Pedal Line Friday – 8/9 – David Lynch

Today’s pedal line is from David Lynch. If you have a pedal line (doesn’t have to be in a board) for your rig, please email me a photo, bio, description of pedals and routing to pedalline@nulleffectsbay.com. Every Friday I’ll showcase a pedal line submission. Make sure you include any links to your band or music page.

Hello EffectsBay!
I just found your site, pretty awesome. My name is David Lynch and here is my effects line/board:

It starts with the boss TU-2 tuner on the upper right, then goes to the wah (which has been replaced with an Ibanez weeping demon). Then back up to the EHX POG2 polyphonic octave generator > Boss GE-7 graphic equalizer > Boss LMB-3 bass limiter/enhancer > Boss AW-3 dynamic wah > Boss BD-2 blues driver > RAT fuzz/distortion > Boss CH-1 super chorus > Boss PH-2 super phaser > Boss TR-2 tremolo > Boss DD-7 delay > Boss RV-3 reverb/delay > Boss RE-20 tape delay > EHX stereo memory man delay > MXR micro amp > Boss RC20xl > Boss GE-7 > EHX 2880 multi track looper. The 2 on the top left (boss LS-2 and Boss PS-2) are used for vocals and routing.

I play baritone guitar, Sitar, dilruba, vibraphone, drums and samples through this. (I use a mixer, roland spd-20 drum pad and a roland SP-555 before the pedal board to route my instruments and samples.)
Reasons I like these pedals…..

Boss TU-2 : This is a solid accurate tuner and works great as a mute. Ibanez weeping demon Wah : An all around good wah if you are changing from bass to guitar, user friendly, Able to emulate a few classic sounds quite well.

EHX POG2 : This is one of the best pedals ever made, it is polyphonic and can make one instrument sound like 20.

Boss GE-7 : I use this eq pedal to carve out space when I am looping multiple instruments so they stand out in the mix. I also use it as a boost and to cut noisy frequencies.

Boss LMB-3 : This works as a decent compressor and is great with bass and baritone guitar for getting rid of mud and limiting the level. It also works great for compressing/limiting the signal from the POG2 as it can get pretty loud with all 5 voices on.

Boss AW-3 : This is an ok envelope filter and works good when you have a few layers piled up for cutting through a thick sound.

Boss BD-2 : The Blues driver is great for getting classic sounds, slight crunch to heavy overdrive. I use it mostly for just a little crunch on my clean sound. It can clean up when you play light or drop the volume.

RAT : Well…. it is a rat, sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it. It can make everything sound awesome or terrible depending on the instrument and my mood. It is really nice for fuzz and creamy sustaining distortion.

Boss CH-1 : Of all the effects out there, I use chorus the least. I have tried all sorts of boutique overpriced chorus pedals, they all sound… well… not my thing. If I want 2 voices, I play 2 voices. I use it occasionally to make bass lines sound “icy” or on maximum everything when all my pedals are on maximum everything.

Boss PH-2 : I have always like the boss phaser sound, I go between this one and the ph-1, From subtle to crazy, this is a fun pedal. I like it for recording drum/percussion pad loops to give a faux live sound. It helps make the samples sound slightly different each time sort of emulating dynamics… sort of.

Boss TR-2 : Tremolo is also one of my favourite sounds. This is a great tremolo pedal, although there are many out there that I would like to try out. This has a nice wide range and mine isn’t all that noisy. There is a slight boost in volume on this one which I like.

Boss DD-7 : Boss delays are great, I use this one mostly for its reverse function and for its modulation delay which does a good job emulating a bucket brigade sound.

Boss RV-3 : This is a great pedal, the reverb is one of the best I have heard in a pedal. The added delay function is great although a little redundant for me. The reverb is versatile with wide parameters.

Boss RE-20 : Again, this is a great pedal, I bought it used for cheap, I couldn’t resist even though I didn’t think I would use it or even put it on my board. The sound is great weather you want a sharp digital sound or a nice warm analog sound. The tap tempo and ramping functions are awesome. Again I thought the ramping function was just “bells and whistles” until I learned how to use it. Once you get the hang of it you can use it subtly to modulate your sound or hold it down for epic modulating feedback.

EHX SMMH : Unfortunately this one gets a little over shadowed by the RE-20. It has great organic or digital sounds and is very versatile. I got it for its looper function and its reverse function. Both are a little disappointing. The looper function is tricky because of the switch, you have to hold the switch to record and release when you want to stop. Not so easy when you are tap dancing on other pedals. The reverse function is sort of random and unreliable, even when you have the signal all the way to wet, it leads with a little blip-delay of your forward playing. So if you are looking for a nice backward solo, this drops the ball. On the other hand, the different delays sound great and it is tap tempo as well so no matter what the settings are you can tap in. The ability to save presets and return to them quickly after tweaking is nice as well.

MXR micro amp : I use this to get my tone suck back after all these other pedals. it works really nicely and is almost always on.
Boss RC20xl : this was my first looper and I still like it better than its successors. It is strait forward and is a work horse. I use this for long ambient loops or long solos when the 2880 has a rhythm section down and I need time to change instruments.

Another Boss GE-7 : I use this to scoop out the sound of the loop on the RC20xl against the 2880. It is also a last ditch effort in cutting noise or eq-ing/boosting a weak signal.

EHX 2880 multi track looper : This is hands down the best looper out there (Now the 45000). I use this to build rhythm sections. Looping drums/percussion, Bass, vocals, guitars, everything…. The only flaw is that you cant save loops, (an issue solved in the 45000). They stay in the memory when turned off but one song (4 tracks and a mix-down track) is all you get. (this might be a blessing in disguise because you have to learn how to rebuild your favourite loop rather than just zoning out on it and you never have to do the dreaded “sifting though old loops routine.)  The 2880 is indispensable as a sketch pad and for practicing your chops as well as a powerful live tool.

The pedal board was hand made by me out of MDF. it is heavy, but lends itself to being modified on a whim. I am running all of my power from the LS-2, the TU-2 and a boss PSM-6 buried in the back. The loopers and SMMH are direct to a power bar also in the back. The great thing here, I patch my mixer into the tuner, the 2880 runs stereo into my 2 amps. Basically drop it on the floor and play.
Thanks for reading!
David Lynch

Short bio;
I have played bass and guitar for around 20 years and have been studying and teaching indian classical music for the last 10. I have a home business building Woiperdingers. (Sitar-guitar hybrids either slide, bowed or fretted). Although I usually play classical style on the sitar, I also try to fuse my different  influences into live shows that incorporate Indian classical, trip-hop, psychedelic, jazz, folk and country.