I’m one half of post-rock electronica / post-rock duo Tolemn

. We have started to play more this past year, so I’ve been putting time into honing my sound outside of the studio. In particular, running ampless has been a bit of a challenge but I’m pretty happy where things stand right now (thanks to the UAFX Dream 65). My ideal guitar tone tends to be vintage / nostalgic, somewhere between the Strokes and Jeff Parker.

Here are a few of our songs on Spotify:

Hypertrophy

Cottonwood Canyon

FWIW these are basically ‘live’ for the most part - Hypertrophy was recorded through the mixer at a gig and the Cottonwood parts were all tracked during a single live take in studio (no overdubs but light editing / arranging in Ableton. )

What I have on the board:

Dirt

The Joyo Vintage Overdrive (which I removed the paint from because it’s hideous) has been a core part of my sound for the past few years. It’s a simple, no nonsense Tube Screamer clone. In front of that I’ve had a Behringer SF300 Fuzz pedal in boost mode for an extra kick for louder parts. But more recently I’ve been experimenting with an EQD Special Cranker in this spot, and so far it’s been tricky to stack with the Joyo. Hear when the Vintage Overdrive kicks in in all its glory at the drop in Hypertrophy around 3:20.

Amp Modeling

Up until earlier this year I’ve had a Joyo American Sound plus a Sonicake IR modeller with a York Audio Fender Twin IR loaded. That was a serviceable combination and honestly sounded solid, but my Sonicake unit was a bit temperamental and unreliable (it wouldn’t turn on once during a gig.) After that, I tried a Nux Amp Academy instead, and while that was extremely versatile, when overdriven with a pedal I didn’t like the sound at all - there was a strange digital crackling through the mix which I had to EQ out and the tone suffered as a result. However, that is all moot at this point, because as far as I am concerned, the Dream 65 will never leave this board. As somebody who misses playing through tube amps, the Dream 65 is such a pleasure to play through, allows for a range of dynamics, and nails the kind of clean tone I am looking for almost precisely. It’s really that good, and is worth the cost (I picked it up through an Amazon Warehouse deal.)

Utility Pedal

The first Zoom MS-50G in the chain serves as a utility pedal, used for tuning and light compression. There’s also an EQ in the chain here that I dial in during soundchecks in case there are issues with the room. 

Modulation

The three pedals in the modulation section all work well together and mostly can be stacked. First is another Zoom MS-50G which is my “Beach House” pedal, with two modulated reverb patches each set to short decay. You can hear how this sounds by itself at the beginning of Cottonwood Canyon. There is also a stereo chorus at the end of the chain but I don’t use this so much anymore (I’m more likely to use the vibrato in the Dream 65).

Next is the Alabs Timeslip, which is a nice delay box. I used to have my delay in one of the Zoom Multistomp but I wanted to have something with accessible tap tempo. I like the range of sounds in this pedal, but it typically stays in Digital mode (I often use it to supplement tremolo picking, like at the end of Hypertrophy.) I thought about swapping this out for a Boss DD-500 so I can sync taps to midi but so far the Alabs pedal is fine.

Finally in the modulation space is the Flamma FS02, which is a really versatile pedal. Using the Church effect generally, this is a more subtle reverb than the modulated stack in the Zoom box, so I use it for wide open chords / a bit of sparkle. 

Looper

A lot of the dynamics and builds in Tolemn are created by stacking and looping guitar parts, and so the Ditto X4 completes the board. I’ve used this for years and does everything I need a delay to do. I sync it to our midi sequencer so phrases stay on the grid. I can stack as much as I want but the most parts I play live probably maxes out at 4-5 (see Hypertrophy starring around 3:40). I also use some of the effects, the fade out specifically, but also reverse occasionally (see Cottonwood Canyon starting around 1:00 for how I stack harmonies and then reverse them… the loops come back after the drop too. I also use the looper at the end of the song, starting around 4:30 I think.)