Justin Derrico is the guitarist in Pink's touring band. On the Truth About Love tour, filmed with Derrico and bassist Eva Gardner for Premier Guitar's rig rundown, he played a setup built for consistency night after night: a pedalboard designed around a Dave Friedman-designed rig, rack effects controlled from a MIDI floor controller, and two complete, identical amp rigs carried on the same leg of the tour1.
The Truth About Love tour rig with Pink
The heart of the on-stage setup is a Voodoo Lab Ground Control Pro, programmed with individual patches for each song along with direct access buttons to control the pedals in his rack1. That means each song has its own stored settings, and individual pedals can still be switched by hand from the floor unit.
Up front on the pedalboard, Derrico relies on a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, two Ernie Ball Volume pedals, a custom designed piezo signal splitter, a Boss TU-3 tuner, and a Fishman preamp1.
The rack and board hold a broad set of effects1:
| Effect type | Pedal |
|---|---|
| Compressor | Wampler Ego Compressor |
| Overdrive and preamp | Bogner Ecstasy Blue, Xotic BB Preamp, MXR Custom Badass Modified OD |
| Octave and pitch | Foxrox Octron, Electro-Harmonix Micro Pog |
| Modulation | Boss BF-3 Flanger, MXR EVH Phase 90, Fulltone Deja Vibe, Line 6 M5, Boss CH-1 Super Chorus (around the back) |
| Delay | Boss Giga-Delay |
| Tuner | Boss TU-2 (in the rig), Boss TU-3 (up front) |
Guitars
Derrico brings about 10 guitars on tour with Pink, sometimes traveling with a backup boat of 10 more1. His main guitar is a 2006 Les Paul Standard, used for about 80 percent of the show, kept totally stock outside of a few repairs to the headstock and a piezo pickup1. That piezo pickup feeds the splitter and Fishman preamp up front on the board1.
His Fender Custom Shop Strat Pro is used for the cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game"1. On his Valley Arts Brent Mason, he plays the neck pickup with the controls, including the middle pickup blend, all the way up1.
A pedalboard built around a Dave Friedman-designed rig
Derrico's pedalboard is designed around a Dave Friedman-designed rig1. Friedman also had a hand in pedal circuit design: Gearnews reported that Dave Friedman added his own "Rage" switch to the Fuzz Fiend's circuit design2.
"Dave has added his own unique 'Rage' switch which allegedly will make this thing pretty gnarly."
For Derrico, the Friedman connection shows up in the amp side of the rig: both of his identical touring rigs are centered around Bogner and Friedman amps1.
Two identical rigs
For that leg of the tour, Derrico brought out two complete rigs, "A" and "B", both exactly the same and both centered around Bogner and Friedman amps1. With a show built on song-by-song patches, having a duplicate rig means the second setup can take over without changing anything about how the show sounds.
Questions
What wah does Justin Derrico use?
Up front on his pedalboard on Pink's The Truth About Love tour, he relied on a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, alongside two Ernie Ball Volume pedals, a Boss TU-3 tuner, a Fishman preamp and a custom piezo signal splitter.
What amps does Justin Derrico use with Pink?
On that leg of the tour his rigs were centered around Bogner and Friedman amps. He carried two complete rigs, labeled A and B, both exactly the same, so a failure on stage never stops the show.
Why does Justin Derrico carry two identical rigs?
He brings out two complete rigs, A and B, both exactly the same and both centered around Bogner and Friedman amps. The duplication means any gear problem can be handled by switching to the other rig rather than interrupting the show.
What is the piezo signal splitter on Justin Derrico's board?
It is a custom designed piezo signal splitter that works with his stereo cable. It sits up front on his pedalboard next to a Fishman preamp, splitting the piezo pickup signal from his guitars, including the piezo pickup fitted to his main 2006 Les Paul Standard.
How many guitars does Justin Derrico tour with?
He brings about 10 guitars on tour with Pink, sometimes traveling with a backup boat of 10 more. His main guitar is a 2006 Les Paul Standard, used for about 80 percent of the show.
Sources (2)
- Rig Rundown, Premier Guitar, 2013-04-09
- Musikmesse 2017: Friedman Motor City Drive & Fuzz Fiend 12AX7 based pedals, gearnews.com, 2017-04-04