Eddie's Pedalboard

Rarely do you see a bass player with as many pedals as the guitarists. Here's a look at the exception:

Line 6 Distortion Modeler- Much like Teppei's Line 6 modeling pedals, this one models a number of classic distortions, fuzzes and overdrives. Things like the Big Muff, Fuzz Face, Tube Screamer, Tube Driver and Tone Bender. Again, there are 4 programmable presets. I'm pretty sure this pedal is what you hear on the fire stuff when it's played live (we know he played through a JCM800 for the recording).

Line 6 Delay Modeler w/ Expression Pedal- This may solve the mystery of the black pedal, now that I think about it. Eddie is using an expression pedal for his Delay Modeler for extra control, which I'm pretty sure means that the mysterious black expression pedal on Teppei and Dustin's boards is a delay expression pedal. Woot... now I feel like I've learned something today. Thanks to Christian for the comment on the article about Teppei's pedals! This pretty much has confirmed my thoughts on what the black expression pedal is for.

Boss Digital Delay/Pitch Shifter- Check out Teppei's article for more info on this one. It's interesting to see a bass player who has 2 delay units in his rig. This proves that the Thrice tone comes from all members, and that Eddie's tone is a key part. I stood in the front right by Eddie when I saw Thrice in february, and I must say that it's quite cool to see a bassist who does so much tonally. Most bassists just stand and look cool, but Eddie adds quite a bit more to the overall sound than just the low end (and he does look pretty cool on top of that). Eddie's pedalboard shows that.

ZVEX Fuzz Factory- It's interesting to see Eddie using one of these things. Check out Dustin's rig article for more info on this pedal. I can't really remember any instances of extreme fuzz from the show I was at, but I can't say I was looking. Does anyone know of any bootleg shows floating around from this year? I'd like to get one to find out where each pedal is used live and I really have nothing to go on except memory.

Ernie Ball Volume Pedal- Basic volume pedal. Move the expression pedal with your foot... volume goes up and down. Yay. Don't get me wrong, this is a key part of a live setup, it's just not too interesting to talk about, haha.

Boss TU-2- Yep, Eddie's got the pedal tuner too.




I guess this concludes the pedalboard articles. Here are some concluding points to think about:

Besides distortion, delay is definitely the most important ingrediant in the Thrice tone from Vheissu onward. It creates the spacy textures and thick clean tones they have become known for in the last few years.

In designing your own live rig- don't forget the volume pedal and tuner! I, myself am currently guilty of this due to buying the more interesting pedals first. The volume pedal especially will really free you up and get your band sounding great. When you're stuck on one volume all the time, it can be a problem. Sure, you can set your pedals for a volume boost but that isn't always wise. If you need a boost for a solo, adjust the volume pedal and when you're done put it back down. You'll sound tighter and more professional.

More than one source of gain is a must. Don't be the band with 2 sounds- clean and distorted. Sure, a minimalist approach can be good, but if you ask me, versatility is much better. As you can see, Thrice have numerous sources of gain and you can hear them all in different places. They are all crucial. You wouldn't want to use the same pedal for Red Sky as you would for Firebreather, or the same pedal for The Artist In The Ambulance as for the outro to Broken Lungs. I'll delve further into this in future articles.

There's more to come! I've just got to do my research and and write it up all nice and such. Check back soon.