# Keith Richards Pedalboard 1981: Full Gear & Pedal List

> The 1981 Keith Richards pedalboard, pedal by pedal: MXR Phase 100, MXR M-118 Analog Delay. Signal-chain order, settings and cited sources.

- Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/keith-richards/north-american-tour-effects-1981/
- 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 | Keith Richards |
| Board | North American tour effects |
| Date | 1981-01-01 — 1981 North American tour (year precision) |
| Context | The Rolling Stones 1981 North American tour |
| Scope | Touring-period rig |
| Signal path | 2 units · Guitar to amplifier |
| Routing | Serial path |
| Unit evidence | Documented |
| Order evidence | Reconstructed |
| Status | Artist-described touring inventory - signal order reconstructed |
| Audited | 2026-07-18 |
| Sources | 3 |

Keith Richards carried two effects on the Rolling Stones' 1981 North American tour: an orange MXR Phase 100 and the large green MXR M-118 analog delay.

## 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 → MXR Phase 100 → MXR M-118 Analog Delay → amplifier`

| # | Unit | Role | Zone | Unit evidence | Position evidence | Catalog page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | MXR Phase 100 | Creates the damped, sweeping texture Richards used on Beast of Burden and one or two other 1981 tour numbers. | Integrated board | Documented | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/mxr-phase-100/ |
| 2 | MXR M-118 Analog Delay | Adds the short analog repeats Richards used on a few songs during the 1981 tour. | Integrated board | Documented | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/mxr-m-118-analog-delay/ |

## Reconstruction note

In the original 1983 Guitar Player interview, Richards identifies an MXR analog delay on a few 1981 tour numbers and names the phaser used for Beast of Burden as the MXR Phase 100. He does not publish a floor layout, cable trace or evidence that both effects were active together; the display therefore uses the conventional phaser-before-delay order and is marked reconstructed. Reverb independently associates the same two vintage MXR models with Stones sounds but does not establish the tour layout. This snapshot is deliberately not generalized across Richards' career: in 2015 he said that any required stage effects could be operated from behind the stage because he no longer wanted pedals underfoot.

## Questions

### What pedals did Keith Richards use in 1981?

This dated entry lists 2 units: MXR Phase 100, MXR M-118 Analog Delay. 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 Keith Richards'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 → MXR Phase 100 → MXR M-118 Analog Delay → amplifier.

### Is this Keith Richards's full guitar rig?

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

1981 North American tour. This is the rig documented for that touring 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 Guitar Player, Reverb, Guitar World. Among them an interview and a written article. The units are recorded as documented 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. [Keith Richards: The Guitar Player Interview, 1983](https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/the-keith-richards-interview-april-1983) — Guitar Player (Primary source · interview), published 2026-07-10, accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `guitar-player-tom-wheeler-richards-1983`
2. [Potent Pairings: The Sound of the Rolling Stones](https://reverb.com/uk/news/potent-pairings-the-sound-of-the-rolling-stones) — Reverb (Specialist source · article), accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `reverb-rolling-stones-sound-guide-2016`
3. [Keith Richards: Why I Won't Use Pedals Onstage and Six More Keef Facts](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/keith-richards-why-i-wont-use-pedals-onstage-and-six-more-keef-facts) — Guitar World (Primary source · interview), published 2015-09-23, accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `wtf-marc-maron-keith-richards-2015`

## Related pages

- Every documented board by Keith Richards: [Keith Richards board history](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/keith-richards/)
- [Neil Young — Red board and vintage effects rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/neil-young/electric-tour-red-board-2009/): shares MXR M-118 Analog Delay
- [Jerry Garcia — Wolf onboard-loop effects chain](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/jerry-garcia/wolf-obel-effects-chain-1978/): shares MXR Phase 100
- [Marcus King — 2026 touring board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/marcus-king/touring-board-2026/): shares MXR Phase 100
- [Billy Gibbons — Cheap Sunglasses studio effects](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/billy-gibbons/cheap-sunglasses-studio-effects-1979/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Modulation, Delay & Echo)
- [Dave Davies — Two-pedal stage rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/dave-davies/two-pedal-stage-rig-2019/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Modulation, Delay & Echo)
- [Eddie Van Halen — Debut-era modulation path](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/eddie-van-halen/debut-era-1978/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Modulation, Delay & Echo)
- Previous board in archive order: [Julian Lage — View with a Room touring board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/julian-lage/view-with-a-room-board-2023/)
- Next board in archive order: [Kenny Wayne Shepherd — 2012 touring board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/kenny-wayne-shepherd/kenny-wayne-shepherd-tour-board-2012/)