Trent Reznor

In the following SOS article, Trent Reznor's engineer said: "The music just flows out of Trent like no one else I've ever known, even though he'll burn brilliantly and then have to play video games for the next eight hours. As with any great artist, there's a lot of procrastination, but while he's playing one of those games his brain is still working and at any moment he could come up with something fantastic. That's why we'd always have to be ready to roll. If he suddenly said, 'I want to sing,' I'd hand him a [Shure] Beta 58 and run it through a Neve and [Universal Audio] LA2A. I had it set up so he could grab a mic, I'd hit two buttons and off we'd go. Most of the time he'd hand-hold a 58, but every once in a while we'd record his vocal with [an AKG] 414 because it captured the natural sound of him in a room, which he really liked. "He recorded 'Closer' with a Beta 58, and for some tracks he'd have it on a mic stand and perform right there in front of the console. In fact, when he did the vocal for 'Ruiner', he was lifting the mic stand, slamming its base into the wood floor and chipping it, while on another occasion he got so carried away that he sheared the knobs off some [Lexicon] PCM42s. There were three PCM42s in a row and he took the feedback and modulation knobs off every one of them. I was thinking, 'Fuck!' However, when he performed, the emotion came out, and in the case of 'Piggy' he was under the console singing into the Beta 58.”

"I had it set up so he (Trent) could grab a mic, I'd hit two buttons and off we'd go. Most of the time he'd hand-hold a 58, but every once in a while we'd record his vocal with [an AKG] 414 because it captured the natural sound of him in a room, which he really liked.

Trent Reznor seen with Blue Microphones "The Mouse" in this music video of How to Destroy Angels.

This Gibson ES-335 Memphis Studio Black, modified with two pickups with chrome covers, is seen here with Trent on the Hesitation Marks tour 2014.

In this photo, Reznor can be seen playing an Epiphone Sheraton II.

Guitar World 1994: What kind of guitars do you play?

REZNOR: Mostly an Eighties' Les Paul Custom. I also used an Explorer, and a Jackson I have, for which I just told the company, "Put the world's loudest pickup in this."

One of many live pics where Trent Reznor is seen playing Gibson Explorer.

Trent Reznor seen live playing Jackson Soloist

In this photo from Kemper Amps official Facebook page, they showcase Trent Reznor's Profiler rig mount and write "Tomorrow on stage at the Verizon Center Washington DC. Trent Reznor with his Profiler Rig."

1994 interview Guitar World - REZNOR: Almost everything was direct--there was almost no miking of cabinets. I just don't like that sound very much. It sounds boring to me. So we ran through a variety of preamps and speaker simulators. Our main preamp was the new Marshall JMP-1. But I didn't use the speaker simulator in it. I took the direct out of the Marshall into the Zoom 9030, employing just the speaker simulator on that.

In this photo, Reznor can be seen playing a bass next to a rack of preamps. The 2120 can be seen next to the headstock.

In this photo, the Fucking Fucker can be seen on top of one of Reznor's euroracks

Trent Reznor's Metasonix TM-6 Vacuum-Tube Multimode Filter in his "Nothing Studios" is seen on a Metasonix rack to the right side of the image. Here is a closer look at the rack.

Trent Reznor's Metasonix TX-2 Butt Probe in his "Nothing Studios" is seen on a Metasonix rack to the right side of the image. Here is a closer look at the rack.

Trent Reznor's Metasonix Metasonix TX-1 Vacuum-Tube Agonizer in his "Nothing Studios" is seen on a Metasonix rack to the right side of the image. Here is a closer look at the rack.

Trent Reznor's Metasonix TM-1 Vacuum-Tube Waveshaper/RingMod in his "Nothing Studios" is seen on a Metasonix rack to the right side of the image. Here is a closer look at the rack.

Trent Reznor's Metasonix TM-2 Vacuum-Tube Dual BandPass Filter Plus VCA in his "Nothing Studios" is seen on a Metasonix rack to the right side of the image. Here is a closer look at the rack.

1994 interview Guitar World - REZNOR: Almost everything was direct--there was almost no miking of cabinets. I just don't like that sound very much. It sounds boring to me. So we ran through a variety of preamps and speaker simulators. Our main preamp was the new Marshall JMP-1. But I didn't use the speaker simulator in it. I took the direct out of the Marshall into the Zoom 9030, employing just the speaker simulator on that. I really like the sound of the speaker simulator on the Zoom, but I don't like the preamp section. It sounds like what it is: a little box. I also have a Demeter tube preamp that I used sometimes. That one was totally direct, no simulator. It's the ultimate terrible sound. But it works in the context of some of the songs. I also used some of the little Zoom 9002, the old one--the one that clips on your belt. I just used it straight. I like its sound sometimes.

GW: Don't you also use that for vocals a lot?

REZNOR: Actually, the 9030 is the one I use a lot for the vocals. That and the mic preamp from an old Neve board. that's the best distortion. It's not the way the manufacturer thought it would be used. But all the vocals are from that and the Zoom. We also went and got an old Mutron envelope filter. The one that gives you the Bootsy [Collins] sound. Awesome. The one we had would eat four nine-volt batteries in half an hour. It's awful. But it sounds amazing when the batteries are dying. We did a lot through that. in fact all the drums on "I Do Not Want This" was just one two-bar loop that Steve Perkins played. We just ran it through every effect we had in the studio--the Mutron, [Eventide] H3000 Harmonizers, a Digitech Whammy Pedal... Flood and I just went crazy.

"Our effects were created mostly from the ground up on the Kurzweil K2000 — which we even used to distort vocals — and on the Eventide H3500. " "...due to Trent being so meticulous and wanting us to come up with vocal effects that had never been used before. That often meant getting out the Eventide H3500 to achieve things like the crazy, almost ring-modish vocal at the end of 'Closer'. "

"We also went and got an old Mutron envelope filter. The one that gives you the Bootsy [Collins] sound. Awesome. The one we had would eat four nine-volt batteries in half an hour. It's awful. But it sounds amazing when the batteries are dying. We did a lot through that. in fact all the drums on "I Do Not Want This" was just one two-bar loop that Steve Perkins played. We just ran it through every effect we had in the studio--the Mutron, [Eventide] H3000 Harmonizers, a Digitech Whammy Pedal... Flood and I just went crazy.

The item can be seen 0:12 into this video…

Trent Reznor demonstrates and talks about the Swarmatron Sound Machine Used to create parts of the score of "The Social Network".

Trent Reznor is seen playing an Oberheim Four Voice synth in his studio. Image from his Instagram profile.

Trent Reznor, playing a Moog Sub 37.

Trent Reznor in his studio, in the centre a Moog Minimoog Voyager Performer Edition.

Trent Reznor in his studio with an Electronic Music Studios (EMS) Synthi model A under the computer screen.

Trent Reznor shared a picture of this Moog Polymoog to his Instagram profile.