Instruments
From Patricka
Contents |
Guitars
Gibson SG Special (2005) - "The SG to me is like Richard Thompson's Strat is to him. It's an extension of me, and I can get into the groove better with it than any other guitar." (Over 50 songs)
Squier/Gibson '51 (2007) - Has Seymour Duncan pickups. (Best heard on I Lied) (11 songs)
Gibson L6-S 1976 (2005) - (Most notable tracks on Morphine For The Dead, Disarming, and I Wish) (13 songs)
Fender Jazzmaster (2008) - (Most notable tracks on Ambient Guitar Solos) (36 songs)
Tacoma DM9 Acoustic 2007 (2009?) - "I got the DM9 in '08, I think. Maybe '09. I first used it for Conscious on Project John. It's got a good sound that keeps getting better through time." (All acoustic parts after Mt. Zion)
Fender Classical Guitar - Heard on Chester, Corrupt, Illustration Through Sound, Disarming, and I Lied.
50's Fender Stratocaster (2011) - Goldshore finish, 60th Anniversary (Best heard on Before Twelve) (18 songs)
Fender Sunburst Partscaster (No longer owned) - "I put together this guitar from three different ones. It's a Strat, and I used it for Where You Are Tonight and one song on E-X." The guitar resurfaced for I Lied and Benji and Mei
Rickenbacker 620/12 Jetglo 2009 (2011) - Heard on After Twelve, Guitar Noise, I Wish, Benji and Mei, High Fructose Repast, and the Five Minute EP.
"The Rickenbacker opened up so many doors for me creatively."
Squier Jagmaster (2007) (Most notable tracks on Aerial Coil) (6 songs)
Fender Telecaster Modern Player Plus (December 2011) Youtube Demo featuring new song "The Feeling I Missed" from Nostalgia/Nostalgia. Used for entire Serial album, and is featured on the cover. This is used for the last four songs of High Fructose Repast.
Basses
Hamer Slammer Bass (Sold in May '10)
Austin P-Bass (I Lied and Serial)
Amps
2009 Fender Hotrod Deluxe
Marshall AVT 50 (Sold) - "I used the Marshall for the majority of the early stuff."
Fender Mini Twin
Line 6 Spider II (Sold)
Fender Champ (Used for Digital Rig!)
Fender Rumble
Fender Vibrochamp
Other Instruments
Epiphone Mandolin
Rogue Mandolin
Hiwatt Theremin
Piano Flute
Picks/Strings
Various Heavy Picks - Fender, Dava, Dunlop
"I get the heaviest I can find, but in the early days I used a something between thin and medium. As my picking style has evolved, my need for a thicker pick has."
Elixer .10 Gauge, and .12 for acoustic - Both Polyweb.
Effects
MXR Distortion + (Main Distortion sound) - "I like it because it gives me a thick tone, but not bluesy."
Boss Super Overdrive - "I use the Super Overdrive a lot; it adds that hint of dirt that I need."
Visual Effects Chorus/Echo - "This has been my mainstay. My pedal board is never without it."
Boss Chromatic Tuner
Boss Digital Reverb
Digitech Guitar Processor
Digitech Expression pedal
Boss DS-1
Danelectro Octave Fuzz - "I use the Dane for all kinds of parts. It's been on most of my albums since Chester."
Danelectro Compressor
Danelectro Black Coffee Metal - "My SG's neck pickup, sometimes with the amp's Presence on 1, and the Black Coffee made E-X possible."
Electro Harmonix Small Stone Phaser
MXR Dyna Comp - "This saved my tone and creativity in so many ways."
GigFX Chopper
Behringer Slow Motion
Behringer Octave
Behringer 7 Band EQ (Bought May 2012)
Technique
1. Slide Guitar: Patrick's slide guitar playing is usually non-blues based, and often in standard tuning. He utilizes echo and reverb effects while playing to achieve ethereal sounds. Aei often holds the slide over the neck, as though playing a lap steel. In combination with his hybrid picking style, this makes for an interesting effect.
2. Whammy: Aei resents players who use unique effects so conventionally. The first sounds of the Whammy can be heard on Urinal, and on several subsequent albums. However, it has rarely been used in its tradition format, often with Patrick simply using it to change the pitch of the guitar rather than soloing from standard to a higher or lower pitch.
3. Wah: Patrick has rarely used Wah-Wah on record, but generally stays away from both heavy use or tone manipulation. Instead, he will rock it back and forth slowly to create an atmosphere, or even steel guitar effects. Aerial Coil and Live EP show the few examples.
4. Tapping: While many players got this technique from Eddie Van Halen, Patrick theorizes that VH actually took it from Billy Gibbons and Steve Hackett. Aei uses Tapping now and then to create a stereoeffect ("Anaeno" and "The Orchestra Cannot Go On" from Before Twelve). I Laughed and I Lied exhibit several examples of tapping. "Tapping became more apart of my style because of Adrian Belew and Tony Levin."
"As a player, I developed a unique solo style, where I can play with it being continuously entertaining, instead of just wanking my way through a song."
"I can play with effects, but I use them for unique sounds and coloration. I generally resent the Post-Rock movement, and the other modern players who identify themselves as Ambient. Most of the time, they have no clue who Eno or Fripp are, and they think a few volume swells and reverb makes them Ambient."
