used on the record as well. We also used the
DI output on any acoustics that had one, just to
have the extra sonic options later.
For acoustic guitars, Alex used an ADK SC-T
mic on the neck, with the AKG 414 on the
body. He also used an esoteric Chinese
Stellar tube condenser, as well as a Tech 21
SansAmp acoustic DI. He used mostly the
Focusrite ISA428 and the UA 610 on the
amps, capturing the sound with a pair of
SM57s—one straight at the cone and one
at a 45-degree angle next to it. The Peavey
5150 II was the primary head he recorded
Ace with, but he also used a small Peavey
Bandit amp for certain overdubs with a 57.
Alex also recorded two tracks of drums with
Anton in Ace’s live room. He used an AKG D 112
on the kick, a pair of the ADKs as overheads, an
AKG 414 on bottom of snare, an SM57 on top,
as well as Sennheiser MD 409s on the toms. He
also tracked vocals with the AKG “The Tube”
and a 414, using mostly the Focusrite ISA 428.
I asked Marty Frederiksen how he hooked
up with Ace for this project. This is his reply:
“Me and Anthony Focx were mixing songs for
the Guitar Hero: Metallica and Guitar Hero:
Aerosmith games and David Iscove told Ace
about us. He said, ‘You should have Marty mix
the record,’ and Ace was out in L.A. and came
by a few days later. That’s how it all happened.”
I also asked Marty how the record was mixed,
and how they did the guitars on “Fox on the
Run,” and this is what he told me: “We mixed it
all in Pro Tools, with things like the URS and SSL
channel strip plug-ins. You know, we used all the
good stuff that’s available out there! The whole
approach was that he wanted to keep it as old
school as possible. The fact of the matter is we
ended up tightening a few little things, but it was
pretty much all there. We didn’t put everything
on the grid, but like most records, if something
just needed a nudge here and there, we did it.
We used drum samples with the real drums, just
to give it a big sound. That also helped tie up a
long recording process of his and make it sound
like one record.
“For ‘Fox on the Run,’ we went DI, using
Digidesign’s Eleven. I played a little on that track
as well, some rhythm and some bass, and Brian
Tichy played drums. We really knocked that
one out and did it in about a day. Overall, it’s a
heavy, riff-based record with some great songs.
He got to lay down some killer parts on all his
songs without anyone telling him what to do.
We kind of cleaned it up a bit, killed a couple
of guitars if there was too much going on, but
it’s all Ace. He’s a guitar hero, and I just felt we
could help him tie it all together to make a cohe-sive-sounding record. It came out great.”
