OUTSIDE of Eddie... Who's the most Full of it when it comes to their rigs?

[skoora]

I think you misunderstand. I'm not questioning that James has backup gear in a touring rig. That's absolutely how most touring rigs are built. I'm questioning the reason for him having two main Triaxis pres and two backup Triaxis pres.

The story is that he uses Triaxis 1 for crunch, Triaxis 2 for cleans, Triaxis 3 for backup crunch and Triaxis 4 for backup cleans. But I don't buy it.

The Triaxis is a MIDI preamp that allows you to save every setting you can adjust to a patch. It's not like other preamps where some settings are controlled via relays and other settings are dialed with hard wired knobs. Because of the way the Triaxis lets you save and recall every parameter you can adjust in a patch, there's no reason to have two separate Triaxis preamps where one is for clean and the other is for crunch, because you could just use one Triaxis and program two patches in it, one patch for clean and one patch for crunch. This would mean you'd only need two Triaxis units total, one main and one backup.

I think he was doing something else entirely. I think James used two different Triaxis preamps at the same time to get his high gain tone (not sure if stereo spread or blended though), and the other two units were for backup. There's really no other reason to have four of them. But neither James or any of his techs have ever said a thing about it.

I had heard his were modded as well but they might be running dedicated signal paths for clean vs. crunch where they don’t want to rely on the midi switching. Trying to reduce points of failure? But of course without details from the actual folks it’s just guess work.

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

DeMartinni and Lynch with their " special" marshalls?

 

[Wizard of Ozz]

Lynch.

Whatever amp he is hocking this month... the real amp is hidden in the back.

 

[BesaMoogie]

I think you misunderstand. I'm not questioning that James has backup gear in a touring rig. That's absolutely how most touring rigs are built. I'm questioning the reason for him having two main Triaxis pres and two backup Triaxis pres.

The story is that he uses Triaxis 1 for crunch, Triaxis 2 for cleans, Triaxis 3 for backup crunch and Triaxis 4 for backup cleans. But I don't buy it.

The Triaxis is a MIDI preamp that allows you to save every setting you can adjust to a patch. It's not like other preamps where some settings are controlled via relays and other settings are dialed with hard wired knobs. Because of the way the Triaxis lets you save and recall every parameter you can adjust in a patch, there's no reason to have two separate Triaxis preamps where one is for clean and the other is for crunch, because you could just use one Triaxis and program two patches in it, one patch for clean and one patch for crunch. This would mean you'd only need two Triaxis units total, one main and one backup.

I think he was doing something else entirely. I think James used two different Triaxis preamps at the same time to get his high gain tone (not sure if stereo spread or blended though), and the other two units were for backup. There's really no other reason to have four of them. But neither James or any of his techs have ever said a thing about it.

It‘s possible, that one Triaxis was modded specifically for his high gain tones and the other for cleans? As far as I remember, the DV works down differently on his units.
But than again, I heard he does multiamping to get the wall of sound which means, he must be using both units at the same time

 

[Tone Monster]

I think you misunderstand. I'm not questioning that James has backup gear in a touring rig. That's absolutely how most touring rigs are built. I'm questioning the reason for him having two main Triaxis pres and two backup Triaxis pres.

The story is that he uses Triaxis 1 for crunch, Triaxis 2 for cleans, Triaxis 3 for backup crunch and Triaxis 4 for backup cleans. But I don't buy it.

The Triaxis is a MIDI preamp that allows you to save every setting you can adjust to a patch. It's not like other preamps where some settings are controlled via relays and other settings are dialed with hard wired knobs. Because of the way the Triaxis lets you save and recall every parameter you can adjust in a patch, there's no reason to have two separate Triaxis preamps where one is for clean and the other is for crunch, because you could just use one Triaxis and program two patches in it, one patch for clean and one patch for crunch. This would mean you'd only need two Triaxis units total, one main and one backup.

I think he was doing something else entirely. I think James used two different Triaxis preamps at the same time to get his high gain tone (not sure if stereo spread or blended though), and the other two units were for backup. There's really no other reason to have four of them. But neither James or any of his techs have ever said a thing about it.

having owned several Triaxis, they “pop”. When changing modes. That said, I never used midi, only the mode button on the front panel.

 

[Tone Monster]

It‘s possible, that one Triaxis was modded specifically for his high gain tones and the other for cleans? As far as I remember, the DV works down differently on his units.
But than again, I heard he does multiamping to get the wall of sound which means, he must be using both units at the same time

Yes his were IIC++ modded. The DV, at least for a good while, wasn’t used in lieu of his custom dual EQs.

 

[GreatRedDragon]

Not the most full of shit by any means, but Zakk has totally downplayed his Metaltronix rig from the NRFTW era. The most readily available "information" of his gear from the old Ozzy days says he used a pair of JCM800s from the get-go, even saying he used a Boss Super Chorus when that pedal didn't even exist yet!

Zakk's rig in the 80s was Metaltronix stacks, a giant rack loaded with Lee Jackson preamps and power amps, the SPX90, a Roland multi-FX, and the hidden Aural Exciter, with a pedalboard loaded with a MIDI foot controller (for channel switching), wah, and three Boss pedals: the SD-1, the PH-2 and the CE-3 (the last of which, outside of a rundown from Japanese magazine, you would never know he used).

In the 90s he switched to the dual Marshalls and trimmed down his rig significantly, but I bet the Exciter stayed in his rack for a long time.

 

[BlueParfait]

The classic line for me is when someone says I don’t know anything about this stuff. Like guys who say they don’t know anything about what they’re playing.

Only person who says that and I wholly believe him is Michael Schenker

 

[Kapo_Polenton]

Only person who says that and I wholly believe him is Michael Schenker

Even him though.. " i think they would have been JMP's..so probably everything on 10". I always questioned that. Like you turn on an amp and you dial it in. " probably" doesn't usually factor into how i set the amps i like.

 

[Metaddict]

James Hetfield.

Dude is super secretive about what he uses and guards the particulars of what he does very closely. At first glance, hearing his general cadence about this kind of thing almost makes it seem like he avoids gear talk because he's not a gearhead and doesn't care, like he just wants "some good high gain shit" and that's as deep as he goes while letting his techs do everything else, but I think he knows exactly what he's doing and what he wants out of his tone, but refuses to talk about how he actually gets it. Almost every detail we actually know about his sound comes from other people who have worked with him, and most of them usually avoid going into any real detail "out of respect for James."

Even in the several rig rundowns that guitar magazines have done with Metallica, the techs never paint the full picture. For example, James nor his techs have ever discussed the details about how he runs his famous and long standing Triaxis rig. They've never talked about the hidden pair of outboard 5-band Mesa GEQs, and they've never talked about the real reason there are 4 Triaxis units in there. They've said that one is for high gain, one is for clean, and two are for backups, but there's no reason to do that when you have a preamp with full MIDI control over every parameter. The only reason to have that many preamps in a rig is if you were blending them, etc.

Its mentioned on a few occations that one of the TriAxis is modded. So the modded TriAxis was able to pull off the IIC+ sound while which is why the outboard GEQ were needed.

 

[Panhead5]

Only person who says that and I wholly believe him is Michael Schenker

Truer words were never spoken --- but you are talking about Michael Schenker and I have seen him use all kinds of different Marshall heads.

 

[legend71]

Not the most full of shit by any means, but Zakk has totally downplayed his Metaltronix rig from the NRFTW era. The most readily available "information" of his gear from the old Ozzy days says he used a pair of JCM800s from the get-go, even saying he used a Boss Super Chorus when that pedal didn't even exist yet!

Zakk's rig in the 80s was Metaltronix stacks, a giant rack loaded with Lee Jackson preamps and power amps, the SPX90, a Roland multi-FX, and the hidden Aural Exciter, with a pedalboard loaded with a MIDI foot controller (for channel switching), wah, and three Boss pedals: the SD-1, the PH-2 and the CE-3 (the last of which, outside of a rundown from Japanese magazine, you would never know he used).

In the 90s he switched to the dual Marshalls and trimmed down his rig significantly, but I bet the Exciter stayed in his rack for a long time.

I hear you. I always wondered about that rig back then when I saw it. I have heard stories that it was unreliable and overly complicated. I think when he came out he probably got enamored with the spirit of the times and probably thought he needed all that rack shit when in reality he did not. Who knows?

I guess it is fun now to laugh at all the stories, but back then it really had an air of mystique.........would read Guitar World religiously and digest everything these guys said like it was gospel. Then when I actually got to try a lot of this stuff, I found out that I wasn't really into a lot of what these guys were using or that they were probably lying haha. But I was young and inexperienced.

Way more fun back then though.

 

[GuitarBilly]

James Hetfield.

Dude is super secretive about what he uses and guards the particulars of what he does very closely. At first glance, hearing his general cadence about this kind of thing almost makes it seem like he avoids gear talk because he's not a gearhead and doesn't care, like he just wants "some good high gain shit" and that's as deep as he goes while letting his techs do everything else, but I think he knows exactly what he's doing and what he wants out of his tone, but refuses to talk about how he actually gets it. Almost every detail we actually know about his sound comes from other people who have worked with him, and most of them usually avoid going into any real detail "out of respect for James."

Even in the several rig rundowns that guitar magazines have done with Metallica, the techs never paint the full picture. For example, James nor his techs have ever discussed the details about how he runs his famous and long standing Triaxis rig. They've never talked about the hidden pair of outboard 5-band Mesa GEQs, and they've never talked about the real reason there are 4 Triaxis units in there. They've said that one is for high gain, one is for clean, and two are for backups, but there's no reason to do that when you have a preamp with full MIDI control over every parameter. The only reason to have that many preamps in a rig is if you were blending them, etc.

They probably do it that way so the front of the house guy can have high gain and cleans on different channels on the mixing board. Dedicated signal routes as well. But I'm sure they can blend them too. I think even their Fractal rigs have different units for clean and high gain.

If you watch the In Flames rig rundown that was posted here last week it's the same deal. Broderick uses an ENGL channel switching amp with MIDI etc but they have separate amps for clean and high gain to feed different mixer channels.
These big acts have huge 64+ channel mixers all full. Everything has a dedicated channel/signal path.

 

[shar-vell Dan]

Ol’ Sykes…I’ve heard several guys say he was another one hiding the “Jose Secret”…

LOVES that dudes tone, phrasing, rythyms.. man alive that dude just got it.

He tried to buy an amp of Reverb from someone I know and apparently has like 20 Jose’s…. That’s his story anyway.

Disagree Sykes is a ligit badass. Any Engineer that recorded him will tell you the same thing.
One shot / one take, everytime which is prefered when spending millions on studio time.

 

[psychodave]

I think you misunderstand. I'm not questioning that James has backup gear in a touring rig. That's absolutely how most touring rigs are built. I'm questioning the reason for him having two main Triaxis pres and two backup Triaxis pres.

The story is that he uses Triaxis 1 for crunch, Triaxis 2 for cleans, Triaxis 3 for backup crunch and Triaxis 4 for backup cleans. But I don't buy it.

The Triaxis is a MIDI preamp that allows you to save every setting you can adjust to a patch. It's not like other preamps where some settings are controlled via relays and other settings are dialed with hard wired knobs. Because of the way the Triaxis lets you save and recall every parameter you can adjust in a patch, there's no reason to have two separate Triaxis preamps where one is for clean and the other is for crunch, because you could just use one Triaxis and program two patches in it, one patch for clean and one patch for crunch. This would mean you'd only need two Triaxis units total, one main and one backup.

I think he was doing something else entirely. I think James used two different Triaxis preamps at the same time to get his high gain tone (not sure if stereo spread or blended though), and the other two units were for backup. There's really no other reason to have four of them. But neither James or any of his techs have ever said a thing about it.

lol. I’ve since sold off most of it.

The triaxis preamps were from different versions. There were version 1, 2, some TX board, then a fat mod. My rack had v1 and the preferred tx4 recto board. Both modded for a C++ mod and additional switching so I could move the outboard GEQ in and out of each patch as needed. Also, I used them for each side for a blended stereo rig…you had to know what you were doing since different patches had different gain stages and caused phase issues. I learned a lot from Mike B.

 

[rstites]

I think you misunderstand. I'm not questioning that James has backup gear in a touring rig. That's absolutely how most touring rigs are built. I'm questioning the reason for him having two main Triaxis pres and two backup Triaxis pres.

The story is that he uses Triaxis 1 for crunch, Triaxis 2 for cleans, Triaxis 3 for backup crunch and Triaxis 4 for backup cleans. But I don't buy it.

The Triaxis is a MIDI preamp that allows you to save every setting you can adjust to a patch. It's not like other preamps where some settings are controlled via relays and other settings are dialed with hard wired knobs. Because of the way the Triaxis lets you save and recall every parameter you can adjust in a patch, there's no reason to have two separate Triaxis preamps where one is for clean and the other is for crunch, because you could just use one Triaxis and program two patches in it, one patch for clean and one patch for crunch. This would mean you'd only need two Triaxis units total, one main and one backup.

I think he was doing something else entirely. I think James used two different Triaxis preamps at the same time to get his high gain tone (not sure if stereo spread or blended though), and the other two units were for backup. There's really no other reason to have four of them. But neither James or any of his techs have ever said a thing about it.

It's not uncommon to dedicate each rack unit to a single sound and not bother with midi changes if you can afford the space/cost of additional units. It wouldn't surprise me if they are just set for their own sounds and switched in/out of the system for live. I get what you're saying about the practicality of using a single unit, but it's not like the cost of an extra unit is significant for Metallica equipment budgets. Of course, they could also be blended too.

 

[GuitarGuy08]

Billy Gibbons

THIS. This guy really is full of shit. Loves to lie and fuck around with people. Don't trust anything that man tells you. I have a buddy who has worked on and off with him for years and years. Seems like a total PITA. I am not a huge fan, so I wouldn't deal with the shit.

 

[GuitarGuy08]

Probably Billy Gibbons. He puts whatever amp he's endorsing on stage but most of time he's actually using his JMP-1s with the Digitech eq and Valvestate power amps.
And nearly all his stage guitars are made by Bolin guitars, even the ones that say "Gibson" in the headstock.

He had a buddy of mine fix up an old Tokai for him and put Gibson on it instead.... So I believe it!

 

[Techdeth]

having owned several Triaxis, they “pop”. When changing modes. That said, I never used midi, only the mode button on the front panel.

Interesting

 

[GuitarGuy08]

Off topic, just wanted to say that those guitars in your profile pic look like they play like a dream! Just guessing, but I have a feeling.