Steve von Till

On 0:40 Steve taking about his guitars

"I usually play ’65 Twin Reissues and send it out loud and clean…"

“My MXR Distortion+ also adds distortion on the Fender side!”

“The Fender side has a Rat with even more gain!”

"Within that system, I’ve got different options before the split. Some things can affect both amp signals, so there’s a Fulltone OCD which I have several different settings for, from a clean boost to a bluesy gain to aggressive mid-gain."

“There’s also a Land Of The Rising Fuzz made by Fridgebuzzz - it’s like a Shin-ei Companion tone, but way more fucked-up. It’s this really bizarre fuzz that I really love: super-hairy and super-zippery - this exaggerated late-'60s distortion that has so much character. Sometimes I’ll combine it with the Rat… so I guess I have a lot of options for gain!"

"Then I go to the wah, but I’m not a traditional wah player. I don’t do solos; I use it for slow filter sweeps. I’m using the Chicago Iron Parachute, which is a clone of the Parawah. It’s a giant, big blue beast…"

"On the current record and last couple of tours is an Electro-Harmonix Bass MicroSynth, which I’ve always used ever since I got it. I like the vintage one best because it’s more creamy, but they’re getting harder to find so I retired it for the modern one."

"I go to a vibe - the one I’m using now is called DryBell Vibe Machine. It’s a very small MXR-sized box that sounds both unique and traditional at the same time. I think they’re made in the Eastern Block, which is pretty cool. I read some reviews, and these David Gilmour nerds online were all saying how great this was."

"I also used the Mojo Vibe from Sweet Sound"

"MXR Carbon Copy for dark, repeating delays. I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find the right sounds. When something becomes three-dimensional, I tend to like it. If it doesn’t make the cut, I’ll carry on looking for and pay for the right piece of gear. I geek out a lot and track it all down!"

"After the delay is the Mu-Tron Phasor II. That’s the mother of all phasers - all the others seem one-dimensional to me. It’s the better half of the Mu-Tron Bi-Phase, which is a must for home-studio filter nerds! I’ve got one of those, too. You can hear it all over every record since [2004’s] The Eye Of Every Storm. There are entire parts where I play one note over two minutes using this phaser at a slow speed because I can disappear in it; it’s the perfect sweep. It’s hard to find and really expensive - I’ve got three and only one sounds right. That’s the one that goes out!"

"After the delay is the Mu-Tron Phasor II. That’s the mother of all phasers - all the others seem one-dimensional to me. It’s the better half of the Mu-Tron Bi-Phase, which is a must for home-studio filter nerds! I’ve got one of those, too. You can hear it all over every record since [2004’s] The Eye Of Every Storm. There are entire parts where I play one note over two minutes using this phaser at a slow speed because I can disappear in it; it’s the perfect sweep. It’s hard to find and really expensive - I’ve got three and only one sounds right. That’s the one that goes out!"

"I guess it’s modelled after some chorus everyone likes, maybe a Roland. It’s proper analogue old-school stuff made by this Canadian company who make it really true to that vintage sound."

“I’ve had a POG, Moogerfooger Ring Mod, different things, but these are my bare bones. So, there you have it!”

“I’ve had a POG, Moogerfooger Ring Mod, different things, but these are my bare bones. So, there you have it!”

Ambient metal pioneer's gear secrets uncovered

Ambient metal pioneer's gear secrets uncovered

“I’ve always used a Bartolini neck pickup, but now I’ve given up on humbuckers altogether on the bridge. I went with slightly overwound Lollar P-90s after using humbuckers my whole life, which is what you get told you need for the heavy tones. Well, that couldn’t have been more wrong! The P-90s have way more frequency to them, less compression and much more open. You get convinced you need a hotter pickup, but that signal doesn’t necessarily mean a better tone. It just hits harder. There are so many ways of dialling shit into the back-end; you don’t need to do that to your guitar.”

"I installed a Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup in the bridge position, and a Bartolini in the neck"