Bill Frisell's Gear

echo unit · 25th November 2005

Anybody know what Bill Frisell's guitar/amp/effects setup is?

He always has that instantly recognisable guitar tone with some kind of haunting modulated echoey reverb buried under his thick and dark , almost lo-fi guitar sound.

Anybody with any info on his tools of making his electric guitar sound do tell!

Guitars?

Amp?

Pedals?

Rack units?

lowswing · 25th November 2005

good question, I also love frisell's music.
Great inovative guitarist.
some read in the topic:
http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_recor...r_2/index.html

scott petito · 25th November 2005

I'm just finishing a mix and master for a live frisell/dejohnette project.. I know he uses a Klien/steinberger guitar I didn't track it but I'll ask the engineer about his amp effects...

cheers
SP

James Lehmann · 25th November 2005

I've seen Friselll play many times but I'm usually far too absorbed by the great music to check out his gear.

That said I do recall him playing through a couple of battered old Fender's and an Alesis Microverb on one tour. He sometimes comes across as quite nervous and he's an arch-fiddler so you can sometimes find him tweaking his gear all the time while he's playing solos.

He's definitely one of those musicians who comes across much better live than he ever does on record IMHO. The man's a musical genius though.

25th November 2005

Just saw him with Chuck taylor and Carrie Rodriguez.
Excellent, it was perfection.

I had no idea who he was and I was telling a guitar player buddie of mine, and he said "Do you know who that guy is??? I would have went to see him!".

Anyways, he was incredible.

I believe he was plaing a strat through-out the show.
Yellow, maple neck...(I'm a drummer)
And the amp I am more hazy on, maybe a fender as well..twin(?). Don't recall many, if any pedals.
I do recall some wicked slide work that blew my mind.

Mucho talent!

If you guys have not checked out his work with this group you should IMHO.

D

borau · 25th November 2005

Last time I saw him he was playing his Klein trough a shitload of pedals, a couple of el cheapo reverb boxes and two small mesas.

An amazing guitarist.

lucey · 25th November 2005

An Lxp 5 (or was it 1?) was in there at one point ... nice 16 bit effects

pramrod · 25th November 2005

EH 16 second delay (the original one) was his jammy for years- apparently he's got a closet full of them. enjoy- pram

ewegogetemtiger · 25th November 2005

he changes gear a lot and owns a lot of guitars and whatnot.

for a while he played through a twin
then on a recent tour he was using a mesa 4x10 blue angel

his most used guitar is the Klein I suspect but it seems that every photo has him holding a different axe

he used to use a comp and volume pedal and, after about 20 years of that, ditched them both. He also uses (or used to) a big digitech delay pedal that he manipulates in real time to create mini loops and fast forward tape effects.

Rat distortion pedal

mischultz · 25th November 2005

He played here in Athens a few months ago with a pair of Teles, what looked like a Deluxe and a Bassman, a Line6 DL4, TS9 and a couple of verb pieces (Lexicon and/or Alesis).

That guy understands space in music better than most...

Michael

eligit · 25th November 2005

over the years many guitars and rigs...

tele (a lot lately)
tele/strat frankenstein
klein
anderson
gibson hollowbody (on that great trio record w/ elvin jones and dave holland)
lxp-1
mpx 100
rat
tube screamer
"green" line 6 delay thing
EH 16 sec
twin
mesa blue angel
princetons
d'addario 10-46
volume pedal (not any more)

and a lot of other obscure guitars...

great musician.

Drumsound · 25th November 2005

I saw him a month or so ago at the Wall2Wall guitar fest in Champaign IL. He played a baby blue Tele, had a few pedals and some kind of half rack box on top of one of his Twins that he ran in stereo. I thought the half rack thing was one of those old Yamaha deals but could have been a Lexi. One twin was behind him the other was in front of him next to the monitor.

He stopped the set at one point because he thought his tone was wrong, so he changed the battery in what I think was a boss chorus pedal.

He played with the drummer and bass player from Sex Mob and they were all wonderful!

echo unit · 26th November 2005

Wow...a ton of varied and wonderful information about Mr. Bill.

He seems like a really cool dude.

His guitar palying is sooo layed back and chilled out

It's also kind of quaint and charming in a weirdo down home kind of way.

Bill's Guitar playing is quirky and I think his music could have worked even better than Dan Lanois' music in the movie Slingblade.

Bill's music almost seems like a perfect fit for the character of Carl...the special needs fella released from the mental hospital in the deep south to the corrupt world of drunk redneck hillbillies and Christian preacher pedophiles only to kill another bad man and go back to the nut house after doing his good deed.

themaidsroom · 26th November 2005

i love bill frisells's playing.......

he's wonderfully singular.....

be well

- jack

Meriphew · 26th November 2005

The Blue Angel amps are waayy underated IMO - especially the heads w/a nice cabinet. Bill also has at least one Girl Brand guitar (Tele style made in Tucson - art in it's truest form).

ron florentine · 27th November 2005

I saw him live last year he had a basic live rig....only thing i remember was his main delay unit was a Line 6 DL4

joaquin · 27th November 2005

Do not know anything about his Gear, but, The Man ROCKS!! I saw him like 10 years ago in Boston...an unforgetable musical experience.

25th November 2005	#1
echo unit Gear maniac Joined: May 2005 Location: Greenland Posts: 282 Thread Starter	Bill Frisell's Gear Anybody know what Bill Frisell's guitar/amp/effects setup is? He always has that instantly recognisable guitar tone with some kind of haunting modulated echoey reverb buried under his thick and dark , almost lo-fi guitar sound. Anybody with any info on his tools of making his electric guitar sound do tell! Guitars? Amp? Pedals? Rack units?

25th November 2005	#2
lowswing Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2003 Location: Germany Posts: 1,451	good question, I also love frisell's music. Great inovative guitarist. some read in the topic: http://mixonline.com/mag/audio_recor...r_2/index.html __________________ Guy Sternberg Engineer, Producer LowSwing Studios, berlin www.lowswing.de

25th November 2005	#3
scott petito Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2004 Location: woodstock NY Posts: 638	I'm just finishing a mix and master for a live frisell/dejohnette project.. I know he uses a Klien/steinberger guitar I didn't track it but I'll ask the engineer about his amp effects... cheers SP __________________ www.scottpetitoproductions.com http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/petito

25th November 2005	#4
James Lehmann Lives for gear Joined: Jul 2003 Location: Europe Posts: 2,428	I've seen Friselll play many times but I'm usually far too absorbed by the great music to check out his gear. That said I do recall him playing through a couple of battered old Fender's and an Alesis Microverb on one tour. He sometimes comes across as quite nervous and he's an arch-fiddler so you can sometimes find him tweaking his gear all the time while he's playing solos. He's definitely one of those musicians who comes across much better live than he ever does on record IMHO. The man's a musical genius though. __________________ James Lehmann Voice-Over Artist - Project Studio Jockey www.jameslehmann.net · Use your real name - keep Gearslutz authoritative, accountable and courteous. · Stop the superlatives madness - just say no to gear threads with the word 'best' in the title. · Words or WAVs? The former are interesting, the latter are convincing.

25th November 2005	#7
lucey Gear Guru Joined: Dec 2002 Location: Columbus, Ohio Posts: 12,407	An Lxp 5 (or was it 1?) was in there at one point ... nice 16 bit effects __________________ Brian Lucey Magic Garden Mastering Dr. John, The Shins, The Black Keys, OAR, David Lynch, Sami Yusuf, moe., Sigur Ros Spiral Groove Studio One - mixing monitors

25th November 2005	#5
Guest Guest Posts: n/a	Just saw him with Chuck taylor and Carrie Rodriguez. Excellent, it was perfection. I had no idea who he was and I was telling a guitar player buddie of mine, and he said "Do you know who that guy is??? I would have went to see him!". Anyways, he was incredible. I believe he was plaing a strat through-out the show. Yellow, maple neck...(I'm a drummer) And the amp I am more hazy on, maybe a fender as well..twin(?). Don't recall many, if any pedals. I do recall some wicked slide work that blew my mind. Mucho talent! If you guys have not checked out his work with this group you should IMHO. D

25th November 2005	#6
borau Gear addict Joined: Nov 2004 Posts: 376	Last time I saw him he was playing his Klein trough a shitload of pedals, a couple of el cheapo reverb boxes and two small mesas. An amazing guitarist.

25th November 2005	#8
pramrod Gear addict Joined: Jul 2003 Location: CATSKILLS Posts: 303	EH 16 second delay (the original one) was his jammy for years- apparently he's got a closet full of them. enjoy- pram

25th November 2005	#9
ewegogetemtiger Gear addict Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 391	he changes gear a lot and owns a lot of guitars and whatnot. for a while he played through a twin then on a recent tour he was using a mesa 4x10 blue angel his most used guitar is the Klein I suspect but it seems that every photo has him holding a different axe he used to use a comp and volume pedal and, after about 20 years of that, ditched them both. He also uses (or used to) a big digitech delay pedal that he manipulates in real time to create mini loops and fast forward tape effects. Rat distortion pedal

25th November 2005	#10
mischultz Gear maniac Joined: Oct 2005 Posts: 177 2 Reviews written	He played here in Athens a few months ago with a pair of Teles, what looked like a Deluxe and a Bassman, a Line6 DL4, TS9 and a couple of verb pieces (Lexicon and/or Alesis). That guy understands space in music better than most... Michael

25th November 2005	#11
eligit Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,802	over the years many guitars and rigs... tele (a lot lately) tele/strat frankenstein klein anderson gibson hollowbody (on that great trio record w/ elvin jones and dave holland) lxp-1 mpx 100 rat tube screamer "green" line 6 delay thing EH 16 sec twin mesa blue angel princetons d'addario 10-46 volume pedal (not any more) and a lot of other obscure guitars... great musician.

25th November 2005	#12
Drumsound Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2002 Location: Bloomington Il Posts: 5,187	I saw him a month or so ago at the Wall2Wall guitar fest in Champaign IL. He played a baby blue Tele, had a few pedals and some kind of half rack box on top of one of his Twins that he ran in stereo. I thought the half rack thing was one of those old Yamaha deals but could have been a Lexi. One twin was behind him the other was in front of him next to the monitor. He stopped the set at one point because he thought his tone was wrong, so he changed the battery in what I think was a boss chorus pedal. He played with the drummer and bass player from Sex Mob and they were all wonderful! __________________ Tony Oxide Lounge Recording See the Oxide Lounge! Follow me on TWITTER! WWJMD? Come see me on the Tape Op boards! It's only inches on the reel to reel

26th November 2005	#13
echo unit Gear maniac Joined: May 2005 Location: Greenland Posts: 282 Thread Starter	Wow...a ton of varied and wonderful information about Mr. Bill. He seems like a really cool dude. His guitar palying is sooo layed back and chilled out It's also kind of quaint and charming in a weirdo down home kind of way. Bill's Guitar playing is quirky and I think his music could have worked even better than Dan Lanois' music in the movie Slingblade. Bill's music almost seems like a perfect fit for the character of Carl...the special needs fella released from the mental hospital in the deep south to the corrupt world of drunk redneck hillbillies and Christian preacher pedophiles only to kill another bad man and go back to the nut house after doing his good deed.

26th November 2005	#14
themaidsroom Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2005 Location: nyc / london Posts: 3,510	i love bill frisells's playing....... he's wonderfully singular..... be well - jack

26th November 2005	#15
Meriphew Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2002 Location: Seattle USA Posts: 2,876	The Blue Angel amps are waayy underated IMO - especially the heads w/a nice cabinet. Bill also has at least one Girl Brand guitar (Tele style made in Tucson - art in it's truest form). __________________ My iTunes

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27th November 2005	#16
ron florentine Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2003 Location: San Diego,Ca Posts: 806	I saw him live last year he had a basic live rig....only thing i remember was his main delay unit was a Line 6 DL4

27th November 2005	#17
joaquin Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2004 Location: CHILE-Miami Posts: 1,199	Do not know anything about his Gear, but, The Man ROCKS!! I saw him like 10 years ago in Boston...an unforgetable musical experience.