My pedalboard is featured in this month’s issue of Gitarist Magazine!
“The core of my setup is a Hook Wizard tube head, which I control via MIDI using a Fractal Audio FC-12. With the bottom row of switches, I toggle between the specific voicings of the HOOK AMPS — ranging from Fender-style cleans to Plexi Marshall crunch and High Gain — while the top row allows me to switch the effects of my Fractal Audio Axe-FX III on or off. The expression pedals on the side give me real-time control over parameters while playing. I use two OCD – Otter Custom Design extenders on the side of the FC-12 that extend the range of the FC-12 with four more presets, programmable with #CC commands.
My signal path starts on the left with a TC Electronic Bonafide Buffer and goes from there to a Lehle switcher. This is an incredibly handy looper that I’ve been using since the ’90s. The MIDI-out from the Hook controls the Lehle via a special MIDI-to-jack cable. This way, I automatically activate the correct loop (clean or lead) for the pedals positioned before the amplifier that truly shape my core sound.
As a self-proclaimed ‘booster freak,’ I have a massive collection at home, but for this board, I’ve chosen the Scott Henderson RC Booster and the TC Electronic Classic Booster+Distortion. The latter is a reissue of the rare 1970s original, famously used by Allan Holdsworth. When I played with him at a festival in Sicily back in 2013, I showed him this pedal. Although he felt this version didn’t sound like his beloved original at all, he was very much impressed by the sound and liked it a lot.
For modulation, I love the Providence Anadime chorus. I’ve sold this pedal three times now, but I keep buying it back; that mono-detune sounds so beautiful and almost feels like stereo. For my master volume, I use a compact pedal from the Australian brand Loopi Pedals, which I can operate very intuitively by rotating my foot.
*If I had to choose one pedal for an entire show*
That would be the TC Electronic Classic Booster + Distortion. For my legato playing, I need a bit of “meat on the bones,” so to speak. The compression and gain of this pedal ensure that the guitar not only plays easier but also makes the notes truly sing with beautiful sustain. It works much better with a booster, allowing the notes to seamlessly flow into one another and sing with sufficient sustain.”
Eric van Nieuwland
