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PG's Jason Shadrick is On Location in Milwaukee, WI, where he catches up with Trace Foster guitar tech for Aerosmith's Joe Perry during their Global Warming 2012 tour. In this segment, we get to see Perry's collection of touring gear.

Watch Brad Whitford take us through his rig below.



Presented by:
Pigtronix  and Pro Guitar Shop

Guitars
Joe Perry travels with a ton of guitars, including recognizable favorites like the Billy 335, Dan Armstrong lucite, and BC Rich 10-string Bich, as well as a number of Custom Shop Teles and Strats from Fender and guitars from California-based boutique builder Echopark Guitars. See photos of each of Joe's guitars as well as the rest of his gear in our photo gallery.

Brad Whitford also has an impressive arsenal of guitars, including a variety of Gibson Custom Shop Tom Murphy reissue Les Pauls, Fender Custom Shop Strats, a Tele, an Epiphone Casino. He also uses guitars from Echopark.

Amps
Guitar tech Trace Foster wasn't exaggerating when he told us that Joe Perry has "20 feet of amps." All of them are on, but not all are used for live sound. Mic'd cabinets feed the live sound, while un-mic'd cabs are used for stage sound.

Brad Whitford, founder of 3 Monkeys Amplification, travels with an impressive stack of his own amps. However, the core of his tone is the PRS amp in the center. It is one of two of Paul Reed Smith's personal favorite amps that was loaned to Whitford for this tour. Whitford says it has a "dream Marshall" type of sound and calls it his "holy grail amp." The PRS is ran through one of the 412s, while the other 412 is powered by a second PRS amp behind the stack.

Pedals
In Joe Perry's rack drawer is a TC Electronic Vortex flanger set mildly for a bit of texture, a TC Electronic Flashback delay set for long delays, an MXR Carbon Copy delay, a TC Electronic Hall of Fame reverb, a Duesenberg Gold Boost set to about 15dB, an Option 5 Destination Bump Boost set to about 20 dB, and a Klon Centaur. Perry prefers boost effects to overdrive or distortion, but his Centaur is a core part of his tone that he's relied on for about 10 years. Tech Trace Foster says Perry uses the pedals differently every night, depending upon how they feel. He explains, "He likes to be inspired. I have about 200 pedals out with me."

Whitford's pedalboard is set up with a trio of Voodoo Lab pedal switchers with four loops each, which feed the Pedal Commander with preset pedal combinations. On the board is a Boss TU-2 Tuner, Framptone amp selector (though all three amps are always on), Mojo Hand Rook (which recently replaced Whitford's Klon Centaur on his board), Pigtronix Philosopher's Rock (used as a sustainer), Pigtronix Fat Boost, Xotic EP Booster, BK Butler Tube Driver (new issue), Eventide TimeFactor, Fulltone wah, Pigtronix Disnortion (one of Whitford's go-to effects he calls "Hendrix in a box"), TC Electronic VPD1 Vintage Pre-Drive, two TC Electronic Flashback delays (set similarly while he experiments with different sounds), TC Electronic Vortex flanger, TC Electronic Corona Chorus, TC Electronic Hall of Fame reverb, and Fulltone Supa-Trem. The Fender combos on each side are used as monitors.





Comments

(23 comments) display by
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Fred
on 12/12/2012
Just saw a show on the 2nd leg of this tour, and Joe's amp setup is pretty simple actually -- MARSHALL and MORRIS heads with a lot of cabs. There was a Budda onstage for decoration as it wasn't turned on or mic'd, and there was also a little Egnater for when Joe does the talk-box thing.
bhusebye
on 10/08/2012
One of the guys in Aerosmith that make the most money in rock need 22 amps on stage Johnny. Dont be so whiney and yes REALLY. Aerosmith has achieved 25 gold, 18 platinum, and 12 multi-platinum album certifications, in addition to one diamond album and four gold singles. Media often refer to Aerosmith, who have sold more than 150 million albums worldwide and 66.5 million in the United States, as the best-selling American rock band
Dave
on 10/02/2012
They talked about everything except what vintage and brand 12AX7 preamp tubes they use. Old tubes are way better than $10 Sovtec 12AX7WAs. Would you run $10 tubes in a $3,000 dollar amp?
Glen C. Morris
on 09/15/2012
Due to some inquiries - the MORRIS Mo-Joe amplifier Trace was talking about (at the end of the rundown) is now in Production. Check out www.morrisamps.com (products) and http://www.facebook.com/MorrisAmps.
Dick McPick
on 09/04/2012
Trace Foster's enthusiasm and appreciation for what he does, and what Joe does, is realy admirable. He's on top of his profession but still thanks suppliers and is clearly vested in sound and music, not just the hardware. Jason was unobtrusive but helped focus and move things along. I like Brad Whitford -- nice, cool guy -- but his rundown was slow moving. Love the way he'll try anything. A true guitar lover.
Kermy
on 09/04/2012
Jason reminds me of Kermit THE Frog when he's dressed as a reporter on Sesame Street.
ebgIII
on 09/03/2012
I like all the cool gear both guys use and I am sure the show calls for it but I like guitar and amp,now lets rock.
strat714
on 09/02/2012
Brad Whitford always has time for people. A very cool dude.
M.R>
on 09/02/2012
People complain? I appreciate any coverage of these rundowns than nothing at all or photo gallery..Rebecca is lovely,yes. but look @ it from P.G.s perspective,their not going to have her be the only one that interviews..she`ll be back soon.
Johnny
on 09/01/2012
Why would anyone need 22 Amps on stage? Really???



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