Folk artist John McCutcheon told us about his love for his Boss VF-1 multi-effects processor.
John McCutcheon: My Boss VF-1 multi-effects processor. Why this one? I travel with an armada of 6 different instruments (guitar/banjo/hammer dulcimer/fiddle/autoharp/and sometimes 12-string or fretless banjo), many of which sound crews have never dealt with or even heard. So, as a matter of self-defense at festivals, I started taking more control over my sound, from stage.
The VF-1 is a half-rack multi-effects processor that allows me to store unique EQ's and effects for each instrument...sometimes even multiple settings for the same instrument. Everything is EQ'ed and effected relative to the 6-string guitar (something that most sound people have experience with) so, a single soundcheck covers a half-dozen instruments. Especially at festivals, when there is little more than a line-check before performance, it's a life saver. And, not incidentally, doing sound at a festival is an impossible and thankless job. My intention is to get the sound I want and, at the same time, make the sound engineer sound like a genius.
My Boss VF-1, no longer available, so my road manager and I regularly stalk Ebay and Reverb so we can stockpile used units for when they're necessary.
John McCutcheon's album Field of Stars is out now.
Photo by Eric Petersen
