How does Prince get this sound?

[WilburBufferson]

I think he's stepping on a flanger pedal at 2:30 but does anyone know better? I've searched the internet here and there to get insights into his sound, but all I have been able to glean is that he uses a flanger before a fuzz. If you want to comment more about his pedal/gear setup, all the better -- THANKS!

[Dr. Pants]

Last time I saw Princes board, he was still
using all Boss pedals. That's pretty cool in
my opinion.

Maybe that's changed, I dunno.

Yep sounds like a flanger. That guy gets the craziest
tones this side of Hendrix.

[artdecade]

Yup - That is his Boss Flanger set to sweep wide with a ton of resonance. He uses it for a crazy "whip/dive" effect, kinda like Paul Gilbert does with his ADA flanger. As of a year or two ago, Prince was still using the Boss pedal board. I doubt that he has changed much (if anything) because his board still has pedals on it from the Purple Rain sessions. Anyways, he is a beast and far too under-appreciated.

[mal paso]

I've been on a huge Prince kick lately, and I totally agree with Art.


Whole lotta 1999, and Purple Rain, great stuff



(And I think it's very cool he uses Boss)

[WilburBufferson]

Wow -- cool. Any leads on how he gets his dirty sound? fuzz? brand? i don't think he's a Dumble sort of guy :-)

[artdecade]

Typically, Prince uses Boss pedals and Mesa amps (Heartbreakers or Lonestars) live. There are a lot of shades to his distorted tone, so it varies as needed by the song. He has also used Orange, Soldano, and Fender amps on occasion.

Here is a good link to his current rig: http://www.photopix.ch/guitar/index....d=54&Itemid=53

In the studio, who knows but the man himself?

[WilburBufferson]

Originally Posted by artdecade

Typically, Prince uses Boss pedals and Mesa amps (Heartbreakers or Lonestars) live. There are a lot of shades to his distorted tone, so it varies as needed by the song. He has also used Orange, Soldano, and Fender amps on occasion.

Here is a good link to his current rig: http://www.photopix.ch/guitar/index....d=54&Itemid=53

In the studio, who knows but the man himself?

That's interesting...thanks for the link. Looking around, I thought that a lot of his crazy sounds were/are achieved by putting the Flanger *before* the distortion boxes, but not according to that setup. Of course, there is the gain in the amps. Mystery wrapped in a riddle...

[Dr. Pants]

At one point Prince was even using Peavey Classic
50's. His was the head with the 4x12. He got a great
sound with that amp.

Don't forget to check out his playing
on all the New Power Generation recordings.
And there's Funhouse 8 for him doing instrumental
funk\fusion type stuff.

I hear he recently (the last decade recent) recorded
a instrumental fusion album.

The guy is a monster guitar player who gets little
credit (as Art said) and he's one of the best rhythm
players around, bar none.

[metulmykul]

A mate of mine was backstage at his show the other night.
As others have said, all Boss going into Mesa. Oh yeah, and a Digi Whammy.

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by artdecade

Yup - That is his Boss Flanger set to sweep wide with a ton of resonance. He uses it for a crazy "whip/dive" effect, kinda like Paul Gilbert does with his ADA flanger. As of a year or two ago, Prince was still using the Boss pedal board. I doubt that he has changed much (if anything) because his board still has pedals on it from the Purple Rain sessions. Anyways, he is a beast and far too under-appreciated.

Big fan here too! So thats a Boss BF-2? Wow,it nails the Ernie Isley 'Who's that lady' sound [although I heard that was a mutron or maestro phaser].I'm gonna have to pick up an old BF-2.But I wonder if that tone isnt actually his L-6 MM4?

I wonder how he survives with all that Boss pedal tone suck?

[JesterR]

Wow! Great sound and nice playing. I definitely should check some of his albums.

[WaylonFan76]

Thanks for that. That was awesome... Still waiting for him to come out with a song that will slay everybody and put him on top of the charts again...

[artdecade]

Originally Posted by czech-one-2

Big fan here too! So thats a Boss BF-2? Wow,it nails the Ernie Isley 'Who's that lady' sound [although I heard that was a mutron or maestro phaser].I'm gonna have to pick up an old BF-2.But I wonder if that tone isnt actually his L-6 MM4?

I wonder how he survives with all that Boss pedal tone suck?

Nope, that is the BF2 because he was getting that sound well before the Line 6 even came out. I used to have one before I picked up an A/DA Flanger.

[taxer]

Originally Posted by czech-one-2

Wow, it nails the Ernie Isley 'Who's that lady' sound

That's exactly what I thought.
I have a BOSS Flanger. I never use it, but now I will monkey with it and see if it can get me near the "Who's That Lady" solo tone.

[WilburBufferson]

Originally Posted by artdecade

Anyways, he is a beast and far too under-appreciated.

How timely, Pro Guitar Shop just did a bit on Prince and his gear, enjoy!

[czech-one-2]

Originally Posted by taxer

That's exactly what I thought.
I have a BOSS Flanger. I never use it, but now I will monkey with it and see if it can get me near the "Who's That Lady" solo tone.

^ Let me know if you can cop that tone with it!

[tele salivas]

BOSS pedals are really excellent. I think a lot of people buy pedals for looks as well as for sound, but there is something really utilitarian in the BOSS design that's been around forever,which I can appreciate more as I get older, and I feel they are the most consistantly well built and electronically solid of the mass produced pedals available.

[Dr. Pants]

^ I concur. And many others do.
But with expensive, hand built snobbery
in full swing that's almost impossible to
discuss still.

And as to Prince -

He's not just a great guitar player,
but an excellent keys player, drummer,
bassist and who knows what else. And
if that weren't enough, he writes great
songs. His song "Call My Name" plays
as I type this, and I realize that after
he matured past his early electronic
material, he's a very masterful songwriter
who is keeping soul\R&B\funk alive without
getting mired down in the past.

[soul-o]

Originally Posted by JesterR

Wow! Great sound and nice playing. I definitely should check some of his albums.

His catalog is so huge and varied that you'd need a Sherpa to guide you to the good stuff. There a few dodgy tracks along the way, but the sheere musicality is almost overwhelming.

[Troubleandahalf]

Did you notice the 4x12" cabinet he's using as a monitor stage left set up in front of the stage? Nice.

His sound comes from his hands, just like with all of us... He's special, and a huge part of life soundtrack since I was 12 years old an kissing a girl to Little Red Corvette. Then the unspeakable decadence of Dirty Mind, all the way up to this clip.

The debate used to be whether Prince was better than Michael Jackson. Clearly, Yes!