Doug Martsch’s Pedalboard of Built to Spill 2015

When I first moved to Missoula, MT in 1993, I first saw Treepeople who was a band from Boise, ID that would tour often. I loved Treepeople. I use to listen to Time Whore and Something Vicious for Tomorrow which were great EPs from the band, and featured Doug Martsch on guitar and vocals. In the mid-to-late 90s, I began listening to Built to Spill, specifically, Nothing Wrong With Love. I mean, I listened to that album – all. the. time. Amazing album.

In the late 90s I had to see Built to Spill live for the first time. I got front and center and was in awe of Doug Martsch’s playing. How effortless he made it look, while completely full of emotion, while the person, himself, appeared separate from the moment. It was an amazing show. Doug Martsch goes down easily as one of my guitar heroes. Built to Spill has played multiple times here, yet I didn’t want to go see them in the bigger venues. I wanted to hold on to that show in the late 90s. It was a special show.

Last night, I had the opportunity to see Built to Spill again during their first show of their 2015 Fall Tour. For some reason, the show was in a small venue and was exactly what I was looking for. I again found myself front and center and soaked Doug’s guitar (amp facing directly at my face). Again, he blew my mind. Again, I’m in awe of the man and the way he plays guitar.

My wife was able to get some shots of the pedalboard, so I thought I’d share!

Here is the breakdown of pedals:

Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
Suhr Jack Rabbit Tremolo
Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy
Xotic EP Booster
Xotic EP Booster
Xotic SP Compressor
TC Electronic Polytune Noir

The pedalboard was a home made ‘double decker’ board – small and efficient. I thought it was interesting that he’s using 2 Xotic EP Boosters. I double.. and triple checked that. My guess, either internal trim pots are set differently, or simply the levels are set differently. I was unable to view the knobs on that row.

Next to the pedalboard, he had 2 pedals to manage vocal effects:

Eventide Mixing Link Microphone Preamp
Eventide Timefactor Delay

I would like to thank my wife of Amy Donovan Photography for providing these photos! Are you a fan of Dough Martsch and Built to Spill? Let me know what you think!