Madison CunninghamPedalboard, 2026
Madison Cunningham's Ace tour board is eight pedals: a VPJR tuner and volume, an RC-5 looper feeding the whole path, a Milkman delay, a 3 Series fuzz, a Whammy, a Chroma Console, an always-on Artificial Blonde vibrato and a Galaxy '74 tape echo.
Ace tour board
Order evidence: No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed
Inside the rig · 8 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Madison Cunningham's 2026 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.
Tuner
VPJR Tuner
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Opens the board, handling swells and silent tuning in one enclosure.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Looping
RC-5 Loop Station
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Captures live loops that Cunningham builds parts over.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Milkman
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Adds slapback and level lift ahead of the dirt section.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
3 Series Fuzz
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Supplies the board's only fuzz voice.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Whammy
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Shifts octaves and keys, an effect Cunningham has used since her Revealer sessions.
Cunningham on its use: "I had this DigiTech Whammy pedal that can change octaves and keys... plugged it in and digitally altered it a full octave down."
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Multi-effects & Modeling
Chroma Console
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Provides the board's texture and lo-fi movement.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Artificial Blonde
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Runs essentially always on, with a second footswitch jumping to a faster, deeper vibrato.
Derived from the JHS Emperor she kept always on in vibrato mode. Cunningham on the Emperor: "It has a subtle warble that is almost cooler than a tremolo... I just keep it on all the time."
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb
Front of amp
Role in this rig
Closes the board with echo and reverb together.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Documented equipment · Reconstructed order · Serial path
Premier Guitar filmed this board at Third Man Records and lists its contents, but does not describe the cable routing between pedals, so the order is reconstructed from the archive's published convention rather than observed. The board rests on that single rundown; the Guitar.com interview cited alongside it is four years older and documents a different board, so it substantiates only the two units that carry across — the DigiTech Whammy and the vibrato lineage behind the signature Artificial Blonde. The Radial PZ-DI visible on the board is a direct box rather than an audio effect and is omitted, as is the Fender Princeton it runs into.
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 Madison Cunningham's 2026 pedalboard
- What pedals did Madison Cunningham use in 2026?
- This dated entry lists 8 units: VPJR Tuner, RC-5 Loop Station, Milkman, 3 Series Fuzz, Whammy, Chroma Console, Artificial Blonde, Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb. 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 Madison Cunningham'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 → VPJR Tuner → RC-5 Loop Station → Milkman → 3 Series Fuzz → Whammy → Chroma Console → Artificial Blonde → Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb → amplifier.
- Is this Madison Cunningham's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 8 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Madison Cunningham 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?
- March 2026. Third Man Records, Nashville. 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, Guitar.com. Among them a rig rundown and an interview. The units are recorded as documented equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-08-15.