Toto – Old Is New

Lukather (July 2002) "I went back to where I was with my gear circa 1990-91, but with subtle improvements. BRADSHAW baby! That pre-amp for me is better than the Rivera and was the sonic blue print for the Bonehead. I hadn't played thru my CAE-3+ in 5 years and when I plugged my Bradshaw in, it blew my mind. I then broke out my VHT power amps... and yes again... warmth, tone... I rest my case. I still have my PCM 70's... vintage now and some cool Line 6 stuff. Very small and compact and it sounds better than ever! I used this rig on my new Xmas record coming fall 2003. As for the new Toto record I used a stock 1/12 Marshall combo plugged direct and all EFX used are from the console. I did this for 2 reasons. One is to dispell the myth that my GEAR plays for me and not the other way around. Second I wanted to see just how many DIFFERENT sounds I could get with this simple amp and my most loved MusicMan guitars which are also stock. When you listen you be the judge."

Lukather (April 2002): "I use a Roland keyboard volume pedal but it's pretty much whatever you like that feels good. The pedal is early in the chain so that when you fade out the delays keep going and you're not fading out your entire sound. You guys gotta understand, I am NOT a tech kinda guy. Bob Bradshaw designs all my stuff. He has since 1984. I am putting together a brand new rig as I write this. I tell him what I want and he does all the brain work to make it happen and he pretty much knows what I want." Amplifiers: the VHT classic power amp for the dry clean through the mid channel and the VHT stereo effects amp for the stereo effects through the left and right channels. Pre-amp: Custom Audio Electronics 3+ (CAE 3+, Bob Bradshaw) with three sound switches: clean, dirty and very dirty.

Used as a vocal microphone for Toto XIV, as mentioned by producer CJ Vanston in this March 5, 2015 Mix Online article.

The main mic preamp throughout was a Universal 6176, used for most of the vocals. “Either with a 47 or an Audio-Technica 5040,” Vanston says. “We used a Schoeps on some of the acoustic guitar tracks and also the Shure KSM44—that sounds fantastic. Then we used a 57 for the electric guitar. If Steve Lukather is happy with his guitar sound, I’m happy with it. And I have two Neve 1073s that we used a lot on the keyboards. I’ve got a Neve 8801, which is a great preamp that I like.”

Used on the electric guitar for Toto XIV, as mentioned by producer CJ Vanston in this March 5, 2015 Mix Online article.

The main mic preamp throughout was a Universal 6176, used for most of the vocals. “Either with a 47 or an Audio-Technica 5040,” Vanston says. “We used a Schoeps on some of the acoustic guitar tracks and also the Shure KSM44—that sounds fantastic. Then we used a 57 for the electric guitar. If Steve Lukather is happy with his guitar sound, I’m happy with it. And I have two Neve 1073s that we used a lot on the keyboards. I’ve got a Neve 8801, which is a great preamp that I like.”

Used on the acoustic guitar for Toto XIV, as mentioned by producer CJ Vanston in this March 5, 2015 Mix Online article.

The main mic preamp throughout was a Universal 6176, used for most of the vocals. “Either with a 47 or an Audio-Technica 5040,” Vanston says. “We used a Schoeps on some of the acoustic guitar tracks and also the Shure KSM44—that sounds fantastic. Then we used a 57 for the electric guitar. If Steve Lukather is happy with his guitar sound, I’m happy with it. And I have two Neve 1073s that we used a lot on the keyboards. I’ve got a Neve 8801, which is a great preamp that I like.”

Used for Toto XIV, as mentioned by producer CJ Vanston in this March 5, 2015 Mix Online article.

The main mic preamp throughout was a Universal 6176, used for most of the vocals. “Either with a 47 or an Audio-Technica 5040,” Vanston says. “We used a Schoeps on some of the acoustic guitar tracks and also the Shure KSM44—that sounds fantastic. Then we used a 57 for the electric guitar. If Steve Lukather is happy with his guitar sound, I’m happy with it. And I have two Neve 1073s that we used a lot on the keyboards. I’ve got a Neve 8801, which is a great preamp that I like.”

Used for the snare drum on Donald Fagen's Morph the Cat, as stated by mix engineer Elliott Scheiner in this August 2006 Sound on Sound interview.

According to Elliott Scheiner, the following mics were used on the Morph The Cat recording sessions.

• Kick drum: AKG D112.
• Snare: SM57 (only on top).
• Hi-hat: Neumann KM81 or 84.
• Toms: Audio-Technica ATM25.
• Overheads: Neumann U67.
• Room mics: Electrovoice RE20.
• Electric guitar: Shure SM57 right on speaker cone.
• Piano: 2x AKG C12 mics, about 12 inches from the strings.
• Trumpet and trombone: Coles ribbon.
• Tenor sax: Neumann U67.
• Baritone sax: Neumann FET47.

It was also used for the snare drum on Toto XIV, as mentioned by producer CJ Vanston in this March 5, 2015 Mix Online article.

On the kick drum he placed a Sennheiser 421 and a Yamaha subwoofer, and on the snare drum a Shure 57 with another Shure 57 underneath. On the hi-hat he switched between a Neumann KM 84 and Shure SM81.

“For overheads I used a pair of AKG C12As,” Petocz says. “Tom mic’s were 421s and for room mics I had a 47 mono room mic very close to the drums, halfway between the kick and the snare. Then for the more traditional room mic drum sound, I used a pair of U 67 Neumanns and occasionally a C-24 from the back, just sparingly. They all went through the beautiful vintage 8068 Neve console, the best sounding Neve in town. And some compression on the snare when it needed it, but only slightly. Then what I did is go direct out when I could instead of busing it, just for that added purity.”