in candy apple purple for my shop. I showed one to Stevie, and purple is his color; he loves it. He asked me to get him a 12-string in the same color, and I told him, ‘They don’t do one-offs; they don’t have a custom shop,’ but it’s hard to say no to the guy! So I called Rickenbacker and talked them into it. I explained, ‘He’ll play it a lot on this upcoming tour.’ They made him a beautiful one with his OM logo.”
The purple one-off is a 1993Plus model and sports a 1 3/4" wide neck—1/8" wider than a normal Rickenbacker. Van Zandt loved it so much that he had Babiuk wrestle with Rickenbacker again to build another one in baby blue. Petillo has since outfitted them with paisley-festooned custom pickguards. When guitar tech Newberry shows me these unique axes backstage, I can see the input jack on the purple guitar is labeled with serial number 01001.“Some of my drive is based on gratitude,” says Van Zandt, “feeling like we are the luckiest guys in the luckiest generation ever.”
Photo by Rob DeMartin
Van Zandt also currently plays a white Vox Teardrop. That guitar is a prototype owned by Babiuk. “Stevie wanted a Teardrop,” Babiuk tells me, “but I explained that the vintage ones are hit and miss—the ones made in the U.K. were often better than the ones manufactured in Italy. Korg now owns Vox, and I have a new Teardrop prototype from them in my personal collection. When I showed it to him, he loved it and asked me to get him one. I had to tell him, ‘I can’t; it’s a prototype, there’s only one,’ and he asked me to sell him mine,” he chuckles. “I told him, ‘It’s my fucking personal guitar, it’s not for sale!’ So I ended up lending it to him for this tour, and I told him, ‘Remember, this is my guitar; don’t get too happy with it, okay?’
“He asked me why that particular guitar sounds and feels so good. Besides being a prototype built by only one guy, the single-coil pickups’ output is abnormally hot, and the neck feels like a nice ’60s Fender neck. Stevie’s obviously a dear friend of mine, and he can hold onto it for as long as he wants. I’m glad it’s getting played. It was just hanging in my office.”
Van Zandt tells me how Babiuk’s Vox Teardrop sums up everything he wants from his tone, and says, “It’s got a wonderfully clean, powerful sound. Like Brian Jones got on ‘The Last Time.’ That’s my whole thing; that’s the trick—trying to get the power without too much distortion. Bruce and Nils get plenty of distortion; I am trying to be the clean rhythm guitar all the time.”
If Van Zandt has a consigliere like Tony Soprano had Silvio Dante, that’s Newberry. Newberry has tech’d nearly every gig with Van Zandt since 1982. “Bruce shows move fast,” he tells me. “So when there’s a guitar change for Stevie, and there are many of them, I’m at the top of the stairs, and we switch quickly. There’s maybe one or two seconds, and if he needs to tell me something, I hear it. He’s Bruce’s musical director, so he may say something like, ‘Remind me tomorrow to go over the background vocals on “Ghosts,”’ or something like that. And I take notes during the show.”
“Everybody had a different guitar; your guitar was your identity. At some point, a couple of years later, I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to a Telecaster.” —Stevie Van Zandt
When I ask Newberry how he defines Van Zandt’s relationship to the guitar, he doesn’t hesitate, snapping back, “It’s all in his head. His playing is encyclopedic, whether it’s Bruce or anything else. He may show up at soundcheck and start playing the Byrds, but it’s not ‘Tambourine Man,’ it’s something obscure like ‘Bells of Rhymney.’ People may not get it, but I’ve known him long enough to know what’s happening. He’s got everything already under his fingers. Everything.”
As such, Van Zandt says he never practices. “The only time I touch a guitar between tours is if I’m writing something or maybe arranging backing vocal harmonies on a production,” he tells me.
Before we say goodbye, I tell Van Zandt about my time stuck in his elevator, and his broad grin signals that I may not be the only one to have suffered that particular purgatory. When I ask him about the 1957 Stratocaster I got to play upon my release, he recalls: “Bruce Springsteen gave me that guitar. I’ve only ever had one guitar stolen in my life, and it was in the very early days of my joining the E Street Band. I only joined temporarily for what I thought would be about seven gigs, and in those two weeks or so, my Stratocaster was stolen. It was a 1957 or 1958. Bruce felt bad about that and replaced that lost guitar with this one. So I’ve had it a long, long time. Once that first one was stolen, I decided I would resist having a personal relationship with any one guitar. But that one being a gift from Bruce makes it special. I will never take it back on the road.”
After 50 years of rock ’n’ roll, if there is one word to sum up Stevie Van Zandt, it may be “restless”—an adjective you sense from reading his autobiography. He gets serious and tells me, “I’m always trying to catch up. The beginning of accomplishing something came quite late to me. I feel like I haven’t done nearly enough. What are we on this planet trying to do?” he asks rhetorically. “We’re trying to realize our potential and maybe leave this place one percent better for the next guy. And some of my drive is based on gratitude, feeling like we are the luckiest guys in the luckiest generation ever. That’s what I’m doing: I want to give something back. I feel an obligation.”
YouTube It
“Rosalita” is a perennial E Street Band showstopper. Here’s a close-up video from Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park last summer. Van Zandt’s brief but commanding guitar spotlight shines just past the 4:30 mark.
Follow along as we build a one-of-a-kind Strat featuring top-notch components, modern upgrades, and classic vibes. Plus, see how a vintage neck stacks up against a modern one in our tone test. Watch the demo and enter for your chance to win this custom guitar!
With over 350 effects models, 120 sampling slots, and a Groove Station with a 480-second looper, this pedal offers unparalleled versatility for guitarists worldwide.
In 2025, MOOER has announced that it will be set to release its latest multi-effects pedal, the GS1000 Intelligent Amp Profiling Processor, an augmented intelligent amp profiling processor. Built on MOOER’s advanced third-generation digital platform, the GS1000 introduces groundbreaking MNRS 2.0 technology, allowing guitarists around the world to emulate their favorite gear with immense precision–specifically, for distortion pedals, preamps, amplifier heads, and cabinets.
With this innovation, guitarists can fully capture the essence of their favorite guitar gear without owning the physical hardware, enabling them to carry their favorite tones wherever they go. Users are even able to use third-party IRs for cabinets of their choice, further enhancing the flexibility of this feature.
It’s unforgettable how much MOOER’s multi-effects pedals have impressed audiences so far, primarily thanks to their robust tone libraries. However, even still, the GS1000 continues to build upon this with storage for up to 120 sampling profiles, along with continued integration with the MOOER Cloud app. Essentially, this cloud integration facilitates infinite upload and download possibilities, giving users access to a global community of shared tones, widely expanding the number of accessible tones. More still, the GS1000’s previously mentioned third-party IR cabinet simulations support up to 2048 sample points, guaranteeing studio-grade tonal accuracy across the board.
Even more impressive for the price is how the GS1000 inherits the dual-chain effects architecture that made previous MOOER gear so versatile, making it suitable for highly complex usage scenarios. With over 350 factory effects models and a Sub-Patch preset grouping mode, the GS1000 makes it far simpler for users to make seamless transitions between tones, all while maintaining effect tails to guarantee seamless transitions. Additionally, the reintroduction of the innovative AI-driven EQ Master builds upon MOOER devices’ previous capabilities, using intelligent adjustments in real-time to match the musical style of players to tones, while still allowing manual tweaks for precise control.
Impressively, the GS1000 also comes packed with a Groove Station module, consisting of a combination of drum machine and looper features–including 56 high-quality drum kits! It offers a 480-second phrase looper with infinite overdubs, automated detection, and synchronization capabilities, resulting in an intuitive platform for solo jamming, composition, and live loop-based performance. Overall, the Groove Station acts as an all-in-one suite for creating full arrangements, without having to depend on additional backing tracks or bandmates.
Visually and functionally, the GS1000 really stands out thanks to its sleek visual design and enhanced user experience. For example, it features a convenient 5-inch high-resolution touchscreen, which is also paired with ambient lighting to add a visually stunning element to the pedal. As a result, the GS1000 is not only designed for convenient touch-based control but also as a standout centerpiece in any guitar rig.
In addition to this touchscreen control system, the GS1000 also provides expanded connectivity options, improving upon the already impressive flexibility of past pedals. Most notably, it supports connectivity with the MOOER F4 wireless footswitch, as well as the ability to control presets via external MIDI devices.
As is expected from MOOER these days, the GS1000 also excels when it comes to routing opportunities, going above and beyond the typical stereo ¼” inputs and outputs that would be expected from other brands. Yes, it still includes such staples, but it also includes an XLRmicrophone input, alongside balanced TRS outputs for long-distance signal clarity. The configurable serial/parallel stereo effects loop enables seamless integration of external effects, and the addition of Bluetooth audio input and MIDI compatibility broadens its wide range of use cases for live and practice-based applications.
Furthermore, the pedal also serves as a professional audio solution thanks to its low-latency 2-in/2-out ASIO USB sound card. Supporting up to 192kHz sampling rates, the GS1000 makes recording and live streaming effortless, as it can easily be used with software DAWs, MOOER’s editing software, as well as the USB-based MIDI control.
The GS1000 will be available in two versions–the standard white edition, which is powered by mains power, and the GS1000 Li version, which introduces a 7.4V 4750mAh lithium battery, chargeable through its power port. With this upgrade, users can enjoy up to six hours of continuous power-free playtime, making it ideal for practicing, busking, and generally performing on the go.
Overall, for fans of MOOER’s previous amp simulation offerings, the GS1000 represents a natural evolution, building on everything that made its predecessors great while introducing cutting-edge features and expanded capabilities. Most importantly, MOOER has promised to continuously update its MOOER 4.0 tonal algorithms on the MOOER Cloud in line with therelease, keeping things fresh for the company’s dedicated user base.
- MNRS 2.0 sampling technology for emulating distortion pedals, preamps, amplifier heads, and cabinets
- Over 350 original factory effects models
- 120 sampling slots with upload/download support via the MOOER Cloud app
- Supports third-party cabinet IR files up to 2048 sample points
- Integrated Groove Station with a drum machine and 480-second looper, featuring infinite overdubs and synchronization capabilities
- 54 high-quality drum kits
- 4 metronome tones
- Tap-tempo control for timing effects
- Advanced AI-driven EQ Master for intelligent tone adjustment based on music styles, with manual customization options
- Built-in high-precision digital tuner
- Quick-access dual-chain effects architecture for seamless creative workflows
- 5-inch high-resolution touchscreen with ambient lighting for enhanced usability
- Four multi-purpose footswitches
- Configurable serial/parallel TRS stereo effects loop for external effects integration
- 6.35mm instrument input and XLR microphone input for expanded connectivity
- Balanced TRS stereo outputs for long-distance signal transmission without quality loss
- Bluetooth audio input functionality for accompaniment playback
- Low-latency ASIO 2-in/2-out USB sound card supporting up to 192kHz sampling rate
- MIDI controller compatibility for managing presets and features
- USB-C port for preset management, USB audio, and USB MIDI functionality
- Supports MOOER F4 wireless footswitch for extended control
- Also available as the GS1000 Li, which features a built-in 7.4V 4750mAh lithium battery, offering up to 6 hours of continuous playtime, chargeable through the power port
The GS1000 will be available from the official distributors and retailers worldwide on January 16th, 2025.
For more information, please visit mooeraudio.com.
Hand-crafted in Petaluma, California, this amp features upgrades while maintaining the original's legendary tone.
The Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Head’s arrival in 1992 was a watershed moment for alternative rock and metal that changed everything; heavy music would never sound the same again, and the Dual Rectifier’s crushing, harmonically rich tone became the most sought-after guitar sound of the era. With a feel as empowering as its sound, the Rectifiers provided an ease of playing that supported and elevated proficiency and was inspirational, rewarding, and addictive.
Its sound and impact on the generation that used it to define what rock music would become were as sweeping as they have been lasting. And it remains arguably the most modeled in today’s digital amp landscape. Now, the 90s Dual Rectifier is back with a vengeance, built in Petaluma, California, by the same artisans who made the originals the most desirable high-gain guitar amplifier of all time.
For more information, please visit mesaboogie.com.