Pedal Line Friday – 4/29 – Alan Mansfield

Today’s pedal line is from Alan Mansfield. 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.

My name is Alan Mansfield. I am the guitarist for Witness Tree. I have been playing for 20+ years and I wanted to submit my pedalboard for your Friday article.

First… I primarily play a Les Paul and a Telecaster. My amp of choice is a 100w Hughes & Kettner Duotone head thru a Mesa oversized custom 4×12 cabinet.

My pedalboard is a Pedaltrain Pro (hardcase) with 2 Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+ units attached. Having 2 allows a lot more configuration options.

The signal chain is:
1 – Ernie Ball Mono Volume Pedal. No explanation needed, but I do NOT use the tuner out. Since the input, tuner out, and output jacks are in parallel, there is an affectation to the signal with the tuner plugged into the tuner out. I am not a fan, so I don’t use it. Neither should you.

2 – TC Electronic Polytune. Great little tuner and true bypass.

3 – Budda Budwah. No explanation needed. Great wah with low sweep and good tone.

4 & 5 – Sioux Guitars Court St. Overdrive. The thing about these overdrive pedals isn’t how they can party with the best OD pedals out there (yes… including the TS) but how versatile they are. Tons of room for ALL adjustments (Volume, Gain, Tone). You can dial in a classic Fender Bassman warmth, you can crank up to get a smoking hot “Black Crowes” vibe, dial back the gain and add some bite to the tone for a “Stones” feel… I just feel like I can do ANYTHING with these pedals.

6 – Sioux Guitars Villa Ave. Distortion. The best description I have ever heard regarding this distortion/fuzz pedal is from the legendary Jeff Dahl; “The Villa Ave is my kind of fuzz! No soulless modern hi-gain sound, this is all about early Sabbath and Blue Cheer. I’ve been waiting for years to hold that endlessly oozing fat note again! It’s not meant for fast riffage, but for majestically heavy powerchords, long bends and melodic lines ala ‘Satisfaction’ or ‘Hot Smoke & Sassafras’. The Villa Ave can’t be beat. And none of that adenoidal, pulsing modulation that was so prevalent in the Seattle grunge scene. This is thick, greasy & smooth. The sexiest fuzz on the planet.” Well said, Jeff.

7 – Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser. This is an OK Phaser. I bought it last minute at my local guitar shop as I really wanted a phaser right then and there. I stacked several small form factor phasers next to each other at the shop and ran them thru a Vox AC30 with a telecaster. I went with this one because it sounded better than the newer MXR Phase 90 and the MXR Phase 45 script didn’t have a 9v jack. I am in the market for a better one. It’s nice, but I am sure there is better out there.

8 – Sioux Guitars Flood Of ’53 Flanger. This flanger is subtle. It isn’t an indecipherable swirling & undulating mess. Very nice and tasty for clean rhythms and funky walks. Very old school classic blues rock as well ala Robin Trower. Very clean & articulate.

9 – Sioux Guitars K-D Chorus. Admittedly, I was somewhat of a novice when it comes to true analog chorus before I added this one. I have always used digital chorus (Boss, etc) which produces an entirely different sound and range. But when I switched to a more simplified analog chorus sound, I couldn’t be happier. I A/B’d the Sioux Guitars K-D Chorus with a EHX Small Clone and found that not only did the K-D stand toe-to-toe with this legend, I found it to be slightly more versatile- even in its simplicity. Lush, liquid lows and chimey, distinct highs. Perfect chorus doubling and the wicked throb of a Leslie.

10 – Line 6 DL4 Delay. No explanation needed. However, I am upgrading this to a DL4 that has been modded by JHS Pedals. The volume drop issue without the stock one is driving me crazy.

11 – Electro Harmonix Micro POG. No explanation needed. Rarely use this pedal except for some retro power pop/pop organ voicings. Kinda cool. This one may not survive the ever-changing pedalboard configuration.

12 – Boss ’63 Fender Reverb. Since my H&K head doesn’t come equipped with reverb, I needed to find a nice reverb pedal. I know most folks like the “other” Boss reverb pedal, but I really dig this one. Nice and wide with a decent recreation of a classic reverb tank in a pedal. I wasn’t going to shell out the cash for a reverb tank so I picked this up. Couldn’t be happier with it. I am not doing any Dick Dale licks or anything so this serves its purpose.

There you have it- However, I want to give a little more info on the Sioux Guitars pedals. These are HAND MADE pedals by a gentleman in Sioux City, IA. I just stumbled upon his pedals as another fellow guitarist in my area was being endorsed by the maker of these pedals and I instantly fell in love with his tone. I contact the guy and was impressed by his knowledge, his craftsmanship, and his desire to make a classic pedal that built like a tank, created a classic and amazing tone, a knack for “keeping it simple”, and prices his pedals for the everyman- not charge a bag full of money for his pedals like every other boutique pedal maker out there. You need to check this guy out.

Anyway… thanks for taking the time to check out my rig!

Onwards and upwards.

Alan Mansfield

alan@nullwitnesstreeband.com
www.witnesstreeband.com