A Compendium of The Instruments
of À Rebours
Pitch Generating Engines:
Ibanez RG7420
- Description:
- 7-string electric guitar, black pearl.
- H-H configuration w/5-way switch.
- Detuned one whole step w/D'Addario XL strings.
- Mods:
- Frets dressed; action and intonation set for dropped tuning.
- Dunlop Straplok system installed.
- Prop clockwork winding mechanism installed in amongst the controls.
- Custom painted decorative knobs.
- Velcro pad on the edge for docking the EBow on the fly.
- Special Features:
- 24 frets.
- Floyd Rose licensed bridge.
- 5-way selector switch.
- Notes:
- This is Ian's primary guitar; pretty much everything is played on it. This instrument allows him to create so many different sounds—from delicate, dreamy ambience to absolute brutality—he couldn't get by without it. It's extremely versatile and playable.
- As heard on:
- “NecRomance,” “Cardiac Thanatosis,” “Chiaroscuro,” and pretty much everything else.
Washburn KC-70V
- Description:
- 6-string electric guitar, black.
- H-S configuration
- Detuned one-whole step w/D'Addario XL strings.
- Mods:
- Seymour Duncan JB installed in the bridge position.
- Removal of the original single coil in the center position; rearranging of the toggle switches.
- Frets dressed; action and intonation set for dropped tuning.
- Dunlop Straplok system installed.
- Various additional paint and hardware mods (painted pickup ring, decorative vacuum tube in the center pickup cavity).
- Special Features:
- Coil-tap push/pull tone control.
- Floyd Rose licensed bridge.
- EMG Select single-coil in the neck position.
- Notes:
- This one's been around for almost fifteen years now and is a fantastic guitar. It has a lighter gauge of strings giving it that Johnny Marr-ish jangle which, in conjunction with the JB pickup and coil tapping, also works to crank out a crispier, strat-like distortion. It also has less gain than the Ibanez's pickups, but with its totally different tone colors it creates a very rich, singing tone. It's all about adding subtle variations in tone to the palette.
- As heard on:
- “This Winter,” “Chiaroscuro.”
Ovation Elite 1778T, "Bubbles"
- Description:
- Acoustic/Electric guitar, black.
- Detuned one-whole step w/Martin stings.
- Mods: none.
- Special Features:
- Built-in preamp w/tuner and 3-band EQ.
- Active piezo pickup.
- Notes:
- Bubbles is Ian's main acoustic/electric. It has an awesome, rich tone, and it's surpisingly playable for a big acoustic. The sound of this guitar is truly sublime (although many players criticize the Ovation sound, Ian actually prefers it). We usually pump this through the tube DI and give it a little reverb kiss and that's all. It just doesn't need anything else. Additionally, many songs are written on this guitar (even though said songs usually end up chorused, distorted, delayed, phased, compressed and/or twisted around somehow).
- As heard on:
- “This Winter,” “The Wicked One,” “Dust.”
Ovation Celebrity Deluxe CS257
- Decription:
- Acoustic/Electric guitar, ruby redburst.
- Detuned one-whole step w/Martin strings.
- Mods: none.
- Special Features:
- Built-in preamp w/3-band EQ.
- Active piezo pickup.
- Nashville tuning.
- Notes:
- Other than being simply a backup acoustic/electric, this one's permanently on “Nashville” tuning so it has a very high, bell-like sound that gets used quite often. We can use it to double the other acoustic with chords to get a very full, complex sound that has a distinct character apart from just using a chorus effect or a 12-string guitar. We can also use this to play rhythms and melodies that would sound plain on a standard-tuned guitar, now becoming alien and unique on this one. Though the tone is not as rich as the Elite, it's still an important part of the family.
- As heard on:
- “This Winter,” “The Wicked One.”
Ibanez Ergodyne EDB600
- Description:
- 4-string electric bass, satin pearl green.
- Detuned one-whole step w/Ernie Ball strings.
- Mods: Interesting blue and pink hair ties around the headstock. No one's really sure what these are for, but Ryan refuses to remove them.
- Special Features:
- Active electronics
- 3-band EQ
- Luthite body
- Scooped top
- Notes:
- This is Ryan's primary instrument. Exceptionally versatile in the tones it can create via the built in EQ, and well-suited to a variety of playing approaches, which is good because Ryan certainly dishes out the punishment on it.
- As heard on:
- Everything live, and in forthcoming new material (esp. “Ghostship,” and “The Autumn Parlour”).
Conklin Groove Tools GT-7
- Description:
- 7-string electric bass, natural finish.
- Detuned one-whole step w/Conklin strings.
- Mods: Dunlop Straplok system installed.
- Special Features:
- Uhmmm...did I mention it has seven strings?
- 3-band EQ
- Active Bertolini pickups.
- Notes:
- This thing is monstrously HUGE (pic is not to scale); it sneaks out at night and moonlights as an aircraft carrier. Despite the cumbersome size and weight, this has become so important to my sound that I couldn't live without it. The extended range allows music to be written that otherwise couldn't be played, and the pickup tone is amazing besides. It's also surprisingly easy to play despite the hyperbolic radius of the fretboard. This is an amazing instrument. All basslines on “Vanish” were played on this, along with interesting little adornments here and there—usually when Ian's channeling his inner Robert Smith.
- As heard on:
- Especially prominent in “Dust,” “The Reformation” and “Chiaroscuro,” as well as on forthcoming new material such as “Oscar Wilde.”
Apple iPod (miniature automatic phonograph)
- Description:
- Portable media player, white color.
- Supports Mp3, Mp4, .wav, and .aiff.
- 20 GB capacity.
- Mods: none, although Honkus sits atop a custom made stand that looks pretty bad ass.
- Notes:
- This should almost be considered a member of the band. Honkus is loaded with audio that comprises the backing tracks (i.e. synth and percussion) which is then piped directly into the PA mixer via a 1/8"-to-dual XLR connection, and a BBE Sonic Maximizer functioning as a DI box. The service of this little box has been flawlessly reliable, and indeed, in lieu of live bandmates it has proven to be a most worthy companion onstage.
- As heard on:
- All live shows to date.
Supplementary Apparatuses:
Manual Appliances
- A legion of Dunlop .96mm gator grip picks, as well as some 2 mm jumbos
- EBow Plus
- Gorilla Snot cymbolic metal pick
- Jellifish tined pick
- Joe Perry “Boneyard” ceramic slide
- Shubb capo
- A pair of Pro-Mark drum sticks (good for banging on strings and such)
Floor Devices
- Shure SM58 Microphone on boom stand.
- Pedal Train Pro pedal board that holds:
- Line 6 Floorboard controller
- Loop-Master A/B/C switching box
- Effector 13 Punch Love Plus
- Electro-Harmonix Small Clone
- Electro-Harmonix Small Stone
- Boss SD-1 Super Overdrive
- Earthquaker Devices Crimson Drive
- Effector 13 Disaster Fuzz Plus
- Earthquaker Devices Hoof Fuzz
- Empress Tap Tremolo
- Line 6 Spider 2x12 combo amp
- Warwick CCL210 Neodyn bass combo amp
Rack-Mounted Devices
- Guitar Rig:
- Furman PL-Plus power conditioner
- Line 6 POD Pro guitar processor
- T.C. Electronic M300 dual engine processor
- BBE 482i Sonic Maximizer
- Vocal Rig:
- Behringer Mic2200 tube preamp
- BBE 882i Sonic Maximizer
Ordinateur-Impelled Programmes
- Cakewalk SONAR 4 Producer Edition
- Properllerhead Reason 3.0
- Sound Forge 6.0
- Apple iTunes
- BBE Sonic Maximizer VST plugin
- AnalogX SayIt, Delay Calc, Vocoder and Rhyme
- PowerTab
Miscellaneous Contrivances…
- Two Toshiba Satellite Laptop Ordinateurs
- One SONY VAIO Personal Ordinateur
- Tascam US-122 USB Audio/MIDI Interface
- Behringer Eurodesk UB1202 and UB805 mixers
- Hercules GS422B Double AGS Stand
- Electro-Harmonix Big Muff Pi
- Dunlop Crybaby
- Backup Shure SM58 Microphone
- A.R.T. X-15 Ultrafoot MIDI controller
- Digitech DHP-33
- Korg ER-1 Analogue Percussion Synth
- Cables, cables and more cables of every kind
- A couple of old Casio keyboards
- Odds & ends too numerous to list
