Joe Perry has shown us his electric guitars. The 10-string B.C. Rich Supreme, “the Rat” Strat he put in the freezer, the ’59 Les Paul Standard and the rest of them. He has shown us his guitar amps, giving GW a decade-by-decade guide to his backline choices.
Now it’s time for the floor show, as the Aerosmith guitarists talks all thinks stompbox, reveals what he typically keeps on his pedalboard – and what he can’t live without.
Article continues belowIt’s really just my pedals strung together on the floor, but you’ll get the idea of what my show ’board is like. The show ’board is packed away with all the touring gear. But whenever I can get doubles, I do.
Most of my vintage pedals are up at the Aerosmith warehouse. I mostly use that stuff in the studio because very few have direct bypass, though some pieces have been updated with that feature. I’m able to find relatively new stuff that can do the job.
I have a pristine Echoplex, but Fulltone makes a copy [Custom Shop Tube Tape Echo] that can't be beat. It’s the best tape echo out there. They even interchange the tape cartridges with Echoplexes. I have five of them!
The Fulltone’s preamp acts like a boost pedal but also adds true tape warmth. Set it with one repeat and almost no delay, and it thickens your sound and adds a little “it”! For that style of playing, it’s a killer setup.
What mistakes do you see other players make with pedals?
There’s a big difference between a distortion and a boost pedal. If your amp doesn’t have a master volume and gain control, you might need a boost pedal to get some hair on the sound.
Most pedals are a combination of boost/distortion, so you can add distortion as an effect and just a boost. But most modern amps distort if you turn them up. If they have a master volume, you should be able to get your basic sound without help from a pedal – and certainly not from a boost pedal.
Why is that?
The boost is meant to kick the amp’s preamp into distortion. If you’re looking for a saturated sound, a la Eddie Van Halen and the shredders, you might use a couple of pedals to get that sound.
But that’s what you need to accommodate that style of playing. For that, the actual tone of the guitar doesn't matter. You could use a ’59 PAF, a new Seymour Duncan JB, or anything in between.
What if you don't want that?
If you really want to hear the tone of your guitar – your Strat, Tele, Les Paul Junior with P-90s – you set your amp to a really “right on the edge of breakup,” cleanish sound, so that you hear your guitar tone. Then add a pedal for your “more” sound. Too many people use too many drive/distortion pedals and wonder, “Where’s my tone?”
How do you control that with minimal pedals?
You should be able to use your guitar's volume knob to control your sound rather than having the volume knob all the way up. Because as soon as you drop it a bit, your sound goes away. You should be able to drop the guitar’s volume and get a real usable, tone-rich sound.
Of course, that’s assuming you have a high-quality volume knob; I've had volume knobs that act almost like an on/off switch, which is junk. [Laughs] In my world, less is more as far as boost and distortion pedals, but it’s up to you [in terms of] what works for you.
Do you have a personal methodology in terms of setting up your pedalboard?
I like to put reverb and delay pedals closest to the amp. In terms of my “always on” pedals, like compression, my guitar goes there first. The rest is trial and error
I don’t know what the general rule on this is, but I like to put reverb and delay pedals closest to the amp. In terms of my “always on” pedals, like compression, my guitar goes there first. The rest is trial and error. You might find that when you use a fuzz, it works better after your flanger. It might add harmonics and sustain that turns the flanger into a different beast.
So, aside from the compressor first and the reverb and delay, I try different orders. But I recently got a replica of an old British fuzz; it was recommended [to be placed] before a compressor. I tried it, but it didn’t work for me. Something to think about.
Is there another pedal you always have on your board?
A Warm Audio Jet Phaser. It has a flange and a fuzz built in, but it also needs a volume boost. When it’s on, the volume drops, so – depending on the song – I might put a clean boost right after it. I might hit the boost pedal when I hit the Jet Phaser.
Do you have any other staple, “gotta have it” pedals?
I have an original Klon – three or four of them – and I can’t go anywhere without it. I’ve got a Fulltone [MDV-3 Deja] Vibe. It’s kind of like the original. I have an original, but I like having them both. And getting to what I “have to have,” there’s the Fulltone version of the Echoplex. I had it tweaked by the guys at Fulltone, and it sounds as good as or better than the original – without all the fuss.
I’ve also got a Prescription Electronics Experience fuzz/octave. It’s kind of like the Jimi Hendrix thing. I’ve also got a modified EHX POG [Polyphonic Octave Generator] with an expression pedal that I use to bring it from bass to treble with my foot.
I have a real Tone Bender fuzz, but I’ve been using the Warm Audio Warm Bender Fuzz with true bypass. I’ve also got an Xotic Effects XW-1 Wah modified with a short throw, so it goes from bass to treble. It's just a great-sounding wah.
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