If you’ve thought to yourself, “this is the most vicious-sounding record I’ve heard,” chances are Kurt Ballou’s fingerprints are on it. Since officially starting in 1995 inside his parents’ garage and eventually opening GodCity Studio’s doors in 2003 (in “Witch City” Salem, MA, no less), Ballou has chiseled out granite tones for bands like Every Time I Die, High on Fire, Torche, Cave In, Old Man Gloom, American Nightmare, and Kvelertak. (“He brings a lot to the table, and he’s been pretty important in terms of how our sound got formed,” Kverlertak’s Vidar Landa in a PG interview on working with Ballou.) Oh, and we can forget his genre-shaping band Converge, that he’s played guitar in since 1990, co-produced since 2001’s hardcore pillar Jane Doe and been the console captain since 2006’s No Heroes.
As you’ll soon find out in this hour-plus episode, the dude is fascinated with every component of guitar tone. In between recording projects and creating new instruments and pedals, Ballou virtually welcome PG’s Chris Kies into GodCity Studio. In this Rig Rundown, Ballou details his own GodCity Instruments Craftsman Series 1 (something he calls a “simple rock ’n’ roll machine”), provides a crash course on mics (types and techniques), and shows off additional GCI pedal wares—and a few foreign specimens—that contort, mangle, and destroy any (in the prettiest way possible) guitar’s native tongue.
D'Addario Auto Lock Strap:https://ddar.io/AutoLockStrap
[Facing a mandatory shelter-in-place ordinance to limit the spread of COVID-19, PG enacted a hybrid approach to filming and producing Rig Rundowns. This is the 38th video in that format.]
As you’ll quickly find out, if Kurt can’t find exactly what he’s after, he’ll design something that will get the job done. Above is his first guitar—built under the God City Instruments brand—called the Craftsman Series 1. This one features a chambered mahogany body with a spruce top (“it’s incredibly resonant, snappy, and lively”), set-neck construction (maple neck/wenge fretboard), 25.5" scale, Graph Tech nut and bridge, and a custom-wound, hot Slugjammer humbucker (13k output, 44 AWG). He prefers D’Addario NYXL strings (.011–.052), hammers away with Planet Waves Duralin picks .70 mm (yellow), and Ballou uses a bunch of tunings for Converge, but two of his favorites are “a little out of tune” D standard and one he calls “open Slayer” (C–F#–C–F#–C–F#).
(This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a God City Instruments’ Craftsman Series 1 on a Rig Rundown. For those that missed it, Djunah’s Donna Diane rocked out a wenge-top Craftsman Series 1 in her Rundown in late 2020.)
A close-up of his Malcolm Young-inspired Craftsman Series 1 body.
Need proof that Converge have diehard fans all over the world? Look no further than this Sparrows’ Sons head that was built for (and sent over to) Kurt from their Belarus guitar shop. He doesn’t know much about the circuit, but he notes in the Rundown that early in the signal path sits an active inductor-based midrange boost that sort of acts like a Neve preamp. Another think he mentions is that its gain knob is a dual pot that controls two tube stages at the same time giving the amp a wide range of crunch. (Ballou admits that he doesn’t use it for clean and rather make it a blast furnace of rock.)
The handmade beast (even has handwound inductors) floored Ballou enough that he ordered a second head for his European setup (but has since brought it home). He believes he owns are two of four or five in existence.
The Sparrows’ Sons custom jobber runs into a massive Emperor 6x12 that is loaded with various speakers, but what was mic’d and recorded for the Rundown were a pair of Eminence Texas Heats.
Because he’s Kurt and he’s awesome, not only did he treat this like a recording session, but he used four mics, in four different positions, to show how each works independently and how they work in unison to create a monolithic sledgehammer. The lineup starts (left to right) with an AEA N22 active ribbon mic, Heil Sound PR 30 large diaphragm dynamic supercardioid mic, a Rode (top) Reporter omnidirectional dynamic mic, and an sE Electronics X1 D large diaphragm unidirectional condenser mic.
“One of the nicest things about owning a studio and designing pedals is that I can figure out what do I have a need for,” admits Ballou. And as you’ll soon find out, his biggest (and constant) need is angry, violent, metallic distortion. Starting at the top left (and then going clockwise), we have the Demedash Effects T-120 Videotape Echo. “This is one of the coolest analog delay pedals,” giddily asserts Ballou. He loves the overall functionality of the pedal and its feature set, but the icing on the cake is that when bypassed you can hold down the left footswitch and it will act as a momentary freeze/shimmer/oscillator. Next you have the Shift Line A+ Astronaut III Multiverb Space Unit. Kurt got hip to this pedal when Converge was touring Russia and ventured into a guitar store in St. Petersburg. For this pedal, Kurt’s go-to setting is the reverse shimmer.
The single-knob red GCI design (Oh Yes!) is Kurt’s latest creation (mentions tentatively it may be called Onslaught) that is a “mid-forward, ultimate thrashy, djenty, clanky, articulate, heavy guitar pedal.” The red pedal on the right is Kurt’s first original codesign—the SBD or Super Beatle Distortion—that was inspired by a circuit from Fu Manchu bassist Brad Davis’ Creepy Little Fingers. Taking it up a notch, Ballou added in an active mid boost in front of the fuzz circuit. Additionally, he boosts the bass level after the fuzz circuit so it sounds huge.
Next up in green is the God City Instruments OGR (a collaboration with Electronic Audio Experiments’ John Snyder). The Optical Gain Reduction is a compressor that Ballou uses on every bass-recorded track in God City Studio.
Then there is the Foxrox Electronics Octron2 (inspired by the guitar feedback lassoed by Mahogany Rush guitarist Frank Marino) that Ballou uses for thorny solos that bristle with weird overtones and elastic ghost notes. Following that is a newer GCI Crimson Cock (original codesigned with Rob Davis) that is a treble booster loosely based on the Rangemaster circuit with an added range control (a cap blend on the input) and the switch toggles in a Muff stage at the end of the circuit.
The penultimate stomp is the God City Instruments Ape Eye (collaborated with Soursound) that is dirt box centered around the API 2520 discrete op amp. Lastly, we have Kurt’s Jugendstil silicon fuzz that is aptly described on their site: “If there were a Venn Diagram showing the overlap between ‘90s British shoegaze and ‘90s Swedish death metal, Jugendstil would feel right at home in the middle.” And everything was powered by a Truetone 1 Spot PRO CS7.
An unheralded but appreciated tool used by Ballou is this Radial Engineering SGI TX that is line driver system that takes an unbalanced instrument signal and allows you to drive it as far as 300' feet without noise.
Chicago's prog power trio Russian Circles' consists of bassist Brian Cook,
guitarist Mike Sullivan, and drummer Dave Turncrantz.
Last spring, in an unassuming building on Chicago’s West Belmont Street, acclaimed instrumental rockers Russian Circles were busy crafting their fifth studio album, Memorial. They developed their new opus in Studio A of Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studios, which offers three tracking spaces: Center Field, the Kentucky Room, and the Alcatraz Room.
Each room is specifically designed to help capture tones associated with particular instruments. The spacious Center Field room provided natural acoustics for Dave Turncrantz’s drums, and the Kentucky Room’s liveliness made it ideal for guitarist Mike Sullivan’s dark-sounding amp setup. Brian Cook’s bass rig sat in the controlled isolation of the Alcatraz Room, which uses a brilliant combination of perimeter venting and membrane absorbers to deaden the space.
—Russian Circles guitarist Mike Sullivan
With the recording prowess of acclaimed engineer Greg Norman, intimate production guidance by Brandon Curtis (The Secret Machines), and a mountain of rare, custom, and boutique guitars, amps, effects, and recording equipment at the ready, Russian Circles produced its most diverse release yet—one that deftly weaves metal, classical, prog, post rock, industrial, and a slew of other influences into a heaving, breathing mass of ethereal power.
Russian Circles graciously invited Premier Guitar into the studio to get a first-hand look at the recording process, peek at Electrical Audio’s amazing gear, and watch Curtis (who produced the band’s 2009 album, Geneva) steer the project to completion.
Brian Cook’s bass rig consists of a 6550-powered Verellen Meat Smoke head paired with an Ampeg 8x10 cabinet.
Laying the Groundwork Both Sullivan and Cook say that almost all of Memorial was written before entering the studio. Still, the band wanted the freedom to experiment with ideas and gear while recording, so there was consensus that parts would change along the way.
Capturing the band’s dense, complex music was no easy task, and according to Sullivan, working with Curtis again was the best choice in terms of production. “He’s really good at throwing the ball in your court and letting you think about what could happen there, guitar-wise,” explains Sullivan. “We’ll have a song’s arrangement done, and while he won’t try to change it, he’ll ask questions to get us second-guessing certain things.”
Though he altered his pedalboard a bit during the sessions, Cook primarily used what’s shown here: Boss TU-2 tuner, DigiTech Whammy IV, Electro-Harmonix POG 2, Way Huge Swollen Pickle, Fuzzrocious Ram the Manparts, Fuzzrocious Oh See Demon, Fuzzrocious Rat Tail, Tym Guitars Big Bottom, Akai E2 Headrush, and Ernie Ball VP Jr. volume pedal.
Curtis’ musical training and perceptive ears were also very helpful in ensuring that Memorial flowed naturally from track to track. Like most bands, Russian Circles pull tonal and musical reference points from their influences—Don Caballero, Melvins, Neurosis, Shellac—and working with Curtis add space rock and psychedelic music to the mix. Cook describes the approach as “a different idea of what heavy can sound like.” Knowing the band’s sound, gear, and internal chemistry also helped Curtis translate their sonic vision to Norman.
“He understands what we want, and he also knows the proper lingo and the recording process a lot better than we do,” Cook says of Curtis. “So when we say things like, ‘Make it sound more squishy,’ he knows how to translate that.”
The band enjoyed the sonic style Norman brought to two previous Russian Circles releases, 2006’s Enter and Geneva, and his ability to capture the band’s live energy played a big part in their decision to enlist his services again for the new album. “[Geneva] is a pretty faithful testament to who we were at that point,” Cook recalls. “That’s Greg’s M.O.—get great sounds that are honest to the source.”
In the band’s early days, Sullivan mostly relied on Sunn Model-T reissue heads. Following a van accident that destroyed much of the band’s equipment, he began testing his pedals for damage through Cook’s Verellen Meat Smoke head. “I plugged in my pedals and was floored,” Sullivan recalls. “I didn’t even touch a dial—the amp sounded great immediately. It gave me headroom for days, and the high- and low-boost switches provided a lot of sonic options. It was the tone I’d wanted for years.”
Behind the Wheel: Electrical Audio’s Greg Norman on Recording Memorial
Memorial is engineer Greg Norman’s third album with Russian Circles. “I like the space they create for all sorts of textures and harmonics,” he says. “They can obviously pull off the loud, tight, and fast bits, but the vacuum between those moments leaves room for really cool parts. And the soaring pretty parts make the explosions sound much more intense. When it’s done just right, I think of meteors cutting through apartment buildings.”
Norman’s role in making Memorial was similar to the Geneva sessions, except this time the mixing duties were handed to producer Brandon Curtis. “He’s smart, super-easy to work with, positive, and patient,” Norman says of counterpart Curtis. “Those are good, rare traits for someone working in the studio.”
Curtis’s background as a classically trained musician also helped. “Many times his knowledge of music theory would dovetail nicely with my techy, noisy-brained perspective,” Norman recalls. “I think that mix helped things out.”
In addition to being tech-savvy, Norman is a meticulous note-taker who’s able to give a detailed account of the equipment and techniques he used to record Sullivan and Cook. In his own words:
The guitar amps were set up in the smaller of the two live rooms, which is named the Kentucky Room. This room has a short, full-sounding natural reverb that’s great for drums and loud guitar amps. The walls are made of adobe brick, which has an irregular, porous surface that’s flattering for higher-frequency reflections.
I always need to hear the rig I’m recording before choosing the proper mics, but the placement is generally the same. I usually have the diaphragm or ribbon pointed directly at the speaker’s dust cover, about 4–8" away from the grille. It really depends on how much low end I want to capture via proximity effect. If I’m using a fragile ribbon mic like a Coles 4038 or RCA 74 on a loud amp, I’ll back off a foot or more.
Mike’s Verellen Loucks and Emperor 4x12 half-stack were mic’d with a Beyerdynamic M88, which is my favorite dynamic mic for big and heavily distorted guitar. That was going through our custom mic preamp, the Electrical Audio EApreq. This part of the rig was the most useful in the mix of the two “heavy” amps. I mic’d the Verellen Meat Smoke and Emperor 4x12 half-stack with a Shure KSM44, which also happened to be running through the EApreq preamp. Since the Meat Smoke is such a dark amp, I grabbed a mic that would catch all of that low end without overdoing it. I always use a room mic, usually a Sennheiser 421 or an AKG 451 with an omni capsule. The idea is to get a powerful stereo sound from one guitar, as if it were the only one to end up on the record. It also helps add depth and can really help convey how loud things are.
We also had a Hiwatt 4x12 set up with various heads, such as a 1965 blonde Fender Bassman, a pics-only Orange OR80 from the ’70s, two prototype amps from Emperor, and a 15-watt Fender Pro Jr. 1x10 combo we used as a head. This was mic’d up with a Sony C48, but at some points the Pro Jr. was mic’d with either a RCA BK-5 or a Shure KSM44, running into a John Hardy M-2 preamp. I like bringing that amp in for really dark, heavy-sounding setups like Mike has. It’s a dead-simple amp that sounds great on its own, or even powering another cab. It distorts in a good way that cuts straight through the mud, while not sounding thin. It blended nicely with his other amps while reinforcing the overall upper midrange.
For bass, I generally try to get a high-low mic setup. Brian’s Verellen Meat Smoke and Ampeg SVT 8x10 were mic’d with a Beyer M380 for the low end, and a Sennheiser 421 to catch the mids and highs. In that occasional instance when we wanted a more midrange-heavy distortion option, we’d have a Traynor TS-50B go through one of our custom 1x15 cabinets mic’d with a Josephson e22. All of the mics went through the EApreq, then to a GML 8900 for compression. I think I added one notch of bass shelf for the M380 on the EApreq. For catching some of the pure bass tones from his Moog Taurus, I used a custom Electrical Audio DI box. I rarely use a DI, but Brian had some presets on his Taurus that had some serious sub presence, so I used a DI for that.
Brandon Curtis (left) works with Sullivan in the control room
on a deeply layered section of Russian Circles’ new album.
Sullivan generally cranks the highs and mids on his Meat Smoke to counteract its bass-heavy sound and blend well with his Loucks. And even though the Meat Smoke was originally designed for bass, Sullivan champions its use as a guitar amp. “I’ve never found myself wishing I had more of something,” he says. “Whatever I want sonically is always there—highs or lows, dirt or clarity. It just depends on how you dial it up.”
Cook’s main stage and recording amplifier is a custom 300-watt Verellen Meat Smoke connected to a well-worn Ampeg SVT810E cabinet that he used for years in underground bands Botch and These Arms Are Snakes. Cook has a personal connection to Verellen amps—he and Ben Verellen have been good friends since junior high.
“Ben has always been very tone-minded and particular about his gear,” recalls Cook. “When he really got into tube amps, he went to school to learn how to build them. He made me a little 30-watt Bassman knockoff, which is actually the very first Verellen amp. I still have it and it sounds awesome.”
Mike Sullivan recorded his guitar tracks through a massive tri-amp rig. Pictured: Verellen Loucks and Meat Smoke heads on two Emperor 4x12 cabinets, Fender Pro Jr., ’70s Marshall 1982B 4x12.
Mike Sullivan's Studio Gear
Guitars
1957 Reissue Gibson
Les Paul Custom, wine red
1957 Reissue Gibson Les Paul Custom, black
1967 Reissue Gibson Flying V
with Maestro vibrato tailpiece
Custom Fano RB6
Amps
300-watt Verellen Meat Smoke head
100-watt Verellen Loucks head
Fender Pro Jr. 1x10 combo
160-watt Emperor head (prototype)
16-watt Emperor head (prototype)
Hiwatt DR-103 Custom 100 head
Emperor 4x12 cabinets with Weber C1265 speakers
Effects
Ernie Ball Volume Jr.
TC Electronic PolyTune Mini
Maxon CS-9
Xotic Effects BB Preamp
Xotic Effects BB Preamp Mid Boost
Xotic Effects RC Booster
Reaper Deceived Delay/Reverb
Interfax Harmonic Percolator
Fulltone Secret Freq
Z.Vex Fuzz Factory
with custom hockey graphics
Mesa/Boogie Tone-Burst
Mesa/Boogie Flux Drive
MXR Micro Amp
DigiTech Whammy IV
EarthQuaker Devices Grand Orbiter Phaser
Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Nano
Electro Harmonix Memory Boy (for slight slapback on Loucks)
Strymon El Capistan
Strymon Flint
Akai E2 Headrush
Lehle Splitter
Strings, Picks, and Misc.
Gibson 498T bridge humbuckers (neck position of both Les Pauls)
Gibson Dirty Fingers humbuckers (bridge position of both Les Pauls)
Lollar P-90 pickups (Fano RB6)
Dean Markley custom-gauge .012-.056 strings (occasionally .058 for the 6th string)
glass slide
It was apparent from the beginning that Memorial would have many layered tracks, so Curtis took pains to ensure that the bass and guitar amps sat evenly in the overall mix. And sometimes he’d propose ideas to enhance a song’s mood. For example, his suggestion that Sullivan dig harder into the lower strings while picking the delicate melody in “Cheyenne” led to adding eerie harmonic overdubs. Sullivan played these harmonics through a Fender Twin positioned in the middle of the Kentucky Room, yet pointed into the large Center Field space with its two room mics. Curtis also suggested adding a Whammy pedal, and after a few takes, Sullivan nailed what would become the song’s haunting, interweaving overdub. To create these eerie sounds, he used a glass slide while Curtis manipulated the Whammy’s treadle.
Sullivan’s main studio axes were two ’57 Reissue Les Paul Customs. He says these guitars let him transition smoothly between the album’s softer and heavier moments. They also help him build sustain for the dramatic crescendos that have become hallmarks of his sound, a technique he put to good use in “Deficit” and “Burial” on the new album.
“I’ve never really thought of another primary guitar for this music,” says Sullivan. “With its ebony fretboard and mahogany body, there’s just something about a Les Paul Custom that really gets the most out of each note, in terms of sustain and clarity. No other guitar I’ve played has that much precision.”
Sullivan replaced the stock humbuckers in both Les Pauls, opting for a Gibson Dirty Fingers at the bridge and a Gibson 498T bridge pickup in the neck position. An inherently bright pickup, the 498T tightens the lows and adds sparkle to the darker tones typically generated by a neck humbucker.
Sullivan’s modding doesn’t end there: To give his Customs a satin-like look and reduce friction on the back of their necks, he used a Brillo pad to dull the sheen of the guitars’ shiny finish.
In addition to his Les Paul Customs, Sullivan also played a Fano RB6. Initially he was skeptical about how the guitar’s vintage-output Lollar P-90s would handle heavier tones, but he immediately fell in love with them.
“It comes down to the clarity thing—hit a chord and you hear every note,” explains Sullivan. “There’s nothing to hide behind when I use the Fano. It’s just a pure, organic tone. And combined with its Gibson-like 24 3/4" scale and C-shaped neck, it’s a guitar I’m really comfortable playing.”
Sullivan’s session pedalboard: Ernie Ball VP Jr. volume pedal, TC Electronic PolyTune Mini tuner, Mesa/Boogie Tone-Burst and Flux Drive, Fulltone Secret Freq, Maxon CS-9 Chorus, Xotic Effects BB Preamp and BB Preamp Mid Boost, custom effects-loop pedal, Strymon El Capistan and Flint, Z.Vex Fuzz Factory, Reaper Deceived Delay/Reverb, Akai E2 Headrush, DigiTech JamMan.
Cook plays his massive bass lines on a Gibson Grabber II, but for even thicker textures, he’ll often augment the lows with a custom First Act baritone guitar and a Moog Taurus bass synth. After watching Nick Sadler (Daughters) play a First Act Delgada baritone, Cook decided to order a custom baritone and set about designing the “Bearitone.” It features a silverburst finish, Kent Armstrong pickups, and two fat, bearded guys in a “mudflap girl” motif inlayed on the fretboard. The baritone’s ferocious sound was effective for thickening the album’s guitar-heavy sections, and Cook often used it to add contrast to his unorthodox, fuzz-drenched tones.
The pedal collection Sullivan and Cook had at their disposal was mindboggling, to say the least. Many of the pedals Sullivan used for his core sound—an Ernie Ball VP Jr. volume pedal for swells, a TC Electronic PolyTune Mini, a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory (with a custom paint job depicting the hockey routine the band is named after), and a Fulltone Secret Freq, to name a few—were from his own personal stash. Much of the guitar’s immense reverb on Memorial was tracked using his Reaper Deceived Delay/Reverb and Strymon Flint.
The Flint has become one of Sullivan’s favorite pedals. “They’re sonically remarkable and they don’t take up a lot of room on my pedalboard,” Sullivan explains, adding that he also has an affinity for his Strymon El Capistan delay. “Just today, I was comparing the El Capistan to my vintage Memory Man. It can nail every delay tone you could possibly think of. The Flint’s tremolo is very useful, the reverb’s decay is so natural, and the tap tempo makes them great for live playing. Compared to other digital pedals I’ve tried, they sound absolutely perfect to me.”
Cook tracking parts in the Alcatraz Room with his custom First Act “Bearitone.”
Many bassists shy away from effects, but Cook wholeheartedly embraces them for both subtle and drastic timbral changes. His studio pedalboard was loaded with eight fuzz and distortion devices from the likes of Fuzzrocious, Verellen, Dwarfcraft, Tone Butcher, and Way Huge.
Brian Cook's Studio Gear
Basses/Guitars
Custom First Act “Bearitone” baritone
Custom First Act Delgada bass
Gibson Ripper II
Amps and Cabs
Verellen Meat Smoke
Ampeg 8x10 Cabinet
Effects
Boss TU-2
Electro-Harmonix POG 2
DigiTech Whammy IV
Tym Guitars Big Bottom
Fuzzrocious Oh See Demon
Fuzzrocious Rat Tail
Fuzzrocious Ram the Manparts
Dwarfcraft Eau Claire Thunder Fuzz
Dwarfcraft Pitch Grinder
Way Huge Swollen Pickle Jumbo Fuzz
Ernie Ball Volume Jr.
Verellen Big Spider
Akai E2 Headrush
Tone Butcher Blue Whale
Tone Butcher Pocket Puss
Lehle Splitter
Strings and Picks
Dean Markley strings
On many of the tracks, Cook’s skilled use of fuzz and industrial-tinged distortion gave his baritone and bass tones a distinct presence. With his Dwarfcraft Pitchgrinder, for instance, he generated the robot-like wail during the drum breakdown and outro on “1777.” Cook manually cycled through the pedal’s arpeggiator while increasing the amount of steps until the sound swelled into oscillating chaos.
Another standout moment in “1777” occurs during the second half of the piece. While watching a hockey game on his iPad, Turncratz inadvertently recorded the sounds of hockey players’ skates cutting across the ice. Seeing an opportunity for sonic experimentation, the band had Norman layer these scraping sounds below the track. This moment illustrates the kind of free-form thinking that allowed Russian Circles and their studio partners to break free of rock’s rulebook and explore exciting new textures. With its massive layering and extreme contrasts between ethereal cleans and vicious overdrive, Memorial documents the band’s creative evolution.
 | Download Example 1 Gibson SG bridge pickup into first generation Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier rackmount into Emperor cabinet and close-mic'ed with an SM57 at high volumes. |
| Download Example 2 Same clip as above with extensive digital multiband compression, saturation and limiting to make room for bass guitar. |
| Download Example 3 Fender Strat bridge pickup into Diamond's 22-watt Class A "Positron" in Emperor cabinet and close-mic'ed with an SM57. |
| Download Example 4 Fender Strat neck pickup into Diamond's 22-watt Class A "Positron" in Emperor cabinet and close-mic'ed with an SM57. |
| Download Example 5 Gibson SG neck pickup into Diamond's 22-watt Class A "Positron" in Emperor cabinet and close-mic'ed with an SM57. |
Recently, I had the pleasure of watching a
performance by Chicago-based instrumental
post-rock/metal trio Russian Circles. On
the night I took in the show, the band’s
guitarist Mike Sullivan was concocting
his tone cocktail with a Gibson Les Paul
Custom, a slew of effects pedals, two Sunn
Model T heads, and Emperor 4x12 and
1x15 cabinets. The way Sullivan’s rig simultaneously
blisters and punches is always a
surprise and a treat, and I’ve suspected his
cabinets are no small part of the equation.
So I was psyched when I had the chance to
begin my evaluation of an Emperor 4x12
the very next day.
Some Background
Based in Chicago, Emperor is a crafty
bunch. In addition to guitar cabinets, the
company also makes bass cabinets, drums,
and road cases for rackmount gear, guitars,
speaker cabinets, amp heads, and
anything else you’d want a case for. They’ll
make cabinets using any size speakers in
several configurations including staggered
speakers, ported or non-ported, and open
or closed backs.
Emperor makes completely custom cabinets
and cases, so they do not have a standard
pricing system. A few standards do
exist, though. Cabinets are constructed
out of premium 13-ply birch using super-strong,
long lasting, and cool looking
dovetail joints. One of the most visible
differences between Emperor’s cabs and
your average aftermarket cabinet is that
Emperor does not use Tolex. Instead they
stain the birch using anything from naturally
glowing, classic wood hues to stark,
modern tones of blue, red, and bright
orange. The sections of birch that make
up the cabinet exterior are selected by the
wood’s visual potential. Numerous grille
cloth choices are available as well.
We reviewed a 4x12 closed-back guitar cab
with a finished Baltic birch shell that was
stained to bring out lush, three-dimensional
patterns in the birch, the veins of which varied
in hue from blonde to rich brunette.
Furnish the Stage
The Emperor 4x12 looks more like a
piece of antique furniture than a piece of
guitar gear. It rests on two wooden runners
and features black metal corners and
recessed handles. The cab’s grille cloth is a
lovely weave of light and dark browns, and
Emperor’s very cool, ’70s-inspired black-and-
silver logo is centered among a quartet
of Weber C1265 12" speakers. Made
of poplar and constructed to reduce sound
diffraction problems, a rounded front
baffle demonstrates Emperor’s dedication
to tone as well as aesthetics.
Exploring the Lows
After carrying this monstrosity to my
upstairs studio by myself, I tested the cab
using Diamond Positron and 1969 Fender
Super Bassman heads, and a Gibson SG
and Fender Stratocaster.
There’s a simple reason why Emperor cabs
have been widely adopted by artists working
in the modern post-rock/metal scene,
and that’s the cabinet’s extremely capable
low end. The 22-watt class A Diamond
Positron sounded positively ballsy with a
throaty Marshall-like low-mid punch. The
Strat’s neck pickup generated a remarkably
smooth low end that the Emperor distributed
with authority. Next I wired up my
Gibson SG and the vintage, non-master volume
Super Bassman, an amp that’s famous
for its extended low end and smooth
overdrive. Normally, I run this rig through
an Avatar 2x12 with Celestion Vintage 30s
or a generic 4x12 with Celestion Seventy
80s. And it didn’t take long before it was
apparent how much low-end clarity I’d been
missing. Indeed, the Emperor cab seems to
not only boost, but also clarify the low end
through more efficient projection. And the
result is a lot of headroom.
Reflecting on Highs
Built around a ceramic magnet, this
Emperor’s C1265 speakers are 65-watt
units from Weber’s British series that are
well suited for a wide range of styles. In the
very transparent Emperor, they are even
more so. Mid frequencies are very present,
though not overbearing and can be
tuned depending on the flexibility of your
head. The combination of the Emperor and
Webers also give the high frequencies a
natural feel that’s never brash or abrasive.
The poplar front baffle seems to enhance
the pristine high frequencies thrown from
the C1265s. In theory, sharp edges on
the front of a cabinet will cause sound
waves to diffract at sharp angles, causing
the waves to arrive at your ears with
unnatural timing, resulting in a sound that
is subtly garbled by confusing artifacts.
High and mid frequencies are particularly
vulnerable to the horrors of diffraction
and, though the problem goes unnoticed
to most, Emperor’s efforts to address the
issue seems to make their cabs perfect for
conveying the detail of complex chords
and capturing the full-spectrum voice of a
good pickup/guitar/amp combination.
The Verdict
The Emperor could well be the best sounding
guitar cabinet I’ve ever played through.
It’s also drop-dead gorgeous and it might
be the heaviest I’ve played through as
well. It is sometimes difficult to accurately
judge the sound of a cabinet because it
really stands apart in high-volume environments
where a sub-standard cab creates
a muck of confused, clashing frequencies.
When I heard unprocessed tracks that
featured an Emperor cab played back on a
professional monitor system, I noticed an
inherent studio quality and dynamic punch
that’s hard to achieve without EQ and
compressor tweaks.
Overall there is a solid clarity to the
Emperor sound that seems tied to expert
woodworking and construction. The aural
experience reminded me how easy it is
to forget a cabinet’s enormous role in the
tone equation, and it demonstrates just
how well Emperor understands this piece
of the sonic puzzle.
Buy if...
you want a beautiful, boutique cabinet designed to your specs that truly captures the voice of your guitar and amp.
Skip if...
light weight is more important than perfect tone.
Rating...
Street $825 - Emperor Cabinets - emperorcabs.com |
