* Note: This is Daniel’s rig at certain times and is always subject to change. As soon as I find out anything new, I’ll try to post it along with all the old stuff.
Occasionally I’ll have a few people stumble over here to my blog looking for certain people’s pedalboards and such. I’m very much a gear-head and love looking up and talking gear. So I’ve decided that every once in a while I’ll post some friend’s gear and discuss the gear and their tone a little. This will satisfy your Google searches, yet it won’t be often enough for you other readers who don’t care anything about guitar gear to get fed up and leave. This might be completely dorky, but I know some of you guys want this, so I’m gonna give it! Demand and supply…can’t go wrong with that!
Since the most searched person’s gear on my blog is Chris Tomlin’s guitar player, Daniel Carson, I thought I’d share some of his stuff first. I have the privilege of serving on the worship team at Passion City Church with Daniel and have been out on the road with the Tomlin crew to guitar tech for Daniel and Chris. You’ll find his most up-to-date gear at the top and you can find the older stuff at the bottom.
The current board’s chain goes as follows:
- This1sMyne Mini Buffer – a buffer is used to strengthen signal before running through all the pedals. (Not currently on Daniel’s Board)
- Ernie Ball Volume Pedal Jr. (with Boss Tuner out)
- This1sMyne Custom True Bypass Looper (everything else after this is in the looper chain):
- Diamond Compressor
- Fulltone Fulldrive 2 – older version, used as main overdrive.
- Hotcake – another drive he uses a little. (Not currently on Daniel’s Board…sometimes replaced by a Box of Rock, Nobels Overdrive or something else)
- Micro POG
- BBE Sonic Stomp – great for adding a little color to your tone. You can add a little more beef or sparkle to your tone by adjusting a few knobs.
- Boss DD-5 – standard digital delay, used most for dotted 8th or 1/4 note delays.
- Boss DD-5 – used with different settings than other DD-5, uses a reverse ambient setting a lot too.
- Boss DD-20 Giga Delay – used for dialing in BPM for delays mostly.
- Line 6 Echo Park – uses the analog setting left on almost all the time.
- Boss RV-5 – uses the modulate setting with lots of repeat time up high for a really spacey ambient sound
He’s also using a Matchless SC-30 he got earlier this year for the record. He said he used one all the time at Ed Cash’s for recording and liked it so much that he found this one and grabbed it. He’s using it with a British AC-30TB (through Top Boost channel) most the time these days.
Sorry this ended up being a little lengthy, but I hope this benefits someone. Enjoy!
Older Boards (Oldest to Newest)
Board 1: Daniel’s pedalboard looked a little like this back in Winter 07-08, but with the release of their new album and upcoming tour, it could look a lot different now. I’m not exactly positive of the exact signal chain, but he’s running through the Ernie Ball volume pedal (with tuner out to Boss Tuner), a Zvex Box of Rock (a boutique overdrive), the Fulltone Fulldrive 2, a Pro-Co Rat, a BBE Sonic Stomp, the Boss RV-5 Reverb, a Boss DD-5 Delay (with tap), a TC Electronics Nova Delay, the Boss DD-20 (with tap), and a Line 6 DL-4. I believe that all Daniel’s pedals are powered by an older JuiceBox (pedalgear.net). Daniel wil typically run stereo into 2 British Vox AC30TB’s (Top Boost) or an AC30TB and an older Fender Princeton Reverb.
Now I’ll discuss a few things about his setup.
By having the volume pedal before the drive pedals, he’s able to control the gain when the pedal is on. The more the heel is down, the less gain there is and the more the toe is down, the more gain there will be. If the volume pedal is after the drive pedals, you can control the actual volume of your sound, without any changes in gain. I do this so I can swell something in with all the gain and drive that I would have at normal volume.
The Box of Rock, Fulldrive 2 and Rat are great drive pedals. I know that typically Daniel will use the Rat for “Let God Arise.”
The Sonic Stomp is great for adding a little color to your tone. You can add a little more beef or sparkle to your tone by adjusting a few knobs.
The RV-5 gives some really “airy” noises, especially when added with some delay.
The DD-5 has a great dotted 8th delay sound. I’ve known Daniel to use the reverse setting too, to make some ambience noises, but considering the versatility of this delay, I wouldn’t limit him to just those two features.
I don’t know a whole lot about the Nova Delay, besides that he told me that he added it to his board pretty soon after it came out and really enjoyed it. I continue to hear great things about it too.
The DD-20 (Giga Delay) is an awesome delay pedal as well that has the capability of plugging in a tempo at any BPM (beats per minute) so that the delay will run seamlessly with a click, as well as the ability to tap the tempo in. The Giga Delay is definitely a very versatile delay pedal.
The DL-4 is an extremely versatile delay pedal as well, with some very cool sounding delay sounds (I believe he uses this for the lead on “Your Grace is Enough”), as well as a sweet looper feature. You can record a sample and play it over, giving you the ability to play or record on top of it, leaving endless possibilities.
Board 2: I found this picture from August 09, so I believe it’s pretty up-to-date. This is very similar to the last picture, but with a few additions. Daniel is now running a Diamond Compressor, Crowther Audio Hot Cake and a true bypass strip. Two of the bypass channels are labeled as AC and POG, so it seems he has been occasionally running an AC Booster and a POG as well. It also appears that he’s now using a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power to power it all.
Board 3: Here is Daniel’s new Dashboard:
You can see this at the FQ Worship Video page too, but the only different thing is that he’s now back using two DD-5′s and a Timefactor. He said the Timefactor was something he was just going to try out and see if it was just a cool studio tool or how much he could use live. The feature we talked about most was using the stereo delays to send different timed delays to different amps.
this is a very good blog daniel has a pretty sweet tone his pedals are very common but best out there right now…. as far as delays ill like 2 look up more on the nova delay ive heard some good reviews on it… i though daniel had a super duper 2 in 1 last time i saw his board but i guess he got the box of rock ive tried da box of rock but i didnt really like it da pro co rat is one of the best sounding drive pedals ive heard and da jekyll and hyde is pretty sweet 2….
On the original “[Worship] Frequency” website there was a piece entitled, “Daniel’s World.” In one of the videos that was posted Daniel shared how he blended a Fulton-Webb and a Vox AC30.
Do you know how he blended these two?
yes…i do believe he used an amp selector made by voodoo lab…i think he ran the fulton-webb pretty driven and the ac30 pretty clean and would switch between both and either one. i know that he still runs stereo amps, but now they’re both ac30′s and i think he just splits the signal into stereo using the stereo outputs on the line 6 dl4 or another stereo delay pedal. i’ll see if i can check up with him on that…
And he’s Using Monster Cables/George l’s but mostly monster.. the george ls connect the fs-5us 2 the delays. but thats it
There’s a video of him walking through his board a FQworship.com
First off’I'd like to say that I’m a big fan of Daniels sound. Always been an inspiration for myself as guitarplayer.
Benjamin said that on the FQ WOrship website Daniel, explains his two amp setup. I checked it out on the FQ website but couldn’t find ‘Daniel’s World’. Can anyone give me the link of something.
Thanks from Holland
Daniël
Daniël-
I think that there used to be a section on the FW website, but isn’t there anymore. The most up-to-date list of his gear that I know of is what’s listened on here. I’ll see him in a couple of weeks and will try to talk to him about it then…and thanks for stopping by from Holland!
Hey Nathan, have you gotten the chance to meet Daniel yet? im really interested in what gear he’s using.
Can you make a list like i did above. and Nathan have you ever played with the Proco RAT 2 i use it and love it. sounds good
i went to the sing tour at the beginning of this year and i saw that daniel was using his 3 delay pedals (DL4 DD-20 and his boss Digital delay, i believe DD5, the two bosses rigged with tap tempo’s) an AC BOOSTER, which was somethin fairly new to him but that i have seen used more and more.(Daniel Carson & Electric guitar guy from Leeland) a fulldrive 2, Boss digital reverb, his BBE sonic stomp. and a diamond compressor along with a ernie ball volume and a voodoo lab power pad or w.e. you call it. i have a great picture of this board from point blank but ill have to find it. it sounded awesome. he used a vox AC30 with the alnico blues along with another smaller amp. and on top of his AC30 he had something called i think “the machine” if i remember correctly and cant figure out what it is. it was the size of an amp head. but it was neat. ill try and find the picture. . for yal. . later, God Bless
Hee guys,
Just saw the new video on FQ Worship with Daniel’s amps and pedalboard as of april 2009. Here’s the rundown.
Ernie Ball Volume pedal into an true bypas looper with a Diamond Compressor, AC booster, Fulltone FD2, BBE sonic stomp, Boss RV5, Boss DD5 and the famous Line6 DL4. Out of the looper the signal goes into the Boss DD20 en splits his signal to a Fender Princeton reverb and an Vox Ac30 TB. All of this powered by a Voodoolab PP2 and a Visual Sound One Spot.
Really cool stuff, and I’ll bet it sounds amazing.
Cheers and blessing from Holland
Here’s Daniels gear.
Guitars
Jerry Jones neptune shortie 12 sting guitar
Custom made Nash Telecaster
1976 standard Gibson Les-paul
Epiphone Casino x3
Gretsch Country Classic
PedalBoard
Ernieball Volume Pedal
True bypass Switcher
Diamond Compressor
Xotic AC booster
Fulltone Fulldrive 2
BBE Sonic Stomp Maximizer
Boss RV-5 Digital Reverb
Boss DD-5 Digital delay
Boss DD-20 Digital Delay
Line 6 DL-4 Delay moduler
Boss TU-2 Tuner
Voodoo lab pedal power 2+
Visual sound 1Spot
Amps
Fender 1965 Princeton Reverb
Vox AC-30 1990′s Reissue
Oh yeah and that so called fancy box on top of Daniel’s AC-30 is just an attenuator made by Ultimate.
p’s Nathan you need to update this blog with Daniel’s current stuff.
I probably won’t update Daniel’s gear on my blog…if y’all see something new or different, feel free to leave a comment listing it. When I get to talk to him about it again, I might post a new blog. But until then, I’m going to leave this and y’all can post comments…
Nathan, does daniels reverb tone much similar to the edge or David and Tom from AVA come from the RV-5 if so what setting is it on?
Hey Russ, Daniel leaves his RV-5 on the modulate setting with the tone all the way down time all the way up and the volume depends on the song. Hope that helps.
Yea Coty it does. Thanks a lot hes got a great sound i love it
Your welcome and you spelled my name right.
I think he’s got great tones to, And Im modeling his board but, I have to consider the tones I need to so its not exactly the same as his but I would love to get his tone.
And Im glad I actually helped someone with my I thought useless knowledge of tones that would never benefit anyone but me.
hey guys i have a question..u guys are talking about how daniel loops. how does he loop? and how does it all work? thanks
Don’t forget Daniels Fender 1972 Telecaster Deluxe in walnut finish, as seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaLckqfvZHQ.
Albert.
He uses his Line 6 DL-4′s Loop sampler function,
or his Boss DD-20′s Sound on sound mode, But mostly the Line 6.
Jacob nobody forgot about that tele, I saw that video months ago. He just doesnt use it that much anymore, He uses his Nash Telecaster instead.
What kind of guitar cable does Daniel Carson use? and do you guys know what pedalboard he has? Thanks!
not sure about the cable besides the george l’s and occasionally a monster cable for linking the pedals together. the pedalboard is probably made by his dad from dandee cases…
What specific types of delay does he use for delay pedal? I know he used the DD5 for quarter not delay, but what about the Dl4 and DD20?
i knew he was doing a low-res delay on the dl4 and a dotted 8th on the dd-20 but i have no idea…sorry man.
last i saw he didn’t even have the dl4 on the board anymore. i know that changes a lot on here and i’ll let y’all know as soon as i get a chance to talk to him about it.
On his video of “My Deliverer”, he mentions once again his ambient setting of delay, reverse delay and reverb. Can you get his exact settings of those for us? I am very curious as to his reverse delay settings; I have never been able to figure out a good setting for that delay type. But I love his ambient effect if I could get his settings for those.
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Does anyone have any details on Daniel’s true bypass looper? does it have functions for presets? and is it from loop-master?(kinda looks like it without the labels on top).
loopmaster and is just a looper…not all of them are working now, but he’s still using a few that are.
Hey guys I just had a question putting velcro on your pedals..Like how much velcro did you put on each pedal? Did you cut small pieces and put it on or did you guys just cut one big strip and attach it to the pedals? Also how did you attach velcro on your volume and wah pedals? Did you guys take the rubber part off or did you just keep it on and attach? Thanks so much guys!
-Albert
I put a pretty decent amount on (i.e. covering 2/3 the bottom of the pedal.) My finding for applying velcro is to always make sure there is velcro touching all edges, otherwise the pedal tends to rock back and forth as you step on it. As far as a wah, I remove the screws hat hold on the rubber feet, and pull the rubber feet off the screws and hen reattach the bottom plate with the screws, and cover them with velcro.
-Austin Vermont
Hey Nathan,
Would you know Daniel’s chain sequence? I think he goes into the volume pedal than into his bypass looper (FD2, Echo Park, DD5, POG, Hotcake, Comp., RV-5). Would you know where he places his DD20 and BBE?
thanks
i don’t know it exactly…but yeah, volume into the looper…the sonic stomp is earlier in the chain, i think after the drive. the dd-20 is the last thing…he goes out of it and into his amps. hope that helps…
Do you know what type of board Daniel is using?
one his dad made (dandee cases)…he makes great cases and boards!
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Daniel Carson has just posted an updated video of his pristine Dashboard pedalboard. The video is on fqworship.com. Here is the link: http://fqworship.com/chris-tomlin-band-gear/
saw this the other day…thanks for sharing!
http://dashboardsonline.com/artists/
If you wanna see the new Dashboard. Its located at this link.
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Hey I have some questions:
Why did he get rid of the DL4 and DD20, and replace them with older versions?
Why does he use 2 DD5s and not 2 DD7s?
When does he use the BBE Sonic Stomp and the Compression pedal and what exactly do those pedals do?
Does he only use the Hot Cake for leads and with the Fulldrive?
What exactly does the true bypass switcher do?
How are his pedals connected together?
Thanks so much for your help.
don’t know if i have all your answers jay, but i’ll do my best:
1) the dl-4 can be a problem for many…the echo park’s analog sounds so good and could be an easy switch. the dd-5 is my favorite digital delay, so it would win for me over the dd-20 as well (although i will tell you that the dd-20 was back on the board for passion 2011 with the 2 dd-5′s, replacing the timefactor).
2) again, i prefer the dd-5 over most digital delays. but my bet is that he had the dd-5′s already, so just used them instead of buying dd-7′s.
3) he uses the sonic stomp to beef or sparkle up his tone…it’s great for adding something without having to keep adjusting the amp (and great for using when switching guitars). the compressor is used like any other compressor…to squash down the notes so that they sound equaled out and one isn’t louder than any other. it’s a great tool for notes in music across the board. this compressor also has a great eq on it to use to add some more tweakability to the eq.
4) not sure…he really digs the fulldrive and uses it most of the time.
5) a true bypass switcher is hooked up to a pedal (or multiple ones) and can switch the pedal in and out of the chain, making sure that it is “truly bypassed” and you can’t hear any of the pedal coming through even when it’s off.
6) they’re connected by cables each run to the true bypass looper and then to the next pedal. each channel on the looper has a send and receive jack.
hope that helps!
Hey Nathan thanks that really helped. I was also wondering which pedals are connected to the 2 external taps. I know that both DD5s are split into one of them but which pedal is the other one for? Also, the reason I asked about the pedal connection is because there is no wire in between the jacks so I’m kind of confused how that works.
the other one went to the timefactor (now the dd-20). the cable is all run under the board with holes drilled in the top to get it to the pedals. hope that makes sense…
Hey Nathan I have a Boss DD-7, a Line 6 Echo Park, a Boss DD-20, and a Boss RV-5. On my pedal board, what should the order of these four pedals be (signal chain)? While I’m at it, if I want volume swells, where should my volume pedal go, before or after ODs? Lastly, does a true bypass strip make all of your pedals, even boss, true bypass? and where did daniel get his?
it depends what you’re using each for. i personally like the verb or echo park last, with the dd-20 right before it and maybe the dd-7 before that.
and it depends on how you want to use your volume pedal. if you put it before the drive, it’ll control the gain. but after will keep the normal amount of gain and only change the volume. it could work either way…
yes, it makes everything true-bypass. daniel got his first one from loopmaster, but just got a new one before passion 2011 from dan burgess at this1smyne.com
I have tried to search but have never found an answer. When using a dual pedal like the fulldrive 2 with a true bypass looper, do you still have to use the actual pedal for the boost or is there a way to set it up where the next button on the looper is the second on the pedal? I don’t think you can but I have never used a tru bypass strip myself.
as far as I know, you have to use it under the same bypass channel…but they’d both be true-bypassed so I don’t know why it’d be a problem.
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Any idea if Daniel changed anything on his board for Passion 2012? I saw he was using Fano guitars.
Thanks!
Brandon
not very much, but a little. he has one drive that’s always changing (ac booster, etc…). for 2012, he used a tubescreamer and i can’t really remember anything else that was different. think he had his box of rock on there for passion too.