Dweezil is back on the road with Zappa Plays Zappa. And for those of you who haven’t heard, he’s distilled 2 massive rack towers, chock full of some the best guitar and studio gear ever created, down to a relatively diminutive but awesomely powerful dual Ultra rig. This includes the Axe-Fx replaceing his favorite tube amps.
The "brains" of the setup:
Pictures by Thomas Nordegg
Since getting his Ultra earlier this year, Dweezil has been hard at work harnessing the unit’s deep processing power and flexibility. His goal: To match his big rig originally inspired by his father’s legendary setup, effect-for-effect without compromise. Clearly, this is no small undertaking, considering many of the rare vintage effects aren’t even attempted in the Axe-Fx.
When Cliff and I visited the UMRK a couple of months ago, Dweezil had his sights on nailing what he felt was one of the keystone pieces of the rig – the very cool Dyna Flanger, which had been pulled directly from Frank’s collection. He figured that if the Axe-Fx could capture the nuances and quirks of that old gem - and how it reacted when driven by other effects in the chain like wah, it would be a great sign that the Ultra was up to the task. By the time we left that night, we were getting really close and by the time I spoke with Dweezil a couple of day later, he had it nailed. The rest is history.
As you might imagine with a hardcore effects junkie like Dweezil, he still maintains a small stash of pedals that he hasn't had the time to recreate in his Ultra or that have yet to have simulated counterparts in the Axe-Fx. But this is just the begging of the journey.
Rig onstage:
Dweezil in Tokyo:
Early on, Dweezil came to the conclusion that in order to take full advantage of all the tone shaping options and textures the Axe-Fx has to offer, the ideal solution would be to go the full-range route. Since then, he hasn’t looked back and is now plugging into FOH every night. He’s loving his setup and he reports that the only thing that no-one can figure out is where has he stashed his amps and cabs!
Harnessing the power!
Pictures by Thomas Nordegg
Dweezil has sent me some really cool clips taken directly from the board from their recent Japanese and Australian dates. Here are a few with guitar mixed hot (just the way we like it) so you can clearly hear everything going with his patches. I believe these were recorded in Australia. Enjoy!
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/MammySolo.mp3
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/OrangeSolo.mp3
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/WillyOnSpeed.mp3
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/PimpClip.mp3
I’d like to thank Dweezil for participating here on the forum, answering questions, sharing patches and overall being generous with his time and knowledge. We look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
-TK
The "brains" of the setup:
Pictures by Thomas Nordegg
Since getting his Ultra earlier this year, Dweezil has been hard at work harnessing the unit’s deep processing power and flexibility. His goal: To match his big rig originally inspired by his father’s legendary setup, effect-for-effect without compromise. Clearly, this is no small undertaking, considering many of the rare vintage effects aren’t even attempted in the Axe-Fx.
When Cliff and I visited the UMRK a couple of months ago, Dweezil had his sights on nailing what he felt was one of the keystone pieces of the rig – the very cool Dyna Flanger, which had been pulled directly from Frank’s collection. He figured that if the Axe-Fx could capture the nuances and quirks of that old gem - and how it reacted when driven by other effects in the chain like wah, it would be a great sign that the Ultra was up to the task. By the time we left that night, we were getting really close and by the time I spoke with Dweezil a couple of day later, he had it nailed. The rest is history.
As you might imagine with a hardcore effects junkie like Dweezil, he still maintains a small stash of pedals that he hasn't had the time to recreate in his Ultra or that have yet to have simulated counterparts in the Axe-Fx. But this is just the begging of the journey.
Rig onstage:
Dweezil in Tokyo:
Early on, Dweezil came to the conclusion that in order to take full advantage of all the tone shaping options and textures the Axe-Fx has to offer, the ideal solution would be to go the full-range route. Since then, he hasn’t looked back and is now plugging into FOH every night. He’s loving his setup and he reports that the only thing that no-one can figure out is where has he stashed his amps and cabs!
Harnessing the power!
Pictures by Thomas Nordegg
Dweezil has sent me some really cool clips taken directly from the board from their recent Japanese and Australian dates. Here are a few with guitar mixed hot (just the way we like it) so you can clearly hear everything going with his patches. I believe these were recorded in Australia. Enjoy!
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/MammySolo.mp3
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/OrangeSolo.mp3
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/WillyOnSpeed.mp3
http://www.atomicamps.com/Dweezil/PimpClip.mp3
I’d like to thank Dweezil for participating here on the forum, answering questions, sharing patches and overall being generous with his time and knowledge. We look forward to seeing more of him in the future.
-TK
