new/different live rig after 21 years....

[markD]

my band, autumn's pain, decided back in september to split up. everyone agreed it was time to end it. anyway, earlier this month the singer and i were talking, and after a meeting of the minds with everyone, we decided to give it another go. we are pretty excited, but we all agreed a couple things could change to make the band better. after reviewing several gig videos, we noticed a BIG difference between several shows and the last show we played with kamelot. i ended up not being able to play the kamelot show, and the sub-guitarist (obviously) was using a different rig. my sound has been very thick and midrange heavy. the sub's sound was much thinner but still had a good amount of upper mids. he was using a '66 fender bandmaster head/cab with 2 tube screamers for his distortion. i have always plugged right into my riveras and gotten all my distortion from the amp.

what did this add up to?

well, the singer sounded so much fuller and clearer singing over the bandmaster rig vs. my rivera rig. after doing some more exploration, we kind of came to the conclusion that the mid-voicing of my amp (which is strong in the lower mids) is in the same register as lana's voice. she always struggled to cut through the band.

anyway, we got together in my studio and performed an experiment. we took my live rig and recorded it and lana doing a song. then we took my old tremolux and a celestion loaded cab and did the same thing. no post-production EQ was added. the difference was clear. my faithful rig of 21 years fought with the vocalist for the same sonic space!!!

so, let's get on to the cool stuff!! i have decided (obviously) to put the riveras into retirement for now. for our upcoming shows i will be using this:



this rig consists of the following amp/cab:

'63 fender tremolux
marshall 1936 2x12 cab with celestion 75s

the following pedals:

MXR smart gate
MXR classic distortion (lead boost)
MXR custom badass OD (for main distortion sound)
MXR phase 90
MXR carbon copy delay
BOSS '63 fender reverb pedal

the following guitars:

gibson les paul trad pro w/ mini-humbuckers
fender joe strummer signature telecaster



we also decided that as we move forward that we want to incorporate more southern rock blues into our music, which is why i grabbed the LP and the tele. both sound amazing through this rig. my sound is much clearer and tighter. it is weird playing with minimal gain, it is almost clean with a touch of grit, but the "oomph" is undeniable. the biggest surprise? the tele sounds "heavier" than the LP!!!

[mr426]

Very cool>I allways say there is a strong difference in the tone you love from an amp by itself, as opposed to what is best for your band live. In the last two years I really did a turn around with my tone as well looking into different options with an ear on making the band sound the best instead of how my rig sounded best to me..Good to hear about your band.

[straycat]

IMO a good choice.

[jgcable]

Mark, I noticed the same thing when I switched from using a 5150-II half stack live to a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier half stack.
The 5150 amp did 2 things live. It crapped on both the other guitar players tone and the singer.
The Single Recto is smoother, it plays nice with other guitar amps and it doesn't have the high mids that seem to crap all over the vocals.
I know exactly what you are talking about.

[markD]

mr426 - i don't know why it took me this long to "get it" in regards to lana. i mean, we were using a 2000 watt PA system JUST for vocals in practice. i mean, when i had guy singers in the past it wasn't much of a problem....but lana's voice is so very different - think grace slick meets pat benetar.

stray - thanks. so far i think so too...

john - so far EVERYTHING about the band sounds better. the bass is deeper, the drums seem louder, the guitar sits "in the mix" better, and the vocals are on top with a power and clarity they have never had - and this is just playing in the practice space! it sounds like a really good live album with no PA support except for vocals. i have been playing the tele a lot, as it sounds the best with this rig, and the meat is still there, but there is a twang that really cuts through the mix without me needing to be "loud". plugging in the les paul, i have a sound very much a kin to lynyrd skynyrd and old kiss.....

[straycat]

Change is good sometimes always be open to it.

[jeff b]

Happy to hear the band is back together Mark!! I thought you guys had a cool & unique sound. And Lana... lol. Good luck with the rig bro!! Happy New Year!!

[markD]

jeff, it is kinda exciting. we are implementing several changes. we added a member who will be playing keyboards, acoustic and electric rythym guitar, and mandolin. we are starting out by doing some acoustic gigs. we have one on february 2nd. we are doing a 12 song acoustic set in a VH-1 "storytellers" style. we want to have people connect with lana and the songs more, so we figure telling little stories about some of the more interesting songs might help people "get" them better. that was always a complaint before...people didn't understand what the songs were about. it is at a venue we've played before - a pizzeria/bar - and i think it might go over well there. if people aren't really responding to the "storyteller" concept after a couple songs, then we'll can it and just play.

[RacerX]

Will that show be filmed? I'm not into the changes you are making, but this transition you are doing is interesting itself!

[markD]

most likely. everything may not work out, and in that case we'll just go back to being a 4 piece. one of the reasons for the acoustic shows is to test the waters with the new member.

[Larz]

I have a couple of teles and love them and you almost dismiss how much sound they can bring when we are all otherwise playing these pointy double hum guitars.

The teles can sound uniquely wicked in their own right through the high gain channels on my mesa roadster if you choose to go that route instead of using them for more traditional rock/country sounds.

Good luck with the band's new direction and sound.

[Rupe]

Very cool rig...I dig it! And sacrificing your "comfort zone" for the overall good of the band is the right way to do things...way too many guitarists don't get that.

[markD]

update...

the other player didn't work out. the tampa area is still very much a death metal region, and while this guy said all the right things in the interview and delivered what we wanted the first few rehearsals, he flipped on us. originally he came in with a twin reverb, a RAT pedal, and a strat. perfect for what we wanted. well, last rehearsal he showed up with a triple rec half stack and a dean ML. the sound wasn't terrible, but the attitude and visual was wrong. he was adding in a lot of squeals and dive bomb stuff, ala dimebag. it fucked up the WHOLE dynamic.

an argument ensued. he basically said that dimebag did some cool stuff and that we sounded like we needed a "metal" edge. i laughed and said we were stepping away from that edge since we aren't a metal band. i told him that for 6 years we were getting lumped on bills that we didn't match - that we have been called the "pink platypus band" by some of the heavier bands because of our poppier leanings.

i told the dude it sounded PERFECT with his twin rig, but if he wanted to use his rectifier, then let's try the vintage setting and bring back the strat or another guitar that wasn't the ML. he said that i have a lot of nerve telling him gear to use. i reminded him that he joined a pretty successful, established band, NOT an upstart group with no experience.

finally the bass player stepped in and told the dude we aren't pantera and that the ML looks stupid playing our songs. after a couple more go-arounds, lana told the guy he was out. he looked at me, and i said, "yep. this isn't gonna work after all." the guy told us we suck, packed his stuff, and left.

now i remember why i never play with another guitarist.

so we are looking for another guitarist.

regarding the rig....i miss my rivera!!!!! the fender is getting the job done, but some of the songs don't sound as powerful. especially the dropped D stuff. so i added a big muff to the pedal board. the sucky part? it just added back the frequencies that i am trying to eliminate while losing the focus and clarity of the rivera. thank God we have time to sort everything out before we do an electric show. i am thinking about trying an egnater tweaker 40 in place of the tremolux....we'll see though.

the acoustic thing is picking up. we have several more bookings after the feb. 2nd show. based on ticket sales for the 2nd, it looks like we might hit 50 people. not too bad!! i guess lana and i were right. too many of our friends are scared of loud music. they are coming out of the woodwork for the "unplugged" show....

man, getting old sucks!!!!! hahaha.....

Larz - anytime i have had a tele, it quickly becomes one of my favorite guitars. the joe strummer is KILLER. it plays like an old friend....

Rupe - i know what you mean. i believe in what i am doing with AP, so making the change is something i am willing to do to benefit the music. i am not totally enjoying it, but 90% of the songs sound better - and that was the goal...

[Shawn Lutz]

Can I ask why you are looking for another guitar player? Just get someone keys and call it a day.

Also, drop the p-90s and get some hums to bring the LP to life.

Cool rig, you can't beat simplicity...

[markD]

oh, i'd much prefer a keyboardist!!! around here they all want to get paid doing the beach bar/luxury resort scene. i am trying to snag one right now, but she lacks confidence.

my LP has mini-buckers.

thanks. simplicity is good, but now that i am using stomp boxes, i find creating tones more difficult so i am going to be buying a programmable pedal looper and a bigger board to have the pedals do what my rack used to do...


it's always something!!!