Nels Cline

Nels Cline is the guitar player for Wilco and a longtime effects enthusiast, described by MusicRadar as a "bona fide pedal nut"¹ and by Pedal of the Day's Mike B as "a super effects junkie, like many of us, and I always liked how diverse and cool his rigs have been over the years"². His relationship with pedals runs from boutique distortion boxes to a one-off delay built for him personally, and his taste reaches back to his earliest encounters with echo gear.

A psychedelic-rock background and reversed repeats

Cline's fascination with delay started early. Interviewed by Barry Cleveland for Stompbox Book, he described his first encounter with a repeat device:

That reverse-repeat interest shows up on his modern board: Rainger FX lists the Reverb-X among the pedals he uses⁴. His gear habit has also left traces elsewhere in the pedal world. drolofx named its Stretch Weaver pedal as an homage to "Stretch Woven", a duo project by Scott Amendola and Nels Cline released on CD⁵.

Pedals he is listed as using

Several makers name Cline on their artist pages. Rainger FX lists him with the El Distorto, the Minibar and the Reverb-X⁴. ZVEX says he "uses various ZVEX pedals, notably the Box of Metal"⁶. JAM Pedals features him as an artist with quotes and videos on their site⁷, listing the WaterFall and the Rattler among his pedals⁷, and MusicRadar's Trevor Curwen notes that JAM pedals are used by Bernie Marsden, Dweezil Zappa and Nels Cline among others⁸.

Of the Rattler, a high-gain distortion pedal, Cline says:

He describes its sound as fat and creamy, with sustain that does not have to be turned up all the way for full-on raging¹¹¹². On the multi-head Delay Llama XTREME, his endorsement is shorter: "The Delay Llama XTREME is WILD! I love it!!!"⁹. He also credits JAM Pedals with "very seriously re-inventing and refining many 'classic' effects pedal designs"⁷. Beyond the maker rosters, Delicious Audio reports the Mythos Pedals Golden Fleece, an overdrive/fuzz circuit, is based on a much-talked-about pedal used by Cline¹³, and in 2021 EarthQuaker Devices had him demo their Astral Destiny modulated octave reverb pedal, playing his Novo Miris into a Magnatone combo¹⁴.

Does Nels Cline have a signature pedal?

Yes. In July 2016 MusicRadar reported that Cline had launched a signature distortion pedal with Toronto's Tone Concepts, called the GOO, which he described as "the most expressive, touch sensitive, and responsive distortion pedal I've ever experienced"¹. Gearnews adds that the pedal is part of Tone Concepts' ICON Series and was designed in close cooperation with Cline, "who is well known as one of the ultimate pedal junkies"¹⁵.

The JHS Oil Can Delay he inspired

The JHS 3 Series Oil Can Delay has a direct Cline connection, but it is not a signature model. JHS states plainly: "Though the JHS Oil Can Delay isn't a signature artist pedal, we're still grateful to Nels Cline for inspiring it"¹⁶. The story, as Josh Scott tells it in JHS's demo video, began at Wilco's Solid Sound festival:

Scott says Cline asked whether he had ever made an oil can delay, described the specific thing he wanted, and Scott built him a one-off in the 3 Series. Cline ended up using it on Wilco's "Cruel Country" and the record that followed, and it stayed on his board¹⁷. MusicRadar reported the production version as a one-of given to Cline as a gift¹⁸, and Delicious Audio confirms the circuit was born from a request by Wilco's guitarist¹⁹. In the video, Scott describes the pedal as an almost randomly modulated delay, with short delay times that feel slightly modulated, echoing how the fluid turning in the original oil cans created the modulation¹⁷.

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Interviews and features

Cline has talked about his gear in several places. Barry Cleveland interviewed him for Stompbox Book³. He is interviewed in the book Pedal Crush, alongside Radiohead's Ed O'Brien²⁰. Pedal of the Day's Mike B noted listening to a Rig Rundown with Cline while checking out Crazy Tube Circuits pedals, of which Cline is a big fan²¹. EarthQuaker Devices had him demo the Astral Destiny in February 2021¹⁴, and JAM Pedals carries his quotes and videos on their artist pages⁷.

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