I Ripped Off Nashville’s Greatest Session Guitarists (and You Should Too)!
Nashville Studio Pros like Tom Bukovac, Derek Wells, Rob McNelley, Brent Mason, Kenny Greenberg, Justin Ostrander, and Jerry McPherson (to name a few), have not only been responsible for the guitar parts countless number-one Country hits, but have also curated the standard for effects pedals, which seemingly all session players in Nashville adhere to. Whether it’s the Line 6 M9 Multi-Effects for all their textural needs, the trusty Nobels ODR-1 as their go-to Overdrive, an RC Booster, or a King of Tone, there are many commonalities (gear-wise) amongst the first-call players in Nashville.
With that in mind, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Did these studio players hold the key to glorious tone by way of this magical combination of effects pedals? Probably not…but I decided to give it a try.
So I assembled a “Nashville Studio” inspired rig with all the staples you’d see among the pros listed above to see what would happen, using TheGigRig Quartermaster QMX10 as the “brain” and our trusty Vertex Buffer Interface to handle all of the routing capabilities for mono, stereo, and beyond.
*SIGNAL PATH*
Guitar
Vertex Buffer Interface (input buffer)
QMX10 Input
L1 – 1978 MXR Dyna Comp + MXR 10-band EQ
L2 – Xotic RC Booster
L3 – Analogman King of Tone
L4 – Nobels ODR-1
L5 – Greer Lightspeed
L6 – Ibanez MT10 Mostortion
L7 – ProCo RAT
L8 – XTS modded Boss GE-7 Equalizer
L9 – Boss VB-2 Vibrato
L10 – XTS modded Boss TR-2 Tremolo
QMX10 Input
Vertex Boost MKII (connected to Volume EXP)
EHX Deluxe Memory Man (with impedance, headroom, and true bypass mods)
Line 6 M9 (stereo)
Vertex Buffer Interface (output buffers for L/R stereo outputs)
Amp(s)
*Power Supplies*
Truetone CS12
Truetone CS7
Vertex Power Module (to merge the power supplies to one IEC power cable)
*Pedalboard*
Vertex Tour Elite with TE4 Riser
*Cable*
Mogami 2314 soldered to SquarePlugs SP400 (pancake) and SPS4 (straight)
*Fasteners*
3M Dual Lock SJ3550
Tyton Hellermann 1”x1” mounting bases
Tyton Hellermann 4” zip ties
⬇ BUY/SELL on SWEETWATER GEAR EXCHANGE ⬇
https://www.sweetwater.com/used
⬇ TABLE OF CONTENTS ⬇
00:00 My New Nashville-Inspired Pedalboard
00:56 The Inspiration Behind This Pedalboard
02:34 Signal Path
05:45 Leveling Up Your Compressor Sound
07:10 Why I Have 5 Overdrives on This Board
12:13 How I Use a GE-7 to Change My Guitar Sound
14:42 Nashville-Inspired Modulation Pedal Picks
18:50 The Boost Pedal of Choice for Nashville Players
20:19 What Makes the Deluxe Memory Man Great?
22:36 Why Nashville Players STILL Use the Line 6 M9
25:33 Signal Routing and Power
27:29 How to Build the Rig of Your Dreams!
29:17 Thanks for Watching!
⬇ RECOMMENDED GEAR ⬇
https://sweetwater.com/shop/the-rig-doctor
⬇ GET A ONE-ON-ONE TONE CONSULTATION WITH THE RIG DR. ⬇
Private Tone Consulting
⬇ FOLLOW US ⬇
Instagram: https://instagram.com/vertexeffects
Tik Tok: https://tiktok.com/@vertexeffects
Facebook: https://facebook.com/vertexeffectsinc
Website: https://vertexeffects.com
⬇BUY VERTEX PEDALS⬇
https://bit.ly/3kkZPOT
⬇PODCAST⬇
//apple// https://apple.co/36dSQzK
//spotify// https://spoti.fi/2WGLku8
⬇DIY BUFFER DIAGRAMS & TEMPLATES⬇
https://bit.ly/3gu02hU
⬇RECOMMENDED MATERIALS⬇
//buffers// https://bit.ly/3kpcFf0
//pedalboards// https://bit.ly/3B9DVFk
//power supply// https://bit.ly/3B9aD9D
//cables// https://bit.ly/3jktF7b
//cable & pedal management// https://bit.ly/3mCJxUe
//pedalboard tools// https://bit.ly/3B7AEGq
CREDITS
Host/Producer: Mason Marangella
Videographer: Nico Sotomayor
Video Editing: Victor San Pedro, Mason Mejia
Audio Editing: Hunter Harrison
#nashvillepedalboard #pedalboard #guitarpedals
#Ripped #Nashvilles #Greatest #Session #Guitarists
Originally posted by UC0lvt4Tpj5xI4Cfzfz4SHzg at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_TqRU_s7CE
To me all overdrives sound very close except the Rat.
I think a soft overdrive, a rat and maybe an eq is all I need.
Eq after the drives? For solo boost? How about sculpting tone after the drives?
I’m old and have a MM, but the delay you got out of the M9 was great.
Thanks for putting the board together and showing it. Couldn't watch the whole video as the delay was overwhelming .
Great video. I do have one question though, and a quick scan of the remarks did not seem to address it. To me it is the elephant in the room… @ 10:46 you kick in the Rat and suddenly the volume drops and the tone sounds thin. It seems to me a Rat should sound better than that, although to be honest, I've never been a big fan of that pedal. Was there an issue with the pedal, or is it just the way the recorder picked it up?
Questions for Mason:
1) Have you ever put the Tremolo after the Delay or even after reverb? That Pedal Show tried that out and found it to work surprisingly good.
2) I was also wondering if you ever put a clean boost after the delays and Chorus. I've seen a board like this that used an MXR Micro-amp and it seems to work very well also.
3) Does a Quartermaster screw up the sound of a Fuzz Face?
4) It seems like on most songs there is basically a gain string sound and a clean sound with gain pedals off. Could a Lehle D.Loop be set up to accomplish this? That sure would simplify everything a lot if that could be made to work. The idea would be to put the gain pedals in Loop A and then put the effects loop type pedals in Loop B. When you want a clean tone then turn the gain string Loop A off. When you wnat a delay string you turn on and off Loop B. Have you ever set up a rig like that?
I’m getting more and more to the point where I just want a tuner, a good boost (I use ep boost by xotic) maybe a light drive and a great amp
What are your (and Tom Bukovac’s) typical red side / yellow side settings for KOT?
Those vibrato swells are freaking awesome I would put that tone against anything I’ve ever heard on a record
Any alternatives to the M9 as it's discontinued??
Great video turn down your delay really takes away from what you're trying to showcase.
I made my pedalboards to be specific to what I need for recording/live sessions. I have my Bass Board, my All-Purpose Boss small Board, my 60s/70s Board(I'm looking for a U-Vibe and an Octave Fuzz), and my Big (almost)All-JHS Board. The JHS Board outgrew the BCB-60 Box, so I pulled out my old Furman Board Box to fit them all in(!)…. and get a Loop Switcher. I'll definitely need to get a buffer. I'm checking out the Quartermasters; one for the drives, another for the delays/modulations. This board will run wet/dry; I have a Radial ABY Box with phase/iso swicthes.
Would have nice to list what session player uses which pedals.
Timothy Lake
10:52 Sweet the Rat sounds as bad here as it did in my rig. That little fizz box made me question my amp
Mason if you ever see this… would you consider raising the action on your guitar?
All I keep thinking is how much better these effects would have sounded with a little more sustaijn
Trisha Mills
Smitham Meadows
Judge Station
Brown Court
Vertex and JHS are by far, the best, most honest lovers of music in general. Here’s Vertex, who makes pedals, yet he’s showing boards without his pedals (ok he has the Vertex Boost). Atleast, I don’t think he has any of his on there. These guys are legit, they are truthful and not salesman. They both make some fantastic pedals FYI. I own the KOT and it’s amazing, I also have the RC booster.
647 Orpha Loaf
Every few months I come back here and am impressed with your playing , keep it up. FYI, in my opinion gigrig 3 is awesome.
436 Zemlak Club
His pedal board cost more than my whole rig!???????????????? You would need to be a season guitarist or a doctor to afford to be able to build this. I bet that pedal board is heavy too. Great video!
the Rat has seen things….
Sorry, not a good job demo-ing the expression on the boost.
It's always been amusing that that decades ago, country people made fun of rockers for their long hair and how they dressed. Now, decades later, the country people have managed to copy the rockers of days gone by in every way, and let's not pretend country is where effects creation came from. That's just silly and uninformed, really, and
The Line 6 M9 may actually be a cool addition to your pedalboard…. If you can find one that works!!!
I mean, I really wouldn't know.
I've now bought three….. Yes three!!!… and have yet to find one that doesn't either have the "black brick of death" on the display screen or no display at all… Each rendering the device unusable.
Without a display it's literally impossible to reset etc.
Unless you can find one locally that can be verified as working (for how long???) you're stuck with buying used online and rolling the dice.
Apparently extremely large guitar stores… (GC)… don't bother to verify the unit before shipping it out to the customer, so that's always fun to have to pay non-refundable shipping charges, plus time and gas to shlep it to their nearest brick and mortar to get at least some of your cash back.
Worth noting…. Line 6 is aware of these issues, as they occur with several of their other modelers as well, however paying $225 to $300 for a used anything that has to immediately be sent off for repairs isn't my idea of a "quality" product or company. How these modelers actually stand up to repeated gig use is beyond me…. I guess perhaps they don't???
Anyway… No more Line 6 for me.
8181 Gerhold Walk
Enjoyed video Mason. Question on what pedal, tone degradation wise, would be ok to leave out of loop switcher? Is it more function choice to put certain pedals in loop or is tone the reason?
Line 6 M9/13 will remain "in style" as long as the big hitters are still using them. Thankfully my M13 is still working perfectly. I have it on a hard bypass switch, using for what ever i cant cover with the other pedals. Love it.
Hi Mason,
Say I couldn't possibly trouble you for the particular model number of the P-Touch label maker you use?
There are a ton of P-Touch models.. some well regarded, others not.
Thanks!!!
I compared my new Deluxe Memory Man with my friends old 1980s Memory Man.
It was night and day, the old large 1980s Memory Man sounded so much better.
I think the parts become unavailable so they make a mark 2 and change the internal design.
Not sure if that's the case in other videos too, but the guitars are panned to right quite a bit.
Was watching a video with Tom recently, and he threw a little shade at you for attempting to do this. He didn’t understand it, because it’s such a unique setup.
It was kinda funny
Nice pedalboard but, 2 eqs, 2 trems, 2 delays (as settling) and no wah neither analog modulation pedals. Not for me
I voted for Trump, in fact I like his mean "Tweets". However, for some reason I am put off by seeing your sour pus in the thumbnails . Have seen many of your earlier presentations, I know that you are very knowlegable. (I'm a retired EEE from the 1960s- 2006. Started and always remained a technician at heart.) I'm only one old goat. I'm a curmudgeon too, But just wanted to share.
That’s a beautiful Strat.
This is exactly why I've decided to get a Line 6 Helix ????
Never count bond with the Rat. I've had older Woodcuters and new ones
That M9 is a sleeper man! I’m playing a fractal these days but still have my pedals and the M9 served as my delays. With expression pedals it was outstanding. Kept it for small acoustic board.