Dean Brown

As I mentioned, I think gear tends to choose us. I was doing a NAMM show back in the mid 80s with Steve Smith’s Vital Information. Tim Landers was the bassist at that time and a Peavey endorser, so Peavey supplied the back line for the performances. They brought in a Peavey Stereo Chorus 400 2×12 combo for me to play through and it was love at first sound! Peavey was nice enough to supply me with two of them and up until last year I have used those amps on most of my gigs and recording sessions. There are always times when you are going for a particular thing in the studio where you need to use an special amp to get it, but for the most part, I used the Peavey in the studio as well. After many years, my battle worn Peaveys spend as much time in the shop as they do on the road. Don’t get me wrong, they are very durable, but also very old. The amp is also very heavy, so I cut one up to use as a head for the road, but it’s still 70 lbs in the case. Fast forward to NAMM 2010. I was there to do a performance for TC Electronic with Minh Doky and I ran into Hadrien Feraud, who is a Mark Bass endorser. He asked me to come and play with him at Mark’s booth. So, I plugged into their new DV Mark 2×12 40 watt combo. Again, love at first sound! This is a tube amp that weighs 35 lbs., but I don’t want you to think the weight is the big thing for me, it’s all about the sound. I have been using this amp on tour and in the studio ever since. It has a very warm, smooth sound for a tube amp and some really cool features, such as a tube driven spring reverb, and continuous power control which allows you to actually reduce the wattage of the amp. I’m not a big fan of overly distorting the preamp, so this is a great feature to help you control your overall levels. So, you see, it’s all about the relationship between the amp, guitar, and me. The Peavey is old technology solid state (which I far prefer to newer solid state amps, many of which are designed to be cost effective) and the DV Mark is a tube amp. The problem I have found with “high end” tube amps is that it’s hard to control the high end. Pun intended. Most guitarists I know get great sounds from them. They just don’t work as well for me. One last thing about one of my Peaveys. I was touring europe with Marcus Miller back in 2005. I used to keep one of my amps at a studio in Bonn, Germany, so when I went to Europe I would have my sound. A year later, I called the studio and told them that I would be needing it and they told me that it never made it back. These things happen to gear on the road. Things sometimes get lost , misplaced , or stolen. It’s in a silver case with my name on it, so if you are in Europe and you happen to see it, give me a shout!

I got my first one back in ’82, a red one with a maple neck. Billy Cobham wanted me to play a synth guitar for the live recording at Montreaux called “Smokin'”. So, that recording is the first time I ever used synth guitar. Love these guitars and continue to use the one that many of you know as “The Blue Guitar”. The synth is analog pitch to voltage.

I love this guitar. I mainly use it for single note groove stuff to get that James Brown feel, but it’s also great for chunky comping. A funny story involving this guitar happened on a Dave Sanborn session for the record “Songs From The Night Before”. I had borrowed an X-170 for the session from my friend, and great guitarist, Mike Barnett, who owns a music store in Freeport, LI and deals in high quality, vintage instruments. We did a nice track at Electric Ladyland and I figured I was done using the guitar, so I brought it back to Mike. A few days later, we were recording another tune and we were listening down to the track that was recorded earlier. I happened to notice that the guitar dropped out about half way through the take. I asked, “where is the guitar?” and the engineer replied, “what guitar?” At that moment we both realized that half the track had gotten erased. I figured, “no problem, I’ll just call Mike and get the guitar again”. “Hey, Mike. Can I borrow that Guild again?” “Sorry, Dean. I sold it! … but.. I have a black one that’s pretty nice”. I went to Mike’s and checked out the black one. Even though it made me feel like Johnny Cash when I saw myself in the mirror with it, the guitar sounded and felt great. I bought it, and used it on the track. All’s well that ends well.

This is a good solid road guitar, but I used it for most of the acoustic stuff on “Groove Warrior”.

Fast forward to NAMM 2010. I was there to do a performance for TC Electronic with Minh Doky and I ran into Hadrien Feraud, who is a Mark Bass endorser. He asked me to come and play with him at Mark’s booth. So, I plugged into their new DV Mark 2×12 40 watt combo. Again, love at first sound! This is a tube amp that weighs 35 lbs., but I don’t want you to think the weight is the big thing for me, it’s all about the sound. I have been using this amp on tour and in the studio ever since. It has a very warm, smooth sound for a tube amp and some really cool features, such as a tube driven spring reverb, and continuous power control which allows you to actually reduce the wattage of the amp. I’m not a big fan of overly distorting the preamp, so this is a great feature to help you control your overall levels.

I have used the Boss OD-3 since the late 70s, then started using the Xotic pedals a few years ago. I really love them. Very transparent. I still like the Boss. It’s a real estate problem to keep everything on the board, which is right at 45 lbs(the limit before it is considered overweight by most airlines).

I was given this guitar back in the mid 90s from Korg, who were distributing Parker at that time. They wanted me to use the guitar for a series of concert/clinics with Tome Coster’s group featuring the late , great Bob Berg(miss him dearly), Alphonso Johnson, and Steve Smith at Franfurt Musik Messe. I took a liking to the guitar because of it’s versatility and light weight. It provided me with a warm, unique sound until recently when the preamp gave out. It is featured on a few tunes on all of my CDs. I would love to get it fixed, but apparently Parker has discontinued the old style pre amp configuration, so it would have to be retro fitted with a new one. The problem for me is that the peizo has no tone control on the new one. A deal breaker for me. Parker has recently informed me that the older style pre-amp is being made available again, so hopefully I will get that guitar back to duty soon.

This is an unusually warm guitar with cedar top and a D hole. I bought it in the late 70s. A wonderful guitar to record with as evidenced on the tune “Gemini” from my “Here” CD featuring Marcus Miller on fretless bass.

I purchased this guitar in Boston, after my ’68 Les Paul Custom got stolen. This was my “A” guitar for years until I went on a winter van tour with Tiger’s Baku in Canada. It was so cold that when I opened the case after a long ride, the finish cracked and for some reason the guitar never sounded the same. I used it on my first big recording with Billy Cobham called “Observations+”. I also used it on “Mudd Cake” Tiger’s Baku and “Vital Information” which was Steve Smith’s first record with that band featuring Mike Stern, Tim Landers, the late, great Dave Wilczewski and yours truly.

Steve Lukather turned me onto this instrument at a time when my Roland was in need of some tlc and not doin’ it for me. Ernie Ball/Music Man was nice enough to give me this guitar, which I used for a while on David Sanborn and George Duke tours.

Schuyler Deale “loaned” me this bass 15 years ago! I’m not a bass player, but I have played bass on quite a few recordings and this is the bass I always use. “Plan B” on Dennis Chambers’ “Outbreak” and Mauri Sanchis’ “Groove Words” CDs come to mind.

Dean Brown recounts purchasing a Fender 1971 Telecaster during a trip to Hong Kong while living in Korea. Unfortunately, after moving to Boston in 1974, he had to sell the guitar due to financial constraints, only for it to be stolen shortly afterward. This story is detailed on his official website under the "Gear" section.

Dean Brown mentions using the Acoustic 134 Model Amp on his official website. He appreciates its sound despite its weight, noting its solid-state design. Brown recalls its popularity in the late '70s jazz scene, highlighting that guitarist Mike Stern used a pair of these amps with an MXR stereo chorus to achieve his signature sound.

I have used the Boss OD-3 since the late 70s, then started using the Xotic pedals a few years ago. I really love them. Very transparent. I still like the Boss. It’s a real estate problem to keep everything on the board, which is right at 45 lbs(the limit before it is considered overweight by most airlines).

Dean Brown mentions on his website that he owns the MXR MX-120 Envelope Filter, though he notes that it is no longer in production and many of his units are broken. He suggests the Robotalk II as a viable alternative.

I love the MXR, but they don’t make it anymore and most of mine are broken. The Robotalk II is a pretty cool alternative.

This is a great pedal designed to emulate the front end of an old Echoplex. It’s not an echo device, but rather a warmly voiced clean volume booster. It makes bad amps sound decent and good amps sound great. I love it! I typically put it right before the volume pedal in the chain.

Guitarist Dean Brown uses an Ernie Ball 6166 Mono Volume Pedal, which he has modified to include a tuner output, as stated on his official gear page.

Guitarist Dean Brown utilizes the TC Electronic Hall Of Fame Reverb, as detailed on his official website. Brown praises the pedal for its ability to emulate the sound quality of a high-end rack unit. He employs it by placing reverbs and delays after the volume pedal, allowing for seamless transitions between lead and clean tones. This setup enhances the illusion of overlapping sounds and is particularly effective for creating smooth swells.

An Anthology Gear Wear Black Whiskey “Walk The Line” handmade leather guitar strap. This is the same guitar strap that I use. Beautiful and so comfortable!

All Anthology guitar and bass straps are hand-made with the absolute finest quality full-grain leathers in the world. Our leathers are chosen for their ability to fully distribute the weight of the guitar across the strap, for a more comfortable playing experience on those long gigs.

Our straps are not only great looking; they're also super-comfortable. Between a top layer of rugged full-grain leather, and a bottom layer of ultra-soft full-grain leather, we use a high-density, premium padding, to maximize comfort without sacrificing strength.

Even better, we use only the strongest industrial grade threads, the same threads used to make parachutes and airbags. That's strength you can trust.

To top it off, our leather burnishes and beautifies with use. All of our straps have their natural marks, scrapes and scars, which means they have loads of raw, rugged personality.

This was my first electric guitar and the guitar I started gigging with. I have used it a number of times in the studio when I needed a raw bluesy sound. One example is “Where is Paco” from Victor Bailey’s “That’s Right” CD.

I used this guitar in the past, when someone needed nylon string for their music. It’s a nice guitar, but I am not really into the nylon string guitar sound. Maybe I’ll change my mind and pull her out of retirement one day, but that day ain’t today.

This is a really beautiful sort of experimental guitar built by Mark Singleton. It has PAF style and peizo pickups. I’ve used it on gigs a number of times.

Gibson Black Beauty Les Paul Custom ’68 This was my first “real” guitar. I bought it when I was 14 years old with money that I had made from gigs with my first band (Yesterdays Souls) and loved it. This picture is from Korea with my band, “Rush”. That’s right, it was my band first! Later, I was living in Cambridge, Mass, going to Berklee and had left my apartment for an hour and a half one afternoon. When I got back, the Les Paul, along with my Sony television, stereo system, and a quarter oz. of you know what (it was the ’70s) were gone. Like I said, instruments choose you and sometimes you just have to let them go.

This amp is a real game changer for me. Now I can travel with my own amp again. It’s versatile and light with a super fat, warm sound.

Guitarist Dean Brown mentions on his website that he has been using the Boss OD-3 OverDrive pedal since the late 1970s.

Guitarist Dean Brown has used the Boss OC-2 Octaver for years. According to his official website, while touring about 15 years ago, his original unit broke, leading him to "borrow" a replacement from a fellow musician, MM.

Dean Brown shares on his website that he began using the EBS OctaBass Triple Mode Octave Divider Pedal after his previous pedal broke while on tour 15 years ago, borrowing it from MM.

If you set this just right and control the attack, you can get it to sound like a Fender Rhodes. Check out the comping on the version “Camel Hump” from DBIII.

The knob on the side controls the voicing of the pedal. Mine is broken at the moment, but I’m gonna fix it, because I like the different sounds it gets. I have used it a lot in the studio.