TOYS IN THE ATTIC

Joe Perry walks us through his at-home pedalboard - and his pedalboard methodology

- ANDREW DALY

What pedals are you using these days?

It's really just my pedals strung together on the floor, but you'll get the idea of what my show board is like. The show board is packed away with all the touring gear. But whenever I can get doubles, I do. Obviously, this isn’t possible with the old stuff. For instance, I have an old Electro-Harmonix Queen Triggered Wah — a unique-sounding pedal. It took me years to find a second one.

Do you have all your vintage pedals at home?

Most of my vintage pedals are up at the Aerosmith warehouse. I mostly use that stuff in the studio because very few have direct bypass, though some pieces have been updated with that feature. I'm able to find relatively new stuff that can do the job. I have a pristine Echoplex, but Fulltone makes a copy [Custom Shop Tube Tape Echo] that can't be beat. It's the best tape echo out there. They even interchange the tape cartridges with Echoplexes. I have five of them!

Why do you feel the Fulltone comes closest?

The Fulltone’s preamp acts like a boost pedal but also adds true tape warmth. Set it with one repeat and almost no delay, and it thickens your sound and adds a little “it”! For that style of playing, it's a killer setup.

What mistakes do you see other players make with pedals?