Electric blues guitarist Cedric Burnside joins PGstaff and reader Dominic von Riedemann in cheering on their favorite pedals—or lack thereof!
Question: What effects pedal can you not live without?
Guest Picker - Cedric Burnside
Mr. Burnside's no-frills pedalboard.
A: I only have two pedals—one is a tuner and one is an AB box. I just like the AB box because I can play both amps at the same time—the lead amp and the bass amp. But I can live without any pedal and just play my guitar.
Current Obsession:Juke joints. I’ve just noticed the lack of them here in the hill country. It used to be a staple of this area, and I’ve been working to see when and where I could possibly open my own to bring that culture of music back to the area. Hopefully I’ll have my own here sooner than later.
Reader of the Month - Dominic von Riedemann
Mr. von Riedemann's pup, standing in for Mr. von Riedemann.
A: My Way Huge Green Rhino MkII has been a staple on my board since I bought it in 2012. The adjustable midrange and bass controls give it a lot more versatility than your typical TS type, and it loves pretty much every guitar and amp I’ve tried it with.
Current Obsession: I’m hard at work recording with my band the Boardwalk Cowboys, plus I’m listening to new music from Jason Isbell, symphonic metalsmiths Therion, and dance-punk outfit Model/Actriz.
Publisher - Jon Levy
Jon’s pedalboard
A: My gigging pedalboard is constantly morphing, but it centers around this essential item: a low-gain, always-on overdrive. The Timmy pedal has been my mainstay for about 10 years, but recently I’ve been test-driving (awful pun intentional) two impressive new contenders: the Keeley Blues Disorder and Messiah Guitars Billy overdrives.
Current Obsession: Playing guitar with dynamics. And being a better listener. Like many guitarists, I find this very challenging. I’m prone to using my guitar as a firehose: Once I get going, you’d better run for the emergency exits because I will not curb this awesome power! I gotta learn to shut up, or at least improve my right-hand technique to allow the song to breathe a bit.
Gear Editor - Charles Saufley
Mr. Saufley, represented by a mallard.
A: When push comes to shove, I guess I would say a Deluxe Memory Man. Delay is probably the effect I need above all others—especially if my amp has tremolo and reverb (and it had better). But the Deluxe Memory Man is more than a perfect analog echo. The level control can add grime to a too-polite signal, and a touch of the DMM’s vibrato is always woozily delish. Plus, a guitar, a Deluxe Memory Man, and a good-looking amplifier is about as stylish as a rig gets.
Current Obsession: Playing along with windchimes. There’s a beautiful, fascinating, and most instructive mix of structure and chaos in the springtime ring of windchimes.
Today's giveaway is coming to you from our friends at Daredevil Pedals. Enter here for your chance to WIN a Ltd. Edition Wolf Deluxe Fuzz!
Daredevil Pedals Ltd. Edition Wolf Deluxe Fuzz - Blue/White
This is a hand wired, limited edition Wolf Deluxe Fuzz by Daredevil Pedals. 1 of only 12 released in the White & Blue finish, all built in Chicago.
The Wolf Deluxe circuit is Johnny's modified take on the Silicon Fuzz Face, originally release way back in 2013. These have a more defined low end, more midrange honk, and an incredible amount of sustain and crunchy fuzz rasp.
The pedal features cascaded overdrive distortion and Shin-ei Uni-Vibe-inspired modulation, each in two distinct voicings and delivered in stereo.
The Uni-Vibe delivered swirling vibey waves of lush modulation recognizable on tracks by Jimi Hendrix, David Gilmour and Robin Trower. Overdrive is the classic distortion technique originally discovered by guitarists cranking their amps to the max and driving the vacuum tubes into heavy saturation. These two classic effects are offered with the Riptide pedal as “Vibe” and “Drive.”
Riptide features two distinct voicings each for both Vibe and Drive, delivered in glorious stereo. The two colors of balanced, touch-sensitive overdrive distortion are Green for a dynamic mid-range crunch and Red for a smooth and boosted overdrive sound. The Green for Vibe captures the richness and modulation of the original Uni-Vibe – enhanced by stereo output – while Red offers a deeper, phase-y effect. Players can effortlessly reorder the process from Drive into Vibe or Vibe into Drive, and any combination of parameters can be mapped to an expression pedal.
Three knobs for Drive, three for Vibe, and a pair of dual-action latching or momentary footswitches provide players effect control, with five onboard presets and more available using Eventide Device Manager (EDM) software. A triple Aux switch can be used for easy preset selection or a single Aux switch for Tap Tempo. Riptide’s Catch-up mode lets you dial in your sound when toggling between presets/parameters. The pedal offers multiple bypass options – Buffered, Relay, DSP+FX or Kill dry. It also provides MIDI support over USB.
The new Eventide Riptide pedal has an MSRP of $299 (USD). The first batch of Riptide is available direct from Eventide and from international distributors. The pedal will be widely available through US dealers beginning November 16, 2023.
For more information, please visit eventideaudio.com.