Fredrik Åkesson

In this video he describes his beautiful signature PRS.

In this video, you can see Fredrik Åkesson playing a Gibson Les Paul.

at 0:35, he's seen playing this guitar

(Talking about "The Garroter" off of "In Caude Venenum") - “That’s the jazzy oddball track on the album. It needed something different, which ended up being an old 335 through an old Gibson/Maestro amp from the '50s.

(In Caude Venenum) - “I used a 1983 Korina Flying V for those solos, a black string-through guitar that I bought from a music fair. It’s basically a ‘58 reissue, which I believe was the first Flying V – that one that Albert King used! It also has that rubber bit on the edge so it doesn’t slip on your knee when you’re sat down.”

“I really enjoy playing the amp. Not many amps have that warm punchy gain.”

At 4:32, Fredrik confirms and shows that he uses Blackstar Series One 200 watt heads. Video was uploaded on October 31st 2011.

Quote from the Marshall Website: "Marshall has the power and the might! Punch core and warmth like no other amp. Just did more than 200 shows with the JVM Satch without any problems what so ever! Hail to the king of amps!"

The Little Hill was based entirely on Fredrik's input, and is practically a signature amp head

“I used that amp on Biff Byford’s upcoming solo album [School Of Hard Knocks]. Some of the leads were done from home using that with a Torpedo Live speaker simulator and some imported IRs. It’s a great two-channel studio amp and perfect for club gigs. Those 20 watts deliver high volume, so you could even play bigger gigs with it.

“The clean tone is great – I didn’t have to do anything for that. John is the master of cleans. I mainly use clean for fingerpicked parts, and the Little Hill has a natural compression that’s really nice; you don’t need a pedal in front.

“We worked a lot on the effects loop because I really wanted it to be totally transparent. With a lot of amps, you put something in the loop and a part of the sound disappears… this weird crispiness leaves and you’re there wondering where it went! He managed to fix that and design one that didn’t suck any tone.”

(Talking about "In Cauda Venenum") - “We did a shoot-out for our rhythm guitars and it won the marathon. I had this gut feeling it would, actually. I tried it at the rehearsals – we actually rehearsed for this album, which we haven’t done since Watershed, and I could feel the chords pumping out and cutting through the bass and drums. So all of the rhythm guitars were pretty much that amp.

This amp head is based on the "Little Hill 20w Head" that was made with Fredrik's input, essentially making it a signature amp head

(In Cauda Venenum) - “There was also a Marshall Plexi in there and a Friedman BE100 that we used for leads, and then for cabinets we had two old Marshalls from the 60s – one with V30s and another with Greenback 25s. Since we were using the same Olsson head for our heavy rhythms, using different cabinets was a nice way of altering the two guitar sounds a little bit.”

(In Cauda Venenum) - “There was also a Marshall Plexi in there and a Friedman BE100 that we used for leads, and then for cabinets we had two old Marshalls from the 60s – one with V30s and another with Greenback 25s. Since we were using the same Olsson head for our heavy rhythms, using different cabinets was a nice way of altering the two guitar sounds a little bit.”

(In Cauda Venenum) - “There was also a Marshall Plexi in there and a Friedman BE100 that we used for leads, and then for cabinets we had two old Marshalls from the 60s – one with V30s and another with Greenback 25s. Since we were using the same Olsson head for our heavy rhythms, using different cabinets was a nice way of altering the two guitar sounds a little bit.”

In this video, the MXR Carbon Copy can be seen on Fredrick Åkesson's rig at (2:45).

In this video, the MXR M-133 Micro Amp can be seen in Fredrick Åkesson's rig at (2:45).

In this video, the MXR Phase 90 can be seen at (2:45).

In this video, the Dunlop Uni-Vibe can be seen on Fredrick Åkesson's rig at (2:45).

In this video, Fredrick Åkesson mentions he uses the Cry Baby Rack Module at (3:06).

In this video, Fredrick Åkesson shows us his Voodoo Lab GCX at (3:07).

"For amps, we used a Marshall YJM plexi 50w mode bridged over and all knobs pretty much on full. We used the MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay and the Phase 90. For leads, I used an MXR Micro Amp + to get extra juice, and we also did a lot of experimenting with the Way Huge Supa-Puss Delay, which lets you distort the feedback. That created some really cool psychedelic stuff. For strings, I used Dunlop Electric 10-52s, and for picks, I used 1.5mm Tortex Sharps."

"For amps, we used a Marshall YJM plexi 50w mode bridged over and all knobs pretty much on full. We used the MXR Carbon Copy Analog Delay and the Phase 90. For leads, I used an MXR Micro Amp + to get extra juice, and we also did a lot of experimenting with the Way Huge Supa-Puss Delay, which lets you distort the feedback. That created some really cool psychedelic stuff. For strings, I used Dunlop Electric 10-52s, and for picks, I used 1.5mm Tortex Sharps."

Products Used by Fredrik Åkesson

Products Used by Fredrik Åkesson

Products Used by Fredrik Åkesson

Products Used by Fredrik Åkesson

“I just picked this up from the MXR guys in San Francisco. It’s a brand new model which has the old Phase 45 as well as the 90, then you have the script mode, too.

“I’ll kick it in for some leads whenever I want that flavour… and especially if I want to sound like Van Halen! [laughs]”

Up close and personal with the pedalboards of the stars