Left to Right: Tony Levin, Steve Vai, Adrian Belew, and Danny Carey
Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Tool drummer Danny Carey join forces for the BEAT Tour, a creative reinterpretation of iconic '80s King Crimson albums.
They will come together this fall for an extensive tour across North America performing repertoire from these three King Crimson iconic albums The BEAT Tour will begin in San Jose, CA on September 12 at San Jose Civic with the final show planned for November 8 at Las Vegas, NV’s The Theater at Virgin Hotels. An artist pre-sale goes live today at Noon Eastern (Password: BEATTOUR), with the general on-sale set for Friday, April 5 at 10am local time here: www.BEAT-tour.com.
Guitarist Adrian Belew reflects, “The 1981 through 1984 King Crimson created a music all its own. Timeless. Beautiful. Complex. Fierce. For the fans who lived through it then, and the ones who never got to witness it, our aim is to bring it to life again. A monumental task but we're going for it! There are not enough exclamation points to express my excitement!”
Guitarist Steve Vai states, “Being a part of this ensemble is an extraordinary privilege and opportunity to perform some of the most beloved, timeless, and monumental music of the 80’s (and beyond) with truly inspired musicians. This music resonates deeply with me. Adrian, Tony and Danny are unique musicians with an otherworldly insight into presenting rich musical complexities in a very accessible way, and I am looking forward to searching each other’s musical minds in real time on stage. I’m sure sparks will fly.” He continues, “Father Robert Fripp is one of our historical geniuses. His highly specific and exceptionally brilliant guitar technique is studied and revered. His contribution to the quality of my musical life, and so many others is supreme. I can assure the fans of KC that I will be putting my best foot forward to respect this great music with the care and intensity it deserves. Did I say ‘sparks will fly?’”
Bassist Tony Levin offers, “This is going to be quite a tour. Revisiting some of my favorite music is a treat in itself, but in company of this stellar lineup, I expect to have my musical butt kicked! And it’s also great that we’re not just playing a few shows, we’re hitting it hard. So, Road Dogs are coming to your area soon.”
Drummer Danny Carey shares, “I am very excited to share the stage with three of my favorite musicians on the planet. Tony, Steve and Adrian have always been a source of inspiration for me since the beginning of my career, and now to be able to share a bit of my musical journey with them is a dream come true. There’s nothing better to make some sparks fly and light a fire under your ass than getting out of your musical comfort zone, and I can’t think of any other three guys I’d rather do this with. I think I can speak for all of us when I say I hope all of our fans are as excited as we are about this tour.”
The vision for this undertaking emanated from initial dialogue between Angelo Bundini aka Scrote and Adrian Belew. Tour Producer Bundini recalls, “When Adrian called me to help bring his idea to fruition, I immediately thought it best to focus on the 80s albums: Discipline, Beat, and Three Of A Perfect Pair. These three records famously marked Adrian and Tony's entry into King Crimson. Their fluid, melodic virtuosity, and Fripp's and Bruford's dramatic precision created a totally unique, dynamic push and pull that would influence nearly every rock musician and/or band going forward for years, if not decades, to come.”
The complete itinerary of planned appearances includes events in:
9/12 San Jose, CA San Jose Civic
9/13 Napa, CA Blue Note Napa Summer Sessions at Meritage Resort
9/14 Los Angeles, CA The United Theater on Broadway
9/15 Anaheim, CA City National Grove of Anaheim
9/17 San Diego, CA Humphrey’s Concerts
9/18 Phoenix, AZ Celebrity Theatre
9/20 Austin, TX The Paramount Theatre
9/21 Houston, TX Bayou Music Centre
9/22 Dallas, TX Majestic Theatre
9/24 Atlanta, GA The Eastern
9/26 Fort Lauderdale, FL The Parker
9/27 Orlando, FL Hard Rock Live
9/28 Clearwater, FL Ruth Eckerd Hall
9/29 Charleston, SC Charleston Music Hall
10/01 Charlotte, NC Knight Theater
10/02 Durham, NC Carolina Theatre of Durham / Fletcher Hall
10/04 Washington, DC Warner Theatre
10/05 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
10/06 Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre
10/08 Richmond, VA Carpenter Theater in Dominion Energy Center
10/09 Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Center
10/11 Boston, MA Shubert Theatre
10/12 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom
10/14 Halifax, NS Rebecca Cohen Auditorium
10/15 Moncton, NB Casino New Brunswick
10/17 Montreal, QC Theatre Maisonneuve
10/18 Toronto, ON Massey Hall
10/19 Rochester, NY Kodak Center
10/21 Albany, NY The Egg
10/22 Greensburg, PA Palace Theatre
10/23 Reading, PA Santander Performing Arts Center
10/25 Cleveland, OH Agora Theatre
10/26 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre
10/27 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
10/28 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
10/30 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre
11/01 Chicago, IL Copernicus Center
11/02 Milwaukee, WI Pabst Theatre
11/03 Madison, WI Orpheum Theater
11/04 Minneapolis, MN State Theatre
11/06 Denver, CO Paramount Theatre
11/08 Las Vegas, NV The Theater at Virgin Hotels
For more information, please visit beat-tour.com.
- Stick Men Bass Man, Tony Levin ›
- Rig Rundown: Steve Vai [2023] ›
- Rig Rundown: Adrian Belew ›
- Bassist Tony Levin—Prog Rock’s Bass King - Premier Guitar ›
- Adrian Belew Reveals BEAT Tour Secrets - Premier Guitar ›
Maxon OD-9 Overdrive Pedal
The Maxon OD-9 Overdrive Effects Pedal may look like your old favorite but that's where the similarity ends. Improved circuitry with a new chip yields the ultra-smooth dynamic overdrive guitarists crave. Drive and Level controls tweak the intensity and volume while the Hi-Boost/Hi-Cut tone controls adjust brightness. Features true bypass switching, a die-cast zinc case, and 3-year warranty. From subtle cries to shattering screams, the Maxon OD-9 delivers a huge range of tones.
Features
Improved circuitry with a new chip yields ultra-smooth dynamic overdrive
Drive and Level controls tweak the intensity and volume
Hi Boost/Hi Cut tone controls adjust brightness
True bypass switching
Die-cast zinc case
AC/DC operation (order optional Maxon AC210N adapter)
Product Specs
Input: 1/4" mono jack
Output: 1/4" mono jack
Power: 9V DC, 6 mA, center pin minus (not included)
Dimensions: (WxDxH) 74 mm x 124 mm x 54 mm
Weight: 580g
The magic is in the interactive nature of all these factors … and then some. (This list is for passive pickups and does not include many aspects of active pickups.) Sometimes I see pickups boiled down to only a few factors, and I do not think that is a sophisticated enough view of these complicated and potentially beautiful-sounding devices.
As an example, it is thought that most players have an idea of the sound that humbucking pickups with alnico 4 magnets that are wound to 7.8k make. They’re historically associated with PAF humbuckers, but those qualities don’t fully explain what gives those pickups character. For example, if the pickup’s wire is standard-size 42 gauge, at 5,000 turns the pickup would have a resistance of about 7.5k. If you use 42-gauge wire that is undersized (which is a common inconsistency) and 4,800 turns, the pickup would still be around 7.5k. Because of the wire diameter and different number of turns, the pickups would sound different even though it’s the same magnet and same resistance. The wire matters; 7.5k is just the resistance of both coils. Just as wire diameter varies, alnico 4 purchased from four manufacturers sounds four different ways, so you have to compensate for that in other design areas as well.
If you think about the sound of a Strat, there is a “whistle note” (or you can think of it as a “ping note”) in every note you play. Think about playing on the neck pickup on a Strat; you can hear that whistle sound in every note. The pickup without a load is resonating at about 11k and at about 15 dB. Fifteen decibels is a lot. Imagine adding 15 dB of 11k (high treble) to your vocal at a gig! The potentiometers on a Strat, and those are 250k (which is a fairly low value for a volume and tone control), calm down how loud the whistle note is. When these single-coil pickups are built well, this whistle note can be very musical. Just think of Robbie Blunt playing “Big Log” on Robert Plant’s 1983 album The Principle of Moments. For us at PRS, getting the whistle note to be the right frequency and the right volume is very important. It is believed, for good reason, that an old PAF pickup can sound very much like a single-coil Strat pickup. That is because of the frequency and volume of the whistle note coming out of these vintage pickups.
“In the end, it’s really simple. Do you like the sound of the pickup? Will it do the job that you’re looking for the instrument to do?”
In the end, it’s really simple. Do you like the sound of the pickup? Will it do the job that you’re looking for the instrument to do? When David Grissom worked with us on our DGT pickups, he spent almost a year on them, and at the end of the process, he was adjusting the coil wire by 25 turns at a time until it was exactly where he wanted it. And that’s only the amount of turns. We also evaluated the magnetic type, strength, etc. I bring up all these parameters to give you an idea of how complicated it is to get all the specifications to dance well together. I like what’s going on pickup-wise at PRS and believe that our 2025 offering is gonna turn some heads. Normally, I don’t bring up what we do at PRS in these articles, but this time I think it’s worth mentioning, so stay tuned.
Consider all the types of pickups out there: humbuckers, covered humbuckers, P-90s, Strat single-coils, Tele single-coils, Gretsch Filter’Trons, Jazzmaster, P Bass, Jazz Bass, no-hum single-coils, and mini-humbuckers that make single-coil sounds. Within each one of these types, there can be scores of variations. How to choose? Simply try a pickup and see if you like it!
Key Features of the ZOMA
● Intuitive Control Layout: Three large knobs give you full control over Reverb Level, Tremolo Rate,and Depth
● Easy Access to Alternate Controls: Adjust Reverb Decay, Reverb Tone, and Tremolo Volume withsimple alt-controls.
● Instant Effect Order Switching: Customize your signal path. Position tremolos after reverb for avintage, black-panel tone or place harmonic tremolo before reverb for a dirty, swampy sound.
● True Bypass or Buffered Trails: Choose the setting that best suits your rig.
Three Reverb and Tremolo Modes:
● SS – Spring Reverb & Sine Tremolo: Classic spring reverb paired with a sine wave tremolo for that timelessblack-panel amp tone.
● PH – Plate Reverb & Harmonic Tremolo: Smooth, bright plate reverb combined with swampy harmonictremolo.
● PV – Plate Reverb & Pitch Vibrato: Achieve a vocal-like vibrato with ethereal plate reverb.
Reverb: Sounds & Controls
● Spring Reverb: Authentic tube amp spring reverb that captures every detail of vintage sound.
● Plate Reverb: Bright and smooth, recreating the lush tones of vibrating metal plates.
● Reverb Decay: Adjust the decay time using the REVERB/ALT SWITCH while turning the Level knob.
● Reverb Tone: Modify the tone of your reverb using the REVERB/ALT SWITCH while turning the Rate knob.
Tremolo: Sounds & Controls
● Sine Wave/Volume Tremolo: Adjusts the volume of the signal up and down with smooth sine wavemodulation.
● Harmonic Tremolo: Replicates classic tube-amp harmonic tremolo, creating a phaser-like effect withphase-split filtering.
● Pitch Vibrato: Delivers pitch bending effects that let you control how far and how fast notes shift.
● Alt-Control Tremolo Boost Volume: Adjust the boost volume by holding the REVERB/ALT footswitch whileturning the Depth knob.
The ZOMA is built with artfully designed circuitry and housed in a proprietary angled aluminum enclosure, ensuring both simplicity and durability. Like all Keeley pedals, it’s proudly designed and manufactured in the USA.
ZOMA Stereo Reverb and Tremolo
The first sound effects built into amplifiers were tremolo and reverb. Keeley’s legendary reverbs are paired with their sultry, vocal-like tremolos to give you an unreal sonic experience.