![Rig Rundown: Living Colour's Vernon Reid and Doug Wimbish [2016]](https://www.premierguitar.com/media-library/rig-rundown-living-colour-vernon-reid-doug-wimbish-2016.jpg?id=31803272&width=1245&height=700&quality=85&coordinates=0%2C0%2C0%2C90)
Reid’s muse has recently brought him to work with PRS to create his No.1, a 2015 S2 Vela VR prototype with EMG 57/66 pickups and a Roland GK synth pickup. The somewhat complicated controls allow Reid to mix, match, and blend all the pickups together.
This 2015 PRS Custom 24 serves as Reid’s backup. Paul Smith himself reshaped the neck into a deep-V contour. It houses a set of PRS 85/85 pickups and a Roland GK pickup. Both guitars are strung with D’Addario NYXL .011–.049 strings and travel in a Mono M80 Dual Electric Guitar Case.
Reid runs two Mesa/Boogie heads: a Dual Rectifier from the early nineties and a slightly younger Trem-O-Verb. Each amp runs into a dedicated Mesa Rectifier cabinet.
In addition to the mighty Boogies, Reid uses a super-cool 50-watt Supro Titan 1x12.
Reid’s amp arsenal is rounded out with a Kemper Profiling Amplifier.
Reid’s post-guitar signal chain is notoriously complex, but he’s essentially using parallel signal paths to feed four different sub rigs. His main board features a Line 6 M9 modded by JVH3 Audio, Eventide H9 and PitchFactor stomps, a Roland FC-300 MIDI foot controller that governs a Roland VG-99 (not shown), an AMT EX-50 mini expression pedal, and a Mission Engineering Expressionator that allows the AMT to control up to three separate devices.
From there, it goes to two DOD AC 240 Resistance Mixers that feed the Kemper.
This board is in line with Reid’s Supro Titan combo and features Pigtronix Echolution 2 Ultra Pro and Philosopher’s Tone pedals, another Eventide H9, a TC Electronic Flashback X4, a Red Panda Particle, Moore Black Secret and Ultra Drive stomps, a Zoom G3X, a Source Audio Soundblox Pro Classic Distortion, three Roland EV-5 expression pedals, and another Mission Engineering Expressionator.
On Reid’s right sits this table full of technology. The centerpiece is the Roland VG-99 synth that sits next to a Focusrite iTrack Dock. The Edirol M-10MX 10-channel mixer receives signals from various sources including the iPad, Red Witch Synthotron, and Electro-Harmonix Mel9.
Since 1987, Wimbish has played his ’87 NS2 Spector signature model prototype bass that features an EMG PJ Pickup set wired into a Spector preamp section and strung with Rotosound .040-.100 strings.
When Wimbish needs that low B, he uses his 1987 NS2 Spector 5-string. It’s also loaded with a set of EMG Jazz pickups and Spector preamp. He also uses Rotosound strings (.040–.120) and Mono cases with Moody straps.
Wimbish runs two Trace Elliot AH 1200-12 heads. The amps run into a pair of Trace Elliot cabs (4x10 and 1x15) that are loaded with Celestion speakers.
The signal path on bassist Doug Wimbish’s main board begins at a Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, and then proceeds to an older Pigtronix Disnortion and a Danelectro Daddy O. Also featured are three Bosses—a BF-2 flanger, a Slicer and a DD-3 delay (the SD-1 Super OverDrive housing actually holds an 800-ms digital delay/sampler)—DigiTech Whammy and Synth Wah stomps, a Dunlop Cry Baby wah, a vintage DOD FX25 envelope filter, and a Way Huge Ring Worm. Wimbish stays in tune with a Peterson StroboPlus HD.
A secondary board houses yet another pair of Eventide H9 units, a Pigtronix Infinity looper, and a Beat Buddy (which Wimbish demonstrates to Billy Cox in the video).
Special thanks to the band’s extremely hard-working tech, Jeff Cummings.
Naturally, every recording Eddie Van Halen ever played on has been pored over by legions of guitar players of all styles. It might seem funny, then, to consider EVH solos that might require more attention. But your 100 Guitarists hosts have their picks of solos that they feel merit a little discussion. Some of these are deep cuts—get ready for some instrumental bonus tracks and Van Halen III mentions—and some are among the biggest radio hits of their time. Just because their hits, though, doesn’t mean we don’t have more to add to the conversation.
We can’t cover everything EVH—Jason has already tried while producing the Runnin’ With the Dweezil podcast. But we cover as much as we can in our longest episode yet. And in the second installment of our current listening segment, we’re talking about new-ish music from Oz Noy and Bill Orcutt.
Tinkering with theSDE-3 Dual Digital Delay suggested a similar, possibly enduring appeal. As an evolution of the Roland SDE-3000rack unit from the 1980s, it’s a texture machine, bubbling with subtle-to-odd triangle LFO modulations and enhanced dual-delay patterns that make tone mazes from dopey-simple melodies. And with the capacity to use it with two amps in stereo or in panning capacity, it can be much more dimensional. But while the SDE-3 will become indispensable to some for its most complex echo textures, its basic voice possesses warmth that lends personality in pedestrian applications too.
Tapping Into the Source
Some interest in the original SDE-3000 is in its association with Eddie Van Halen, who ran two of them in a wet-dry-wet configuration, using different delay rates and modulation to thicken and lend dimension to solos. But while EVH’s de facto endorsement prompted reissues of the effect as far back as the ’90s, part of the appeal was down to the 3000’s intrinsic elegance and simplicity.
In fact, the original rack unit’s features don’t differ much from what you would find on modern, inexpensive stompbox echoes. But the SDE-3000’s simplicity and reliable predictability made it conducive to fast workflow in the studio. Critically, it also avoided the lo-fi and sterility shortcomings that plagued some lesser rivals—an attribute designer Yoshi Ikegami chalks up to analog components elsewhere in the circuit and a fortuitous clock imprecision that lends organic essence to the repeats.
Evolved Echo Animal
Though the SDE-3 traces a line back to the SDE-3000 in sound and function, it is a very evolved riff on a theme. I don’t have an original SDE-3000 on hand for comparison, but it’s easy to hear how the SDE-3 bridges a gap between analog haze and more clinical, surgical digital sounds in the way that made the original famous. Thanks to the hi-cut control, the SDE-3’s voice can be shaped to enhance the angular aspect of the echoes, or blunt sharp edges. There’s also a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats. That also means you can take advantage of the polyrhythmic effects that are arguably its greatest asset.
“There’s a lot of leeway to toy with varied EQ settings without sacrificing the ample definition in the repeats.”
The SDE-3’s offset control, which generates these polyrhythmic echoes, is its heart. The most practical and familiar echos, like quarter, eighth, and dotted-eighth patterns, are easy to access in the second half of the offset knobs range. In the first half of the knob’s throw, however, the offset delays often clang about at less-regular intervals, producing complex polyrhythms that are also cool multipliers of the modulation and EQ effects. For example, when emphasizing top end in repeats, using aggressive effects mixes and pitch-wobble modulation generates eerie ghost notes that swim through and around patterns, adding rhythmic interest and texture without derailing the drive behind a groove. Even at modest settings, these are great alternatives to more staid, regular subdivision patterns. Many of the coolest sounds tend toward the foggy reverb spectrum. Removing high end, piling on feedback, and adding the woozy, drunken drift from modulation creates fascinating backdrops for slow, sparse chord melodies. Faster modulations throb and swirl like old BBC Radiophonic Workshop sci-fi sound designs.
By themselves, the modulations have their own broad appeal. Chorus tones are rarely the archetypal Roland Jazz Chorus or CE type—tending to be a bit darker and mistier. But they do a nice job suggesting that texture without lapsing into caricature. There are also really cool rotary-speaker-like textures and vibrato sounds that offer alternatives to go-to industry standards.
The Verdict
The SDE-3’s many available sounds and textures would be appealing at $219—even without the stereo and panning connectivity options, a useful hold function, and expression pedal control that opens up additional options. The panning capabilities, in particular, sparked all kinds of thoughts about studio applications. Mastering the SDE-3 takes just a little study—certain polyrhythms can be dramatically reshaped by the interactivity of other controls and you need to take care to achieve identical results twice. But this is a pedal that, by virtue of its relative simplicity and richness and breadth of sounds, exceeds the utility of some similarly priced rivals, all while opening up possibilities well outside the simple echo realm
Reader: T. Moody
Hometown: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Guitar: The Green Snake
Reader T. Moody turned this Yamaha Pacifica body into a reptilian rocker.
I have always loved the reverse headstock, simply because nothing says 1987 (the best year in the history of the world) like a reverse headstock. The pickups are both Seymour Duncan—an SH-1N in the neck position and TB-4 in the bridge, both in a very cool lime green color. Right when these pickups got listed, the Buy It Now button once again lit up like the Fourth of July. I am a loyal disciple of Sperzel locking tuners and think Bob Sperzel was a pure genius, so I knew those were going on this project even before I started on it. I also knew that I wanted a Vega-Trem; those units are absolutely amazing.
When the body arrived, I thought it would be cool to do some kind of burst around the yellow so I went with a neon green. It turned out better than I imagined. Next up was the shaping and cutting of the pickguard. I had this crocodile-type, faux-leather material that I glued on the pickguard and then shaped to my liking. I wanted just a single volume control and no tone knob, because, like King Edward (Van Halen) once said, “Your volume is your tone.”
T. Moody
I then shaped and glued the faux-leather material in the cavity. The tuning knobs, volume knob, pickguard, screws, and selector switch were also painted in the lemon-lime paint scheme. I put everything together, installed the pickups, strung it up, set it up, plugged it in, and I was blown away. I think this is the best-playing and -sounding guitar I have ever tried.
The only thing missing was the center piece and strap. The latter was easy because DiMarzio makes their ClipLock in neon green. The center piece was more difficult because originally, I was thinking that some kind of gator-style decoration would be cool. In the end, I went with a green snake, because crocodiles ain’t too flexible—and they’re way too big to fit in a pickup cavity!
The Green Snake’s back is just as striking as the front.
