There comes a time in most guitar players’ lives when all of a sudden we realise our tube amps are too loud. Sometimes we find this out by ourselves. Occasionally, there’s an intervention, from our families, or maybe the local authorities. More often than not it’s an embattled sound engineer who raises the red flag. Ed O’Brien can relate.
The EOB and Radiohead guitarist stopped by GigRig HQ to spec up a new pedalboard – and if ever we are in need of stompbox inspiration, we will find it here. And the conversation around the build, and partly why he wanted to switch things up, revealed that after 35 years or so as a pro musician O’Brien has reached an epiphany with amplification. By using smaller amps he could push them and find their sweet spot a lot easier.
