real mccoy custom

Rig Rundown: Elder

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Swooshing Pink Floyd vibes, kerranging Sleep chugs, and mutating mellow Motorpsycho tones symbiotically swirl in this guitar duo’s growing setups.

  

Facing a mandatory shelter-in ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the second video in that format, and we stand behind the final product.

Since its inception with their self-titled debut in 2008, the band never succumbed to a singular sound. Pushing forward is their only direction. While Elder’s early work (including their second album, Dead Roots Stirring, released in 2011) was akin to a relentless “Iron” Mike Tyson with overpowering attack and devastating delivery, they still allowed for dynamic shifts and sonic sabbaticals during calmer passages heard in “III” and the end of “Hexe.”

And if Dead Roots Stirring was Tyson KO’ing people in 30 seconds, 2015’s Lore saw Elder becoming a cerebral, manipulative, rope-a-dope Muhammad Ali from the Rumble in the Jungle. They graduated beyond worshipping the intimidating, hypnotic riff and explored the outer realms of stoner metal by including psychedelia from Colour Haze, jazzy progressions from Motorpsycho, and moodier, atmospheric Bo Hansson-y layers with mellotron, keyboards, and cleaner guitar tones.

Melody, space, and as an inverse result, power continued to blossom in 2017’s Reflections of a Floating World. In any given song or moment of an album, those rooted pillars complementarily pull the band in various directions, but cohesively, it still moves them forward. To foster that perpetual growth, you need to put yourself in unusual scenarios.

2019’s The Gold & Silver Sessions did just that by removing lyrics and putting the quartet in an experimental scenario focused heavily on organic jamming. Possibly indirectly, the exercise unlocked avenues echoed and embellished (with precise polish) that are felt throughout the just-released Omens. Allowing other instruments to lead and flourish (keyboards in “Embers” and synths in “Halcyon”) help avoid the guitar fatigue when the shortest song is over nine minutes.

Each album and collection of music created by Elder advances their sound. Some fans argue they’ve departed from a genre they helped define. Others have enjoyed the expansion of their spacey storytelling. Both opinions are debatable. The fact of the matter is we should withhold cemented judgement and rather enjoy the unraveling metamorphosis until all their patterns of the kaleidoscopic have been visualized.

In this episode, Elder guitarist Michael Risberg (left) and founding guitarist/singer Nick DiSalvo (right) interview each other about their live setups. Each configuration centers around a custom instrument, blaring British heads, and scores of stomps that will eventually support the band’s brand-new album, Omens. Later on in the video, bassist Jack Donovan runs us through his meat-and-potatoes, bass-battle station.

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Real McCoy Custom RMC8-Guitar Eqwahlyzer Pedal Review

Vintage-inspired wah with sweep contours and 5-band EQ


Download Example 1
Strat clean tone with both sweep settings
Download Example 2
Les Paul/Hartman Germanium Fuzz with RMC-8
Download Example 3
Les Paul clean cycling through graphic EQ settings
Clips recorded with a 3rd Power American Dream, Shure SM57 into a Chandler LTD-1 mic pre directly into Pro Tools.
Anyone who has searched for the perfect wah pedal is probably familiar with RMC and Geoffrey Teese. Teese is a hardcore wah fanatic, and it shows in RMC’s impressive lineup of nine wah pedals.

The RMC8-Guitar Eqwahlyzer is modeled on the benchmark tone of mid-’60s, Italian-built Vox wahs. But it adds a pair of sweep contours and a 5-band graphic EQ to optimize the wah’s voice for different playing styles and gear.

Glitter and Control
Packaged in a new, longer shell, the true bypass RMC8 is finished in a cool multi-sparkle graphite grey that’s a dead ringer for my ’70s banana bike seat or a vintage vinyl speedboat interior. Up at the top of the pedal is the 5-band graphic EQ with +/-15 dB center-detent sliders, an LED indicator that lights to show the EQ circuit is active, and a push button that engages the EQ.

Under the rocker, a mini toggle switch changes the sweep contour from either a NOS Icar-taper pot to an expanded-range taper that’s reminiscent of an aged Icar-taper ROC-POT 5.2 wah pot. You access the RMC8’s 9V battery by removing the underside plate, which is attached by four screws that pass through the pedal’s rubber feet. Conveniently, changing the battery doesn’t require a screwdriver. An AC adapter input is located just below the output jack on the left side of the pedal.

Buon Gusto
According to Teese, the basic RMC8 circuit is blueprinted from engineer Brad Plunkett’s mid-’60s design for the Italian Vox Clyde McCoy, the pedal that represents quintessential wah tone for many players. The sweep was smooth and quiet in both toggle positions. I preferred the slower sweep of the “aged” setting, as it enabled me to explore the tonal nuances of each position of the sweep. That said, the NOS setting was equally cool, imparting a slightly more aggressive snarl and granting quicker access to the extreme ranges.

The RMC8 really started to speak when I added a little more gain on my test amps. At this point, I enhanced the harmonics in my tone by engaging the EQ. As I started tweaking the settings, I discovered the utility of Teese’s design. Raising the 160 Hz slider a little and dipping at 2.5 kHz created one of the thickest wah sounds I’ve ever experienced. This setting allowed me to push the pedal without fear of cutting heads off with runaway treble.

Plugging in different guitars made me appreciate the EQ even more. Strats liked some of the highs rolled off, Les Pauls liked a 1 kHz boost and my P-90 guitars preferred a little 160 Hz boost.

The Verdict
No matter what combination of guitars and amps I used, the RMC8 delivered in spades. The tone was always lush, the sweep was smooth and free of scratchiness, and the sonic flexibility was nearly unlimited. It can be easy to grow weary of a wah when it’s a one-trick pony. But there’s almost no end to what the RMC8 can deliver, which makes it a potent musical asset—one that can extend your voice as a player and play an invaluable role in your pedalboard.

Buy if...
you want a classically voiced wah with modern flexibility.
Skip if...
you use your wah once a year.
Rating...


Street $269 - Real McCoy Custom - realmccoycustom.com


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