My Amps & Pedals
Amps
My rehearsal and (at least in theory) stage rig is a Blackstar Studio 20 head going through a Marshall 1960A 4 x 12 speaker cabinet (that looks like it went through World War II). The head, also called the HT-20, is from the original Venue series, the "Mk I". It was purchased new in the first days of 2011, so it is by quite a fair margin the amp that I've owned for the longest period of time. Sometimes I get impatient to find something new and better, but every time I do I come back to the HT-20 and realize just how great it is. This amp does everything I want to do. It has glorious cleans, a great crunch sound that cleans up when dialing back the guitar volume, and an aggressive distorted tone. It is just powerful enough that it can punch through a rhythm section.
The Blackstar ID:30 TVP is my go-to amp for recording. Unlike more traditional simulating amps, it doesn't have cookie-cutter emulations of classic amps. You will not find a JCM 800 sim, a Rectifier, a blackface Twin and an AC30. Instead, there are six gain stages (clean to massively distorted) and six simulated tube output stages, together with the usual Blackstar ISF (Infinite Shape Feature) that reconfigures the equalizer from American to British tones or anything in between. That way, you can approximate all the classic sounds as well as find your own combinations.
My dedicated practice amp is the Marshall Code 25. It has a few models that are simply fantastic: I can sit and wail with the JCM 800 sim for hours, and it also has a very nice Bluesbreaker tone. I especially enjoy that the Code 25 has the possibility to insert certain effects before the preamp, so I can have a selectable overdrive for that extra push when I want it.
I bought the Marshall with the intention that it would supplant the Blackstar. Logically, digital amps improve in leaps and bounds since processors and memory circuits get cheaper and more capable. Initially, it was obvious that the Marshall represented three years of digital evolution over the Blackstar. There is something about how the tones feel under the fingers that makes me prefer the Code 25 to the ID:30 when just soloing and riffing in the room. As soon as I connect the emulated out to my sound card, however, the roles are reversed. The Blackstar has a much more pleasing sound for recording, but it's hard to get inspired by the speaker sound. But this is only true so long as I play with distorted tones. When I switch to cleaner sounds, the Blackstar runs rings around the Marshall. Some of it stems from the fact that the ID:30 simply has a bigger speaker (12-inch vs. 10-inch) and a bigger cabinet, so it's more resonant. But the clean preamps along with the power amp sims can get me glorious, almost Fender-type cleans. Whenever I want to play with my delay, reverb and modulation pedals, I use the Blackstar ID:30.
Pedals
Ideally, I would run my guitar straight into the amp and try to challenge myself to extract as much nuance as possible from that simplest of combinations. In fact, if you look back on my playing career, that is actually how I have spent the most of the time. But recently, I have resigned myself to the fact that a pedal or two can actually add to your tone and inspire you to play and write new stuff.
I put it like this because I have always had a complex relationship with pedals. There's something about them that just screams buy me! collect me! and as a guy I'm predisposed to falling for such stuff. Colorful gadgets with knobs, switches and LED:s? I'm in! It goes in cycles, I suppose. I collect pedals and use them, and then I have a bad experience and I am turned off by them for a while—until the cycle starts anew. I think pedals are downright dangerous. They're cool, they're substantial enough to affect my tone, but at the same time they're usually cheap enough that I think nothing of buying one a month without much prior deliberation. It is telling that whenever I find a new guitar or amp that I really want, the first thing I do is check my pedal collection for anything I can get rid of.
I own two pedalboards: the Pedaltrain PT-2 and Nano+. I'm a little undecided on what I should do: keep the smaller one in the rehearsal room and focus on only the stuff I need, or use the bigger one with space for those extra pedals that might come in handy. There are arguments to be made both ways. But as of right now, my available power sources tend to dictate the choice. The big board is powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 that I have mounted underneath via the included brackets. It has worked great so far, and it has eight outlets, which means that I have power for just as many pedals as I would ever see myself needing at any one time. There is ample space on the board—I bought it when I owned a volume pedal and a wah. The smaller board has Pedaltrain's own Volto, which is basically a powerbank for 9-volt effects pedals. It works all right, and I particularly like not having that extra cable to worry about, but I have to remember to keep the thing charged or it will zonk out when I least expect it. Not a problem with true bypass pedals, but one of the pedals I rely on the most has a buffer and will not pass sound without power even if it's off. At any rate, I have used Pedaltrain's products for six years now, and I've never had an issue. They're sturdy and ergonomic, and I particularly like that I can pass cables (and mount the power supply) underneath it, so as to keep the top surface as uncluttered as possible. After a bit of going back and forth, I have settled on the EBS flat patch cables, that do a wonderful job and allow me to mount pedals really close to each other should I need it.
There is no pedal that I couldn't play without, nor is there something that's always on. But I have been able to narrow my preferences down to a central collection of four or five that inspire me a great deal and that I consequently always have available:
- TC Electronic Polytune 3. Clip-on tuners work fine at home or in a pinch, but I have found that I cannot rely on them to the absolute degree needed for stage work. Not that I see many stages nowadays. But it isn't out of the question, especially with the new band, and therefore I want to have my pedalboard stage-ready. That means a proper pedal tuner. I am not super picky about which tuner I use, but I enjoy TC Electronic's products and the shop happened to have a Polytune 3 in stock when I was there to shop for a suitable tuner. I don't use the Poly feature at all, but I insisted on getting a tuner that had a good buffer. The tuner always goes first in the chain because it should get as clear a tone as possible from the guitar.
- MXR Phase 90. This is the modern block logo variant. I have tried a few phasers over the years, but it turns out that what I’m looking for, the reference sound if you will, is the 90. Everything just fell into place when I tried one for the first time. I leave the rate set at about 10 o’clock. Usually the phaser is used to spice up my clean sound, but it also works great on a heavier tone. When I dial up the rate, it gets close enough to a wah tone that I don't feel the need to buy a dedicated wah pedal. The phaser is always placed as early as possible in the signal chain because I prefer phaser before distortion.
- Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive. There was absolutely nothing wrong with either the Tube Screamer or the Spark Booster, but I kept hearing stuff about the SD-1 and seeing great demonstrations of it on Youtube. So eventually I had to have one for myself. It was like discovering that final piece of the puzzle. All of a sudden, my lead sound just clicked. I don't know what it does, but I suppose that it accentuates frequencies that are pleasing to these battered old ears.
- MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay. I selected this over a digital delay since I could make it sound decent when placed before distortion. Honestly, for a good while there I had no idea what to use it for (other than self-oscillation, for fun). Then I discovered that I could dial back the modulation settings, which admittedly are pretty extreme as set up in the factory. The pedal just came alive after that. I have always been partial to chorus, but one thing that I've never liked is that it seems to rob my playing of its natural dynamics. Not so with a modulated analog delay. Since the repeats are much darker, they tend to disappear into the background, and so my playing sits on top of a beautiful wash of shimmery goodness. This is about the only pedal that I can sit with for hours at a time, it is so wonderful and inspirational.
- MXR Uni-Vibe. I fell in love with Uni-Vibe after getting into The Dark Side of the Moon. There was something intensely familiar and soothing with the swooshy, swirly modulation as showcased on Breathe. I just had to have one. I would dare anyone who uses vibe to state that Gilmour, Hendrix or Trower had nothing to do with it. I cannot. I find myself going back to those classic guitar sounds again and again.
The three available slots left on my pedalboard tend to be occupied by a chorus, and then either flanger, vibrato, rotary or tremolo. Here is a brief discussion of the rest of the pedals in my collection:
- Boss DS-1 Distortion. A great distortion pedal that also works as a boost. When taming the gain and tone, it has just about the sound of my amp. It is a great alternative for when I want my delays and modulation pedals to sound cleaner, but it isn't as dynamic and responsive as my amp, so I tend not to use it for my main heavy sound. It would, however, work as my main sound were I forced to plug into a mostly clean amp at a session or similar.
- Ibanez Tube Screamer Mini. The Tube Screamer is a fine low-gain distortion pedal, but shines even more when driving an already distorted sound. But I can't get next to mini pedals. I find myself constantly bumping the knobs with my foot when stomping on them, and the high center of gravity means they wobble a lot. On my home board, however, none of this is an issue, and in that context this pedal just shines.
- Korg Pitchblack Mini tuner. Great tuner with a bright display, and I have had great experiences with a number of different Korg tuners. The only drawback is that this is a mini pedal, just like the Tube Screamer.
- MXR Analog Chorus. I am a child of the 80s and therefore I am attuned to the swirly sound of chorus. This one gives me a great deal of control with its five knobs, and it is also light blue. Owning three Boss choruses prior to this has made me accustomed to looking for that light blue pedal whenever I want to fatten up the sound. Since the Carbon Copy handles most modulation duties for clean sounds, this one sees use mostly when I want to beef up a big distorted riff. Yes, I'm a big Rush fan as well.
- MXR Micro Flanger. I wanted a flanger that could provide an alternative to chorus, with that shimmery top end. I am not a fan of that overdone flanger sound where you almost cannot hear the pitches and rhythms being played. The MXR Micro is subtle enough for my purposes.
- MXR Phase 95. This is actually superior to my Phase 90 simply because it has buttons for switching between 2- and 4-stage phasing as well as turning the feedback loop on and off. In MXR terms, it is both block- and script-logo Phase 45 and Phase 90 in one tiny enclosure. But that last bit is what keeps it off the big board: I tend to prefer regular-sized pedals. This one lives on the small board at home and I just love it!
- TC Electronic Eyemaster Distortion. This is a clone of my first distortion pedal, the Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal, the most essential component of the Swedish buzzsaw death metal guitar tone. It is named after the first song on Entombed's Wolverine Blues and even uses the same font! I sold my HM-2 in 2010 after I realized that I could get a bunch of money for it, but I found myself missing it. When TC released this one, I was all over it, since it was priced just low enough that I could justify it, as opposed to the handmade 200+ euro HM-2 clones. It is just for fun, when I want something decidedly less smooth for jamming on metal riffs at the rehearsal space. It is pointless to keep it at home since it doesn't play well with my digital amps.
- TC Electronic Hall of Fame 2 Reverb. Wonderful reverb, I especially enjoy the modulated and shimmer settings for messing about at home or on recordings.
- TC Electronic HyperGravity Compressor. I prefer preserving the dynamics of my live/rehearsal sound, so this didn’t get as much use as I had hoped. But it works great when recording bass direct, and is awesome for clean sounds at home.
- TC Electronic Pipeline Tremolo. Supercool tremolo with tap tempo and customizable modulation curves. Also a candidate for the board.
- TC Electronic Shaker Vibrato. When I first tested the entire TC Toneprint range together, this one stood out. A vibrato is basically a chorus without the dry signal. I have found that at a slower speed, it approaches a chorus, but if you turn the depth down and the speed up, it can double as a Leslie. The basic pedal is great, but there is a Toneprint that I just love and find myself using all the time. I loaded it onto the pedal many years ago, so I cannot remember which one it was.
- TC Electronic Spark Booster. This Swiss army knife of a pedal is all over my recent recordings. It adds presence and grit to a clean tone, and it is indispensable for pushing a solo tone into that extra bit of sustain.
- TC Electronic Vibraclone. I love the sound of a rotary speaker, and whereas I have resigned myself to the fact that nothing can approach a properly miked-up Leslie, this one does an okay job for the price. I would want a footswitch for ramping the speed up and down, I don't care for the existing switch (it only turns the effect off when I release the switch, not when it clicks) and I am not wild about how it colors my tone.
I don't have many distortion pedals simply because I prefer the sound of amp distortion. Distortion pedals can sound good, but in my opinion they just don't get me all the way. They are handy because I prefer modulation and delays post-distortion and whereas I have an effects loop I don't want the hassle and the extra cables. But I prefer my amp tone to the degree that I willingly run all my effects into the front of the amp.
Between 2013 and 2018, I got the pedal-collecting bug because I didn't know what I wanted to do musically, and so I guess I used it as an excuse to try to be ready for anything. But when I formed the new outfit at the start of 2019, and it landed in classic rock territory, a number of pedals found themselves without a job, so I got rid of them. It is becoming increasingly clear that I prefer old-school effects: a bit of amp reverb, analog delay, tremolo, phaser, rotary and Uni-Vibe. Basically anything that was invented before 1975. I love listening back to those classic tunes and the warm, organic guitar tones.
This is important, because it determines what I should look for and shop for. I already have a tuner that works, an excellent phaser, the best possible analog delay and a sweet boost pedal. There is a good enough reverb in my amp and I also have a great tremolo pedal. I don't need another chorus or flanger. I could probably find a better Uni-Vibe clone, there is just something with mine that doesn't feel right. And I definitely want a better rotary pedal—the Neo Instruments Micro Vent 122! In all other pedal categories, I'm basically set. I don't use any of them enough that what I already own can't do the job when called upon.