We took a trip to Bill Frisell’s Seattle home to talk pedals. As anyone who has seen Frisell perform over the years can attest, this is a musician who loves guitars, effects and mixing it up. Here, he puts his current setup through the paces for us. It’s an up-close look at one of the guitar world’s most important innovators.

Frisell is quick to admit that his pedal board changes often – new finds are always being tried out. He’s also done plenty of recordings and live dates with no effects at all.

Effects pedals used in this video:
Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2
Boss TU-2
Ibanez TS-9 Tube Screamer (stock)
TC Electronics Hall of Fame
Electro-Harmonix Freeze
Line 6 DL4

Shown, but not used in the video:
Electro-Harmonix Micro POG
Way Huge Electronics Ring Worm
Aguilar Audiolex
ZVEX Ringtone
Wright Sounds Fuzz Stang

Frisell’s custom Jazzmaster was built by J.W. Black, with custom art by Terry Turrell. The amp is a vintage Gibson GA-18.