Billy Strings and His Band

Source Audio's relationship with Billy Strings originated a few years back, when Matt Kobrenski - Source Audio's shipping manager - started talking about an amazing bluegrass guitar player he had recently seen. A couple of emails later, we were talking to Billy and his guitar tech about Source Audio effects pedals. Now, you might say to yourself, "wait a minute, bluegrass musicians don't use effects pedals," and most of the time you would be correct, but not in the case of Billy Strings. Billy plays a completely reimagined version of bluegrass. It carries with it a deep respect and admiration for bluegrass music's rich history, but mixes it with an electrified contemporary approach. At the center of it all, of course, is Billy's exceptional guitar playing.

Our friends over at Premier Guitar released a fantastic episode of the Rig Rundown featuring our man Billy talking, in-depth about his guitars and pedals. You will love this one...
Everyone loves the "idea" of bringing a new approach to bluegrass music, but if you know anything about bluegrass, you know it takes more than just an idea - you've got to be able to PLAY!!! And playing is what everyone in Billy's band does best. Check out this clip from a 2019 performance at the Grande Ole Opry - pure fire!
Over the years, Billy has used a number of different Source Audio pedals. Originally he had the Nemesis Delay on his board. The photo on the left was taken during a meeting we had in 2019 at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The photo on the right is a more recent shot of Billy's more advanced, Bob Bradshaw constructed rig. If you look closely, you will see the Nemesis as well as the C4 Synth and the EQ2 Programmable Equalizer.

Learn More About Source Audio Pedals Used by Billy Strings

Jarrod Walker

Jarrod Walker began his rise in the bluegrass scene at very young age when he started making music with his brother Cory in the early 2000s. Jarrod's melodic and lightning fast mandolin playing quickly won him attention in the bluegrass community. He went on to perform with Missy Rains & the New Hip as well as earning a Grammy nomination for his work with the Claire Lynch Band.  In 2017 he did his first recording session with Billy and soon after became a permanent member. The photo below of Jarrod's pedalboard was taken during our visit with Billy and the band before their performance at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2019. At the time he used the Spectrum Intelligent Filter, but has since added the EQ2 Programmable Equalizer and Collider Delay+Reverb to his collection. 

Learn More About Source Audio Pedals Used by Jarrod Walker

Royal Masat

Royal Masat credits his natural affinity toward the bass to his mother playing the upright bass in bands while she was pregnant with him. This (extremely) early exposure to the bass eventually led to him joining his family band (The Masat Family) and touring the United States throughout his childhood. He went on to do a lot of studio work around Nashville, including some sessions with Billy Strings' friend Molly Tuttle. In 2017 Billy reached out to Royal through Facebook and set up an informal jam session. The positive vibes that radiated from that initial jam led to Billy asking Royal to join the band and the two never looked back. 

Royal was the first member of the Billy Strings band to use Source Audio gear. If you look at some early photos of his pedalboard you will spot a Soundblox Pro Bass Envelope Filter (a pedal that was later updated and re-released as the Spectrum Intelligent Filter). Royal also uses the EQ2 Programmable Equalizer with his standup, and recently added a C4 Synth, Ultrawave Bass Distortion, and Collider Delay+Reverb to the signal chain of his Taurus Bass Pedals. The Taurus pedals combined with the Source Audio gear create gargantuan drone notes and massive sub-bass lines. Unfortunately we don't have a photo of his Taurus Pedal rig, but you can spot glimpses of it all over Billy's Instagram. 

Learn More About Source Audio Pedals Used by Royal Masat