
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
- DIY Pedalboard Build ›
- A Pedalboard Pro’s Dream Pedalboard ›
- 10 Add-Ons to Spruce Up Your Pedalboard ›
The ultimate hand-wired Tube Screamer from Ibanez is up for grabs! Enter the I Love Pedals giveaway today, and come back daily for extra entries!
Ibanez TS808HWv2 Tube Screamer Overdrive Pro Pedal
Ibanez has taken the iconic Tube Screamer and pushed it further by re-envisioning their flagship, hand-wired model. The company evaluated every component while aiming to stay true to the pedal’s transparent and mid-range-focused tone. After numerous prototypes, it was concluded the JRC NJM4558 op-amp was essential to achieve the Tube Screamer’s legendary sound. At the same time, this new design is capable of a wider range of sounds thanks to the addition of high-end components such as MOGAMI OFC cables, which further enhance the benefits of a hand-wired pedal. Additionally, a boost has been added to the final stage of the circuit, increasing the maximum output level by +6dB. Its look has also been revamped, giving it a high-end appearance while retaining the traditional shape.
The high priest of prog-metal guitar, John Petrucci, is still finding new territory on his instrument.
The legendary progressive-metal guitarist details the darkness—and the renewed camaraderie—that led to his band Dream Theater’s 16th full-length record, Parasomnia.
Some very important events happened in John Petrucci’s life in 2024. He celebrated an enormous milestone with his bandmates in prog-metal behemoth Dream Theater: They’ve been a band for 40 years. Many bands aren’t destined to last a single decade, let alone four. It’s a titanic personal and artistic achievement. And yet, that anniversary paled in significance next to another major development: The band wrote and created a new full-length record with founding drummer Mike Portnoy, who had been absent from Dream Theater since 2010.
The news of Portnoy’s reunion with Dream Theater rocked the metal world. Over the years, whiffs of acrimony and hurt feelings suggested Portnoy’s return to the band might be a pipe dream. But in October 2023, the band revealed that they had all independently reconciled with Portnoy, a process that culminated backstage at New York’s Beacon Theater in 2022. Portnoy attended Dream Theater’s show at the venue and met up with the band afterward. It was the first time he’d seen vocalist James Labrie in 10 years. Within seconds, 13 years melted away in the warmth of camaraderie.
“The gear was all set up and we sat there and started playing. It was magic. It was like we never missed a beat.”
A few months after the announcement of Portnoy’s return, he and bandmates Labrie, Petrucci, bassist John Myung, and keyboardist Jordan Rudess convened at the recently renovated Dream Theater HQ, their longtime creative hideout and recording studio in Long Island, to begin to create new music. Petrucci, speaking over the phone from Brazil during Dream Theater’s December 2024 tour, remembers that period fondly. “From the moment that we all stepped in the studio in February, the gear was all set up and we sat there and started playing,” he says. “It was magic. It was like we never missed a beat.”
After shaking off the cobwebs, the first song they wrote together was “Night Terror”—“if that gives you any indication of the energy and vibe and mood that we were in,” quips Petrucci. It’s heavy, riffy, aggressive, and progressive, a capsule of 13 years in just shy of 10 minutes. “We let that all out in the first couple of weeks of just being together,” Petrucci continues. “It was wonderful and the creative juices just flowed the way they always did. There was great brotherly chemistry between all of us.”
Last year, Dream Theater celebrated their ruby anniversary as a band. Four decades on, they’re still exploring the dark corners of what happens when we sleep.
The band continued to create together as they’d always done. They had some concrete ideas: They wanted to make a concept album, and it had to be heavy and riff-centric. Petrucci, who produced the record, was intrigued by parasomnia, a medical concept which refers broadly to any unusual sleep pattern, like sleepwalking, nightmares, insomnia, sleep paralysis, and more. He hadn’t experienced those nocturnal issues (the worst he deals with is snoring), but he began deep research into them. A path had opened up. “That creative part of me just wakes up, and then that turns into it also being musically creative, lyrically creative, visually creative,” says Petrucci.
This is how Parasomnia, Dream Theater’s 16th studio record, came to exist. Engineered and mixed by Andy Sneap, the concept album comprises a collection of suites and vignettes that center on various sleep disturbances, opening with “In the Arms of Morpheus,” a slowly building soundscape that sets the scene for all that follows. It soundtracks someone getting ready for bed and falling asleep, and just as they’re drifting into a dreamstate, a musical theme starts to creep in. It heightens and gets weird before exploding into the full chaos that gives way to “Night Terror,” the nine-minute-plus epic. Petrucci’s playing on this song alone is staggering: There’s the classic, open-string beginner riff, then vintage, hyper, ’80s-metal single-note melody work, then a truly brain-melting, lightning-fast solo that leaves your jaw open.
True to Dream Theater lineage, there are pieces of the record that feel ready to soundtrack alien drag races on Mars next to swanky sections of jazzy, hard-rocking funk-blues, like on “A Broken Man.” Petrucci slips in and out of modes and scales like a chameleon changing its colors, each sounding as lived-in and natural as the last. His fingers just seem to know where to go. His only reprieve is the funereal interlude “Are We Dreaming?” which prepares us for the power ballad “Bend the Clock” and the devastating, scorched earth closer: “The Shadow Man Incident.”
Parasomnia is Dream Theater’s 16th studio record, and their first since reuniting with founding drummer Mike Portnoy.
“It’s wacky,” says Petrucci about the phenomena behind that song’s title. If you’re not familiar, “the shadow man” is a colloquial name given to a figure that appears during some episodes of sleep paralysis. People around the world have reported a similar apparition visiting them while they’re experiencing sleep paralysis—but there’s no scientific consensus for what causes the similar visions.
“There’s something in the human brain that is unaccounted for or whatever that must be producing that, that repeated experience,” continues Petrucci. “You start doing all this research and going down rabbit holes online. You’re like, ‘Wow, for centuries, in every culture and civilization, the same thing has been happening. What is this?’ It definitely explores the depths of the human mind, but it reminds me of any sort of topic that holds your interest in a weird way, like UFOs. A song like ‘The Shadow Man Incident’ is a long, epic piece of music that gives you the backdrop and license to go into storytelling more.”
The goal was to take that storytelling beyond the normal confines of an LP—or, at least, what we think of as an LP in the streaming age. “What we decided to do was to make the album kind of like a Dark Side of the Moon listening experience,” explains Petrucci. “Our hope is that people will get this record, turn down the lights, get together with some friends for a drink or whatever you do, and just listen to the whole thing like you’re watching a movie. It’s supposed to be an experience.”Petrucci even studied the music of composers like John Williams to get a bead on how to create epic, cinematic feelings in music. He displayed his research to his bandmates in the form of creative direction for certain songs, likening the process to scoring a film. “The album or song topic presents certain imagery, and you want the music to match that imagery, so you have those tools in your toolbox, like, ‘Okay, I know what kind of chord movement or chordal sounds or modal things I can do that are going to make that,’ and it’s going to create that flavor as opposed to just going in and writing in the typical way that you would if you didn’t have that knowledge ahead of time.”
“With Mike rejoining the band, I wanted to lean into the nostalgic aspect in some of the recording process.”
A part of that soundscaping is what Petrucci describes as “ear candy”: spoken-word passages, or sound effects like clocks ticking and alarms ringing. These elements help build a more profound, immersive listen, but they only work if the songs are good, says Petrucci. “You can have all these sound connections and overdubs and voices, but if the songs suck, it’s not going to mean anything. No one’s going to want to listen to it.”
Knowing that the record would deal with all things eerie and creepy, Petrucci wanted to explore what types of tonalities could unsettle the listening experience. “For ‘Night Terror,’ I use the super Phrygian mode, which is like a mode of the Hungarian minor which has a very unresolved sound that creates a lot of tension,” he says. He also experimented with constructs like the Prometheus and Tristan chords. “That gives you that dreamy weird thing you hear in ‘In the Arms of Morpheus.’ That first 8-string chord is this crazy chord of all tritones that just makes it sound like you’re in a nightmare right away.”
Petrucci, pictured here shredding in November 1994, broke out plenty of classic gear for the recording of Parasomnia to mark the reunion with Portnoy.
Photo by Frank White
Petrucci called on a range of tools old and new to bring Parasomnia to life. “With Mike rejoining the band, I wanted to lean into the nostalgic aspect in some of the recording process,” he explains. He used his 6-, 7-, and 8-string Ernie Ball Music Man Majesty guitars, in a spread of different tunings. He used his Mesa/Boogie JP-2C on everything except the record’s solos. For those, he busted out his old Mesas—a Mark III, IV, and IIC+ among them—for a shootout and wound up choosing the IIC+ that he used on old Dream Theater records (plus his own solo release, Suspended Animation). A Roland Jazz Chorus even clocked in for some cleans—a page Petrucci took from James Hetfield’s book.
The nostalgia didn’t end there. The band reached out to recording engineer Doug Oberkircher, who engineered all of the band’s records from 1992’s Images and Words through 2003’s Train of Thought, to purchase the Neve preamp used on those albums. All the guitars on Parasomnia were recorded through that preamp.
In many ways, a production this grand and intricate is familiar territory for the band. Petrucci and Dream Theater obviously have a penchant for art that is narrative, theatrical, and grand. But Parasomnia is specially weighted with circumstance and time.John Petrucci's Gear
Petrucci and Dream Theater have managed an incredible feat: They’re just as excited about their music now as they were when they were teenagers.
Photo by Ekaterina Gorbacheva
Guitars
- Various Ernie Ball Music Man The Majesty 6-, 7-, and 8-string guitars with DiMarzio Dreamcatcher and Rainmaker pickups
Amps
- Mesa/Boogie JP-2C (rhythm parts)
- Vintage Mesa/Boogie Mark II C+ Simul-Class (lead parts)
- Roland JC-120 (clean parts)
- Mesa/Boogie 4x12 Rectifier Traditional Straight cabinet
Effects
- MXR Bass Compressor
- Boss CE-2W
- Boss DC-2W
- TC Electronic Dreamscape
- TC Electronic TC 2290
- TC Electronic Corona Chorus+
- MXR Stereo Chorus
- Keeley Blues Disorder
- Dunlop JP95 John Petrucci Signature Cry Baby Wah
- MXR Custom Audio Electronics MC403 Power System
Recording
- Neve 1093 Pre/EQ
- API 3124MV
- Solid State Logic PURE DRIVE OCTO
- sE Electronics VR2 + Mojave Audio MA-D (rhythm parts)
- sE Electronics SE4400a + Royer Labs R-121 (lead parts)
- Royer Labs R-121 in stereo (clean parts)
- sE Electronics RNR1 (mid room)
- sE Electronics RNT in OMNI (far room)
- Waves H-Delay Analog Delay Plugin
- Soundtoys EchoBoy
- Soundtoys MicroShift
- Soundtoys Crystallizer
- D16 Group Audio Software Repeater
- Valhalla DSP VintageVerb Plugin
- Valhalla DSP ValhallaRoom Reverb Plugin
- Radial ProRMP
- Radial J48
- EBow
Strings & Picks
- John Petrucci signature Dunlops
- Ernie Ball .10 gauge electric sets
“John Myung and I met when we were in middle school, so we were like 12, and I remember everything about us playing together, going over to each other’s houses after school and playing every Iron Maiden song there ever was, going to Berklee and meeting Mike when we were 18, forming the band,” says Petrucci. “Here we are, it’s 40 years later. How the hell does that happen? But the great thing is to still be playing with my brothers and my buddies, and still making music together that we’re just as excited about as we were when we were 18. It’s all we ever wanted to do.”
All of this history isn’t just window dressing. It comes out in Petrucci’s playing, too: It’s all one, long story. “By the time I was 16 or 17, I had a handle on the kind of style of player I wanted to be, and those original elements are still there and will always be there,” says Petrucci. “But now, 40 years later, there’s still new things coming in. Even on the new album, there’s things I never did before. We’re playing these shows and I’m trying to master this stuff live in front of an audience and see if I can pull it off under pressure. The challenge of it is just as much as it was when I was a teenager. I love it.
“It’s a continuing experiment,” Petrucci continues. “As you develop new techniques and go down new roads of playing, all of a sudden you realize you abandoned some older techniques, then you go back and rediscover those things, and through the process of rediscovering the old things you used to do, all of a sudden you could do some stuff that you never were able to do before. It’s like something that’s living. It’s a living experiment of guitar playing. It’s just forever inspiring.”
YouTube It
Last year marked Dream Theater’s 40th anniversary as a band, and the official Dream Theater fan club caught up with the group before their gig in Oslo to see how they brought the milestone tour to life.
Fifteen watts that sits in a unique tone space and offers modern signal routing options.
A distinct alternative to the most popular 1x10 combos. Muscular and thick for a 1x10 at many settings. Pairs easily with single-coils and humbuckers. Cool looks.
Tone stack could be more rangeful.
$999
Supro Montauk
supro.com
When you imagine an ideal creative space, what do you see? A loft? A barn? A cabin far from distraction? Reveling in such visions is inspiration and a beautiful escape. Reality for most of us, though, is different. We’re lucky to have a corner in the kitchen or a converted closet to make music in. Still, there’s a romance and sense of possibility in these modest spaces, and the 15-watt, 1x10, all-tubeSupro Montauk is an amplifier well suited to this kind of place. It enlivens cramped corners with its classy, colorful appearance. It’s compact. It’s also potent enough to sound and respond like a bigger amp in a small room.
The Montauk works in tight quarters for reasons other than size, though—with three pre-power-section outputs that can route dry signal, all-wet signal from the amp’s spring reverb, or a mixture of both to a DAW or power amplifier.
Different Stripes and Spacious Places
Vintage Supro amps are modestly lovely things. The China-made Montauk doesn’t adhere toold Supro style motifs in the strictest sense. Its white skunk stripe is more commonly seen on black Supro combos from the late 1950s, while the blue “rhino hide” vinyl evokes Supros from the following decade. But the Montauk’s handsome looks make a cramped corner look a lot less dour. It looks pretty cool on a stage, too, but the Montauk attribute most likely to please performing guitarists is the small size (17.75" x 16.5" x 7.5") and light weight (29 pounds), which, if you tote your guitar in a gig bag and keep your other stuff to a minimum, facilitates magical one-trip load ins.
Keen-eyed Supro-spotters noting the Montauk’s weight and dimensions might spy the similarities to another 1x10 Supro combo,the Amulet. A casual comparison of the two amps might suggest that the Montauk is, more-or-less, an Amulet without tremolo and power scaling. They share the same tube complement, including a relatively uncommon 1x6L6 power section. But while the Montauk lacks the Amulet’s tremolo, the Montauk’s spring reverb features level and dwell controls rather than the Amulet’s single reverb-level knob.
“High reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on top—leaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones.”
If you use reverb a lot and in varying levels of intensity, you’ll appreciate the extra flexibility. High reverb levels and low dwell settings evoke a small, reflective room with metallic overtones from the spring sprinkled on top—leaving ghostly ambience in the wake of strong, defined transient tones. There are many shades of this subtle texture to explore, and it’s a great sound and solution for those who find the spring reverbs in Fender amps (which feature no dwell control) an all-or-nothing proposition. For those who like to get deep in the pipeline, though, the dwell offers room to roam. Mixing high level and dwell settings blunts the amp’s touch sensitivity a bit, and at 15 watts you trade headroom for natural compression, compounding the fogginess of these aggressive settings. A Twin Reverb it ain’t. But there is texture aplenty to play with.
A Long, Wide Strand
Admirably, the Montauk speaks in many voices when paired with a guitar alone. The EQ sits most naturally and alive with treble and bass in the noon-to-2-o’clock region, and a slight midrange lean adds welcome punch. Even the amp’s trebliest realms afford you a lot of expressive headroom if you have enough range and sensitivity in your guitar volume and tone pots. Interactions between the gain and master output controls yield scads of different tone color, too. Generally, I preferred high gain settings, which add a firecracker edge to maximum guitar volume settings and preserve touch and pick response at attenuated guitar volume and tone levels.
If working with the Montauk in this fashion feels natural, you’ll need very few pedals. But it’s a good fit for many effects. A Fuzz Face sounded nasty without collapsing into spitty junk, and the Klon-ish Electro-Harmonix Soul Food added muscle and character in its clean-boost guise and at grittier gain levels. There’s plenty of headroom for exploring nuance and complexity in delays and modulations. It also pairs happily with a wide range of guitars and pickups: Every time I thought a Telecaster was a perfect fit, I’d plug in an SG with PAFs and drift away in Mick Taylor/Stones bliss.
The Verdict
Because the gain, master, tone, and reverb controls are fairly interactive, it took me a minute to suss out the Montauk’s best and sweetest tones. But by the time I was through with this review, I found many sweet spots that fill the spaces between Vox and Fender templates. There’s also raunch in abundance when you turn it up. It’s tempting to view the Montauk as a competitor to the Fender Princeton and Vox AC15. At a thousand bucks, it’s $400 dollars less than the Mexico-made Princeton ’68 Custom and $170 more than the AC15, also made in China. In purely tone terms, though, it represents a real alternative to those stalwarts. I’d be more than happy to see one in a backline, provided I wasn’t trying to rise above a Geezer Butler/Bill Ward rhythm section. And with its capacity for routing to other amps and recording consoles in many intriguing configurations, it succeeds in being a genuinely interesting combination of vintage style and sound and home-studio utility—all without adding a single digital or solid-state component to the mix.
Watch the official video documenting the sold-out event at House of Blues in Anaheim. Join Paul Reed Smith and special guests as they toast to quality and excellence in guitar craftsmanship.
PRS Guitars today released the official video documenting the full night of performances at their 40th Anniversary celebration, held January 24th in conjunction with the 2025 NAMM (The National Association of Music Merchants) Show. The sold-out, private event took place at House of Blues in Anaheim, California and featured performances by PRS artists Randy Bowland, Curt Chambers, David Grissom, Jon Jourdan, Howard Leese, Mark Lettieri Group, Herman Li, John Mayer, Orianthi, Tim Pierce, Noah Robertson, Shantaia, Philip Sayce, and Dany Villarreal, along with Paul Reed Smith and his Eightlock band.
“What a night! Big thanks to everyone who came out to support us: retailers, distributors, vendors, content creators, industry friends, and especially the artists. I loved every second. We are so pleased to share the whole night now on this video,” said Paul Reed Smith, Founder & Managing General Partner of PRS Guitars. “I couldn’t be more proud to still be here 40 years later.”
With nearly 1,400 of the who’s who in the musical instrument industry in attendance, the night ended with a thoughtful toast from PRS Signature Artist John Mayer, who reflected on 40 years of PRS Guitars and the quality that sets the brand apart. “The guitars are great. You can’t last 40 years if the guitars aren’t great,” said Mayer. “Many of you started hearing about PRS the same way I did, which is you would talk about PRS and someone would say ‘They’re too nice.’ What’s too nice for a guitar? What, you want that special vibe that only tuning every song can give you on stage? You want that grit just like your heroes … bad intonation? The product is incredible.”