=✯ 21.9/<.? 1
created a ton of “tone suck,” which is basically your guitar signal Another plus to this setup is that if there happened to be a short
getting loaded and dragged down because of all of the resistance or something else that caused a cable to malfunction, we could
and capacitance in the large distance of cable you are running. quickly diagnose the problem. Rather than having to unplug each
This occurs with all guitar cables. effect to attempt to determine the location of the snag, we can
isolate the gremlins with the true bypass switches, and then nar-To fix this, we use a line buffer. Inside the true bypass box on row it down to whether it is going to or coming from the offend-Brent’s board is a high-quality buffer – the guitar plugs into this ing pedal.
box and goes directly to a line buffer, then to all of the true
bypass boxes. This helps move the pure signal from the guitar to So if you’re looking to cop that Brent Mason tone without building
the amp with minimal loading. a massive looped pedalboard, what is needed first and foremost
is practice, practice and more practice. After that, a Telecaster
Now, let’s look at the effects order on Brent’s board: we have through a compressor will get you in the ballpark. The Keeley
the Voodoo Lab Microvibe into the Boss TR- 2 Tremolo, then the Compressor is a really nice unit based on the Ross Compressor,
Boss TU- 2 tuner. That’s followed by the Vox V847, a Boss AW- 3 similar to an MXR Dynacomp, which can get you close. I am
Dynamic Wah, a Keeley Compressor, an IndyGuitarist-modified actually working on a new compressor design with Brent that will
Tube Screamer and an IndyGuitarist-modified Sparkle Drive. We blend the best of what the Keeley compressor has to offer with
then have a Hermida Audio Technology Zendrive, Xotic BB Preamp, the clean guitar signal. This creates a much more dynamic com-Xotic RC Booster, Boss GE- 7 EQ, and a Keeley Katana. The sig- pression that is more transparent.
nal then goes into what Brent calls a “chrome clean boost” – a
Creation Audio Labs MK 4. 23, then an old Electro-Harmonix Small From the compressor, send the signal into a light overdrive, like
Stone which goes into a Boss FV500H volume pedal and finally to a Tube Screamer or a Sparkle Drive. Brent also uses one of my
a Boss Digital Dimension DC- 3. modded Boss BD- 2 Blues Drivers on occasion. From there, add a
delay pedal for slapback, textured-type tones using trailing delays
From there, we determine whether the output is going to be and modulated delays with a little chorus sprinkled on top. To top
dual-mono or true stereo. This is achieved with various solid- it off, send the signal to a nice sounding Fender tube amp – Brent
staterelays,keepingittruebypass.Thesignalthengoestoa likestouseFenderTwins.
DLSRotoSIM,intoaLine6DL4andoutfromtheretohisvari-
ous amps. But is all of this really necessary to get the Brent Mason tone?
Absolutely not. If you’re a phenomenal player like Brent, then you
Anotherquestionthatpopsupisifthelinebufferisofsuch couldprobablyplaythecheapestguitaryoucouldpossiblythinkof
highquality,whytheneedfortrue-bypass?Theanswerisina throughthecrummiestampyoucouldfindandpeoplewillstillbe
studiosetting,whenthebesttonepossibleisanecessity,we going,“Man,howdidyougetthattosoundsogood?”95percent
caneliminateallofthatexcesscablingandensuingresistance ofitistheplayer,intheirhandsandthewaytheyrespondtojust
andcapacitance.Thecableisonlyinthepathofthesignalwhen pickinguptheguitarandplayingit.Itcomesfromtheirheartand
thetruebypassswitchisengagedandtheeffectlevelisset thewaytheyplay.Forexample,evenwhenIplaythroughthis
appropriately to overcome any loading that might be present. Keep pedalboard, I sound totally different than Brent. Remember, you
in mind this is minimal with the high quality buffer in place, but can still have a great setup and sound amazing, but each person is
necessarywhenyourjobistotrytomakeeverysongaradiohit goingtosoundunique.
likeNashville”’sA-listplayersdo.Witheverythingoff,Brent”’sguitar
signalisgoingfromtheguitar,directlythroughthebuffer,and
✯then out to the amp, bypassing all the cabling and effects on the
pedalboard–inessence,themostpureaudiopathpossible.
www.premierguitar.com
✯Brian Wampler
ates IndyGuitarist Custom Effects – IndyGuitarist.com. His books
include How to Build Effect Pedals, How to Modify Effect Pedals,
and Advanced DIY Effect Pedals
PREMIER GUITAR NOVEMBER 2007 63
