Al Cisneros
Al Cisneros' Gear
In the photo attached we can see that the DS-1 is part of his pedalboard.
At 6:56 Al is in front of his 2 matamp heads and matamp slave unit which are going into his 3 bass cabinets. He purchased when recording "Jerusalem" or "Dopesmoker" he still uses them in his band OM.
The pedal can clearly be seen on the left of his pedalboard. Al Cisneros uses this pedal with his band OM and is a key element to his fuzz bass tone. Listen to state of non return to hear the tone.
According to his Wikipedia, this is a part of his gear. In the Youtube video we can see that he plays this bass in a concert in Denver. The only 4080 in existence with Aquaglo finish, checkerboard binding on body and both necks, and full-width crushed pearl inlays. Constructed for Al using a 4001 body and hardware and custom woodwork for body and necks.
In this picture, we can see Al with 4 Ampeg SVT VR heads.
Al can be seen playing this Rickenbacker in the photo, as well as several gig videos. It appears 4004-derived given the amount of knobs and switches as well as the neck pickup placement. Unlike a regular 4004, it has three pickups instead of just two, and one of the knobs appears to employ some form of sliding mechanism.
Al uses a Dual Dark half stack in addition to his Ampeg stacks.
Here is seen playing his 5-string Rickenbacker
In reference to the gear shown in Such Hawks, Such Hounds video 6:56 the images are of Al Cisneros and original Sleep/Om drummer Chris Hakius.
The amps and cabs are as follows from top to bottom: Vivekananda MATAMP USA 6550 Custom Amp Vivekananda GREEN Electricamp USA KT88 POWER UNIT http://www.planetoftheamps.com/al-cisneros-electricamp-usa.html GREEN Matamp Slave 200 [Sleep era] http://www.greenamps.com/sleep/green-200-watt-slave-unit.html ELECTRIC AMP USA Bass 4x12 #1 ELECTRIC AMP USA BAss 4x12 #2 On both sides of the stack are: GREEN 4x15 Speaker Cabinets [Sleep era] http://www.planetoftheamps.com/om-al-cisneros-electricamp.html
Al's two amps engraved VIVEKANADA are two custom amps specially built for Al Cisneros. His name is engraved in the upper right hand corner. Both of the amps were built during Al's return to the music industry with his new band Om and used on his recordings.
The Green Matamp Slave was indeed made from an early 1970's era Matamp, covered in "green". You can see the inside of the amp at the link above.
The SLEEP era GREEN equipment is no longer owned by Al Cisneros.
In 2012 Electric Amp USA repaired the two GREEN 4x15's for Al Cisneros and boxed them up so they could be shipped to the new owner HANK3 in Nashville. Later in 2014 Electric Amp USA overhauled the GREEN Slave 200 and it too was sold to HANK3.
Al still owns his custom made Matamp USA and ELECTRIC AMP USA equipment for his personal use. Currently Al endorses AMPEG for his primary amps and cabs at shows and for his "B" line up now endorses ORANGE.
It has been claimed that Al used this pedal on Shrinebuilder on many pages, including Mountainking's own webpage, Wikipedia, and numerous forums. On the Mountainking archive page, it is claimed that the Megalith prototype was produced for Al: "MEGALITH prototype. Built for Al Cisneros."
This pedal can be seen in the top right of his pedalboard. Interesting to note that this may be the first pedal in the chain.
After recording Holy Mountain Cisneros used this Sparkle Green Rickenbacker on tour and while shooting the Dragonaut video.
Cisneros sold this bass before recording Dopesmoker. He talks to Bass Magazine how he tried to buy it back but wasn't able to.
though i cannot tell if it is translucent green, i can relatively clearly see a Rickenbacker 4004CII Cheyenne in the music video for Om's "State of Non-Return". Specifically at time stamps 3:10, 4:26, and 6:05.
Al Cisneros is seen using the Raagini Digital Electronic Tanpura, a tabletop synthesizer, in his work with OM, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Postimg.
Al Cisneros prominently uses a Rickenbacker 4003 bass, as shown in a user-uploaded photo on Flickr.
The pedal can be seen in the center of the attached picture
The pedal can be seen in the upper right hand corner of the attached picture
In the corner of the image, the distinct footprint if the Parachute Wah can be seen. As a faithful replica of the wah used in Black Sabbath songs, it's no wonder he owns one.
Two PF-350's are seen stacked behind Al, between the Ampeg SVT stack and the drummer.
In April 2019, Rickenbacker released the 4003AC Al Cisneros Signature bass, featuring distinctive green inlays, dual single-coil pickups with a unique neck pickup position closer to the bridge, dual pickup covers, and a thumb rest, as a tribute to Al Cisneros.
In this video we can see turned on Mesa Dual Rectifiers next to Al's Ampegs.
During a live performance by Sleep at Mohawk in Austin, TX, on May 1, 2016, a DigiTech JamMan Solo can be seen on Al Cisneros's pedalboard. Although it appears blurry, the device is present without any inputs connected, suggesting it is used for playing pre-recorded samples.
In this video, Al is clearly seen using it, stacked on a SVT-810 cab.
In the photo attached we can see that the TU-2 is part of his pedalboard too. Just a chromatic tuner despite this f*cker tunes in Drop C every time.
The power supply can be seen in the centre of the attached picture
Al Cisneros is known for using the Ampeg SVT-810E 8x10 Bass Cabinet, as seen in the SLEEP live performance at Hellfest 2013 on YouTube, uploaded by crypticdon. This gear is essential to his powerful and distinctive tone.
seen in this picture of Al from 94-ish (alternate angle available in the may 94 issue of thrasher magazine where the space echo is indeed visible)
The pedal can be seen in the upper left hand corner of the atatched picture
Al uses this bass alongside his 5 string walnut bass and of course his signature walnut 4003AC
This is a community-built gear list for Al Cisneros.
- Find relevant music gear like Microphones, Bass Guitars, Amplifiers, Effects Pedals, and other instruments and add it to Al Cisneros.
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Discography