# Leigh Stephens Pedalboard 1966: Full Gear & Pedal List

> The 1966 Leigh Stephens pedalboard, pedal by pedal: Arbiter Fuzz Face, Wah pedal (model unverified). Signal-chain order, settings and cited sources.

- Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/leigh-stephens/blue-cheer-fuzz-wah-core-1966-1969/
- 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 | Leigh Stephens |
| Board | Blue Cheer fuzz-and-wah core |
| Date | 1966-01-01 — Blue Cheer tenure, 1966-1969 (era precision) |
| Context | Original Blue Cheer live rig |
| Scope | Core signal path |
| Signal path | 2 units · Guitar to amplifier |
| Routing | Serial path |
| Unit evidence | Documented |
| Order evidence | Reconstructed |
| Status | Artist-documented effects inventory; cable order unresolved |
| Audited | 2026-07-18 |
| Sources | 2 |

Leigh Stephens names two effects from his Blue Cheer years, 1966 to 1969: an Arbiter Fuzz Face and a wah, used with SGs, Stratocasters and stacks of high-power amplifiers.

## 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 → Arbiter Fuzz Face → Wah pedal (model unverified) → amplifier`

| # | Unit | Role | Zone | Unit evidence | Position evidence | Catalog page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Arbiter Fuzz Face | Drove the saturated, ragged edge of Stephens' high-volume Blue Cheer guitar sound. | Front of amp | Documented | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/fuzz-face/ |
| 2 | Wah pedal (model unverified) | Added foot-controlled filter sweeps to the band's extreme-volume psychedelic guitar vocabulary. | Front of amp | Documented | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/wah-pedal-model-unverified/ |

## Reconstruction note

Asked by Vintage Guitar for his main Blue Cheer gear, Stephens names the guitars and Marshall stacks before explicitly listing a Fuzz Face and wah-wah. The same interview dates his tenure as 1966-1969 and ties him to the first two albums, both released in 1968. A community-hosted period photograph independently supports the presence of a long treadle wah and labels it a King Vox, but its original metadata and identifying details are not strong enough to promote that exact model here. No source establishes jack-to-jack order, settings, exclusivity or use on a particular recording. The display therefore follows Stephens' spoken enumeration and is marked as a reconstructed sequence rather than a cable trace.

## Questions

### What pedals did Leigh Stephens use in 1966?

This dated entry lists 2 units: Arbiter Fuzz Face, Wah pedal (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 Leigh Stephens'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 → Arbiter Fuzz Face → Wah pedal (model unverified) → amplifier.

### Is this Leigh Stephens's full guitar rig?

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

Blue Cheer tenure, 1966-1969. Original Blue Cheer live rig. 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?

2 cited sources, listed above with the date each was read, including Vintage Guitar, Equipboard. Among them an interview and a photograph. The units are recorded as documented equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-07-18.

## Sources

2 cited sources across 2 independent groups. Two sources sharing an independent group report the same observation and count once.

1. [Leigh Stephens: Blue Cheer Flashbacks](https://www.vintageguitar.com/2840/leigh-stephens/) — Vintage Guitar (Primary source · interview), published 2000-04-01, accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `vintage-guitar-leigh-stephens-2000`
2. [Leigh Stephens effects inventory and period wah photograph](https://equipboard.com/pros/leigh-stephens) — Equipboard (Specialist source · photograph), accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `equipboard-leigh-stephens-community-photo`

## Related pages

- Every documented board by Leigh Stephens: [Leigh Stephens board history](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/leigh-stephens/)
- [Dickey Betts — Great Southern sparse touring rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/dickey-betts/great-southern-sparse-touring-rig-2002/): shares Wah pedal (model unverified)
- [David Gilmour — Animals-era Cornish board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/david-gilmour/animals-tour-1977/): shares Fuzz Face
- [Eddie Hazel — Maggot Brain performance effects](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/eddie-hazel/maggot-brain-session-effects-1970/): shares Wah pedal (model unverified)
- [Duane Allman — Early and session fuzz setup](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/duane-allman/early-session-fuzz-1968/): shares Fuzz Face
- [Eric Johnson — Ah Via Musicom four-amp system](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/eric-johnson/ah-via-musicom-four-amp-rig-2018/): shares Fuzz Face
- [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)
- Previous board in archive order: [Lee Ranaldo — Two-board Antenna touring system](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/lee-ranaldo/sonic-youth-two-board-antenna-system-2009/)
- Next board in archive order: [Lindsey Buckingham — Three-path solo touring rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/lindsey-buckingham/three-path-solo-tour-rig-2012/)