MIKAEL AKERFELDT: What’s In My Pedalboard?

By Darryl Johnson on April 12, 2017

Opeth‘s Mikael Akerfeldt recently talked gear with Guitar World magazine, specifically which pedals are in his pedalboard. Read about it below.

Electro-Harmonix Small Stone Nano

“The Small Stone is my favorite phaser, I use it a lot on my clean sounds. I originally bought one of the Russian ones in military green and it looked like a landmine!

“I got that for [the third Opeth album, 1998's] ‘My Arms, Your Hearse‘ – which was a long time ago, and I’ve used it all over the place ever since. The footswitch fell off so I had to buy this new one.”

MXR Carbon Copy

“The Carbon Copy I’ll kick in whenever I feel, usually for leads or solos. I might change it soon because I got a new delay from Dunlop that I forgot back home. The only reason being the Carbon Copy might be a little too mild for my needs, almost a bit subdued. I want more juice! Nothing too digital, but something just a bit clearer.”

EarthQuaker Grand Orbiter

“I got this in Akron, Ohio, and it’s actually made by a company based there called EarthQuaker Devices. It’s a phaser, but with a shitload of sounds within it. At the moment, I only use it for isolated chords to get this underwater effect that makes you sick to your stomach!”

Strymon BlueSky

“I love the Strymon reverb, I have it set on spring and it’s pretty much on all the time. You could say I am very generous when it comes to reverb! I want lots, unlike Fredrik [Akesson, Opeth guitarist], who wants more of the dry tone so every note pops out.

“I’m the opposite – I want the notes to disappear into the reverb. I absolutely love this one. It was very expensive, for a pedal!”