The avant-garde player reveals his looping techniques and explains why he limits his pedal acquisitions to about two per year.
Guitarist/loop-master Dustin Wong likes to keep it simple, although that isnāt obvious at first glance. His music is an intricate fabric of complex interlocking rhythms, multiple looped layers, and subtle timbral contrasts. But simplicity is his musicās dominant feature, which explains its accessibility and tunefulness, as well as its swirling, repetitive, mantra-like feel.
Simplicity also explains Wongās penchant for low-tech gear.
Wong relies on a handful of off-the-shelf pedalsāmostly Boss, and with only one modāand an inexpensive guitar to craft his futuristic, multilayered music. He takes his time learning each effectās inner workings and limits his purchases to about two a year.
Wong first garnered attention as one of two guitarists in the Baltimore-based, experimental pop group, Ponytail. Ponytail was a band hell-bent on positivity and pushing the artistic envelope. It was also a bandālike Talking Heads and A Place to Bury Strangersāthat was formed in art school. āI went to the Maryland Institute College of Art,ā Wong says. āI studied sculpture, performance, and stuff like that. Willy [Siegel]āshe sang for the bandādeveloped her own language. She would chant along with the music. But music was more of a hobby when I was in college.ā
But that hobby took over and music became Wongās primary focus. He left Ponytail in 2011 and released several critically acclaimed solo projects. Those albums chart his development as an original voice in contemporary guitar. They also demonstrate his unique spin on looping, tone generation, and delay manipulation.
In addition to his solo work, Wong began a collaboration with the Shibuya-kei artist Takako Minekawa, who sings and plays keyboard. Their third release, Are Euphoria, came out in June. Itās an obvious addition to his canon and weaves a complex fabric thatāat least at first glanceāseems simple. Itās like a kaleidoscope, but minus the psychedelics.
Premier Guitar reached Wong at his home in Japan via Skype. He spoke at length about his use and choice of effects, his composition and collaborative process, different ways to tease rhythmic figures from synced delay pedals, and whyāafter a string of not-so-happy accidentsāhe almost never uses an amp.
When did you start playing guitar?
I started playing guitar at a fairly normal age, like 14 or 15 years old. My dad was a real classic-rock fanāthis was during the ā90s and he was rebuying his favorite records on CDāand his favorite artist was Frank Zappa. Zappa became huge for me. I would listen to a bunch of his albums in middle schoolāHot Rats, The Grand Wazoo, Apostrophe ('). Of course, I started with The Best of Frank Zappa and then it unfolded. On that album, I think my favorite song was āPeaches en Regalia.ā Thatās how I got into Hot Rats. And then Beefheart.
Anyone cool has gone through a Beefheart phase.
[Laughs.] If you keep listening to music you run into him eventually.
How did you get into pedals and loopers?
When I began playing in a band. Before Ponytail, I was in a guitar duo [Ecstatic Sunshine] and back then weād only use the footswitch to turn on the different channels of the amp. But then it started with one pedal, like, āWe should get a delay pedal.ā And then it was, āWe donāt have enough low end, maybe I should get an octave pedal.ā When forming Ponytail, towards the end I had five pedalsāoctave, distortion, envelope filter, two delay pedalsāplus the looper. With the band, I would switch off different pedals sequentially, but with the looper, I would play by myself and think, āOh, I can change settings on the pedals while I am looping. Or while the loop is going I can shift the octave pedal to a higher octave or a higher gain distortion. Or I can even change the delay settings.ā It opened up a lot of options when I was working with the loops. Thatās how I really started figuring out how to use pedals.
Looping artists are often loners, but youāve done a lot of collaborations. How does looping work with a band? Do you drive your drummers crazy?
I think about that a lot. There is weird lingo with music equipment, like how when youāre syncing up MIDI, there is, āThis is the master. This is the slave.ā When Iām dealing with loops, I think, āI am enslaving the drummer.ā Thatās how I feel sometimes. When I play with a drummer I try not to do rhythmic loops. Instead, I try to do loops that are more flexible for the drummer so that it will be easier to collaborate.
Do you do more textual soundscapes and that type of thing?
Yes. It could be a drone. It could be percussive, but not rhythmic.
What are the advantages or disadvantages of working solo versus working with a band?
I love working in a band so much. Itās a lot more spontaneous. You can wait. You donāt have to play all the time. You can let the band unfold, as in, āI can come in now or I donāt have to play at all.ā It gives you that breathing room in a band setting, especially if itās improvised or itās a jam.
In your current collaboration with Takako Minekawa, how much of that is composed and how much is improvised?
The songwriting is very improvised. When weāre making the songs, itās all free flow. What we do is we record it, memorize everything, and then perform itāand at that point itās completely composed. The way you hear the recordāthe songsāthatās the pace, how we perform it in a live setting. Once I place one melody, Iām getting ready for the next one. Itās very [snaps fingers], you have to be on it.
Of course, there are little subtle changes, āMaybe Iāll try this one part different.ā There is a little bit of flexibility, but itās mostly composed with the two of us.
But when youāre writing, anything goes?
Right. We start with a melody or a rhythm that we both think, āThatās interesting.ā We keep that loop going and we jam on that for a while. Then, if we find something interesting that goes on top, we loop that and then jam more. We might jam for half an hour to figure out maybe half the song. Then we start over, go forward, refine.
Your composition process is more like editing.
Yeah. Weāll record it and there might be some unnecessary sounds that are butting heads. āThat frequency is already taken. I donāt have to play that part on guitar.ā So I wonāt play it. Iāll cut the fat out.
For Are Euphoria, Wong created hypnotic layers of sound using only his Telecaster, a looper, two digital delays, and a few other pedals.
For someone who does as much looping as you do, you use the Boss RC-2, which is a very old-school looper.
I graduated recently. I got the TC Electronic Ditto Looper X2. I normally buy pedals infrequently, maybe two per year. Thatās my limit right now, because then I get to really learn the pedals. Itās better.
What was the reason for your upgrade?
I was recording albums with the RC-2 and the bit rate and sample rate is fairly low. Itās 16-bit, 44.1 kHz, which is CD quality, but when you want to record at higher quality, itās compromised. If youāre recording at a 96 kHz sample rate, since the looper is 16-bit, it doesnāt really translate well. So I wanted higher quality and the X2 is 24-bit.
The X2 also doesnāt have the drum patches like the RC-2.
Yeah. Sometimes my fingers might slip and the drum track comes on in the middle of the set. [Laughs.]
The RC-2 also doesnāt have a stop setting. How did you work around the double click to turn it off while keeping time?
There is a stop setting on the Ditto X2, but you also have to hit it twice if itās not in the stop setting. I figured out how to stop it on the RC-2 and it became second nature to me after a while. You count āone, two, three, four,ā hit the pedal on āfour,ā and then hit it again. Itās āone, two, three, boom, boom.ā
Meaning it works if you shut it off in time with the music?
I think thatās the key. A lot of songs, the tempos arenāt that slow, so the pedal allows for thatāeven if you stomp on beat, it will stop for you. But if the bpm [beats per minute] is slow, the pedal wonāt know.
And it will add another loop?
Yeah.
In past interviews, youāve mentioned another frustration working with loopers is that youāre limited to one key for the duration of a song. Have you worked around that?
The advantage of playing with two people is there can be two things going at once. With Takako, this allows a nicer transition from one idea to another. Thereās a song on our new record called āZaaab.ā The first half, I believe, is in C-sharp and the second half is in B. So we do subtle key changes. But when itās within a loop, itās very difficult. You can artificially change the key using a pitch-shifting pedal, but you would hear artifacts. I know some friends who use that trick and itās really cool, but the quality of the music changes. It gets this bit-crushed sound.
In your signal chain, you surround the looper with two Boss DD-3sāone on either side. Why is that?
This lets me time the music to the delay settings. For example, if I have the delay after the looper while Iām starting the song, the guitar is effected and blaring. At a certain point, when Iām going to introduce another element to make a dramatic musical change, I can cut the delay pedal and you hear all the layers run without the delay. Also, different parts of the delay pedals correspond to each other.
How so?
The delay time knob at the 7 oāclock and the 12 oāclock positions correspondā7 oāclock, 12 oāclock, and 5 oāclock all work together.
Meaning one is a double or quadruple of the other?
Yes. In the middle of the song, I can change the delay settings, turn the delay on after the loop, and it will change the rhythm of the music. Sometimes it will be a shuffle or everythingās offbeat or double time.
So if you put it at 9 oāclock you get a jerky feel?
Yeah. But itās more like 10 oāclock. I can use them together. Adding more feedback on the delay pedal can change how the textures correspond to each other.
Dustin Wongās Gear
Guitars
⢠Mid-ā80s Japanese Fender Telecaster
Effects
⢠Boss TU-3 tuner
⢠Foxrox Octron octave pedal
⢠Analog Man Distortion (modded Boss DS-1)
⢠ISP Decimator noise gate
⢠2 Boss DD-3 digital delays
⢠DigiTech Synth Wah
⢠Boss Harmonist PS-6
⢠TC Electronic Ditto Looper X2
Strings and Picks
⢠DāAddario EXL110 (.010ā.046)
⢠Dunlop .73 mm nylon picks
You also have a noise gate. Do you use it as an effect or just to keep out hiss?
To keep out hiss. Especially in the beginning when I was using amps, Iād have the distortion on and the background noise would build up and the song would get dirty. The noise gate also cuts the normal, subtle hiss of the actual guitar, too. It keeps the loop clean. The noise gate is after everything that changes the guitarās sound and the delay comes after.
Whatās the mod you have on your Boss DS-1 distortion?
Itās the Analog Man Distortion mod. I believe they put in a better chip. On a normal DS-1, with the high-gain distortion, it feels very compressedālike the wave forms are squashedābut with this mod it sounds more dynamic, more textured.
But basically, you like to keep it simple.
Yup. [Laughs.] For a long time, I had just one power source for all the pedals. Recently, I bought another power source. Iām much happier.
What do you use?
I had a Truetone 1 Spot for everything, with a daisy chain. Iām now using two for all my pedals, it just cuts off so much noise. When thereās not enough power going through the pedals you get so much more noise.
Have you tried using batteries? Isnāt that the most silent way to operate them?
Thatās what I hear, but itās expensive! [Laughs.] It would get really heavy, too.
Letās talk about your picking technique. You play both with a pick and your fingers. Is your fingerstyle technique traditional or more of a hybrid?
I use three fingers. I listened to a lot of John Fahey when I was in college and I admired his style, but I couldnāt mimic that type of folk-guitar picking. So I decided I shouldnāt mimic his folk fingerpicking style, I should just practice on my ownācome up with my own style. It was more a way to get percussiveāto make the guitar not sound like a guitar. I palm mute it and mainly use my fingertips rather than my nails. That gets more of a hand-drum sound.
Have you experimented with different tunings?
I did in the beginning because I didnāt understand the geography of the guitar. Iām self-taught and it was all shapes to me. It was small square to bigger square to rectangleāthat kind of idea. But once I got the loop pedal, I started to figure it outāthe loop pedal was my teacher. Writing all those songs on the loop pedal was a real learning experience musically, really fundamental. I had dexterity somewhat, but I didnāt know what I was doing. Especially with Ponytail, it was like, āWhat key are we in? I have no idea.ā It took so long to write songs because we knew how to play, but we didnāt know what we were playing.
And the loop pedal taught you how to find what works against what?
Exactly. In the beginning, it was mostly pentatonic because that was so easy for me. That was the first thing the band was doing. Then I was like, āThere are these minor notes. There are scales.ā Now I feel confident about all those things.
Have you studied more advanced theory since youāve been playing? Have you learned about dissonance and harmony?
Through osmosis Iāve been getting more into the ideas of jazz, playing the notes that are in between the keys, and thatās been super fun.
Do you practice your pedals as instruments as well?
For sure. I think pedals are definitely instruments.
What is your process? Do you work through different settings on each knob?
Yes, and then in combination with other pedals. Iāll do different settings with two pedals and see how they sound. Trial and error. I start to figure out what sounds I like from the pedals and where to set them depending on what works.
Do you take notes?
Itās better when itās second nature.
Why donāt you use an amp?
My house got broken into at one point when I was on tour. When I got back, my amp was gone, my second guitar was gone, a lot of my equipment was takenāmics for recordingāall this stuff. Amps can get pretty expensive. I had a tube amp, an ā80s Fender Twin called the āEvil Twin.ā I think thatās the name. It was the one with the red knobs. I loved that amp. It had a great sound. [Editorās note: Thereās a raging debate in amp forums as to which Fender Twin is the actual āEvil Twin.ā Some say the ā80s-era Twin earned the nickname because its red knobs gave it a sinister look. Others disagree for various reasons and claim it refers to a smaller-knobbed mid-ā90s Twin.] I decided, āWell, I have a mixer. I can go directly into the mixer and practice with headphones.ā And then I realized, āThis is a completely new sound.ā It was really refreshing to me.
Then I was playing my solo stuff on tour in the U.K. I was in a town called Hull. I played this clubāthe deal was that every venue would have an amp for me to useāand the guy there said, āThe amps are back there. You can use any.ā They were, but all the knobs were coming off the amps and the springs were out. I thought, āThis is terrible. Iām not going to be able to play.ā The owner said, āWhy donāt you just go direct into the PA?ā And at the time I thought, āThat is so blasphemous. I canāt believe you said that to me.ā But then I tried it and I realized you can control the low end more. It was cleaner. I thought, āI can actually get into this.ā So Iāve been going DI for a while now. Of course, when Iām playing with other peopleāwith a drummer and bassistāIāll plug into an amp.
YouTube It
Listen to āElastic Astral Peelā from Are Euphoria by Dusting Wong and Takako Minekawa and dig the trippy visuals that pulse, throb, and morph with the music.
Dustin Wongās utilitarian Telecaster has been rewired with vintage copper wire from the 1920s. āItās Rockefeller-era wire,ā he says, āand it sounds beautiful.ā Photo by Hiromi Shinada
Dustin Wongās main axeāhis only axeāis a modestly modded, mid-1980s, Japanese-made Fender Telecaster. A few of his modifications are simple and were done to make playing easierālike flipping the control plate so the volume knob sits where the pickup selector usually does.
But others are more subtle.
āThe pickup selector is modern American, but the electronics are connected with vintage copper wire,ā Wong says. āThe capacitor is an old 1940s unit called the Bumblebee.Ā It warms things up. When itās clean, itās clean.ā Using older electronics was his techās suggestion. āHe had this copper wire from 1920s America, like Rockefeller-era wire,ā Wong explains. āHe had all this stuff that was almost a century old. He put it in and it sounds beautiful.ā Wongās technician is particular about wire but not the pickups themselves. āIām sure every guitar technician has a different theory,ā Wong adds. āBut his theory is that itās not about the pickups, itās about the wires and solder. He says to put on as little solder as possible. When he puts the solder on, itās like heās painting with a tiny paintbrush.ā
MayFly Le Habanero Review
Great versatility in combined EQ controls. Tasty low-gain boost voice. Muscular Fuzz Face-like fuzz voice.
Can be noisy without a lot of treble attenuation. Boost and fuzz order can only be reversed with the internal DIP switch.
$171
May Fly Le Habanero
A fuzz/boost combo thatās as hot as the name suggests, but which offers plenty of smoky, subdued gain shades, too.
Generally speaking, I avoid combo effects. If I fall out of love with one thing, I donāt want to have to ditch another thatās working fine. But recent fixations with spatial economy find me rethinking that relationship. MayFlyās Le Habanero (yes, the Franco/Spanish article/noun mash-up is deliberate) consolidates boost and fuzz in a single pedal. Thatās far from an original concept. But the characteristics of both effects make it a particularly effective one here, and the relative flexibility and utility of each gives this combination a lot more potential staying power for the fickle.
āLe Habaneroās fuzz circuit has a deep switch that adds a little extra desert-rock woof.ā
The fuzz section has a familiar Fuzz Face-like tone profileāa little bit boomy and very present in that buzzy mid-ā60s, midrangey kind of way. But Le Habaneroās fuzz circuit has a deep switch that adds a little extra desert-rock woof (especially with humbuckers) and an effective filter switch that enhances the fuzzās flexibilityāespecially when used with the boost. The boost is a fairly low-gain affair. Even at maximum settings, it really seems to excite desirable high-mid harmonics more than it churns out dirt. Thatās a good thing, particularly when you introduce hotter settings from the boostās treble and bass controls, which extend the boostās voice from thick and smoky to lacerating. Together, the boost and fuzz can be pushed to screaming extremes. But the interactivity between the tone and filter controls means you can cook up many nuanced fuzz shades spanning Jimi scorch and Sabbath chug with tons of cool overtone and feedback colors.
Significantly smaller and lighter than original TAE. Easy to configure and operate. Great value. Streamlined control set.
Air Feel Level control takes the place of more surgical and realistic resonance controls. Seventy watts less power in onboard power amp. No Bluetooth connectivity with desktop app.
$699
Boss Waza Tube Amp Expander Core
Boss streamlines the size, features, and price of the already excellent Waza Tube Expander with little sacrifice in functionality.
Many of our younger selves would struggle to understand the urgeāindeed, the needāto play quieter. My first real confrontation with this ever-more-present reality arrived when Covid came to town. For many months, I could only sneak into my studio space late at night to jam or review anything loud. Ultimately, the thing that made it possible to create and do my job in my little apartment was a reactive load box (in this case, a Universal Audio OX). I set up a Bassman head next to my desk and, with the help of the OX, did the work of a gear editor as well as recorded several very cathartic heavy jams, with the Bassman up to 10, that left my neighbors none the wiser.
Bossā firstWaza Tube Amp Expander, built with an integrated power amp that enables boosted signal as well as attenuated sounds, was and remains the OXās main competition. Both products have copious merits but, at $1,299 (Boss) and $1,499 (Universal Audio), each is expensive. And while both units are relatively compact, they arenāt gear most folks casually toss in a backpack on the way out the door. The new Waza Tube Expander Core, however, just might be. And though it sacrifices some refinements for smaller size, its much-more accessible price and strong, streamlined fundamental capabilities make it a load-box alternative that could sway skeptics.
Micro Manager
The TAE Core is around 7 1/2" wide, just over 7 " long, and fewer than 4 " tall, including the rubber feet. Thatās about half the width of an original TAE or OX. The practical upside of this size reduction is obvious and will probably compel a lot of players to use the unit in situations in which theyād leave a full-size TAE at home. The streamlined design is another source of comfort. With just five knobs on its face, the TAE Core has fewer controls and is easier to use than many stompboxes. In fact, the most complicated part of integrating the TAE Core to your rig might be downloading the necessary drivers and related apps.
Connectivity is straightforward, though there are some limitations. You can use TAE Core wirelessly with an iOS or Windows tablet or smartphone, as long as you have the BT-DUAL adaptor (which is not included and sets you back around 40 bucks). However, while desktop computers recognize the TAE Core as a Bluetooth-enabled device, you cannot use the unit wirelessly with those machines. Instead, you have to connect the TAE Core via USB. In a perfectly ordered world, thatās not a big problem. But if you use the TAE Core in a small studioāwhere one less cable is one less headacheāor you prefer to interface with the TAE Core app on a desktop where you can toggle fast and easily between large, multi-track sessions and the app, the inability to work wirelessly on a desktop can be a distraction. The upside is that the TAE Core app itself is, functionally and visually, almost identical in mobile and desktop versions, enabling you to select and drag and drop virtual microphones into position, add delay, reverb, compression, and EQ effects, choose various cabinets with different speaker configurations and sizes, and introduce new rigs and impulse responses to a tone recipe in a flash. And though the TAE Core app lacks some of the photorealistic panache and configuration options in the OX app, the TAE Coreās app is just as intuitive.Less Is More
One nice thing about the TAE Coreās more approachable $699 price is that you donāt have to feel too bad on nights that you āunderutilizeā the unit and employ it as an attenuator alone. In this role, the TAE Core excels. Even significantly attenuated sounds retain the color and essence of the source tone. Like any attenuator-type device, you will sacrifice touch sensitivity and dynamics at a certain volume level, yielding a sense of disconnection between fingers, gut, guitar, and amp. But if youāre tracking ābigā sounds in a small space, you can generate massive-sounding ones without interfacing with an amp modeler and flat-response monitors, which is a joy in my book. And again, thereās the TAE Coreās ability to āexpandā as well as attenuate, which means you can use the TAE Coreās 30-watt onboard power amp to amplify the signal from, say, a 5-watt Fender Champion 600 with a 6" speaker, route it to a 2x12, 4x12, or virtual equivalent in the app, and leave your bandmate with the Twin Reverb and bad attitude utterly perplexed.
The Verdict
Opting for the simpler, thriftier TAE Core requires a few sacrifices. Power users that grew accustomed to the original TAEās super-tunable āresonance-Zā and āpresence-Zā controls, which aped signal-chain impedance relationships with sharp precision, will have to make do with the simpler but still very effective stack and combo options and the āair feel levelā spatial ambience control.The DC power jack is less robust. It features only MIDI-in rather than MIDI-in/-through/-out jacks, and, significantly, 70 watts less power in the onboard power amp. But from my perspective, the Core is no less āprofessionalā in terms of what it can achieve on a stage or in a studio of any size. Its more modest feature set and dimensions are, in my estimation, utility enhancements as much as limitations. If greater power and MIDI connectivity are essentials, then the extra 600 bones for the original TAE will be worth the price. For many of us, though, the mix of value, operational efficiencies, and the less-encumbered path to sound creation built into the TAE Core will represent a welcome sweet spot that makes dabbling in this very useful technology an appealing, practical proposition.
IK Multimedia is pleased to announce the release of new premium content for all TONEX users, available today through the IK Product Manager.
The latest TONEX Factory Content v2 expands the creative arsenal with a brand-new collection of Tone Models captured at the highest quality and presets optimized for live performance. TONEX Tone Models are unique captures of rigs dialed into a specific sweet spot. TONEX presets are used for performance and recording, combining Tone Models with added TONEX FX, EQ, and compression.
Who Gets What:
TONEX Pedal
- 150 crafted presets matched to 150 Premium Tone Models
- A/B/C layout for instant access to clean, drive, and lead tones
- 30 Banks: Amp & cab presets from classic cleans to crushing high-gain
- 5 Banks: FX-driven presets featuring the 8 new TONEX FX
- 5 Banks: Amp-only presets for integrating external IRs, VIRā¢, or amps
- 5 Banks: Stompbox presets of new overdrive/distortion pedals
- 5 Banks: Bass amp & pedal presets to cover and bass style
TONEX Mac/PC
- 106 new Premium Tone Models + 9 refined classics for TONEX MAX
- 20 new Premium Tone Models for TONEX and TONEX SE
TONEX ONE
- A selection of 20 expertly crafted presets from the list above
- Easy to explore and customize with the new TONEX Editor
Gig-ready Tones
For the TONEX Pedal, the first 30 banks deliver an expansive range of amp & cab tones, covering everything from dynamic cleans to brutal high-gain distortion. Each bank features legendary amplifiers paired with cabs such as a Marshall 1960, ENGL E412V, EVH 412ST and MESA Boogie 4x12 4FB, ensuring a diverse tonal palette. For some extremely high-gain tones, these amps have been boosted with classic pedals like the Ibanez TS9, MXR Timmy, ProCo RAT, and more, pushing them into new sonic territories.
Combined with New FX
The following 5 banks of 15 presets explore the depth of TONEX's latest effects. There's everything from the rich tremolo on a tweed amp to the surf tones of the new Spring 4 reverb. Users can also enjoy warm tape slapback with dotted 8th delays or push boundaries with LCR delay configurations for immersive, stereo-spanning echoes. Further, presets include iconic flanger sweeps, dynamic modulation, expansive chorus, stereo panning, and ambient reverbs to create cinematic soundscapes.
Versatile Control
The TONEX Pedal's A, B, and C footswitches make navigating these presets easy. Slot A delivers clean, smooth tones, Slot B adds crunch and drive, and Slot C pushes into high-gain or lead territory. Five dedicated amp-only banks provide a rich foundation of tones for players looking to integrate external IRs or run directly into a power amp. These amp-only captures span clean, drive, and high-gain categories, offering flexibility to sculpt the sound further with IRs or a real cab.
Must-have Stompboxes
TONEX Pedals are ideal for adding classic effects to any pedalboard. The next 5 banks focus on stompbox captures, showcasing 15 legendary overdrive, distortion, and fuzz pedals. This collection includes iconic models based on the Fulltone Full-Drive 2, Marshall DriveMaster, Maxon OD808, Klon Centaur, ProCo RAT, and more.
For Bass Players, Too
The last 5 banks are reserved for bass players, including a selection of amp & cab Tone Models alongside a few iconic pedals. Specifically, there are Tone Models based on the Ampeg SVT-2 PRO, Gallien-Krueger 800RB, and Aguilar DB750, alongside essential bass pedals based on the Tech21 SansAmp, Darkglass B7K and EHX Big Muff. Whether it's warm vintage thump, modern punch, or extreme grit, these presets ensure that bassists have the depth, clarity and power they need for any playing style.For more information and instructions on how to get the new Factory
Content v2 for TONEX, please visit:
www.ikmultimedia.com/products/tonex
Alongside Nicolas Jaarās electronics, Harrington creates epic sagas of sound with a team of fine-tuned pedalboards.
Guitarist Dave Harrington concedes that while there are a few mile markers in the music that he and musician Nicolas Jaar create as Darkside, improvisation has been the rule from day one. The experimental electronic trioās latest record, Nothing, which released in February on Matador, was the first to feature new percussionist Tlacael Esparza.
Taking the record on tour this year, Darkside stopped in at Nashvilleās Brooklyn Bowl, where Harrington broke down his complex signal chains for PGās Chris Kies.
Brought to you by DāAddario.
Express Yourself
Harrington bought this mid-2000s Gibson SG at 30th Street Guitars in New York, a shop he used to visit as a kid. The headstock had already been broken and repaired, and Harrington switched the neck pickup to a Seymour Duncan model used by Derek Trucks. Harrington runs it with DāAddario NYXL .010s, which he prefers for their stretch and stability.
The standout feature is a round knob installed by his tech behind the bridge, which operates like an expression pedal for the Line 6 DL4. Harrington has extras on hand in case one breaks.
Triple Threat
Harringtonās backline setup in Nashville included two Fender Twin Reverbs and one Fender Hot Rod DeVille. He likes the reissue Fender amps for their reliability and clean headroom. Each amp handles an individual signal, including loops that Harrington creates and plays over; with each amp handling just one signal rather than one handling all loops and live playing, thereās less loss of definition and competition for frequency space.
Dave Harringtonās Pedalboards
Harrington says he never gives up on a pedal, which could explain why heās got so many. Youāre going to have to tune in to the full Rundown to get the proper scoop on how Harrington conducts his three-section orchestra of stomps, but at his feet, he runs a board with a Chase Bliss Habit, Mu-Tron Micro-Tron IV, Eventide PitchFactor, Eventide H90, Hologram Microcosm, Hologram Chroma Console, Walrus Monument, Chase Bliss Thermae, Chase Bliss Brothers AM, JHS NOTAKLĆN, two HexeFX reVOLVERs, and an Amped Innovations JJJ Special Harmonics Extender. A Strymon Ojai provides power.
At hip-level sits a board with a ZVEX Mastotron, Electro-Harmonix Cathedral, EHX Pitch Fork, Xotic EP Booster, two EHX 45000 multi-track looping recorders, Walrus Slƶer, Expedition Electronics 60 Second Deluxe, and another Hologram Microcosm. A Live Wire Solutions ABY Box and MXR DC Brick are among the utility tools on deck.
Under that board rest Harringtonās beloved Line 6 DL4āhis desert-island, must-have pedalāalong with a controller for the EHX 45000, Boss FV-50H volume pedal, Dunlop expression pedal, Boss RT-20, a Radial ProD2, and another MXR DC Brick.