Siddharth Basrur - Last Remaining Light/The Siddharth Basrur Band/The Library

One of the most humble and nicest guys in the Indian music scene, Siddharth Basrur, is a total gear junkie (whodathunkit?!!). So I sat down with him to talk about the nitty gritties and all the little ditties of his sound. Read on!

Basrur in action, photo by Sukrit Nagaraj

So the first thing I would want to know is what projects are you currently working on?
There are two projects that I play guitar + sing on. Last Remaining Light and The Siddharth Basrur Band. There’s also The Library, which is an instrumental project with Vishal J Singh of Amogh Symphony, but we haven't really worked on any new material together, for the last year.

Is your rig primarily the same in both of those bands?
No, it's not. I have the same gear, more or less, but the setup for The Siddharth Basrur Band is less complicated. Also, I still haven't fully worked out my pedal board mapping.

Ah interesting, we all know that a pedal gatherer's needs are never satiated. So what kind of guitars are you using with Last Remaining Light?
I usually use a 1970 Hofner and a US made Telecaster. Sometimes, I use a MIM Jazzmaster, as well.

 Basrur's Tele, modded with black pick guard

Ah nice! So what strings are you using on both and what gauges do you prefer?
I use .10s on the Tele - always. And on the Hofner, I have .11s, as it's tuned down to D and drop C. Usually, the Jazzmaster is on E, so I use .10s. But I'm thinking of making it a Frankenstein of sorts. When I have money to blow.

Nice! And what about that Jazzmaster? What kind of specs are you aiming at?
I want to shave the neck, change the bridge, tuners, pickups, pots – the works. Maybe even strip the paint.

Whoa, a total overdo! What year is the Jazzmaster?
I bought it earlier, this year, it’s fairly new. Yup, Total revamp. Let’s see. I'm not sure when I'll actually get around to doing it.

Do you usually do that with your guitars – revamp them completely?
No. Not really.

Okay. Then do you prefer pickup changes?
I changed the pick guard and the bridge pickup to a Suhr Classic T on my Tele. Sounds way better now. I also changed the pots and the pickups on the Hofner.

Ah, cool. How did you come to acquire the 70s Hofner though?
I got it from some kid in Pune who had put some abysmal Squier stock pups on it. I saw it on AM Used. It currently has Bill Lawrence 50th anniversary pups.

Well I’m sure you're putting it to much better use! That AM turns out to be a goldmine sometimes.
Totally! I'm not really sure if I like the sound. It's a little mellow for my taste. May upgrade to Suhrs, when I'm rolling in wealth. They're very soft. Good for playing the mellower stuff, which is what I use it for.

Cool, so what kind of amps do you prefer with these guitars?
I love the Classic Fender Twins and the JCM series.

800? Do you split them or do you use the same model?
800 and 900. Both are great. Also, Marshall has the DSL series, which I got to use once at a gig, was pretty impressed. I also love the Vox AC30 handwired.

But do you use the JCM for heavier stuff while Fender for lighter things or do you use both at the same time?
Used it for the Last Remaining Light album, along with an Egnator Tweaker 40. I've never used more than one amp at a time.

Do you actually end up carrying your amp head across cities, or do you manage to get them at gigs?
Never. I don't really own a great amp. I usually give some options to the organizer.

So what do you have at home?
I have a Vox AC4TV8. And Adil Manuel just gave me his Orange Micro Terror, which is a hybrid amp, but lovely, all the same. Super loud for an amp that tiny. Also, I currently have Saurabh Roy's (Lightyears Explode) Tweaker 40. I'm still not sure which amp I'll end up buying for good, though.

How is that AC4TV8? I've heard mixed reviews.
I love the amp. I have a 1x12 Marshall cab – sounds great through that.

I thought you will probably decide on the VOX AC30, seems perfect for the kind of sounds I’ve heard from you this far.
Not sure, yet. I checked out this 30 watt two rock, costs a bomb, but man, what sound – 2 Channel. Adil managed to borrow it for a gig. I haven't really played all that many amps to make a decision and I have a very small house, as of now. So it doesn’t make sense to buy something that's overpoweringly loud.

So now shifting to the pedalboard...tell me everything!
Sure. It keeps changing, man. But as of now, this is my signal chain:
Korg pitch black tuner -> Dunlop Cr Baby 535q -> J. Rockett Animal Drive -> Lovepedal Amp 50 (Church of Tone series) -> Maxon OD 808 -> Boss Space Echo (my new favourite pedal) -> Jack Deville Dark Echo - Boss AC 3 acoustic simulator. This is all powered by a T Rex Fuel Tank Chameleon.

I also have a Line 6 M9, which I need a power supply for. I'll add that in, later. Earlier, I used just that one pedal for all my delay, reverbs, effects – the great thing about it is that it also has a pretty good looper. I haven't used the looper, extensively. I'm also waiting on a custom pedal from Animal Factory Amplification – it’s been ages, but I can't wait to finally have it. I've used some prototypes, and they're amazing. There's this mad drive they have called the Ozymandias – Dual pedal; and the Chemical Burn. I actually have a prototype with me, but it's a bit noisy.

So first things first – tell me about that Korg pitch black tuner – I want to hear your views on it. Did you try any other tuners?
I always have two clip-on tuners as backup – an Intellitouch and a Boss, both are excellent, but I prefer the Intellitouch. Also, the tuner on the M9 is pretty good, but since that's currently off the board, the Pitch Black is what I have.

Now the Dunlop Cr Baby 535q, is famously called the Swiss army knife of wah pedals because of its tweakability. Do you use it for the simple wah or do you mess around with it?
I just recently bought it from a friend. So far, I've barely had the chance to use it. But now that I have this pedal, I will start implementing it.

Yeah good idea. Also that J. Rockett Animal Drive is a good buy – does exactly what it’s called.
Yup. It has this switch called Snarl. It's also almost always on. Either that or the Amp 50.

Oh yeah switching to the Lovepedal, those guys have a bad reputation for making pedals that seem simple – that is, with just a knob, but are usually seemingly overpriced as compared to the other brands making the same thing. But that 50 sounds huge – like a little fuzzbox with controllable amounts of dirt.
Yup. There's a lot you can do with that one knob. I usually use it as a boost. Either that, or it's just on for tone - the knob is usually between 11-1. It has a really crisp sound. The tele is a bright guitar, and this usually adds to the brightness, but in a good way. It’s a nice, crunchy OD. Usually, my tele's tone knob is turned down by about 20% on the bridge pickup.

Also speaking of crisp and crunchy tones, tell me about the Maxon OD 808 – out of all the obvious tubescreamer clones out there, why did you choose the 808?
That is also a recent purchase. I wanted something with balls and grit. The Amp 50 and the Animal are great, but in their own way. The 808 is a classic pedal so I use it for the heavier songs, usually couple it with the Animal.

Do you ever combine all or two of your dirt pedals? If yes, then which ones and how?

Yeah. For some heavier parts, I sometimes try different combos. With the gain dialled down on one or two.

Now shifting to the modulation part of your rig, tell me about the Boss Space Echo. All of us know it’s a recreation of the classic 201 by Roland but people have criticised it for having sub-par delays. How do you use it? For both delays and reverb or only one at a time?
Nah, the echoes are good and don’t disappoint. I fucking love it. I still haven’t fully explored the possibilities. Sometimes I use only the reverb. But mostly, both are on. When both are on, the reverb level is lower than the echo.

Plus do you sometimes go crazy with the other footpedal in the Spce Echo?
Hell, yes! In breakdowns, it sounds awesome.

Have you ever soloed with it? How does it combine with the dirt side of your pedalboard?
I don’t solo. Sounds great with dirt, though. I usually use it with single strums and plucky parts.

So now moving on to the Jack Deville Dark Echo – many guys (including me) don’t know anything about this pedal. So tell me how would you explain it to someone who has never heard it in action?
I actually just bought it on a whim only because I got a fantastic deal on it. It's a very trippy pedal. So far, I only use it as a slapback, or to modulate tone in trippy parts.

No need to talk about Boss AC 3 acoustic simulator.
Yeah. I just use that in one or two songs where I need an acoustic sound.

The one important question I forgot to ask you is that why do YOU use pedals. What’s your reason? A lot of guys in India are actually turning towards Axe-Fx units or rack-mounted stuff or just use distortion from the amplifier – so why do you want to go through the hassle of using pedals that require annoying patch cables and strange power supplies?
Earlier, when I had no money to buy individual pedals, I did try out a few processors, right from the Zoom 707 II to the PD XT Live. Nothing compares to actually touching, feeling and turning those knobs (yeah, #twss) and combining various effects to come up with one cumulative sound. Of course, if the amp is a good one, I love using the drive from the amp itself, as almost nothing can beat that. But add a couple of good pedals in the mix, and it’s the most sorted scene, ever.

What are some of your favourite combinations to use – how many pedals do you end up combining in one go?
I love trying different things out. I love combining my Space Echo with other delays from the M9, as well as my Jack Deville Dark Echo. As far as drives go, I usually combine the OD 808 with the Animal Drive or the Animal with the Amp 50. I don't like the way the OD 808 sounds too much with the Amp 50, though. I've also, recently started combining the Chemical Burn, very graciously loaned to me by Animal Factory Amplification and that goes really well with other drives, to give a meaty fuzz tone.

Do you usually attach them to the front of the amp?
Yup, I do. A lot of people like to go with the FX loop for delays, reverbs, and the like, but I haven't gotten down to trying that out, yet.

What’s your pedal wishlist like? What other pedals would you like to include in your arsenal?
Oh, man. The list is endless. But I really want to get a Memory Man with tap tempo, a Reezafratzitz from Emma and a bunch of the Strymon pedals, especially the El Capistan, Big Sky and the Mobius. That would totally sort me out.



Lastly, what kind of advice would you like to give to all the fellow pedal players/collectors/hoarders and noisemakers out there?There's no real advice. I guess, to each their own. No limits, just keep making that noise.

Uddipan Sarmah - aswekeepsearching

“By the way,” Uddipan Sarmah corrects me early on in the interview, “We have recently changed the way we write our band name, its aswekeepsearching from now on. All in small and no spaces.” I high-five him in my head for the move à la 65daysofstatic/sleepmakeswaves/maybeshewill (us folks of the post rock ilk consider such things akin to our ‘street cred’) and begin firing questions with the tone dialed back and decay set to full.

 First things first, tell me about your band, aswekeepsearching – why did you guys choose to have Hindi vocals with a strong post rock feel? Was the sound always this way or did it come to evolve over a period of jams?

The band is from Ahmedabad, Gujarat and was formed in 2013 when Shubham (aka, Shawn) and I sat to try our hands on some scratches. Later joined by Ashwin to complete the drums. I have been doing Hindi vocals from quite a long time now. I even released my solo album in Hindi titled “Zindagi”. Later when we did some rough recordings of our songs, I found Hindi words fit so well to the music we were writing. Without a second though we just decided to continue writing in Hindi. The sound of the band started the way you hear the EP, ‘Growing Suspicions’. Shubham and I have been working together from 2009 in different projects and genre of music. So we had lot of understanding. I guess spending some time writing music without considering any band for reference and trying all possible inputs came up as aswekeepsearching.




Also, you're someone who doesn't use pedals - WHY is that? Do you think it’s a hassel? If you ever did use them, which ones did you have?




Hmm, I guess all guitarists love pedals. I am sure about it. I love them too. I don’t use pedals YET, because I am willing to go with my POD x3 live to the best possible extent I can. Lemme tell you, I am a big jugaadu guy, not that there are financial problems now, but I love bringing the maximum I can from what I have. Reality is I did my solo album, Zindagi, through the POD (Guitars, Bass & Vocals). The complete album was done at a budget of 10k. Also, I am quite comfortable with the POD at the moment, I guess that’s all matters. Being comfortable. Technically speaking it is one of the best Guitar processors. I do love pedals and currently I am in my research phase :) I wish to build a good board at once and not one by one. Not that I will scrap my POD though! The individual control of the stomp boxes excites me. Just that I have PLANS, let’s see how it ends. I did try adding Boss Blues Driver, MXR Carbon Copy, Boss OS2 and a CS3 Compressor Sustainer in loop with my POD but I wasn’t very satisfied. So dropped the plan. However, in a recent gig at Hard Rock Cafe, Mumbai, I got a chance to chat with Siddharth Talwar from Spud in the Box (man, his rig is amazing) about some cool combinations of overdrives and distortions. Will try those soon.




How many guitars do you have? Do you use any particular one for As We Keep Searching? Tell me how you came to acquire them.




Oh, I have 3 guitars. A Blue Ibanez Gio270 which is my first guitar and it is currently in Bangalore at my friends place. It’s with a Flyod Rose bridge, which i am not very fond of anymore :). But I have done quite a lot of gigs on that, never disappointed me. Ibanez endorsed me with RGR321Ex (http://bit.ly/1zuFpTJ) and I was using the guitar for couple of years. Next i have the ESP EC100M, which I am using with AWKS (Can you see the Space Behind The Yellow Room sticker on it, great band, you much check them out). A basic starting range guitar, but I so love the fret board and it never goes out of tune. I will be upgrading the pickups to DiMarzio very soon and will continue to use this guitar for always. I have the ESP logo polished black as I was an Ibanez endorsee and not allowed to use any other brand :) Lastly I have a Yamaha F310 acoustic. It’s one of those versatile acoustic guitars which will sound good always. I love this considering the price it comes for.




What brand of string and gauge do you prefer? Do you guys make use of some alternate guitar tunings as well?




 I have been using Daddario strings from quite a long time. I use 10 | 46 gauge Nickel wound. I love the mids they deliver. We only go a ½ step down tuning both for recording and live.




What's your plectrum of choice?

For jamming, I sometimes use Jazz III. While my favourite is Planet waves Black Ice (I use two thickness sizes .88mm and 1.10mm). I have stocked it up Just in case I don’t find it later :) For acoustic guitar I prefer any pick of 0.46mm thickness. I love when the pick bends while strumming.




 What’s your amplifier of choice? Why?

I love Vox and so I have been using the same amp simulation in all my tones at POD. I love the mid-range it delivers and it goes so well with the kind of music we play. Especially the drive is very dynamic and it complements the playing. Even fender twin is my favourite for cleans. But Vox gives me more punch with humbucker pickups, which I currently have. I have plans of upgrading to a fender telecaster and would love to check out with the Fender twin then.




Are there some tricks you employ for the uniqueness in your sound?
Ah…no tricks. I am a guitarist at the very least. Have never learnt guitar. But yeah, I do work hard on the dynamics. I set my tones accordingly. In our music, it’s about playing that one single tone with the best possible dynamics I guess. I am very concerned on how I am picking, when I am muting and how I am holding the sustains for long.




 Do you usually attach your processor in front of the amp?

Nope. I already have amp simulations in my tone, so I don’t put the processor to an amp. I go DI to the mixer. But yes, if there is an amp available on stage, I connect it to my headphone outs and use the amp for my reference on stage. But yeah, I am using this small ART Studio v3 tube preamp after my POD. So basically my tone goes to the Mixer through the preamp! I am getting good health in the delay tails!

What’s your rig wishlist like? What other pieces of gear would you like to include in your arsenal?

Ah, this will never settle. Desire and desire. I don’t like huge rigs, rather simple and effective is my choice in the game: Polytuner > MXR Dyna comp >  Carbon Copy > Tube Screamer > OCD Drive > Boss Line selector > Boss DD7 > Digital reverb > Cathedral Reverb.

I wish to use Line6 DL4 in the chain too. Let’s see when all these happens. But now the priority is getting a guitar, so I guess I will stick to that and continue using my POD


Lastly, what kind of advice would you like to give to all the fellow noise mongers out there?


 Oh I am very young to do that. I have just started my journey to learn. I guess everyone is doing a great job in the indie scene now. India is getting rich with new interesting music. All I can suggest is there is no land and sky difference between analogue and digital stuff, it’s just that you must know your gadget well. I have seen people doing wonders with Zoom processors. Check out this band called Broken Membrane, from Bangalore. The guitarist uses a G1 still I guess and he know how to make a tone. Fucking they opened for Karnivool in Kolkata with that, mind-blowing! To me, all gadgets are good. What’s needed is the urge to learn it and utilise it. Thermal and a Quarter uses POD x3 live too.

Listen and connect with aswekeepsearching here

To buy aswekeepsearching's debut album, Growing Suspicions, go here or here

Abhinav Chaudhary - The Circus/Ioish

“Bassists don’t use pedals,” the naysayers are quick to retort. Even if that were remotely true, Abhinav Chaudhary, bassist extraordinaire of The Circus and Ioish stands tall as a living testimony of ‘Fuck you’. Known for his groovy sound and energetic playing style, Chaudhary is a force to be reckoned with onstage and has always managed to make music that is as enjoyable, complex and experimental as the various daisy chain knots and wiry loops on his messy pedalboard. Oh and speaking of his rig…

(Photo by Anand Mohapatra)

How many basses do you have? Tell me about all of them and/or how you came to acquire them.

At present I have

- One electric bass which is a Music Man Stingray 5 with single standard Music Man humbucker, an active 3-band preamp and maplewood neck and fingerboard. I bought this about 5 years ago in 2009 at a Guitar Center somewhere close to Indianapolis.

- One acoustic bass, standard 4-string Greg Bennett regency series ab-2 which I bought from Onstage about 2 years ago.

What brand of string and gauge do you prefer?

Ernie ball power slinky custom gauge strings, which 50, 70, 85, 105, 135 bottom to top. In case I can’t find these, which happens a lot, I go for D’Addario’s of similar gauge.

What’s your amplifier of choice? Why?

I use an Ampeg BA115 at home and an Ampeg bass amp tone has got to be my favourite. For recording and live purposes I like to use either Ampeg SVT series or Markbass. Most of the times I go DI straight into the FOH using the amp only for monitoring but these are the amp I prefer if it calls for micing and recording. In my opinion they both give clear and punchy harmonics that sound great to my ears when compared to other amp.

You are quite the pedal collector. Can you take me through the process you go through whilst acquiring a pedal? And what do you look for in a pedal before you buy it?

I’ve been using effects since the very beginning when I bought a Digitech bp200 along with my first bass, since then I’ve discovered that individual pedals (sometimes) sound better and definitely give you more hands on control over the effect parameters in real time. So, mostly I’m on the lookout for replacing effects I’ve heard on a digital platform (processors, vsts, etc.) with their analogue counterparts. Sometimes there are pedals that just sound strange or have cool graphics on them, those are always good to have.

What’s your current signal chain like? Tell me about each pedal in detail if you can.

I am almost 80 % happy with my current pedalboard, its missing a couple of things but this configuration works for pretty much any setup or band I play with.

Guitar > TC Electronic Polytune or Korg Pitchblack, I prefer the Polytune to the Korg because I think it tunes more accurately > Darkglass Electronics Microtubes B7K, this has got to be the single most useful piece of gear I’ve purchased, it’s always on > Blender from This1smyne (T1M) effects, it’s has a send-return loop which can be blended into the dry signal > Send> Proco. Turbo Rat Distortion > Way Huge electronics Swollen Pickle Fuzz > Subdecay Noisebox, this is my oldest pedal which is still around and works as new. It’s a fuzz-on-steroids driven synthy-filter machine > Return > Boss OC-2 with synth mod which when on makes the sound of octave down bitcrushed destruction > Iron Ether Xerograph deluxe, very synth-y, fully analogue low pass filter used with a Moog EP-2 expression pedal controlling the Frequency > Danelectro FAB Flanger or EHX Small Stone nano, i keep swapping these two out > Boss DD-7 delay > EHX Cathedral reverb > DI > FOH and Amp.

Apart from these I have a Devi Ever Ruiner Fuzz, a custom built green muff clone by Royztoyz in Bangalore, a EHX bass microsynth, a Boss Syb-3, A EHX bass big muff, Digitech Hyperphase and a Boss RV-5.

All of these are powered using Daisy chains and a One spot adapter and setup on a pedaltrain PT-1.

The one question I want to ask you is - why do YOU use pedals? What's your reason? A lot of guys in India actually are turning towards digital units – so why do you want to go through the hassle of using pedals?

Like I said before, most of the time individual pedals sound better than their digital units unless the digital unit is super high end, like an axe fx, but in that case, in my opinion it becomes an issue to have backups and travelling around with such gear. I’ve grown to like having hands on control over all my effects and being able to edit patches on the fly without having to look through menus and tiny screens. I love the modularity of the system.

What are some of your favourite combinations to use – how many pedals do you end up combining in one go?

Top of the list would be a Fuzz + Octave + Filter combination which along with an expression pedal gives very nice long synth swells. Second would be two dd-7 units + Cathedral + RV-5 for ambient drones and what not.

Guitarists have used random things to amplify their sound over the years. Are there some tricks you employ for craziness?

Mostly use my fingers or plectrums. I tried using a violin bow but that did not sound that great on bass, I still need to try an ebow.

Do you usually attach them in front of the amp?

Yes, all my stuff comes before the amp or PA.

What’s your pedal wish list like? What other pedals would you like to include in your arsenal?

I think I’ll be getting the reissued Digitech bass whammy next and possibly an ebow and hope fully a new bass this year.

Lastly, what kind of advice would you like to give to all the fellow pedal players/collectors/hoarders and noisemakers out there?

LOL, best of luck with your GAS folks!

Chaithanya Jade - Until We Last

Overall chilled out guy, Chaithanya Jade, from Bangalore-based post-rock band, Until We Last is known for making beautiful and introspective music through his band. Though I’ve long admired ambient music and was more than elated to witness its recent rise in the Indian underground music scene, I was more interested in finding out from Jade what he prefers when it comes to noodling around in the instrumental realm of things. Read more to find out!

How many guitars do you have? Tell me about all of them and/or how you came to acquire them.

I’ve got two guitars that I use right now, one is an Ibanez AM73B and another one is a Fender Standard American Stratocaster, HSS. I really love both of them, they both have their own characteristic tone and they work well for me. I use the Ibanez at home while I’m practicing parts, recording stuff through my soundcard or simply trying out new effects. The Fender is my main, I use it for jams with Until We Last and when we play live as well. Usually use the single coils for cleaner tones and the humbucker when i want some meat through heavy tones/ distortion patches.

I got the Fender from Detroit about 4 years ago and the Ibanez about 6 years ago in KL. It’s become increasingly easier to get stuff in India now though, with stores like the inventory, Bajaao & Saptaswara. Both the guitars have stock pickups, though I might try swapping out the pickups on the Ibanez someday.

What brand of string and gauge do you prefer?

I usually use D’Addario’s, they are easy to get around here at music stores. Gauge is usually 9s or 9.5s. 9.5’s are nice but if I can’t find them its 9s. Strings are a last minute thing before shows when we’re scared that our strings will snap because they’re too old, so it’s always a hurried purchase.

What’s your amplifier of choice? Why?

I’ve got a Marshall 15W at home, I’ve had it for years and use it for practice. Initially, while playing with UWL, I used to run my setup through stage amps, and I started taking a liking towards the fender tweed sound. However amps can vary a lot from stage to stage, and it’s always a pain getting the right settings because each amp is different and you have to start from scratch. Experience and advice from musician friends made me switch to using amp modelling on stage, so now I use a Sansamp. I had a Behringer tube amp modeler before that though, it was really noisy so I stopped using it.

You are known to be quite the pedal collector, usually replacing and purchasing new things for your pedalboard, can you take me through the process of you acquiring a pedal? What do you look for in a pedal before you buy it?

Haha…I don’t really consider myself a pedal collector…it’s basically been a learning experience…So I had this old Boss ME-50 that I’m quite fond of. It’s a multi - fx, I had been using it for years and I was really used to it. It’s got a lot of nice delays / modulation / distortions if set properly. However, it didn’t have amp modelling so I decided to get a Sansamp for that. Initially I got a loop station so that I can record phrases to practice over at home. After UWL happened, I started experimenting with live looping and it worked out pretty well…I expanded my pedalboard on a need basis…Got another delay & two reverb units eventually…Now I can make some pretty acid sounds! :D

What do I look for in a pedal? Hmm…as I said, it’s a need basis…so I’d be in the jam room working on a patch with the boys and I’d think, “hey, maybe another delay on top of this would sound nice, maybe I should try that out” and the idea would stick…so then I’d look around online for delay units and try to get them for cheap…try them out…two of my pedals are second-hand and they work perfect!

Whats your current signal chain like? Tell me about each pedal in detail if you can.

ME-50 -> RC3 -> DD7 -> 63’ Fender Reverb -> Sansamp GT2 -> Strymon BlueSky

So I use the ME-50 to store patches, primary delay tones, distortion, maybe some modulation & tone shaping. RC3 for looping stuff & playing loops live. DD7 for additional delays, and delay effects on loops. 63’ reverb gives me that nice fender tone, it brings out a nice Strat tone that I like. It’s also interesting to have a reverb before the amp modeller, because the tail gets cut by the amp settings. The BlueSky is a sweet pedal, its end of the chain because I like to let it breathe. It’s got ridiculous clarity.

The one important question I want to ask you is - why do YOU use pedals? What's your reason? A lot of guys in India actually are turning towards digital units - so why do you want to go through the hassle of using pedals?

That’s a really good question. I think it’s a matter of personal preference. I was comfortable with the ME-50 and I knew how it works so I just got additional stuff to work with it. Ketan (Bahirat, guitar player #2 of UWL) runs through a Pod HD500 and he knows it inside out - it works for him. I don’t have any preference between digital and analogue and I’m vary of those arguments…They really don’t serve any purpose. 

Technically speaking, all of my pedals except the Sansamp are digital pedals. digital as in they use DSPs. the only difference is that in a digital multi-fx, all these pedals are using the computing power of a single DSP (or multiple, depending on which multi-fx) built into the same unit and in my setup I’ve got one DSP on the ME-50, one on the Strymon, one on the DD7…etc but essentially it’s the same. Actually multi-fx digital units are more economical with computing power but sometimes having a dedicated DSP for a single effect can be nice. You can especially tell the difference with the BlueSky. So it all comes down to what you are comfortable working with, digital or not!

What are some of your favourite combinations to use - how many pedals do you end up combining in one go?

Hmm…I guess it’s always fun to swap stuff around and see how it sounds. i love experimenting with sounds that way. But combining too many pedals can lead to signal loss and noise, so it’s best to keep it at a minimum I suppose. But there really are no rules!

It’s good to know what your guitar signal is actually going through, I mean, every time you have a new pedal in the chain, unless it’s not buffered, your signal is passed through an ADC, then effected in some way, then again through a DAC…So the question is, how many times do you want this done? Is it really worth it? 

But with tones it’s always fun to keep experimenting! You never know :)

Hair dryers, violin bow - guitarists have used random things to amplify their sound over the years. Are there some tricks you employ for craziness?

Haha, not really…I just really like using my ebow through different patches & looping parts really quick to make up ambience! But maybe I’ll try a hair dryer next time! 

Do you usually attach them in front of the amp?

You mean attach pedals in front of the amp? No, I’ve never tried that but I’ve heard of amps having fx loops and they are good to use with certain effects I suppose. Like a reverb.

(Jade in action. Photo by Himanshu Rohilla)

Whats your pedal wishlist like? What other pedals would you like to include in your arsenal?

I’m pretty happy with my current setup for now…I think it does everything I want…I’m swapping out the Sansamp GT-2 for a Character series Blonde, that I’m getting end of the month so…pretty excited about that!

Lastly, what kind of advice would you like to give to all the fellow pedal players/collectors/hoarders and noisemakers out there?

Hmm…keep making noise, use whatever you are comfortable with, don’t be misled by people telling you what to do if you don’t want to do it, take help & advice to research on your own,  be non-conformist & do your thing! Music is ultimately about expression, so express yourself! :)

P.S. – You can buy Until We Last’s debut album, Earthgazing, here

Hello!

We live in an era where things are becoming overtly digital - guitars have been left for Kaoss Pads and drums have been abandoned for overpriced synth machines.

Well, fuck that.

What I plan to do here is to talk to soundhounds, noisemongers, guitar nerds and people who spend a long time experimenting and building their sound - with analogue gear. So if that's not how you roll, I kindly advise you to turn around and go back to got-djent.com and figure out how to borrow money from your parents for the all new Axe Fx-II...but if you like tweaking knobs, if you enjoy feedback, being washed in waves of sound and flashing lights on giant pedalboards, you've come to the right place!

Welcome to Tone Drone!