Richard Thompson: Pedalboard Convention

Richard Thompson of Fairport Convention fame has often been mistakenly labeled as an acoustic-only performer. While frequently strapping on an electric guitar during the early Fairport Convention years, his playing style nevertheless had very acoustic quality. Listening to his performances on the classic songs "Meet on the Ledge" from What We Did On Our Holiday and "Genesis Hall" from Unhalfbricking, it is not surprising that Thompson is revered as an acoustic guitarist (such as in 1991 when he received the Orville H. Gibson award for Best Acoustic Guitarist). However, as a solo performer, Richard Thompson can hardly been pigeon-holed as solely an acoustic performer. Thompson's guitar playing on "Shoot Out the Lights" from the Live From Providence DVD exposes his aggressive and entirely unique approach to the electric guitar. Sharing company with the likes of Jeff Beck, John Frusciante and Mike Bloomfield in the shortlist of Rolling Stone's Top 100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time, Thompson is an electric guitar legend. If you have managed to decipher his odd tunings and complex soloing style, you should definitely reward yourself with the Richard Thompson's preferred electric guitar pedalboard set-up:

• an Ernie Ball VP Junior 25K Active Volume Pedal;
• a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay pedal;
• a Dunlop UV-1 Uni-Vibe rotating speaker pedal;
  
• a Divided by 13 Switchazel pedal - a unique A/B switching box having boost capabilities for soloing; and
  
• a Metasonix (Barbour) TM-5 All Pentode Guitar Preamp pedal;

If you're interested in Thompson's acoustic performances as well, you'll need the following separate "acoustic" guitar pedalboard:

• a Ridge Farm Industries Gas Cooker - a twin channel microphone amplifier and direct input box used by Thompson during live acoustic performances;
• a Fulltone Deja-Vibe pedal -also discussed in the Doyle Bramhall II post to PedalNuts; and
  
• a Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler pedal.
  

Hope this helps. Comments and corrections always welcome.