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GALLERY: Pro Pedalboards 2012

From EVH to Auerbach, Joe Perry, and Vai—37 Boards You''ll Drool Over.

Aerosmith's Joe Perry
Perry uses a handful of pedals at the front of his stage (top), but most are in his rack controlled by the '90s Bradshaw switcher to the left of his board. The ""Talk"" button on his switcher disables all of the amps, leaving only the talk box functioning. At the top right is Perry's Siren pedal, built by Rob Lowry of Boston, Massachusetts. It functions as a police siren and is used with the Boss DD-7 set to long delays. He uses a Dunlop Jimmy Hendrix Cry Baby and an original DigiTech Whammy I. The Electro-Harmonix POG is modified by Rob to work with the Ernie Ball VP JR, which functions as a low-pass filter to roll the POG in and out. Bottom: In the rack drawer is a TC Electronic Vortex flanger set mildly for a bit of texture, a TC Electronic Flashback delay set for long delays, an MXR Carbon Copy delay, a TC Electronic Hall of Fame reverb, a Duesenberg Gold Boost set to about 15dB, an Option 5 Destination Bump Boost set to about 20 dB, and a Klon Centaur. Perry prefers boost effects to overdrive or distortion, but his Centaur is a core part of his tone that he's relied on for about 10 years. Tech Trace Foster says Perry uses the pedals differently every night, depending upon how they feel. He explains, ""He likes to be inspired. I have about 200 pedals out with me."""

Columnist Janek Gwizdala with heroes Dennis Chambers (left) and Mike Stern (right).

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