# Opeth gear



## Witcheschair (May 6, 2012)

What gear did the guitarist of opeth use to record the watershed album?
I know what gear the use previous but did they change equipment at all?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 6, 2012)

Pretty sure a Laney VH100R or GH100L (same drive channel) was used. Mikhael used several PRS Custom 24's and I BELIEVE Fredrik used several PRS Singlecuts.


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## VBCheeseGrater (May 6, 2012)

I remember him mentioning Marshalls, JCM800 i believe in an interview for some stuff. He said he was really going for the old school tones.

Edit, nevermind, you said watershed....for Heritage, the marshalls


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## Lycanthropy1313 (May 7, 2012)

PRS Modern Eagle(s), Singlecut 24, Custom 24
Marshall JVM
Laney GH100L
Laney Lionheart
Digitech GSP1101


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## MobiusR (May 7, 2012)

i don't remember clearly but live they use the Laney's (as mentioned above) as power amps with a Boss GT10 for distortion/cleans/etc.


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## Witcheschair (May 7, 2012)

thanks, because I just saw them live in vancouver a week or so ago and there tone was the best I have heard them live. Was wondering if they had switched in the last few years. Because they have been playing the same gear for what looks like 6 years


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## Stealthdjentstic (May 7, 2012)

Yeah man when I saw them live they were using PRS + Laney + Boss GT stuff. Granted, that was like...in 08 or something


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## Witcheschair (May 7, 2012)

at least they are still rocking the hell out of it


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## amarshism (May 7, 2012)

Live axefx into the jvm power section.


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## Wookieslayer (May 7, 2012)

From the producer, Jens Bogren, himself:

Ultimate Metal Forum - View Single Post - JENS BOGREN - my new hero



> On Watershed i used the Marshall JVM together with the Mesa cab for the main rhythms. The secondary pair is Mesa Dual Rectifier through the MF400. SM57 and Royer on the main pair, 2x SM57 and one SM58 on the secondary pair (if my memory serves me).




This thread is a very cool read btw, 
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/429348-jens-bogren-my-new-hero-2.html



Live they were using Laneys, and probably Boss GT-8 or GT-10 for distortion.


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## 7slinger (May 7, 2012)

mastodon/opeth tonight for me - I'll see if I can get a look


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 7, 2012)

7slinger said:


> mastodon/opeth tonight for me - I'll see if I can get a look



Pretty sure you're going to see Fredrik using a JVM410, Mikael using a Marshall Vintage Modern, and a couple of Axe-FX's. 



> On Watershed i used the Marshall JVM together with the Mesa cab for the main rhythms. The secondary pair is Mesa Dual Rectifier through the MF400. SM57 and Royer on the main pair, 2x SM57 and one SM58 on the secondary pair (if my memory serves me).



Huh, thats surprising... I always thought that Laneys were the main studio amps.


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## BabUShka (May 7, 2012)

I bought my JVM because of Opeth, and it sure suits their music. Love this amp! 
I'll try to look closely on their gear when I'm seeing them im 4 weeks from now


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## VBCheeseGrater (May 7, 2012)

Witcheschair said:


> thanks, because I just saw them live in vancouver a week or so ago and there tone was the best I have heard them live. Was wondering if they had switched in the last few years. Because they have been playing the same gear for what looks like 6 years



Yeah i'm pretty sure live Akerfelt uses the Boss GT for most of his tones, whereas Akesson uses the amp + tons of pedals. He went from Blackstar to Marshall recently.

Michael went to Axe FX now? Wonder if he is using amp models or just effects.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 7, 2012)

vbshredder said:


> Yeah i'm pretty sure live Akerfelt use the Boss GT for most of his tones, whereas Akesson uses the amp + tons of pedals. He went from Blackstar to Marshall recently.



I think they both switched to Axe FX's back in 2010. I'm pretty sure Mikael uses the Axe for the amp sims and Fredrik uses the effects.


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## ShredCrab (May 7, 2012)

Not sure whether they're using AxeFx's along with an amp but they are definitely using Marshalls. Frederick with JVM and Mikael with Vintage Modern, thats what Marshall stated a couple of months back at least.


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## linqua (May 8, 2012)

in the studio they use the laney gh100l mostly. sometimes for certain things theyll use fender or lionheart. they only use the boss gt10 for live sounds. they use pretty much stock prs custom 24. he has his signature but the main difference is the woods used, the pickups are the standard vintage jazz and im not sure about the bridge actually. fredrik used to use marshall jvm, but now he uses blackstar series one which also was on watershed.


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## Witcheschair (May 8, 2012)

Keep in mind that at shows and such they may not have their own gear all of the time.


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## AliceLG (May 8, 2012)

Last rig rundown I saw, about 3 months ago and for the current tour:

Mikael - Vintage Modern + AxeFx
Fredrik - Series One 100 + a couple of pedals including an HT-DRIVE, a RotoVibe, a Volume, an expression pedal for a delay (can't remember which one though) and GCP + GCX

It might well be that Fredrik switched to the AxeFx, but I think he's still on the Blackstars


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## 7slinger (May 8, 2012)

so what I saw last night as they were moving gear off the stage (after Opeth didn't play ) was a rack with 2 marshall heads in it and 2 axefx in it. couldn't see what was on the pedalboards


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## xkalibur38 (May 10, 2012)

When I saw them last month with Mastodon they had 2 Marshall Vintage Modern's with 2 Axefx's. Not sure how they were using the Axe's, if they were just using the Marshall's as power amps or what? Here's a couple of pics. That's as much as I could see of his pedal board.


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## AliceLG (May 10, 2012)

I really hope they aren't using just the power section of the Vintage Moderns, that's a colossal waste of what looks like a kick-ass amp. 4CM would be the way to go in this case IMO.


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## asher (May 11, 2012)

Last night - couldn't see pedalboards, but that same road case with the two Marshalls and the two Axes. Akerfeldt was using a midi floorboard of some kind that had some expression pedals also, as I *think* Fredrik was but couldn't see his feet. I had no idea what was being done with the Marshalls because I couldn't read them and didn't know what the lights meant. I only ever saw the input levels monitor on one Axe move though - I'm fairly sure it was Mike using it, but whether for amp sim or just effects I don't know.


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## VBCheeseGrater (May 11, 2012)

^^^ Yeah that was the only rack i could see Wed night. Did you notice how Demon of the Fall sounded like a jumbled mess? The new stuff sounded great, but once they kicked into death mode, i could barely make out anything. Grand Conjuration was better though.


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## TGN (May 12, 2012)

Didn't Paul Gilbert also move from Laneys to Vintage Moderns a few years back?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 12, 2012)

TGN said:


> Didn't Paul Gilbert also move from Laneys to Vintage Moderns a few years back?



Yup. Using the VM's and 2061x's for Mr. Big and the 1959RR's for Racer X.


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## Ryan-ZenGtr- (May 12, 2012)

Axe-FX > Power amps. What a great way to tour, eh?

Convenience,flexibility and stereo! 

My experience with the Vintage Modern was; Great for blues/rock/early hair metal/Gilbert scratchy attack tone. Not so good for anything higher gain, without some serious pedals.

I'd been expecting a more tweakable JCM 800 which I'd recently sold, as the VM has some cool controls, but it was a fail for me (with the matching VM cab) and I sold it within the same week as I took delivery.


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## asher (May 14, 2012)

vbshredder said:


> ^^^ Yeah that was the only rack i could see Wed night. Did you notice how Demon of the Fall sounded like a jumbled mess? The new stuff sounded great, but once they kicked into death mode, i could barely make out anything. Grand Conjuration was better though.



A little bit, yeah. One of the midgains they pulled out mid set sounded honky as fuck, and some of the cleans were a little odd (to my tastes, nothing really wrong with them I don't think) but mostly everything sounded great.


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## onefingersweep (May 14, 2012)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Pretty sure you're going to see Fredrik using a JVM410, Mikael using a Marshall Vintage Modern, and a couple of Axe-FX's.
> 
> 
> 
> Huh, thats surprising... I always thought that Laneys were the main studio amps.



Actually the Laney's has been Åkerfeldt's main LIVE-amps, in studio they have used various amplifiers through the years.



TGN said:


> Didn't Paul Gilbert also move from Laneys to Vintage Moderns a few years back?



Yes he did, next step for him will be to move to Fryette (I hope)


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## nihilism (May 14, 2012)

I could've sworn I saw a Guitar World recently with both of them using Blackstar amps and mostly MXR pedals. Interesting...


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (May 14, 2012)

nihilism said:


> I could've sworn I saw a Guitar World recently with both of them using Blackstar amps and mostly MXR pedals. Interesting...



Their endorsement was recent. Like... February recent.


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## VBCheeseGrater (May 14, 2012)

^^^ I think i'd have a hard time saying "No" too if Marshall came a calling, can't blame 'em.

Right now i'd be all over a First Act endorsement....


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## BabUShka (Jun 23, 2012)

Update! 
I saw Opeth yesterday, they had 2x Marshall JVM and 2x Marshall VM on the stage, couldnt see any Axe FX, but I didnt try too hard to find it.. 

It was INSANE: I've never heard a band playing that tight and clear live before. I heard every single tone they played, even distorted. And the volume level wasn't too high, more bands should learn how to dial good live sound from Opeth. 

And they played my favorite songs Hair Apparent, Burden and Deliverance.. Insane


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## Genome (Jun 23, 2012)

BabUShka said:


> Hair Apparent



LOL tell that to Devin Townsend


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## BabUShka (Jun 23, 2012)

Haha, i see what you did there. My bad though


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## Sephael (Jun 23, 2012)

Every band should learn how to do everything about a live show from Opeth, not just their tone and mix.


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## tscoolberth (Oct 31, 2012)

Sephael said:


> Every band should learn how to do everything about a live show from Opeth, not just their tone and mix.



Including telling jokes in between songs ... sorta like a built in comedy act. The last time I saw them in Boston .. on the last song Mikael turned to the drummer and told him to play it fast because they were running out of time.


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## drunkard (Nov 19, 2012)

last time they came here in Thessaloniki Greece the other guitarist(not michael)was using a pod HD.I swear!Not direct,I didnt see any XLR cables


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## Thyrif (Nov 21, 2012)

To my knowledge they use all sorts of amps during the recording (Laney, Marshall, ENGL, Mesa). But Fredrik used Blackstar live while Mikael was still on Laneys (GH100L with Boss GT6/8 for distortion and fx). This year they switched to Marshalls (VMs?) for live.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Nov 21, 2012)

Mikael is using the VM. Fredrik is using the JVM.


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## TGN (Nov 22, 2012)

Genome said:


> LOL tell that to Devin Townsend



Awesome


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