The boards of ’24 are in, and our enthusiastic winners have a lot to say about their beloved pedals. Here are eight boards that are sure to intrigue, delight, and maybe even inspire you to expand your own board!
We asked, and you answered. This year, we received a slew of pedalboard submissions from our readers, from the mega to the minimalist, to ones built by specific brand or model devotees, to the best configurations for gigging or recording. Pedalboards are as individual as players, and you’ll find from reading about the following eight featured here that each has a story that reflects the passions and personality of their owner. Pedal lists and most signal chains are included, plus all that lies beyond!
A Splash of Color
Reader: Don Crum
Just to give a bit of background, I use this board for guitar, bass, and keys. In wiring this board, I used a combination of Rattlesnake patch cables, G&H patch cables, and some other custom-length cables that I soldered myself. Each pedal has a Mooer Footswitch Topper on it. These make it exceptionally easier to connect with your pedals, plus they give your board an added pop of color.
I play literally every genre of music, so I tend to buy pedals with more than one purpose or function, because I like my rig to be as versatile as it can be at all times. I also don’t like overly complicated pedals with a million knobs, buttons, and/or internal switches. I prefer to keep everything as simple as possible, but it always has to sound good. That’s the bottom line and always my number one priority. It has to sound good!
As for the signal chain, the order might not look “normal” because it kind of bounces around my board a little bit, starting on the top rail, going to the bottom, and then back to the top, and again back to the bottom, all in a zigzag pattern. There’s a reason for that though: I like to keep my most-used pedals (gain pedals and looper) on the bottom row for super-quick and easy access. The top row is modulation and EQ. While these modulation pedals are crucial to my tone, I’m not turning them on or off nearly as much as my gain pedals. They’re more like “set it and forget it” type pedals, if you will. So, I basically just laid it all out in an order that makes it easiest for me. Power is supplied by a Truetone 1 Spot CS12.
Signal chain:
1. Jam Pedals RetroVibe
2. EHX Big Muff Pi (silver box on bottom right)
3. Mythos Fuzzy Face (painted, built from limited edition DIY kit)
4. Xotic EP Booster
5. Analog Man King of Tone
6. MXR EVH 5150 Overdrive
7. MXR Ten Band EQ
8. Analog Man ARDX20 Dual Analog Delay
9. Strymon Flint
10. TC Electronic Ditto Looper
Board for a Boss
Reader: Tim Moran
Over the years, I have built many pedalboards with varying degrees of complexity. As a jazz guitarist who also plays funk, ska, reggae, fusion, Latin, metal, and classic rock, I need a broad variety of effects. However, I prefer simple, intuitive, reliable, efficient, and portable pedalboards over large, heavy, and complex ones.
I am a fan of Boss gear, going back to the original DS-1 Distortion pedal. Boss pedals are super easy to use, consistent, heavy-duty, and great in front of the amp. I already had a Boss BCB-60 Pedal Board that I used in the studio and on small gigs. I liked the case, the layout, and the built-in power, but it had major shortcomings. It was designed to hold six Boss-sized pedals, or five Boss-sized pedals and a wah/volume pedal. Boss has replaced the BCB-60 with the BCB-90 that holds nine pedals—better, but not quite what I needed.
What I needed was a simple plug-and-play pedalboard that matched my shoes, had great tone, was easy to transport, and featured my favorite Boss pedals. As noted, the BCB-60 was designed for six pedals, so I modified it to fit the 11 must-have pedals in my collection. The signal splits from the end of the chain into a stereo setup using a Mesa/Boogie Express 5:25 and a Fender Tremolux.
Signal chain:
1. Wyatt Abrachinsky Custom Booster
2. Boss AW-3 Dynamic Wah
3. Boss FBM-1 Fender ’59 Bassman
4. Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor
Contained within the NS-2 effects loop:
1. Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
2. Boss DS-1 Distortion
3. Boss MT-2W Waza Craft Metal Zone
5. Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer
6. Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
7. Boss DM-2W Waza Craft Delay
8. Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb
Little Giant
Reader: Peter Gothold
The building of this board has been a decade-long process, starting with the POG, Timmy, and Carbon Copy about eight years ago. I have gone through many phases of being a personal gear dealer, as I buy and sell pedals looking for a certain sound. I’ve recently added the Joyo switcher, Boss DD-20, and Matthews Traveler, but the other pedals have been consistent since 2021. Finding the King of Tone was a surprise, but a welcome one! Craigslist pulls through yet again! And boy is it as good as advertised.... Tasty!
Adding the Joyo switcher was a game-changer for me. I’d often be switching from a crunchy rhythm sound to an ambient wash between songs, and would be tap-dancing my way to tone. Now, I have my favorite tones dialed in, so with one push I can make the switch. Figuring out how to order the pedals that don’t go through the switcher was a challenge, but it has been working great so far!
I’ve always been a fan of the traditional signal flow: compression > pitch > overdrive > modulation > delay > reverb, but my particular layout necessitated some tweaks. The Joyo Loop Switcher comes right in the middle and has overdrive, modulation, and delay/reverb in it. But I have the lesser-used overdrives before it—knowing that when I use them, they won’t mess things up—and my always-on delay/reverb is at the very end. I use the delay/reverbs really just for ambient effects, which are happy stacking anyway. It’s a jumble, but it still sounds good!
For anyone intimidated by the world of pedals, I say start small and don’t be afraid to try something new! This board took me almost 10 years, and I’m still swapping things out as I find new things. I lead the music at my church, which includes a wide range of styles, so I have a big board to handle the variety. From angry dirt to huge swells and everything in between, this board can do it all. We have a silent stage, hence the DI at the end, but I can go straight out into my Fender Blues Deluxe or Vox AC4 Hand-Wired if I want to make some noise. It’s powered by one Walrus Audio Phoenix and one Walrus Audio Aetos.
Signal chain:
1. TC Electronic PolyTune 2 Noir
2. Pixel Perfect (provides 8-bit synth tones from a DIY kit. Wacky and gnarly)
3. Keeley 4 Knob Compressor
4. Korg KVP-001 Volume pedal
5. Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
6. J. Rockett Audio Designs Archer Gold (always on)
7. JHS Angry Charlie
8. Foxpedal Defector Fuzz
9. Joyo PXL8 Loop Switcher (eight pedals assigned to this switcher)
1. EHX POG2 (oldest pedal on this board!)
2. Original Paul Cochran Timmy Overdrive
3. Analog Man King of Tone dual overdrive
4. Walrus Audio Monument Harmonic Tap Tremolo (in limited edition green)
5. EarthQuaker Devices Grand Orbiter Phaser
6. Boss DD-20 Digital Delay
7. MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay
8. Matthews Effects The Traveler Reverb (newest pedal, I love this thing)
10. Walrus Audio Mako D1 High-Fidelity Delay
11. Empress Effects Reverb
12. TC Electronic Ditto Looper
13. Hughes & Kettner Red Box 5 cab sim/DI
It's All a Bit Fuzzy
Reader: Roger Williams
This is a fun experimental board to compare my two favorite pedals, the Keeley Fuzz Head and EHX Deluxe Memory Man.
I’ve collected pedals for about 20 years now. I’ve had upwards of 200 pedals—I’m currently at about 150 now. The two pedals that have always inspired me to play the most are my big-box Deluxe Memory Man and my Keeley Fuzz Head. I first purchased the Deluxe Memory Man XO because the big-box version was always out of my price range. Then I got very lucky and found one at a third of the going prices. (It was part of an estate sale among some random antiques and sundries.) I have the Deluxe Memory Boy for the tap tempo feature. It has a classic bucket-brigade delay sound, while both Deluxe Memory Mans have a cleaner repeat signal.
The Keeley Fuzz Head has always been my favorite fuzz/overdrive pedal. It has great note separation and articulation. Even though it only has two control knobs, it is quite versatile. It comes with four easily exchangeable capacitors which can drastically change the sound of the pedal, from Fuzz Face-style to woolly fuzz to treble boost to a semi-clean boost. The five Fuzz Heads on my board are all set to different combinations of capacitors/diodes and internal trim pot settings.
I currently own 10 Fuzz Heads. When Keeley discontinued the Fuzz Head I wanted to have a couple of backups, and I got carried away. In the signal chain, they are in order of oldest to newest versions, as well as ascending gain. My most cherished delay, the vintage Deluxe Memory Man, is at the end of the chain because it has an independent, very warm gain control that I sometimes use as a clean-ish boost. The board itself is redundant and not practical, but to me, it’s perfect!
Signal chain:
1. Keeley Fuzz Head (far right)
2. Keeley Fuzz Head (second from the right)
3. Keeley Fuzz Head (middle)
4. Keeley Fuzz Head (second from the left)
5. Keeley Fuzz Head (far left)
6. EHX Deluxe Memory Boy
7. EHX Deluxe Memory Man XO
8. EHX Deluxe Memory Man
Black-and-White Thinking
Reader: Rick Bethune
Hello, my name is Rick, and I am a gearhead who is obsessed with black-and-white checks. Early on, I could see I wasn’t going to be a real player; I was more interested in the gear. This all started after I had open heart surgery in March of 2009. While I was at home recovering, I stumbled upon a website called General Guitar Gadgets, where they sell kits of well-known pedals. I bought four kits: a Ross distortion, octave fuzz, booster, and a Tube Screamer. Later, a friend was interested in buying the finished distortion pedal from me, and invited me to sell my builds at his store. After that, I taught myself to read and understand schematics. Then I found a site that has perforated board layouts that I now use to build everything.
I crafted this board from an old metal store shelf, with additional wood attached to secure the pedals. I believe it weighs somewhere around 100 pounds. It’s divided into nine loops. It may look like there’s duplications, but each one serves its own purpose with different sounds. The Vox Wah pedal on the bottom row is controlled by the box to its right, which has six different switchable inductors, along with tone and shape controls. The unpainted large box to the left of the wah, my “demo” box, was built to include at least one of everything I can build, specified below.
I also put four Ross effects on here. My Ross obsession goes back to the late ’70s when my parents gave me my first tan Ross distortion pedal. It blew me away then, and still does to this day.
Signal chain:
The board’s signal is not in a linear chain. The switches at the base of the board control a series of loops, as well as the light over the board and the power supply. The Demo switch is for the demo box, and the Bench switch is for the workbench loop, where I can insert anything that I am working on into the board.
I use Crosby cables to connect everything, and cut them all myself. I also cut all of the power cables. For amps I use a Fender Frontman 25R, Joyo Zombie II, Peavey Pacer, and an Epiphone So-Cal 50 head. There are two headphone amps on the board for fun: a Rockman Guitar Ace and a very rare Ross Rock Box, which I had to make a power supply for. I have to give credit to Tom Scholz of Boston for being an enormous influence on me as a gearhead.
List of pedals and boxes, in no particular order:
1. Homemade “demo” box which includes: distortion, phaser, booster, compressor, delay, and modified flanger
2. Vox Wah
3. Wah control box
4. Ross 10 Band Graphic EQ
5. MXR Micro Amp
6. MXR Dyna Comp
7. BBE Sonic Stomp
8. Behringer Tuner TU300
9. EHX Silencer
10. Pro Co RAT
11. Pro Co Brat
12. Pro Co Roadkill
13. MXR Classic Overdrive
14. Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive (true bypass mod)
15. MXR Phase 95 Mini
16. Sonicake Cry-Bot Auto Wah
17. Sonicake 5th Dimension Digital Modulation
18. Donner Alpha FX
19. Rockman Guitar Ace
20. Ross Rock Box
21. Ibanez CS-505 Chorus (true bypass mod)
22. Boss CE-3 Chorus (true bypass mod)
23. Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer (true bypass mod)
24. Ross Distortion (Early ’80s, true bypass mod)
25. EHX Big Muff (Early ’80s “Rams Head” board inside, true bypass mod)
26. EHX Satisfaction Fuzz
27. MXR Blue Box Octave Fuzz
28. Rockman Acoustic Simulator
29. DOD 670 Flanger (Updated caps and true bypass mod)
30. Ross Flanger (Early ’80s, true bypass mod)
Tamer of Centaurs
Reader: David Westhoff
I actually won this Holeyboard pedalboard from Premier Guitar. I was in the market for a board when it happened, as I was not happy with my previous one because it was too small.
As with many boards, this one has gone through a lot of changes. But the Klon, Fulltone CLYDE Deluxe, and Fulltone Deja 2 have been permanent fixtures throughout its evolution. I play a lot of Robin Trower, and he uses both of the Fulltones that I have.
The board goes into two ENGL E325 50-watt heads that both have a 2x12 cab with Celestion G12Ks. I did a lot of experimenting getting this to sound the way that I want. One trick I use is, I route the wet signal from the Boss CH-1 chorus into the dry output of the DigiTech Hardwire DL-8 delay, which really makes the effects stand out instead of getting muddy in the mix.
Signal chain:
1. Fulltone CLYDE Deluxe
2. Fulltone Deja 2
3. Klon Centaur
4. BBE Boosta Grande
5. EHX Deluxe Electric Mistress
6. Boss CH-1 Super Chorus
7. DigiTech HardWire DL-8
8. DigiTech Polara
Self-Contained Units
Reader: Micah Cadwell
I tried to build the ultimate board for going direct, live or in-studio, and for fly dates. However, this setup also sounds great going into a miked cabinet. Sound people love when they ask what I need and I say, “One XLR or a mic.” They usually opt for an XLR.
I mostly play jazz, so I’m very used to the clean Deluxe Reverb sound, which is why The Amp by Milkman was the first place I went. It’s basically a Deluxe Reverb with a master volume, which is amazing! The PolyTune Mini is great and the Dunlop Volume (X) Mini Pedal has a really nice sweep in spite of it being … mini.
On those occasional country/Americana gigs, the Cali76 is, to my ear, the ultimate pedal compressor, and I’m convinced that the Greer Lightspeed makes everything sound better. So that’s the first gain stage, in front of the Browne Protein, which offers two totally usable gain sounds. Another killer pedal!
The JHS Panther Cub is an incredible analog delay with a tap tempo, and the Strymon Mobius covers any and all modulation that I could ever possibly need. I can go direct, to the pleasure of sound engineers everywhere, or I can run it into a cabinet and be totally self-contained. It’s wired with Covenant patch cables on a Pedaltrain Classic JR. It’s a great board!
Signal chain:
1. TC Electronic PolyTune 3
2. Dunlop Volume (X) Mini Pedal
3. Origin Effects Cali76 Compact Deluxe
4. Greer Amps Lightspeed Organic Overdrive
5. Browne Amplification Protein Dual Overdrive
6. Strymon Mobius
7. JHS Panther Cub V2
8. Milkman The Amp
Double Feature
Reader: Bill Babjak
These pedalboards have been in the making for the past 40 years. I built my first board in 1979 with DOD pedals, trying to sound like Rush and the Police at that time. I have been collecting pedals ever since, and have acquired over 200 pedals. The current setup mixes the classics with the new.
I have decided to separate the clean board from the gain board as a way of switching between a clean, chorus, or echo sound into a loud fuzz. I decided to add some chorus, delay, echo, and reverb on the gain board just because I can. I could have used the GigRig G3 but did not want to program loops. With my setup, I can select anything at any time. This setup also allows me to incorporate my ’70s Multi Echo, which I have mounted on a desktop speaker stand.
I just recently rewired both boards when I introduced the QMX-10 for more options, and moved the QMX-8 to the clean board. This way, the older pedals are isolated from the signal path since they are not true bypass. This setup is for home studio only.
Signal chain:
My setup consists of two Pedaltrain boards. The gain board is a Terra 42 powered using two Voodoo Lab Pedal Power Mondo supplies. My signal on the board starts with a Fulltone Wah and goes into a Land Devices Domino and Klon KTR before hitting a GigRig QuarterMaster QMX-10. Out of the switcher it goes through an ISP Technologies Decimator and a JHS splitter, which feeds both a ’94 Vox AC30 and my modulation section, which includes a Boss CE-2 Chorus, Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, TC Electronic Stereo Chorus+, Strymon El Capistan, and a Strymon BlueSky. From there, it goes out in stereo to a 1994 Fender Bassman ’50s Reissue and a 1994 Marshall Bluesbreaker ’60s Reissue.
Within the QMX-10, I have arranged the pedals in the following loops:
1. Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
2. Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere
3. Tru-Fi Colordriver 18V (Bowie Edition)
4. JTPR FX Bleach
5. Sola Sound MkI Tone Bender Stu Castledine V2
6. Analog Man Sun Face NKT275 white-dot
7. ’90s EHX Green Russian Big Muff Pi
8. Audio Kitchen The Big Trees
9. Fulltone OCD V1.1
10. Out to clean board
On the clean board, which is a Pedaltrain Classic 3 powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power Mondo, I keep mostly modulation effects. I place this entire board within loop 10 of the QuarterMaster QMX-10 along with the Boss Booster/Preamp. The pedals are arranged on the QMX-8 as follows:
1. DigiTech Mosaic Polyphonic 12-String
2. Fulltone Mini-Deja’Vibe
3. Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble
4. Fulltone ChoralFlange
5. Multivox MX-312 Multi Echo
6. EHX Deluxe Memory Man
7. EarthQuaker Devices Space Spiral
8. Walrus Audio Slö Multi Texture Reverb
Words of wisdom from the legendary engineer, proprietor of Chicago’s Electrical Audio, World Series of Poker champion, and, in the band Shellac, the compass for brutal guitar aesthetics.
“All day every day, we’re grinding it out,” says engineer Steve Albini of his team at Electrical Audio, the Chicago studio he built and has run since 1997. “We’re constantly in session, constantly under fire.”
While it might be tempting to geek out and ask Albini about all the iconic albums that he’s recorded with the utmost finesse—and surely, there would be value in rapping about recording some of the biggest names in guitar music—that’s all been done.
What’s much more interesting is the work that goes on every single day at the studio. So, when he tells me, “My colleagues at Electrical Audio and I are constantly having to interrogate our methods and validate the things that we’re doing and come up with arguments for why we should do things this way or that,” that’s the stuff I want to know about. If you want to learn about how he recorded In Utero, go listen to Conan’s podcast. (Albini was a guest, along with Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, on the October 23, 2023 episode of Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend, and it’s a thorough discussion that is totally worth checking out.)
The fact is, Albini has recorded countless records. I’m sure he has a tally in his books somewhere, but it would be exceedingly difficult to know for sure how many albums he’s engineered. That’s because, as extensive as his credits are in various record-collecting resources, he’s also impressively accessible as a for-hire engineer. All levels of artists—from superstars to harder-to-track, mostly unknown road dogs—have carved out their time with him. Plus, he’s been at it since he started renting four-track demo packages on the weekends during his high school years in Missoula, Montana.
The body of engineering work that Albini has amassed is monumental not just in size, but also in musical scope, which extends further than from Sunn O))) to Magnolia Electric Company, Cheap Trick to Neurosis, or Low to The Thing. And with those artists, he often helps capture a landmark album, or at least the record that fans refer to as “the one they recorded with Albini.”
Aside from his day job, there’s also his guitar playing. Albini serves as the compass for cutting, brutal tone in the punk and underground rock scenes. Since his early days in the hard-hitting Big Black through his continuing work alongside bassist Bob Weston and drummer Todd Trainer in the band Shellac—whose soon-to-be six (no info yet, but a new one is confirmed to be on the way) full-length albums and some other recorded odds and ends are maybe the purest documents of his overall sonic aesthetic—he’s used a fairly concise rig of well-suited esoteric gear to shape his incisive, metallic, and esoterically personal guitar sound in the creation of angular riffage and gnarly feedback.
Albini’s sonic mastery seems to know no bounds: He’s probably the most-cited proponent of analog recording. His live-band-in-a-room sound is unparalleled. And his drum sounds are peerless. But, while it’s not as if he never talks about guitar, it’s rare to see him dive deep on his guitar-specific processes.
So, we called up Electrical Audio and had a chat about his methods on recording guitars and how they’ve evolved, his take on modern guitar culture, and the definitive details of his sound.
In addition to his gear collection, Albini is also a good-bandname-T-shirt collector. (If this isn’t proof enough, go look up a photo from when he won his first gold bracelet in the World Series of Poker.)
Photo by Daniel Bergeron
When you’re going to record a guitarist, what’s your process of deciding how you’re going to choose a microphone, and how you’re going to mic their amp or cabinet?
Steve Albini: You have a conversation—what kind of sound are they shooting for? Who are some guitarists whose sound would be appropriate for their music? That sort of thing. And sometimes that’ll give you a clue about how to get started.
If they like a thick, bass-y, chewy, distorted sound, you want to make sure you’re using mics that capture that low-frequency stuff with good definition and not get muddy or soft. If the kind of guitar sound they’re shooting for is very bright and very crisp and dry, you’ll want to make sure to avoid using mics that can have some resonance or bloom to them that will soften that sort of precision.
I think it’s a bad idea to have a standard method where when whatever guitarist walks in you stick an SM57 on it and call it good. A lot of people do that as a default just because it resolves the issue quickly, and they can get on with their day and do more fancy stuff. But I think it’s absolutely critical to pair the microphone with the actual sound that’s coming out of the amp.
After having a conversation with the guitar player, understanding what their aesthetic is, I have them set up their gear and just play a bit, to get a feel what their playing style is like. Are they using a lot of feedback and sustain or are they hopping on a bunch of different pedals all the time? Is the sound derived from their playing style or from particular layering of pedals? Getting intimate with the exact specifics of the guitar style and sound and aesthetic guides you on what microphones to use and physically where to put them.
The main thing is not to have a preconceived notion about what mics are good for guitar. I’ve used everything from vocal-caliber condenser microphones to quite limited electret microphones to high-quality ribbon microphones to pawnshop junk microphones—I’ve used absolutely everything you can imagine on a guitar amp, and that selection is always based on the aesthetic of the person playing and then the actual sound that’s coming out of the cabinet. In your mind, you might have an idealized notion of what a heavy guitar sounds like or what a clean guitar sounds like, but until you get down on all fours and listen to the sound coming out of the speakers, you don’t really know what you’re dealing with.
“When you listen to the speaker when the guitar player is playing, the sound that’s coming off—you should consider that the goal. What you’re trying to do is you’re trying to make that sound happen in people’s homes.”
How do you interpret what you’re hearing then?
Albini: When you’re down on all fours listening, you need to be forming a mental image of what that sound is like. Are there spikes and dips in the frequency response? Is there a lot of granular treble detail? Is it a really smooth sound? Does it have a sort of billowing quality, like a trombone-like fundamental, or is it really dry and raspy? Even using wine-tasting words like that, it helps you form an internal image of what that guitar is supposed to sound like when you hear it on playback, and from your experience with your mic collection, you’ll know what microphones are best suited to sounds like that, or you’ll know where to start anyway.
When you listen to the speaker when the guitar player is playing, the sound that’s coming off—you should consider that the goal. What you’re trying to do is you’re trying to make that sound happen in people’s homes.
Steve Albini's Gear
Hands on faders, Albini and his team at Electrical Audio are “constantly in session, constantly under fire.”
Photo by Kevin Tiongson
Guitars
- Travis Bean TB500
Amps
- Tapco/Intersound IVP Preamp
- Fender Bassman
- Custom homemade speaker enclosure based on Electro-Voice TL Series plans with 10" and 12" Celestion Greenbacks
Effects
- Interfax Harmonic Percolator
- MXR Smartgate
Strings and Picks
- Ice picks with the points cut off
- D’Addario XLs (.012–.016–.020w–.028–.038–.048)
Once you’ve chosen a mic, what’s next in the decision-making process?
Albini: One thing that I do that I think is probably distinctly different from what a lot of other engineers do, I tend to have whatever microphone I’m using on the guitar in the middle of the speaker cone, and I don’t generally use microphones pressed up close to the grille cloth right next to the speaker. I tend to use microphones at a working distance of between eight and 14 inches from the cabinet.
A lot of engineers made their bones as live engineers, where they’re trying to get isolation on stage, so they have the mics as close as possible to the speaker cabinet, and that practice translated into the studio. I experimented with that technique because I saw everybody else doing it, but I just never got good results with it. It always sounded slightly tweaked and muffled and weird. I found that when I put the microphone dead center on the speaker, then the sound hitting the microphone sounded more like what I heard when I was down on all fours listening to the speaker myself.
Working distance has a big effect on the sound quality. If the microphone is choked up tight on the speaker, you get a lot more low-frequency energy. You get a lot more muscular pumping low end from the proximity effect of the microphone, and, especially with ribbon microphones that are bi-directional and have a fairly exaggerated proximity effect, you can really use that to tune the response of the microphone. So, I say that I use a working distance of between eight and 14 inches. If I’m in the closer part of that range, six to eight inches from the speaker, there’s going to be a lot more of the sub low end emphasized in a bi-directional ribbon microphone, and that can be great to add weight and heaviness to a heavy guitar.
Then, if the microphone is backed off more like 12 to 14 inches, then you get much more of an overall picture of the sound of the cabinet, where it’s not emphasizing any particular region, for lack of a better word. It’s a flatter representation of the sound coming off the speaker. Being able to tune the behavior of the microphone by moving the microphone in and out just by a matter of inches can make a noticeable difference in the sound quality.
At this point in your career, do you know what mic to use as soon as you listen to someone’s playing?
Albini: It’s really rare for me to listen to a speaker, listen to somebody playing guitar, grab a microphone, put it up, and have it be right in the first instance. When that does happen sometimes, you feel like a fucking genius. That’s really satisfying. That means the first 30 years of your career weren’t wasted, but it doesn’t happen often.
Often, you have to move the microphone, or sometimes you have to swap the microphone out completely, like this microphone just can’t handle that much high end, it sounds too raspy, it’s just too midrange forward, it starts to sound nasal and different parts of the playing vocabulary can sound different as well. Sometimes, you’ll have a setup that sounds amazing when the guitarist is just playing rhythm stuff, but then when they go up the strip and start showing off, it can be too piercing or too woolly sounding, so it’s often a good idea to have a complement microphone.
“It’s really rare for me to listen to a speaker, listen to somebody playing guitar, grab a microphone, put it up, and have it be right in the first instance. When that does happen sometimes, you feel like a fucking genius.”
You’ll have a couple of microphones in the same position, one that is maybe a brighter, drier sound and one that’s maybe a fatter, darker sound. And that way you can either balance those microphones against each other for a composite sound or use them in stereo to synthesize a stereo image. Or when the lead kicks in, you can nudge the brighter microphone for a little bit more bite and attack.
I think having an ambient character available on the recording often helps with the sense of realism. If you’re just using a single guitar, for example, then having an ambient microphone that you can use to create a stereo image helps add to the sensation of hearing the sound in a room, even if it’s a very dry room. Having close mics on the amp and then also having a distant mic out in the room eight or 10 feet away gives you a little bit of air on that secondary mic, which you can then use to create a stereo image to help localize the guitar in the stereo image of the whole thing.
All of those little things, if you don’t have it set up so you have those kinds of options available, then you can’t make those choices down the road. I have been in sessions where some engineers have an array of microphones around a speaker cabinet. They’ll have eight or 10 microphones in a sort of swarm around a speaker cabinet. And that, to me, just speaks of really poor decision making. If you’re recording eight or 10 microphones at once and with the idea that you’ll sort it all out later, that just puts all your critical decisions off until the last minute and means that you’re going to make those decisions poorly. I think it’s much, much better to listen to it on the first playback and decide if you are on the right track or not. And if you’re not, just stop and fix it. Don’t just carry on with the plan to deal with it later, because when you get to later, you just have way too much shit to deal with.
Onstage with Shellac, Albini wields “Old Ironsides,” his Travis Bean TB500. Behind the guitarist lurks his customized amp head, which contains a Tapco/Intersound IVP Preamp and Fender Bassman, and his homemade speaker cabs.
Photo by Tim Bugbee
It’s like it creates option anxiety, and at that point, you’re just making the mix all that much longer.
Albini: Yeah, it’s not even the amount of effort that it takes. I don’t think it’s possible to make 10,000 critical decisions simultaneously and have them all be as valid as if you were to make those decisions one at a time as they came up with all your attention and full consideration. So, while you’re setting up the guitar, figure out which microphones you want to use and commit to them, and once you’ve committed to them, then that decision is made, and you can just get on with your day and you don’t ever need to re-litigate those decisions.
I also feel like over the course of working on a record, you get acclimated to the sound that you’re listening to, and then that becomes the basis on which you make other decisions. If you pull the plug on that by changing the sound around at the last minute, then all of those predicate decisions that were made based on that original place keeper have somewhat been invalidated. And I think that’s a dangerous thing as well.
In one of the videos on the Electrical Audio YouTube page, you talk about developing your practices through an iterative process of trial and error. Is experimentation still a part of your process?
Albini: I actively question myself and verify my preconceptions or challenge my preconceptions. One nice way to do that in a kind of a programmatic way is something I stole from Bob Weston, the bass player in the band Shellac that I’m in. He’s also a fine recording engineer and mastering engineer. I read an interview with him maybe 15 years ago where he said that on every session he does, he tries to do just one thing that he’s never done before. It might be the choice of microphone or positioning a microphone or a processing choice or a routing, just something, and that seemed brilliant to me. Just a very simple way to make sure that you’re always expanding your repertoire and always expanding your knowledge base. You don’t get set in your habits. And so, I stole that, and I do that to this day.
“While you’re setting up the guitar, figure out which microphones you want to use and commit to them, and once you’ve committed to them, then that decision is made, and you can just get on with your day and you don’t ever need to re-litigate those decisions.”
Also, microphones come in over the transom. There are microphones being designed and invented every day, and we get a chance to hear a lot of those either as trial or because people want our opinions on them. They’ll send them to us to put them in use for a while and play around with them. So, I get to play around with stuff that I’ve never heard before pretty regularly, and I like to try microphones I’ve never heard before.
This has proven enormously valuable over the course of the last 15 or 20 years. My routine behaviors have changed quite a bit as a result of these little, tiny experiments that I’ve done one at a time.
With Shellac bandmates Todd Trainer (drums) and Bob Weston (bass) in view, the most legendary Harmonic Percolator is at Steve’s feet, next to his MXR Smart Gate. If you’re wondering, Albini uses a waist strap for his guitar.
Photo by Jordi Vidal
I would imagine that, making as many records as you do, that’s like constant revision.
Albini: I promise you, the moment you get complacent about how you do things, someone will show up with a rig that’s freakish in a way you’ve never encountered before.
I did an album with the group Sunn O))). Their music is really slow-moving, impossibly heavy riffs, but the sound is really minimal. It’s just two guitars most of the time. In the studio, they added a few guests. One of is Hildur Guðnadóttir; she plays the cello.
There’s an instrument that was invented for her by a friend of hers called the halldorophone. It’s an electric cello that has built into it an amplifier and loudspeaker, so it’s a self-resonating, self-feeding-back, infinite-sustain cello. It’s a super bizarre thing, but she’s an expert. There’s one in the world and I’m staring at it and I have to figure out how to record it.
The fact that I am confronted with these new and different things all the time means that my vocabulary and my skillset and my facilities are constantly being tested and improved. And that’s one of the great joys, for me anyway, of doing what I do for a living, that I do get to do these freakish things once in a while.
You use a small pedal setup as a player, but you’re engaging with different kinds of players all the time. What do you think about modern pedal technology?
Albini: The stage that we are at now, where every player in every band has a pedalboard and have this sort of a curated collection of sounds that they come up with, I actually got a preview of that in the late ’80s. The first time I went to Japan, most guitarists that I worked with had a pedalboard with a half a dozen pedals on it, and that’s how they would craft their sound. They could bring that anywhere and plug it into any amp and they’d be happy.
Something very similar is happening now in the U.S. where a lot of people are doing demo recording at home through modeling amps or through interfaces, and rather than using an amplifier for its inherent qualities, they’re kind of defeating the amplifier by using pedals as the principal source of their sound. It’s a trend. I don’t really have an opinion about it.
“I promise you, the moment you get complacent about how you do things, someone will show up with a rig that’s freakish in a way you’ve never encountered before.”
There are some people who are more adept at it than others, but it’s absolutely the case that most players in most bands now have multiple pedals that they’re using, and the songs are arranged in a way where you use this combination for this part and this combination for this part. And nothing about it seems bad to me. It’s a little more cumbersome, especially when you’re in the studio and you’re trying to track down problems. But when you see somebody who’s really put some thought and attention into it and they’re really using the pedals in an expressive way….
I did a session with Reba Myers from Code Orange. She has this really expansive pedal setup where she’s got a main soundboard where the general tone for a given song comes from, and then she’s got a kind of an expression board, which is just all the crazy shit, and she’s constantly going back and forth. She’s an example of someone who’s put a lot of thought and attention into the specifics of the pedalboard and is using it as a creative tool. I’ve seen other people where it’s kind of pro forma—like, Kiss wore funny outfits on stage, and so for a while a lot of bands felt obliged to wear funny outfits on stage.
I know some old school guys are like, ‘Plug the guitar straight into the amp, and if you can’t get it done with that, you’re not a real musician,’ or whatever. That’s horse shit. That’s just boomer shit. I’m not into that at all.
How Steve Albini Gets His Guitar Sound
How did your personal guitar sound develop over the years?
Albini: When I was in Big Black, that band was predicated on the do-it-cheap, do-it-quick, take-no-prisoners approach. That was very much the cornerstone of the behavior in the punk rock scene. Don’t try to get it perfect, just get it. So, everything about that band was done sort of extemporaneously. I made the first Big Black record on my own in my apartment, so I needed an amplifier that I could use for either guitar or bass. I stumbled onto this bizarre preamp called the Tapco/Intersound IVP. It had a clean channel and a distorted channel. I didn’t find much use for the clean channel, but the distorted channel sounded great on either bass or guitar—or great toward my aesthetic at the moment, which was a pretty brutal one.
When Shellac started, I was looking for a fatter, fuller sound than the scrabble-scratchy sound I had with Big Black. I eventually gravitated toward the Fender Bassman as the perfect tube amp for me. But when I would play just the Bassman, I missed a little bit of the bite and the sizzle from the old transistor days. So, I ended up making a hybrid setup with the Tapco IVP preamp, typically recorded direct. And then on stage, I’ll have a monitor cabinet for it that has a horn in it, so it’s like a full-range speaker, and the Fender Bassman going into a fairly bass-y cabinet, typically a 4x12 when we’re on tour in Europe and we’re using backline.
The cabinets that Bob and I made for our amps—I have two Celestion greenbacks in that, a 10" and a 12"—are based on the TL series cabinet that are the published plans that Electro-Voice made available for using their speakers in an enclosure. If you just built a cabinet along those published plans, you would end up with exactly what Bob and I use for our speaker setups.
When you record yourself for a Shellac album, do you always use the same gear?
Albini: No, it has been different on literally every session. I often use the amp that I use on stage. Often, I do not. Often, I’ll use some other transistor amp and some other tube amp as the two complement signals. It’s essentially always two amplifiers, a transistor amp and a tube amp. The transistor amp is typically being recorded direct, and the tube amp is always recorded acoustically through a speaker cabinet with microphones and stuff.
But I have used an Orange OR80. There’s an amp that was made by a company called Sam Amp, and I believe there are very few of them in the world, but I ended up with one of them, and I’ve used the Sam Amp. I’ve used the Traynor YBA-3, Traynor YBA-1, a Marshall JTM-45. I’ve used a lot of different amplifiers for the studio recordings.
The Travis Bean that I use is such an indestructible sound. It’s weird that I’m so fussy about my amp because I’ve demonstrated myself that it kind of doesn’t matter what amp I play through, I can always get something that I like out of it.
We did a tour of Japan very early in the band’s tenure, right after we started. In Japan, it’s normal practice for the venue to have a backline. Every night it was a different, quite crappy by our standards, amplifier on stage. One night, it was a Roland Jazz Chorus. I used a Guyatone amplifier several times, and other Japanese brand names that I was unfamiliar with. Every night sounded fine. As specific as I am about what I like and don’t like, I have sort of taught myself that it’s not that important and that I can zero in on what I like and don’t like about even an imperfect setup.
For pedals, do you use anything other than the Harmonic Percolator, which you’re most known for using?
Albini: I’ve used a noise gate since I first started playing on stage. For many, many years it was just one of the original old-school MXR noise gates. They’ve all crapped out and been repaired and crapped out again many times. There’s an updated version of that MXR called the Smart Gate. I switched over to that. It’s set so that I can just touch the guitar and it opens up, but if I’m not actively playing it, it doesn’t open.
The output of the noise gate goes into the fuzz tone. And the fuzz tone has been a Harmonic Percolator [made by Interfax] since, I want to say, 1986. My friend Jay Tiller from Milwaukee worked at a head shop, record shop, and pawn shop combo in Milwaukee called Record Head. When I was there one time, he said, ‘We have this cool fuzz tone this guy made here. You should try it out.’ And I loved it. So, I bought one from him, and then over the years, I’ve bought a couple more when he stumbled across them at record swap or whatever, or at guitar fairs or whatever, he’s picked them up and I got ’em from him.
I’ve referred to the Percolator as a labor-saving device, because as soon as you hit the switch, the guitar just starts playing. I don’t even need to tell it what notes or anything. It just goes, and that’s my favorite thing about the Percolator, how it’s completely unhinged using it for feedback or whatever. It will choose little melodies that it wants to play, and it’ll just whistle them for you. But you kind of need to be physically moving. I’ve noticed that if you stand in one spot, it just squeals. But if you’re moving around, if the distance between you and your amplifier changes, then the fundamental frequency changes from the physical distance, and you get these really great psychedelic melodies that it creates.
Have you played any of the Percolator clones?
Albini: They all sound very slightly different, but they’re all basically the same. Chuck Collins made a complete, meticulous resurrection of the Harmonic Percolator [through his company, Theremaniacs] a few years ago—those are absolutely perfect. They respond exactly the same way. They sound the same. Almost all the others that I have seen—people send them to me because they feel like I should pass my hands over their Percolator or whatever, I’ve had maybe six or eight others—I can’t use any of ’em. They all behave differently somehow.
I think one of the perversions of my setup is that coming out of the noise gate, the signal into the Percolator is buffered, so it sounds different if you just plug your guitar straight into it, and I never do that.
From precious Pauls to ruby-red Jags and sparkling quirk machines, 30 PG fans flaunt their favorite guitars, amps, and pedals.
We asked and you delivered! PG tapped its diverse audience to see what prized possessions our readers keep in their personal gear collections. The submissions ran the gamut from a holy-grail guitar acquired via inheritance, a high-school graduation present, a post-coma-recovery treat, a rockin’ wedding gift, a self-build project, and many great tales of cherished tone tools.
Colin O'Hara
My mum passed away a few years ago and left me some inheritance. I used some of that money to get something I would’ve never afforded otherwise, and I knew it would never leave my side as long as I live—the above 1964 Fender Jaguar (from the pre-CBS era). It’s my most valuable (sentimental) possession and the most amazing guitar to play to boot!
Steve Tanner
If I had to pick just one it would be my 2016 Gibson Les Paul Traditional. We had lost both parents in rapid succession and after we settled everything, I had enough for a down payment on a condo and I set aside some money for a new guitar. It’s kind of the last thing they gave me.
Eric Tower
My 2011 Gibson Les Paul Studio Deluxe that I bought with my high-school graduation money. With its coil-tapping capability, I can achieve single-coil sounds along with the typical humbucker sounds of a Les Paul. And it has the most-comfortable neck I’ve ever played as well. It’s been my main guitar ever since I bought it!
Antoine Lespine
My Fender Super-Sonic. It’s not an expensive guitar but I wanted it for a long time. Finally, after recovering from a coma and long hospitalization, I decided to buy it just for the pleasure of enjoying life.
Dave Dardo
My 1983 Fender Strat Elite (hard tail) because it’s so versatile. It offers pleasing bright tones and with the turn of a few controls I can get some nice, thick mids. Pairing it with a Mesa/Boogie Single Rectifier 50-watt head into a Budda 2x12 and 2x10 open-and-closed back combination cabinet is magic.
Geo Jet
For many years, this was my go-to rig for larger venues. It’s so adaptable with the Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Mini Humbuckers in the Firebird going through the Marshall Vintage Modern half-stack. And for straight-out rock and blues, the smallbox 1987 Marshall Jubilee 2553 stack just can’t be beat.
Jeff Boule
To me, prized = integral. When you bill yourself as an electronic guitarist, you need a guitar to interface. My 1977 Fender Mustang that has a Roland GK-2 Guitar Synthesizer pickup paired with a set of Lace Red and Blue single-coils—plus a Kahler Trem and Sperzel Locking tuners—does just that. It’s my first guitar and still my main guitar.
Charles Gouger
This is my collection. The one I save if my house is on fire is my white Fender Mustang (on the couch). It’s the cheapest one in my collection, but the one I cherish the most.
Ray Vasquez
I seriously can’t pick! I waited all my life to have a setup like this: a 2005 Fender Stratocaster (MIM) that has a Seymour Duncan SJBJ-1b JB Jr Strat humbucker (bridge) matched with Seymour Duncan Antiquity single-coils (middle and neck). The VHT 12/20 is dimed for dirt, while the Vintage Sound Vintage 35 (Vibrolux-style 1x12 combo) is a loud 35 watts, so I only run it at 2.5 for cleans. This is the best tone I've ever had.
Justin Michael-Thermal Tran-Sheetz
My prized possession has to be the Tele I put together using a custom Warmoth body and neck. The body is mahogany with a cherry burst and the neck is roasted maple with a reverse headstock. I loaded this with some Seymour Duncan P-90s (the bridge has a humbucker-sized P-90) and wired a volume boost on my push-push tone knob. It plays like a dream and sounds amazing.
Bones BFMC
My first Gibson was a 1959 Melody Maker I got in 1973 from my aunt for $100 including a Gibson amp. Never looked back!
John Farmen
My 1959 ’burst clone. I never thought I’d like something that wasn’t a Tele so much.
Gregory DuPont
Easy! It’s my 2009 Ibanez Xiphos XPT700 that has a custom powder-coated trem, pickup rings, and tuning pegs.
Tracy Cooper
I have five Strats, two basses, a Tele, and three acoustics, but my go-to is the beautiful Beatrice. She’s a Jim Deacon Strat-style guitar that carries Ernie Ball Regular Slinkys (.010–.046). She’s heavy to hold, but she sounds amazing. I bought her as a run-down, non-working wreck, and I brought her back to life. She’s mama’s best girl!
Rob Peard
I gotta say it’s my Supro Limited Edition David Bowie Dual Tone with Bigsby (seen alongside the Milkman Sound The Amp). Some might say this is a shameless cash-in on Bowie’s legacy, but to be honest, I had always wanted this model because I’m a Link Wray fan foremost. Plus, I liked the idea of having a Bigsby without the compatibility issues of the original. It took over a year to receive my order, but it was perfectly constructed and set up. This is #115 of 432 made.
JB Gimena
My 2012 Fender American Vintage ’52 Telecaster is my number one guitar. It’s most precious to me because it was a gift from my wife for our wedding.
Ryan Coy
I’m a big David Gilmour fan, so it has to be my Black-Strat-esque Stratocaster that I pieced together. It features the same pickups as his signature Custom Shop model—Seymour Duncan SSL-5 Single-Coil Strat (bridge), Custom-wound Single-Coil Strat (middle), and Custom Shop Fat ’50s Single-Coil Strat (neck)—and an American Vintage synchronized tremolo with a shortened trem bar.
Phillip Eakens
Can’t make a decision so I’ll say my 2001 Gibson Les Paul Standard—arguably the world’s most perfect guitar—and my 1959 Harmony Stratotone. (It was the first guitar I ever played.) Can you hear that? The sustain … well you would if you were playing it!
Jesse Shafer
My prized possession is the guitar I built during the summer after I graduated high school. It has a mahogany neck and body, a maple top, and a rosewood fretboard. It has a Gibson scale length, and its neck is modeled after my other Les Paul, but it thins out towards the body and has a volute. Hardware includes Grover tuners and a Gotoh bridge. I disconnected the bridge pickup, and the neck pickup is a Seymour Duncan JB with 500k volume and tone pots. The side dots were made with red and blue crushed-up colored pencils. I spent about 10 hours making the truss rod cover by plying all kinds of wood-scraps together. I finished it with polyurethane. While I was buffing the body, I accidentally dropped the guitar and the body cracked in half. At one time, the entire back of it was covered in red paint. In a panic to get the paint off, I ended up touching the front of it and now there are red fingerprints on the front within the finish. The bolt-on neck joint is super crude. I made a little wooden badge inside the “f” hole.
It’s very rough around the edges—I was 18 and idiotic when I built it. That said, it plays and sounds like a dream. One of the most resonant guitars I’ve played and certainly the most resonant that I own. Intonation is astoundingly spot on. I have played many gigs with this guitar and have logged a couple thousand practice hours on it. I wouldn’t trade it or the stories I have with it for the world!
Ben Robertaccio
This 2000s Gibson Vegas Standard and my all-rosewood Tele work in almost every recording situation.
Rambo Brown
This EVH 5150III head has something special in it! I’ve tried to replace it with other EVH options (100W, EL34, 50W Stealth), but nothing ever works like it does. It pisses me off and haunts me in my sleep. I always come back to this MF-er!
Reza Moosavi
I’ve been lucky enough to acquire a few Kenneth Lawrence instruments. The first (and my favorite) is this Custom Explorer, aka “The White Walker.” This is ultimately the best guitar I’ve ever played for a multiplicity of reasons: Its level of clarity, punch, and sustain. The craftsmanship is breathtakingly exact, and it feels absolutely smooth due to the hand-rubbed oil finish.
Danny Medrano
I own my dream guitar! It’s a Gibson RD with Fishman Fluence Modern humbuckers. It’s so well balanced, the action is perfect, and its intonation is perfect. It handles every type of tone or style you can throw at it. Plus, it’s just a sexy hunk of mahogany. (These Dr. Z cabs are a close second.)
Reinaldo Andrade
My mid-’90s Yamaha Pacifica 912J. When I first saw the photo of Michael Lee Firkins with a Pacifica in Yamaha ads in guitar magazines, I knew that one day I would have my own. It was love at first sight.
Back to my 912J—it’s an incredible guitar. You can play all styles of music with ease, and it has beautiful tones. Inside detail: it came from the factory with DiMarzio pickups (a custom humbucker in the bridge and a pair of HS-2 single-coils in the middle and neck positions). If I had to stay with just one guitar, it would be this one.
Matt Deeley
This 2003 Gibson Les Paul Standard. And for me, the Les Paul’s from this era were superb. I’ve owned many guitars over the years, but this is the only one that’s stayed the course. It’s been played to death.
Joseph Torres
This is my PRS SE Mark Tremonti. (I believe it’s from 2012 judging by the serial number.) I’ve had this guitar for five years now and it’s become my ace. I love it because of its versatility and how comfortable it fits in my hands. Every time I pick it up, I remember why I wanted it in the first place. Oh yeah, I got tacky and put an Apple sticker on it. Anyway, it’s a great guitar and I can’t recommend PRS enough.
Richard Leo
I can’t afford a Gibson, but I didn’t need to with this one. The mid-’90s, Asian-made Vesta copy has the weight, tone, and feel of a Gibson 10 times its price. Plugged into my Laney VC30-212 and with clever manipulation of the tone and volume dials, I almost never need pedals. It was stolen a couple of years ago in a home robbery and still hasn’t resurfaced in the second-hand market. I haven’t found anything quite like it since.
Ryan Embree
My PRS Torero. I got it modded the way I want it with all kinds of FU-Tone goodies. This thing screams and is my main for a reason. I found it while used-guitar hunting and fought with the seller super hard to even get my hands on it.
Jeremy Santos
My 1980 Guild D-25 (made in Westerly, Rhode Island). I’m only the third owner of this absolute workhorse guitar. In fact, the guy I bought it from had a Fishman Matrix system put into it at a store in Westerly by a former Guild employee! As a founding member of a local Rhode Island acoustic duo, having a well-built, amazing-sounding acoustic is a top priority. I’ve used many different guitars over the years, but none compared to the sound and feel of this Guild! This will always be my number one. And being a Rhode Islander myself, having a guitar that was built here is pretty cool!
Rod Nesser
My 2012 Fender Cabronita FSR (MIM) that’s been retro-fitted with Fender locking tuners, a Rutters La Burrito bridge, a Les Paul-type, square-brass jack plate, and a Warmoth .09 black pickguard. I purchased this guitar in 2012 and it’s been my number one instrument since. In fact, I seldom play any of my other guitars. Together with my Vox AC30C2, Boss FRV-1 Reverb, and Selah Effects Feather Drive, this guitar has been my tone for the last eight years (and I don’t intend to change anything anytime soon). Initially, I did contemplate replacing the Fideli’Tron humbuckers for actual TV Jones Filter’Trons, but I actually like how the original Fideli’Trons sound through my amp against the bass player and loud drummer—they really cut through live! Needless to say, this axe is a keeper!
We received so many submissions from readers, we had to do a round two. PG's axe-wielding disciples show us their personal pedal masterpieces.
1. Adam Kingsley: Monochromatic Filth Machine
This is my bass board. It started off as a an Electro-Harmonix Bass Big Muff and a Korg Pitchblack tuner, and over the years has morphed into this monochromatic filth machine (unintentional, but glorious). I play a Gibson SG bass through this into a Fender Rumble V3 500-watt amp (the combo with 2x10 speakers).This is the signal chain: TC Electronic PolyTune 3, Dunlop Cry Baby Mini Bass Wah, Fulltone OCD V2, Stone Deaf Fig Fumb, Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl Analog Chorus/Vibrato, Caroline Guitar Company Kilobyte Lo-Fi Delay. It’s powered by a T-Rex Fuel Tank Junior.
You can hear some of these in action in my current band, Muscle Vest, and my old band, Thunder on the Left.
2. Ben Jacobs: Technicolored Targets
Here’s my current big board. I also run a small one with only a Boss Blues Driver, Danelectro delay/chorus, and a Dunlop Octavio for most occasions. However, this big board is the possession I’d run into a house fire to retrieve. It just makes me play better!I’m a Texan (Houston) and I wear boots most of the time. Not really boots conducive to pinpoint accurate pedal stomping, so the knobs give me a bigger target, and also allow me to color coordinate. When playing with a set list, I keep markers in my bag, so I’ll make a mark by the tune for what effects I typically use (gold for high overdrive, green for delay, etc.).
My pedals are, in order of signal chain:
- 1. Dunlop Clyde McCoy Cry Baby Wah
- 2. Wampler Ego Compressor
- 3. Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
- 4. MXR Analog Chorus
- 5. D’Addario tuner
- 6. Pigtronix Octava
- 7. JHS AT+ Andy Timmons Signature Overdrive
- 8. Laney Black Country Customs Tony Iommi Boost
- 9. Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini
- 10. MXR Carbon Copy
- 11. Keeley Dyno My Roto (used as Leslie simulator)
- 12. NUX Monterey Vibe
- 13. MXR Booster
- 14. MXR CAE Boost/Line Driver
- 15. Dunlop volume pedal
3. Bradford Mitchell: Linear Loops
I’m a worship leader based in North Carolina. Here’s the signal chain to my pedalboard, which is a Pedaltrain Novo 24:First, I have a Goodwood Interfacer out to a TC Electronic PolyTune Noir, to a Jackson Audio Bloom, which then hits the RJM PBC/6X.
- Loop 1: Benson Preamp
- Loop 2: Way Huge Conspiracy Theory
- Loop 3: Jackson Audio Broken Arrow (boost is TRS-controllable with a button I set up on the RJM PBC/6X)
- Loop 4: –empty–
- Dunlop volume pedal in the insert loop.
- Loop 5: Stereo loop split in two. One side is the Red Panda Tensor and the other is the Chase Bliss Thermae.
- Loop 6: Empress ZOIA in stereo (I have another button on the RJM PBC set to give me instant access to a ramping speed tremolo sound from the ZOIA.)
Stereo out of the PBC to two GFI Specular Tempus pedals. I use one for delay and one for reverb.
Return to the Goodwood Interfacer.
Selah Quartz is a MIDI box for the Thermae, and I prefer to handle tempo that way.
It’s all powered with two Strymon Ojais and wired up with Sinasoid cables.
4. Dale Atkinson: No Velcro Please
I live in Johnson City, Tennessee, and use this board in my band, Decade of Deceit. It was custom-made by me and has a flip-up top panel that hides a Truetone 1 Spot power supply, all of the cables, connections, and a vintage Japanese Boss HM-2. The front row features a Plutoneium Chi-Wah-Wah, a DigiTech Whammy Ricochet, and a GigRig G2 controller. The top row has a Shure wireless unit, VFE Pinball EQ, Mooer Acoustikar, OMEC Teleport, Boss SY-300, and a Boss RV-500 and BBE MS-92 Mini Sonic Stomp, both of which go through the effects loop of a Kruse-modded Marshall JVM410HJS. The side has a Rockboard Patchbay installed for easy hook-up. I’m not a fan of Velcro, so I found a solution with special band ties that are easily moveable that keep the standard-sized and mini pedals secure. It looks like a lot for a pedalboard, but I wanted the versatility to basically create any sound to cover clean, distorted, and acoustic guitar sounds as well as keys, synth, organ, or other parts whenever necessary and to create new sounds and textures.5. Dan Brodbeck: Honing Tone
I made my pedalboard from scratch using a Schmidt Array board as inspiration. There’s also a Radial StageBug in there, when using two amps, to eliminate ground loops. After seven years of using a Kemper Profiler, I rediscovered tube amps and pedals to really hone-in on my own tone. The board is mainly used in the studio into a Victory V40 Deluxe and a Fuchs ODS 50.Pedals on the top deck: Benson Preamp, Peterson StroboStomp, Empress Echosystem, Chase Bliss Brothers, Strymon Mobius, Strymon DIG, Strymon blueSky, Red Witch Fuzz God, Boss ES-8 Switching System.
5. Dan Brodbeck: Honing Tone
Pedals in the bottom deck: Empress Compressor, Donner Morpher Distortion, custom clean gain.6. Gustav Nilsson: The Biggest Board of the Year
I’m from Stockholm, Sweden, and this is my “more is more” pedalboard, with 53 pedals. I tried my best to get everything in focus, but the board is so big that it got a bit troublesome. The boards are built by my father (he’s a blacksmith), who forged together pipes from my sketches and painted them black. This is what I use at home with four different amps. Of course, it’s impossible to bring the board to gigs, so then I have to choose the most necessary ones for the gig and fill a smaller board with them. Power is provided by a Cioks Pussy Power, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus, Decibel Eleven Hot Stone Deluxe, and a Cioks TC10 (and some pedals also have their own power supplies).Here’s the order: Black Cat Monster K-Fuzz, Jam Pedals Wahcko Wah, Keeley Monterey, Analogman Beano Boost, Lehle Sunday Driver buffer (placed under the board), Korg Pitchblack tuner, DigiTech FreqOut, Morley George Lynch Tripler. The Tripler sends to three different chains.
- Chain 1: Korg AX1G, Korg AX100G, amp.
- Chain 2: DigiTech Jimi Hendrix Experience Pedal, amp.
- Chain 3: MXR Dyna Comp Mini, Danelectro French Fries Auto Wah, Xotic EP Booster, One Control Lemon Yellow Compressor, MXR Phase 95, Toneworks AX1000G, Wampler Tumnus, Ibanez Mini Tube Screamer, JangleBox, Pro Co Turbo RAT, Paul Cochrane Timmy, One Control Baby Blue, Olsson Amps The Wizard OD, Fulltone OCD, Boss DS-2, Boss FBM-1, Tech 21 SansAmp GT2, Electro-Harmonix Small Clone, Boss SY-1, Boss CE-2, DigTech SP-7, Boss VB-2W, MXR Uni-Vibe, Boss BF-2, Boss TR-2, Dunlop DVP3 Volume (modded, also used as expression pedal for K-Fuzz, SY-1, Monterey, and Belle Epoch Deluxe; works with a switch built by Reaper Pedals that’s mounted under the table), Hughes & Kettner Rotosphere, Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe, DigiTech Obscura, Catalinbread Zero Point, Boss DD-3, Electro-Harmonix Canyon, Boss FB-2, Danelectro Spring King, Electro-Harmonix Freeze, DOD Rubberneck, Electro-Harmonix Oceans 11, Keeley 30 ms Automatic Double Tracker, Korg SDD-3000, DigiTech Polara, Strymon Flint, TC Electronic Mimiq, one signal to Road Rage buffer (under the table) and then to stereo amp, one signal to One Control BJF buffer/splitter (under the table), which sends one signal to stereo amp, one signal to another amp.
7. James Forbes: Better for the Back
Here is my humble board. This board has gone through countless iterations until I “settled” on this version. (Let’s be honest, do we ever really settle?) I started my pedal journey in 2013, purchasing and attempting to mod the Boss Blues Driver, along with some other pedals, for bass. Eventually, with the mantra of “buy for what you’ll get” and a move to guitar as my primary instrument, I purchased a Pedaltrain Pro and filled it to the brim. Since then, I’ve trimmed down a bit to this Pedaltrain Novo 18 (my back thanks me). Sadly, trimming it down means I had to leave my beloved Line 6 DL4 and DigiTech Whammy off the rig. They just take up so much space!Signal flow: Empress Buffer+, Walrus Audio Deep Six Compressor, TC Electronic Sentry Noise Gate (mounted beneath the board), Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork, Keeley-modded Boss Blues Driver, modded Pro Co RAT (LM308 and another diode mod), Mr. Black DoubleChorus, Special Edition Walrus Audio Monument, JHS-modded Dunlop VP Jr, Line 6 HX Stomp (effects loop is Source Audio Nemesis, Strymon El Capistan, Walrus Audio Fathom), Ditto Looper. All of that goes back into the Empress Buffer. It’s powered by a Truetone 1 Spot Pro CS12. I primarily play into a Fender ’65 Deluxe Reverb Reissue, with an extra cab that has a 16 ohm Celestion Creamback in it.
8. Jimmy Takacs: Kid in a Candy Shop
I have my pedal chain split between two boards, which is done in consideration of my back, but also as a matter of convenience, being that I have one pedalboard set up to run by itself if the gig calls for it. I would miss all my swirly, loopy-delayed goodness on board two, but I can omit it if need be.Since the first time I saw the guitarist for my dad’s wedding band (they’re in their 80s and have played together more than 50 years) crack out his brand new Boss CE-2, HM-2, and DM-2, I’ve been fascinated by these brightly colored soundboxes. To sum it up: I’m a kid and they’re my candy and that’s that.
The flow of my signal goes as follows:
- DOD Octoplus (I get the best response out of monophonic octavers by putting them first in the chain.)
- DOD FX-17 Wah (crazy sweep range)
- MXR Dyna Comp (awesome comp)
- K Pedals PLL (Data Corrupter clone)
- Boss PS-6 (used only for dive bombs)
- Electro-Harmonix Silencer (I run my dirt chain through the send/return, so they’re muted when I’m not playing.)
*Dirt Chain*:
- Behringer Super Fuzz (set to fuzz 2)
- Boss SD-1 (low and mid switch mods)
- Peper's Pedals 1 knob fuzz (gnarly)
- TC Electronic Dark Matter (main dirt)
- Electro-Harmonix Tone Wicker Big Muff (a staple)
*End Dirt Chain*
- BBE Two Timer (bucket brigade delay)
- Electro-Harmonix Memory Toy (feedback set high, mix set low, rate twisted on the fly for the purpose of making rad oscillation noise)
- Ernie Ball VP Jr (using the tuner out to run to the Korg Pitchblack on board 2)
- DigiTech Obscura (mix set high, using the tap for crazy tape running sounds)
- TC Electronic Brainwaves (using 1 octave up and 1 octave down to fatten specific parts)
- DOD Phasor (awesome vintage phaser)
- TC Electronic June-60 Chorus (lush)
- Marshall Echohead (used for panning delay, with Saturnworks tap on bottom)
- Electro-Harmonix 720 Looper (used for stored loops)
- Line 6 DL4 (Used for on-the-fly looping, I recently reacquired this iconic pedal after a long period of experimenting with other loopers and finding no other pedal that does the Play Once retriggering à la Dave Knudson that I’ve been missing.)
- Honorable mention goes to the Bob Ross tin of happy little picks.
9. Kent Bawden: Tasmanian Devil
This has been a 20-year journey with hundreds of effects pedals bought, tested, and sold with the cycle repeating until I landed on the below pedalboard configuration. Here’s the pedal chain and reason I picked each effect for the pedalboard I made by hand out of Tasmanian blackwood. I live in Tasmania, so I wasn’t able to pop down to the local guitar store and get Evidence Audio patch cable as they don’t stock this brand, but I’ve ordered online.MusicomLab EFX MK-V: I wanted a GigRig but couldn’t afford one, so I settled on this. I have no regrets. It’s a super versatile unit and I love the ability to change the order of effects per preset, along with naming presets and song mode allowing you to have intro-verse-chorus-verse-outro, etc.
Real McCoy Picture Wah (not pictured run before board): Inspired after the original VOX wah pedals of the time, this one is a great interpretation including the Halo inductor. It also plays well with Fuzz Face circuits. This into the Eric Johnson Fuzz Face with Vibe-Machine and Boonar is a sound to behold.
Dunlop Eric Johnson Fuzz Face (not pictured run before board): As many know, the Fuzz Face circuit can be temperamental. I went through many transistors, silicon BC (108, 109, 183) and germanium variants, but landed on the Eric Johnson signature with BC183 transistors. It has a unique ability to play chords and still pick out each note whereas many of the others I tried were great with single-line work but as soon as you added in a power chord, it was mush.
- Loop 1 – Diamond Compressor: I’ve never been a huge fan of compressors, as you tend to lose dynamics, but when I came across this one, it wasn’t as squishy as others. It sits better in the mix and doesn’t overpower your tone, along with playing nicely with gain pedals.
- Loop 2 – Drybell Vibe Machine and Retro-Sonic Phaser: I have the V1 Vibe Machine early serial number and the same one Andy Martin uses from Andy Demos. I don’t have vibe and phaser on at the same time, so I put them in a shared loop, and because the pedals sit on the top front row, I can easily change between the two.
- Loop 3 – Fulltone Octafuzz: A great clone of the Tychobrahe circuit, this does what you would expect extremely well. My favorite use for this is Vibe Machine, Octafuzz, and Boonar = magic!
- Loop 4 – Wren and Cuff The Caprid: This rare big-box version from Wren and Cuff of the Big Muff Ram’s Head circuit goes so far as to trace out the circuit board to stay vintage correct. It sounds amazing. To send it out of control, I add the Buffalo FX Power Booster (loop 6) and it comes alive even more.
- Loop 5 – Analogman King of Tone: Arguably the greatest overdrive pedal of all time. I have the right side (red) with the high-gain mod set to overdrive on the DIP switch and the left side (yellow) standard gain set to boost with the internal treble trimmer up to add a bit more bite.
- Loop 6 – Buffalo FX Power Booster: In its day, this circuit was key to many guitar players’ tone. I’m unsure why I don’t see this pedal on more pro players’ pedalboards. It’s killer! It’s one of those pedals when set to a clean boost and it’s turned off you go, “what just happened?”
- Loop 7 – A/DA PBF Flanger and Boss CE-2W: Even though you can get chorus tones from the A/DA, I wanted that correct tone from the CE-2, which was David Gilmour’s mainstay from 1981–2005, and this nails it. Added bonus: With the CE-1 setting, you can cover Frusciante tones.
- Loop 8 – Dawner Prince Boonar: David Gilmour uses one on his board. That’s probably enough said. However, the Boonar sounds so close to an original Echorec. Some pedals just have mojo and inspire you to play and come up with new music. This one does that for me.
- Loop 9 – Providence Chrono Delay DLY-4: David Gilmour also uses two of these. It’s just a great straight-up digital delay that’s not too harsh or brittle.
Catalinbread Talisman: Last in the chain and always on. I’m a huge plate reverb fan over any other class of reverb. Given the size of a real plate unit, this one fills the void perfectly and, although a one-trick pony, it’s the best plate reverb I’ve tried.
10. Kurt Nolen: Jingle Board
I spent over a decade in the film industry as a camera/steadicam operator and cinematographer (and yes, you’ve likely seen things I’ve worked on), but before that I was a studio musician. Once I had two young children at home, being gone for eight months out of the year working on location shoots just wasn’t tenable, so I turned in my union card and took a job as Gonzaga University’s in-house filmmaker in their marketing and communications department.Sitting at home one very snowy Saturday night last February, it occurred to me how much I genuinely missed playing music. And I was constantly needing music for projects at work. So I pulled out one of my old pedalboards, spent probably two weekends just cleaning 20 years of Velcro glue and crap off of it, and started putting together the perfect one-stop marketing jingle pedalboard that could hang out in the studio at work and lay down whatever tones I needed for the variety of projects that come across my desk. I already owned a Keeley-modded RAT, the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+, the ZVEX Fuzzolo, and the Keeley-modded Boss TR-2, but the Boss DC-2W Waza Craft pedal’s augmentations to older Boss units I already owned were intriguing. Like any self-respecting guitarist, I felt compelled to buy new toys. I’ve always flown a couple different flavors of Tube Screamers in my board at the same time, and the JHS Bonsai was just the best thing I’ve seen in ages.
It was great to haul out stuff that had been sitting in a crate for over a decade, breathe some new life into it, and get back into playing on a regular basis (and get paid for it).
Here’s what’s on the pedalboard I use at work. Signal chain: Radial BigShot I/O, Xotic SP Compressor, JHS Bonsai, Keeley-modded RAT 2, ZVEX Fuzzolo, Boss DC-2W Waza Craft, Keeley-modded Boss TR-2, Boss DM-2W Waza Craft, TC Electronic Ditto Looper.
All powered by a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2+ and sitting on a mid/late ’90s Pedaltrain. (Hence the PP2+ having to go on top of the board, because they weren’t making them with enough clearance to sling the power supply under the board yet.)
11. Nick Werner: Never Enough
Maybe I have too many pedals! My board is always changing but this is what I currently have: Band of Gypsies fuzz, Seymour Duncan Pickup Booster, Electro-Harmonix Octave up-small stone, PolyTune 2, Marshall Drive Master, Ethos Overdrive, Boss RE-20 Space Echo, Rocktek Chorus, Strymon flint, Strymon Brigadier, TC Electronic Ditto Looper, MXR EQ under the pedaltrain. All powerd by a Truetone 1 SPOT Pro CS12 and a GigRig Isolator.12. Rafael Reyes: Almost There
I’m from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I play in a band called the Mariachi Ghost. My pedalboard has been an evolution over the years, and I’m not quite there yet, but I’m on track to make it better.I run a 2014 Gibson LP Custom (ebony) and a modded American Strat (from 1998 and 2004 parts, with a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 on the bridge) with S-1 switching. I usually run a stereo setup with two Deluxe Custom Reverb ’68 reissues, but I can use the splitter to make a mono out when I can only source one amp while on tour.
Here’s my current lineup: Pedaltrain Classic 2 frame (older version), TC Electronic PolyTune, Electro-Harmonix Ram’s Head Big Muff Pi reissue, Fulltone OCD (candy apple red), Electro-Harmonix Soul Food, MXR MC401 Custom Audio Boost/Line Driver, Eventide TimeFactor, Strymon Mobius, Saturnworks Stereo Splitter/Summer, Boss ES-8 Effects Switching System. It’s all powered with a Truetone 1 SPOT Pro CS12.
This year, PG received more pedalboard submissions from readers than any other year, which makes us very happy. If you’re discerning and passionate as ever about your effects, you’ve come to the right place.
A few of you mentioned catering your boards to lighten the load on your backs, which makes sense considering that this roundup includes one of the biggest boards ever submitted: It has 53 pedals. Seriously! We’ve got some rocket-scientist level tone tweakers in the house, and we’re extremely impressed at the clarity and nuance with which they’ve explained the wiring setups and how they use these boards. So here we go … step on, and bask in the craft of the pedalboard. Until next year!
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!