“I just can’t set them right”: Jared James Nichols admits he doesn’t know how to use delay pedals
With his mastery of the fretboard and unrivalled command of the pentatonic scale, you’d probably expect blues ace Jared James Nichols to have a similar skill in programming guitar gear. But there’s one area he readily admits he hasn’t been able to grasp yet: delay pedals.
In an interview in the latest issue of Guitarist magazine, Nichols explains his relationship with delay pedals – and pedals in general – and says he was inspired by the relatively simplistic setups of his guitar heroes as a young guitarist.
READ MORE: “A Line 6 Spider III got me where I am today!”: Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Kiki Wong thinks it’s more important to have an expensive guitar than a pricey amp
“When I was younger, I’d watch videos of Stevie Ray Vaughan and [Jimi] Hendrix, any of the old blues guys, and I could see they had basic setups,” he recalls. “I quickly realised the difference was in how they were playing. I was inspired to learn all those little nuances through touch.”
Nichols, like all guitarists at some point, dabbled with pedals, but preferred leaning on the nuances of his playing to define his sound.
“I dipped my toes into pedal land, but I never went far because I’d feel like the pedal was controlling me, rather than the other way round,” he goes on. “To this day, I cannot use a delay pedal. I just can’t set them right. I don’t like it when the emphasis shifts from the notes I play to the gear I’m using.”
For many guitarists, having more gear on hand gives them more options to fine-tune their perfect tone. But for Jared James Nichols, “needing less gear sets me free”. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t dabbled in more complicated pedalboard setups in the past…
“When I first started touring, I’d build pedalboards with a wah, tuner, fuzz and various drives on there,” he says. “Things would go wrong, probably down to my own stupidity. So that pedalboard got smaller and smaller.
“By the end of the tour, it would be just a Tube Screamer into the amp because I knew I could play a whole set without any problems. I didn’t need all the extra crap. Just give me a single-P-90 guitar and a Tube Screamer and I’m ready to play the Royal Albert Hall. It’s like sink or swim.
“I’ve started backing off the dirt because you get extra clarity with more volume and less drive. Some players don’t realise that – they stack a bunch of pedals, which is cool and I’ve done that myself, occasionally. But sometimes a good guitar and amp pushed to the limits will get you the fattest tones.”
The post “I just can’t set them right”: Jared James Nichols admits he doesn’t know how to use delay pedals appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
