Pedal Line Friday – 10/24 – Mike McQuain

Today’s pedal line is from Mike McQuain. 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.

Guitar > Line 6 X2 Wireless Receiver > TC Electronic Polytune > Boss NS-2 (input / send) > 10 Channel Looper in > Dano CoolCat Transparent Overdrive (dirt) > DeltaLab Phase Shifter > Dano CoolCat Overdrive (crunch) > Dano CoolCat Distortion (distortion) > Mad Professor Golden Cello (lead) > ModTone AquaChorus II > Dano CoolCat Tremolo > Boss DD-3 Delay (delay 1) > TC Electronics Alter Ego (delay 2) > TC Electronics HOF Mini Reverb > Looper Out > Boss NS-2 (return / output) > DeArmond Volume Pedal > xotic EP Booster (always on buffer) > Amp (Egnater Tweaker 15 watt combo set on USA clean, vintage, bright and deep) mid’d for FOH and monitor mixer inputs. Pedals and wireless receiver all powered by OneSpot. Note: the space to the right of the phaser reserved for an EHX B9 Organ pedal that I hope to add soon!

I primarily play guitar at my church’s modern worship service on Sundays and need a board that can cover a lot of ground.  Some songs call for a very wet/ambient sound (reverb, delay, maybe chorus), some just need a subtle phase shift, others are rockers that need various levels of dirt and distortion, and tremolo is a must-have on a few songs.  After years of trying different pedals, multi-effects unit, and more pedals, I’ve finally found a great mix of budget-friendly pedals that sound great and give me the tones I need.  Some are rarely used (but when you need it, you need it) and others, like my EP Booster, are always on.

In the past I have played professionally for some local theater productions like Little Shop of Horrors or Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  This board, or a smaller mix of pedals from the board, have allowed me to cover a wide-range of musical styles while playing “in the pit”.

I also teach private guitar lessons and have several young players who come to me asking about “what does that effect sound like?” or “how should I connect my pedals?”  This board has been a valuable teaching and demo tool to introduce them to a wide-range of guitar effects.

My signal path is pretty typical for many players and generally follows the dirt before modulation before time/delay effects.  However, after much experimentation, I have found certain things that I really prefer that may break with that model.  For example, I’ve finally realized that I just do not like the Phase 90 (after owning 4 of time over the years) and I really prefer my phaser before my overdrive/distortion.  Two key elements of my setup are a Boss NS2 to keep any noise at bay and the true-bypass looper to avoid tap dancing all over the place.  I wear size 15 shoes and it is nice to keep everything in line under my big feet (LOL).

I run a clean (USA/vintage) Egnater Tweaker and typically leave all the pedals in front of the amp.  However, putting the time/delay effects in the amp’s FX loop can sound really nice too.  My current main axe is a Gibson Les Paul 60s Tribute with P90 pickups.  But I have played humbuckers (Les Paul Custom/CS-356) and other single coil pickup (Strat/Tele) guitars through this setup with great results.

About the only 2 things you don’t see on this board are my new BeatBuddy drum pedal, which I just got, and an Electro-Harmonix B9 organ pedal that I hope to get soon.  Otherwise, I’m really happy with what I have and (knock on wood) don’t really have strong GAS pains for different pedals right now.  And THAT is something I haven’t been able to say for years!
-Mike McQuain
Tampa Bay area