U2: The Edge's Atomic Pedalboard

It goes without saying that U2's The Edge is a Pedal Nut! Whether it is his delay-laden tones on War and Joshua Tree or the over driven tones on Pop and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, The Edge's guitar playing relies heavily on his elaborate rack mounted effects and pedal effects. The following effects pedal set-up has been compiled from The Edge's set-up for the Elevation and Vertigo tours and consists of four components: pedal effects, rack mounted effects, a pedalboard containing switching effects, and a cargo van for transporting the entire shebang from gig-to-gig:

• Pedalboard/Switching Effects:
  
• a Boss FV-300L Stereo Volume pedal;
• a Digi-Tech WH-1 Whammy Pedal;
• a Dunlop Cry-Baby Wah Wah Pedal;
• a Skrydstrup SC-1 System - an enormous custom switching system for controlling the actuation of the rack mounted effects and loops for the pedal effects detailed below. Apparently, The Edge's guitar technician, Dallas Schoo, has a similar switching system for actuating The Edge's effects in the event he wanders out onto the heart-shaped runaway.

• Pedal Effects (pedal chain as listed):
• a Lovetone Meatball pedal- an envelope follower/trigger filter pedal;
• a Lovetone Doppelganger pedal - an twin oscillator phaser/vibrato pedal apparently used in live performances of "Please" from Pop;
• an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff pedal;
• a Scrambler by Ampeg pedal - a simple vintage effect pedal capable of producing thick fuzz tones by manipulating a texture knob and a balance knob;
• an Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer;
• a Boss GE-7 Equalizer pedal;
• a Boss CS-2 Compression Sustainer pedal;
• a Boss PW-2 Power Driver pedal - designed to replicate the overdriven tone of a 4X12 cabinet;
• a Boss FA-1 FET Amp/Preamp Booster pedal - tiny puke green pedal that is hard to come by. Check out the Boss FA-1 clone by Prophecy Sounds Systems called the Sweet FA.
• a Skrydstrup BR-1 Bufferooster pedal - used by The Edge for a gain boost of +25dB for soloing. Call us old-fashioned, but wouldn't turning the volume knob on your guitar achieve the same result?; and
  
• a Sobbat DB-1 Drive Breaker - distortion pedal providing endless sustain and creamy fuzz tones

• Rack Mounted Effects (sequence as listed):
• a Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer - a classic rack mounted stereo effects processor;
• two Lexicon PCM-41 Digital Delays - also used by Steve Stevens of Billy Idol fame;
• two T.C. Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delays;
• two Line 6 Pod X3 Pro effects processors;
• two more T.C. Electronic 2290 Dynamic Digital Delays - to add digital delay to the effects signal from the Line 6 Pod X3 effects processors;
• two AMS S-DMX Digital Delay Samplers - each unit stores samples that The Edge can trigger using the Skrydstrup SC-1 System;
• two Korg SDD-2000 Digital Delays;
• two Korg A3 Signal Processors - most notably used by The Edge on "Beautiful Day" from All That You Can't Leave Behind;
• two custom rack mounted Line 6 DM4 Distortion Modelers; and
  
• a Rocktron DVC Dynamic Volume Controller - manipulated by The Edge using the above-mentioned Boss FV-300L Stereo Volume pedal to produce the shimmering tone heard on "Where the Streets Have No Name" and the like.

A lot to digest in this PedalNuts post! Comments and, particularly, corrections, welcomed.