You won’t believe how long it took Matt Bellamy’s guitar tech to capture all his amp sounds
For a spectacle that is a Muse show, frontman Matt Bellamy is pretty particular about the sounds he wants onstage. The Manson-toting guitarist is well and truly an amp modeller convert, with a Fractal Audio Axe-Fx III being the heart of his live rig.
Yep, Bellamy’s arsenal of custom electric guitars might be the main attraction for regular folk attending Muse shows. His numero uno, a Floyd Rose-equipped Manson MB and the stunning mirror guitar with an MXR Phase 90 and ZVEX Fuzz Factory built right in, are some notable highlights.
But for us slightly nerdier guitar gear aficionados, what’s lurking within the walls of his rack-mount amp and effects processor is far more intriguing…
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And that’s because it’s packed with heaps of custom amp captures from Vox, Diezel, Laney, Orange, and Fender amps, and even a Gibson amp dating back to 1938. And as his guitar tech Chris Whitemyer explains in a new interview with Premier Guitar, the process of capturing them was so meticulous that it took a whopping 63 days. That’s over two months…
“That was one thing Matt insisted on, was ‘I don’t want anyone else’s amps.’ He wants his amps,” Whitemyer explains, adding that the Muse superstar is the proud owner of “about 35” amps. “There’s kind of oddball ones that are really cool, and they’re all in there [the Axe-FX III].”
The veteran guitar tech, who has also worked with Guns N’ Roses, Whitesnake and Nine Inch Nails, goes on to explain how he and Bellamy are “always” running a combination of amp sounds as opposed to any one on its own, and says he runs three Axe-Fx III units concurrently to get Bellamy’s sound.
“All of those amp sounds [in the Axe-Fx III] are his amps,” Whitemyer says. “[We modelled] everything. 63 days, eight hours a day, left before dinner every day…”
Earlier this year, Manson – which is part-owned by Meng Ru Kuok, CEO of the Caldecott Music Group, which also owns Guitar.com – announced that it had worked with Matt Bellamy to create a production-run model of his iconic Time is Running Out guitar.
Loaded with a slew of integrated systems, including a Sustainiac Sustainer, Z-Vex Fuzz Factory, Manson/Ron Joyce FL Wah, and a MIDI Strip controller, the guitar comes at a hefty price tag, with the more decked out version sitting at £29,999, and a [slightly] more affordable model available at £11,999.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
