September 2011 \ Features \ Photo Gallery \ GALLERY: Steely Dan Touring Gear 2011

GALLERY: Steely Dan Touring Gear 2011

Jason Shadrick and Rich Mitvalsky

The guitars, amps, and effects used by Walter Becker and Jon Herington on Steely Dan's 2011 tour.
Premier Guitar September 2011

     

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Comments

 (13 comments) display by
UsernameComment
Mike Waddell
on 09/16/2011 		I LOVE the Dan. I just recently saw them in Philly @ The Tower...
Jon got all of the dirty work done on 3 guitars and 2 amps, Improvising EVERYTHING but the intro to 'reelin in the years'. His playing was very inspirational; simultaneously playing exactly what you wanted to hear and playing it in the most suprising and unique way.

Walter's guitar tech must have come out 15 times, fixing mic's and tweaking knobs on the "amp store" he brought on tour... Walter changed guitars about 12 times. 3 Of those times were IN THE MIDDLE of songs... And to top it all off, His tone DIDN'T CHANGE at all. He still sounded just like Walter; plunky quacky short and quirky p90 inspired motifs.

Still. It was F(*#ing Great.
C.D. Sky
on 09/04/2011 		I used to play with a lot of amps on stage, including a switch network that permitted just about any tone combination imaginable. My bandmates nicknamed my pedalboard "NASA Flight Control", and it took 2 people to carry it. Now I run my signal through Native Instruments Guitar Rig on my Mac into a couple small amps mic'ed into the house system. I have access to more tonal options than I ever did before, and the models are spot on. The added advantage is I don't need a truck to haul my rig anymore. No disrespect to Walter Becker (he really does sound amazing), but it is possible to get all those great tones from a far more efficient setup. Different strokes for different folks, though. I love living and playing in an era when so much is available to us as musicians.
Nitebob
on 09/02/2011 		the mics are Shure SM-7s
dreville
on 09/02/2011 		Does anyone recognize what mics are used in front of the cabinets?
poisonokie
on 09/01/2011 		I haven't seen the Dan since their first tour out after the long hiatus, but I have been learning some of the harder songs by finally getting the right chords from the internet. As the owner of some 30 electric guitars and 10 amps myself, there's just a thing that is about the groove you feel at a particular time, or to avoid being (ahem) bored from playing the same stuff on tour, and not going back to drugs as a crutch. I've seen Keith Richards' amps up close while working as a stagehand, and he has a couple of voodoo skulls and incense burners on his, too, so, whatever gets you through is OK by me - what the heck - Walter can afford it, and I absolutely LOVE his "11 Tracks of Whack" album, so let the man work his magic - what's it to ya?! Rock on man - the best arrangements on the planet!
Jim H
on 09/01/2011 		I agree with those saying that all that gear really won't make much difference in the sound going out to the house, but it is crucial to the guitarist getting the right feel on stage. If having all that gear makes Walter feel he is playing better and more confident, then I'm all for it.
Ernie
on 09/01/2011 		I guess if you were in a small club all those amps would make a difference, but put it in a mid to large amphitheatre and it wouldn't make a difference which amp he was going through.
rickyricardo
on 09/01/2011 		I caught SD last week in st louis and i have to say, i'm still very much on a high from the show, it was truly great.
I was shocked to see Walter Becker had more guitars than Cher has costumes! From where i was sitting (15th row dead center) Beckers tone would have been the same with a Fender American Standard through a Mesa Lonestar, that esoteric gear didn't amount to much more than looking cool on stage.
Jon Herrington had a minimalist setup in comparrison and was able to run through the library of Steely Dan guitar tones beautifully.
I'm not trying to project negativity, just a bonehead's observation, and plenty of fun to watch i might add.
Brown Cow
on 09/01/2011 		Walter is a genius. The fact the he travels with so much cool gear is something I expected. He's a tone aficionado! The best.
george
on 08/31/2011 		...and very good anal compulsive million selling albums and anal compulsive concerts and a great anal compulsive player to warrant it all! :-) Actually anal compulsive is not the word - try perfectionist.



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