Mick RonsonPedalboard, 1972
Mick Ronson's Ziggy Stardust-era sound came from two effects: a Sola Sound Tone Bender MK I fuzz and an early Italian Cry Baby wah, which he famously left parked as a fixed filter.
Ziggy-era core effects
Order evidence: No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed
Inside the rig · 2 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Mick Ronson's 1972 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.
Gain
Sola Sound Tone Bender MK I
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Provides the aggressive fuzz stage before the fixed-position wah filter.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Filter & EQ
Early Italian Cry Baby Wah
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Left parked at a fixed position to turn the wah into the cutting resonant filter central to Ronson's tone.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Documented equipment · Reconstructed order · Serial path
Dunlop examined Ronson's surviving early Italian-made Cry Baby, loaned by producer Bob Rock, and documents that Ronson placed it at a fixed position. Ant Macari identifies the MK I Tone Bender as the Ronson-era sound, while Premier Guitar describes the gain device upstream of the wah. No period cable trace fixes the complete 1972 floor order, so the display is marked reconstructed. Echoplex units reported for some Ziggy performances are excluded because the evidence does not tie one to every show or to this fixed core path.
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 Mick Ronson's 1972 pedalboard
- What pedals did Mick Ronson use in 1972?
- This dated entry lists 2 units: Sola Sound Tone Bender MK I, Early Italian Cry Baby Wah. 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 Mick Ronson'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 → Sola Sound Tone Bender MK I → Early Italian Cry Baby Wah → amplifier.
- Is this Mick Ronson's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 2 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Mick Ronson 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?
- 1972 Ziggy Stardust era. David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars. 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 Dunlop Manufacturing, BOSS Articles, Premier Guitar. Among them an official listing, an interview and a written article. The units are recorded as documented equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-07-18.