This is the current pedal board that I am using now. Compared to the previous version, this version has gone through a lot of changes. We can see from the pictures about that some pedals has been cycled out while there are additions of several other pedals. Noticeably, the original DS-1 Monte Allum modded is no longer around. Additions to this board are BYOC 5 knob Compressor, BYOC Orange Distortion, Boss Noise Suppressor (NS-1), Morley Little Alligator Volume pedal and a BYOC Reverb pedal. Also visibly, there is an additional pedal board to house the additional pedals which takes up a lot of space.
I originally wanted a super long pedal board, to be able to house all of the pedals but it seems that it might prove to be a problem, especially when I need to carry my pedals out for jamming. So my friend gave me a bright idea of getting another pedal board to add on as an extension. Since I am connecting my pedals in such a way, that I can separate them by "Drives" and "Modulation", I've decided as such to make 2 pedal boards in this category. In the event that I need to use them for Jamming, I only have the need to carry out my "drive" pedal board and this is by far a lot lighter compared to the full board. The next question is, when will I ever need to carry out 2 boards or have the use for all the effects? Well, maybe if I ever need to use it for a performance that requires me to use those effects or recording.
Again, this board is build with Steve Vai's setup with only stomp boxes in mind. The Morley Little Alligator has been added in for purely that reason. Of course, when I feel like doing volume swells or change my volume between lead and rhythm, this pedal is exceptionally useful. The compressor has been added for easier picking and more sustain when I am doing fast runs. The compressor sounds really transparent and has a very nice warm tone with nice pick attack. It does in some ways exaggerate the picking tone. The Orange Distortion is actually a clone of the original MIJ Boss DS-1. For those who have tried the MIJ Boss DS-1 with TA7136 Toshiba opamp, you will know what I mean. This pedal's tone is honestly amazing. The best part is, the guys from BYOC did additional modification by adding the preamp knob and allowing the option to add in additional switches for the Keeley Ultra and All seeing Eye mod. This gives me tones of tonal variation from just the DS-1 alone. With the preamp knob, I am also given the option of using it as a preamp pedal, by turning the gain knob to zero while boosting the preamp to my already overdriven tube amp.
The Noise Suppressor is there, to suppress noise obviously. There are times where I will be boosting my distortion to insane levels and I need the Noise Suppressor to suppressor the sound. There are times where I've plugged into an amp with ground hump and when my gain levels are slightly higher, the extra sound isn't tolerable. This is where the Noise Suppressor comes in. Lastly, the Reverb pedal has once again been changed to the BYOC Reverb pedal. This pedal is honestly very warm sounding and it can do a slight reverb to lush cathedral hall kind of reverbs. The pedal sounds so convincing that if I were to accidentally kick it, I might actually expect spring like sound disturbance you might get from natural spring reverb. This is by far the warmest reverb pedal I've ever owned.
This is the last stage of "Evolution of my Pedal Board" series and there probably won't be any more articles on "Evolution of my Pedal Board" unless I add in more pedals. I am pretty pleased at the performance of this pedal board at I probably won't be adding more pedals for the time being. Watch out of individual pedal reviews!
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