The Swedish prog-metal sorcerers dish on their longstanding PRS ties and uncover why they traded traditional tube amps for swappable high-gain Synergy modules.
Holding down lead guitar duties in Opeth since 2007, Fredrik Åkesson knows his way around the fretboard. And before the band’s first Ryman performance, the self-admitted “gear dork” shows off the cavalcade of PRS 6-strings he and singer/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt use onstage, explains the band’s move from tube heads to miniature modules designed by Dave Friedman and Steve Vai, and demos the core colors of his live tone.
Fredrik Åkesson has long been associated with single-cut guitars. His time with Arch Enemy and Krux saw him rock ESP Eclipse models and when he teamed up with Åkerfeldt he joined the PRS squad. (He was even honored with a signature SE single-cut in 2011.) And one of his favorite studio tools (as noted in our 2014 interview on Pale Communion), is a 1955 Les Paul Junior with P-90s. His current No. 1 is this PRS single-cut—a P245 that is favored because it allows him to blend in piezo tones for the band’s acoustic or quieter sections while still blowing smoke through the humbuckers during their heaviest parts. All of his guitars are strung up with DR Veritas strings, gauged .010–.052.
Here’s another PRS P245 for Fredrik Åkesson who goes with this one on the band’s brutish songs because it has their \m/ (Metal) pickup in the bridge position.
For the low-tuned (D–A–D–F–A–E) ripper “Reverie / Harlequin Forest” off Ghost Reveries, Fredrik Åkesson rides this longer-scaled (25") PRS P22.
“Nepenthe” from Heritage contains jazz-fusion elements, so Fredrik Åkesson plays this PRS Mark Tremonti signature with a recessed trem so he can unleash his inner Allan Holdsworth. He used to swap out the stock pickups for Seymour Duncans (JB in the bridge here), but this is the only guitar that doesn’t have the originals in it.
Fredrik Åkesson’s above PRS P24 is now a touring backup but still receives plenty of studio action as he loves how it sounds as a lead instrument.
Founding singer/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt spends most of the night on this custom white PRS P24 with a vintage (fatter) profile neck. He uses Thomastik-Infeld Power-Brights (.010–.045) and Dunlop Nylon 1 mm picks.
Mikael Åkerfeldt’s newest PRS P24 is this bodacious green one.
And for “Sorceress” (tuned A–A–D–G–B–E), Mikael Åkerfeldt employs this PRS McCarty model.
If you’ve seen Fredrik Åkesson with Opeth, you’ve seen him shadowed by stacks of traditional, 100-watt tube heads like a Blackstar Series One 100 or a Marshall JVM410H. For recent fly gigs, the guitar tandem needed a smaller, lighter solution and the Synergy tube modules lent themselves as the perfect guinea pigs. Those shows went well so they’ve since adopted them into their touring rigs where they’re constantly fine-tuning the module pairings. Currently, Fredrik is going with the Steve Vai module and the Soldano SLO module.
Mikael Åkerfeldt’s current module setup includes a Friedman Dirty Shirley matched with a Soldano SLO.
The brain of Fredrik Åkesson’s stomp station is a MusicomLab EFX-LE loop switcher. For pedals, he has the Strymon Volante, TC Electronic Flashback 2, Xotic EP Booster, One Control Tiger Lily Tremolo, Olsson Amps Fuzztner, MXR Phase 95, Boss OC-2 Octave, DryBell Vibe Machine, and a Dunlop 95Q Cry Baby Wah. As for the non-noisemakers, he has a Dunlop DVP3 Volume pedal to harnesses dynamics, a TC PolyTune 2 Mini keeps everything in check, an ISP Technologies Decimator X squelches extra noise, and a Decibel Eleven Hot Stone powers all the fun.
Mikael Åkerfeldt takes a simpler approach for his colors with a Fractal Audio AX8 doing most of the heavy lifting aside from a Electro-Harmonix Small Stone phaser and a TC Electronic BodyRez pickup enhancer.
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Teamwork makes the dream work for the Charleston, South Carolina, twosome, who trade off multi-instrumental duties throughout their sets.
Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst have been making music as Shovels & Rope since 2008. The husband-and-wife duo from South Carolina specialize in rootsy, bluesy rock, Americana, and alt-country, but they don’t confine themselves to traditional two-piece arrangements. They switch off on vocal, guitar, percussion, and synth duty throughout their shows, orchestrating a full-band ruckus with all available limbs.
Their seventh full-length, Something Is Working Up Above My Head, released in September last year, and while touring in support of it, they stopped at Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl in late February. PG’s John Bohlinger caught up with Trent before the gig to see what tools he and Hearst use to maintain their musical juggling act.
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Trent’s not a guitar snob: Generally speaking, he plays whatever he can get his hands on. While playing Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest, someone loaned him this Gretsch Black Falcon, and he fell in love with it. He likes its size compared to the broader White Falcon. It’s also the band’s only electric, so if it goes down, it’s back to acoustic. Hearst takes turns on it, too.
Trent loads the heaviest strings he can onto it, which is a set of .013s. It lives in standard tuning.
Ol' Faithful
As Trent explains, he and Hearst have done some DIY decorating on this beautiful Gibson J-45—it’s adorned with sweat droplets, stains, and fingernail dust. It runs direct to the venue’s front-of-house system with an LR Baggs pickup. This one is strung with Martin heavy or medium gauge strings; lighter ones are too prone to snapping under Trent’s heavy picking hand (which holds a Dunlop Max-Grip .88 mm pick). And it rolls around in an Enki tour case.
On Call
These second-stringers—a Loar archtop and an LR Baggs-equipped Recording King—are on hand in case of broken strings or other malfunctions.
Need for Tweed
Trent doesn’t trust amps with too many knobs, so this tweed Fender Blues Junior does the trick. It can get fairly loud, so there’s a Universal Audio OX Amp Top Box on hand to tame it for some stages.
Shovels & Rope's Pedalboard
Because Trent and Hearst trade off bass, guitar, keys, and percussion duties, all four of their limbs are active through the set. Whoever is on guitars works this board, with an MXR Blue Box, Electro-Harmonix Nano Big Muff, EarthQuaker Devices Hummingbird, and Boss OC-5, plus a pair of Walrus Canvas Tuners for the electric and acoustic. Utility boxes on the board include a Walrus Canvas Passive Re-Amp, Radial J48, Livewire ABY1, and a Mesa Stowaway input buffer.
A Roland PK-5 MIDI controller, operated by foot, sits on the lower edge of the board. It controls the board for “Thing 2,” one of two MicroKORG synths onstage.
Thing 1 and Thing 2
There’s no one backstage helping Hearst and Trent cook up all their racket; they handle every sound themselves, manually. During the first few sets of a tour, you’re liable to see some headaches, like forgetting to switch synth patches during a song, but eventually they hit a rhythm.
Affectionately given Seuss-ian nicknames, this pair of microKORGs handles bass notes through the set, among other things, via the foot-controlled PK5. “Thing 1” is set up at the drum station, and runs through a board with an EHX Nano Big Muff, EHX Bass9, EHX Nano Holy Grail, and a Radial Pro DI. A Walrus Aetos keeps them all powered up.
The board for “Thing 2,” beside the guitar amps, includes an EHX Mel9 and Bass9 powered by a Truetone 1 SPOT Pro, plus a Radial ProD2.
Featuring a newly-voiced circuit with more compression and versatility, these pedals are hand-crafted in Los Angeles for durability.
Messiah Guitars custom shop has launched a pair of new pedals: The Eddie Boostdrive Session Edition and Lil’ Ed Session Drive.
The two pedals are full-size and mini-sized versions of a newly-voiced circuit based on Messiah’s successful Eddie Boostdrive. The two new “Session” pedals feature more compression and versatility in the overall tone, and showcase Messiah’s ongoing collaboration with Nashville session guitarist Eddie Haddad.
The new Session Boostdrive schematic includes a fine-tuned EQ section (eliminating the need for the Tight switch on the earlier Boostdrive) and two independently operated circuits: a single-knob booster, and a dual-mode drive featuring a 3-band EQ. The booster consists of a single-stage MOSFET transistor providing boost ranging from -3dB to 28dB. At low settings, the boost adds sparkle to the tone, while a fully cranked setting will send your amp to a fuzzy territory. Thebooster engagement is indicated by a purple illuminated foot switch.
The overdrive contains a soft-clipped op-amp stage, inspired by a screamer-style circuit. The pedal includes a classic Silicon clipping mode (when activated, the pedal’s indicator light is blue)and an LED mode for a more open, amp-like break up (indicator light is red).
The active 3-band EQ is highly interactive and capable of emulating many popular drive sounds. Although both effects can be used separately, engaging them simultaneously produces juicy tones that will easily cut through the mix. Both new pedals accept a standard 9V pedal power supply with negative center pin.
“I love my original Boostdrive,” says Haddad, “but I wanted to explore the circuit and see if we could give it more focused features. This would make it more straightforward for guitarists who prefer simplicity in their drive pedals. The boost is super clean and loud in all the right ways…it can instantly sweeten up an amp and add more heft and sparkle to the drive section.”
Like their custom guitars and amplifiers, Messiah’s pedals are hand-crafted in Los Angeles for durability and guaranteed quality.
The Lil’ Ed Session Drive pedal includes:
- 5-knob controls, a 2-way mode side switch
- Durable, space-saving cast aluminum alloy 1590A enclosure with fun artwork
- True bypass foot switch
- Standard 9V/100mA pedal power input
The Eddie Session Edition pedal features:
- 6-knob controls, a 2-way mode switch; space-saving top-side jacks
- Durable, cast aluminum alloy 125B enclosure with fun artwork
- Easy to see, illuminated optical true bypass foot switches
- Standard 9V/100mA pedal power input
The Eddie Boostdrive Session Edition retails for $249.00, and the Lil’ Ed Session Drive for$179.
For more information, please visit messiahguitars.com.
Eddie BoostDrive and Lil' Ed pedal review with Eddie & Jax - YouTube
Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.Joe Glaser has been a pillar of Nashville's guitar community for decades. He's a man that dreams in mechanical terms often coming up ideas while deep in a REM cycle. Through his various companies he's designed, developed, and released a handful of "blue water" solutions to age-old instrument problems making the tolerable terrific. In this comprehensive visit to Glaser's home base, we get up close and personal with several of the products that enhance intonation and playability without disrupting the guitar's integrity.
In addition, Music City Bridge CEO Joshua Rawlings introduces us to a couple software ventures. Shop Flow helps increase productivity and efficiency for guitar builders and repair shops, while Gear Check aims to help guitarist's keep track of their collection and its history. Join John Bohlinger as he goes inside this inconspicuous six-string sanctuary.
With 700 watts of power, built-in overdrive, versatile EQ options, and multiple output choices, this bass head is designed to deliver unparalleled clarity and performance in a lightweight, rugged package.
PowerStage 700 Bass is compact and durable for easy transport yet powerful enough to fill any venue. This world-class bass head can also serve as the ideal clean power platform to amplify your preamp or modeler. Streamline your rig without compromising your sound and focus on what truly matters—your music.
Designed by Seymour Duncan’s legendary engineer Kevin Beller, a lifelong bass player, this 700-watt bass head delivers unparalleled clarity and performance in a lightweight, rugged package. Whether plugging in on stage or in the studio, PowerStage 700Bass provides tight low-end and rich harmonics, with a footswitchable built-in overdrive for an extra layer of sonic versatility.
A robust, bass-optimized EQ (treble, low mid, high mid, bass and presence) tailors your sound to any room. Need to switch between active and passive basses? You’re covered - PowerStage700 Bass includes a convenient -10db pad control. Multiple output options (¼”, Speakon, XLRDI, and headphone) work for any setup, whether powering cabinets, going direct to a PA, or recording straight into your audio interface.
- 700 Watts of Power at 4 ohms• Preamp voiced for a wide range of vintage & amp; modern bass sounds
- Built-in Overdrive that can go from a light vintage saturation to full-throttle bone-grinding distortion (with optional foot-switchable control)
- Effects loop allows for post-preamp processing and easy integration with modelers and preamp pedals
- 4 band EQ, Sweepable mid controls, and presence button offer dynamic tone shaping possibilities
- Aux input
- Super lightweight and durable chassis for easy transport with our optional gig bag or rack ears.
For more information, please visit seymourduncan.com.