“Back in the day, I took pride in having no pedals. All I had was a tuner. Now I have a crapload of pedals! I was talking to Charles [Black Francis], and he said, 'Look, we’re playing different venues all the time…' and for me, the easiest way to carve out a sound for each venue was the pedals. But I do like the tones and the variety, and now I just enjoy collecting and using pedals.
“I have a crapload of distortion and boost pedals. I’m still looking for that sound, and I’ll have slots on my pedalboard that change maybe one or two times per tour. I’ll want another sonic thing to entertain myself on stage.
