Hello there! Jonny’s Mellotron is an original M400 model with its original tapes from the early 1970’s. Jonny’s quote tells us that his exact instrument was used by Tangerine Dream, likely on their Mellotron-heavy mid-70’s albums. The inventor’s relative was using several original Mellotrons to design a copy, but Jonny bought one of those originals from him, not a copy.
The Mellotron is a tape-based “sampler”. What makes it special is that each note on the keyboard is an individual performance by one or more players which was recorded to a length of tape. (The unexpected phasing that occurs when playing multiple notes together is another big part of the sound.) While it would be possible to make new tapes for a Mellotron today, the particular characteristics and “flaws” of those old tapes from the 70’s basically define what we think of when we say “Mellotron”. That’s why it was notable to Jonny that he got the tapes as well.
Hope that this clears things up!
A photo of Jonny playing the band’s Mellotron M400 during the recording of In Rainbows.
The Martin 00-18 had been misidentified as a 000-18 for a long time. Jonny’s page has now been updated to match.
Given the similarity between the 000-18 and 00-18, it is difficult to tell the guitars apart without being able to compare their sizes to something else. While the picture on Jonny’s page of him playing the instrument does give a suggestion as to the guitar’s size, the guitar’s definite size became apparent when (in 2016) Thom began to use a new Martin 18-series guitar in addition to his vintage 18-series. The new guitar is the same design, but noticeably larger than the vintage one. If the vintage guitar is a 000-18, then the only larger 18-series guitar is the D-18 Dreadnought – a guitar which looks very different. As such, the new guitar must be a 000-18, making the vintage guitar a 00-18. (It seems highly unlikely that the the very small 0-18 could have been confused for a 000-18 for so long, ruling out the possibility that the vintage guitar is a 0-18 and the new guitar is a 00-18.)
Due to his smallish stature, Thom likely found the smaller 00-18 easier to play. I think that the past confusion is also due to his smallish stature: it made the guitar look a little larger than it actually is.
Thom playing the vintage Martin 00-18 at Studios La Fabrique, from during the recording of A Moon Shaped Pool.
Jonny with Thom’s vintage Martin 00-18, from during the recording of In Rainbows.
You correct: A Moon Shaped Pool was recorded to tape using a Studer A800 MKIII 24-Track and two Otari MTR90 24-Tracks, as can be seen in this video. Nigel used Otari machines on Radiohead’s prior albums, while the Studer belongs to Studios La Fabrique.
To send sounds back and forth from tape to a computer, Nigel uses Avid HD I/O’s.
Nigel’s exact workflow on AMSP is unknown, but we can make some conclusions from the band’s comments. Colin stated that “This is a Neve 88 R, seventy-two channels, made in Burnley. … It’s analog, like this reel-to-reel Studer, but we also use digital. It’s all about looping and layering” (Adam Thorpe In a room with Radiohead). From this, we can conclude that some sounds were recorded to the computer, looped in ProTools, then recorded to tape along with the band as they played through a song.
The collage of sounds which loops beneath The Numbers was almost certainly assembled in a DAW, but it incorporates piano and percussion sounds which were probably recorded to tape at first. After the collage was complete, it was recorded to tape with the rest of the track (probably with Thom playing along, given Colin’s statement).
It’s also likely that after the band recorded a live run-through of a song to tape, Nigel might record a track to ProTools to manipulate, then record it back to tape. This was likely especially true during the stage when Nigel consolidated the material which the band had recorded during their two weeks at Studios La Fabrique.
Nigel’s “home studio”, posted on his twitter account. Two Avid HD I/O’s can be seen in the rack unit that also houses his Apple Mac Pro.
A photo of the control room at Tottenham House during the recording of In Rainbows. Nigel’s two Otari MTR90′s are the units closes to the camera.
Hello! Not a dumb question – ordering Ondomo is a more personal process than ordering most gear, so it’s a little more involved. To inquire about purchasing one, check out the contact info on this page and send an email to the appropriate email address for your location.
Hello there! The ruban of the ondes Martenot is not so difficult as a violin, but because of its sensitivity it is still not easy to play. The indentations serve as guides, but they do not impart perfect playing. Precisely how you place your finger on the indentations will determine your pitch. The same holds true for guitar or bass: the frets on a guitar can result in good or bad intonation depending on one’s finger placement (the beginner’s mistake is to place their finger directly on the fret).
There are several reasons that it is useful to have a tuner on-hand when playing ondes Martenot, but they mainly have to do with the technical fluctuations of the instrument. Just as on other analogue synthesizers, the instrument needs to warm up before its pitch will stabilize, it can fall out of tune in the midst of performance. This is especially true for the ribbon, which can become out of sync with the indentations and require recalibration. While a skilled player can naturally adjust to tuning fluctuations to stay on pitch, a tuner can make this easier and allow for faster retuning. For Jonny, this would’ve been useful with his Analogue Systems French Connection and its associated modules: the ASys RS95e is an excellent-sounding oscillator, but like other analogue gear its pitch is very sensitive to temperature fluctuations.
It should also be noted that it is primarily during his performances with Radiohead that Jonny uses a tuner with his ondes. He didn’t use one for his 2014 performances with the LCO, for example. This suggests that Jonny has another use for the tuner: to ensure that he’s on pitch even when he can’t hear himself well. Jonny has previously mentioned that he can sometimes drift out of tune with the rest of Radiohead without realizing it. The tuner ensure that in times when he can’t hear his pitch precisely, he can at least visualize it.
Jonny with his student model ondes Martenot at the The Big Ask Live, 2006.05.01. A BOSS TU-12H – Jonny’s favored tuner – is visible on top of the instrument.
Jonny performing Olivier Messiaen’s Vocalise étude in Manchester, 2014.10.10. Note that he is using no tuner with his ondes Musicales Dierstein.
Hello! Nothing wrong with Mexican Fenders. It won’t be flashy; it’ll be a good, player’s instrument.
Given that Thom’s Epiphone Casinos are unmodified 60’s guitars, I so no way in which a signature model could differ from Epiphone’s current Elitist “1965” Casino.
Interviewer: You are almost certainly the only rock star to play the ondes martenot, which also figures prominently in the score to There Will Be Blood. How did you first come to discover this instrument, and what does it add to your music that is different from by more traditional instruments?
Jonny: It makes the theremin look like a toy. I think the theremin is a toy. The ondes martenot is all about control; there’s no guessing, or random gestures. It’s a true musical instrument, and people who play it well can make it sing. It’s like the inventor approached it with the idea “How can we play music with electricity?”
“I love the ondes martenot,” Greenwood enthuses. “It’s the most expressive electronic instrument that’s ever been invented, I think, just so natural to play - neutral in a way, but so magical.” A curious instrument akin to a more sophisticated theremin, the ondes martenot has several unique features, including a speaker strung with resonating strings, and an ingenious pressure-sensitive button allowing infinite control of a note’s attack. “The button is the clever part, because you can do it staccato or very gently,” explains Greenwood. “It’s a very lyrical instrument in the hands of someone who can play it well - it’s like someone singing. The part of the Star Trek theme that sounds like a woman singing is actually a martenot. Its players like to look down on the theremin and regard it rather as a toy - there’s snobbery even in that field, which I quite enjoy!”
(Note that Jonny is incorrect about the use of the Martenot on the Star Trek theme, that was a misunderstanding common at the time. The woman singing the theme is actually a soprano named Loulie Jean Norman.)
The ondes Martenot and Theremin are very similar in their conception: their inventors both took inspiration from work as radio technicians during WWI to invent instruments based around heterodyning oscillators as a sound source. The fundamental difference is that the Theremin simply lacks the level of precision and versatility found in the Martenot. It is extremely difficult to play melodies on the Theremin as precisely as with the Ruban of the Martenot (Clara Rockmore never got there, although modern players like Carolina Eyck can just about reach it), and the Theremin is totally incapable of the complex playing which the Martenot’s keyboard allows.
The Martenot sounds similar to a Theremin when set for a sine wave (timbre onde), but it is capable of a wider range of timbres. When those timbres are paired with different playing techniques on the ribbon or keyboard, the Martenot can create a variety of sounds and emulate many other instruments. The Theremin basically has one sound. Modern Theremins do counter this by offering more waveforms, but the Martenot’s compact Tiroir also allows for adjustment of timbre even whilst playing, which is impossible on the Theremin as both hands are fully occupied.
Hello! Jonny has no means to mute his clean signal chain: his Akai Headrush is the last pedal before his Vox (he does have a volume pedal as the last pedal in his distorted signal chain, but that signal path isn’t used on Weird Fishes). Instead, his guitar tech Duncan mutes his signal just before the amp, using a box kept on top of the Vox. You can see Duncan run over to the amp to do just that in video of the 2010 Glastonbury Festival performance of Weird Fishes. More recently, during the Pro-Shot footage of the song Glastonbury 2017, you can see Jonny give a quick “thumbs up” to Duncan when he’d finished recording the loop.
A screen shot from the Glastonbury 2010 Weird Fishes video, showing Duncan with his hand resting on the box while Jonny records the loop.
A photo of Jonny’s Vox AC30 during the 2012 Radiohead tour. The box on which Duncan’s hand rests in the prior photo can be seen to the left of the DI box on top of the amp. The mic is an Audio-Technica AT3060.
Unlike the Banjo or Crumhorn, Jonny has had great success in bringing the Glockenspiel into Radiohead’s music. Jonny first used a Glockenspiel with Radiohead in 1996, during the recording sessions for OK Computer. The glock made it onto a few songs from those sessions – most notably No Surprises. Over the next decade, it would feature on tracks from Amnesiac, Hail To The Thief, In Rainbows, and Jonny’s score for the film Bodysong. Jonny also played it on the original 1998 live performances of Nude (although he does not on the demo included on the OKNOTOK White Cassette) and on the two 2012 live performances of Treefingers. Though it was previously cited as a glockenspiel, the soft metallic percussion on The Tourist is actually a triangle played by Phil, as Nigel explained in RollingStone’s OK Computer Oral History.
Jonny playing his glockenspiel during Radiohead’s 1997 performance of No Surprises on Later… with Jools Holland. The smooth faces of the suspended bars of his glockenspiel are clearly visible (youtube).
Live footage shows that Jonny has used the same glockenspiel from the mid-90’s to this day. His glockenspiel is made by Premier, as is true for most of Jonny’s percussion instruments. He likely bought it new in the mid-90’s. The instrument is almost certainly a Premier 6801 Orchestral Glockenspiel. It’s a 2.5 octave glockenspiel with 1.25” note bars. The bars are suspended by a length of string, which passes through holes in their nodal points, and are separated by pegs which help to stabilize the bars. This differs from most modern table glockenspiels (such as Premier’s current offering), where the bars are held in place by pins. You can read more about how glockenspiels are constructed here.
In this screenshot from the live stream of Radiohead’s 2017 Coachella performance of No Surprises, one can see the small rectangular “Premier” logo on Jonny’s glockenspiel. It also shows some of the wear that the instrument has experienced over the past two decades.
The glockenspiel didn’t make it onto The King of Limbs or A Moon Shaped Pool, but Jonny is certainly still fond of the instrument. In a 2014 interview, he says that “I’m always happiest trying new instruments - and honestly enjoy playing, say, the glockenspiel with Radiohead as much as I do the guitar” (The Quietus). He’s also shown himself to be fond of instruments similar to the glockenspiel. Although he’s never publicly used the more common Xylophone, Jonny does require the Vibraphone – another orchestral, mallet-played Metallophone – in the orchestrations of his pieces Smear and Doghouse, and in his scores of P.T. Anderson’s films There Will Be Blood and Inherent Vice. The Celesta, a Metallophone with a similar sound to the glockenspiel but played via a keyboard (and different from a “keyboard glockenspiel”), was played by Jonny on the studio versions of Weird Fishes and Go Slowly– although in live performance he plays those parts on the Rhodes piano. The recorded version of All I Need features Celesta layered with both Glockenspiel and Rhodes Piano, as revealed by the clip of its recording shown during Adam Buxton’s Radiohead BUG Special. Jonny also played the Celesta at a couple of “acoustic” performances with Thom, first at Maida Vale Studios in 2003, and later at the KOKO Festival in 2006.
Jonny playing the glockenspiel and Rhodes simultaneously during All I Need, from In Rainbows – From The Basement.
The Premier 6801 is no longer produced, but it is listed as “no longer available” on a few websites. If anyone has additional information on the 6801, please let us know.
To be clear, final two paragraph of the prior theremin post and everything in this post are our own analyses, not Jonny’s. I think you misunderstand slightly: we didn’t mean to imply that Clara Rockmore could not play melodies, just that she (and other Theremin players) could not play with the level of precision that is possible on the ondes Martenot. She rarely played a note without level of vibrato, particularly on leaps. On her performance of Bach’s Air, she uses heavy vibrato on most notes and never plays without a little (it’s worth noting that while heavy vibrato became acceptable in the early 20th century for romantic music, it is not at all idiomatic to baroque music).
Though an excellent violinist for longer, Katica Illényi has only performed on the Theremin for the past three years and is certainly a modern performer in comparison to Rockmore, who played concerts on the Theremin as early as the 1930’s. Illényi’s Theremin playing is musically effective, but it’s precision is certainly lesser than what is standard for ondes Martenot. If you listen her performance with the Győr Philharmonic Orchestra of Once Upon a Time in The West at 0:56, you can hear a noticeable lack of precision on the melodic leaps of a major and minor sixth. There’s a lack of smoothness in the glissando that betrays the sort of “guessing” as to the location of the next note that Jonny talked about. She isn’t certain where to stop for the top note of the the leap, so she wavers slightly near the end.
She also uses vibrato once she reaches the note, which masks any small imprecision. That kind of vibrato has been considered more acceptable with Theremin than with other instruments, but a practiced Martenot player can smoothly glide up large intervals without any vibrato on the top note. Compare Illényi’s playing to that by Estelle Lemire (from Ensemble d'Ondes de Montréal) on her recording of the fourth movement of Messiaen’s Feuillets Inédits. Lemire starts each note with no vibrato, and gradually increases the amount of vibrato as she swells in on each (the classically “correct” way to introduce vibrato). She is able to do so even with silence between notes because the physical nature of the Martenot allows a high level of precision. A Theremin player (at least using traditional technique) would need to use vibrato at the start of those notes because it’s impossible to be certain of pitch when silent.
One cause of Illényi’s imprecision, in addition to the extreme difficulty of the Theremin, is the particular school of playing which she employs. Notice that when she makes the melodic leap mentioned above, she moves her entire arm? The reason that I mentioned Carolina Eyck in the prior post is because her eight finger positions allow her to play a full scale by moving only her fingers (or at most, her wrist) – thereby avoiding any less precise movements of the whole arm. This higher degree of precision is evident in Eyck’s performance of Fauré’s Après un rêve. And compare Eyck’s performance of Rachmaninov’s Vocalise to that by Rockmore. The difference in the amount of vibrato which they use striking. Rockmore also uses vibrato from the start on notes which both Eyck and violinists/cellists cleanly sustain at first, such as the eleventh note in the melody.
I don’t want this to seem like a total condemnation of Rockmore, Illényi, or other Theremin players. They play an extremely difficult instrument, and do so beautifully! In particular, I don’t want to cut short Rockmore’s influence, since it was by her hand that the Theremin became a proper instrument at all. However, it cannot be argued that their pitch is as precise as that of a skilled player of the ondes Martenot. And, as was discussed in the prior post, the Martenot is capable of much more than the warm melodies of the Theremin.
Nope. He seems to have only used them for the 2013 Atoms for Peace tour. The Electro-Harmonix POG which he had on that tour hasn’t been used since either.
With Atoms for Peace, Thom often played lead guitar in addition to rhythm, or played parts which functioned both as rhythm and lead (“lead” meaning parts with a primary and melodic role in a song). He likely used the EQ pedals in order to make his tone fit there different roles, and may have stopped using the EQ pedals since he almost exclusively plays rhythm guitar with Radiohead. It’s also possible that one or both of the EQ pedals was used in conjunction with the POG in order to better control the POG’s sound.
A picture of Thom’s auxiliary guitar pedalboard for main portion of the 2013 Atoms for Peace tour (Thom’s auxiliary boards are kept near his amp and operated by Plank). The board features two MXR 10-Band EQ’s, an Electro-Harmonix POG, a BOSS TU2 (used by Plank for troubleshooting purposes), a Lehle Little Lehle 2 True Bypass Loop Switcher, and an unknown black box (possible just used for cable management).
This screenshot from the band’s 2 Meter Session at Bullet Sound Studio, 1997.02.27, show the sticker after almost exactly two years of wear. The “perfect patients” phrase and part of the Pink Panther, both pointed out by the person who wrote in, are visible despite the wear.
Hello there! Yesterday in Macerata, Jonny played on his 80′s student model ondes Martenot. While the French Connection was Jonny’s primary ondes for shows with Radiohead from 2001 to 2012, he has always preferred his original student model for one-off and solo shows. In 2006, Jonny used the instrument to perform with Thom at KOKO in London (in support of the Big Ask campaign) and on the Henry Rollins show (along with Nigel). In 2010, he used it when the duo played the Glastonbury Festival’s surprise stage. He also used it for the 2005 Ether Festival, at which him and Thom were joined by the London Sinfonietta, the Arab Orchestra of Nazareth, and an ensemble of six Martenot players.
You are correct that Jonny used Ondomo for all 2017 shows with Radiohead. And since receiving an ondes Martenot Dierstein in 2011, Jonny has used that instrument for many of his soloperformances with the London Contemporary Orchestra. However, he used his student model for all 2016 shows with Radiohead, and for several recent performances and recording sessions (see: Junun). Overall, Jonny’s first Martenot still seems to be his favorite.
Unlike at past solo performances, when Thom and Jonny would bring a very small subset of their full touring setup, for their performance in Macerata the pair brought nearly all of their personal rigs from the 2017 tour, with it mounted in the same racks and resting on the same keyboard stands as for their last gig a month ago. The only gear-related surprise at the performance was the use of an Ableton Push 2 to supply beats on half a dozen songs.
LAPTOPS AND CONTROLLERS:
Ableton Push 2 + Apple Macbook Pro (4th Generation) running Ableton Live The Push 2 was used to turn control beats, which were sequenced in Live. This setup supplied nearly all of the percussion for the show. For Nude and Give Up The Ghost, Thom tapped on his acoustic for percussion.
Macbook Pro running Max MSP The sticker on the back of the laptop shows it to be Jonny’s main touring Macbook. Audio is passed to and from the computer through a Focusrite Clarett 8pre. MIDI from the FC-200 is passed through a MOTU MIDI Express XT. The interface rack contains two of each interface as backup. The computer ran a looping Max patch, which was used on Give Up The Ghost. It provided a kick drum to help Thom keep tempo as he controlled the looper with the Roland FC-200.
Used for:
Give Up The Ghost (Jonny, Thom via FC-200)
Roland FC-200 Footswitch MIDI Controller Used for:
Give Up The Ghost (Thom)
Macbook Pro running NI Kontakt Controlled via a Fatar Studiologic SL-161. The computer’s output is run through an Ernie Ball VP Jr, which is used to dynamically vary its volume on Exit Music. Used for:
Rhodes Suitcase Piano Mark I 73 Mic’d with a pair of Sennheiser e906′s. Used for:
All I Need (Jonny)
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi (Jonny)
80’s Student Model ondes Martenot Effects signal chain: Martenot -> Akai Headrush E1 -> Ernie Ball VP Jr -> BOSS GE7 -> BOSS RV5 -> Mixing Desk The instrument is also connected a BOSS TU-12H tuner.@karindgr
The Headrush and VP Jr were mounted on the keyboard stand, while the GE7 and RV5 were velcro’d to the Martenot itself. Placing the VP Jr after the Headrush allows Jonny to create a loop silently on How To Disappear Completely. The GE7 was used during soundcheck for Desert Island Disk, but was not used for the performance.
Analogue Systems RS200 Sequencer System + RS15 Rack No.
Analogue Systems RS200 Sequencer System + RS15 Rack No. 2 Check this page for a full list of modules. Used to during soundcheck for Idioteque, but not used for the performance.
All pedals powered by Voodoo Labs Pedal Power 2 PLUS’s.
During Follow Me Around, Jonny used his EHX Freeze to loop chords as he strummed them, then played arpeggios over the frozen sound. Jonny used the pedal in the same way when he used it for the first time on the band debut of Skirting On The Surface, but its use since then has been more subdued and restricted to Morning Mr Magpie and Everything In Its Right Place.
BOSS TU-3 Acoustic guitars are passed through this pedal before being sent to the PA. Plank uses it to mute the signal path when Thom switches between acoustics. Mounted on top of a rack case near Thom’s amp.
Yesterday, Dan from TheGigRig made an instagram post showing a new pedalboard build which he’d done for Ed. The board features a few of Ed’s core pedals, most notably his vintage Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, in addition to a few new boutique pedals which fill the same roles as older units. The board would be considered a pretty small setup for Ed, were it not for the two TheGigRig Cinco Cinco’s at the top of the board, which give Ed four channels for external effects. These channels are controlled by the TheGigRig G2 Switching System, giving Ed the ability to integrate any of his huge collection of effects pedals into the switching setup.
Thank you to Antoine for submitting details about the new pedalboard!
Here’s the picture of the board:
Though the new pedalboard does feature several new pedals, none or totally unexpected and all fill standard roles on Ed’s board. The Digitech Whammy WH5, Deluxe Memory Man, and ThorpyFX Muffroom Cloud Fuzz are all pedals which Ed has used previously. Ed used a standard Sonic Research ST300 Turbo Tuner from 2016-2017, so it makes sense that he’d switch to the Mini version for a smaller setup. The addition of the Belle Epoch Deluxe isn’t too much of a surprise, as Catalinbread sent a unit to Ed back in July (instagram). And while the Kingsley Page and Origin Effects Cali76-CD are both quite new for Ed, both are favorites of Dan and used frequently in his videos.
TheGigRig G2 Signal Order:
Channel 1: ThorpyFX Muffroom Cloud Fuzz
Channel 2: EXTERNAL
Channel 3: Kingsley Page V2
Channel 4: Origin Effects Cali76-CD
Channel 5: Digitech Whammy WH5
Channel 6: EXTERNAL
Channel 7: Catalinbread Deluxe Belle Epoch
Channel 8: EXTERNAL
Channel 9: EXTERNAL
Channel 10: Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
Tuner/ Aux Out: Sonic Research ST-300 Turbo Tuner Mini
The signal order is not indicated on the board itself, but it’s easy to guess based on Ed’s previous pedalboards. This is especially true since everything on the board is interfaced with the TheGigRig G2, and the channels used for external effects are clear from the labels on the Cinco Cinco patchbays. Here’s the reasoning behind our proposed signal order:
Ed always keeps his drive and compressor pedals near the front of his chain. All of his touring pedalboards since 2011 have featured a fuzz, followed by at least two overdrive/distortion pedals, followed by a compressor. Since the fuzz is always patched prior to other dirt, it makes sense for the ThorpyFX Muffroom Cloud Fuzz to be in Channel 1. Ed only has one overdrive/distortion pedal on the board – the Kingsley Page– so it makes sense for the Page to be in Channel 1, while Channel 2 is used to swap in other dirt pedals. In the past, Ed has wired his compressor pedals both before and after his dirt. However, more recently he has placed the compressor after his dirt. This gives him the ability to use his volume knob and playing dynamics to adjust the amount of overdrive, while also keeping his levels consistent and giving extra sustain. As such, the Cali76-CD is most likely in Channel 4.
According to Dan, the “whammy is after the drives, before the delays.” As such, the Whammy is very likely in Channel 5. This leaves Channels 7 and 10 open for the two delays on the board.
Ed has always liked to keep his Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man late in his signal chain. It lets him to add the DMM’s distinctive space and modulated warmth to both his playing and to his loops. Placing a delay after a looper also allows Ed to seemingly change the sound of the loop by adjusting the delay: something which he does frequently on performances of Everything In Its Right Place and Ful Stop. Since Channels 8 and 9 in use for external effects, the DMM is almost certainly in Channel 10. And that being the case, the Belle Epoch Deluxe must be in Channel 7.
This photo of Ed’s switching units for touring in 2011-2012 leaves no doubts as to his signal order. “FUZZ” refers to Ed’s Lovetone Big Cheese, ”CENT” refers to his Klon Centaur, and “COMP” refers to his Diamond Compressor.
Differences from Ed’s Previous “Studio” Pedalboard
Ed’s new pedalboard is the second “studio” board which Dan has build for Ed. The first studio board was built in November 2014, and was very likely used to record A Moon Shaped Pool. Like the new pedalboard, it is paired down, containing many of Ed’s core pedals (or types of pedals). But while the 2014 board was designed primarily to be a self-contained system, the new pedalboard is meant to be integrated with a variety of externals effects.
Another key difference between this pedalboard and Ed’s previous “studio” board, is that it gives immediate access to all pedals on the board. This is likely so that Ed can easily change settings on his new overdrive and compressor pedals. The 2014 pedalboard placed Ed’s drive and compressor effects underneath a raised TheGigRig G2. This gave room for more pedals on the board, but also made them harder to get to – indicating that Ed didn’t plan to change their settings very often. This made sense, since he had been using those pedals or similar ones for a while (for example: the Rockett Pedals Archer is undoubtedly set to match Ed’s settings for the Klon Centaur which he’d used since 2011). Ed’s touring board for the 2016 and 2017 tour similarly kept drive and compressor effects beneath a raised TheGigRig G2, and Ed rarely (possibly never) changed their settings during a performance.
Yesterday, Dan from TheGigRig made an instagram post showing a new pedalboard build which he’d done for Ed. The board features a few of Ed’s core pedals, most notably his vintage Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, in addition to a few new boutique pedals which fill the same roles as older units. The board would be considered a pretty small setup for Ed, were it not for the two TheGigRig Cinco Cinco’s at the top of the board, which give Ed four channels for external effects. These channels are controlled by the TheGigRig G2 Switching System, giving Ed the ability to integrate any of his huge collection of effects pedals into the switching setup.
Thank you to Antoine for submitting details about the new pedalboard!
Here’s the picture of the board:
Though the new pedalboard does feature several new pedals, none or totally unexpected and all fill standard roles on Ed’s board. The Digitech Whammy WH5, Deluxe Memory Man, and ThorpyFX Muffroom Cloud Fuzz are all pedals which Ed has used previously. Ed used a standard Sonic Research ST300 Turbo Tuner from 2016-2017, so it makes sense that he’d switch to the Mini version for a smaller setup. The addition of the Belle Epoch Deluxe isn’t too much of a surprise, as Catalinbread sent a unit to Ed back in July (instagram). And while the Kingsley Page and Origin Effects Cali76-CD are both quite new for Ed, both are favorites of Dan and used frequently in his videos.
TheGigRig G2 Signal Order:
Channel 1: Origin Effects Cali76-CD
Channel 2: GUEST
Channel 3: Kingsley Page V2
Channel 4: ThorpyFX Muffroom Cloud Fuzz
Channel 5: Digitech Whammy WH5
Channel 6: GUEST
Channel 7: Catalinbread Deluxe Belle Epoch
Channel 8: GUEST
Channel 9: GUEST
Channel 10: Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man
Tuner/ Aux Out: Sonic Research ST-300 Turbo Tuner Mini
The signal order is indicated on the TheGigRig G2, with the name of each pedal indicated underneath the button for its loop. The channels used for external “GUEST” effects are additionally labeled on the Cinco Cinco patchbays.
Though a somewhat pixelated, the labels on the G2 are clear enough to make out. The labels read, from right to left: COMP, GUEST, PAGE, MUFF, WHAM, GUEST, BELLE, GUEST, GUEST, MM.
Signal Order Analysis
Overall, Ed’s signal order is highly consistent with the other pedalboards which he’s used since 2006. Placing a compressor at the start of his chain (excluding his tuner) is something which Ed has done since circa-2006, when he added an MXR Dynacomp to his setup. As such, putting the Cali76-CD in Channel 1 is to be expected.
The Kingsley Page is a tube-based overdrive which offers fairly transparent amp-like gain. Like many tube amps, it excels when pushed by boost and overdrive pedals, which is why Ed placed it in Channel 3. The “GUEST” spot on Channel 2 allows him to audition a variety of other drive and boost pedals, experimenting with how each pedals combines with the Page. Ed’s Klon Centaur is the most likely candidate for this spot, given its fame as a lightly-colored dirty boost, but in the studio he will doubtless experiment with a platoon of overdrives.
Ed has placed his fuzz pedals after his overdrives since he started using fuzz consistently in 2011. Fuzz after drives is not as common as the reverse, but that is primarily because of impedance issues with vintage fuzz units. The boutique muff-style Muffroom Cloud has no issues with signal placement, and sounds great when pushed by overdrive pedals.
The most surprising feature of the new board is that the Digitech Whammy is patched before any delay or looper pedals. Ed usually places his Whammy in the midst of his delays and loopers, giving him the ability to pitch-shift these effects, and even loop these manipulations (as he does most notably on performances of Everything In Its Right Place). That said, Ed still has the ability to patch pedals before Whammy (and after his drive pedals) by using the G2′s movable “volume pedal” insert. For his 2016-2017 touring setup, he used the volume insert to place a full second pedalboard – including a looper and several modulation pedals – in the control of his primary G2. The placement Whammy on the new board suggests that Ed probably does not intend to use it to pitch-shift his delays or loops, but the volume insert will give him that ability if he ever desires it.
Ed has always liked to keep his vintage Deluxe Memory Man fairly late in his signal chain. It lets him to add the DMM’s distinctive space and modulated warmth to both his playing and to his loops. Placing a delay after a looper also allows Ed to seemingly change the sound of the loop by adjusting the delay: something which he does frequently on performances of Everything In Its Right Place and Ful Stop. None of the pedals on the new studio board itself can function as loopers, but the “GUEST” inputs offer several locations where a looper (most likely a Line 6 DL4 or TC Electronic Ditto X4) could be patched in front of the DMM.
Since Ed likes to patch his DMM fairly late in his chain, it makes sense that the Deluxe Belle Epoch is patched a few loops back. Its placement in Channel 7, with two “GUEST” loops directly in front and one behind, suggests that Ed intends to loop and modify its sounds.
This photo of Ed’s Voodoo Lab switching units for touring in 2011-2012 makes his signal order clear. The Voodoo Lab units are patched from left-to-right, with “MUTE” first in chain and “WAH” second-to-last. “FUZZ” refers to Ed’s Lovetone Big Cheese, ”CENT” refers to his Klon Centaur, and “COMP” refers to his Diamond Compressor.
Differences from Ed’s Previous “Studio” Pedalboard
Ed’s new pedalboard is the second “studio” board which Dan has build for Ed. The first studio board was built in November 2014, and was very likely used to record A Moon Shaped Pool. Like the new pedalboard, it is paired down, containing many of Ed’s core pedals (or types of pedals). But while the 2014 board was designed primarily to be a self-contained system, the new pedalboard is meant to be integrated with a variety of external effects.
Another key difference between this pedalboard and Ed’s previous “studio” board, is that it gives immediate access to all pedals on the board. This is likely so that Ed can easily change settings on his new overdrive and compressor pedals. The 2014 pedalboard placed Ed’s drive and compressor effects underneath a raised TheGigRig G2. This gave room for more pedals on the board, but also made them harder to get to – indicating that Ed didn’t plan to change their settings very often. This made sense, since he had been using those pedals or similar ones for a while (for example: the Rockett Pedals Archer is undoubtedly set to match Ed’s settings for the Klon Centaur which he’d used since 2011). Ed’s touring board for the 2016 and 2017 tour similarly kept drive and compressor effects beneath a raised TheGigRig G2, and Ed rarely (possibly never) changed their settings during a performance.
Here’s a picture of the 2014 “studio” board:
Last edited: 2017.09.23
Updated to correct the mis-placement of the Origin Effects Cali76-CD and ThorpyFX Muffroom Cloud Fuzz, which were swapped in the original signal order. Alternative analysis is provided in light of this change. Thank you to Adrian for writing in with the correct information!
According to a fan who’s friends with Duncan (Jonny’s guitar tech), the small, round bit of metal on the instrument, situated between the right-side neck pickup screw and one of the pickguard screws, is the ball-end of a guitar string. It was added in 1997 so that Jonny could hook his high E-string onto it to get very high notes.
