John Abercrombie

"At home and on record, I use an old Polytone Mini-Brute and a Roland JC-77. Live, I usually request a Roland and a Mesa/Boogie." (Originally published July 2007)

John Abercrombie speaks about this gear in the article.

For Ray’s session, I brought my old Polytone and split it with a Roland JC-77. I also use a JC-120 sometimes as well. Those are my two amps of choice when I record. In the past I’ve had different setups, but this is the rig I’ve been using for a long time.

When I play with a group, I always go stereo, but in a duo or at home I just use a Roland Cube 60. I also have a Walter Woods power amp, which is really nice. When I want to go stereo at home, I use the Walter Woods with an Electro-Voice speaker cabinet and my Cube 60. I also have a T.C. Electronic chorus.

From Abercrombie: "I try to get the same kind of amps. I usually go for these Roland JC-120s, mostly because I've gotten used to them so I know what they do. They basically have volume, bass, treble, middle, and that's it. It's very easy; I don't have to think about them or need a diagram to figure out how to program them. It's a basic guitar amp.

I also like a MESA/Boogie amp called the Mark III. Again, it's a very simple, straightforward amp. I play in stereo, so I usually like to use one of each kind if I can, because I find that using different amps sometimes creates this interesting sound, and I prefer that to using two amps at the same time that are the same. If one is different, you really get a sense that you're playing in stereo. You can really feel it more."