Billy StringsPedalboard, 2023
Billy Strings toured in 2023 with 21 pedals in four drawers, all switched from an RJM Mastermind GT. The list runs from a Boss DD-8 and Source Audio Nemesis delay to a Boss SY-1 synth, an EHX Pitch Fork and a Chase Bliss Mood.
Four-drawer MIDI touring board
Order evidence: No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed
Inside the rig · 22 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Billy Strings's 2023 setup. Board-specific roles and the evidence behind each identification and position.
Reconstructed orderIdentity and position are evidenced separately. Reconstructed positions are not observed connections.
Filter & EQ
MXR Bass Envelope Filter
Role in this rig
Opens the reconstructed order as the board s only filter.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Filter & EQ
Source Audio EQ2
Role in this rig
Shapes the tone under MIDI control from the switcher.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Chase Bliss Automatone MKII Preamp
Role in this rig
Provides the preamp and drive voice with recallable fader settings.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive
Role in this rig
Supplies overdrive with the dry signal blended back in.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
Role in this rig
Adds octave layers to single-note runs.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork
Role in this rig
Handles fixed pitch shifting.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Source Audio C4 Synth
Role in this rig
Generates the board s synth voices.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Boss SY-1 Synthesizer
Role in this rig
Adds a second bank of synth textures.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Electro-Harmonix Intelligent Harmony Machine
Role in this rig
Produces harmonised lines in key.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Dynamics
Electro-Harmonix Freeze
Role in this rig
Holds pads under soloing.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Chase Bliss Wombtone
Role in this rig
Carries the phasing voice.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Jam Pedals Waterfall
Role in this rig
Supplies the analogue chorus voice.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Boss DC-2w Dimension C
Role in this rig
Adds the wide dimensional chorus.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Strymon Lex
Role in this rig
Provides rotary-speaker movement.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Looping
Chase Bliss Audio Mood
Role in this rig
Captures and smears fragments under the playing.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Red Panda Raster
Role in this rig
Adds the pitch-shifted delay textures.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Boss DD-8 Digital Delay
Role in this rig
Carries the main rhythmic delay.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Source Audio Nemesis
Role in this rig
Supplies the programmable delay voices.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Multi-effects & Modeling
Eventide H9
Role in this rig
Runs whichever algorithm the preset calls for.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Reverb & Ambience
DigiTech Polara
Role in this rig
Provides the main reverb.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Reverb & Ambience
NativeAudio Pretty Bird
Role in this rig
Closes the reconstructed order with ambience.
Named "NativeAudio Pretty Bird Woman" in the rundown; recorded under the maker s Pretty Bird name, with the source wording kept as an alias.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Routing & Control
RJM Mastermind GT
Role in this rig
Engages every pedal on the board and recalls the amplifier profile; carries no audio itself.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Documented equipment · Reconstructed order · Serial path
Premier Guitar names all twenty-one units and groups them by the drawer each physically occupies, but publishes no signal order and no routing; an RJM Mastermind GT engages everything over MIDI, so the audible order is preset-dependent rather than fixed. The sequence shown here therefore follows the archive s published reconstruction convention and is drawn as reconstructed. The documented drawer position of every unit is preserved in each pedal s own record rather than in this order, because the drawers describe where a pedal sits on the board and not where it sits in the signal. Source Audio independently identifies the Nemesis, C4 Synth and EQ2 from photographs. The Kemper profile, the three Strymon Zuma supplies, amplification and guitars are omitted.
No source publishes this sequence. The units are ordered by conventional signal-chain practice, and any documented routing zone is kept as recorded.
Cited sources
MethodologyQuestions about Billy Strings's 2023 pedalboard
- What pedals did Billy Strings use in 2023?
- This dated entry lists 22 units: MXR Bass Envelope Filter, Source Audio EQ2, Chase Bliss Automatone MKII Preamp, Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive, Electro-Harmonix Micro POG, Electro-Harmonix Pitch Fork, Source Audio C4 Synth, Boss SY-1 Synthesizer, Electro-Harmonix Intelligent Harmony Machine, Electro-Harmonix Freeze, Chase Bliss Wombtone, Jam Pedals Waterfall, Boss DC-2w Dimension C, Strymon Lex, Chase Bliss Audio Mood, Red Panda Raster, Boss DD-8 Digital Delay, Source Audio Nemesis, Eventide H9, DigiTech Polara, NativeAudio Pretty Bird, RJM Mastermind GT. This is the recorded inventory, not a claim that every connection or model identification is confirmed; see the evidence and routing notes.
- What order were Billy Strings's pedals in?
- The complete order is reconstructed, not observed. The layout follows the cited routing constraints and the archive's signal-chain convention where the sources are silent. See the diagram and routing notes for the separate paths and any unconfirmed connections.
- Is this Billy Strings's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 22 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Billy Strings owned or used. Floor pedals, rack units and routing devices are included only where recorded; omitted equipment and uncertain connections are explained in the notes. It is not a complete or current rig inventory.
- When and where was this pedalboard used?
- Indianapolis rundown, July 2023. TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park, Indianapolis. This is one dated setup as documented, not a career-wide gear list.
- How does the archive know what was on this pedalboard?
- 2 cited sources, listed above with the date each was read, including Premier Guitar, Source Audio. Among them a rig rundown and an official listing. The units are recorded as documented equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-08-10.