“This is one is special to me,” admits Bones Owens. “It’s been my main touring guitar for the last few years because it’s a Swiss-Army knife.” Above you’ll see his 2002 Gibson ES-355. If you recognize it from a previous Rig Rundown, you’re not wrong because it belonged to Guster’s Luke Reynolds before Owens bought it off him. Reynolds upgraded the 355 with Lollar pickups—an Imperial humbucker in the bridge, and a Charlie Christian in the neck—replaced the nut, added a Tune-o-matic bridge, a Bigsby, and swapped in Grover Vintage Deluxe tuners. Since purchasing it, Owens hasn’t done anything to the instrument and even hesitates to re-string it. Speaking of strings, Owens used to beat himself up with .012s but now loosens up with Ernie Ball Slinky .010s for most of his instruments.
A close-up of Owens' 2002 Gibson ES-355.
Owens’ favorite over quarantine has become this 2018 Gibson ES-355 “Black Beauty” that he picked up at Nashville guitar store Rumble Seat Music. It was aged by Rock N Roll Relics and was enhanced with Monty’s PAF pickups.
A close-up of Owen's 2018 Gibson ES-355 “Black Beauty”.
Here is Bones’ cherry 2015 Gibson Custom Collector’s Choice 1959 Les Paul Standard R9. While he mostly sticks to the bridge pickup, Owens says this ’burst begs to be in the neck position thanks to its warm alnico-III Custom Buckers.
A close-up of Bones' 2015 Gibson Custom Collector’s Choice 1959 Les Paul Standard R9.
For the oddball lovers, Owens busted out his 1972 Gibson Les Paul Recording singlecut. Before he bought the weirdo from J Gravity Strings in St. Louis, someone gave it the Ace Frehley treatment and dropped in three DiMarzio Super Distortions and stripped out all the crazy original wiring.
A close-up of his 1972 Gibson Les Paul Recording singlecut.
Meet “Ashtray,” Owens’ beloved 2000s Gibson Firebird non-reverse reissue (similar to the original run from mid-’65 through 1969) that is loaded with three mini-humbuckers. The nickname stems from the cigarette stench caked into the guitar when he bought it off a fine southern gentleman at an Alabama truck stop.
A close-up of Bones' 2000s Gibson Firebird non-reverse reissue.
The only non-Gibson in Owens’ Rundown is actually a licensed Gibson copy. Banker Custom Guitars is one of select few luthier shops that have been handpicked and authorized by Gibson to faithfully recreate their iconic instruments. Above is Banker’s ’58 V that has a period-correct two-piece korina body and neck, Indian rosewood fretboard, vintage-specific brass string plate, brad nails, and ferrules, and it came loaded with a set of OX4 Hot Duane PAFs.
A close-up of his Banker ’58 V.
For most of today’s Rundown, we were hearing this Echopark Vibramatic 4T5A. Owens mentions it is loosely based on a brown-panel Fender, but it does have a voice switch that kicks it into an earlier JTM45-style tone. This is supposedly one of 10 4T5A heads ever built.
The Vibramatic head runs into a matching Echopark cab that has three ceramic Warehouse Speakers—two 10" up top and a 12" on the bottom.
For a “bass” tone during his gritty blues-rock duo gigs, Owens will run this ’90s (Audio Brothers) Hiwatt Custom 100 DR103 alongside the Vibramatic. The DR103 rocks through an early ’70s Marshall 2034 cabinet. In a previous life, the 2034 was an 8x10 but now it’s home to two 15s.
Just a fraction of Bones' immense amp collection.
Owens’ signal out of the guitar hits his first board that’s dedicated to his “bass” sound that colors the DR103. The Spaceman Effects Saturn V Harmonic Booster is an always-on, no-matter-what pedal. Then it hits the Pete Cornish A/B/C amp splitter box. Out of that it runs into the Electro-Harmonix Micro POG (just for octave down) and then goes through a “tall font” EHX Big Muff that was rehoused by Mike Hill. From there, he has the Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver/DI. If things are cooking onstage, Owens will leave the Saturn V, Micro POG, Big Muff, and SansAmp all on, all the time.
The B signal path is much shorter—it incorporates the Echopark Echodriver that awakens the Echopark Vibramatic 4T5A.
(Typically, the C patch would hit a third amp and handle the bulk of effects, but for at-home-recording purposes, Owens routed all the stomps through the Echopark head.) Before jumping over to the second board on the left, the C path routes through the Cornish TB-83 Extra Treble Booster. Then we have plethora of Pete Cornish pedals—NG-3 (“imminent amp death” fuzz), a SS-3 (overdrive/distortion) & P-2 (distortion) housed together, CC-1 (boost/overdrive) that uses two fixed, low-gain, soft-clipping stages, and a NB-3 (linear boost). The other noisemakers and rebel rousers at Owens’ feet include a silver Klon Centaur, Endangered Audio Research AD4096 Analog Delay, a Skreddy Pedals Skreddy Echo, a JHS-modded Boss TR-2 Tremolo (rehoused by PG columnist Barry O’Neal over at XTS—XACT Tone Solutions), and in the top left is a Toneczar Effects Halophaze.
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Premier Guitar had a challenge for Alderete and Hischke: Can you come up a more interesting, useful, and versatile set of 10 bass stompboxes than your fellow four-stringer? Both guys were up to the challenge, but first we set two ground rules: Once a pedal was picked, it was off-limits—no repeats between boards. Also, you must actually own each pedal you choose.
The following 20 pedals run the gamut from boring but essential to outlandishly geeky and specific. Alderete and Hischke recorded a short audio example for each device to give a hint of what it does. Be sure to tell us in comments section which player you feel emerged victorious.
Round 1
DOD FX32 Meatbox
Jonathan Hischke: I have to kick things off with the DOD FX32 Meatbox. I’ve had one since 1999, when I heard that it was obnoxious and awful. All the people who bought DOD pedals and played them through Gorilla amps in their bedroom didn’t understand what the Meatbox was about. They just thought it sounded like crap. I thought it probably had something interesting in it, and it turns out it’s this gigantic, enormous, earth-shattering, bowel-quaking harmonic synthesizer pedal. It’s very useful in a lot of contexts, especially ones that involve big PAs. It’s a really great dynamic tool because if you just want to make everything bigger than you can even imagine, you hit that one little pedal and it just brings the whole room down. I think I do damage to every piece of equipment when I use the Meatbox. [Laughs.]
DigiTech PDS 20/20
Juan Alderete: This next choice is purely strategic. In addition to the Meatbox, the DigiTech PDS 20/20 is the other pedal I have to credit Jonathan for turning me on to. Actually, in the Premier GuitarRig Rundown, I think that pedal got more comments than anything else. It’s a sampler that regenerates in the delay, so you can do some wild stuff. I used it a ton in Mars Volta, especially anyplace I get to sustain a note. I hit the multiplay, and it modulates it down or does weird skipping stuff. I also use it at the end of songs. There are a lot of Mars Volta bootlegs where between songs you hear this rotating [sings stuttering sound], and that’s it.Hischke: Damn. This is getting competitive.
Round 2
Sovtek Big Muff Fuzz
Alderete: I have to go with my Sovtek Big Muff fuzz. Tyler Bates, a really great film composer, gave it to me. I went to record with him and he said, “Use this.” I thought it was awesome, so he told me I should keep it. He loved it, but he could see how lit up I was about it. That was in the early ’90s, and I’ve used it a lot since then. It’s the best-sounding fuzz. We do all these fuzz pedal shootouts on my website, pedalsandeffects.com, and it’s still the number one fuzz pedal. I have several other Sovteks, but that is the one.
DOD FX10 Bi-FET Preamp
Hischke: I’m going with the DOD FX10 Bi-FET Preamp. I think it was made in the late ’80s or early ’90s. I don’t know its secret, but psychologically speaking, it does the thing that a lot of guitar players get out of a Klon preamp pedal. It’s a subtle boost with a tone knob. You can turn the tone down for a really deep but focused and dense tone. It cuts through, but under the mix. How would you describe it, Juan?Alderete: It was designed for acoustic guitars. It has such clarity, but it also has that sweet spot for the sound of fingers hitting the strings like on an acoustic guitar. That pick was very strategic.
Hischke: I also like it because it’s simple. It’s one of those pedals that you don’t have to think about. I have it on every board now in case I need it for a boost, or a lead where you put the treble up for more presence.
Alderete: And thank you for just driving the price up! [Laughs.]
Hischke: I know, I know. Maybe someone will make a clone. They’re really cheap now, so we better get on it. When is this going online? [Laughs.]
Round 3
Mantic Conceptual Vitriol
Hischke: This is a new discovery for me. It’s by a newer company out of Denver that’s doing some really interesting things. They told me the Mantic Conceptual Vitriol is a distortion based on an old DOD pedal, but souped up. It’s really beefy but clear, and very present and articulate. It can be as bassy as you want without getting muddy, with this layer of distortion that doesn’t get lost in the mix. I’ve used it a little bit live and for recording, and it sounds great in both circumstances, which isn’t always the case. It doesn’t have a blend because it doesn’t need it—the bass goes straight through it. I love it. I got it a few months ago, and it has already become an essential piece.
Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer
Alderete: My pick is the Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer—but it has to be an old one. I use them a ton. It’s on half of the Vato Negro Bumpers record. Anytime you hear those swooping synthesizer envelopes, it’s that. It has a huge sub octave. It’s a little noisy, but you can deal with it. The biggest sound I ever make with my bass is the combination of the Sovtek fuzz with the Micro Synth. When I use those two together, it’s just huge. Nothing else fits in the mix. [Laughs.] I take up the entire spectrum.Round 4
Boss CS-2
Alderete: I’m surprised it took me this long to get to it, but I’m picking the Boss CS-2 Compressor Sustainer.Hischke: Yeah, that’s your bread-and-butter pedal.
Alderete: I used it in Racer X, and it came from watching Billy Sheehan play. When you’re a kid and don’t really know how pedals work, you wonder why the harmonics just pop out of his bass. I could never get those harmonics to pop on my bass rig. Part of it is because his tone was so distorted. Somebody told me it was a compressor, so I tried a bunch of different ones, and I found the CS-2 just brought everything to life. I’d hit harmonics, and it would sound like Jaco. I didn’t want to distort my sound, but I wanted giant low end, so I always use it with my fretless. It really kicks every other effect up a notch. It’s like it grabs all the best frequencies and stuffs them into the next pedal. The Sovtek sounds better. The Micro Synth sounds better. Everything I use sounds better when this is on.
Tech 21 VT Bass
Hischke: My next pick is the Tech 21 VT Bass because I don’t want to carry around a gigantic 8x10 cabinet. I can have it on the board and dial in something I like so my clean DI sound is already warmed up by the time the sound guy gets it. If you don’t really like your rented or borrowed backline, this pedal can help quite a bit. I never feel good not having it around, like that blanket that the kid in Mr. Mom carries around. It’s my wooby.Round 5
EarthQuaker Devices Dispatch Master
Hischke: I’m in love with a few products from EarthQuaker Devices, but the Dispatch Master is the one I use the most. It sounds great in a lot of contexts. I don’t use a whole lot of delay or reverb. I mean, I use them, but I don’t build an entire sound around them. The Dispatch Master doesn’t crap out or sound digital. Plus, it’s small and relatively cheap.
Endangered Audio Research Analog Delay AD4096
Alderete: The Endangered Audio Research Analog Delay AD4096 is probably my favorite delay. It doesn’t have the modeling functionality of a lot of the newer delays, but it’s just the best analog delay. The expand button that brings out the feedback is just indispensible. Every time it’s at my feet, I’m inspired to do something with it. A lot of other delays suck up the low end somehow, but this one doesn’t. I just wish he had given it a name [laughs]. I don’t think some of these pedal builders realize how important a name is.Round 6
EarthQuaker Devices Hoof Reaper
Alderete: There are so many reasons why the EarthQuaker Devices Hoof Reaper is a great pedal. First, you have two fuzzes in one box, which is always awesome. It also has this magic octave button in the middle. I use that octave alone quite a bit too—it was smart of them to allow it to be used separately from the fuzzes. I like running both fuzzes at the same time and then hitting that octave. There’s nothing that sounds like it. It’s essential to today’s small-pedalboard world, since real estate is so priceless and it costs so much to ship gear.
TC Electronic PolyTune Mini
Hischke: Speaking of usefulness in a tiny package, my next pick is the TC Electronic PolyTune Mini. This is the most useful pedal of them all. You need a tuner, but why have a big one? This frees up more space for other pedals. Plus, it’s a great tuner with a nice, bright readout.Round 7
Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine
Hischke: The Electro-Harmonix Superego Synth Engine is relatively new. It’s a takeoff on the Freeze pedal, which was a very useful idea. The glissando and portamento functions are the most interesting to me. I used it a lot on the new Dot Hacker record. It’s another one I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of. I love it when a piece of equipment gives you the ability to do something that was previously impossible. I wish more people were doing that.
Red Panda Particle Granular Delay/Pitch Shifter Pedal
Alderete: Damn. That was a good one. My next pick is the Red Panda Particle. I wouldn’t have heard about it as soon as I did if it wasn’t for Josh [Klinghoffer], who plays with Jonathan in Dot Hacker. I always have a hard time explaining it because I don’t know if I’ve fully wrapped my head around how I’m going to use it. I just know that I always try to have it on my board. I like having the bass line going, and then hitting something that takes you out of that world and puts you into some weird computer-generated world. It’s noisy and wild. Basically, it grabs a particle of your sound and flips it inside the pedal. You can control it, but it can also do its random thing. If The Edge gets a hold of this and puts a riff to it, everyone in the world will own one.Hischke: I think the only way you can do some of what that pedal does is through a computer program. I think they call it granular sampling. They’ve probably had that for a long time in the computer world, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in a pedal.
Round 8
Boss VB-2 Vibrato
Alderete: I do like the Chase Bliss Audio Warped Vinyl, but the Boss VB-2 Vibrato is just home for me. Unfortunately, it’s pretty expensive. It’s just the best vibrato ever made. I guess you can emulate that sound, but I don’t think that chip exists anymore. Maybe in the modeling world they will get close.
DigiTech TimeBender
Hischke: I think of digital delays as samplers with parameters you can mess with. That’s more interesting to me than an echo pedal. I use them for modern, glitched-out stuff. The DigiTech TimeBender came out maybe five years ago. There are some things that make it short of perfect. I’d like to talk to DigiTech to see if they can do another version of it. It does all of the things normal delays do, plus all this wild shit. It’s more of studio tool for me, but there are things I’ve done in Broken Bells and Dot Hacker that would be impossible without that pedal. Unfortunately, mine is broken right now, and I need to get another one.Round 9
DigiTech XP300 Space Station
Hischke: I’m going to pick the DigiTech XP300 Space Station for pure weirdness. There’s nothing normal about it. It does things that have yet to be replicated. I’ll hear things on records and immediately think “That has to be the Space Station.” It has 40 sounds in it, and 15 to 20 of them are solid gold. I’ll always have that around for weird stuff.
Dunlop 105Q Bass Wah
Alderete: I have to pick the Dunlop 105Q Bass Wah. It’s just the best filtering wah for bass. It’s all over the Vato Negro record and a lot of Mars Volta stuff.Round 10
Line 6 DL4
Alderete: I use the Line 6 DL4 so much. My favorite features are the reverse function and the ability to drop the sound an octave. When Mars Volta would end a song, I’d kick on the octave drop just to make the speakers rattle. Hit something with the Meatbox, and then sample it and drop it an octave on the DL4—there’s nothing more low-end and subby.
Aguilar Octamizer
Hischke: I love the Aguilar Octamizer. I feel it’s more versatile than the Boss OC-2, since you have tone control over both the dry and effected signal, plus it tracks really well. I know a lot of people are attracted to the glitchyness and the warmth of the Boss, and that’s cool. But this one is so clear, dense, and perfect. It almost sounds like a different instrument.
Last year I spotted an Endangered Audio AD4096 at Asheville, North Carolina’s wonderful Sherwood’s Music. I had no idea how it sounded and didn’t exactly have $375 burning a hole in my pocket, but having a soft spot for aesthetics, I pulled it from the display case and plugged it into a Traynor. Less than 10 minutes later I was at the counter with my credit card. So by the time Premier Guitar assigned this review, I had a jump on things.
Unconventionally Simple
Like pedals by Moog and Blackout Effectors, the AD4096 is made in Asheville. (What is it in the water there?) It’s designed by the folks who built the Gristleizer, a device inspired by the work of industrial experimentalists Throbbing Gristle. These are audio heads with a taste for the unconventional.
There’s much vintage Maestro in AD4096’s design. The cool red knobs on the front panel are the main controls. Time adjusts the repeat rate between 40 and 400ms. Oddly, turning the knob from left to right decreases delay time, which may take some getting used to. Depth takes the number of repeats from one to self-oscillation. Delay is a mix knob. (It would have made more sense to call it just that.) Echo is a wonderful feature that adds a doubling wash to the main delayed signal. There are also bypass and expand footswitches. The latter is a momentary switch that throws the delay into self-oscillation when held. Apart from the Sib! Mr. Echo and Boss’ RE20, few delays include this useful feature.
Ratings
Pros:
A simple, great-sounding delay with unique and musical features.
Cons:
Labeling could be clearer.
Tones:
Playability/Ease of Use:
Build/Design:
Value:
Street:
$379
Endangered Audio Research AD4096 Analog Delay
endangeredaudioresearch.com
The small footprint means there’s no room for a battery, but since delays suck nine volts down like a sailor on leave swilling beer, it’s a minor concern. A mini-toggle above the knobs switches between normal and infinity modes—perhaps the secret sauce of this delay.
The rear panel hosts in and out jacks, plus a mini-toggle that controls the adjoining aux out jack. In dry mode no delayed signal passes through the aux send. Switched to wet, it passes delayed signal only, even when the effect is bypassed, creating possibilities for routing, spillover, and multi-amp setups. It’s a smart design, with the most frequently used features dominating the faceplate while the extras are small or tucked away.
Analog Ace At its heart this is a solid and beautiful analog delay. It’s not as dark as an Ibanez AD-9, as wild as an EHX Memory Man, or as perfectly simple as Boss’s DM series delays, but it works from the same sonic base: colorful, dark, and deep repeats. Typically for an old- school bucket brigade delay, decaying echoes lose fidelity (or take on color, depending on your perspective). There’s also a little noise, but nothing approaching what you’d hear from a vintage Memory Man.
The infinity switch works a little like sound-on-sound mode on an Echoplex, but the effect sits subtly in the background. The resulting cathedral-like echoes add a complimentary aura that never overshadows the primary repeats. This will be of particular interest to the space rock set, though you could use it for extra texture in more conventional applications.
The Verdict Endangered Audio’s AD 4096 embodies everything players love about analog delays, while adding standout features, such as the expand and infinity settings. Vintage Memory Man and AD-9 units fetch as much as the AD4096, but the Endangered Audio pedal is at least as well built and delivers equally pleasing tones. While you can find analog delays capable of some of these dark tones at half the price, the AD4096’s extra features are musical and useful, and it’s beautifully hand-built from top-shelf components.
