# Eddie Hazel Pedalboard 1970: Full Gear & Pedal List

> The 1970 Eddie Hazel pedalboard, pedal by pedal: Wah pedal - model unverified, Fuzz unit - model unverified. Signal-chain order, settings and cited sources.

- Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/eddie-hazel/maggot-brain-session-effects-1970/
- Machine-readable index of the archive: https://pedalboardarchive.com/llms.txt
- Evidence and reconstruction conventions: https://pedalboardarchive.com/methodology/

## At a glance

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Artist | Eddie Hazel |
| Board | Maggot Brain performance effects |
| Date | 1970-12-01 — Late 1970 - early 1971 sessions (era precision) |
| Context | United Sound Systems, Detroit |
| Scope | Core signal path |
| Signal path | 2 units · Guitar to amplifier |
| Routing | Serial path |
| Unit evidence | Reconstructed |
| Order evidence | Reconstructed |
| Status | Effect types documented; models and order unresolved |
| Audited | 2026-07-18 |
| Sources | 3 |

Eddie Hazel recorded the ten-minute Maggot Brain solo with a wah and a fuzz in the guitar path; neither model is documented. George Clinton added most of the track's echo later, at mixdown.

## Signal chain

**Order evidence — Reconstructed.** No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed. The units are evidenced; their sequence is the archive's inference from the convention below, not an observation. Do not report this order as documented.

Reconstruction convention: Tuner → Wah and filter → Compressor → Overdrive, distortion and fuzz → Modulation → Delay → Reverb → Amplifier. A documented routing zone always overrides it.

`Guitar → Wah pedal - model unverified → Fuzz unit - model unverified → amplifier`

| # | Unit | Role | Zone | Unit evidence | Position evidence | Catalog page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Wah pedal - model unverified | Shapes the solo's vocal sweeps and narrow resonant peaks before the recorded guitar reaches the mix. | Front of amp | Reconstructed | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/wah-pedal-model-unverified/ |
| 2 | Fuzz unit - model unverified | Creates the saturated, disintegrating lead texture while preserving Hazel's bends and wide dynamic changes. | Front of amp | Reconstructed | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/fuzz-unit-model-unverified/ |

## Reconstruction note

Fender's track history identifies both wah and fuzz in Hazel's recorded performance and quotes Clinton explaining that he added the Echoplex repeats and other effects during mixdown. Clinton separately told Premier Guitar that Hazel learned wah, Big Muff and phaser pedals from the beginning, but that broader rig memory does not prove which fuzz model was on this session. NPR's interview confirms that the band played live before Clinton stripped back the arrangement and layered the echo. The two performance effects are therefore shown with deliberately unverified model names. Their display order follows a common Hendrix-derived wah-into-fuzz layout and is not presented as a cable trace; Echoplex, phaser and flanger are excluded from Hazel's floor path.

## Questions

### What pedals did Eddie Hazel use in 1970?

This dated entry lists 2 units: Wah pedal - model unverified, Fuzz unit - model unverified. 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 Eddie Hazel'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: Guitar → Wah pedal - model unverified → Fuzz unit - model unverified → amplifier.

### Is this Eddie Hazel's full guitar rig?

No. This dated entry covers 2 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Eddie Hazel 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?

Late 1970 - early 1971 sessions. United Sound Systems, Detroit. This is the core signal path documented for that period, not a career-wide gear list.

### How does the archive know what was on this pedalboard?

3 cited sources, listed above with the date each was read, including Premier Guitar, Fender, NPR / CapRadio. Among them an interview and a written article. The units are recorded as reconstructed equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-07-18.

## Sources

3 cited sources across 3 independent groups. Two sources sharing an independent group report the same observation and count once.

1. [Parliament Funkadelic: a funk guitar roundtable](https://www.premierguitar.com/artists/parliament-funkadelic-a-funk-guitar-roundtable?page=2) — Premier Guitar (Primary source · interview), accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `premier-guitar-george-clinton-roundtable`
2. [One-Track Mind: the passion of Eddie Hazel and Funkadelic's Maggot Brain](https://www.fender.com/articles/fender-performances/one-track-mind-the-passion-of-eddie-hazel-and-funkadelics-maggot-brain) — Fender (Specialist source · article), accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `fender-maggot-brain-feature`
3. [Maggot Brain at 50: R&B, psychedelic rock and a Black guitarist's cry](https://www.capradio.org/news/npr/story?storyid=993084954) — NPR / CapRadio (Primary source · interview), published 2021-07-22, accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `npr-george-clinton-maggot-brain`

## Related pages

- Every documented board by Eddie Hazel: [Eddie Hazel board history](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/eddie-hazel/)
- [Dickey Betts — Great Southern sparse touring rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/dickey-betts/great-southern-sparse-touring-rig-2002/): shares Wah pedal (model unverified)
- [Leigh Stephens — Blue Cheer fuzz-and-wah core](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/leigh-stephens/blue-cheer-fuzz-wah-core-1966-1969/): shares Wah pedal (model unverified)
- [Mick Ronson — Ziggy-era core effects](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/mick-ronson/ziggy-era-core-effects-1972/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Filter & EQ, Gain)
- [Ron Asheton — Early Stooges fuzz-and-wah core](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/ron-asheton/early-stooges-fuzz-wah-1968/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Filter & EQ, Gain)
- [Jimi Hendrix — Woodstock effects chain](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/jimi-hendrix/late-live-rig-1969/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Filter & EQ, Gain)
- [John Squire — Stone Roses era board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/john-squire/stone-roses-era-board-1989/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Filter & EQ, Gain)
- Previous board in archive order: [Ed O'Brien — Earth tour ten-loop board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/ed-o-brien/earth-tour-loop-board-2020/)
- Next board in archive order: [Eddie Van Halen — Debut-era modulation path](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/eddie-van-halen/debut-era-1978/)