Pedal Line Friday – 1/17 – Thomas K.

Today’s pedal line is from Thomas K.. 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 Thomas K. and this is my pedalboard. I typically play in a worship setting and my style goes into ambient at times. I run an Epiphone Les Paul into a Fender Blues Junior. The board is made by myself, wired with Lava Cable, and everything is powered by a Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2+. Here is my signal chain:

1. Polytune Noir: I love this tuner, and its compact size is easy to make room for. It is reliable and very fast, and I can usually check tuning in a few seconds with this. It is rather hard to velcro down steadily though.

2. Emerson Custom EM-Drive: This is a transparent overdrive that can be used as a boost and always-on drive, to a nice think overdrive, to an almost fuzz tone if pushed. It is very versatile, stays true to your tone, and sounds fantastic with everything I have tried. I highly recommend it.

3. JHS Superbolt: This is an overdrive that emulates the sagging sounds of an old Supro or Valco amp. It truly does that and sounds great for a nice driven sound. It is very versatile as well, and can go from a light drive to heavy Switchfoot sounds.

4. Blackeye Effects MVP: I had heard many of the problems associated with Ernie Ball volume pedals and didn’t want the footprint of a Dunlop, so I found this from a small company. The pedal is built like a tank, and is small too. The wait time was months, however, and the customer service was very frustrating. Just a warning.

5. MXR Carbon Copy: This is a great analog delay, and for the price, it is hard to beat. The repeats are nice and dark, and for lacking tap tempo, is really easy to dial in to a tempo. This is a really fun pedal.

6. TC Electronic Nova Delay: I would put this delay in the same category as the Boss Giga Delay, and in my opinion, is much easier to use. The presets are a life-saver, and the subdivisions of repeats and the ability to tweak most things allows for a ton of creativity. I highly recommend this as a mid-range priced delay.

7. Strymon Bluesky: I researched this pedal for months before buying, and I was not disappointed. The ease of use was surprising, and the sounds that can come out of it are great. The mod setting covers a lot of ground, and the shimmer setting is beautiful. The ability to EQ the reverb is one of the best things about this pedal, as well as the favorite switch, so I basically have two reverbs at my fingertips.

8. Boss RC-30 Loop Station: This loop station inspires creativity a ton, and even if you are not looking to loop, the drum machine is very useful. It took me quite a while to get used to it, and was not very user-friendly. However, it is now one of the most used pedals I own.

– Thomas K.