Pedal Line Friday – 4/26 – Tzvi Gluckin

Today’s pedal line is from Tzvi Gluckin. 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.

Obviously, Boston has been in our minds, so when I saw this entry come in.. I wanted to post it.

Dear Effects Bay,

I am an Orthodox Rabbi with a degree in Jazz Studies from the New England Conservatory of Music.  Figure that one out!

I live in Boston and you can find my newest album here: http://tzvigluckin.bandcamp.com/

My music is an eclectic mix of happy early-90s alternative, family-friendly Zappa, whacked-out Jewish roots music, odd-metered funk, and blues-based rock.

My pedal board is an ever-evolving 30-year work in progress.  In front are the effects I put before the amp and in back are the effects I run through my amp’s effects loop.

Up front is a Dunlop Classic Cry Baby Wah. When I first bought this pedal, Dunlop was only making the Cry Baby, there were no fancy options.  I used it for 20 years, replaced the pot, and ultimately trashed the input jack, so I decided it was time for an upgrade. I bought the most expensive Wah I could find ($250) and hated it – it was noisy and drastically altered my tone on a clean setting. I returned it and replaced it with the closest thing I could find to the original Cry Baby (the classic). It rocks. The Cry Baby has a chunk and a mellow high end (many wah’s clip when in the treble position) and is great for 70s-style shaft comping.

Next up is the Boss OC-2 Octaver. I keep the octave 2 position cranked all the way and it makes a nice farting sound when I play notes from low A down. It is also great for fattening up jazz-style modal noodling over ostinato funk grooves.

The Emma DiscumBOBulator is the mother of all Envelope Filters. I use it almost exclusively for leads. For funk comping I stick with the wah.

The Pro-co Rat. Wow. For live playing, I almost always use the lead channel on my amp and save the Rat for ultra-overdrive boost.  But in the studio the overdriven tubes can be too much. The Rat is my go-to pedal for classic distortion and usually sounds HUGE.

Zvex Fuzz Factory. Awesome tool for nasty, abrasive sickness and overdriven weirdness.  The exploratory possibilities are endless.

Dunlop Rotovibe. I got this in the early 90s and I don’t know how I lived without it. I originally got it to simulate a Leslie cabinet, but now I almost always turn it on and forget about it.  It is my go-to warble. It is particularly good for Middle Eastern leads and helps simulate a microtonal feel.  And from the Rotovibe I plug into the amp.

In the back I have a Boss Super Chorus. I got it when smoke came out of my Rotovibe and I thought it was a goner. I used it until the Rotovibe miraculously fixed itself (I don’t know what happened).  Now it is just a place holder in my board until something better comes along.

Pearl Analog Delay. This is a cool pedal and is apparently now a collectors item (eBay has them for about $300).  I got it in high school when they came out in the early 80s (and there is no way I paid $300 for it).  It has
two independent delay units, each activated with its own foot switch, and shares an overall delay level and output level.  I usually keep one setting short to fatten up leads and the other long for groovy effects.

If I use a looper I stick it here as the last pedal in the chain before the signal returns to my amp’s loop.  This way it keeps all the effects in the sampled loop but allows me a full pallet of sounds to use over the top.

My board is powered by a Dunlop DC Brick.  I use that because it is small, allows for both 9 and 18 volt effects (the delay is 18 volt), and I can use it in any country regardless of voltage.

My amp is a Mesa/Boogie Mark IV 1-12 combo.  I bought it 20 years ago and it still has the original tubes.  I had the amp serviced last fall before I went into the studio and the tech told me the tubes are now outdated by at least 2 generations.  But hey, they still work and sound great.

My guitars are an early 90s Tele (a ’52 reissue) and an early 80s Les Paul with maple neck and no-burst finish.  I got the Les Paul at a hipster guitar shop on West 30 Street in Manhattan in the early 90s.  I didn’t pay for it.  I swapped a beautiful Gibson ES-175 for it and never looked back. I was thrilled and the guitar shop sold my 175 within a week, so they were thrilled too.

For a tuner, I have a beat Matrix stomp box that I thought was a Boss pedal when I bought it, but I usually just use my ears.

Thanks for your great website!!!
tzvi

*BUY MY NEW ALBUM NOW.* http://tzvigluckin.bandcamp.com/album/mimi