Active Band Man Chats - Pedalboards 2025 Edition

So then, what are we talking about this time?

Pedalboards!

Oh, you’re unusually straightforward with the theme (lol).

This year’s!

So it’s strictly this year’s, then. We’ve talked about pedalboards plenty of times before.

⇒ Active Band Man Chats— Revamping Your Pedalboard —

A board really reflects your mood at the time…

So it’s fine to do it as many times as you want?

Exactly!

That’s what you mean, huh (lol).

A pedalboard shows a man’s wavering heart…

Yeah, yeah.

Like vibrato… tremolo…

Yeah, yeah. Let’s get started already!

Here’s the full view!

“The full view” (lol). Like you’re introducing a garden or something.

A pedalboard is a man’s miniature garden…

Yeah, yeah. You’ve said that before too — the miniature garden thing.

First up, the tuner!

It’s red!

Rose-colored.

It’s KORG, right?

Yes! The classic Pitchblack! — in a limited color! It’s like Johnny Ridden, don’t you think!?

KORG / Pitchblack Advance PB-AD Sparkle Red (discontinued)

Not Char Aznable, but Johnny Ridden… nice (lol). I don’t dislike that choice.

Heh heh…

I usually put my tuner at the end, but I see the Prince is the type who puts it first. Well, I guess most people add it first.

Yeah, this goes way back. After the tuner, first up is this one!
euphoricguitars / trad overdrive

Yellow really screams “overdrive”, doesn’t it? By the way, this “euphonicguitars” pedal is a one-off made for us by an acquaintance, so it isn’t commercially available — just so you know…

That’s right! And it’s perfect when I want an easy-to-use, light distortion! For The Captains’ live shows, this is always on.

I see.

Hi, I’m George On!

What’s with that all of a sudden? (lol)

Even when you roll back the guitar’s volume and keep it on the cleaner side, it still sounds great. Next up is this!
ZOOM / multistomp MS-100BT

The familiar Zoom handy stomp!

This one! It’s not a limited color — it’s this color because it’s the Bluetooth-enabled model!

Ah, right, you can swap out the contents via Bluetooth, can’t you? Things have gotten really convenient. In any case, it’s got all kinds of effects in it, but how are you using it here?

At the recent live show, I set it to a TS-type distortion to add thickness to chord playing.

I see.

The Multistomp can do a lot of different things, so depending on future new songs, it’ll probably come in handy.

Exactly.

Next is the last one!

That’s fast! Excluding the tuner, there are just three pedals!

Right now it’s a compact miniature garden!

Next please, the final one.

This one here!

BOSS / DS-1X Distortion

Reliable as ever, BOSS!

BOSS distortion, this!

The silver knobs give it a special feel.

BOSS DS-1X. I like the X series — I used to use the OD-1X before.

XThe X series is relatively new, right? I personally use the BB-1X preamp a lot. How do you use this one?

Yeah! I step on it when playing single-note leads! That’s my board for this year, I guess.

Fast. No ambient effects or anything?

None! No filter effects either!

Very decisive.

In The Captains, we’ve got Tomoaking as the lead guitarist, so simple is fine for me!

There are also live shows where the Prince doesn’t play guitar, after all.

Gasp! But Tomoaking has an Eventide at his feet, so it seems like he can do anything!

I don’t really get it, but I guess so.

Right!

Anything you want to add going forward?

Hmm, rather than adding things, I feel like next year my awareness about what’s under my feet will change, and the board will probably change drastically.

The Prince’s setup changes every year… or rather, every few months, but a drastic change? That sounds exciting.

Stay tuned! So next it’s Horry’s turn.

Me? Hmm… Well, it’s true that there’s been a bit of change this year. One of the bands I was mainly active in went on hiatus… and the board I used for that band was the most elaborate one, so with that gone, things are simpler now. This is it.

ZOOM / B2 FOUR
DIGITECH Drop

It’s super simple!

Yeah. I never thought a multi-effects unit would become my main setup myself (wry smile). I did almost all of my support gigs with this setup this year. By the way, there’s also a pattern like this.

ZOOM / MS-60B+

Even simpler?

I guess you could say that. Well, it’s basically just swapping the B2 FOUR for the MS-60B+. This one’s more for studio sessions, I think.

You’ve got the Digitech Drop in both setups.

That’s right. There are quite a few situations where the key changes on the spot, so it’s for that. Ideally, I should be able to respond instantly even with the key changes, but, you know (wry smile).

Guitarists have capos, after all. Both multis are ZOOM. So you’ve taken a liking to this brand?

Yeah. I was using the model before the Multistomp (the MS-60B) for a long time, but that was strictly as one tone option. Now I’m just using this one unit.

And why’s that?

The preamps built into the B2 FOUR and the new model (MS-60B+) were pretty usable… especially the Darkglass-inspired preamps in those two. The older model didn’t have those.

You went ahead and properly updated it. As expected.

Then, I finally realized, albeit a bit late, that switching tones is actually surprisingly easy… I first brought in the B2 FOUR, but in my head, the only way to change tones is through switching patches… While messing around with the B2 FOUR, I realized you can just turn individual effects on and off within a patch. Way too late (lol).

I see. So if it’s just turning a single effect on or off, you can do it within the same patch.

Exactly. If you’re switching two or three effects at once, then you should change patches, but for me, I make a basic tone with a preamp and the like, then place things I use partially, like the chorus next to it, and turn those on during the song. That’s how I use it.

That’s basically the same feeling as lining up compact pedals.

And since I can use the MS-60B+ that way too, I basically have it set up for studio use.

Makes sense. And it keeps your gear load light.

Yeah. When I first tried the MS-60B+, I actually put it away once because I couldn’t switch patches the same way the previous model could. But after I figured out how to do it on this one, I’m now using it all the time. The preamp sounds have also improved overall.

Anything else? You’re doing a lot of different things, horry.

Yeah. Other than that, there’s the board for “Lime Light” I guess.

All of the effects I use on this board have been introduced in past articles, but… there’s one thing I want to touch on briefly…

Hm? What’s that?

The distortion I’m using on this board as a boost… Sound House started carrying Papa Goriot Studios pedals this year.

Papa Goriot Studios / ADVENT/MONOLITH

Oh! Finally! You really like their distortion pedals, horry. Our Ted uses this one too.

I’m really happy to hear that! Now you can buy them through Sound House!

Huh? Again? Didn’t you already buy one this year?

Uh… I bought one each for guitar and bass earlier this year… as backups.

Thought so. Same as ever (lol). Anything else?

As for boards, I do have one for EUB, but since the EUB didn’t make an appearance this year, that’s about it… I guess.

I see. Then just to be sure, I’ll ask — is there anything you want to add?

Who knows? I can’t think of anything I want to add right now, but actually, there’s an effect I bought in the latter half of this year that I haven’t brought out yet, so I might end up putting together a new board… that’s all I’ll say for now.

As expected! I’m looking forward to it — the potential of our miniature gardens! Yes, and everything is…?

Because of love!