Michael Wickett: Octa-Switching
“The Carl Martin Octa-Switch forms the center of my setup,” says Michael Wickett. “I play a Fender Strat straight to the house through the Radial JDX Direct-Drive, with all drive and distortion coming from the pedals. The eight presets of the Octa-Switch let me go from regular rhythm (loops 3, 5, and 7) to distorted rhythm (loops 4 and 5) to lead (loops 2, 7, and 8).”
The stomps on this homemade board are powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power Digital and a Pedal Power 2+ (under the Digital). The custom case was made by Stompin-Ground.
The signal path is as follows:
- TC Electronic PolyTune (with buffer)
- TC Electronic Viscous Vibe
- Carl Martin Octa-Switch (with buffer off), switching eight loops:
- Loop 1: TC Electronic Hypergravity Compressor and Electro-Harmonix POG2 for organ and synth sounds
- Loop 2: Barber Burn Unit EQ overdrive/distortion for lead sounds
- Loop 3: Barber Half-Gainer low-gain overdrive for fundamental sounds
- Loop 4: Barber Direct Drive distortion for heavier rhythm
- Loop 5: Ernie Ball VP JR 25K for allowing volume changes without affecting drive
- Loop 6: TC Electronic Nova Modulator and TC Electronic Nova Delay
- Loop 7: Way Huge Aqua-Puss Analog Delay
- Loop 8: TC Electronic Hall of Fame Reverb
- All to the Radial JDX Direct-Drive set to Combo
It’s that time of year, when Premier Guitar readers from such disparate places as Florianópolis, Brazil, to Katy, Texas, share with us their prized collection of sonic goodies. All kinds of players write in: Sunflower Bean’s frontman/guitarist Nick Kivlen goes down memory lane, describing how he acquired, through many years and sources, all the pedals he loves. Simon Gotthelf, who has his own YouTube channel dedicated solely to the world of guitar and demoing gear, shows us his fave pedal configuration. A few session guitarists give advice on grab-and-go stomp setups. And then there are dozens of players who call themselves “bedroom” guitarists, many of whom know more about how to wire up a board than some stars featured on Rig Rundowns. Now, let’s dig in!
