I used to approach a summer
tour like a good Boy Scout,
prepared for anything. My
pedalboard kept getting bigger to accommodate every
sonic scenario. But as my gear
bounced around in trailers,
buses, vans, and airplanes,
come soundcheck my rig gave
me nothing but buzz and hum
and I often spent an inordinate
amount of time chasing down
shorts in my signal path. After
a while, I never really trusted
my pedalboard. Every time I
stomped on a pedal during a
show, I would worry that the
whole rig would shut down.
Not only was my instrument
untrustworthy, my tone subtlety
became smaller and frailer. It
was time to simplify and get rid
of all non-essentials.
Guitar tone really comes
down to four sounds:
1. Clean
2. Dirty
3. Delay
4. Swirly
When the pragmatic reality
of limited tone options sank in,
I was able to shrink my big tour
pedalboard from 10 tone-suck-
ing time bombs to a Spartan six
pedals. Now, I can usually get
by with, in this order: a tuner,
a compressor, an overdrive, a
delay, a phaser, and a tremolo. I
used to feel that I needed many
shades of dirt, from the subtle
slight overdrive to the insane-in-
the-membrane howl. I used to
run two dirt boxes in line with
varying degrees of filth, switch-
ing between them or engaging
both simultaneously depending
on the song. In an effort to trim
the fat, I now only allow myself
one dirt box, rolling on more
sludge and slime with the spin
of a tiny knob as I need it.
Swirly could be anything
from a phaser, a flanger, a chorus, a Uni-Vibe or any other
kooky, oddball effect. There’s
weird stuff like this being
invented everyday, and it’s a lot
of fun to experiment with these
sounds both live and in the studio. That said, those subtleties
are often lost in a live setting,
and when you schlep this stuff
around long enough, it breaks.
A phaser is my weirdo effect
of choice. Sure, it’s a bit cheesy,
but it can sound a bit like a
flanger or Uni-Vibe or even a bit
like an overdone chorus. It may
not be what you would choose
in the studio where you have
unlimited options, but for me it
is a good flavor that says to the
audience, “Hey, check out this
freaky sound.” It fits me. I work
primarily in country music,
where tremolo remains an integral part of that classic sound.
It’s just something I have to
have. I love a good amp tremolo
but regrettably my current amps
of choice do not have it, so I go
with a good ol’ stomp version.
If wah is your thing, bring it
along and put up with the has-
sle. For years I carried one with
me all the time, but found that
this pedal was more likely to go
bad than anything else (perhaps
because when it is engaged, it’s
violently rocking back and forth
the entire time it’s used, rather
than just turned on and off
when needed). I eventually grew
disgusted with the snap, crackle,
pop of shorting cables and wah
pedals so I abandoned the wah
all together on tour. I have that
sound for studio stuff, but only
hook it up as needed. I also
found that if I went to the trou-
ble of bringing a wah to a gig, I
would wha-ka-whaa-ka-whaa all
night long like a ’70s cop show.
I’m sure it annoyed the wits out
of my poor bandmates.
2 Belts and Suspenders:
Bring Backup Gear
for Your Tour
Whenever possible, I try to
bring a backup amp and guitar
to any important gig. I’m almost
guaranteed to break a string
within the first three bars of the
first song in a long set if I only
brought one guitar with me.
However, if I have guitar No. 2
tuned up and waiting in a stand
next to my amp, my No. 1 will
perform flawlessly all night,
every night. Reinforcements
take the worry away.
Like a curmudgeon grand-
father, a tube amp tends to
get cranky when traveling.
I’ve taken to carrying a tiny,
solid-state head with me on
most road gigs. I travel with an
old-ish Crate PowerBlock amp,
which, like many great pieces
of gear, is no longer made but
can be found used for around
$100. This amp is about the
size of a Katz’s Deli Reuben
sandwich. It fits neatly in the
side pocket of my amp head
case, or in the front pocket of
my guitar gig bag, but I usu-
ally stuff it in back of whatever
combo amp I’m using (this is
kind of a stupid, lazy way to do
it since it could bounce around
in there and smash tubes if the
amp falls or is flipped upside
down). I often leave the Crate
resting on top of whatever amp
I’m using just in case things go
bad. If at any point during a gig
my amp begins to crackle, hum,
smoke, or burst into flames, I
can unplug the 1/4" speaker
line from my tube amp and put
it into the Crate. Then I can
do the same for the 1/4" guitar
cable, turn on the Crate for
immediate power (no wait for
the tubes to heat up) and be up
and rocking in less then a min-
ute. It’s easy for the engineer
because the same speaker means
no re-mic’ing needed.
This compact Crate PowerBlock amp is no longer in
production, but you can get a used one for around $100.
