Stephen StillsPedalboard, 2012
Stephen Stills described his CSN show-day effects in June 2012 as four things: an Echoplex tape echo, an old Fender tube reverb unit, a boost and a drive. The two gain pedals were not named.
CSN show-day effects box
Order evidence: No source publishes this sequence; the order is reconstructed
Inside the rig · 4 units
Pedal roles & evidence
How each unit fits Stephen Stills's 2012 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
Unidentified boost
Switched loop
Role in this rig
Raises level or pushes the amplifier within Stills' live electric rig.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Gain
Unidentified drive
Switched loop
Role in this rig
Adds a dedicated gain voice before Stills' vintage amplifier selection.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Delay & Echo
Echoplex tape echo (revision and quantity unverified)
Rack insert
Role in this rig
Adds tape repeats and sustain to Stills' electric sound.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Reverb & Ambience
Vintage Fender tube reverb unit (revision unverified)
Rack insert
Role in this rig
Provides the external spring ambience in Stills' live electric system.
- Identity
- Documented
- Position
- Reconstructed
Documented equipment · Reconstructed order · Switchable effects loops
MusicRadar photographed and interviewed Stills on 27 June 2012 before a CSN show. Asked what effects he liked, Stills described a combined box of effects and named Echoplexes, an old Fender Tube Reverb, a boost and a drive whose origins he left indeterminate; he also said an Eventide pitch controller belonged to an earlier road rig and is therefore excluded here. Premier Guitar's independent 2013 interview confirms the same current two-'54-Strat and vintage-amplifier context, but does not identify the four effects. Neither source supplies a board photograph, exact Echoplex count or revision, reverb revision, gain-pedal enclosures, settings or cable route. The two unknown gain devices are intentionally rendered as anonymous hardware, and the displayed gain-to-echo-to-reverb order is a conventional reconstruction rather than a documented chain.
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 Stephen Stills's 2012 pedalboard
- What pedals did Stephen Stills use in 2012?
- This dated entry lists 4 units: Unidentified boost, Unidentified drive, Echoplex tape echo (revision and quantity unverified), Vintage Fender tube reverb unit (revision 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 Stephen Stills'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 Stephen Stills's full guitar rig?
- No. This dated entry covers 4 units in the effects path, not every piece of gear Stephen Stills 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?
- 27 June 2012 interview. Hilton Short Hills, New Jersey. This is the rig documented for that touring 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 MusicRadar, Premier Guitar. Among them an interview. The units are recorded as documented equipment, and the page was last audited on 2026-07-18.