# Mick Ronson Pedalboard 1972: Full Gear & Pedal List

> The 1972 Mick Ronson pedalboard, pedal by pedal: Sola Sound Tone Bender MK I, Early Italian Cry Baby Wah. Signal-chain order, settings and cited sources.

- Canonical page: https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/mick-ronson/ziggy-era-core-effects-1972/
- 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 | Mick Ronson |
| Board | Ziggy-era core effects |
| Date | 1972-01-01 — 1972 Ziggy Stardust era (year precision) |
| Context | David Bowie and the Spiders from Mars |
| Scope | Core signal path |
| Signal path | 2 units · Guitar to amplifier |
| Routing | Serial path |
| Unit evidence | Documented |
| Order evidence | Reconstructed |
| Status | Documented effects - signal order reconstructed |
| Audited | 2026-07-18 |
| Sources | 3 |

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.

## 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 → Sola Sound Tone Bender MK I → Early Italian Cry Baby Wah → amplifier`

| # | Unit | Role | Zone | Unit evidence | Position evidence | Catalog page |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Sola Sound Tone Bender MK I | Provides the aggressive fuzz stage before the fixed-position wah filter. | Integrated board | Documented | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/sola-sound-tone-bender-mk-i/ |
| 2 | Early Italian Cry Baby Wah | Left parked at a fixed position to turn the wah into the cutting resonant filter central to Ronson's tone. | Integrated board | Documented | Reconstructed | https://pedalboardarchive.com/pedals/cry-baby-wah/ |

## Reconstruction note

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.

## Questions

### 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.

## Sources

3 cited sources across 3 independent groups. Two sources sharing an independent group report the same observation and count once.

1. [Mick Ronson Cry Baby Wah](https://www.jimdunlop.com/mick-ronson-cry-baby-wah/) — Dunlop Manufacturing (Primary source · official), accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `dunlop-bob-rock-ronson-wah-inspection`
2. [History in the Making: The BOSS TB-2W Tone Bender](https://articles.boss.info/history-in-the-making-the-boss-tb-2w-tone-bender/) — BOSS Articles (Primary source · interview), accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `boss-ant-macari-tone-bender-history`
3. [Dunlop Mick Ronson Cry Baby Wah Review](https://www.premierguitar.com/gear/reviews/dunlop-mick-ronson-cry-baby) — Premier Guitar (Specialist source · article), published 2025-05-01, accessed 2026-07-18, independent group `premier-guitar-charles-saufley-ronson-2025`

## Related pages

- Every documented board by Mick Ronson: [Mick Ronson board history](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/mick-ronson/)
- [Adam Jones — Tool touring effects board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/adam-jones/tool-dunlop-tech-board-2010/): shares Cry Baby Wah
- [Chris Buck — Dual Schmidt Array touring system](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/chris-buck/schmidt-array-touring-system-2024/): shares Cry Baby Wah
- [Christone "Kingfish" Ingram — Compact ShredMaster touring board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/christone-kingfish-ingram/brooklyn-bowl-board-2024/): shares Cry Baby Wah
- [Eddie Hazel — Maggot Brain performance effects](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/eddie-hazel/maggot-brain-session-effects-1970/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Filter & EQ, Gain)
- [Leigh Stephens — Blue Cheer fuzz-and-wah core](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/leigh-stephens/blue-cheer-fuzz-wah-core-1966-1969/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Filter & EQ, Gain)
- [Ron Asheton — Early Stooges fuzz-and-wah core](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/ron-asheton/early-stooges-fuzz-wah-1968/): no shared unit; a comparable signal path (Filter & EQ, Gain)
- Previous board in archive order: [Michael Lemmo — Compact Allan Rayman touring board](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/michael-lemmo/allan-rayman-tour-board-2024/)
- Next board in archive order: [Mick Taylor — Two-pedal live rig](https://pedalboardarchive.com/artists/mick-taylor/spring-1998-two-pedal-live-rig/)