Prince
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Prince's Effects Pedals
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In this pic of Prince's pedalboard you can see the blues driver on the left of the mic-stand.
When it comes to effects, Prince seemed to like Boss Pedals. While it very well could be that Prince owns the entire Boss line of effects, he was commonly seen with a metal zone in the mid 90s. It was put in his pedalboard between his Diamonds and Pearls Tour and Act I& II Tour (support for Love Symbol Album) around 1992 until the late 90s it was spotted on his pedalboard on July 9th 1996 while he was performing for The Today Show on NBC. There was also a close up photo taken of his pedalboard in the mid 90s which the Boss Metal Zone MT-2 pedal is clearly seen.
This image comes from this article from Pro Guitar Shop where they write "Along with his love of Boss effects, Prince is a regular user of the Digitech Whammy, Dunlop Crybaby Wah (though he has been known to use a Colorsound Wah as well), and Line 6 MM4 modulation modeler."
According to engineer Susan Rodgers, Prince used a Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal in the studio.
In the Manic Monday Music video you can see Prince bent down messing with his pedal. You can see it on 0.42. There is also a photo of Prince’s pedalboard set up for the Sign ‘O’ The Times Tour and can the pedal on. Here is a link https://prince.org/msg/7/441997 He also seen with a yellow pedal in 1991 at the Special Olympics rehearsal but it’s hard to tell if it’s the SD-1 but more than likely it is here’s a link https://youtu.be/ja_PXE5i26A
This is a picture from Prince’s Guitar Book released by Paisley Park. You can see the MXR Micro Amp pedal on the right side.
Prince has used the Boss BF-2 Flanger pedal in many of his concerts and performances for several years. He has used the Boss BF- 2 Flanger pedal on Jay Leno's Tonight show and the 21 Nights in London concerts. The Boss BF-2 Flanger pedal can be spotted on the left side of Prince's effects pedal board after the Boss VB-2 Vibrato and Boss DD-3 Digital Delay pedals.
"The only bass effects on the record are a Zoom 9030 (usually on its "slap wah" setting) and a Danelectro Fab Tone pedal for fuzz."
Along with his love of Boss effects, Prince is a regular user of the Digitech Whammy, Dunlop Crybaby Wah (though he has been known to use a Colorsound Wah as well), and Line 6 MM4 modulation modeler.
This image comes from this article from Pro Guitar Shop where they write "Along with his love of Boss effects, Prince is a regular user of the Digitech Whammy, Dunlop Crybaby Wah (though he has been known to use a Colorsound Wah as well), and Line 6 MM4 modulation modeler."
Prince is frequently associated with the Boss OC-2 Octaver, as highlighted in the article "Prince: The Unsung Guitar Hero" on Proguitarshop. This suggests a preference for Boss effects in his performances.
This image comes from this article from Pro Guitar Shop where they write "Along with his love of Boss effects, Prince is a regular user of the Digitech Whammy, Dunlop Crybaby Wah (though he has been known to use a Colorsound Wah as well), and Line 6 MM4 modulation modeler."
Prince is frequently associated with the Boss DD-3 Digital Delay, as highlighted in the article "Prince: The Unsung Guitar Hero" on Pro Guitar Shop. This suggests his preference for Boss effects in his guitar setup.
Prince used the Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler for his Bass pedalboard you can see it in a picture taken from one of Prince’s music studio in Paisley Park. He also used this pedal for his keyboards/synths you can spot it in some concert footage when Renato Neto is playing along with some Boss effect pedals.
Prince used a Mutron Bi-Phase on the Prince tour, and the For You and Prince albums.
In the official music video for "Manic Monday," Prince is seen adjusting his pedalboard, notably using the Boss DM-2 Delay. This pedal also makes a brief appearance in the "Purple Rain" movie when Prince is playing his Boss Flanger BF-2.
Along with his love of Boss effects, Prince is a regular user of the Digitech Whammy, Dunlop Crybaby Wah (though he has been known to use a Colorsound Wah as well), and Line 6 MM4 modulation modeler.
Prince is known to use the Dunlop JD-4S Rotovibe, along with the Roland GP-16 and Zoom 9030, on his pedalboard, as noted in the Proguitarshop article "Prince: The Unsung Guitar Hero."
Prince used this wah for his bass pedalboard and can be seen used by a list of his bass players. He also used it on his guitar pedalboard too and can be spot in a performance at the Brit Awards in 2007.
The image titled "Prince_Pedalboard_01.jpg" on reverb.com shows Prince's use of the Boss VB-2 Vibrato pedal. The article from Pro Guitar Shop highlights Prince's affinity for Boss effects, alongside other pedals like the Digitech Whammy and Dunlop Crybaby Wah.
From a picture from Prince’s Guitar Book released by Paisley Park it shows Prince guitar pedalboard and you can spot a Voodoo Lab Pedal 2 Plus on the lift side.
According to this site Prince used the EV-5 to control the whammy in the GP-16.
At 0:40 in the music video for 'Manic Monday' by Prince, on the right hand side of his pedalboard you can see the BOSS PSM-5 Power supply in use. This pedal may have only been used in practices, or possibly also in his pre Purple Rain performances.
Between 2005 and 2012, Prince frequently used the Dunlop 535Q Cry Baby Multi-Wah pedal in his performances, as evidenced by various appearances on his pedalboard. This information is corroborated by discussions on prince.org.
In a photo from Prince's Guitar Book, published by Paisley Park, you can see Prince’s pedalboard featuring a Voodoo Lab Pedal Power ISO-5 on the right side.
This is a community-built gear list for Prince.
- Find relevant music gear like Microphones, Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Pedals, Bass Guitars, Pianos, Keyboards and Synthesizers, and other instruments and add it to Prince.
- The best places to look for gear usage are typically on the artist's social media, YouTube, live performance images, and interviews.
- To receive email updates when Prince is seen with new gear, follow the artist.
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Discography
Album Credits
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The Essential 7" Singles 1980-1987
Sheena Easton · 2025
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The Definitive 12" Singles, 1983-1987
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The Definitive Singles 1980 - 1987
Sheena Easton · 2021
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