Jorma Kaukonen

Kaukonen uses Zendrive pedals from mid 2000s onwards, as they were recommended to him by Robben Ford. In 2023, Kaukonen used Zendrive on both Gibson Firebird and Gibson Chet Atkins SST for Hot Tuna's "Last Waltz" tour.

2023 Guitar World interview.

Robben Ford turned me on to those back in the mid 2000s, and I was very fortunate that I was able to get four or five of them direct from [Zendrive designer] Alfonso Hermida back in the days. They weren’t cheap back then, but they were nothing like they are today. They’re not vintage for me. They’re just old because I bought them new.

"I have been using Fishman products since the early 90's and I love them. Fishman Transducers are my choice and I get my sound to the board via their spectacular Aura. It's hard for me to describe this product other than, it works! Go to their website and check it out. they will explain it better that I ever could. " - Jorma Kaukonen

In this picture, one can see Jorma Kaukonen stepping on a Cry Baby pedal. The picture dates back to the 8th May '76, Hot Tuna concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York. So I believe it's a Thomas Organ one as Jen Italian made ones used to have white binding around them and that one does not seem to have any.

In his autobiography "Been So Long: My Life and Music" he states: "The high-singing electric guitar lines are my Gibson ES-345 Stereo with the neck pickup through an Ampeg Scrambler into two Fender Twins. The bridge pickup was run through an original Thomas Organ Cry Baby Wah, also through two Twins". Regarding tone on Jefferson Airplane subsequent albums.

Kaukonen's website mentions the pedal to be a 1965 model.

https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Jefferson_Airplane_and_the_Psychedelic_1960s

In this November '96 interview he was asked: At one time you were playing with an Ampeg Scrambler?

Yes, my favorite fuzztone. I still have one.

Then the journalist asked him: That was on Baxter’s?

Yeah, it started on Baxter’s, and I used that until I quit playing with the Airplane.

It's kinda weird since the Ampeg Scrambler was introduced in early 1969. Anyway, Jorma knows the thing as he used it, maybe it was something else before '69, but then that was the Ampeg fuzz pedal.

In his autobiography "Been So Long: My Life and Music" he states: "The high-singing electric guitar lines are my Gibson ES-345 Stereo with the neck pickup through an Ampeg Scrambler into two Fender Twins. The bridge pickup was run through an original Thomas Organ Cry Baby Wah, also through two Twins". Regarding tone on Jefferson Airplane subsequent albums.

He also mentions that in the aforecited interview.

The front pickup was the wah-wah channel, and the neck pickup was the fuzztone channel.

Grace Design's FELIX preamp was mentioned as a part of Kaukonen's gear, according to his website.

Kaukonen mentions Mini Q-Tron on his website.

Kaukonen mentions Hermida Zendrive2 as a pedal used for his Gibson Chet Atkins SST guitars.

Kaukonen mentions Eventide Rose as a pedal used for his Gibson Chet Atkins SST guitars.

Kaukonen mentions Eventide Blackhole as a pedal used for his Gibson Chet Atkins SST guitars.

The pedal was used for Hot Tuna's Last Waltz tour in 2023, according to 2023 Guitar World interview.

I also have an Eventide Blackhole. It’s a really neat reverb pedal. It’s very complex, but it’s got a lot of depth. Sometimes I’ll throw that in the chain, just for texture, because most of the time I don’t need anything at all.