Sascha Gerstner from Helloween - Fractal Talk with Paul Bradshaw

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Fractal Talk - Sascha Gerstner from Helloween with @Paul Bradshaw

I was lucky enough to be able to sit down at the Rockhal, Luxembourg, with Sascha Gerstner (Helloween + Palast) for an in depth talk on all things Fractal and guitar, he's currently on tour with Helloween for their 40th anniversary through Europe following the release of their latest album 'Giants & Monsters' . It was really interesting to hear how he crafted his tones not only for the last album but also live, stereo tricks, studio magic and also how he setup the Fractal preset for fellow guitarist in the band Michael Weikath. Helloween live are quite literally a wall of sound, with 3 guitars, a massive discography behind them, incredible vocalists and a show that's really worth seeing if you're into all things power metal / speed metal. Thanks for watching! - Paul

 
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We saw Helloween on their reunion tour here a few years back. Religious experience for an old metalhead having Kiske back and all of them on stage. Seriously. So much joy for me in that show. Sascha is awesome as well!
 
Teaser

-TIME STAMPS-
00:13 Studio vs Live Tone
02:56 How Sascha uses the Fractal live
05:02 Difference between Sascha's & Michael's Preset
06:19 One Main Preset?
07:06 Amps
08:12 Compression
08:57 Setting up the Amp & Cab
10:58 IR + Dynacab
12:28 Low- & Highcut
13:15 The Honk
15:10 Stereo
15:50 Delay
17:43 Drone Sounds
18:50 Automated Scene-Changes
19:53 In-Ears
21:47 Three Stages of Guitar Tones
23:32 Cut through the Mix
26:34 Do you still play Tubes?
29:30 Guitars
32:16 Chorus
33:21 Micro-Pitch & Parallel Routing
35:05 Acoustic IR
36:40 Last Tour vs 2025
37:50 Mics in the Dyna-Cabs
38:28 Fizziness on modern PA Systems
39:30 High-Cut Live vs Studio
40:50 Amp in the Room vs Produced Sound
42:55 Stage Sound
44:45 My Gear Journey to Fractal
46:30 Fractal Updates
47:25 Outro
 
The show's incredible if you get a chance to go and see it, some nice deep cuts and the classics of course (eagle fly free is always a highlight) , new album / songs are great as well

I learnt a few things with the talk with Sascha, tried out some chorus stuff the day after the show as well, was really fun to do
 
The last time I saw Helloween live, Sascha and Michael were each using an FM6 on stage. Interestingly, Kai Hansen, the third guitarist, had an FM3 (maybe ist was an FM6 as well, I don't remember) in front of him and didn't hit any of the foot switches even once. It looked to me as if he played the entire show with a single sound. Is that possible? :hushed:
 
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warlockII said:
Another excellent interview!
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thanks! I didn't think i'd get to do this one due to time constraints on the day but really glad it worked out

painkiller said:
The last time I saw Helloween live, Sascha and Michael were each using an FM6 on stage. Interestingly, Kai Hansen, the third guitarist, had an FM3 (maybe ist was an FM6 as well, I don't remember) in front of him and didn't hit any of the foot switches even once. It looked to me as if he played the entire show with a single sound. Is that possible? :hushed:
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that's a good question, not sure on the last run, from what i understood on the current run it's Axe Fx 3 for both Sascha and Michael, Sascha did the preset for Michael as well and Kai is apparantely on a QC on this run

ruso said:
Definitely! Paul’s content has been an excellent addition to the G66 channel.
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thanks a lot 🙏
 
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