In just seven years since meeting based on a recommendation, Eric Burton and Adrian Quesada formed the Black Pumas, released two albums, and have already been nominated for seven Grammys. However, this fruitful friendship was almost never developed.
Quesada was enrolled at the University of Texas but flunking out due to his dedication to guitar over textbooks. His parents gave him a proposition: Either stay home in Laredo, or return to Austin without a guitar in hand to focus on studying. He went with option B and headed back for school in Austin—or so his parents thought. Quesada took his remaining book money (about $200) and headed to Ray Hennig’s Heart of Texas, where he snagged a Squier Telecaster Thinline. His parents eventually figured out the switcheroo, but Quesada was determined and hasn’t looked back. (Side note: The family obviously sees and supports his musical talents, and attended Black Pumas’ Ryman show the night before the filming of this Rig Rundown.)
That matador move pulled off by Quesada allowed him to become a longtime fixture in the Austin music scene with bands Brownout, Ocote Soul Sound, Spanish Gold, Echocentrics, and Grupo Fantasma (with whom he played for over 15 years, earning a 2011 Grammy for Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album). He started to explore new ideas that didn’t fit the mold for Grupo, and needed someone to narrate his musical vistas. A friend recommended he link up with Austin newcomer Eric Burton, who traded his busking spot on the Santa Monica pier for the bright lights of Sixth Street. The duo met up, and as the results prove, the rest is history.
Before the Black Pumas’ second headlining show at the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville, bandleader Adrian Quesada, bassist Brendan Bond, and band tech Bryan Wilkinson invited PG’s Chris Kies into the hallowed grounds for a chill conversation about their tonal tools. During our time with the Black Pumas, we learned about Quesada’s love for tremolo (he even included it as a secret weapon in a semi-hollow Jazzmaster), Bond’s fateful trip to the Wilco Loft in Chicago, and why a ’59 ES-125 is Wilkinson’s perfect pairing with Burton’s expressive and emotive voice.Brought to you by D'Addario:
https://ddar.io/wykyk-rr
https://www.daddario.com/XPNDRR
The Custom Shop Cracks the Code
Black Pumas’ 2019 self-titled debut was like a drug—it soothed, it hypnotized, it recalled the past, it burned slow, and it was an addictive listen. It helped the band tally four Grammy nominations. But in addition to all that attention, it caught the collective ear of the Fender Custom Shop squad, who wore it out for months—so much so, that the team built the above Telecaster. Their aim was to create a guitar that nailed Quesada’s tones on the album, and they surprised the Texan with it. He’s been in love ever since, and mentioned that he’s collaborated on two other Teles—having some input on specs and design—but neither sound as stellar as this one. This one-off Tele is a pairing of a ’60s-style T (sunburst finish with a maple fretboard, standard-sized headstock, small pickguard, and barrel knobs), and a ’72 Telecaster Custom (single-coil-and-humbucker pickup configuration). Since acquiring it, this Tele has been Quesada’s main guitar onstage. He puts D’Addario EXL125 XLs (.009 –.046) on all his guitars, and uses Dunlop Tortex picks with custom printed Black Pumas graphics.
Lucky Loaner
The guitar that Quesada used the most prior to Black Pumas was a Gibson ES-446 that marries a 335 with a Les Paul. He loved its woody core tone and its humbuckers’ ability to lasso fuzz in a musical way. He’s retired the steed to the sanctuary of the studio, but stills requires sinewy sounds, so he checked in with Gibson to borrow a 335. They didn’t have one available but gave him this 345, which has proven a dependable sidekick punching in for time onstage and in the studio. Quesada mentions that the Varitone switch is useful for the studio, but he leaves it in position one (bypass) for Black Pumas’ sets.
A Puma and Jaguar Walk Into the Ryman...
And they sell it out two nights in a row! This fresh feline is the result of another partnership between Quesada and the Fender Custom Shop. He wanted another thinline instrument, but already designed a Tele, so he gravitated to the popular offset body style. The alder body with a natural finish is a nod to his first Squier Tele. The pickups are a custom gold-foil (adorned with a coy puma hood) in the bridge and a covered ShawBucker. It features a Fender American Vintage Jazzmaster bridge and tremolo. A striking bound rosewood fretboard with block inlays sits atop a maple neck that is capped with a blacked-out headstock. The 4-bolt neck plate honors Quesada’s Electric Deluxe with the recording space’s logo.
The real magic in this cunning cat is where the Jazzmaster’s rhythm circuit is supposed to reside. In its place is a tremolo circuit because Quesada cooks his tone in that effect like it’s salt and pepper. In 2022, he confessed to PG, “I love everything with tremolo. I put tremolo on everything,” so we should’ve seen this coming. The rocker switch toggles the tremolo on and off, and the two rollers control speed and depth.You're My Boy, Blue!
Adrian adores Fender amps. His Austin-based recording studio is loaded with noteworthy models from the company’s golden years, yet he proudly tours with a Fender Limited Edition Electric Blue ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb reissue. (It’s worth stating that a proper ’72 silver-panel Deluxe Reverb was in a road case.) The bright tolex covers an otherwise standard circuit, however the stock combo did have a Celestion Creamback in it. But when Quesada’s tech Bryan Wilkinson found and landed the score for his boss off Craigslist, it had been modded with an Electro Voice SRO Alnico 12" speaker. Adrian loved how it sounded, so it stayed in, and he’s been using the combo on tour ever since.
Adrian Quesada's Pedalboard
We’ve established that Quesada lays on some tremolo any time his guitar is plugged in, but another stompbox spice he rarely avoids is reverb. He does acknowledge that amp reverb, especially from Fender combos, is tasty, but having it in a pedal format allows fine-tuning from gig to gig and room to room. Doing the heavy lifting for both effects is the Strymon Flint. (Adrian mentions that he turned Alejandro and Estevan of Hermanos Gutiérrez onto this staple, found on both of their boards.)
The other stomp stalwart has been the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail that provides a healthy dose of spring reverb. Both ’verbs are engaged for drippy songs like “Fire.” He has a pair of delays: a Line 6 Echo Park used for its tap tempo function, and a Catalinbread Echorec for longer, dreamier repeats. The Boss GE-7 Equalizer works to match the different outputs between his three main instruments. A Catalinbread Belle Epoch preamp/buffer pedal replaced an Xotic EP Booster because it has a second knob for preamp for more detailed contouring.
Any growl or sizzle Quesada needs for his Tele and Jazzmaster, the EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz handles it. The Fulltone Clyde Wah Deluxe has stepped in for a different filter sweeper because Adrian digs its full-sounding throw that stays warm from heel to toe. A Jam Pedals Ripple two-stage phaser gets used on a track from Chronicles of a Diamond, and a TC Electronic PolyTune2 Noir keeps his guitars in check.
His second board (bottom) bypasses the amp and was specifically built to play roughly with Quesada’s 345, recreating a guitar-into-console overdrive sound that gets pumped into the onstage monitors and PA. To capture that crackly goodness, he runs the 345 into a combination of pedals including a JHS 3 Series Delay, a JHS Crayon, and an Electro-Harmonix Nano POG. Utility boxes on here—Strymon Ojai, JHS Mini A/B, and TC Electronic PolyTune—handle switching, tuning, and power.
P for B
Black Pumas bassist Brendan Bond had the good fortune to hang out at the Wilco Loft in the Irving Park neighborhood of Chicago. He quickly bonded with an old P bass that preoccupied most of his time in the space. Up to that point, his fingers have mostly danced around newer basses, so the allure of vintage gear never tempted him. That all instantly changed (“It was like I was playing a different instrument,” he commented), and when he landed back in Austin, Texas, he took a car right to Austin Vintage Guitars, where he landed this 1974 Fender Precision bass. It’s been his main sweetheart ever since. He puts D’Addario ECB81 Chromes Flatwounds (.045 –.100) on it, and always plays with his fingers in Black Pumas.
Tube Time
Bond has toured with lightweight, class-D bass amps, but now given the opportunity that his own back doesn’t have to lug the gear, he’s bringing out the big guns in the shape of an all-tube, 6550-powered Fender Super Bassman that hits a matching Bassman 410 Neo cab.
Brendan Bond's Pedalboard
Three pedals get the job done for Bond: an Acme Audio Motown D.I. WB-3 Passive D.I., a JHS Colour Box, and a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner.
A '59, But Not That '59
Black Pumas’ singer/guitarist Eric Burton started his career busking in Santa Monica. He’s always accompanied himself with an acoustic guitar, but as the Black Pumas formed and took off, he needed something louder, which pushed him into the hollowbody and semi-hollowbody realm. His main collaborator has been this 1959 ES-125 that is all original and still has its purring P-90. He uses it for the Pumas’ songs “Colors,” “Stay Gold,” “Fast Car,” and “Tomorrow.” Burton’s guitars take D’Addario NYXL1149 Nickel Wounds (.011 –.049).
Stealth Cat
For songs needing more gas and go, Burton will dance with this stock ES-335.
Regal Prince
This prototype was born from conversations with the Fender Custom Shop, who took inspiration from Eric’s connection with hollow and semi-hollow instruments. The Telecaster Thinline has a few special appointments, including a sparkle-purple finish offset with gold hardware and an anodized gold pickguard, conjuring thoughts of the president of Paisley Park. The other interesting bit is the hot P-90 in the neck position.
Mighty Mate
Burton plugs all his guitars into an off-the-shelf Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb.
Eric Burton's Pedalboard
Burton is the band’s lone wireless member. To accommodate his onstage prowling, tech Bryan Wilkinson uses a Radial JDI passive direct box that takes in the XLR from the audio subsnake wireless rackmount and routes it into the first pedal Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner. From there, Burton only has a couple pedals—a DigiTech Mosaic to mimic a 12-string for “OCT 33” and a JHS Colour Box for any required heat. A Strymon Ojai turns everything on.
Shop Black Pumas' Rig
Gibson ES-345
Fender ’68 Custom Deluxe Reverb
Strymon Flint
EHX Holy Grail
Catalinbread Echorec
Boss GE-7 Equalizer
Catalinbread Belle Epoch
EarthQuaker Devices Park Fuzz
Fulltone Clyde Deluxe Wah Pedal
JHS 3 Series Delay
JHS Crayon
Electro-Harmonix Nano POG
Strymon Ojai
JHS Mini A/B
TC Electronic PolyTune
TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Noir Mini Polyphonic Tuning Pedal
D’Addario EXL125 XLs (.009 –.046)
D’Addario ECB81 Chromes Flatwounds (.045 –.100)
Fender Super Bassman
Bassman 410 Neo Cab
Acme Audio Motown DI WB-3 Passive DI Box
JHS Colour Box
Boss TU-3
D’Addario NYXL1149 NYXLs (.011 –.049)
Gibson ES-335
Fender Telecaster Thinline
Fender ’65 Princeton Reverb
Radial JDI Passive Direct Box
DigiTech Mosaic
![Sammy Boller Rig Rundown [2024]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/image.jpg?id=51781017&width=600&height=400&quality=85&coordinates=200%2C0%2C0%2C0)
![Rig Rundown: mssv's Mike Watt & Mike Baggetta [2024]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-mssv-2024.jpg?id=50992017&width=600&height=400&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C200%2C0)
“I always apologize to the two Erics [Clapton and Johnson], ‘You have no idea how much I’ve ripped from you,’” joked Joe Bonamassa during a recent video with YouTuber Rick Beato. The Grammy-winning bluesman followed that up with a gracious response: “We all get it from somewhere.”
That “somewhere” is a muse that molds every guitarist’s individualistic style and voice. For example, Eddie Van Halen shook the world and confounded guitarists with his explosive two-hand, finger-tapped “Eruption” performance on Van Halen’s 1978 debut. Yngwie Malmsteen put listeners in awe with his dazzlingly clean and swift sweep arpeggios. They both became synonymous with those talented techniques, and were heralded as pioneering groundbreakers. But where did they get the ideas from before expressing and executing them it in their signature style? Both took a page out Steve Hackett’s prog-rock playbook.
Hackett’s two-hand tapping technique can be heard in the early ’70s on Genesis’ albums Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. Hackett’s sweep picking was first heard on the 1973 Selling England by the Pound track “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight.” Those contributions alone should’ve been enough to land Hackett in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. (His combined work on six Genesis albums in six years earned him a slot in 2010.) On top of that smashing success and influence, he’s recorded nearly 30 solo albums—ranging from prog-rock and blues to world and classical—over a dozen live albums, and even traded licks with Steve Howe in the short-lived supergroup GTR. Hackett might not be recalled like the other guitar greats, but without his shoulders to stand on, those first-name giants might not have shone as bright.
Hackett’s headlining Ryman Auditorium tour stop in late October 2023 celebrated the 50th anniversary of Genesis’ Foxtrot—a seminal, prog-rock tour de force that was recorded when singer Peter Gabriel, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford, drummer Phil Collins, keyboardist Tony Banks, and Hackett were in their early 20s. Before the show, PG’s Chris Kies was invited onstage to go over the minimal-but-mighty setup used by Hackett. First tech Vince O’Malley detailed a Fernandes goldtop (once owned by Gary Moore) with its limitless Sustainer circuit and a treasured nylon-string Alvarez built by master luthier Kazuo Yairi in the 1970s. Then Hackett himself joined the fun and plugged his Fernandes into his pedalboard to show off all the sounds, tones, and colors he requires to honor his days in Genesis.Brought to you by D'Addario.
Gary's Goldtop
Goldtops and Steve Hackett have been longtime partners. The most-famous pairing would be Steve and his 1957 Gibson Les Paul that was featured all over Genesis’ recordings during the 1970s. Then in 1981, he befriended another Gibson Les Paul (this one, a 1974) that was diced up for optimal experimentation by adding a Floyd Rose and a Roland Hex pickup to control the the GR-700 Programmable Analog Guitar Synthesizer. As he sought out new tones and capabilities, he encountered a duo of Fernandes instruments—a pink Strat with a Sustainer circuit and a black Burny Les Paul that already had a Floyd and Sustainer.
His main ride is this 1990s Fernandes goldtop decked out with his desired specs—including a Floyd Rose and the Sustainer circuit in the neck—from the culmination of his years of workshopping ideas. It’s affectionately called “Gary,” after guitar hero Gary Moore. Hackett acquired it via Graham Lilley, a shared guitar tech between Moore and himself, and the Moore family estate who helped broker the deal. He has another Fernades goldtop as a backup, but if all goes well, this doesn’t leave Hackett’s hands all night.
Nimble Nylon
For the calmer moments of the Foxtrot replay, Hackett relies on this 1987 Alvarez CY127 CE built by master luthier Kazuo Yairi. It’s constructed with a solid cedar top, fancy rosette, rosewood back and sides, 12-fret mahogany neck with ebony fretboard, 19 frets, rosewood bridge, individual saddles, and factory-installed Alvarez natural response pickup system with pop-up volume, bass, and treble controls. The slotted headstock features rosewood overlay, and gold 3-on-a-plate tuners with pearloid buttons.
Powder Strings
Hackett has always preferred light strings. He suffered a devastating cut to his left forearm that reduced his strength, so lighter strings play a pivotal role in his longevity and ability to play the difficult parts required for Genesis’ music and beyond. He currently uses Ernie Ball Extra Slinkys (.008 –.038) for electric and D’Addario EJ43 Pro-Arté Nylon Light Tension classical strings for the Alvarez. The secret ingredient to Hackett’s speed is the Johnson & Johnson baby powder that tech Vince O’Malley rubs on the guitar necks to reduce any friction Steve may encounter while onstage.
Jackpot!
Much of Hackett’s career has been linked to 50W Marshalls. His longest fling with the British brutes was a 1987 head that ran off a pair of EL34s, but a few years ago Hackett reevaluated his live tone and engaged in an amp shootout. The winner was an Engl Powerball I, a 100W bludgeoner with 6L6s. Tech Vince O’Malley says they only run the amp in the clean channel and preferred it to the rest for its high headroom and pedal-friendly base tone. It still runs into an old Marshall 1960A 300W cab that has a foursome of Celestion G12T-75W speakers.
Steve Hackett's Pedalboard
Hackett has never shied away from effects. It doesn’t matter if it’s analog or digital, true-bypass or not—if it helps capture an idea in his head or articulate an emotion via the fretboard, he’ll try it. To that end, he still employs adventurous pedals in a very pragmatic pedalboard. The main section consists of a couple Line 6 boxes: the DM4 and MM4. He has a pair of Boss PS-6 Harmonists, with one set to double his guitar line and the other for a subtle chorusing effect. Next to those is a MXR EVH Phase 90 that is dimed for a Leslie-ish swoosh. Hackett has been a longtime fan of the DigiTech Whammy, using it from the very first WH-1 model. He currently jacks up his tone with the WH-5. And in the top-right slot rests a TC Electronic Hall of Fame reverb. Down below includes a TC Electronic Flashback 2 X4 Delay, a duet of Tech 21 SansAmp GT2s (for different levels of fury), and an Electro-Harmonix Attack Decay for faux volume swells needed to give his sore Achilles tendon a break after decades of foot-pedal manipulation. Tucked underneath is an Analogman Beano Boost and a DigiTech Mosaic used to mimic 12-string parts on Foxtrot material. Everything is powered by two Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus units.
Moving on to the right-side addendum, we have a Dunlop 105Q Cry Baby Bass Wah (Hackett prefers its low-end oomph), an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer, and a Cornish Iron Boost treble booster.
To the left, he employs a Fishman Aura Spectrum DI and a Radial ProDI Passive Direct Box for the Alvarez, and a custom switcher box to toggle between electric and acoustic instruments.
Steve Hackett's Rig
Ernie Ball Extra Slinkys
D’Addario Pro-Arte’ Nylon Light Tension EJ43
Engl Powerball
Marshall 1960A 4x12 Cabinet
Celestion G12T-75W Speakers
Tech 21 SansAmp GT2
Boss PS-6 Harmonist
EHX Attack Decay
Fishman Aura
DigiTech Mosaic
Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
DigiTech Whammy WH-5
TC Electronic Flashback 2 X4 Delay
MXR EVH Phase 90
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus
Dunlop 105Q Cry Baby Bass Wah
Radial ProDI Passive Direct Box
“Gear is meant to be destroyed in the line of duty,” laughs Ruban Nielson. “I realize I prefer to see my equipment all dinged up rather than sitting perfect in my basement—that’s a dorky thing to do.”
That doesn’t mean Nielson doesn’t care about his sound. He noted in a 2015 interview with PG that he spends countless hours in his basement tinkering on breadboard circuits and swapping out components, trying to maximize a pedal for his needs. “I like the idea that instead of buying your sound, you’re building your sound,” he said.
Over the course of 14 years, five albums, and thousands of touring miles, Nielsen has been custom-fabricating his guitar voice. But as we all know, the quest is never-ending, like trying to catch the horizon. After all, isn’t it the journey, not the destination, that matters?
“I used to be too much of a savage to care about a clean boost or headroom,” says Nielson. “‘Just give me a distortion pedal already!’ But now I’m exploring the intricacies, subtleties, and nuances of guitar.”
Ahead of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s headlining performance at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, Ruban Nielson welcomed PG’s Chris Kies onstage to explore his current sonic lab. Nielson covers his two space-age guitars (and what inspired them), explains how he convinced Benson to put a Monarch inside a vintage solid-state Yamaha, and details the pedals—including a few of his own designs—that extract a kaleidoscope of moods.Brought to you by D'Addario.
Challenge Accepted: The B3-R
Since forming Unknown Mortal Orchestra in 2009, the instrument that Ruban Nielson has been linked to and inspired by is the Fender Jag-Stang. This short-scale offset was codesigned by Kurt Cobain in the early ’90s by simply taking photos of Fender’s Mustang and Jaguar, splitting them in half and pasting them together. The Jag-Stang was treated to separate production runs in the late ’90s and early 2000s before a wider release in 2021. Nielson’s friend gifted him a cherry-red model, shaping Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s first decade of music.
In 2015, Nielson told PG about its impact on his playing style and creative outlook: “When I started on the UMO stuff I pulled it out. It would never stay in tune and sounded really strange, but when I plugged it into a Blues Junior, I started to come up with completely different ideas. I tuned it a half-step down and started playing with my fingers. It was just a whole new style that emerged in the space of about two weeks after messing with this guitar. It’s a kind of imperfect creature and that’s what I like about it.”
Fast forward to a few years ago when Ruban met luthier Mike Baranik. Baranik was a longtime fan of UMO and knew of Nielson’s allegiance to the Jag-Stang, so he approached Nielson with a proposition: “I can make a guitar that will do everything that the Jag-Stang does better and more.” Nielson was intrigued, so the build began. They conversed and collaborated over several phone calls and text chains that culminated in Nielson realizing Baranik was “some kind of genius through his simple innovations that suited the way I think about music and guitar.”
The flaws of the Jag-Stang that informed Nielson’s playing style became features on the above Baranik B3-R. The biggest thing that Ruban wanted translated from the Jag-Stang to the Baranik was the slinky neck pocket that allowed for him to push the neck for emotive bends à la Bill Frisell.
Nielson explains: “When I tuned the Jag-Stang a half-step down—which I just did because Jimi Hendrix did it, and I thought if I was going to start writing some new music that this was my chance to start messing with that—that loosened the strings up. The neck was a smaller scale so it gave me the ability to do completely different things. I was able to get around the neck a lot easier.”
To make that body-neck connection even more expressive and manipulatable, Baranik constructed the trademarked Baraneck floating neck that fastens two springs to the neck joint allowing Nielson to tighten or loosen the neck as wanted. Nielson also routed out wood behind the pickups on his Jag-Stang to reduce the weight and keep it light as possible—just five pounds, nine ounces. The B3-R has a basswood body, koa neck, and ebony fretboard.
Another thing Nielson requested was an approximation of the sound of pickups found in vintage Japanese lawsuit-era instruments, which were often unique, unpotted, and unpredictable. Baranik worked his magic and, via his own alchemy, produced these potted single-coils. Other tag-team easter eggs include a custom Hawaiian print pickguard, an upcycled circuit board control panel, and custom inlays—a row of shark teeth, filled with crushed bone dust—that are a tribute to the family symbol.
All of UMO’s material is based on half-step-down tuning both of his electrics take Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (.009-.042). Nielson goes with a Shure Axient wireless pack at both his Sitar and Baranik guitars and to keep things quiet and tidy, his tech Ben Gram inserted an Electro-Harmonix Hum Eliminator and a Radial Dragster Load Correction box.
Psy-tar
Two of the songs on UMO’s fall setlist required a sitar. Nielson previously toured and recorded with a Rogue Sitar, but found it to be a nuisance to maintain on the road. He searched for a sturdier stand in and found this electric sitar star: a Jerry Jones model whose voice wholly celebrates Nielson’s love for early psych-rock, and matches its chime with rugged dependability.
Nate the Great
Nielson has plugged into all sorts of amps since 2009 when playing under UMO. The longest sidekicks include Fender combos and Orange heads. (When Ruban spoke with PG in 2015, he had a Fender Hot Rod DeVille and an Orange AD 30 head.) He notes in the Rundown that a few years back, he was “getting frustrated with his amp setup and thought he should be like one of those real guitar guys and find a boutique amp company.” After auditioning some combos, he landed on a Benson. One half of Ruban’s stereo setup is the Benson Nathan Junior that maxes out at 5W, has a single JJ 6V6 power tube, and barks with a 10" Celestion Greenback.
Benson in Yamaha's Clothing
Nielson has his feet firmly planted in both amp camps. He appreciates the beef, brawn, and chime only produced by power tubes, but he’s also attracted to the old solid-state amps that offer quirky, charmingly weird tones. Chris Benson’s shop happened to be within walking distance of Nielson’s home, so after becoming acquainted and friendly, Nielson pitched a project for Benson: Could he turn a ’70s solid-state Yamaha TA-20 into a roadworthy tube amp? Benson initially balked at the idea, and Nielson thought his plan was foiled. Three years later, Benson reached out and asked if Nielson still had the Yamaha—he did—so Benson told him to bring it by the shop, and they’d retrofit a Benson circuit into the TA-20. “My weird dream to bring this on tour was finally happening!” says Nielson.
The TA-20 is packed with Benson’s Vinny Reverb guts that includes a JJ EL84 power tube, a 12AX7 preamp tube, a 12DW7, and a JJ 6V6 power tube as a voltage regulator that goes from .25W up to a snarky six watts. The overhauled TA-20 does still have the original polystyrene parallelogram speaker. Both amps are always on, and miked up with Shure SM7Bs.
Ruban Nielson's Pedalboard
Nielson is a tonal tactician. He’s never been satisfied with stock sounds and a pedal’s inherent limitations. “If I find a pedal I like, I use it for a long time and then I try to build a clone to see if I can improve on it,” he explains. “I sit around in my basement tweaking it plugged in—on the breadboard—and changing out different components and adjusting the trim until I get everything just exactly how I want it.” So, looking down at his stomp selection you’ll notice a few nondescript devices on the beautiful Twin Peaks Woodworks pedalboard custom-built by both Nielson’s tech Ben Gram and Caspian guitarist Jonny Ashburn.
His signal hits an Effectrode PC-2A Tube Compressor (you’ll notice two on the board—one is a backup). That’s a change from our 2015 interview, when he he was using an Analog Man Bi-CompROSSor and had it at the end of his chain. (“It’s nice to have a compressor at the end of everything—especially with a phaser pedal, which has frequency spikes,” he said at the time. “It’s nice to control them.”) He enjoys how the PC-2A up front fattens his entire sound, and how it smooths and shaves off the transient tinges. The Strymon Deco has a stereo out that hits a pair of Jam RetroVibes. Both are set to have slightly different speeds and depths so that they really take that stereo signal for a journey in real time, and Dave at FOH has them panned in the PA to really amplify this effect.
One of Nielson’s creations shows up inside the gray box titled “Octave Magic,” which is based on the Foxx Tone Machine. The suede purple devil next to it is the Jam Pedals Fuzz Phrase LTD, about which Nielson says, “It’s the wooliest, most-musical Fuzz Face I’ve ever played.” Sometimes the answer to Nielson’s problems is the Benson Germanium Boost. “If something’s wrong,” he explains, “I’ll kick on that pedal and it makes everything louder and resets the gain structure.” The Gamechanger Audio Plus pedal sees a lot of action throughout the set: it helps Nielson seam the tail end of a solo and discreetly rejoin the band in rhythm mode.
The remaining pedals include a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay (a gift from Mike Baranik), a Danelectro Back Talk reverse delay, an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail reverb, and in the top-left corner, an unnamed pedal that Nielson built that is currently not in the signal. (He can’t remember if it’s a Rat or Tube Screamer clone.) Utility boxes include a Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner, an Electro-Harmonix Switchblade Plus channel selector, and a Lehle Little Dual II switcher.
Shop Ruban Nielson's Rig
Benson Monarch
Shure SM7B
Strymon Deco
Benson Germanium Boost
Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Danelectro Back Talk Reverse Delay
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb
Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
Electro-Harmonix Switchblade Plus Channel Selector
Lehle Little Dual II ABY Switcher
Ernie Ball Super Slinky Strings