Nels Cline

Nels Cline uses a Boss Compressor Sustainer to squish his sound. "People laugh at [it], but I still love [it]," Cline says at (25:00), "particularly because it just squishes on with their latch switch thing."

"When I started playing with Wilco, I went through the many pedals lying around the Wilco loft looking for EVEN MORE DISTORTION SOURCES. Jeff Tweedy had this, an early '69, and he let me have it. One of the things I look for in any distortion device is MASSIVE GAIN. I need stuff that won't get QUIETER when you hit it, and frankly a shocking number of fuzzboxes and the like are super wimpy in this regard. The '69 (new one pictured here - Jeff's broke, and I need it because this new one sounds different…) just makes the grade. Check my Wilco setting: EVERYTHING ALL THE WAY UP."

"The lynchpin of my sound tends to be the Klon Centaur Overdrive," Cline says at (29:15). "It has a kind of legendary status, almost infamous at this point because they're almost impossible to get and cost a ton of money...It's like having an amp in a pedal, it has a very transparent quality," he said.

“The Ugly Face. It’s made by an art professor in San Francisco. It’s one of the most extreme, bizarre, wonderful fuzz boxes ever. Henry’s turned me on to some good pedals in his day; he’s the guy who first showed me the [Klon] Centaur Overdrive, which is one of my main things, and he was the first guy to show me the [Z.Vex] Fuzz Factory, which is another one that I use.” - Fretboard Journal interview.

"I always use the Zvex Fuzz Factory," Cline says in this Premier Guitar interview at (26:10), "which most people recognize at being really strange, and intense, and uncontrollable."

"Hot Cake: Scott Amendola gave me this little beauty from New Zealand. When I joined Wilco, I made sure to put this on my board IN ADDITION to my cherished Klon Centaur Overdrive because I wanted to sculpt many overdriven subtleties. Little did I realize that the Marshall JTM 45 I would use with Wilco would fall in LOVE with the Hot Cake! Together, they rule! The Hot Cake works less well with high-wattage amps like a Twin Reverb. It actually sounds like crap. But with that Marshall…!!!"

"ProCo Rat has been modified for a little extra poop. The LED is now yellow. The sound is not as fabulous as my old Marshall Guv'nor, but I'm adjusting."

"Runner up in the 'Super Cool' and 'Original Delay Dept.': the new Catalinbread Echorec, which has wild multi-delays and warble modeled on the classic Binson Echorec—beautiful. And it's small!"

In this video from EarthQuaker Devices, Nels Cline demos the Astral Destiny.

"Though still just bubbling under the large wave of boutique effects pedals, JAM pedals' work stands out ! I am particularly fond of The Rattler, as I have been on the prowl for toneful yet high-gain distortion. There are plenty of fuzzboxes out there these days (and JAM has some good ones, too) but few distortion boxes. The Rattler has that fat, creamy sound/sustain yet doesn't have to be turned up all the way step out when full-on raging is required!"

wilco pedal board 2017

"This is a beautiful time for boutique effects pedals, and there are so many great ones out there, and I love them: the Fulltone '69 (classic), Uglyface (ultra-wild), Creepy Fingers MkI (classic), Catalinbread Octapussy (classic), Mid-Fi Electronics Random Number Generator (super sick), and the Devi Ever Soda-Meiser and/or White Spider (classic and sick) are just a few favorites. But the one I always bring along is the Z.Vex Fuzz Factory."

"I ended up loving the ’70s-era Marshall Guv'nor distortion after many Pro Co Rat years. But the input/output jacks disintegrate and nothing fits into those big holes left after that plastic decays."

Played backstage live stream 2021 tour

Nels Cline uses a Fulltone Deja Vibe pedal. "I love the Deja Vibe," Cline says at (25:40).

Cline uses an Electro-Harmonix Ring Modulator - the Ring thing. "It also does harmonizer things," he said at (33:35).

Nels says of Boss DD-3, "The Keeley modifications provide some "warmer" delay effects choices while I am still able to get my old DD-3 weirdness happening (as in, really fast, heavy repeat-laden, digital-sounding, electro spazz-outs that I can cut on and off with no trail off). And, of course, I can get simple, tasteful bounce. I can get by with a plain old DD-3, too, but the Keeley one is just a bit better."

Another of Cline's pedals is the Crazy Tube Circuits Starlight. "It's a distortion, much like a RAT but better," he says at (27:20).

"They're rare as hen's teeth, I LOVE the sound (I like wiggly, what can I say?), and mine took some serious blows in flight."

In this pedalboard photos of Cline, taken by a fan at one of their Brasil concerts in October 2016, the EHX Nano Small Stone is visible.

Nels Cline gets crazy effects out of the Digitech Whammy pitch shifting pedal, as demonstrated in this Premier Guitar interview at (31:00).

Nels Cline uses an original Electro-Harmonix 16 Second digital delay, as seen in this Premier Guitar interview at (32:50). "It's always recording, I do looping with it on the fly," Cline said.

Cline uses an Electro-Harmonix Memory man reissue, as spotted in this video at (33:40). "I use it for a little bit of bounce and that 'wiggly' that it has...It's psychedelic," he said.

An Electro-Harmonix XO Holy Grail can be seen at 32:52 in this Nels Cline rig rundown video, to the right of the Ring Thing.

" I also really dig the Pigtronix Philosopher's Tone, which Jimmy Vivino turned me on to. I think it sounds better than the CS-3. but I’m an old dog."

"I love my Devi Ever pedals, especially the old Soda Meiser."

"The SMS Earth Drive is excellent," says Nels Cline who started using it because it travels well due to its size.

In the EarthQuaker Devices YouTube video "Board To Death Ep. 18," Nels Cline discusses and uses the Montreal Assembly Count to Five delay pedal.

Featured on Cline's official Rainger FX artist page.

Nels Cline was shocked that he liked the Waterfall ! He hates Chorus pedals and said that we should rename it ! "Don't call it a chorus" Nels Cline.

Nels Cline uses the Electro-Harmonix POG Polyphonic Octave Generator, as detailed in his "PEDAL BOARD SPIEL (2005)" on his official website.