I recently had the pleasure to sit down and talk to both of Trace Adkins’ great guitar players, Mark Gillespie and Brian Wooten. The interviews went so well that we decided to split them up, and Gillespie’s appeared in last month’s issue. This month, as promised, I bring you the other half of this dynamic country music duo, and what makes him tick.
Hey Brian, I really dig your tone and style with Trace. What guitars are you playing with him?
I start the show with a PRS McCarty. It’s a quilt top with a solid rosewood neck, and it’s tuned to drop-D tuning. The first two songs are pretty rocking and it sounds great on those. The rest of the show I use a Greenwich Village Custom Guitars Tele that is a copy of a ’63 Inca Silver Tele. It has a Voodoo T60 in the bridge position, which is a pretty aggressive sounding Tele pickup. I put an inexpensive Fatboy in the neck position because it’s brighter than a typical Tele neck pickup. This is my main guitar. It just feels like an old pair of shoes. It can rock out quite well and cleans up very nicely, too.
What pedals are you currently using?
I hit a buffer at the front of the pedalboard into a Paul Cochrane Timmy [distortion], which is always on. Then it goes into an MI Audio Tube Zone for high-gain stuff. After that, I’ve got my custom-made Cochrane compressor, which is a tweaked version of an old Dan Armstrong Orange Squeezer. After the gain stuff, I have my Ernie Ball volume pedal and then all the usual stuff: a Boss tremolo and delay and an Arion SCH-1 chorus. Although I do use the volume control on my guitar a lot.
What amps are you playing through right now?
I’ve been using a Divided by 13 FTR 37 for about seven years now. It sounds like a very big [Fender] Deluxe, but with more bottom end. I use the clean channel exclusively and rely on my Tube Zone for the gain stuff. This amp works perfectly for the Trace gig. I can cover all the clean country stuff, as well as the heavier rock stuff. I think it balances well with Mark’s Pro Reverb. My cabinet is a late ’60s Marshall 4x12 loaded with Celestion Blackbacks. I brought out an Ark Aviator amp for a while, and it sounded awesome. I did some sound clips for them that are posted on their website. I love the way that amp records.
 Brian Wooten |
We arm wrestle! I usually lose, so I have to play the parts that Mark doesn’t want to [laughs]. Actually, I’m naturally drawn to the more “rock” sounding parts, and since Mark can play rings around me in the country style, I always defer to him on those parts. We usually take turns on who will take the solo.
Who are your influences?
This is going to give my age away, but growing up I really liked all the guitar players in Moby Grape. Then there was this local Texas guy named Todd Potter, and of course Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. Later on there was Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson and Trevor Rabin. After moving to Nashville I got into Dann Huff and Brent Mason, too.
What other bands have you played with?
In Austin, Texas, I was in a band called Too Smooth, which was an all original rock band. We opened for every major rock act that came through town, and had a huge local following. We try to have reunion gigs every year or so back in Austin. After moving to Nashville, I’ve played with The Imperials, White Heart, Paul Brandt and Chris Cagle before Trace.
How long have you now been with Trace?
I’m the new guy! I’ve been here a short four years.
The first song I can remember learning on guitar was probably the “The Original Peter Gunn Theme” by Henri Mancini. It was so easy, but sounded so cool! What was the first song you remember playing?
Probably “Louie Louie.” It was only three chords!
How old were you?
Twelve or 13 years old, I think.
Do you own any rare or vintage guitars?
Oh, if I only had half of what I used to own [laughs]. The only vintage instrument I have now is a Gretsch Tennessean Chet Atkins model. I just love the way it tracks. The only other piece of vintage gear I own is my old Marshall cab. I used to have a ’59 Les Paul flametop, a ’65 Strat, a ’59 4x10 Bassman, a ’69 Plexi and a ’60s AC30. Who knew?
Do you ever find the time to do any projects outside of the Trace gig?
I’m trying to get back into songwriting more. I recently got a Pro Tools rig on my laptop so I can record guitars at home. I’ve been playing acoustic for a new artist by the name of Stevie Walker, too.
Thanks Brian for sharing with us. It’s been awesome having you out on tour with us. Good luck!
Thanks Rich!
Rich Eckhardt
Rich Eckhardt is one of the most sought-after guitarists in Nashville. His ability to cover multiple styles has put him on stage with singers ranging from Steven Tyler of Aerosmith to Shania Twain. Rich is currently playing lead guitar with Toby Keith. His latest CD, Cottage City Firehouse is available online at CDbaby.com or at richeckhardt.com.
Truetone 1 Spot Pro XP5-PS 5-output Low-profile Isolated Guitar Pedal Power Supply
The XP5-PS is a package containing the 1 Spot Pro XP5, along with a 12Vdc 2.5A adapter, which allows you to power the XP5 without having a CS11. The adapter comes with an array of international plugs so that you can take it with your pedalboard anywhere in the world. Some musicians may even choose to get one of these, plus another XP5, to distribute their power around the pedalboard and have the dual XP5s acting as two pedal risers.
Reverend Vernon Reid Totem Series Electric Guitar - Shaman
Silos features six presets, tap tempo, one full second of delay time, and three voices—two of which are styled after bucket-brigade and tape-delay sounds. In the $150 price category, it’s not unusual for a digital delay to leave some number of those functions out. And spending the same money on a true-analog alternative usually means warm, enveloping sounds but limited functionality and delay time. Silos, improbably perhaps, offers a very elegant solution to this can’t-have-it-all dilemma in a U.S.-made effect.
A More Complete Cobbling Together
Silos’ utility is bolstered by a very unintimidating control set, which is streamlined and approachable. Three of those controls are dedicated to the same mix, time, and repeats controls you see on any delay. But saving a preset to one of the six spots on the rotary preset dial is as easy as holding the green/red illuminated button just below the mix and preset knobs. And you certainly won’t get lost in the weeds if you move to the 3-position toggle, which switches between a clear “digital” voice, darker “analog” voice, and a “tape” voice which is darker still.
“The three voices offer discernibly different response to gain devices.”
One might suspect that a tone control for the repeats offers similar functionality as the voice toggle switch. But while it’s true that the most obvious audible differences between digital, BBD, and tape delays are apparent in the relative fidelity and darkness of their echoes, the Silos’ three voices behave differently in ways that are more complex than lighter or duskier tonality. For instance, the digital voice will never exhibit runaway oscillation, even at maximum mix and repeat settings. Instead, repeats fade out after about six seconds (at the fastest time settings) or create sleepy layers of slow-decaying repeats that enhance detail in complex, sprawling, loop-like melodic phrases. The analog voice and tape voice, on the other hand, will happily feed back to psychotic extremes. Both also offer satisfying sensitivity to real-time, on-the-fly adjustments. For example, I was tickled with how I could generate Apocalypse Now helicopter-chop effects and fade them in and out of prominence as if they were approaching or receding in proximity—an effect made easier still if you assign an expression pedal to the mix control. This kind of interactivity is what makes analog machines like the Echoplex, Space Echo, and Memory Man transcend mere delay status, and the sensitivity and just-right resistance make the process of manipulating repeats endlessly engaging.
Doesn't Flinch at Filth
EarthQuaker makes a point of highlighting the Silos’ affinity for dirty and distorted sounds. I did not notice that it behaved light-years better than other delays in this regard. But the three voices most definitely offer discernibly different responses to gain devices. The super-clear first repeat in the digital mode lends clarity and melodic focus, even to hectic, unpredictable, fractured fuzzes. The analog voice, which EQD says is inspired by the tone makeup of a 1980s-vintage, Japan-made KMD bucket brigade echo, handles fuzz forgivingly inasmuch as its repeats fade warmly and evenly, but the strong midrange also keeps many overtones present as the echoes fade. The tape voice, which uses aMaestro Echoplex as its sonic inspiration, is distinctly dirtier and creates more nebulous undercurrents in the repeats. If you want to retain clarity in more melodic settings, it will create a warm glow around repeats at conservative levels. Push it, and it will summon thick, sometimes droning haze that makes a great backdrop for slower, simpler, and hooky psychedelic riffs.
In clean applications, this decay and tone profile lend the tape setting a spooky, foggy aura that suggests the cold vastness of outer space. The analog voice often displays an authentic BBD clickiness in clean repeats that’s sweet for underscoring rhythmic patterns, while the digital voice’s pronounced regularity adds a clockwork quality that supports more up-tempo, driving, electronic rhythms.
The Verdict
Silos’ combination of features seems like a very obvious and appealing one. But bringing it all together at just less than 150 bucks represents a smart, adept threading of the cost/feature needle.
EarthQuaker Devices Silos Multi-generational Time Reflection Delay Pedal
