Shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine have brought huge guitar sounds to the world for decades. A photo of Kevin Shields’ pedalboard shows how the magic happens.
My Bloody Valentine – the brainchild of guitar wizard Kevin Shields – are well known for their epic guitar tones, dripping distortion and ear-splittingly loud live shows.
A eye-watering photo posted on Rolling Stone Japan recently has revealed exactly which pedals Shields is using live to make it all happen. Behold the majesty of Shields’ pedalboard. Or multiple pedalboards, that is.
At least four separate boards are visible, with the corner of another in the far right – so who knows where it could end.
Kevin Shields’s 2018 pedal board(s) from a Rollling Stone Japan article. 😲 pic.twitter.com/2PvqrE0555
— Tandem Felix (@FelixTandem) April 17, 2018
And of course, there’s a Reddit thread that features plenty of guesses at identifying the stompboxes, along with theories behind the purpose of such a bewildering setup, and how Shields manages to stay on top of it all.
Check it out here.
listening to kevin shields play the same chord for 5 minutes pic.twitter.com/IR9wBOQAsG
— Yacob (@honeynutbeerios) September 29, 2020
Next Up: Kevin Shields talks about how the Fender Jazzmaster shaped his sound
