Nicholas Pentabona (BEDTIMEMAGIC)
SPB: From when you started up ‘til now, is there any specific piece of gear or setup that’s come to define your sound?
Pentabona: The one piece of gear that has defined my sound over many years is a WOBO AB/Y pedal I bought from the maker in Poland a bunch of years ago. A typical AB/Y takes in one signal, say, a guitar or bass, and splits that signal into two nearly identical signals to go to, usually, something like two amps. You can use them in reverse -- two sounds into one amp -- but it's rarely done that way.
The cool thing with AB/Y's is you can usually switch between the amps or have them both on, so you can build this dimensional quality to the parts you're playing, or if you're keen, have two different things happening in two different spots from one source.
You may wonder why this particular box is so important.
It's incredibly well built by someone who was trying to make a name for himself in the early days of internet sales. It's got rivets instead of screws, is made of tremendously durable steel, and the wiring is done for extreme clarity. It also uses relays instead of mechanical switches to help keep the clicking and popping noise down. Just a well made, useful, transparent piece of durable gear.
I think Morgan would say my sound for BEDTIMEMAGIC is dominated by the Rickenbacker 4003 bass that I mangled. I've switched out the bridge, gutted the electronics, put in a killswitch...made it my own. That's the backup answer for anyone who thinks their Morley AB/Y is the same as a WOBO, I guess.
It's not, by the way.
