Benny Mitchell: Less is More

“Many time, less is more,” writes Benny Mitchell from Denver. “My chain starts with a Korg tuner, which goes into a Cry Baby wah for a variety of effects, into an Ibanez Tube Screamer. This works awesome with the drive channel of my amp into a Boss Super Chorus, into an MXR Carbon Copy for one set of delays, into a Boss Digital Delay for another set of delays. The Boss delay at the end of the chain allows me to set up mono with one amp or stereo with two amps.” It’s all fixed on a Pedaltrain mini and powered by a Truetone 1SPOT with George L’s patch cables used to connect each stompbox.

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!