Building a pedalboard is an exciting project, ranging from selecting each pedal for the board to organizing the order of the signal chain. Not to mention designing the entire board (if you're going the DIY route, as I did with my suitcase pedalboard). Of course, it is a great indulgence, but it can be gratifying, especially when the desired sounds come through.
Here are the guitar effects that I currently have on my pedalboard (updated on May 2024):
- TC Electronic Polytune 2 Mini Tuner Pedal
- Effects Bakery Bagel Overdrive Pedal
- Animals Pedal Rover Fuzz (limited edition)
- Animals Pedal I Was a Wolf in the Forest Distortion (limited edition)
- Animals Pedal Push & Pull Distortion (limited edition)
- JHS Hall Reverb Pedal
- Caroline Kilobyte Delay Pedal
- Effect Bakery Power Supply Hoden Sentai Donuts
The signal chain here is fairly standard. Typically, a signal chain starts with utility pedals (in this case, the tuner pedal). This section could also contain EQ and/or compression pedals, but I opted out of using them since I prefer to make those changes in the recording process.
Following the utility section is the section for gain/drive pedals. These include boost, overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals. To start the drive section, I'm using an Effects Bakery Bagel Overdrive as a boost pedal—I dial back the drive knob around 45% and rely more on the volume knob so I can "boost" the loudness of and add some "distortion texture" to the following drive pedals when they're are stacked in succession. The next drive pedals are three of my most prized possessions: the Animals Pedal Custom Illustrated Rover Fuzz, I Was a Wolf in the Forest Distortion, and Push & Pull Distortion pedals. These gained notoriety on my TikTok and Instagram videos as rare, highly sought-after, and incredible sounding. These three pedals create the core of my guitar sound between rhythm and leads!
After the gain/drive section, we come to the time-based pedals. These include delay, reverb, and tremolo effects. Usually, I'll dial the dampen and decay knobs to their shortest time on the JHS Hall Reverb Pedal to use it more as a "washed-out" effect rather than a typical "reverb room" sound. With the Caroline Kilobyte Delay Pedal, I'll use it as a slapback delay, which is great for lead guitar riffs.
The setup is simple at its core, but the sounds I get from the signal chain fit with how I write my songs! Thanks for reading, and subscribe to my newsletter for more articles and content about guitar pedals, original music, and more.