Joey Santiago is the lead guitarist of the Pixies, and his approach to effects has always been selective. Earlier in his career he took pride in having no pedals at all: "Back in the day, I took pride in having no pedals. All I had was a tuner."1 Today his board is small but purposeful, and he uses it to shape his sound room by room on tour: "for me, the easiest way to carve out a sound for each venue was the pedals."1
The board today
According to a 2024 Guitar.com report on a Guitar World interview, Santiago's current pedalboard includes the following1:
- Maxon AD999 analog delay
- Boss GE-7 Equalizer, an EQ pedal
- Atomic Boost OC 44 from the Stewart Amplifier Company, a boost pedal
- Fulltone OCD overdrive
He also owns a BOSS FZ-2 Hyper Fuzz, which producer Tom Dalgety noted is brought out for the most white-hot parts of the Pixies' live sets2. Going further back, in the '80s Santiago used a Boss Super Feedbacker and Distortion pedal to create feedback, though Gearnews reported that his feedback with it "always sounded a little unnatural"3.
The Maxon AD999
The one delay on Santiago's board is the Maxon AD999, part of Maxon's Vintage Series4. Maxon describes it as a 100% analog delay with 900 milliseconds of delay time, custom Maxon MC4107D bucket brigade ICs, dynamic distortion on the delay repeats, the ability to self-oscillate, stereo wet and dry outputs, and true bypass switching5.
Maxon has discontinued the AC210 AC adapter for the AD9995.
A 2005 Legendary Tones review published by Maxon called it "a pedal that can provide nearly all of the delay requirements that one is looking for in a relatively affordable, compact package"6, and Pedal of the Day's Mike B described it in 2016 as "an easy-to-use but powerful delay pedal, one that's sure to impress with ease"4.
No chorus, but plenty of gain
The one effect Santiago rules out is chorus. His words are blunt: "The thing I don't use is chorus. I just don't like it."1
What he does like is overdrive and gain: "I like overdrive and gain because of the whole character of the sound… I find it interesting that none of them sound exactly alike."1 Within that, the Atomic Boost holds a specific place in his chain: "I like the Atomic Boost. It's a good thing to put in front of my OCD pedal… An OCD through a Marshall is the Pixies sound."1
Amps and the sound overall
Marshall amplifiers are the destination for that OCD overdrive, per Santiago's own description of the Pixies sound1. Chris "Spenny" Spencer, speaking in a Stompbox Book rig rundown, described the bigger picture:
"Joey's sound is simple yet unique"
Questions
What delay pedal does Joey Santiago use?
Joey Santiago uses a Maxon AD999 analog delay on his current pedalboard with the Pixies. The AD999 is a Vintage Series pedal from Maxon with up to 900 milliseconds of delay time, bucket brigade chips, stereo wet and dry outputs and true bypass switching. Santiago named it among the pedals he relies on to carve out a sound for each venue on tour.
Why doesn't Joey Santiago use chorus pedals?
He simply does not like the effect. In a 2024 interview he said the one thing he does not use is chorus, and that he just doesn't like it, describing chorus pedals as compromised. Earlier in his career he took pride in having no pedals at all, running only a tuner, and his taste has stayed with overdrive and gain pedals instead.
What amps does Joey Santiago use with the Pixies?
Santiago has said that an OCD overdrive pedal through a Marshall is the Pixies sound, so Marshall amplifiers are central to his rig. His guitar tech Chris Spencer has also described Santiago's two-amp setup as sounding really big and old-school, with a simple yet unique sound built on a traditional core.
Sources (7)
- Pixies Joey Santiago refuses to use a chorus pedal because “it sounds compromised”, Guitar.com, 2024-12-03
- Behind the Board: Tom Dalgety with Ghost, Pixies, Royal Blood, and The Cult, BOSS (articles.boss.info), 2024-09-04
- NAMM 2017: DigiTech FreqOut and CabDryVR feedback and cab emulation pedals, gearnews.com, 2017-01-19
- Maxon AD999 Analog Delay, Pedal of the Day, 2016-02-14
- ANALOG DELAY (AD999), Godlyke, Inc. (maxonfx.com)
- Maxon AD999 versus EH Memory Man, Godlyke, Inc. (maxonfx.com), 2005
- Joey Santiago, Stompbox Book (stompboxbook.com), 2019-12-29
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