Buffalo Nichols believes in the power of acoustic country blues. He also believes it’s not a fossil, trapped in amber, but a living, breathing musical genre. Which is why he blends elements of the tradition—slide guitar, resonator, open tunings, themes of loss, redemption, and struggle—with loops, samples, drum machines, myriad effects, and modern-day narratives. His new album, The Fatalist, is the culmination of his art to date. Listening to its echoes of Skip James, John Hurt, Pink Floyd, and Dr. Dre is an even stranger experience when you know Nichols started his career in the thundering, downstroke-chiseled trenches of the Midwest metal scene.
When you watch this Rig Rundown, Nichols will explain, and play, it all—it's a fascinating story. And the gear! Get ready for a feast, full of the trad and the rad.
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Adirondack Rose
Those two woods dominate this Recording King RO-328, with its solid Adirondack spruce top, solid rosewood back and sides, rosewood fretboard, and herringbone purfling in classic rosette. In fact, this guitar would not look out of place in a photo from the early ’50s, and the brand itself has been available since the ’30s. Nichols keeps this 6-string tuned to open C# minor, a Skip James tuning, with a Seymour Duncan Mac Mic pickup. His preferred sting gauge is .016 to .056.
Sweet 'n' Elite
Nichols’ parlor guitar is a Recording King Tonewood Reserve Elite Single 0, with a spruce top, rosewood back and sides, a mahogany neck, and an ebony fretboard. Note the inlays and distinctive binding. It also has the Duncan pickup system. Nichols keeps this guitar tuned in standard with a medium string set (.013s).
Steel and Gold
This Gold Tone GRS Paul Beard metal-body Resonator puts a brushed aluminum cone and biscuits inside an all-steel body with a 19-fret maple neck. With a stock lipstick pickup, Nichols uses it as one of his essential electrics. He prefers it to the more traditional thick resonator body, for ease of performance and weight relief.
Get Behind the Mule
Nichols’ tunings include C#m, open F, and standard, tuned down a half-step. This guitar is a Mavis model, by Mule Resophonic Guitars—an open tuning classic. Dig that pickguard and the warm patina on the body. “It’s taken on a life of its own,” says Nichols. “Some people will show up at my gigs just to look at it.” The mini humbucker sounds sweet, with its basic volume control. The neck isn't too thick or too thin. "Kind of in the middle,” Nichols says. And it mostly gets played clean, or with a nice flavoring of delay.
Banjo
The banjo is one of the oldest African-American instruments, and this one is a Recording King, with a scooped fretboard and two pickups (a K&K and a Fishman) that he sometimes uses to split the signal. Without a resonating back, Nichols notes that it caters more to old-school music, with its bright, ringing tone.
Travelin' Amp
These days Nichols’ road amp of choice is a Fender Tone Master Super Reverb. He likes the compression he gets from its four 10" speakers, as well as its back-saving weight. He also points out that he uses so many effects that his guitars sound the same regardless of his amp choices.
The Board's Big Brain
Nichols jokingly describes his pedalboard as "very confusing,” but, running through his chain, he starts at a TC Electronic PolyTune to an Origin Effects Cali76 compressor—"and after that’s where it gets pretty weird.” But also onboard, for drive, are a Wampler Tumnus and Belle, and a Fuzzlord Octave Master (“for my Jimi Hendrix kind of tones”). To control various effects and chains, there’s a Boss GT-1000 Core. Those are involved in the guitar-to-amp signal, versus the acoustic.
But the “weird stuff,” as he puts it, starts with an Old Blood Noise Endeavors Signal Blender for switching between the acoustic, banjo, or amp. While the Fuzzlord can color everything, a cluster of his boxes are used to conjure pads and other ethereal sounds. These include the EHX Superego, a Fishman Aura, a Hologram Electronics Microcosm Granular Looper and Glitch Pedal (he calls it his red herring), an EHX Mel9 Tape Replay Machine, a TC Electronic Death Rax3, and a lot more. Listen while Nichols displays his entire array of delays in the Rundown. There’s an SPD-ONE Kick for stomping, and drum machines—an Akai Professional MPC Live II and an Elektron Analog Rytm MKII—too!
Shop Buffalo Nichols' Rig
Recording King RO-328
Recording King Tonewood Reserve Elite Single 0
Recording King RK-R20 Banjo
Fender Tone Master Super Reverb
TC Electronic PolyTune
Origin Effects Cali76 Compressor
Wampler Tumnus
Wampler Belle
Boss GT-1000 Core
EHX Superego
Fishman Aura
EHX Mel9 Tape Replay Machine
SPD-ONE Kick
Akai Professional MPC Live II
Elektron Analog Rytm MKII
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From precise tone shaping to boosting particular frequencies, or recapturing frequencies sucked dry by your go-to drive pedal, there are myriad reasons for housing an EQ on your ’board. We’ve rounded up 10 solid options for you to peruse and consider making your new favorite friend in your signal chain.
BOSS
EQ-200This pedal offers two 10-band EQ channels with a graphic display, multi-function switches, and onboard memories which allow a player to store multiple setups for instant recall.
$249 street
boss.info
MXR
M108SFeaturing 10 EQ sliders with carefully selected frequencies and a +/- 12 dB boost/cut range, this sound-optimizing pedal can also be used as a tweakable boost pedal, with its volume and gain sliders.
$129 street
jimdunlop.com
WHIRLWIND
Perfect 10Featuring a circuit design created by industry legend Tony Gambacurta, this 10-band constant-Q equalizer lets players target specific frequency ranges with surgical precision.
$238 street
whirlwindusa.com
BEHRINGER
EQ700This value-rich EQ provides sound shaping and feedback elimination through its seven bands of equalization, with a wide frequency range and a powerful 15 dB boost/cut per band.
$28 street
behringer.com
MESA BOOGIE
Boogie Five-Band Graphic EQLong a lauded component in Mesa’s amplifiers, this powerful tone-shaping 5-band EQ is now in a handcrafted pedal formant to help capture the company’s classic sound, and much more.
$279 street
mesaboogie.com
SOURCE AUDIO
EQ2 Programmable EqualizerThis combination graphic and parametric EQ features 10 fully adjustable frequency bands, stereo ins and outs, MIDI in and thru jacks, presets galore, and even an integrated tuner.
$269 street
sourceaudio.net
EMPRESS EFFECTS
ParaEQThree bands of parametric EQ, each with three selectable Q widths, provide for very flexible sound shaping. Designed to be ultra-transparent and noise-free, the pedal’s boost section offers 30 dB of clean boost.
$249 street
empresseffects.com
J. ROCKETT AUDIO DESIGNS
I.Q. CompressorThis EQ/compressor features a 6-band graphic, pre-compression EQ—each with 18 dB cut or boost—which allows you to choose which frequencies you want compressed harder based on their respective gain setting.
$229 street
rockettpedals.com
TECH 21
Q\StripDesigned to emulate the EQ sections of the iconic recording consoles from the ’60s and ’70s, this DI-format pedal features four bands of EQ, two parametric mid bands, and high and low shelving filters.
$249 street
tech21nyc.com
OLD BLOOD NOISE ENDEAVORS
3-Band EQ + BufferThis simple 3-band EQ also serves as an always-on buffer, while the switchable EQ is beneficial for tailoring specific parts, guitar switches, or using as an always-on EQ.
$109 street
oldbloodnoise.com
RatingsPros:Distinctive dual-tremolo sounds. Great for glitchy, quasi-random effects. Cons: Mono only. No expression control. Street: $199 Old Blood Noise Endeavors Whitecap Tremolo oldbloodnoise.com | Tones:  Ease of Use: Build/Design: Value: |