Pedal Line Friday :: Conan N.

Conan Neutron pedal board fall 2023

1) Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner
A classic. Weirdly! The newest pedal of the lot of them, I bought a new one on tour at Trading Musician in Seattle. My last one (Tu-2) lasted for 20+ years, a great run. I fully expect the TU-3 will be similar. What can I say? It tunes the guitar. Very important when you use a non-standard tuning (drop-C)

2) Hilbish Compressimiser
Yes! A compressor pedal. My joke is that you get one of these handed to you the day you turn 40. I'm a believer though. I love all the Hilbish stuff and have used everything he's put out in the studio and most of the line live at some point. I absolutely adore the T-Fuzz and Pessimiser pedal, but for what I'm doing these days, the compression pedal (with a slight clean boost) does what I need most. Wild underrated pedal. Again, the 22 year old me is probably howling in imagined pain.

3) Catalinbread Naga Viper
This is a Rangemaster style treble booster. I kind of love the sound when it's just on all the time, but good golly is that a lot to handle. This is the Brian May, Richie Blackmore, Tony Iommi secret weapon in a box with a cool snake on it! If you haven't used a rangemaster going into a CRANKED amp, man... I highly recommend it. Especially if you use Humbuckers like I do (Lace Alumitones in my EGC Custom Jagmster). We get nice comments about the TOANS that we use. One secret is the Naga Viper, the breakup is totally different.

4) Xotic EP Booster
I love this simple one knob boost so much, I've bought one for not just ONE, but TWO members of Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends! It's just a killer clean boost/pre-amp, and makes what you are doing louder and just a touch ruder. I've tried them all, this is the one that does it for me. I use it a LOT. It's modeled after the pre-amp in an Echoplex! Which, if you've ever used one... you know that has a special tonality to it that just rules.

5) Earthquaker Devices Cloven Hoof
Conan Neutron & the Secret Friends loves EQD! When the Cloven Hoof goes on it is SERIOUS business, this is where a lot of the "heavy" sounds come from. There's also a huge noise floor, but whatever! I think you could either call this or the Monarch (RIP) the "Chesapeake Ripper" pedal. Pure silicon brutality with even more sustain than my metal guitar already has. Just THICK, I really love it, all the things I dig about a Ram's Head Big Muff, but with a touch of tone bender and... something different. I'm shocked they stopped making these, because they ROCK. If they ever want to do a limited edition Neutron reissue. I'd be PUMPED!

6) Electro Harmonix Small Clone
A classic chorus! But not the classic Chorus most folks like. I like that too, but it isn't what I want to play on. I dig the Boss chorus and obviously the Roland Jazz chorus is a whole thing, there's something about the character of this one that I just love. I have no idea why people think I've somehow never heard or used a Boss CE-1 and family. I have. Cool pedals, not what I'm looking for. Chorus is a privilege, not a right. But this shows up more than many might realize. Keep it low, it sounds like Nirvana, crank it up... sounds like Chrome! I'm into both things. I'm pro-modulation, and I vote!

7) Earthquaker Devices Bit Commander
An absolute LIFESTYLE choice of a pedal. We have a few songs built around it even. It's a very flavorful spice, and you either build a band around it, or it shows up make some crazy go nuts rude noises. That's where I use it. It's in a few of our more well liked live songs and I really love playing it. For a few years we used to tag the end of the set with the riff from Moby Dick by Led Zep... and I'd always do the last one with that one on. I guess that says a lot about the kind of player I am.

8) Earthquaker Devices Tentacle
A more traditional octave! No controls, just on or off. I love that. When it is on, it is my favorite Octave and it is on a few songs we always play. I love it and wish more manufacturers embraced this kind of simplicity, instead of 15 million dip switches and controls.

9) Bananana Effects Mandala Glitch Pedal
Speaking of too many controls! Look: I love this pedal it does a LOT. I really only need it to do the one thing. This crazy quick reverse stuff, that shows up in a few key parts in key songs. This pedal could be huge and you could get lost with all it does. I literally only use the one setting though. That said, super cool weirdo pedal.

10) Catalinbread Belle Epoch OG version
I love this! It's a little echoplex in a box, you get that kind of sea sick warble and the delay at the same time. A key to a few of our songs.

Lastly: Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 3 Plus.
Powers all of this nonsense up with one to spare (!), eliminated ground hum and you can even use it for 18v or 20v pedal if you use a different cable. I was talked into this for voltage regulation and the fact that you can use it internationally easily enough without converters. SOLD

Wood and shims were from various things around the house... the Roadrunner case has been used and abused by years of touring, TSA, baggage throwers, etc. But it's still kicking and still both closes and protects!

This last tour it finally lost one of the latch covers though... but much like the Black Knight in Holy Grail, it's still ready to go!

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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.