![Rig Rundown: Intervals’ Aaron Marshall [2022]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-intervals-2022.jpg?id=29216049&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C0)
Aaron Marshall loves guitar. “I make a living every day playing the electric guitar. My identity is built around this thing. I’ve been my own boss since 2015,” he declared in a 2021 PG interview.
Aaron Marshall believes in guitar: “Anyone who thinks the death of the electric guitar is upon us is very out of touch. You can’t hold its head underwater. The electric guitar is iconic. It’s not going anywhere.”
And Aaron Marshall is never satisfied with guitar: “Everything’s perfect. Let’s change it all,” the Intervals visionary joked during this new Rig Rundown. “Everything is different, which is probably the most on-brand thing I can provide. But hopefully this is the beginning of that not being the case.”
The guitar disciple started Intervals back in 2011. He’s been the solo constant member and the band’s musical pilot. He’s put out four riveting, guitar-centric albums to date. And sure, the obvious 6-string influences are found within Intervals’ music, with complementing flavors of prog, metal, djent, and jazz all percolating together. But the ’90s kid has an unabashed love for Top 40 pop and has drawn from acts like NYSYNC, TLC, and Destiny’s Child, too, giving Intervals’ music more bounce, groove, and life. “I’ll challenge myself to put my spin on a chord progression that feels like [TLC’s] ‘No Scrubs,’ but still be Intervals about it. It’s always an experiment between me and the guitar. These sorts of experiments yield new songs.”
Before Intervals’ December ’21 headlining show at Nashville’s Mercy Lounge, prog-rock maestro Marshall reconnected with PG’s Perry Bean to catalog his rig revamp. The ensuing conversation covered the decision to pass on a high-end (but limited) partnership with Mayones for a collaboration with Schecter that aims to bring guitars to everyone across the globe. (“You still have young people that are really interested in music for music’s sake. And there is this wave of online instrumental guitar music that is the best it’s ever been.”) Plus, he meticulously details how he’s testing Neural DSP’s pedalboard powerhouse with a space-encompassing stereo setup that will resonate with fans in every corner of the room.
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Trial by Tour
Our first Rig Rundown of 2020 also featured Aaron Marshall. In that episode, he showed off a batch of gorgeous prototypes from Poland’s high-end guitar maker Mayones. The relationship eventually presented two issues for Marshall: the limited quantities produced by this handmade shop and the top-tier price tags that would make them a rare commodity for most of his fans. What he really wanted was a way to encourage more novices to pick up the instrument.
“Everything is completely amicable with Mayones—I love those dudes—but a very quality opportunity with Schecter presented itself where I’ll get influence over models that will be actually obtainable for a reasonable price point,” adds Marshall.
He toured the States in late 2021 with four Schecter signature protypes (a pair of 6-strings and 7-strings). First, his new guitar starts with Schecter’s “super-strat” C-1 platform. The DNA of these testers include a basswood body, quartersawn wenge neck (with carbon-fiber reinforcement and a truss-rod wheel), and ebony fretboard (lighted up with Luminlays side dots for dark stages). He admits to focusing a healthy amount of its development on the neck profile because he believes that “the neck dictates the user experience” and wenge was selected because “it has an heirloom-esque feel that gives you a really nice handshake with some character.” It has a real-deal Japanese Gotoh 510 Series trem (with a steel block), extra-jumbo stainless-steel frets, and is decked out with Hipshot hardware. For this run, he was auditioning Schecter’s Custom Shop Pasadena Plus pickups, but noted that those could change before production starts. (Also, he hints at a future U.S.-made model that would come with Bare Knuckle pickups.) Marshall still puts D’Addario NYXL strings (.009–.046, and .009–.064 for 7-string) on all his guitars.
Head Turner
Marshall wanted something new and something old when codesigning the headstock. So, he took Schecter’s classic, 6-in-line silhouette and reversed it (a first for the company). It also has a more severe tilt-back break than standard Schecters, removing the need for a string tree.
Secret Signature
The lone serial number and signature marking on the instrument is reserved for a subtle spot on the back of the headstock.
Shred Neck
Marshall has always preferred a bolt-on neck, and things are shored up with a 4-screw connection. This curvy layout gives full access to all 24 frets.
The Whole Enchilada
Here’s the No. 1 prototype from boot to bonnet.
Another String, Another Inch
Schecter and Marshall are also testing a 7-string model. Everything is the same as the 6-string, but this instrument has a 26.5" scale length to help with string tension.
Smaller Footprint, Bigger Tones
“People can get confused when they see changes in this type of stuff and think ‘Oh, this must be better’” comments Marshall. “Everything is sick in 2021. It’s all good.” Last time we checked in with Marshall and Intervals, he was running a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III. But as you see here, another transformation happened when he swapped out the rackmount unit out for the smaller, pedalboard-ready Neural DSP Quad Cortex. (Again, no bad blood between Aaron and Fractal. He still loves their gear, too.) And the ethos behind this rig is the same in as the past, where impulse-response-based tones are feeding the front of house PA and a Seymour Duncan PowerStage 700 compact head is pumping the onstage cabs.
Within the Quad Cortex, Marshall created three specific impulse responses with different frequencies for rhythm, lead, and split-coil sounds. The amps he uses within the unit include a Friedman (“hot sounds”), JCM800 (“clangy twangy sounds”), Bogner Shiva (“clean sounds that need a little spring and bounce”), and a Roland JC-120 Jazz Chorus (“stylized ’80s cleans”).
More than Meets the Eye
This is it—everything that Marshall uses to power up for an Intervals live show. Alongside the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, he employs a Hologram Electronics Microcosm for stutter/glitch effects, a Red Panda Tensor for laser sounds, and the DigiTech FreqOut for instant feedback. A Boss EV-30 Dual Expression pedal helps handle the filter on the Microcosm and dial in dynamics for the Quad Cortex. A TC Electronic PolyTune 3 Mini keeps his Schecters in check. And everything is housed on a custom Temple Audio DUO Series Templeboard.
Revv Rock
Another evolution is the stereo cabinets onstage, which providing a completely symmetrical sound. Both Aaron Marshall and guitarist Travis LeVrier each have a pair of custom vertical Revv 2x12s (with exquisite paisley tooling) that have a couple of Celestions: a Vintage 30 (bottom) and a G12M 65 Creamback (top).
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Vox’s Valvenergy Tone Sculptor
I spent a day workshopping ideas in my studio using just the Vox Valvenergy Smooth Impact compressor and Tone Sculptor EQ, and a dash of amp tremolo and reverb to taste. In the process, I produced more arresting sounds than I had heard from my guitars in many days. There were radical direct-to-desk-style Jimmy Page/Beatles distortion tones, sun-sized, cosmic electric 12-string, Bakersfield twang that could burn through crude, and many other sweet and nasty colors. Most decent EQ and compressor combinations can achieve variations on all those themes. But the Smooth Impact and Tone Sculptor also reveal interesting personalities in unexpected places.
The individuality and energy in the Vox Valvenergy pedals is attributable, in part, to the Nutube vacuum tube used in the circuit. Though it looks little like a vacuum tube as most guitarists know them, the thin, wafer-like Nutube is, in fact, a real vacuum tube like those used in fluorescent displays. Fluorescent display tubes have limitations. A maximum operating voltage of around 40 volts means they aren’t useful for bigger power tube applications like a 6L6, which has an operating voltage of about 400 volts. But it can work quite well as a preamp tube in concert with an op amp power section, which is how the Nutube is used in the new Valvenergy pedals, as well as older Vox products like the Vox MV50 and Superbeetle amps.
Valvenergy Tone Sculptor
When you think about “cinematic” effects, you likely imagine big reverb or modulation sounds that create a vivid picture and feeling of space or motion. But narrow, hyper-focused EQ profiles can evoke very different and equally powerful images. Radical EQ settings can add aggression, claustrophobic intimacy, and stark, explosive dark-and-light contrasts more evocative of Hitchcock’s Psycho than Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.
Any of these moods can be summoned from the Valvenergy Tone Sculptor. Six sliders cut or boost 10 dB frequency bands spanning 100 Hz to 5.6 kHz. A seventh slider cuts or boosts the master output by 12 dB. This platter of options might not sound like much. But you can use these seven controls together to very specific ends.
“Radical EQ settings can add aggression, near-claustrophobic intimacy, and stark, explosive dark-and-light contrasts.”
For example, bumping the high-midrange and the master output produces narrow cocked-wah-like filter sounds with enough push to produce extra amp overdrive—effectively turning the Tone Sculptor into a buzzy, almost fuzz-like filter effect. But unlike a wah, you can carefully scoop high end or add a spoonful of bass to blunt harsh frequencies or give the tone a bit more weight. You can also broaden the palette of an amp/guitar pairing. I matched a particularly trebly Jazzmaster bridge pickup with a very hot and toppy Vox AC15-flavored amp for this test—a recipe that can be spiky on the best days. But with the Tone Sculptor in the line, I could utilize the same sharp, fuzzy, and filtered Mick Ronson wah tones while shaving some of the most piercing frequencies.
EQ pedals exist on many points along the cost spectrum. And at $219, the Tone Sculptor lives on the high side of the affordable range. Does it offer something less expensive models can’t deliver? Well, for one thing, I found it relatively quiet, which is nice whether you’re shaping toppy high-contrast effects or performing more surgical adjustments. And the sliders feel nuanced and nicely tapered rather than like a dull axe with a few basic frequency notches. But in many situations I also liked the color imparted by the circuit—generated, presumably, by the Nutube. “Color,” in audio terms, is a broad and subjective thing, and one should not necessarily expect the warm, tube-y glow of a vintage tube Pultec. Still, the Tone Sculptor has many forgiving, flattering qualities—typical of studio EQs—that enable fine tuning and experimentation with more radical and creative applications of the effect.
Valvenergy Smooth Impact
As with the Tone Sculptor, the Smooth Impact’s use of Nutube engenders certain expectations. It’s easy to surmise that because Smooth Impact has a vacuum tube in the circuit that it will behave like a little Teletronix LA-2A leveling amplifier. That’s a big ask for a $219 stompbox. On the other hand, the Smooth Impact exhibits some appealing characteristics of studio tube compression. At lower compression levels, it works well as a thickening agent—adding mass without much additional noise. And at higher compression levels it can sound snappy, crisp, and tight without feeling like you’ve bled every trace of overtone from your signal.
The Smooth Impact’s controls aren’t totally atypical. But because it lacks some familiar features like variable attack and release, yet is more complicated than a 1-knob DynaComp, you have to trust your ear to navigate interactions among the controls. The most unfamiliar of these is the 3-way vintage/natural/sag toggle. The first two are defined by preset attack and release settings: Vintage is slow attack and long release, and natural is the opposite. The sag mode’s compression is more like what you get from tube saturation, and it’s useful for adding thickness and complexity to a thin amp tone at modest compression levels.
Though the vintage and natural modes certainly have a different feel, they don’t always sound worlds apart. And like the sag mode, the thing they have in common is the way they enrich lifeless amp output at low to medium compression, with a bit of grind from the tube gain and a little extra makeup gain from the output. At the most aggressive settings, the tube gain can get a little crispy. And really crushing the compression can flatline your tone without adding much in the way of extra sustain. These are limitations common to many compressors with similar features. But unless I was chasing very ultra-snappy Prince and Nile Rodgers fast-funk caricatures, I enjoyed the Smooth Impact most in its in-between ranges, where mass, mild, harmonious drive, and low noise showcase the pedal’s sometimes studio-like personality.
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 trio’s 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 Nashville’s Brooklyn Bowl, where Harrington broke down his complex signal chains for PG’s Chris Kies.
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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 D’Addario 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
Harrington’s 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, there’s less loss of definition and competition for frequency space.
Dave Harrington’s Pedalboards
Harrington says he never gives up on a pedal, which could explain why he’s got so many. You’re 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 NOTAKLÖN, 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 Slöer, 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 Harrington’s beloved Line 6 DL4—his desert-island, must-have pedal—along 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.
