Tame Impala & Kevin Parker – Lonerism

In a documentary celebrating the 2012 release of "Lonerism", this YouTube video shows two-seconds of the massive array of pedals on the floor of Kevin Parker's studio. Among one of the pedals is a Dunlop Fuzz Face. His Fuzz Face in particular has no white smile.

In 2013, severe weather prompted a cancellation of Austin City Limits, leaving the scheduled Tame Impala to dabble indoors. Parker can be seen again with the Fuzz Face pedal here.

More photos from a fan Tumbler site shows Parker amid an arsenal of pedals including the ubiquitous Fuzz Face.

Tame Impala's Kevin Parker spotlights some of the gear used on their album, "Lonerism" in this Redbull.com interview and had this to say about the Diamond Vibrato Pedal:

"This is used with pretty much all of the guitars on 'Lonerism.' It wobbles the pitch and makes the guitar sound like a rickety little boat on the ocean. It’s a woozy sound that you’ll hear throughout the album, a kind of seasick vibe which gives the impression that the whole thing is about to fall over. It also made the bass sound like a hungry stomach, which was weird but cool."

During preparation for the Lonerism 10th Anniversary show at Desert Daze, Kevin posted a story on his Instagram showing his pedalboard with the Moogerfooger MF-105 MuRF. It was previously believed this pedal he had all the way back during the InnerSpeaker period was the MF-105M, Midi Version, but this is incorrect. In this photo you can see the staggered inputs his guitar go in and out of, which the Midi MuRF does not have, it has a midi output and straight input jacks. So Kevin has the normal Moogerfooger MF-105 MuRF. The less expensive variant.

A boss RE-20 Space Echo pedal can be seen in the top left-hand corner of this photo of Kevin's effects board. Kevin used this pedal configuration just after the release of Tame Impala's Lonerism.

In the middle of this photo of Kevin's effects board, a Boss NS-2 can be seen. Kevin used this pedal configuration just after the release Tame Impala's Lonerism.

The image above is from 2:15 of Lonerism Episode 2

Below is an excerpt from this interview: http://tapeop.com/interviews/95/tame-impala-bonus/

"The DI is stereo, since the panning effects happen in the [BR-864]. I also use it in one song where I'm just using the built-in compressor, a fuzz pedal and overdrive going into the DI. It's just an extreme DI-fuzz sound, which is really unique."

" That's the solo in 'Why Don't You Make Up Your Mind?' "

"That's right, yeah. It's going through a stereo phaser on the album, but..."

The red Digitech Genesis 1 can be seen in a box with some other pedals, like the Acetone Stereo Phaser, Boss CE-1 Chorus and a Wah Wah at around 2:28 min.

In this photo, a Boss Blues Driver can be seen on Kevin Parker's pedalboard.

At 1:01 Kevin Parker of Tame Impala , can be seen using the Sequential Circuits Pro One.

In the picture provided, or in studio live performance of "On Track" at 0:04 seconds, and in Lonerism studio photos, a Kawaii E90 can be seen. Mostly used in "Elephant" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards", in conjunction with organ patches on a Juno 106 Patches 21-24 "Group A"

In the video "Tame Impala 'Lonerism' Episode 2" on YouTube by Modular YouTube, Kevin Parker is seen playing a Sequential Circuits Pro One Synthesizer at the 1:00 mark. Initially, there was a mix-up, as it was thought to be a Prophet 600.

Kevin mentions using SM57s for recording kicks, snares, and his guitar amps, in this interview. The Shure SM57 was usually used as the kick mic on the Tame Impala EP, InnerSpeaker, & Lonerism.

In a December 2013 article for Australia's Audio Technology magazine, Kevein Parker mentioned using the Røde K2 as a mono overhead drum mic. On the thoughts behind the choice, he said “I’m not even sure if you’re meant to use that as an overhead. I think it might be a vocal mic or something. But it works, and at the end of the day, even if you’re doing it wrong, the fact that you’re doing it wrong is going to make it sound different to how everyone else used it, which is ultimately a good thing. If you make it sound different in some way, then it’s going to give it a flavour different to everyone else that’s using the gear as it should be used.”

The mic can be seen at 0:26. It has actually been kevins main snare top mic since lonerism. Its a vintage dynamic mic that stopped production in like the 1980's instead of the newer md421's that are only made in black finishes

In the bottom left hand corner of this photo of Kevin and his studio, a vintage 1966 Ludwig Blue Sparkle 3 piece (Kick Drum, Tom, Floor Tom) drum kit can be seen. Kevin used this kit on the recording of 'Lonerism' but since the recording of Tame Impala's 3rd album 'Currents', Kevin has a new kick drum.

At 0:45 of this video, Kevin can be seen using a 1966 Ludwig 14 x 7 Supraphonic snare drum with his kit.

At 0:42 of this video, Kevin can be seen using Zildjian 14" NewBeats Hi-Hats on his kit.

In the video "Tame Impala 'Lonerism' Episode 3" on YouTube, Kevin Parker is shown using a Zildjian 22" K Constantinople Renaissance Ride cymbal. Contrary to popular belief, this cymbal is not the Medium Thin Low model. At 0:45 in the video, the cymbal's frequency matches that of the Renaissance Ride, highlighting its distinct sound. Kevin's choice delivers an exceptional wash when struck hard, especially when paired with a stereo flanger, creating the signature Tame Impala vibe.

in this video kevin is using the digidesign pro tools controller in 1:24.

In this screenshot of Kevin's rack from the 'Lonerism' episodes, a DBX 166XL can be seen in the middle of all his rack mounts.

Kevin used this compressor to get the drum sound on lonerism. “Compressors are what make awesome drum sounds. So I have a couple of vintage compressors. One of them is a dbx 165 that’s pretty much responsible for making the drums sound like John Bonham. I got it purely by chance. I bought it just before working on Innerspeaker because I felt like I should get some boxes with knobs on them with the album budget. I thought, ‘alright, I’ll just go on eBay and get a vintage compressor.’ I didn’t even know what I was doing the first time I used it, but I put the drums through it and it sounded pumping, like hip hop — it sounded awesome.”

At 1.03 of this video from the Lonerism Episodes, a Chandler TG2 can be seen in Kevin's rack.

In this photo of Kevin's rack during the Lonerism episodes, a Shure SE-30 Gated Compressor can be seen underneath the KTG.

You can see the Teczon 4 track cassette recorder in this picture on the back of the Lonerism album.

Photo was from the innerspeaker sessions. Kevin used this in both Innerspeaker and Lonerism.

In this YouTube Video by Tame Impala's record label "Modular" - with clips of Kevin recording Lonerism, A Unibody MacBook Pro from 2010-12 is spotted on his desk at 0:54 after recording the drum parts for "Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control."

In this screenshot of Kevin's rack from the 'Lonerism' episodes, a Bellari RP503 Tube Channel Preamp can be seen second from the bottom.

At 1.03 of this video from the Lonerism Episodes, a Sony SRA-3 can be seen on Kevin's rack.

At 1:27 he is playing "Mind Mischief" with Epiphone DR

Kevin has been using pro marks for a long time now at least since the the lonerism recording days, the 5a hickory tear drop model is the closest stick I could find that resembles the picture the most

Kevin has been known to use a 1965 Hofner violin bass since Lonerism. you can tell its a 1965/66 model due to the the larger pickup rings and the larger control panel, with binding and a raised plastic logo.

source for the year: https://www.hofner.com/violin_bass_history