Chris Caffery - Trans Siberian - No Jacksons??

[Tekky]

I saw TSO in Chicago about a week ago. I sat 12th row. I didn't see any Jackson's either. I was impressed with Chris' tone though. Does anyone know what his rig consists of?

You caught the evening show?

Chris, and the other guitarists in TSO run off of Pods. With the production and the stage being what it is, everything is stripped down and standardized. I'm not aware of what, if any, pedals he's using.

[thetroy]

I think the lead guitar tones on all of the TSO albums are fantastic. The solo in "The Dark" from Beethoven's Last Night is one of my favorite solos.

[Wayniac]

Last year, Chris was running a Randall head (V2 I believe) and Iso box.. It was the same Randall head we used on the Doro run.
I had heard he may have worked Marshall back into the set-up or was thinking of the idea last time I spoke to him

From last years:
Posted: Mon Oct 23, 2006 8:38 pm Post subject: Last week before soundstage...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Actually tomorrow is our last rehearsal before we leave for Fl. Soundstage in Lakeland!

I have to pack tonite to send my luggage with the gear!

Thanks to Randall Amps for the new stuff. I am incorporating a Randall into my sound with the Line 6 and it Rocks! Alex may be trying the same!

Thanks to GHS for the strings...Thanks to Seymour Duncan for the pick-ups!

I want to thank Jackson but my new guitar has not arrived!

[thebigz]

This is from Angus Clark's journal:

Colorado Springs. This was great because we played a double on a weekday, really amazing for us. The shows were closer together than usual, but it was all groovy. Until of course I wiped out on my way back to the stage at the end of the second show. I knew wearing cowboy boots was gonna catch up to me. But I'm not really sure it's entirely the boots' fault. The fake snow was all over the flooring they use to cover the ice, and that stuff gets really slick. So I'm hauling ass across the front to get back to the stage in time and as I slow down to approach the stairs my heels fly out from under me and I slide under the first step. So now I'm lying on my back with the guitar just going "blaauuughhhh" and all I can do is laugh. And I can't think of a single rock star way of getting up, so I just stay there, laughing. A woman in the front row comes over and says "are you OK?", I'm like, "I'm fine!!! ha ha ha". Eventually Jason our road manager comes over and pulls me to my feet.
Other than that, great shows, great crowds. Took a big chunk out of the upper wing of the Jackson RR5 I use for the run around the arena. It's a good thing I don't take the custom shop RR1 out on that trip every night.




Then yesterday:




We've decided to keep the badly chipped guitar for the rest of the tour. Badge of courage and all. It looks tough.


So thats pretty cool they're keeping it. That would be pretty sweet to see someone playing a 1/2 RR

[roodyrocker]

Well out here on the east coast part of the tour, Chris did announce that the bass player was new this year but I forgot his name. And there definetly was one Jackson on stage for a couple songs, played by whoever the third guitarist is on those songs. I just wish it was Chris still playing the Rhoads'. No amps were visible on stage but I thought I read a couple years ago that he was using a Pod Pro. And he did have a pedal board but it was well hidden onstage and I could only make out the edge of a Wah or Volume pedal on one end and a Boss type tuner on the other. Oh yeah, I was front row this year for the show on Chris' side

[scotty]

Maybe TSO isn't a major act in Jackson eyes, but it is a shame they are not backing their loyal players. I am afraid since Fender owns them now that we might be seeing the end of a great guitar company. With ESP and a few other player snapping up all the major players. What are all the young guitar players seeing their idols playing? Not Jackson or Charvel. How sad.

[Wayniac]

Well out here on the east coast part of the tour, Chris did announce that the bass player was new this year but I forgot his name. And there definetly was one Jackson on stage for a couple songs, played by whoever the third guitarist is on those songs. I just wish it was Chris still playing the Rhoads'. No amps were visible on stage but I thought I read a couple years ago that he was using a Pod Pro. And he did have a pedal board but it was well hidden onstage and I could only make out the edge of a Wah or Volume pedal on one end and a Boss type tuner on the other. Oh yeah, I was front row this year for the show on Chris' side

Not sure of the current TSO rig - probably the line 6 board, with the Randall or a Marshall matched up with the POD Pro??
For non TSO, he usually runs a delay, distortion (he has used 3 different ones for the various times I worked for him - from Boss to Vox), Chorus, Wah and tuner
He likes the delay/modulation effects in the FX loop, and the Wah/dist/Tuner inline before the amp input
Funny thing - he sounds like him no matter what I hear him play through (Pod, Marshall, Peavey, Randall)

[Tekky]

Chris Altenhoff is the bass player that you guys are talking about.

[thebigz]

Still hoping to see him live some day. I had plane tickets to see Savatage in Phoenix on 9/12/01, needless to say, my plane didn't go anywhere. I live in Utah, but I'll have to get out to an east TSO show or something...

[roodyrocker]

Chris Altenhoff is the bass player that you guys are talking about.

Yes, thats it. that sounds familiar. Thanks Tekky!

[roodyrocker]

He likes the delay/modulation effects in the FX loop, and the Wah/dist/Tuner inline before the amp input
Funny thing - he sounds like him no matter what I hear him play through (Pod, Marshall, Peavey, Randall)

Thats so true! Many are like that. A few years ago I saw George Lynch playing a guitar clinic with his M1 Tiger through a Hughes & Kettner combo and it sounded like Lynch through any of his previous Soldanos, Marshalls, etc...

[Big D]

Saw TSO tonight, it was my first time and they were amazing. Angus Clark DEFINITELY was playing a white Jackson Rhoads. He walked literally 2 feet in front of me when they were out in the crowd.

What a great show. Pitrelli is a fucking shred monster.

[thebigz]

Thats sweet. Could you see any of the body damage on the RR?

[whackmaster]

Saw them last night. Great show as always. Angus did play the white Rhoads. Looked good to me. Tried to ask him in the meet and greet, but got pushed thru too quickly.

[MountainDog]

I saw them in Anaheim on 11/20 (and last year at the Forum). I paid more attention to Angus' RR5 this year and noticed the changes he did which are highlighted on his website:

http://www.angusclark.com/images/gear/guitar2_sm.jpg

From his website: "This is a Japanese-made Jackson that the TSO got me in '04. Its a really good guitar. It is pictured here with a replacement pickguard and the tailpiece removed. We made these modifications in '05 so that it would look cooler and be easier for me to play. For some reason most stock Jackson guitars have a volume knob directly between your picking hand and the pickup selector which, me being a Strat guy, is totally uncool. Hence the replacement pickguard with one less volume knob than you'd ordinarily see on this guitar. This has been my main guitar for the TSO tour for the past two years."

Also from his website: "In 2004 Angus switched to playing a Jackson Randy Rhoads model and as a tribute to Randy includes an excerpt of "Goodbye to Romance" in the show each night."

I noticed that the RR5 looked different in the last half of the show. I sent a message to him thru his website thanking him for an awesome show and about the RR5 and such, and he replied "Yeah, I changed the pickguard on it cause I really liked the way Randy's original looked, and I felt that the pickguard and V tailpiece interfered with the look of the pinstripes. What I don't have on my site though is the RR1T that I was playing during the second half of the show. It was custom made with no pickguard, no tailpiece, so that the pinstripes are completely visible."

So the custom RR1T is the RR1 mentioned in thebigz's post.