We're back with another edition of Board To Death! This one's special because we take you on a journey through the pedalboard of none other than Wata of our favorite Japanese heavy experimental trio Boris. True pedal nerds should get a kick out of this one because Wata's board has an interesting configuration and a few EQD treats!
Wata kindly takes through her signal chain, which includes two wah pedals, one for traditional Wah tricks and another for when she wants to get really weird. Her EQD pedals include the Aqueduct vibrato (in pitch bend mode), the Avalanche Run stereo reverb and delay, the Hummingbird tremolo, and naturally, the Wata/EQD collaboration the Hizumitas Fuzz Sustainar, which replaces the original 1970s ELK BM Sustainar she has used for years.
"The reason why I have Hizumitas on my board now is, I've been using Elk's Big Muff copy for a long time. It keeps breaking when I take it out for a tour. It's broken down many times, and I've had it repaired many times. So I've wanted pedals that don't break down and something compact that can fit on my board," Wata said, noting that her bandmate, guitarist/bassist Takeshi has been using EQD pedals for some time.
"We've visited the HQ in Akron when we were on tour, and we've done a tour together (with EQD band Relaxer) in Japan too. We've been super close, and they told me that they could make a clone of my Elk BM that is compact that I always wanted, and this became the one. I added it on the board as the main dirt that I use," she said.
Wata also shows us how she stacks her DS1 with the Hizumitas and gives a taste of the main riff of the Boris tune "Pink." For free!
Wata uses several different fuzz pedals in addition to the Hizumitas in various combinations, including the Dwarfcraft Shiva, the Mattoverse Air Trash, and the MASF Watafuzz depending on the needs of a particular song. Boris has 30 years of songs, so that's a lot of choices to be made. For wilder sounds, Wata has the MASF Possessed, the Electro-Harmonix Freeze sound retainer, and the Bananana Mandala. Wata also takes an actual Roland Tape Echo out on the road with her because she has yet to find a pedal version that gives her the level of control she desires.
Wata also reveals her custom switcher made by Soul Power Instruments with a unique setup allowing her to easily switch between combinations of her many onstage amps or use individually or in any configuration rather than serially.
Wata is a fascinating guitar sorceress, and fans (including us) seldom get to hear her speak on her methods and gear. So please, relish this opportunity to spend some quality time with Wata, her pedalboard, her black Les Paul Custom and her amps!
Want to know more about WATA? Of course you do!
Check out her “Top 5 (plus one) Guitarists” over on the EarthQuaker Devices Blog www.earthquakerdevices.com/bl...
Video: MINORxU, Yosuke Torii, Rio Muraeda
Edit: Dave Whited
Audio: Koichi Hara (www.koichihara-mix.com)
Assistant engineer: Rio Ikuhara
Coloring: Yutaro (Art Love Music)
Studio: Tuppence House I’s Studio Tokyo, Japan
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