PG's axe-wielding disciples show us their personal pedal masterpieces.
This year, PG received more pedalboard submissions from readers than any previous year, which makes us very happy. If you're discerning and passionate about your effects, you've come to the right place.
Discovery awaits! Learn how a San Diego guitarist maximizes his sonic reach while doing the heavy lifting in a duo with only six effects at his feet. Have you ever heard of a condition called synesthesia? One reader explains how his unique sensory interpretation causes him to experience his pedalboard differently from most. A deployed military serviceman spent his days dreaming of the stomp station he'd build when he returned home. Thankfully, he got his chance to build it.
Some players take a less-is-more approach, while others delight in having an outrageous bevy of options. Size doesn't matter, friends: The magic is in the details. Step on and bask in the craft of the pedalboard.
Arturo Alvarez: Small and Succulent
Regards from Guadalajara, Mexico! I switched to a mini pedalboard about a year ago. It has only the stompboxes I really need to perform with my band. From left to right: Walrus Audio Fathom Multi-Function Reverb, Walrus Audio ARP-87 Multi-Function Delay, Friedman BE-OD, Demeter DRV-1 Over Driveulator, CKK Electronics Gears Compressor.
Alex Rivera: Where the Magic Happens
I use this setup when performing in a duo in San Diego, California, covering diverse genres from Amy Winehouse to Al Green to Dr. Dre.
The TC Electronic PolyTune 3 is amazingly accurate and fast. The Xotic EP Boost gives my single-coils a magical tonal push. It's always on and powered at 18 volts using an Xotic Voltage Doubler. The Boss OC-3 Super Octave is always on in polyphonic mode. It tracks extremely well with chords. The range is set very low, so it only affects certain bass frequencies and doesn't muddy up. Direct level is maxed out, and octave level is set low, so it subtly sits in the back of the mix without drowning out the rest of the sound. It's hard to notice when it's on, but easily noticeable when it's off. JHS Angry Charlie is set at a low-drive level, in overdrive territory. It really makes solos sing with sustain. It has a very amp-like reaction to my playing. I have the TC Electronic Flashback set in tape mode, short delay time, and low level. It adds nice depth and dimension to overdubbed arpeggiated chords, single-picked notes, and solos. The Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail is one of the most natural-sounding reverbs I've played: it's always on around 11 o'clock. These pedals are sitting on a Pedaltrain Nano+ powered by a Truetone 1 SPOT daisy chain and patched together using Lava Mini ELC cables with pancake plugs made by Tight Squeeze Cables. The pancake plugs allow me to use maximum real estate on such a small board.
The pedalboard feeds a Boss RC-300 Loop Station. This is where the magic happens! Playing in a duo, I'm required to fill in most musical frequencies, often beginning a song with a percussive rhythm loop created by muting, plucking, scratching, and smacking my guitar strings. Using multitrack mode on the RC-300, I then overdub bass lines, rhythmic chords, sustained triads, and any other artistic sounds I can create using six strings. I have the expression pedal set to affect the input volume, giving me absolute control of on-the-spot live mixing while performing at the same time—all at the soles of my shoes.
Chris Davenport: Drone Prone
I designed this pedalboard to combine drone-y sounds with my guitar. I use it mostly with our band San Salida. I built the pedalboard itself out of old Ikea furniture.
The top row of pedals is specifically designed to generate drones or pitch sequences. The Mattoverse Drone Tone MKIII generates a single-note square wave, which can be turned into an 8-note sequence by the Dwarfcraft Pitchgrinder. Then the MXR Badass '78 adds distortion and the Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11 adds reverb.
The lower row is for my guitar (G&L Tribute ASAT Classic with a Curtis Novak Gold Foil pickup in the neck position), starting with a Boss TU-3 tuner into an Infanem Driving Notion, Crazy Tube Circuits Starlight, and Wampler Reflection. The guitar path and drone path are mixed with an Old Blood Noise Signal Blender and sent to my amp. Thanks!
Daniel DiMartino: Primary Colors
All of my old favorites are mixed in with some really nice new pedals on this board ... lots of special edition and cool colors, too. It sounds amazing. My drive section can get from simple, clean boost to light amp breakup to FuzzFace or RAT or Muff styles. I have all of the modulation I could ever want in my two favorite delays: the JAM Delay Llama and Boss RV-6. I've owned three different versions of the JAM Delay Llama and it's simply the best delay pedal for me.
I play an '84 Rickenbacker 360 and a '62 Tele reissue into a '68 Deluxe Reverb reissue. My signal chain is as follows: TC Electronic PolyTune Mini > Hudson Broadcast > Origin Cali76 Compact Deluxe > Caroline Vegetarian Pizza > JAM Rattler+ > Wren & Cuff Violet World > Mooer Elec. Lady > JAM RipplyFall > Caroline Somersault > JAM Delay Llama > Strymon Volante > Boss RV-6.
David Enríquez: Synesthesia
Hello Premier Guitar! This is a pedalboard a friend and I designed together, handmade out of walnut wood. It took us three months to achieve the result we wanted. It was inspired by Instagram posts like yours. We tried to achieve minimalist but classy looks, with compact pedals. When I look at pedals, for me they are like paint. I have a condition called synesthesia, which means I tend to mix senses. For example, for me, music and sound have colors, so I always think of my pedalboard in terms of: My pedals are like my paints and my guitar is like a brush.
Here's the detailed breakdown:
- Handmade walnut pedalboard
- Tuner: TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir Mini
- Overdrive: Maxon OD-9
- Analog delay: MXR M169 Carbon Copy
- Digital delay: Boss DD-6
- Reverb: MXR M300 Reverb
- Looper: TC Electronic Ditto Looper
- Power supply: Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus
- Cables: MXR 6" patch cables
Jerry Nepomuceno: Satellite Board
My board gets me through both studio and live gigs. It's portable and versatile, as I can plug in my satellite board when I need it or put it away if I don't. There's an “audition loop" in my interface so I can plug in a modulation pedal post volume pedal if I need to. And the interface has both a 9-volt Tao for powering pedals as well as a 24-volt jack to power the Strymon Ojai R30 on my satellite board. The satellite board can also be used on its own by just connecting the Strymon power transformer to the board. My amps of choice: Two-Rock Studio and Suhr Badger.
Here's my list of pedals: Xotic Wah, Boss EV-30 Expression Pedal, Dry Bell Vibe Machine V-2, King Tone MiniFuzz Si, pedalboard interface (under Lehle), Peterson StroboStomp HD tuner, Origin Cali76 Compact Deluxe, Ethos TWE-1, King Tone The Duellist, Vemuram Jan Ray, Boss FV-30 Volume Pedal, Dawner Prince Boonar, Providence Chrono Delay, Free The Tone TRI Avatar Chorus, Free The Tone Ambi Space Reverb, Lehle Little Dual, three Strymon Ojai R30 Power Supplies, Evidence Audio SIS /Monorail cable kit.
Josh D.: Ambient Playground
I make music under the name Spieglass in Austin, Texas. It's been an evolving solo project for almost three years, but over the last year it's stayed in the realm of ambient meets post-rock meets orchestral something or other. What I've done with a pedalboard is release six albums in 2019 alone on Bandcamp. So, it's not collecting dust any time soon.
The first thing to note is having my “foot" pedals separate. This is in my home music space, so I have the pedalboard on a chest by my side. Two dedicated expression pedals, a volume, and a looper pedal are on the floor while the effects (signal chain below) are at my reach, since I'm a constant tweaker when recording.
The board itself is a sort of Daphne blue stained wood affair from SoCal Pedalboards (it matches one of my guitars). I don't play live, so while my board is only used for recording, it has still seen its fair share of come's and go's. At the moment, the main idea is to have as many different effects available as possible for inspiration. It took me a while to get into modulation, for example, but since it clicked, I've bought and sold and rented more than I can count.
Another glaring note is the lack of distortion. As an ambient player, I don't use it. I do have a Boss BD-2 off to the side, but it's just for jamming. This is my ambient playground. I hope you like it, and I can't wait to see any submissions you may post.
Signal chain: Dunlop Volume X, TC Electronic Ditto Looper, EarthQuaker Tone Job, Boss NS-2, Dwarfcraft Witch Shifter, EarthQuaker Grand Orbiter, EarthQuaker Dispatch Master, Walrus Audio Monument (with expression), Walrus Audio Julia, EarthQuaker Arpanoid, Old Blood Noise Endeavors Flat Light, MXR Carbon Copy, GFI System Specular Tempus, EarthQuaker Avalanche Run (with expression), EarthQuaker Afterneath.
Kurt Fletcher: The Psychedelic Board
Here's my handmade pedalboard that I use with Raptor, the psychedelic rock band I sing and play guitar for. It's got sides on it to protect it from rowdy beer spills and has seen us through shows opening for Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin), Mick Ralphs (Bad Company), Dr. Feelgood, and the Groundhogs, as well as several U.K. tours. I'm not a fan of subtle effects, so everything is set hard to wildly change the sound of my guitar. Here's the signal chain in order:
- 1) Handmade “Raptor" fuzz—a pedal I wired myself, which sounds similar to a classic late-'60s fuzz. It's got some knobs off an old Orange amp and I put it in a gigantic box so you can't miss it. This was the main fuzz I used on our Escapism album.
- 2) TC PolyTune: Simple and a nice big screen to see what's going on when I lose my glasses onstage, which happens pretty often.
- 3) Death By Audio Fuzz War: Big, beautiful, and beastly. One of my favorite fuzzes.
- 4) Handmade 8-Bit Dragon Crusher: A lovely pink pedal designed by my brother Adam, who drums for Raptor. Made to crush the hell out of your signal and make lo-fi “Game Boy" sounds.
- 5) Handmade Ranger Treble Booster: Another pedal built by Adam, styled on a classic Rangemaster boost, which sounds great in front of a distorted amp.
- 6) Boss BF-3 Flanger: Used for swooshing rocket-ship sounds and wobbly freak-outs.
- 7) Boss RE-20 Space Echo: We had the privilege of using a real Roland Space Echo in the studio last year, so I picked this up to recreate a lot of the spacey, atmospheric sounds from the album.
- 8) Boss DD-3 Digital Delay: Another delay set to do long repeats and mad things with. Step on with caution.
- 9) Boss TR-2 Tremolo: Killer tremolo, set hard to square wave for stuttering intros and sections.
Mau Méndez: Proud
Hello Premier Guitar! I'm sending you a pic of my board because I'm very proud of it. (Who isn't proud of their board?) I'm really happy with this setup. This configuration has been the longest time I've spent without making a change. Not that I don't want to, it's just that I don't really need to. I can cover almost any ground with it. It's been about two or three years since I made a change. That's a lot of time in the pedalboard world. My pedalboard is a Pedaltrain 3. Here is the pedal list, broken down by row.
- Top row, from left to right: pick tray, EarthQuaker Dispatch Master, TC Electronic Hall of Fame, TC Electronic Sub 'N' Up, Wampler Plexi Drive Deluxe.
- Middle row, from left to right: ZVEX Fat Fuzz Factory, Boss DD-500, Zoom MS 100-BT, Line 6 M5, Tech 21 SansAmp GT2.
- Bottom row, from left to right: Pedrone Penta5witch (x2), TC Electronic PolyTune (top), Wampler dB+ (bottom), Wampler Tom Quayle Dual Fusion, Dunlop DVP4 Volume (X) Mini.
- Under pedalboard, left to right: Homemade patchbay, Westminster Effects Buffer, Truetone 1 SPOT Pro CS12, Malekko Chicklet, TC Electronic HyperGravity.
I wanted a versatile rig. I love using my amps effects loop, but I don't always get to use my amp live. So, I made a patchbay that would let me connect either in front of an amp or with a four-cable method. All the pedals underneath are always on. Compressor, a touch of spring reverb, and a buffer. The heart of the pedalboard is the switchers. One is for the pedals that go in front of the amp (bottom) and the other for the pedals that go in the loop (top).
The only pedal that's not in the switchers is the Tech 21 SansAmp. My dirt pedals cover a huge range. Tech 21 does the Bassman sound, Plexi Drive does the ... you guessed it, Plexi sound. The Wampler Dual Fusion does my drive and lead sound. I chose two different “Swiss knife" pedals to cover lots of ground: the Line 6 M5 and Zoom multi-stomp. Line 6 covers my synth sounds, filter sounds, and modulation when I want it before my drives. The Zoom does all my modulations and some other weird stuff. My secret weapon is my EarthQuaker Dispatch Master. That pedal is amazing. There's no other pedal that can mimic what it does. I chose the Wampler dB+ Boost/Buffer because with so much cable and switchers, two buffers are needed in this rig. I love your magazine. (Why would I be writing all this if I didn't?) Happy 2020 and cheers from Mexico.
Mojoe Boes: Seafoam Surprise
I like seafoam green, and I've acquired a lot of it over the years. I happened to stumble across Glen Wheatley, from Rockin Tones, on Instagram. He built a few pedals on this board and repainted a few as well.
Here they are: Boss DD-20 (repainted), Rockin Tones Tremoverb, Boss CS-1 (repainted), Electro-Harmonix #1 Echo Digital Delay (repainted), Rockin Tones Klone, Rockin Tones Dirty Boost, Snark tuner (repainted), Rockin Tones Rat MKlll, Danelectro Big Spender Spinning Speaker, Danelectro French Toast Octave Distortion, Dunlop EVH Wah (repainted), Lovepedal Tchula, Rockin Tones Bypass Loop, seafoam Holeyboard pedalboard, Truetone 1 SPOT Pro CS12, Lava and Covenant cables.
Nagui “Louis" Yassa: Vibin' on Strymon
I'm based in San Francisco, California, and am the founder of the Missing Head (@themissinghead). I use this stereo pedalboard live and in the studio, both for guitar and bass (especially the Origin Cali76 Compact Deluxe and the Vertex Steel String, which sound great plugged straight into the desk). The board fits nicely in a padded Pelican case. One single power cable to power the whole board, no BS, tons of combination!
These are my pedals: Boss ES-8 switcher, Strymon Zuma, Strymon TimeLine, Strymon Mobius, Strymon BigSky, Strymon Sunset, Chase Bliss Thermae, Boss OC-3 Super Octave, JHS Pollinator Fuzz V2, Vertex Steel String, Origin Cali76 Compact Deluxe, Buddha Wah, TC Electronic PolyTune 2.
Richard Stevens: Old Meets New
The flight-case-style housing and a few of the pedals have been with me since the '80s. External connections for power and audio mean I don't have to take the beer-proof lid off until right before show time.
The guts have evolved over the years from a DIY power supply to the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ that's presently hidden under the deck. Early versions of this board had only five Boss pedals. GAS induced by the stompbox explosion of the early 21st century (and internet coverage thereof) prompted me to add the upper deck around 2010 to make room for more. I had to make a few compromises in layout just to squeeze them all in, but it works well and sounds great. In order of signal flow, they are:
- 1. DIY Triangle Muff clone
- 2. DIY Alembic Stratoblaster
- 3. Xotic BB Preamp
- 4. Korg Pitchblack Mini
- 5. MXR Phase 95
- 6. Boss CE-2 Chorus
- 7. Boss BF-2 Flanger
- 8. Electro-Harmonix Grand Canyon Delay
- 9. Boss TR-2 Tremolo
It's a mix of new tech and '80s nostalgia. My old college bar band gets together for reunion shows every few years (last year was our 35th), and playing the old tunes just wouldn't be the same without the old board.
Ryan Chamblee: Hoarder Board
I had a few pedals, but after acquiring my first tube amp I started selling some old rack gear to fund pedals to pair with my amp. I continued buying used pedals when a good deal came along that I could sell for a profit and upgrade if I wanted.
After a of couple years, I had a good collection and designed my board using drafting software while on my lunch breaks at work (I'm an engineer). My dad has a small wood shop and found a piece of wood that was the right size for the board, which we built during a couple of visits to his shop. This is the latest pedal layout.
Pedal chain: Dunlop Cry Baby Mini Wah, Wampler Ego Compressor, Lovepedal Vibronaut, Lovepedal Believe, Wampler Terraform pre-out (auto wah, flanger, phaser, u-vibe, envelope filter), Boss SD-1, Wampler Velvet Fuzz, Wampler Ecstasy Drive, Lovepedal Purple Plexi, DigiTech DigiDelay, Wampler Faux Tape Echo, Wampler Terraform post-out (rotary, auto swell, tremolo, harmonic tremolo, dimension, chorus), MXR M300 Reverb.
Note: I use an Ibanez TSA15H tube head, which has a built-in Tube Screamer. I can use the amp's effects loop to place the board after the Tube Screamer circuit and before the preamp to add a Tube Screamer to the front of my signal chain.
Steve McGill: Deployment Daydream
Hey folks! I just spent the last summer deployed, as I'm in the military. On those long, hot summer days of 130 degrees, I cleared my mind by dreaming of which additions I'd add to my pedalboard to complete “my" tone. I ordered all the pieces while I was overseas, and they were waiting for me when I got home. My first idea was that I must have the Xotic RC Booster, and it didn't disappoint. Followed by the Corona Chorus and Flashback Delay by TC Electronic. TC's Tone Print tech is insane! The other pedals I chose are a TC Electronic PolyTune 2 tuner, Fulltone OCD, Electro-Harmonix Green Russian Big Muff, and a TC Electronic Ditto Looper. Under the board is a Donner isolated power supply. As you can see, there's room on the board for growth. I'm not sure what will be next, but I'd love to afford a Strymon TimeLine. I had a lot of fun building it all and even more fun using it. #tonefordays. Guitar for life!
Trey Wolfe: Brooklyn Board
I'm a guitarist and guitar salesman living in Brooklyn, New York. When you live in a big city, you almost never bring an amp to a gig. This is for several reasons, but mostly because most of us don't have cars. So, you need pedals you can rely on to give you everything you need. Sometimes you get to a gig and it's a Twin Reverb. Sometimes it's a 1998 Crate solid-state amp with no reverb, or a keyboard amp, or a bass amp. You need to be able to make anything sound great in the time it takes to set up between sets. Never a soundcheck.
For me that's a solid reverb pedal and one dirt pedal that has enough character to make anything sound like a real amp. My dirt of choice is a ZVEX Distortron. It stays on pretty much all the time, gain set to low. Everything else is icing, but I totally need all of it.
Signal flow: No Name Fuzz Factory Clone, MXR Phase 95, Electro-Harmonix Ram's Head Big Muff Pi, Paul Cochrane Timmy (yes, it's green and yellow), ZVEX Distortron, J. Rockett Archer Ikon, Danelectro CEO Tremolo, Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah, Boss CE-2W, Electro-Harmonix Canyon, TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 Reverb, TC Electronic PolyTune Mini. I'm using the new MXR Mini Iso-Brick to power it up. Feast your eyes! Enjoy!
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Day 9 of Stompboxtober is live! Win today's featured pedal from EBS Sweden. Enter now and return tomorrow for more!
EBS BassIQ Blue Label Triple Envelope Filter Pedal
The EBS BassIQ produces sounds ranging from classic auto-wah effects to spaced-out "Funkadelic" and synth-bass sounds. It is for everyone looking for a fun, fat-sounding, and responsive envelope filter that reacts to how you play in a musical way.
John Mayer Silver Slinky Strings feature a unique 10.5-47 gauge combination, crafted to meet John's standards for tone and tension.
“I’ve always said that I don’t play the guitar, I play the strings. Having a feeling of fluidity is so important in my playing, and Ernie Ball strings have always given me that ability. With the creation of the Silver Slinky set, I have found an even higher level of expression, and I’m excited to share it with guitar players everywhere.”
— John Mayer
hese signature sets feature John’s previously unavailable 10.5-47 gauge combination, perfectly tailored to his unique playing style and technique. Each string has been meticulously crafted with specific gauges and core-to-wrap ratios that meet John’s exacting standards, delivering the ideal balance of tone and tension.
The new Silver Slinky Strings are available in a collectible 3-pack tin, a 6-pack box, and as individual sets, offered at retailers worldwide.
"Very few guitarists in the history of popular music have influenced a generation of players like John Mayer. For over 25 years, John has not only been a remarkable artist but also a dear friend to the Ernie Ball family. This partnership represents our shared passion for music and innovation, and we can't wait to see how John’s signature Silver Slinky strings continue to inspire guitarists around the world.”— Brian Ball, CEO of Ernie Ball
Product Features
- Unique gauge combination: 10.5, 13.5, 17.5, 27, 37, 47
- John’s signature gauge for an optimal balance of tone, tension, and feel
- Reinforced Plain Strings (RPS) for enhanced tuning stability and durability
- Custom Slinky recipes tailored to John’s personal preferences
The folk-rock outfit’s frontman Taylor Goldsmith wrote their debut at 23. Now, with the release of their ninth full-length, Oh Brother, he shares his many insights into how he’s grown as a songwriter, and what that says about him as an artist and an individual.
I’ve been following the songwriting of Taylor Goldsmith, the frontman of L.A.-based, folk-rock band Dawes, since early 2011. At the time, I was a sophomore in college, and had just discovered their debut, North Hills, a year-and-a-half late. (That was thanks in part to one of its tracks, “When My Time Comes,” pervading cable TV via its placement in a Chevy commercial over my winter break.) As I caught on, I became fully entranced.
Goldsmith’s lyrics spoke to me the loudest, with lines like “Well, you can judge the whole world on the sparkle that you think it lacks / Yes, you can stare into the abyss, but it’s starin’ right back” (a casual Nietzsche paraphrase); and “Oh, the snowfall this time of year / It’s not what Birmingham is used to / I get the feeling that I brought it here / And now I’m taking it away.” The way his words painted a portrait of the sincere, sentimental man behind them, along with his cozy, unassuming guitar work and the band’s four-part harmonies, had me hooked.
Nothing Is Wrong and Stories Don’t End came next, and I happily gobbled up more folksy fodder in tracks like “If I Wanted,” “Most People,” and “From a Window Seat.” But 2015’s All Your Favorite Bands, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Folk Albumschart, didn’t land with me, and by the time 2016’s We’re All Gonna Die was released, it was clear that Goldsmith had shifted thematically in his writing. A friend drew a thoughtful Warren Zevon comparison to the single, “When the Tequila Runs Out”—a commentary on vapid, conceited, American-socialite party culture—but it still didn’t really do it for me. I fell off the Dawes train a bit, and became somewhat oblivious to their three full-lengths that followed.
Oh Brotheris Goldsmith’s latest addition to the Dawes songbook, and I’m grateful to say that it’s brought me back. After having done some catching up, I’d posit that it’s the second work in the third act, or fall season, of his songwriting—where 2022’s Misadventures of Doomscrollercracked open the door, Oh Brother swings it wide. And it doesn’t have much more than Dawes’ meat and potatoes, per se, in common with acts one or two. Some moodiness has stayed—as well as societal disgruntlement and the arrangement elements that first had me intoxicated. But then there’s the 7/4 section in the middle of “Front Row Seat”; the gently unwinding, quiet, intimate jazz-club feel of “Surprise!”; the experimentally percussive, soft-spoken “Enough Already”; and the unexpected, dare I say, Danny Elfman-esque harmonic twists and turns in the closing track, “Hilarity Ensues.”
The main engine behind Dawes, the Goldsmith brothers are both native “Angelinos,” having been born and raised in the L.A. area. Taylor is still proud to call the city his home.
Photo by Jon Chu
“I have this working hypothesis that who you are as a songwriter through the years is pretty close to who you are in a dinner conversation,” Goldsmith tells me in an interview, as I ask him about that thematic shift. “When I was 23, if I was invited to dinner with grownups [laughs], or just friends or whatever, and they say, ‘How you doin’, Taylor?’ I probably wouldn’t think twice to be like, ‘I’m not that good. There’s this girl, and … I don’t know where things are at—can I share this with you? Is that okay?’ I would just go in in a way that’s fairly indiscreet! And I’m grateful to that version of me, especially as a writer, because that’s what I wanted to hear, so that’s what I was making at the time.
“But then as I got older, it became, ‘Oh, maybe that’s not an appropriate way to answer the question of how I’m doing.’ Or, ‘Maybe I’ve spent enough years thinking about me! What does it feel like to turn the lens around?’” he continues, naming Elvis Costello and Paul Simon as inspirations along the way through that self-evolution. “Also, trying to be mindful of—I had strengths then that I don’t have now, but I have strengths now that I didn’t have then. And now it’s time to celebrate those. Even in just a physical way, like hearing Frank Zappa talking about how his agility as a guitar player was waning as he got older. It’s like, that just means that you showcase different aspects of your skills.
“I am a changing person. It would be weird if I was still writing the same way I was when I was 23. There would probably be some weird implications there as to who I’d be becoming as a human [laughs].”
Taylor Goldsmith considers Oh Brother, the ninth full-length in Dawes’ catalog, to be the beginning of a new phase of Dawes, containing some of his most unfiltered, unedited songwriting.
Since its inception, the engine behind Dawes has been the brothers Goldsmith, with Taylor on guitar and vocals and Griffin on drums and sometimes vocal harmonies. But they’ve always had consistent backup. For the first several years, that was Wylie Gelber on bass and Tay Strathairn on keyboards. On We’re All Gonna Die, Lee Pardini replaced Strathairn and has been with the band since. Oh Brother, however, marks the departure of Gelber and Pardini.
“We were like, ‘Wow, this is an intense time; this is a vulnerable time,’” remarks Goldsmith, who says that their parting was supportive and loving, but still rocked him and Griffin. “You get a glimpse of your vulnerability in a way that you haven’t felt in a long time when things are just up and running. For a second there, we’re like, ‘We’re getting a little rattled—how do we survive this?’”
They decided to pair up with producer Mike Viola, a close family friend, who has also worked with Mandy Moore—Taylor’s spouse—along with Panic! At the Disco, Andrew Bird, and Jenny Lewis. “[We knew that] he understands all of the parameters of that raw state. And, you know, I always show Mike my songs, so he was aware of what we had cookin’,” says Goldsmith.
Griffin stayed behind the kit, but Taylor took over on bass and keys, the latter of which he has more experience with than he’s displayed on past releases. “We’ve made records where it’s very tempting to appeal to your strengths, where it’s like, ‘Oh, I know how to do this, I’m just gonna nail it,’” he says. “Then there’s records that we make where we really push ourselves into territories where we aren’t comfortable. That contributed to [Misadventures of Doomscroller] feeling like a living, breathing thing—very reactive, very urgent, very aware. We were paying very close attention. And I would say the same goes for this.”
That new terrain, says Goldsmith, “forced us to react to each other and react to the music in new ways, and all of a sudden, we’re exploring new corners of what we do. I’m really excited in that sense, because it’s like this is the first album of a new phase.”
“That forced us to react to each other and react to the music in new ways, and all of a sudden, we’re exploring new corners of what we do.”
In proper folk (or even folk-rock) tradition, the music of Dawes isn’t exactly riddled with guitar solos, but that’s not to say that Goldsmith doesn’t show off his chops when the timing is right. Just listen to the languid, fluent lick on “Surprise!”, the shamelessly prog-inspired riff in the bridge of “Front Row Seat,” and the tactful, articulate line that threads through “Enough Already.” Goldsmith has a strong, individual sense of phrasing, where his improvised melodies can be just as biting as his catalog’s occasional lyrical jabs at presumably toxic ex-girlfriends, and just as melancholy as his self-reflective metaphors, all the while without drawing too much attention to himself over the song.
Of course, most of our conversation revolves around songwriting, as that’s the craft that’s the truest and closest to his identity. “There’s an openness, a goofiness—I even struggle to say it now, but—an earnestness that goes along with who I am, not only as a writer but as a person,” Goldsmith elaborates. “And I think it’s important that those two things reflect one another. ’Cause when you meet someone and they don’t, I get a little bit weirded out, like, ‘What have I been listening to? Are you lying to me?’” he says with a smile.
Taylor Goldsmith's Gear
Pictured here performing live in 2014, Taylor Goldsmith has been the primary songwriter for all of Dawes' records, beginning with 2009’s North Hills.
Photo by Tim Bugbee/Tinnitus Photography
Guitars
- Fender Telecaster
- Gibson ES-345
- Radocaster (made by Wylie Gelber)
Amps
- ’64 Fender Deluxe
- Matchless Laurel Canyon
Effects
- 29 Pedals EUNA
- Jackson Audio Bloom
- Ibanez Tube Screamer with Keeley mod
- Vintage Boss Chorus
- Vintage Boss VB-2 Vibrato
- Strymon Flint
- Strymon El Capistan
Strings
- Ernie Ball .010s
In Goldsmith’s songwriting process, he explains that he’s learned to lean away from the inclination towards perfectionism. Paraphrasing something he heard Father John Misty share about Leonard Cohen, he says, “People think you’re cultivating these songs, or, ‘I wouldn’t deign to write something that’s beneath me,’ but the reality is, ‘I’m a rat, and I’ll take whatever I can possibly get, and then I’ll just try to get the best of it.’
“Ever since Misadventures of Doomscroller,” he adds, “I’ve enjoyed this quality of, rather than try to be a minimalist, I want to be a maximalist. I want to see how much a song can handle.” For the songs on Oh Brother, that meant that he decided to continue adding “more observations within the universe” of “Surprise!”, ultimately writing six verses. A similar approach to “King of the Never-Wills,” a ballad about a character suffering from alcoholism, resulted in four verses.
“The economy of songwriting that we’re all taught would buck that,” says Goldsmith. “It would insist that I only keep the very best and shed something that isn’t as good. But I’m not going to think economically. I’m not going to think, ‘Is this self-indulgent?’
Goldsmith’s songwriting has shifted thematically over the years, from more personal, introspective expression to more social commentary and, at times, even satire, in songs like We’re All Gonna Die’s “When the Tequila Runs Out.”
Photo by Mike White
“I don’t abide that term being applied to music. Because if there’s a concern about self-indulgence, then you’d have to dismiss all of jazz. All of it. You’d have to dismiss so many of my most favorite songs. Because in a weird way, I feel like that’s the whole point—self-indulgence. And then obviously relating to someone else, to another human being.” (He elaborates that, if Bob Dylan had trimmed back any of the verses on “Desolation Row,” it would have deprived him of the unique experience it creates for him when he listens to it.)
One of the joys of speaking with Goldsmith is just listening to his thought processes. When I ask him a question, he seems compelled to share every backstory to every detail that’s going through his head, in an effort to both do his insights justice and to generously provide me with the most complete answer. That makes him a bit verbose, but not in a bad way, because he never rambles. There is an endpoint to his thoughts. When he’s done, however, it takes me a second to realize that it’s then my turn to speak.
To his point on artistic self-indulgence, I offer that there’s no need for artists to feel “icky” about self-promotion—that to promote your art is to celebrate it, and to create a shared experience with your audience.
“I hear what you’re saying loud and clear; I couldn’t agree more,” Goldsmith replies. “But I also try to be mindful of this when I’m writing, like if I’m going to drag you through the mud of, ‘She left today, she’s not coming back, I’m a piece of shit, what’s wrong with me, the end’.... That might be relatable, that might evoke a response, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily helpful … other than dragging someone else through the shit with me.
“In a weird way, I feel like that’s the whole point—self-indulgence. And then obviously relating to someone else, to another human being.”
“So, if I’m going to share, I want there to be something to offer, something that feels like: ‘Here’s a path that’s helped me through this, or here’s an observation that has changed how I see this particular experience.’ It’s so hard to delineate between the two, but I feel like there is a difference.”
Naming the opening track “Mister Los Angeles,” “King of the Never-Wills,” and even the title track to his 2015 chart-topper, “All Your Favorite Bands,” he remarks, “I wouldn’t call these songs ‘cool.’ Like, when I hear what cool music is, I wouldn’t put those songs next to them [laughs]. But maybe this record was my strongest dose of just letting me be me, and recognizing what that essence is rather than trying to force out certain aspects of who I am, and force in certain aspects of what I’m not. I think a big part of writing these songs was just self-acceptance,” he concludes, laughing, “and just a whole lot of fishing.”
YouTube It
Led by Goldsmith, Dawes infuses more rock power into their folk sound live at the Los Angeles Ace Hotel in 2023.
A more affordable path to satisfying your 1176 lust.
An affordable alternative to Cali76 and 1176 comps that sounds brilliant. Effective, satisfying controls.
Big!
$269
Warm Audio Pedal76
warmaudio.com
Though compressors are often used to add excitement to flat tones, pedal compressors for guitar are often … boring. Not so theWarm Audio Pedal76. The FET-driven, CineMag transformer-equipped Pedal76 is fun to look at, fun to operate, and fun to experiment with. Well, maybe it’s not fun fitting it on a pedalboard—at a little less than 6.5” wide and about 3.25” tall, it’s big. But its potential to enliven your guitar sounds is also pretty huge.
Warm Audio already builds a very authentic and inexpensive clone of the Urei 1176, theWA76. But the font used for the model’s name, its control layout, and its dimensions all suggest a clone of Origin Effects’ much-admired first-generation Cali76, which makes this a sort of clone of an homage. Much of the 1176’s essence is retained in that evolution, however. The Pedal76 also approximates the 1176’s operational feel. The generous control spacing and the satisfying resistance in the knobs means fast, precise adjustments, which, in turn, invite fine-tuning and experimentation.
Well-worn 1176 formulas deliver very satisfying results from the Pedal76. The 10–2–4 recipe (the numbers correspond to compression ratio and “clock” positions on the ratio, attack, and release controls, respectively) illuminates lifeless tones—adding body without flab, and an effervescent, sparkly color that preserves dynamics and overtones. Less subtle compression tricks sound fantastic, too. Drive from aggressive input levels is growling and thick but retains brightness and nuance. Heavy-duty compression ratios combined with fast attack and slow release times lend otherworldly sustain to jangly parts. Impractically large? Maybe. But I’d happily consider bumping the rest of my gain devices for the Pedal76.