Pedal Line Friday :: Michael J.

This is my board that’s been running strong for my band. I do primarily classic rock and blues live, but when doing studio work, I need something that’ll get me into the ballpark of anywhere. The board is built on a Friedman 1529. Of course, no setup is complete without a clean cable going in and out to the amps, which is why I can only trust Rattlesnake for the job!

Board handles wet/dry/wet in the style of That Pedal Show. Back line always is a Marshall JTM45 HW on a 2x12 and a Fender Twin Reverb from 1965. Guitars are always either a Strat or Les Paul. The others come out for studio work, where I may need more amps (more of that in the breakdown).

Signal goes as follows:

Analogman Sunface (BC183) > Mythos Argonaut V2 > Lovepedal Rubber Chicken (AutoWah) > Cry Baby Jr (mid setting) > Tuner > JHS Solo Boost > Morning Glory (exploring new options in this slot. Possibly a Lightspeed or the BB side of the Protein) > Keeley Modded TS808 > CTC Venus (tube driver) > OCD V1.2 > Xotic EP Booster V2

The OCD is primarily my dirty sound. The amps are set clean when my volume is at 5, but start to break up a tiny bit when all the way rolled up. The OCD's job is to give me that natural harmonic overdrive without needing to blast the room, since I do have to control it using pretty high wattage amps. 

This is where it all gets interesting. It goes in the HX Stomp, and I then have both left and right going out. In the HX Stomp, I’ve configured all my different chorus, flanger, univibe, phaser, and even as of lately, ring modulation, through the different outs on the Stomp. Some effects go to the Marshall, some to the Fender, some to both. It all depends on how I’m using it. Only issue with this is that it does degrade the tone IMO, being such a processed signal. If one company could make one of these that still gave a great analog feel, that would be awesome. This pedal also serves as my ampless rig, where I’ve got a completely separate set of patches mimicking what I set up but with amp models on it. Still tweaking the amps in that though, but has helped get some amp sounds in the studio I don’t own. 

The left input would be my “dry” signal that the Marshall would see. It goes into the Lex V2, then into the left input of the Strymon Timeline. That would be the end of that end's signal chain.

The right input, or the “wet” side, goes directly into the right input of the timeline. It then goes out from there and ends at the Flint V2 to add in a plate reverb and harmonic tremolo. The last thing in the chain after the Flint is the GigRig Humdinger to allow phase flipping and to all for both amps when doing wet/dry/wet (at the shows I do it at) to receive the same exact signal cleanly. 

Planned changes to come as a board is never done. I am hoping that with the Helix Stadiums, a new upgraded version of the HX Stomp comes, primarily with the hopes of a cleaner sound and more DSP/routing configurations. 

Another piece I mentioned at the Morning Glory, thinking of swapping it. It’s been faithful for 5 years, gigging with me; however, I am not the same player and using it entirely differently from when I first started using and I think it’s time to step it up a little. Maybe a Lightspeed, maybe the BB side of the Protein. Who knows? 

Finally, again, in hopes for Strymon… I hope they release an updated version of the Timeline like they did with BigSky MX. A lot of features I hope they will add, like using 2 delay patches at once, panning the delay, and more creature comforts for dweebs like me, trying to do more than the pedal is intended for.

This is a LONG write-up, but one of my most essential tools for live and studio work is my pedalboard. It has been on countless records and recordings, it sees the stage over 90 shows a year, and with being the only guitarist in my primary project, it’s got a lot of ground and sound to cover.  This board can be caught at all Case 44 shows or soon to be coming, a podcast talking about people’s personal guitar rigs on a local musician/tribute band position instead of the larger players. All those guys have great tone, but so do so many local guys, and they deserve to be highlighted too!

Submit Your Pedal Line!

About a million years ago, I used to run a blog called EffectsBay. On that blog, the most popular feature I would run was Pedal Line Friday. This is where readers of the site would send pics of their pedalboard and a short (sometimes long) write-up of routing and thoughts about specific pedals and the reasoning why they liked it, etc. Readers. loved this. It was a great way to learn about new applications or techniques regarding pedals. It also brought a little inspiration and knowledge about pedals you were not familiar with. It also brought a great sense of community - people like sharing and absorbing cool things, right? It was a super popular feature, and I loved putting them together.

All you have to do is send a pic of your pedalboard (or pedal line - it doesn't have to be on a board) along with a short (or long) write-up of the board. We want a list of pedals (manufacturer/model), routing would be great, and, most importantly, why you use those particular pedals. Also, this is a great way to promote your band or musical project - include that information as well!

You can send the pic and the write-up to pedalline@rattlesnakecables.com.