TSA Labs Presents The Stick Arounds Pedal Series

How one man's graphic design skills collided with a drummer's petty rules to create the world's rarest line of virtual boutique guitar pedals.

My drummer hates guitar pedals. That’s what he says, anyway. Now this is a man who loves The Cure and the guitar tone of Andy Summer. It’s very possible he doesn’t know what he is talking about. More on that in a bit.

What he hates specifically, are the pedals and pedal boards of his bandmates. This bandmate’s pedals specifically.

Pedal board struggles for me have become something of an inside joke in the Sticks’ camp. Wiring issues, faulty parts and my own ADHD and panic have led to less than stellar tone and performances from me in the past. Jeff and Jason have had lessor issues, but it’s been a running joke.

As such, the Kernel simply decided that all guitar pedals are bad. Once he got hold of that idea, he refused to let go. He also grows impatient when we tune. After playing with him for close to 20 years, I am still not certain whether Joel is aware that his drums could be tuned, if he so desired.

He informed us at a practice that he had now begun a new support and drummers civil rights group he’d dubbed DAGPA, or Drummers Against Guitar Pedals.

The Kernel is one of my favorite people in the world. He is a one man emotional support system at times, and a gifted, musical drummer. No one doubts that he is a genuinely great dude. He would drive you to Seattle with nothing more than 20 minutes notice and a half a Big Mac he’d been saving since last Tuesday for just such an offer.

As much as we all know and love the Kernel, he couldn’t lead a group of any kind for more than 13 minutes without going absolutely insane. That makes the joke a shade funnier for anyone who actually knows the man, someone whose managerial style is loosely based around the concept of, “Whatever, baby”.

My pedal rig is a mess and my stage panic often makes it worse. Kernel couldn’t lead an organization anywhere other than directly into the ground. Thus, like a wounded Phoenix rising from the ashes of an East Lansing couch fire, a new line of pedals was born.

Presenting the TSA Labs Pedal Series co-created with DAGPA. Each pedal features a crucial link in your guitar’s signal chain, and is designed to emulate the tone and temperament of each individual Stick Around.

Remember, when your drummer tells you he’s in DAGPA, be sure to tell him that your board is by TSA LABS!