Premier Guitar features affiliate links to help support our content. We may earn a commission on any affiliated purchases.

Pedal Alley 2019: Reader Boards

Whether it’s collections of old-school straightforward stomps or elaborate circuits for spacey experimentation, each year we’re blown away by the different pedalboard setups our readers come up with. Here’s a dozen for the tonal takeaway.

2. Dave Harris: Surf’s Up

I would like to show my “surf board.” I’ve been playing on this for many years and making many waves with my band the Voltones. This comes with a “high surf advisory,” from left to right:

Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner: A must have, and the buffer is a factor in the tone.

• Vintage “3080 chip” MXR Dyna Comp: Stays on all the time.

Joe Bonamassa Cry Baby: The buffer is nice, but skipping the true bypass option to degrade the treble a bit.

• B.K. Butler Tube Driver: I’ve owned several; this one’s the best so far.

• 1980s Ibanez TS9: JRC4558D chip, brown mod. Waterproof? Maybe.

• Carl Martin Surf Trem: A very nice unit, using photo cells.

• T-Rex Replica delay/echo: Direct to a Marshall, with the dry side into the Fulltone Deja’Vibe.

• Fulltone Deja’Vibe MDV-1: Out to a second Marshall.

It’s that time of year, when Premier Guitar readers wow us with the intricate details of their pedalboards. A few highlights for 2019 include a surf board station, a bright board with LED lighting, a Nashville guitarist who gigs on Lower Broadway, and a pedal setup with no frills … and literally no board at all. (All this player needs is beer and broken glass.) As an added bonus, a pro pedal builder shares his demo board and tells us why and how he started building pedals from scratch. Read on, play on, stomp on!

The bold English band return with their eighth record, Dreams on Toast. The brotherly guitar duo tell us about their pilgrimage back to Tonehenge.

Read MoreShow less

Very diverse slate of tones. Capable of great focus and power. Potentially killer studio tool.

Sculpting tones in a reliably reproducible way can be challenging. Midrange emphasis may be a deal breaker for some.

$199 street

4.5
4.5
3.5
4.5

Bold-voiced, super-tunable distortion that excels in contexts from filtered boost to total belligerence.

Read MoreShow less

The New ToneWoodAmp2 is smaller, lighter, rechargeable, and offers foureffects simultaneously, along with a mobile app and much more.

Read MoreShow less

Paul Reed Smith also continues to evolve as a guitarist, and delivered a compelling take on Jeff Beck’s interpretation of “Cause We’ve Ended As Lovers” at the PRS 40th Anniversary Celebration during this year’s NAMM.

After 40 years at the helm of PRS Guitars, our columnist reflects on the nature of evolution in artistry—of all kinds.

Read MoreShow less