Guitar Pedals

February 23, 2008

I’m often asked about my acoustic guitar set-up, so here it is. I use three main boxes:

1) LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI. This box serves as a DI box, as well as a great sounding, easy-to-use, EQ. You can really make a guitar sound “huge” through one of these.

2) Digitech JamMan. This little box actually degrades the audio quality slightly, but the benefits vastly outweigh the drawbacks. The JamMan is a “loop pedal.” You step on it and it starts recording. When you step on it again, it plays back exactly what you just recorded, allowing you to play multiple parts. You can do it continually, creating interesting combinations of sounds and textures. I’ve posted an example below.

3) TC Electronic G-Natural. This bulky box is the best all-in-one pedal available for acoustic guitar. I use it for compression, to give my sound a lot of clarity, and for reverb, which can make you sound like you’re in a big hall.