Adrian Belew rig rubdown

I saw him play a few years ago and his setup is about the same. I think he's incredible.

He had 2 Atomic reactors along with the Bose setup. The stage was so incredibly loud it had to have been dangerous but they were all on in-ears so what did they care? I walked right in front of him and had that head explosion feeling. Toni wasn't as loud though.

The parkers... well, here's the thing about him... he is a Ken Parker fan and I don't think he was entirely pleased with the MaxxFly so he stuck with the traditional Fly. It's hard to say that his sound is "Parker" though b/c he has his signature model which "may" sound like the regular DiMarzio based Flys in the bridge position only. The sustainer in the neck position is what sets his Parker apart. He doesn't use the Variax live so it's just kind of a bonus. I'd like to try the original signature model at some point. The Fly (mojo) is my favorite but I (mostly) do not like the sound so I rarely use it.
 
Bodde said:
Surprising he is still using his 2 knob Keeley compressor.
Also I thought he was using Mobius as his looper but now he is using Ableton as his looper.
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It looked like he had the gain halfway up and the sustain on full for his Keeley. Which compressor in the Axe FXII is closest in sound to the Keeley?

I say another interview where he said he uses Mobius within Ableton for his looper.
 
markyd said:
I have always wanted to recreate Adrian's harmony man and impossible pedal in the afx2. HUGE wish list item for me is being able to manually step through each step of the sequencer!!!!
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I was wondering the same thing. Is there anyway to do that in the Axe FX currently?
 
trancegodz said:
I was wondering the same thing. Is there anyway to do that in the Axe FX currently?
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I think it is impossible on the Axe fx to get the same pitch changes like the Harmony man or impossible pedal. You can do one pitch change with an EP but not four.
 
trancegodz said:
I was wondering the same thing. Is there anyway to do that in the Axe FX currently?
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I think it is impossible on the Axe fx to get the same pitch changes like the Harmony Man or impossible pedal. You can do one pitch change with an EP but not four. If it was possible Adrian would have ditched the Harmony Man by now.
 
grape said:
It's hard to say that his sound is "Parker" though b/c he has his signature model which "may" sound like the regular DiMarzio based Flys in the bridge position only. The sustainer in the neck position is what sets his Parker apart. He doesn't use the Variax live so it's just kind of a bonus.
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As far as I remember the normal output on the guitar is just the bridge pickup and he only uses it for tuning reasons. He said, that all of the guitar sounds were 13 pin Midi signals (in this case from the V99).
 
grape said:
The parkers... well, here's the thing about him... he is a Ken Parker fan and I don't think he was entirely pleased with the MaxxFly so he stuck with the traditional Fly. It's hard to say that his sound is "Parker" though b/c he has his signature model which "may" sound like the regular DiMarzio based Flys in the bridge position only. The sustainer in the neck position is what sets his Parker apart. He doesn't use the Variax live so it's just kind of a bonus. I'd like to try the original signature model at some point. The Fly (mojo) is my favorite but I (mostly) do not like the sound so I rarely use it.
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I had two Parker Flys. One Mojo and an Artist. They have something special but in the end I preferred a strat. They sound good but a bit lifeless and one had fret troubles. Fret glue let loose (a known issue for Parkers my luthier told, I have read about problems like this on forums as well). Also it is a PITA to setup the tremelo right. Also the ergonomics of the Fly model with the upper horn poking in your chest when sitting bothered me. Nothing better than the ergonomics of a strat for me. Really had a love/hate relation with those Flys.
 
Seeing this video made me rummage through some old boxes to find this article I wrote for my college newspaper in 1983. Belew was nice enough to let me interview him with his band after they played on our campus. Obviously, I was hardly impartial :)

IMG_1017(1).jpg

Amusing side note: I wrote that Belew's drummer had played with Elvis; my knuckleheaded (and musically ignorant) managing editor inserted "Costello"--incorrectly, of course, which pained me immensely.
 
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Love my fly deluxe.. play it every day, have so for 15+ years or so... just changed strings on it for a gig tomorrow, and the frets look brand new, plays like butter.. took 2 seconds to wipe down, and about 3 minutes to change and stretch strings. neck never moves, think i've adjusted it once in 10 years. Never had a poked chest, guess it's how you sit and hold the guitar or wear it really high like petrucci :) I like strats too, but if there was a fire guess which one i'd grab ;) IMHO, YMMV.
 
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