Brian setzer guitar setup

Amps - 6G6-B Fender Bassman 59 bassman combo pic below. We interview and research famous musician's and show you the gear and equipment in their guitar rigs. Check out our stellar "Who Plays What" section to get the news scoop on what your favorite players use for gear in their rigs. Visit our Who Plays What section to see hundreds of famous musician's guitar, bass, and drum rigs or search the site: Search Uber Guitar Quizzes Think you know something about guitar gear?

Share Tweet Share Pin Share. Rickenbacker created the market for electric guitars, and soon competitors like Gibson, Fender, and Gretsch would be competing for who could make the best instruments. The Rickenbacker has a small hollow body with a unique double cutaway shape. The body is made purely of maple, while the neck is a mix of maple and walnut.

These hardwoods make the guitar an excellent choice for fans of older music like jazz or the blues. The instrument has 2 single coil pickups in the standard bridge-body configuration, giving it a versatile, jazzy tone. The unique body shape is likely what drew Setzer to the instrument, in addition to its complex sound.

These guitars are all excellent vintage instruments. This quality comes at a price, though, making the tone feel out of reach to most players.

An excellent alternative to the Telecaster is the Squier Telecaster. Squier is owned by Fender, so they get access to all the unique design innovations of Fender. The guitar uses a mix of cost effective materials and manufacturing techniques to get a high-end tone at an affordable price.

The Gretsch GT is one of the most affordable hollow body vintage guitars on the market. Made in house by Gretsch, this guitar boasts the same reputation as the and the white falcon. Brian Setzer has been a fan of the Fender Bassman amp for many years.

The specialty of this particular Bassman lies in its unique circuit playing prowess. The 6G6-B circuit is known to produce a robust musical sound. According to Brian Setzer, the Bassman amps from the years prior to do not carry the same intensity and rhythm of sound. Brian Setzer prefers the solid-state rectifier, that is unique to this model, due to its ability to tighten up the bass response.

When operated at the heavy stage volumes, the previous models did not fare well produced too soft of a sound. He has also purchased amps in various stages of repair and has worked to bring them back to top condition. He uses heavier gauge wire to re-wire the cabinets to improve the tone and reliability of sound dramatically.

Note that these settings are at stage volume. In a nutshell, I have it dialed in like a real Bassman. I lower the drive preamp to almost nothing and crank the Level and Master Vol to simulate cranked power tubes. I generally set this to be pretty subtle. I have everything set to defaults, and the following tweaked:. Some days I like it there, and other days I bypass it entirely. As with everything here, feel free to mess around with it until you like the sound.

The real key here is using the Tape Dist type. Adjust this to your own tastes. Cabinet: As posted above, the real cabinet is a Blonde Bassman Cabinet wired with 12ga wire and Celestion Vintage speakers. Once again, there is no exact model for this in the Ultra as of v. All of these configurations can be done with the stock Axe-FX Ultra. I do not use tap temp with these presets. The settings that differ from the Dirty Capstan are as follows:.

As you can see, I usually have it bypassed. I pretty much choose Medium or Small Room and leave it at that. With that preset I can put the pedals before the Axe-FX and go to town. So there you have it. Just get some Ruby tubes and get back to rocking. Feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Thank you for a lifetime of great music. I need to acknowledge the tireless work and numerous online postings of Tavo Vega. Much of the information he has posted online has either directly influenced my purchasing decisions, or started me down the path of obsession that further led me to new answers. His Nocturne Dyno Brain pedal is fantastic.

Tavo was also kind enough to help me with some fact-checking for this article, a fact for which I am grateful. Thanks man — you rock! Thanks for compiling it together. Thank you for your very in depth article and your willingness to share your time and knowledge on this subject.

I was wondering about how the axefx settings you mentioned would or could! I understand that the amps and effects resolution is nowhere near in comparison to the axefx, but maybe close enough to be relative to the average ear. Again, thanks for the informative article. Awesome article!!! Only one little remark, units of the Bassman 6G6-B were produced in , I have one. Superb article and in-depth look into all things Setzer.

I know how elusive those chinese tubes are as I have spent many hours using the search engines but to no avail. And thanks to you, I may now have to check out the strymon El Capistan. Take care, Robbie. Hi, This is awesome! Thanks for sharing. Do you know how many of the red stamped chinese 12ax7 i have thrown away. Dozens and dozens, probably hundreds.

Do you know what Guitar model uses in Hot licks video? I love that old Setzer Sound. Hello…I appreciate your insight and obvious command of Brians tone.

Tell me what you think. It sounds about like you would expect. It is extremly controlable. Since you can see I need a miriad of different sounds I find this set-up works great. In closing my setup is really simple and more than gets the job done…JJ Schwab roadrunner. It has the Black face with the white knobs. I came close to selling it this past weekend.

Not now! Thank you for all the wealth of information you provided. Great article! These qualities have endeared him to several generations of rockers, and his status as a cultural icon and world-class musician continues to grow. In addition to all these things, Setzer is also known among six-stringers as one of the mightiest living titans of guitar tone. He has cultivated, and ultimately perfected, the rockabilly guitar sound pioneered by early progenitors like Cliff Gallup and Scotty Moore.

Though this sound can be complex and multi-hued, its recipe is constructed of just a few basic, carefully chosen ingredients, the specifics of which Setzer has arrived at through decades of trial and error with The Stray Cats, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, and his many solo outings. Naturally, playing and technique are a huge part of the equation, but you'll have to woodshed that part on your own. For our purposes, we will focus on the basic structural components of Mr.

Setzer's badass rockabilly sound, and how those who wish to achieve a similar tone might be able to approximate it on their own. Brian Setzer and Gretsch guitars go together like chocolate and peanut butter, The Captain and Tenille, sharks and remoras. The symbiotic relationship Setzer has with the Gretsch model began when he acquired his first one at 17, after answering an ad in the paper that said, "Gretsch guitar, orange, dollars.

In fact, it was the success of the Stray Cats in the '80s that caused the value of vintage Gretsch guitars to skyrocket, which in turn put the company back in business building reissues. In , Setzer became the first guitarist since Chet Atkins to have a signature model Gretsch, and currently the company has upwards of a half-dozen Setzer signature guitars in its product line, including a custom shop model that replicates the man's original in glorious detail, down to the stickers on the body and headstock, and the distinctive wear patterns in the finish.

The Gretsch is, in many ways, the instrument that defines the Gretsch legacy and most fully embodies the Gretsch sound. Released in , the was developed with and endorsed by Chet Atkins, and went on to be a favorite guitar of Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, Pete Townshend, and other rock-and-roll, rockabilly, country and western, and crossover artists.

In short, it's an ideal combination for a player like Setzer, who switches rapidly from clean fingerpicked twang, mean rock rhythms, and shit-hot, saturated solos. The 's Bigsby tremolo also plays a crucial role in this tonal formula, both for the extra weight it adds to the sound of the guitar, and for its use as an effect. One of the most important elements of the Gretsch sound championed by Setzer and others is the pickups.