Pete Thorn is a king of tone – and anyone who has seen his gear demos on YouTube will know his technique, touch and composition make him one of the leaders in the game. But he's also a touting pro player who was once part of Chris Cornell and Melissa Etheridge's solo bands, and he currently lends his talents to UK covers act The Classic Rock Show, performing songs by Led Zeppelin, Van Halen, Queen, The Who, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, AC/DC and more. So what effects pedals does he choose for it all?
Pete's just posted a handy video to tell us, and we're going to breeze over his Suhr, Leo Scalla and Frankenstein guitars and two Suhr amp setup because we can't afford them (check the video below to find out more and hear some incredible tones). Instead we're paying close attention to some more obtainable gear on his pedalboard. And there's some new additions from the last time he did a rig tour.
Pete is a gigging tonehound so his choices are well worth taking note of. Alongside The Crazy Tube Circuits Starlight fuzz pedal there's the new Unobtanium – combining a Klon-inspired overdrive pedal one side and a Dumbleon the other. "These are the kind of main alternate drive pedals that I'm using through [the Suhr Bella amp]," says Pete, who uses these drives for the sounds that aren't the "straight up rock" tones. For those he leans on his Suhr SL68 amp (£3,500 in the UK… ouch).
He will use DryBell's Unit67 EQ pedal with that amp for its Dallas Rangemaster-style qualities though. "It's kind of more to kick the SL68 a little bit, some of the Rangemaster-style boost to kick the front of the amp a little bit and just liven it up – more harmonics, and a bit more gain. It's really fun."
Pete uses a Boss FV-30H volume pedal in front of the whole rig and it helps for the iconic riff in Journey's Don't Stop Believin' that fades in. He also has a second one going into his Bella amp for swells.
Eventide's incredible new H90 pedal makes a debut on the 'board, in front of Pete's Bella amp. "I'm using it for Harmonizer, as well as spring reverb which is beautiful on this pedal, I'm using it for some delay, a slow rotary sound and it's great for that."
Alongside a Strymon TimeLine for delay, there's also a Mobius for modulation. We can also spy MXR's Duke Of Tone and the Dunlop Echoplex delay on there too.
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