THE EFFECTS
Brian Setzer is not an effects guy by
any means, but the few effects he
does use are integral components of
his tone, and have been very carefully
selected to work in his rig. The main
tonal blandishment he is know for is
tape echo, courtesy of the Roland RE301 Chorus Echo. This classic tape
delay is a workhorse, and tends to be
more rugged and reliable than similar
vintage tape delay units from Maestro,
WEM, and other companies. Several
incarnations of the Chorus Echo were
made, but the reason Setzer loves the
RE-301 model mostly comes down to
the preamplifier circuit. The RE-301
uses an op-amp in the pre, while earlier
models used discrete components.
The sonic result of this circuitry is a
tone that’s noticeably thicker, with a
more pronounced mid-high-end snarl.
The influence this has on the Gretsch
and Fender tone combo should not be
underestimated.
Other, slightly less crucial components
of the Setzer sound include an early‘60s Fender tube reverb unit that he
uses occasionally, and a really, really
long guitar cable. When I say “really,
really long,” I mean about 60 feet
long. If you have any experience with
long guitar cables, you probably know
that a cable of this length will have a
significant impact on the guitar tone,
rolling off a lot of treble. Apparently,
this is how Setzer likes it, and he also
appreciates the freedom of movement
that goes along with a crazy-long cable.
ToneReport.com
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