The Prettiest Pedalboard! (Plus: A New DIY Lipstick Tube Guitar)

You know what sucks about attending NAMM as a manufacturer rather than a gear writer? I was epoxied to my booth all day, and I barely saw anything other than my guitar pedals. But on one rare break, I got to hang out with Jannis Anastasakis and his crew from JAM Pedals of Athens, Greece. (I highlighted some of their beautiful work in my pathetically skimpy “NAMM report.”)

Happily, there’s more to celebrate here than great visuals. JAM builds lovely versions of many classic analog effects. Their sounds and production quality are stellar, and JAM often adds modern updates such as realtime expression control, extra knobs, and internal trim pots for customizing tones. It’s quality stuff, used by many a guitar star.

And guess what? Jannis loaned me one of his magnificent Custom Shop analog pedalboards. Γαμώτο!

Sadly, I must now pack up and return this pretty pedalboard. But I’ll be getting my own JAM Delay Llama Supreme, an expanded version of the analog delay heard here, with tap tempo, a cool modulation section, and the almighty infinite-hold switch. (I reviewed it for Premier Guitar a few months ago.)

In the meantime, this experience makes me want to try my own DIY pedalboards. Not as an item for sale — just as a way to group related effects in a single enclosure for stage use. Gears are spinning ….

4 comments to The Prettiest Pedalboard! (Plus: A New DIY Lipstick Tube Guitar)

  • Oinkus

    We like that a lot ! Very nice effects in a a handy board setup , someone has been sitting around working on gear for a long time.That is a made for cover band setup for sure , has a little bit of everything. Shame you have to send it back , but now you get to source your own enclosures and do it with whateverthehell comes to mind !

  • Martin

    Hi Joe. Iv’e got a Jam Pedals Delay Llama and Red Muck and they do sound superb.
    Particularly the Llama. Got it about three years ago and haven’t looked at another delay pedal since. Hope you enjoy the Llama supreme. It certainly is very tempting. As is the Rattler+. And the Ripple. And the RetroVibe. Dammit, I want them all.:-)

  • Keith

    Hey Joe if you do follow up on this you should do one for us DIYers like the pedal builds back in the past. Them again I don’t have to do any of the work to make it happen.

  • Bozoo

    Joe,
    That pedal unit is the bomb!! I have been making mongrel guitars for years, the different pickup types are endless but I was never very happy with the playability of the guitars they came on. I finally realized I was a solidbody guitar guy and just needed to make the pickups fit that platform. I love Firebird mini hums, P90’s and thanks to Bill Lawrence – his 280 and 290 strat style pickups. P90 sounds out of a strat type pickup and NO hum, his prices were always good and they sound great!! That man knew his business – now if I can just find some volume pots that actually work I’ll be a happy camper. Keep on experimenting, we’re counting on it!

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