Pedal Line Friday – 2/4 – Alfonso Bravo

Today’s pedal line is from Alfonso Bravo. If you have a pedal line (doesn’t have to be in a board) for your rig, please email me a photo, bio, description of pedals and routing to pedalline@nulleffectsbay.com. Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

First off, so pumped I found this site.  I was looking for information on Mogwai’s board and ended up getting so much more than I bargained for.

I’m sending over a pic of my pedal board the way I’ve had it set up for the last few months.  I snapped this when I first set up the chain so it’s been cleaned up since then.  I’m playing primarily a Fender Jaguar Baritone Custom through this into a Zinky Blue Velvet 25W Combo.  Here’s the signal flow:

Korg Pitchblack Tuner
Line6 FM4 Filter Multi Effects
Digitech Whammy
CMATMODS Deluxe Compressor
EHX Big Muff Pi w/ Tone Wicker
Seymour Duncan Shape Shifter
EHX Memory Man w/ Hazarai
Akai E2 Headrush
EHX Holy Stain
Zinky Blue Velvet Channel/Reverb Footswitch

The one thing I tweaked the most in my chain was where to put the CMATMODS compressor, which is a phenomenal Ross Compressor clone I’m incredibly fond of.  I ended up putting it after the FM4 to counter the volume drop and accentuate the weird harmonics I get out of it, and after the Whammy to tighten up the harmonies.  We use a lot of effects and coloring in our band, and messing with weird harmony bends with the Whammy is integral to some of our tracks, so I wanted to make sure they come across live.

For heavier tones I’ve got the Big Muff /w Tone Wicker and my Zinky’s gain channel, though I’ll probably be copping one of CMATMODS Signa Drives next for a warmer, tube screamier sound.

Lastely there’s the time-based effects, and because I like to use them prominently quite often I’ve made having tap tempo a priority for any I’ve picked up.  The Shape Shifter is a fantastic tremolo that can go from subtle to really weird and dramatic, and the MM w/ Hazarai, E2, and Holy Stain all have a lot of options that make them a little more interesting than your typical delay/reverb pedal.

Oh there’s the also Korg Pitchblack at the front of the chain, which for my money is a total no brainer when it comes to a straight up reliable tuner w/ true bypass that’s great on stage.

You can check out our stuff here.  We’ve got one track up for now and we’re finishing up our first EP over the next few months.
http://www.facebook.com/RivalSkies
http://soundcloud.com/rivalskies

Thanks much,
Alfonso