Pedal Line Friday – 6/11 – Josh Washburn

Today’s pedal line is from Josh Washburn. 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 josh. i play in an instrumental band called Nigredo based out of Atlanta. here is the pedalboard i use for that project. the basic rundown of effects and signal chain are as follows:

1. Korg Pitchblack tuner: pretty self-explanatory. i used the Boss TU-2 for a very long time, but i switched to the Pitchblack because i prefer the display, the switch, and the aesthetic a little more.

2. Dual Looper: from the tuner, my signal is split into two chains via this pedal. it was made for me by Loop Master at www.loop-master.com. it’s pretty straightforward as well. the “A” loop (right switch) has my fuzz pedal in it while the “B” loop (left switch) has my other effects. this cuts down on LOADS of tap dancing because i can preset a complicated effects chain while i’m playing a heavy part. this lets me go from clean and effected to dry and dirty with one stomp.

3. Blackout Effectors Twosome Dual Fuzz: incredibly badass fuzz. i’ve got the Fix’d side set to a lo-fi velcro fuzz that i use for leads and as a textural element. the Musket side is full-on wall-of-sound doomy Muff-style fuzz. the Twosome is glorious in its versatility!

4. Moog MF-101 Lo Pass Filter: this is the first thing in my B loop. i have it set to do Mu-Tronesque envelope filtering but will occasionally use it as a droning signal generator by lapsing it into oscillation. i’ve found that running the resonance JUST before it starts self oscillating makes the envelope very responsive to playing dynamics and keeps the effect very full sounding.

5. EHX POG2 Polyphonic Octave Generator: this pedal was dream come true for me. i’ve had a couple different iterations of the POG on previous pedalboards but always wished i could save presets. the HOG was out of my price range and took up too much real estate. when this was officially released, it took all of a week for me to snag one! i haven’t even used up all the preset banks yet but, so far, i have the standard POG organ sound, a sub-octave enhancer type sound that i use in conjunction with the Musket fuzz for extra thick bass-heavy tones (like the MXR Bluebox but a little less synthy sounding), a preset that swells in the upper octaves for angelic pad sounds, a pure +1 octave sound that i use with the Fix’d fuzz for octavia tones, a super-thick detuned chorus sound, and a 12 string simulation.

6. EHX Ring Thing ring modulator: this was another one of those Electro Harmonix revelations that i had to snatch up as soon as i was able. ring modulation is another effect that, for me, is infinitely more useful with presets and CV control. my presets so far include a 7th up pitch shift, a ring mod sound with expression pedal-controlled frequency shifting (for spaceship noises), a rich (albeit noisy) Univibe sound, a step bend for pedal steel sounds, a 5th up shift, a two octave down pitchshift for that dying battery slowdown effect, and ring mod sounds tuned to B and C#. what an incredibly useful pedal!

7. Roland EV-5 expression pedal: far right one controls the Ring Thing

8. Moog MF-103 12 Stage Phaser: rich, chewy 12 stage phasing for texture, psychedelia, and trippiness. as an added bonus, i love pedals that sound this good but can also be self-oscillated to do things it was never intended for…

9. Catalinbread Silver Kiss MkI overdrive: this is my clean boost/mild overdrive pedal. i’ve spent several months on the prowl for the perfect overdrive and found it with this one. lots of EQ possibilities, just enough gain to break up a clean signal slightly, and it looks really cool to boot!

10. Fulltone OCD ovedrive/distortion: i lucked out with this one. i managed to avoid the requisite YEARS of searching for the perfect medium gain dirt pedal and bought an OCD early on. love it love it love it! i run it at 18V on HP mode.

11. Eventide Modfactor: initially, i was only looking for a good Leslie simulator to replace my old Boss RT-20 who’s design flaws were getting on my nerves. i looked at a lot of stuff, but eventually went with the MF for two reasons–it’s Leslie sounds were some of the most convincing i’d heard (especially out of a digital pedal), and it had lots of other great possibilities in it! currently, i have presets for a volume pedal (using the tremolo effect), auto-volume swell (undulator), a chorus that i modeled off of my Boss DC-2 before i sold it, my Leslie effect, a randomly-sequenced square wave tremolo sound based off of the Lightfoot Labs Goatkeeper, a Vox-esque wah, a very vocal wah based on the Dunlop Bass wah, a couple ring mod sounds for white noise stuff, and several completely random noise modulation effects that i use for more experimental stuff.

12. Roland EV-5: the left one controls the Modfactor.

13. EHX Deluxe Memory Man analog delay: this one’s my baby. it was made in the late 70’s and still sounds as great as any analog delay i’ve ever come across. i usually use this delay in conjunction with other spatial effects for really dense, modulated textures and soundscapes. i will also occasionally use it as the only delay with a little reverb to kind of provide a sonic cloud of warbled echo that hovers underneath the melody. it’s rare for me that a vintage effect lives up to all the hype surrounding it, but the original DMM deserves it! simply a great pedal.

14. Boss PS-3 Digital Pitch Shifter/Delay: i have this one set in a unique way that gives me forward AND reverse delay at the same time to create a lush, expansive space without sounding like i’m playing out of tempo. this pedal and that effect have been staples of my pedalboard since the beginning!

15. Ibanez LF7 Lo Fi Filter: the lo fi pedal is another one that’s surprised me with its usefulness. i’ve had it on my board for a very long time as well and, while it doesn’t get used every song, it shines when it does. i use it mainly for intros, interludes, or calm-before-the explosion moments.

16. TC Electronics Nova Reverb: the perfect ‘verb for me so far. i needed something with presets–one for a low-mix plate sound that i keep on most of the time and one for a 100% wet hall sound for texture and ambiance. the controls are easy, the sounds are pure, and it’s generally a set-it-and-forget it convenience. the Nova Verb is one of those effects that is so well-suited to you that you forget you even have it sometimes. i really love it.

17. Eventide Timefactor: the nerve center of the board, really. because so much of what my band does is delay-based and tempo-specific, this is really the only “i couldn’t do a show without it” pedal in the B loop. i have at least one preset for each of our songs–sometimes two depending on my mix/feedback needs for certain parts. i love that i can set unique intervals for each delay. for example, i have one preset that has one delay repeating at quarter notes and a second delay repeating at 9/16ths to create this rolling, wide spacious sound. an incredible useful and musical effect considering how much is packed into it as well.

18. Boss RC-2: i have this thing on the board to cue it the occasional sample between songs for tune-ups/guitar changes. it’s also a super-useful songwriting tool and has saved my ass a couple times live (like when i knocked a string out of the saddle in the intro of a song, looped the second section, fixed it, retuned and came back in without having to stop the song). that being said, i’ll probably end up replacing it with the Digitech Jamman Solo at some point for its extra memory, ability to adjust the tempo of the loop, etc.

19. Channel Switcher: runs underneath the right riser along with the cable out of the dual looper to the amp. i’m going to get Loop Master to make me a smaller one with an LED in the near future.

anyway, that’s about it. you can check www.myspace.com/nigredomusic to listen to some songs, check show dates, etc. thanks for your time!

—josh