Nels ClinePedalboard, 2018
Nels Cline's travel rig is the board he carries for his own music rather than Wilco: two small boards stacked in a Pelican case with a Fuzz Factory, a Whammy, a Boss CS-3, an 805 overdrive, a Waterfall chorus and a DD-3, plus three hand-worked units on the lid.
Pelican-case travel rig
Order evidence: No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed
Inside the rig · 16 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Nels Cline's 2018 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.
Pitch & Synth
Arpanoid Polyphonic Pitch Arpeggiator
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Opens the signal chain, the one position on this board the source states outright.
EarthQuaker Devices name the Arpanoid as the first device on the floor and describe it feeding the Fuzz Factory and Whammy in the Anthony Braxton collaboration.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Fuzz Factory
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Supplies the unstable fuzz voice Cline patches directly after the Arpanoid.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Pitch & Synth
Whammy
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Adds octave drops and interval clusters, the iteration Cline calls his favourite.
Cline specifies the first-generation Whammy, "still my favorite of all the Whammy iterations".
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Dynamics
CS-3 Compression Sustainer
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Compresses the clean tone before the overdrive section.
EarthQuaker Devices list a CS-3 on this board; thirteen months later Cline refers to "my usual Boss CS-2" for the same role. The two sources disagree on the model number, so the compressor is recorded as the CS-3 the board photograph supports while the discrepancy stays flagged.
- Identity
- Tentative
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
805 Overdrive
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Serves as the main overdrive on the board the Klon Centaur is too large for.
Named by both sources. Cline says he alternates between the 805 and an SMS Earth Drive at home because the Klon will not fit this board.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Soda Meiser
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Provides the harsher, more broken fuzz voice alongside the Fuzz Factory.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Vyagra Boost
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Lifts level ahead of the modulation and time effects.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
VB-2 Vibrato
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Bends pitch under sustained lines, carried over from Cline's Wilco board.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Waterfall
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Supplies chorus and vibrato width, in a one-off version carrying the "Nels Cline switch".
EarthQuaker Devices describe it as a "custom JamPedal Waterfall with the 'Nels Cline switch'". Cline has said of the pedal, "Don't call it a chorus!"
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Modulation
Stereo Pulsar Tremolo
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Adds amplitude pulses between the modulation and delay sections.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
DD-3 Digital Delay
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Provides Cline's familiar compact digital delay, with settings recalled from long use.
EarthQuaker Devices and Guitar.com both identify the DD-3. In the latter interview, Cline describes recalling its settings from years of use, but does not supply a delay time for this board.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Routing & Control
FV-500H Volume Pedal
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Shapes swells and overall level, a pedal Cline describes himself as constantly using.
Both sources name the Boss volume pedal; Cline specifies the FV-500H variant.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
16 Second Digital Delay
Table chain
Role in this rig
Builds the on-the-fly and reversed loops Cline has used since 1985.
Cline dates his use of the unit to 1985, "after Bill Frisell showed me his".
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Count To Five
Table chain
Role in this rig
Produces the burbling, glitched loops Cline sets running alongside the 16-Second Delay.
EarthQuaker Devices list the Count To Five twice, once among the hand-reachable units on the case lid and once among the floor pedals. Only one unit is recorded here, placed with the hand-operated group; whether Cline carried a second on the floor is unresolved.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Multi-effects & Modeling
Kaoss Pad
Table chain
Role in this rig
Smears the loops with tape-delay textures by hand, sitting second-to-last in the chain.
In Guitar.com's interview, Cline identifies the processor as a Korg Kaoss II and leaves only one stage after it in his chain. EarthQuaker Devices identify the Kaoss Pad family without a revision, so the II designation remains artist-reported rather than independently resolved.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Reverb & Ambience
Context
Integrated board
Role in this rig
Closes the chain with the reverb Cline prints rather than leaves to the room.
Named by both sources. Cline: "Reverb that I printed was from a Red Panda Context."
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Documented equipment · Reconstructed order · Serial path
EarthQuaker Devices filmed this board in New York and Cline gave a first-person account of the same units to Guitar.com thirteen months later. Between them the two sources fix the inventory but only two positions: the floor chain "begins with the Arpanoid", and the Korg Kaoss is "second-to-last in my chain". Everything between those anchors follows the archive's published reconstruction convention and is drawn as inferred, not observed. The Red Panda Context is placed last because the convention puts reverb at the end and because that placement is what leaves the Kaoss second-to-last; it sits on the floor boards, not on the case lid. Size, not taste, defines this board — Cline notes his Klon Centaur "is frankly too large for my non-Wilco board", which is why the Wilco rig's overdrive is absent and the Seymour Duncan 805 takes its place. The two sources disagree on whether the compressor is a CS-3 or a CS-2, and EarthQuaker Devices list the Count To Five in both the floor and lid groups; both discrepancies are recorded on the pedals rather than resolved.
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 Nels Cline's 2018 pedalboard
- What pedals did Nels Cline use in 2018?
- This dated entry lists 16 units: Arpanoid Polyphonic Pitch Arpeggiator, Fuzz Factory, Whammy, CS-3 Compression Sustainer, 805 Overdrive, Soda Meiser, Vyagra Boost, VB-2 Vibrato, Waterfall, Stereo Pulsar Tremolo, DD-3 Digital Delay, FV-500H Volume Pedal, 16 Second Digital Delay, Count To Five, Kaoss Pad, Context. 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 Nels Cline'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 Nels Cline's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 16 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Nels Cline 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?
- October 2018. New York City. 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 EarthQuaker Devices, 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.