Pedal Nuts - Guitar Effects Pedals and Pedalboards

Stuart Adamson: Big Country Pedalboard

2008-05-14T21:02:00.002-04:00

While first coming to prominence in the Scottish punk band The Skids, Stuart Adamson will forever be remembered for his instantly recognizable voice and guitar playing with Big Country. Along with co-lead guitarist Bruce Watson, bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki, Adamson composed four classic albums during the 1980s that melded meaningful lyrics, passionate guitar solos and solid rhythms. If you're not familiar with Big Country, check out the songs "In a Big Country", "Wonderland" and "Look Away" from The Crossing, Wonderland and The Seer albums, respectively. We challenge you to stand still while listening to any of these selections. It's impossible!

If you're interested in comping Big Country's guitar tones, we're happy to provide you with the following summary of the set-ups of Stuart Adamson and Bruce Watson.

1. Stuart Adamson

Rack mounted effects:

a MXR M-129 Pitch Transposer - used by Adamson and Watson to achieve the guitar/bagpipe tones heard in the song "In a Big Country". The M-129 has four preset channels for chorus, octave up, octave down and octave fifths, along with rate and depth knobs. The first channel can be remotely activated using any suitable on/off pedal and, therefore, is likely the channel that Adamson and Watson relied upon during live performances; and

a Korg SDD-2000 Digital Delay.

Pedalboard:

a MXR Stereo Flanger;
an on/off pedal for MXR M-129 Pitch Transposer; and
an A/B switch pedal for switching between his clean and distorted amplifiers.

Amplifiers:

two Fender Dual Showman heads - matched with a pair of Fender 2X12 speaker cabinets. One Showman was set for a clean sound, the other set for a distorted sound. Adamson was also known to have used a H&H V-S Musician 100-Watt head and a Fender Stage 185.

Guitars - almost too many to count, but here are the most notable guitars used by Stuart Adamson:

a Yamaha SG2000;
an ESP Stratocaster copy;
a Gibson Les Paul Standard;
a Moon Telecaster copy; and
a Levinson Blade guitar.

Miscellaneous:

an Ebow.

2. Bruce Watson

Rack mounted effects:

a MXR M-129 Pitch Transposer; and

a Korg SDD-2000 Digital Delay.

Pedalboard:

a Boss DD-2 Digital Delay pedal;
a Boss OC-2 Octaver pedal;
a Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble pedal;
a Boss TR-2 Tremolo pedal;
a Boss LS-2 Line Selector pedal; and
a Frontline Regulated Power Supply unit.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Nick McCabe: Pedalboards With Verve

2008-05-09T10:36:00.015-04:00

The Verve are a difficult band to pigeon-hole. The band's first album, A Storm in Heaven, features a wide variety of guitar tones ranging from the ethereal and feedback sounds heard on "Star Sail" and "Already There", to the overdriven rhythm tones on "Slide Away". While the later Urban Hymns album featured McCabe's signature delay-laden tones, the vast majority of the songs on this album are centered around orchestral arrangements and McCabe's acoustic tones. A self-confessed PedalNut, the only consistent aspect of McCabe's playing on the A Storm in Heaven, A Northern Soul and Urban Hymns albums is his willingness to explore the sonic capabilities of his effects, amplifiers and guitars. As a result, we thought it would be helpful to provide you with an album-by-album summary of the equipment used by McCabe on The Verves classic albums.

1. A Storm In Heaven:

Pedalboard:

a Boss OD-2 Turbo Overdrive pedal;
an MXR Phase 100 pedal.

Rack-mounted effects:

a Watkins Copicat Echo Unit;
a Roland RE-201 Space Echo Unit;
an Alesis QuadraVerb+;
a Roland GP-8 Guitar Effects Processor;
a Roland GS-6 Guitar System; and
an Eventide H3000 Ultra-Harmonizer - used during the recording of the A Storm in Heaven album.

Amplifiers:

a Mesa/Boogie Mark III combo amplifier; and
a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus amplifier.

2. A Northern Soul:

Pedalboard:

a Boss OD-2 Turbo Overdrive pedal - often replaced with the Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal; and
an MXR Phase 100 pedal.

Rack-mounted effects:

a Watkins Copicat Echo Unit;
a Roland RE-201 Space Echo Unit;
an Alesis QuadraVerb+;
a Roland GP-8 Guitar Effects Processor; and
a Roland GS-6 Guitar System unit.

Amplifiers:

a Marshall JCM 800 100W Head;
a pair of Marshall 4X12 Speaker Cabinets; and
a vintage Vox AC30 2X12 amplifier.

3. Urban Hymns:

Pedalboard:

a Boss OD-2 Turbo Overdrive pedal;
a Marshall Drive Master pedal;
a MXR Phase 100 pedal;
a Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer pedal;
a Jim Dunlop Wah-Wah pedal - used on the song "Weeping Willow"; and
a Boss FV-300L volume pedal.

Rack-mounted effects:

a Watkins Copicat Echo Unit;
a Roland RE-201 Space Echo Unit;
a Lexicon JamMan sampling and looping unit;
an Alesis QuadraVerb+;
a Roland GP-8 Guitar Effects Processor; and
a Roland GS-6 Guitar System.

Amplifiers:

a Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier Head;
a Marshall 4X12 Speaker Cabinet; and
a vintage Vox AC100 Super Deluxe amplifier.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Bryan Adams' Reckless Pedalboard

2008-05-06T21:27:00.008-04:00

Hopefully the rock classics Run to You and Summer of '69 come to mind when you think of Bryan Adams. If the song "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" from the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is the first thing to jump into your mind, please leave this website now [Editor's note: Or read the remainder of this posting with your girlfriend]. Long before "grunge fashion" was cool, Bryan Adams was wearing lumberjack, flannel shirts and ripped jeans. This edginess can be heard on Adams' early recordings on the Cuts Like a Knife and Reckless albums. The Waking Up the Neighbours albums also features Adams' signature overdriven rhythm tones on the songs "Can't Stop This Thing We Started" and "All I Want Is You". If you're into overdriven rhythm tones, consider the following components of Bryan Adams' recent live set-up:

Effects Pedals:

a Musictronics MU-Tron III pedal;
a custom Pete Cornish Guitar Routing Unit featuring:

an Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer pedal;
a Boss CE-2 Chorus Ensemble pedal;
a Pete Cornish TB-83 Treble Boost pedal; and
a Pete Cornish G-2 Distortion pedal;

a Peterson Strobo Stomp 2 tuner pedal (or a Peterson Autostrobe 490 tuner); and
a Pete Cornish Power Distribution Unit.

Amplifiers:

two vintage Vox AC30 2X12 amplifiers;
a Marshall JTM-45 Head; and
a Marshall 4X12 Speaker Cabinet.

Apologies for the delay. Comments and corrections always welcome.

Noel Gallagher: Pedalboard Oasis

2008-04-01T19:53:00.015-04:00

In view of Oasis' recent tour announcements, we thought it would be a good time to look back at Noel Gallagher's set-up for the 2000 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants tour. Gallagher's reliance upon effects pedals has grown significantly since Oasis' recording of the Definitely Maybe album in 1993. At that time, the Oasis guitarist primarily relied upon a Roland RE-01 Space Echo unit and a Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah Wah pedal. The introduction of Leslie-rotating speaker and backwards guitar effects on the song "Gas Panic!" and "Who Feels Love", respectively, necessitated the follow additions to Gallagher's set-up for the SOTSOG tour.

Effects Pedals:

an Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer pedal;
a Jim Dunlop Crybaby 535Q Wah Wah pedal;
a Way Huge Electronics Aqua-Puss delay pedal;
a SIB Echodrive Digital Delay pedal;
a Boss DD-5 Digital Delay pedal - for the reverse guitar effect;
a Hughes and Kettner Rotosphere pedal - used on the song "Gas Panic"; and
a Boss LS-2 Line Selector pedal.

Rack Mounted Effects:

a Line 6 Pod Pro Guitar Effects Processor;
a Line 6 Echo Pro Studio Modeler;
a TC Electronics 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay;
a Korg DTR-1 Digital Tuner; and
a Furman PL8 Power Conditioner.

Amplifiers:

a Fender Blues Junior;
a Fender Bandmaster head- 60s black-faced head;
an Orange Overdrive 120 head;
a Vox AC50 head;
two Marshall 4X12 Speaker Cabinets - powered by the Orange and Vox heads;
a Fender Bandmaster 2X12 Speaker Cabinet; and
two THD Electronics Hot Plate Power Attenuators - one for each of the Orange and Vox heads.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Dave Murray & Adrian Smith: Pedalboard Updates

2008-03-31T21:19:00.003-04:00

Several weeks ago we posted an overview of the effects pedals used by Adrian Smith and Dave Murray during the recording of Iron Maiden's Piece of Mind album. While attending a recent Iron Maiden show on the Somewhere Back in Time tour, we noticed that Adrian Smith and Dave Murray were sporting some new equipment. Always aiming to keep our readers up to date, we thought a follow-up post would help those looking to capture Iron Maiden's live sound.

Adrian Smith's set-up:

an Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus pedal;
an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer pedal;
a Dunlop DCR-2SR Custom Shop Rack Wah;
a Peavey TubeFex Effects Processor with PFC-10 Foot Controller pedal; and
a custom Pete Cornish pedalboard designed to control the above-mentioned effects.

Dave Murray's set-up:

a MXR Ten Band Graphic Equalizer pedal;
a MXR Phase 90 pedal;
a MXR Distortion+ pedal;
a Dunlop DCR-2SR Custom Shop Rack Wah;
a Marshall JFX-1 Digital Signal Processor; and
a custom Pete Cornish pedalboard designed to control the above-mentioned effects; and
a Korg WT-12 Chromatic Guitar Tuner.

If you catch a glimpse of Iron Maiden's pedalboard set-up on the current tour, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Don Felder: Pedalboard of The Eagles Rebel

2008-03-30T10:44:00.007-04:00

While Joe Walsh is known for his bluesy edge, Don Felder is regarded for adding technical prowess and flair to The Eagles chart-topping Hotel California album. Most notably, Felder melded flamenco, classical and rock influences to compose the chord progressions and solos for the album's title track. Initially rejected by Glenn Frey, "Hotel California" became The Eagles most recognizable song and their highest and longest charting hit recording. In addition to "Hotel California", Felder's multi-faceted playing added a country twang and blues-rock edge to the songs "New Kid in Town" and "Victim of Love", respectively. If you have some old Boss stomp boxes lying around your abode, it shouldn't be too difficult to fashion the following pedalboard set-up favored by Felder:

Guitar Effects:

a T.C. Electronic Stereo Chorus/Flanger pedal;
a Boss PS-3 Compressor/Sustainer pedal;
a Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive pedal;
two Boss DD-3 Digital Delay pedals;
a Boss PSM-5 Power Supply & Master Switch pedal;
a Whirlwind A/B Selector-Multi-Selector Instrument Switch pedal; and
a Jim Dunlop Crybaby Wah Wah pedal.

Amplifiers:

a Marshall JTM-45 head;
a Fender Blues Deluxe amp; and
a Pendulum SPS-1 Stereo Pre-amp - rack mounted pre-amp used to process Felder's acoustic guitar signal.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Joe Walsh: Pedalboards, Eagles and Gangs

2008-03-29T20:58:00.004-04:00

Joe Walsh is one of the most charismatic guitarists of all-time. Whether as a member of the James Gang, Barnstorm or The Eagles, Joe Walsh has endeared himself with audiences throughout the world with his bluesy guitar tone and quirky stage antics. And the James Gang song "Rocky Mountain Way" actually made the talk-box a cool pedal to have on your pedalboard. That's quite an accomplishment! Limiting Joe Walsh to a single pedalboard configuration is an impossible task. Whether as a member of the James Gang, The Eagles or as a solo artist, Walsh has relied heavily upon effects pedals to redefine his guitar tone. To kick off our analysis, we thought it would be helpful to start in the middle with the Walsh's Eagles-era pedalboard set-up:

Pedal Effects:

a Boss CH-1 Super Chorus pedal;
two Boss DD-3 Digital Delay pedals;
a Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer pedal;
a Boss GE-7 Graphic Equalizer pedal;
a Dunlop Heil Talk Box; and
a Boss PSM-5 Power Supply and Master Switch pedal.

Amplifiers:

a Peavy MX 100-Watt head;
a Trace Elliot TA C-200 Acoustic Combo amplifiers;
a Leslie Hammond Rotating Speaker - driven by a custom pre-amp; and
two Roland Cube-40 Combo amplifiers - used strictly for his talk-box pedal effect.

John Frusciante: Pedalboards & Chili Peppers

2008-03-28T20:28:00.005-04:00

On the Red Hot Chili Peppers' tour in support of the Stadium Arcadium album, John Frusciante has been sporting a landing strip-sized pedalboard. Until recently, Frusciante was widely known for his rich trebly guitar tone, as heard on "Under the Bridge", "Californication", and "Scar Tissue". In the capable hands of Frusciante, however, the addition of twenty-four effects pedals can be magic. If you're interested in keeping up with Frusciante's ever-evolving guitar style and playing the recent hits "Dani California", "Snow (Hey Oh)", and "Tell Me Baby", here are the pedal effects you're going to need:

Pedalboard:

two MoogerFooger CP-251 Control Processor
a Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble pedal;
a MoogerFooger MF-103 12-Stage Phaser pedal;
a Dunlop DB-02 Dime Custom CryBaby
an Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail pedal;
an Ibanez WH10 Wah Wah pedal
a Mosrite FUZZrite pedal;
a Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion pedal;
an Electro-Harmonix English Muff'n fuzz pedal (occasionally uses a Big Muff pedal instead);
a MXR M-133 Micro Amp Boost pedal
a Digitech Whammy pedal;
two Line 6 EX-1 Expression pedal;
a MoogerFooger MF-102 Ring Modulator pedal;
a MoogerFooger MF-101 Low Pass Filter pedal;
two MoogerFooger MF-105 MuRF Filter pedal;
two more MoogerFooger MF-101 Low Pass Filter pedals;
a Line 6 FM-4 Filter Modeler pedal;
a Guyatone VT-X Vintage Tremolo Flip Series pedal;
two DigiTech PDS-1002 Two Second Digital Delay pedal;
an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Electric Mistress flanger pedal;
a Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler pedal;
a Boss FV-50L volume pedal

Amplifiers:

two Marshall Jubilee 25/50 heads;
a Marshall Major 200-watt head; and
four Marshall 4X12 speaker cabinets.

Comments and corrections welcome!

Joe Perry: Aerosmith Pedalboard

2008-03-27T20:44:00.002-04:00

We had hoped to post this pedalboard overview yesterday in time for Steven Tyler's 60th birthday party. Unfortunately our own birthday celebrations for Mr. Tyler carried on a little longer than expected! In honor of the Aerosmith-frontman's birthday, it is only fitting to examine the pedalboard of his Toxic Twin, Joe Perry. Over the past three decades, Aerosmith has recorded countless rock classics, including "Dream On", "Same Old Song and Dance", Sweet Emotion", "Back in the Saddle", and"Walk This Way". What each of these songs have in common is Perry's instantly recognizable "hooks" and solos supported by his distinct overdriven tone. If you're interested in becoming as "toxic" as Tyler and Perry, you're going to need the following pedalboard set-up recently used by Perry on tour with Aerosmith:

Amplifiers:

two Marshall Major 200-watt heads (one is a spare);
two Marshall 4X12 Speaker Cabinets; and
a Variac power attenuator.

Effects Pedals/Pedalboard:

a Radial Studio Guitar Interface SGI-RX receiver - enables a guitar signal to travel over 300 feet through a standard, low-impedance XLR mic cable with very limited signal loss;
a Klon Centaur Overdrive pedal;
a Chicago Iron Tychobrahe Octavia pedal*;
a MoogerFooger MF-104Z Analog Delay pedal;
a Line 6 MM-4 Modulation Modeler pedal**;
a Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler pedal;
a Carl Martin Plexi-Tone pedal;
a Digitech Whammy pedal;
a Vox Wah-Wah Pedal;
a Ernie Ball 6180 Mono Volume Pedal; and
a Radial Studio Guitar Interface SGI-TX transmitter.

* Joe Perry has been know to alternate his octave pedals betwen the Octavia pedal, a Electro-Harmonix POG pedal, and a Fulltone Ultimate Octave pedal.

** Perry also alternates his delay pedals between the DL-4, a Fulltone Tube Tape Echo pedal, and an Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man pedal.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Doyle Bramhall II: Touring Pedalboards

2008-03-25T19:46:00.010-04:00

Many guitarists were first introduced to Doyle Bramhall II through his involvement with Roger Waters and Eric Clapton. On tour with Roger Waters, Bramhall somehow managed to faithfully reproduce the original vibe of Pink Floyd's classics "Money" and "Comfortably Numb" while simultaneously injecting his playing style and character. If you're a Pink Floyd fan, it can be safely assumed that you have watched Roger Water's In the Flesh DVD and were blown away by Bramhall's virtuosity. If you're not a Pink Floyd fan, we strongly recommend that you pick of a copy of the In the Flesh DVD and savour the guitar playing of Doyle Bramhall II, Snowy White and Andy Fairweather Low.

Still not interested in Pink Floyd? That's o.k., because you may have caught Bramhall touring with Eric Clapton in support of his The Road to Escondido, Back Home, and Me and Mr. Johnson albums. We have previously provided an overview of the pedalboard set-up used by Bramhall during the recording of the Welcome album. So you be asking why we're revisiting Bramhall's pedalboard set-up again. Well, you asked us too! Many of you are Doyle Bramhall II/Pink Floyd fans and aspire to recreate the guitar tones heard on the In the Flesh DVD. Others prefer the Doyle Bramhall II/Eric Clapton sound. As we believe that both incarnations of Doyle Bramhall II are equally special, we decided to provide the following breakdown of Bramhall stage set-ups for both tours:

Roger Waters In the Flesh Tour:

Electric Guitars:

a left-handed 1964 Fender Stratocaster with vintage Van Zandt pickups; and
a left-handed Fender Stratocaster copy with a sparkle red finish (built by Charlie Wirz).

Amplifiers:

Yamaha DG-130 HD Digital Head - built-in digital processor features compression, modulation, delay, tap tempo delay, reverb, wah, and speaker simulations. Also used by Doyle Bramhall II during his 1999 appearance on Austin City Limits. The portable and more affordable Yamaha DG Stomp pedal has virtually the same circuitry and effects as the DG-130 HD; and
a Marshall 1960A 4X12Speaker Cabinet.

Guitar Effects:

a Fulltone Deja Vibe pedal (the gold colored model) - most notably heard on the solo for "Time" from the In the Flesh DVD;
a Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face pedal;
a Roger Mayer Octavia pedal - used occasionally during the first solo on "Dogs";
a Hughes and Kettner Rotosphere pedal - heard on "Eclipse" from the In the Flesh DVD;
a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler pedal with EX-1 Expression Pedal;
a Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer Reissue pedal; and
a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe wah pedal.

Eric Clapton Tours:

Amplifiers:

a Fender Bassman; and
a Fender Super Reverb.

Effects Pedals:

a Fulltone Deja Vibe pedal;
a Hughes and Kettner Rotosphere pedal;
a SIB Fatdrive Tube Pre-amp pedal;
a Pete Cornish P-2 Fuzz;
a Blackbox Music Electronics Quicksilver Delay pedal;
a Blackbox Music Electronics Oxygen Compression pedal;
an Xotic Effects USA RC Booster pedal;
an Analogman BicompROSSor pedal;
a Jim Dunlop wah-wah pedal;
an Analog Man Sun Face NKT fuzz pedal;
a Fulltone '70 Fuzz Pedal;
a Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer Reissue pedal;
a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler pedal with EX-1 Expression Pedal;
a Line 6 MM4 Modulation Modeler pedal;
a Lehle 3at1 SGoS switch pedal (the blue one);
a Boss TU-2 Tuner pedal; and
two Voodoo Lab Pedal Power units.

That's a lot of pedals! Here's a helpful link to a photograph of Doyle Bramhall II's pedalboard during the Eric Clapton tours to help you with your pedalboard layout and signal paths

Comments, corrections and requests always welcome.

Lindsey Buckingham: Pedalboard Simplicity

2008-03-24T22:10:00.004-04:00

Peter Green's departure from Fleetwood Mac in 1970 left the band in a state of creative disarray. Preparing to record Fleetwood Mac's tenth album, Mick Fleetwood visited Sound City Studios in Los Angeles and was indirectly introduced to the talented Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. To showcase the studio's acoustics for Fleetwood, producer Keith Olsen gave Fleetwood a copy of Buckingham and Nick's self-titled debut album recorded at the Sound City Studios in the previous year. After listening to the album, Mick Fleetwood decided to not only record at the studio, but also to add Buckingham and Nicks to Fleetwood Mac's line-up. The addition of Lindsey Buckingham could arguably have been called an odd decision. Preferring folk music and finger-style picking, Buckingham played without a guitar pick. In order to compensate for his lack of "pick attack", Buckingham built a simple, yet effective, guitar rig that enabled him to produce the over-driven tones on "Rhiannon" from Fleetwood Mac (1975) and "Go Your Own Way" from Rumours (1977) and lead Fleetwood Mac to multi-platinum success in the ensuing years. If you enjoy Buckingham's tone as much as we do, here's the gear you're going to need:

Effects Pedals:

a Boss SD-1 Super OverDrive pedal;

two Boss DD-5 Digital Delay pedals - the first DD-5 pedal for Buckingham's electric guitar pedalboard and used to generate a slap-back echo effect. The second DD-5 for his acoustic pedalboard;
a custom A/B switch for actuating the electric and acoustic pedalboards; and
two Voodoo Lab Pedal Power units for supplying power to each of the electric and acoustic pedalboards.

Amplifiers:

a Mesa/Boogie Three Channel Dual Rectifier with matching 4X12 Mesa/Boogie cabinet;
a SWR California Blonde II acoustic amplifier; and
a Trace Elliot TA40R Acoustic Amplifier.

Electric Guitars:

a Rick Turner Model 1 electric guitar;
a Rick Turner Renaissance acoustic/electric guitar - heard on "Sweet Girl" from Fleetwood Mac's The Dance album;
a 1963 Fender Stratocaster - tuned to open-D for "Over My Head" from Fleetwood Mac album; and
a Martin D-18 acoustic guitar - used on the 1977 recording of "Landslide" from Fleetwood Mac.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Kurt Cobain: Nevermind Pedal Effects

2008-03-24T21:46:00.004-04:00

The release of Nirvana's Nevermind and In Utero albums reintroduced guitarists to the sonic capabilities of Electro-Harmonix's lesser known effects pedals, including the SmallClone and PolyChorus. Guitar rigs stocked full of rack mounted delays and digital distortion units suddenly became unfashionable (as did spandex-clad guitarists). Whether you're a cover band playing weekend gigs, a basement jam band, or simply a PedalNut like us, it is virtually impossible to replicate Kurt Cobain's tone on Nevermind without adding the following effects to your pedalboard:

Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion - standard Boss pedal casing and three knob configuration (level, tone, distortion), with the added bonus of a turbo knob. Set the tone and distortion knobs near the maximum, and turn the turbo knob to "II" to zone in on Cobain's tone. Used DS-2 pedals are readily available on Ebay.com and craigslist.com for about $50.00. New pedals go for $90.00 (presently as low as $40.00 at Musicians Friend). While the DS-2 distortion is known to have been a mainstay of Cobain's pedalboard (look closely at the photographs in the In Utero liner notes), also consider buying the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff pedal which provides dirtier distortion at lower volumes;
Electro-Harmonix SmallClone - a must-buy pedal if you're planning on playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or "Come as You Are" for an audience of more than three people (your parents and significant other excluded). Set the rate knob at the 3 o'clock position and slide the depth switch down to experience the rapid, yet deep, chorus preferred by Kurt Cobain. If you're lucky, you'll find a vintage version of this pedal on Ebay.com, but not for less than $150.00. Vintage SmallClone's are widely considered to be more expressive, but are less reliable than the re-issue pedals from Electro-Harmonix. Also, vintage SmallClones surviving the Punk, post-Punk, and New Wave eras smell awful (and certainly nothing like teen spirit).

If you want to take your Nevermind-inspired playing to the next level, pick up a rack-mounted Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp, a Crest 4801 power amp (or two depending on your budget), and a Marshall 4x12 cabinet. Tweak the settings on the Mesa Boogie Studio preamp to dial in on the right tone, but be sure to use the clean channel with the midrange set quite high.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Ronnie Montrose: Gamma Pedalboard

2008-03-23T20:11:00.003-04:00

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine took up the daunting task of selecting the top 100 greatest guitarists of all-time. If you haven't already scanned the final list, here's a link to Rolling Stone's Top 100 Greatest Guitarists of All-Time article. At first glance, the list is quite comprehensive. The obvious 60s rockers made there way onto the list, including Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. Seventies alternative guitarists Ron Asheton, D. Boon, and Robert Fripp were included as well. Since the publication of the Rolling Stone article, discussions boards have popped up across the Internet drawing attention to the fact that many notable guitarists were omitted, including Steve Vai, Eric Johnson, Joe Satriani and Lenny Breau. In our review of these discussions boards, we were surprised that one notable omission was not mentioned: Ronnie Montrose of Edgar Winter Group, Montrose and Gamma fame. His solo self-titled Montrose (1973) album and the instrumental album The Speed of Sound (1988) laid down some of the finest rock rhythms and guitar tones heard in the past 30 years. Check out the following live performance clips of Ronnie Montrose at his best: "Bad Motor Scooter" clip and "Space Station #5" clip. Montrose may not have made the Rolling Stone's Top 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list, but he certainly deserves to make PedalNuts short list of guitarists with effects pedal set-ups. Be prepared to "Rock the Nation" with the Montrose's original rig (with some recent additions):

Amp: Gallien-Krueger 200RG pre-amp;

Cabinet: Harbinger Iso-Box - extremely rare cabinet designed with a built-in microphone;

Rack-Mounted Effects:

a Roland SDE-2000 Digital Delay;
two Lexicon PCM-42 Digital Delays - one for each of the direct (clean) and distorted lines from the Gallien-Krueger pre-amp;
two Lexicon Super Prime Time Model 97s - programmable digital delay processors, commonly used in studios for voice doubling; and
a Urei 546 Dual Parametric Equalizer - four band equalizer having Low, Mid-Low, Mid-High and High control knobs.

Pedal Effects and Controllers:

a Maestro PS-1A Phase Shifter;
a Fox Electronics (Fox Rox) Captain Coconuts pedal;
a Goodrich L120 volume pedal;
five Ernie Ball Mono pedals used to control the number of repeats from the Lexicon PCM-42 Digital Delays (much like the Expression Pedal used with the Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler) and to trigger delay settings programmed into the Lexicon Super Prime Time Model 97s.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Richard Thompson: Pedalboard Convention

2008-03-22T11:31:00.002-04:00

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.

Neil Young: Effects Pedal Harvest

2008-03-21T14:11:00.002-04:00

An electric-guitar wielding Neil Young is commonly associated with overdriven amplifiers and violent Bigsby vibrato dives. But pedal effects have long been an important aspect of Young's live guitar playing. Whether used to provide the slap-back echo on "This Note's for You" (from This Note's for You) or to accentuate the pinched harmonics heard on the solos to the legendary songs "Rockin' in the Free World" (from Freedom), "Powderfinger" (from Rust Never Sleeps), and "Like A Hurricane" (from American Stars 'N Bars), Neil Young's soloing owes as much to his aggressive picking style as it does to his selection of vintage effects pedals. As far as effects are concerned, you need one or more of the following guitar pedals to cover your favorite Neil Young songs:

a Fender Reverb Unit - while not a pedal effect, per se, as mentioned previously, it does come with an on/off foot switch. That constitutes a pedal for our purposes. The re-issue '63 Fender Reverb unit should do the trick;
five Strobe-O-Tuners - massive units used by Young to tune his guitar after repeated Bigsby-vibrato dives;
a MXR M-118 Analog Delay pedal - dial in your favorite settings using the Mix, Delay, and Regen knobs, and combine with the following octave divider for crazy results;
a Mu-Tron Octave Divider - set "Bass Only" in the "On" position, and "Ringer" in the "Off" position to achieve the tone heard on "Out of the Blue" from Rust Never Sleeps;
a circa-1969 Boss Flanger - an impossible to find original Boss Flanger unit. Best bet is to pick up a used Boss BF-2 Flanger from 1985. Like most pedals in Young's set-up, the flanger effect is primarily used during extended solos;
an Alesis MicroVerb - adjust the reverb dial to "7" in the "Large" range for the total reverb effect preferred by Neil Young; and
a Maestro EP-4 Echoplex unit.

Rounding out Neil Young's tone is a much-modified 1953 Gibson Les Paul affectionately named "Old Black" and a custom amplifier volume modulating device called a "Whizzer". The Whizzer was conceived by Neil Young around the time of the Rust Never Sleeps album and is adapted to physically turn the volume knobs on his vintage 1959 Fender Deluxe amp between strict presets.

Each of Young's effects pedals (and the Whizzer) are remotely controlled using a switching system. The switching system has four pre-programmed settings for the Whizzer, and at least four loops for independently activating the Echoplex, Octave Divider/MXR combination, MicroVerb, and Boss Flanger effects. Check out the cool behind the scenes look at Neil Young's effects rig here.

Comments and corrections welcome.

U2: The Edge's Atomic Pedalboard

2008-03-20T21:55:00.003-04:00

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.

Yngwie Malmsteen: Pedalboard of Alcatrazz

2008-03-20T20:47:00.005-04:00

Equally as difficult as playing any of Yngwie Malmsteen's songs, is labeling is guitar style. Is it heavy metal? Neo-Classical? Blues Rock? Your guess is as good as ours! What we do know is that Malmsteen's soloing on Alcatrazz' second album Live Sentence is flawless (as is his hair). The songs "Evil Eye" and "Since You've Been Gone" illustrate his ability to effortlessly execute fast arpeggios and single note lines while maintaining the melodic direction of the subject song. The key to Malmsteen's speedy arpeggios, tapping and vibrato is his use of a vintage 1969 Fender Stratocaster fitted with a scalloped fingerboard. While originally hand-carved by Malmsteen himself, he now opts for Fender's Yngwie Malmsteen Artist Series guitar which comes ready to play with a pre-scalloped fingerboard. The full details of the Yngwie Malmsteen's Artist Series stratocaster can be found here. Malmsteen, admittedly, rarely uses effects pedals when performing live. However, effects pedals can be heard throughout his lead and rhythm playing on Live Sentence. Hence, any faithful renditions of Alcatrazz' songs "Evil Eye" and "Since You've Been Gone" will require the following pedalboard setup:

a Moog Taurus I bass keyboard - an analog synthesizer consisting of 13 foot-operated pedals adapted to add ambiance to Alcatrazz' live performances;
a Vox Flanger 1902 pedal;
a Dunlop Cry-Baby Wah-Wah pedal;
a Boss OC-2 Octave Divider pedal;
a Roland RE201 Space Echo unit; and
a MXR Phase 100 pedal.

Not convinced that Yngwie Malmsteen is a phenomenal guitar? Check out his live performance of "Evil Eye" from Live Sentence on YouTube here.

Iron Maiden: Adrian Smith & Dave Murray Pedalboards

2008-03-09T20:01:00.002-04:00

Between 1980-1982, Iron Maiden was arguably the hardest working band in the music industry. Over the span of three years, Iron Maiden recorded and released no less than three studio albums, namely Iron Maiden, Killers, and The Number of the Beast. Following the completion of The Number of the Beast tour, Iron Maiden's guitarists Adrian Smith and Dave Murray immediately commenced work on what would be one of Iron Maiden's most highly regarded albums, Piece of Mind. The tracks "The Trooper" and "To Tame A Land" are highlights of the Piece of Mind album, and feature the driving rhythms and dual guitar solos bofy Adrian Smith and Dave Murray. Decide which Iron Maiden guitarist you would like to emulate, construct your pedalboard from the respective list of pedal effects below, and give your Marshalls a Piece of Your Mind:

Adrian Smith's set-up:

an Ibanez CS9 Stereo Chorus pedal;
an Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer pedal;
four Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series 50-watt heads and 4x12 Marshall speaker cabinets with Celestion speakers.

Dave Murray's set-up:

a MXR Ten Band Graphic Equalizer pedal;
a MXR Phase 90 pedal;
a MXR Distortion+ pedal;
a Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal;
a Pete Cornish splitter box;
six Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series 50-watt heads and 4X12 Marshall speaker cabinets with Celestion speakers.

Comments and corrections always welcome.

David Byrne's Pedalboard: Talking Effects Pedals

2008-03-06T19:46:00.003-05:00

David Byrne, lead singer for the Talking Heads, may not be the first person you think of when pedalboards come to mind. But many of the Talking Heads hits in the early 1980s were built around unusual rhythm patterns punctuated by Bryne's inventive and textural guitar playing. The songs "Burning Down the House" on the album Speaking in Tongues and "And She Was" from Little Creatures are prime examples of David Byrne's proficiency as a solid rhythm guitarist. While Byrne, like many pop musicians in the 1980s, occasionally relied upon a Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesizer in the recording studio, the core of Byrne's tone is his 1962 Fender Stratocaster and the following effects:

a MXR Dynacomp - also a favored pedal of Charlie Sexton of the Arc Angels;
a MXR Distortion + -capable of some serious distorted tones as the distortion knob, as demonstrated by Randy Rhodes;
a Boss BF-2 Flanger;
a Boss DD-3 Digital Delay;
an AMS RMX 16 Reverb - this classic rack mounted reverb unit was often controlled off-stage by the Talking Heads' sound technician in response to Byrne's guitar playing;
a Roland 501 Space/Chorus Echo.

Comments and corrections welcome.

Steve Stevens' Rebel Yell and Top Gun Pedalboard

2008-03-05T18:11:00.003-05:00

Guitarists are often accused of using guitar effects pedals to conceal their technical shortcomings. The same can't be said about Steve Stevens, Billy Idol's guitarist of choice and the man behind the Top Gun movie theme. If you were alive in the 1980s, you probably owned a copy of the self-titled Billy Idol and Rebel Yell albums. While both albums feature effects laden rhythms and solos, most notably on the tracks "White Wedding", "Rebel Yell" and "Eyes Without A Face", Steve Stevens has demonstrated that he can faithfully play these songs on an acoustic guitar, sans effects pedals (check out Steve Steven's acoustic performance of "Rebel Yell" on You Tube). Reviewing effects-less acoustic guitar performances is not the aim of Pedal Nuts (Editor's Note: Nirvana Unplugged being the only exception), so the following is a summary of the guitar synthesizer, pedalboard and rack-mounted effects used by Steve Stevens' on the Billy Idol and Rebel Yell albums:

Guitar Synthesizer - Roland GR 700 Guitar Synthesizer - an analog guitar synth from 1984 that consists of eight programmable pedals for outputting a variety of synth-voices. Steve Stevens' preferred to use the Roland GR 700 in conjunction with a Roland G-707 guitar. However, many users of the GR 700 insist that Ibanez's X-ING IMG2010 guitar is a more suitable controller (read this website for a full review and pictures of the Roland GR 700);

Pedalboard: The cable output from the Roland GR 700 is then inputted into a pedalboard stocked with the following successive effects pedals:

a Boss CS-2 Compression pedal;
a Boss OC-2 Octave pedal;
a Boss EC-2 Chorus pedal;
two Boss A/B switch pedals - the first switch pedal establishing a full loop for the pedalboard, and the second switch pedal used to activate and deactivate the rack-mounted Lexicon PCM-41s;
a Dunlop Cry Baby Wah pedal;
a ProRat Distortion pedal;
a Boss RV-1 magnetic volume pedal;
a Boss GE-7 Equalizer pedal;

Rack-mounted Effects: Steve Stevens controls the following rack-mounted effects using a simple pre-Bradshaw switching system:

two Lexicon PCM-41 Digital Delays - the first PCM-41 is used by Stevens to create the "machine gun sound" on "Rebel Yell". The second is used as a split-stereo feed to Stevens' Marshall JCM 800 heads;
a Roland SDE-3000 Digital Delay - an amazing rack-mounted digital delay having delay, phase, filter, modulation and feedback modulation capabilities;
a Roland SRE-555 Tape Echo - an extremely reliable tape echo device;
a Roland Dimension D Stereo Chorus; and
an Eventide H999 Harmonizer Effects Processor - the H999 models are much more difficult to locate these days on Ebay.com, but tend to be cheaper then the 3500/3000SE models.

Hope this helps! Comments and corrections always welcome.

Doyle Bramhall II's Texas-Sized Pedalboard

2008-03-04T20:20:00.006-05:00

Both Doyle Bramhall II and his pedalboard have grown at a meteoric pace in recent years. Beginning with the Arcangels self titled debut album, his subsequent solo releases Doyle Bramhall II, Jellycream and Welcome, and tours with Rogers Waters and Eric Clapton, Doyle Bramhall II has always had a sizable, and admirable, reliance on guitar effects pedals. A chronology of Doyle's changing guitar pedal usage over the years would be too daunting a task for a single blog posting, so instead we're going to break it down into four separate postings from the Arcangels-era until now. Where better to start than in the middle with Doyle Bramhall II's 2oo1 solo album Welcome (Editor's note: If you enjoy blues-rock, classic rock, rock, guitars or simply breathing, buy this album!). Bramhall's tone can be described as a melange of Hendrix's "Hey Baby", Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Cold Shot", and the Southern Rock sounds of the 60s and 70s. Many factors contributed to Bramhall's phenomenal tone on the Welcome album, including the live, single take recording approach, his use of a Marshall '67 100 watt Super Bass head and 1964 Fender Stratocaster. While you may not have vintage amplifiers and guitars at your disposal, acquiring the following effects pedals behind the Welcome tone is certainly within the realm of possibility:

a Fulltone Deja Vibe pedal - The discontinued gold colored model is highly regarded but hard to find these days. To achieve the tones heard on "Smokestack" set the rocker switches to "Chorus" and "Modern", Volume at 5 o'clock (i.e. full), Intensity at 2 o'clock, and Speed at 1 o'clock;
a Hughes and Kettner Replex pedal - retired from Bramhall's pedalboard after recording the Welcome album;
a Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face pedal;
a Roger Mayer Octavia pedal;
a Hughes and Kettner Rotosphere pedal - a fantastic Leslie-rotating speaker simulator;
a Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler pedal with EX-1 Expression Pedal;
a Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer Reissue pedal; and
a Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal - this was subsequently replaced with a Fulltone Clyde Deluxe wah pedal.

Update: We have prepared an update of Doyle Bramhall II's pedalboards and equipment for the Roger Waters (In the Flesh) and Eric Clapton here.

Frank Marino: Pedalboards and Platform-Boots

2008-03-02T16:14:00.007-05:00

The virtuosity of Mahogany Rush guitarist Frank Marino has drawn comparisons to Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana and Duane Allman. On the Maxoom and Child of the Novelty albums, Marino effortlessly combines feverish blues solos, simulated slide guitar tones using left hand vibrato, and jazz-influenced single note runs. While you may not have heard of Frank Marino before, which is understandable since he didn't tour much during the 90s, youtube.com has numerous Frank Marino (and Mahogany Rush) live performance clips at your disposal to get you up to speed. In particular, check out Marino performing "I'm a King Bee" at the 1998 Ottawa Bluesfest (here). If you like what you hear (and see), you'll probably want to pick up the following pedals to replicate Marino's tones:

a DeArmond volume pedal;
a Maestro Echoplex - the original tape Echoplexes are notoriously unreliable and require near constant maintenance. We recommend that you pick up Line6's DL4 Delay Modeler instead, which has built-in digital samples of Echoplexes and Space Echos;
an Electro Harmonix Big Muff fuzz pedal;
an Eventide Flanger pedal - original Eventide pedals are hard to come by. Fortunately, Eventide has recently released a comparable pedal called the ModFactor Modulation pedal which includes flanger effects; and
a Maestro phase shifter - basic looking pedal with three colored rocker switches (turquoise, yellow and red). Just saw one on ebay today selling for $31.00 (Ebay item number 140210501525).

Hope this helps! Comments and corrections welcome.

Steve Hackett: Cured by Effects Pedals

2008-02-28T21:00:00.004-05:00

Genesis alumnus Steve Hackett continues to be a prolific guitarist and songwriter. After recording eight classic albums with Genesis, Hackett pursued a solo career that saw the further release of twenty-two albums between 1977 and 2008. Not wishing to be cornered by the progressive-rock label, Hackett jumped head first into the pop genre with the 1981 release of Cured. While the previous year's Defector album received greater critical acclaim and charted higher in the UK and US, Cured remains one of Hackett's most important solo albums because it evidences his deconstruction as a purely progressive-rock guitarist. If you're interested in producing the ambient tones on "Cradles of Swans" and "Overnight Sleeper", you'll find the following PedalNut details helpful:

Macari Octave Divider - obscure 1970s pedal manufactured in England. If you encounter difficulties finding this pedal on Ebay.com or in your local pawnshop, pick up the Mutron Octave Divider pedal or the Boss OC-2 Octave Divider instead;
Jim Dunlop Cry Baby wah-wah pedal;
Custom Pete Cornish Compression pedal - substitute your favorite compression pedal here unless you have the cash to order a custom pedal from Mr. Cornish. If you want my two cents, the CompNova Compression pedal by T-Rex Engineering in Denmark looks cool and sounds even better;
MXR Phase 90 - dial in the fastest sweep setting possible;
Vox Tone Bender (or a Marshall Super Fuzz if you can find one);
Shaftsbury Duo-Fuzz pedal - apparently makes your guitar sound like a harpsichord, and was combined with the Tone Bender pedal by Hackett on Genesis' song "The Carpet Crawlers" from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway double album;
Schaller Volume Pedal; and
Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble.

Once you have compiled and velcro-taped these pedals to your board, you should also pick up an E-Bow sustainer and a couple of metal slides (at least one full finger slide and a ring slide). Hackett produces endless sustain on the Cured album by using a combination of the E-Bow and slide notes on his Gibson Les Paul.

Hope this helps!

Richie Sambora: Effects Pedals in the State of New Jersey

2008-02-27T19:04:00.007-05:00

By his own admission, Richie Sambora was not a PedalNut. Prior to recording Bon Jovi's New Jersey album, Sambora's pedalboard set up consisted of a Boss Overdrive OD-1 pedal and a rack mounted Yamaha SPX90 effects processor positioned between a pair of Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series 100-watt heads. Then appeared Bob Bradshaw, pedalboard manufacturer to the stars, who created a MIDI-controlled pedalboard that so impressed Sambora with its quiet, reliable operation that he used it to record the hit tracks "Bad Medicine" and "I'll Be There for You". Can't afford Mr. Bradshaw's services for your own Bon Jovi-inspired guitar rig? No problem. Here's the details of Mr. Sambora's pedalboard in a nutshell (pardon the pun):

a Lexicon MPX 100 Dual Channel Processor;
a Yamaha SPX90 Effects Processor;
an Ibanez Tube Screamer TS-9
a Rocktron Hush noise reduction pedal; and
a Rocktron 300A Compressor/Limiter pedal.

If you want to mix in a Slippery When Wet vibe, add a Framptone Talk Box and Jim Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal to the above-listed pedalboard.

Comments and corrections always welcome.

See the Light: Jeff Healey's Pedalboard

2008-02-26T19:16:00.004-05:00

While Jeff Healey has traded his Stratocaster for a trumpet in recent years, his rocking overdrive tone on songs like "Confidence Man" and "See the Light" is still revered by blues-rockers around the world. Not surprisingly, reproducing Healey's tone as heard on the See the Light album will be a difficult task. This is largely due to the fact that Mr. Healey opted to plugged his Squier Stratocaster directly into the soundboard. Nevertheless, when performing Jeff Healey Band covers live you can get close to the See the Light tones by plugging into a Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series 100-watt head and a 4x12 Marshall cabinet, along with the following assortment of off-the-shelf pedals:

a MXR flanger - the key to the "Angel Eyes" tone;
a Jim Dunlop Crybaby wah - used primarily during extended solos in live performances;
a Boss Equalizer GE-7; and
a Tokai Overdrive TOD-2 pedal.

Be prepared to crank the master volume on the Marshall head to at least eight (note: bring ear plugs). If your bank account will allow, order a set of Rod Evans' Eliminator-1 Series pickups for your Stratocaster, which Jeff Healey preferred over the stock pickups on his Squier Stratocasters. Act quickly though, because it would appear that Mr. Rod Evans is no longer manufacturing pickups (buy and read about Rod Evans' pickups here).

Comments and corrections always welcome!

Recycler Hombre: Billy Gibbons

2008-02-25T19:53:00.003-05:00

It's near impossible to pinpoint the source of ZZ Top's distinctive guitar tone on the platinum selling Recycler album. While Billy Gibbon's beloved 'Pearly Gates' Les Paul, a pocket full of Mexican peso-picks, and a wall of Marshall JCM 800s may have something to do with it, the trucks of rack mount effects ("pedals" in the minds of Pedal Nuts) are certainly an essential component of Gibbon's tone. If you find that your ZZ Top covers leave your audiences' heads in Rhode Island, not Mississippi, it's time to double back to check out the following overview of Gibbon's effects set-up:

Furman AR-117 Line Voltage Regulator - helpful for regulating the voltage of your amps to ensure that you're getting a clean, usable signal. Necessary? Not really, but it looks nice in a rack.
T.C. Electronics 2290 Dynamic Digital Delay/Effects Control Processor - you'll need to sell your home or stiff the landlord for a couple of months to afford this unit (note: recently found on Ebay.com for US$1,999.00). Buy this unit, move into the RV, tour the country and grow a beard, and you may get mistaken for Mr. Gibbons himself.
Roland Guitar Effects Processor - while available three years after the release of the Recycler album, the Roland BOSS SE-70 has become a favored rack mount effects processor of Billy Gibbons.
Bisarktone Ring Modulator - good luck finding this rack unit in your local music store, so seriously consider buying a MoogerFooger MF-102 Ring Modulator (pedal!) instead. Woohoo!
Digitech Mono 28 MIDI Programmable Graphic Equalizer- we think this Digitech rack mount effect is an optional item. Apparently, Gibbon's uses the Digitech Mono 28 to comp the tone of his Pearly Gates Les Paul when touring and playing with his stage guitars.

About Face: In the Studio with David Gilmour

2008-02-24T21:57:00.004-05:00

About Face was David Gilmour's second solo album apart from Pink Floyd. While featuring the memorable Pink Floyd delay and phase-shifted tones, Gilmour opted for a more overdriven tone on the About Face album. To achieve these overdriven tones, expect to add the following pedals, used by Gilmour during the recording of the About Face album, to your pedalboard set up:

Roland SCC-700 Pedal Controller - don't let the Roland name fool you when looking for this pedal. Roland pedals are available under the Boss brand now. Gilmour's SCC-700 Pedal Controller contained a full gamut of Boss pedals, namely SD-1 Overdrive, GE-6 Equalizer, GE-7 Equalizer, DD-2 Digital Delay, CS-2 Compressor/Sustainer, and CE-3 Chorus.
two MXR DDL pedals (digital delays), which Gilmour which controlled separately from the presets in the Roland SCC-700 using an A/B switch pedal.
Pete Cornish volume pedal
Mesa/Boogie Mark II amp controlled using a footswitch on the pedal board for his overdriven tones.

Stevie Ray Vaughan: Genius in Pedalboard Simplicity

2008-02-24T19:12:00.003-05:00

Truth be told, Stevie was more of an amp nut than a pedal nut. For the In Step recording session, Stevie Ray apparently trucked in no less than thirty-two amplifiers, including a 150-watt Dumble Steel String Singer, a 100-watt JCM 800 Lead Series head, and two consecutively numbered Fender Vibroverbs. Nevertheless, guitar pedals factor heavily in Stevie Ray's recordings of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) and Cold Shot on Couldn't Stand the Weather and Say What and Come On (Part III) on Soul to Soul. Here are the essential guitar pedals to power your "number one" Fender Stratocaster:

Ibanez Tube Screamer - used to overdrive is amplifiers during solos
Vox wah-wah - vital to Stevie's recorded and live performances of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return), Say What, Come On (Part III) and Goin' Down (with Jeff Beck).
Tycobrahe Sound Company's Octavia- try using Voodoo Lab's Proctavia, which replicates the circuitry of the original Tycobrahe Octavi
Dallas-Arbiter Fuzz Face - the original Fuzz Face pedals are hard to come by, and often don't work very well, so look at picking up a '69 Pedal from Fulltone instead; and
Fender Vibratone - while not a guitar pedal per se, it does come with an on/off foot switch. Fender Vibratones are available on ebay.com and vintage guitar shops, but save your back the pain of lugging it around from gig to gig. Grab Fulltone's Deja Vibe to comp Stevie's soulful tone on Cold Shot, preferably the gold/bronze colored versions from 2000-2001.

Nevermind: Kurt Cobain's Effects Pedals!

2007-11-29T21:43:00.004-05:00

If you're like me, you've used and enjoyed various incarnations of Electro-Harmonix's Big Muff pedals for years. However, with the release of Nevermind (1991), Kurt Cobain single-handedly reintroduced guitarists to the sonic capabilities of Electro-Harmonix's lesser known pedals, including the SmallClone analog chorus. Whether you're a cover band playing weekend gigs, a basement jam band, or simply a Pedal Nut like me, it is virtually impossible to cover the songs of Nirvana and particularly Kurt Cobain's guitar tone without a sampling of two or three key stomp box pedals.

That's why we ask the question: Was Kurt Cobain a Pedal Nut? You bet your ass. Here's the proof:

Boss DS-2 Turbo Distortion - No introduction is necessary for this pedal. Standard Boss casing and three knob configuration (level, tone, distortion), with the added bonus of a turbo knob. Set the tone and distortion near the maximum, and turn the turbo knob to "II" in order to zone in on Cobain's tone. Of course, the pick-ups on your guitar, the amplification, and volume at which you are playing will weigh heavily on your overall distorted tone. But the added turbo boost provided by the Boss DS-2 pedal should enable you to distort the cleanest sounding amplifiers. Used DS-2 pedals are readily available on Ebay.com and craigslist.com for about $50.00. But why not treat yourself to a new one for $90.00 (presently as low as $40.00 at Musicians Friend).
Electro-Harmonix Big Muff - While the DS-2 distortion is known to have been a mainstay on Cobain's pedal board (look at the photographs in the In Utero liner notes), I personally prefer the Electro-Harmonix Big Muff pedal. At low volumes, at which most of us typically play, the Big Muff provides a dirtier, dare I say grungier, tone. Of course, if you're playing live on a weekly basis and wish to faithfully reproduce the tones on Nevermind, the DS-2 Distortion is the pedal for you.
Electro-Harmonix SmallClone - This pedal is a must if ever you intend to perform a rendition of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" or "Come as You Are" for an audience of more than three people (your parents excluded). Set the rate knob at the 3 o'clock position and slide the depth switch down to experience the rapid, yet deep, chorus preferred by Kurt Cobain. If you're lucky, you'll find a vintage version of this pedal on Ebay.com but not for less than $150.00. The range of sounds available on vintage SmallClone's is considered to be more expansive, but for the purpose of replicating the sounds on Nirvana's Nevermind album, the reissue SmallClones from Electro-Harmonix are more reliable. From my experience, vintage SmallClone's that have survived Punk and post-Punk New Wave tours smell funny (and certainly nothing like teen spirit).
For the Amp Nuts - If you have money left over after buying the Boss DS-2 and Electro-Harmonix SmallClone, and want to take your Nevermind-inspired playing to the next level, why not finish off with the proper amplification? Start with a rack-mounted Mesa/Boogie Studio preamp, a Crest 4801 power amp (or two depending on your budget), and a Marshall 4x12 cabinet. Tweak the settings on the Mesa Boogie Studio preamp to dial in on the right tone, but be sure to use the clean channel with the midrange set quite high.