Ed O’Brien’s New TheGigRig Studio Pedalboard

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