Lee RanaldoPedalboard, 2009
Lee Ranaldo's 2009 Sonic Youth system uses two boards: a Moog MF-102 ring modulator, a Micro Synthesizer and an MXR Blue Box on one; a Honey Bee, Ibanez AD80, Tube Factor, Klon Centaur and DigiTech PDS 1002 on the other, plus a hand-worked Antenna Box.
Two-board Antenna touring system
Order evidence: No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed
Inside the rig · 9 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Lee Ranaldo's 2009 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.
Modulation
Moog Moogerfooger MF-102 Ring Modulator
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Creates metallic sidebands and modulated textures on Ranaldo's first board.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer (vintage)
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Adds octave voices, square-wave fuzz and swept filtering on the first board.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
MXR M-103 Blue Box
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Produces unstable two-octaves-down fuzz textures from the first pedalboard.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
BJF Electronics Honey Bee Overdrive
External loop
Role in this rig
Supplies Ranaldo's touch-sensitive low-gain drive and pushes delay repeats into saturation.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay
External loop
Role in this rig
Acts as Ranaldo's main delay instrument, driven into feedback while he changes delay time by hand.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor
External loop
Role in this rig
Adds a two-stage tube-driven overdrive voice on the second board.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Klon Centaur
External loop
Role in this rig
Provides a transparent gain and level stage on Ranaldo's second board.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
DigiTech PDS 1002 Two Second Digital Delay
External loop
Role in this rig
Captures one-to-two-second repeats and held fragments that Ranaldo can play over.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Matt Zivich Antenna Box
Table chain
Role in this rig
Routes the ring-modulated path into controllable infinite repeats for Antenna and related live textures.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Documented equipment · Reconstructed order · Switchable effects loops
Effects Bay preserves the 2009 board photographs and position-by-position inventory. Ranaldo's contemporary EQ Magazine interview independently confirms the AD-80, Moogerfooger, Honey Bee, Tube Factor and two-second digital delay, and describes how the AD-80 is driven into feedback as a playable instrument. The Antenna Box receives the ring-modulated side through a custom selector, but the complete inter-board cable path was not published; positions below therefore preserve physical groups rather than asserting one serial chain. The MF-102 expression pedal, custom selector and power supply are omitted because they do not process audio.
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 Lee Ranaldo's 2009 pedalboard
- What pedals did Lee Ranaldo use in 2009?
- This dated entry lists 9 units: Moog Moogerfooger MF-102 Ring Modulator, Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer (vintage), MXR M-103 Blue Box, BJF Electronics Honey Bee Overdrive, Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay, Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor, Klon Centaur, DigiTech PDS 1002 Two Second Digital Delay, Matt Zivich Antenna Box. 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 Lee Ranaldo'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 Lee Ranaldo's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 9 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Lee Ranaldo 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?
- Sonic Youth touring rig, 2009. Sonic Youth - The Eternal era. 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 Effects Bay, EQ Magazine. Among them a photograph and an interview. The units are recorded as documented equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-07-18.