GUITAR WORLD?S Bass GuitarJune/July 2004 Issue
Same As It Ever Was
Duff?s Gear GunneryPhoto credit: ANNAMARIA DISANTO (GEAR)
When Guns N? Roses received their first advance from Geffen Records in 1986, Duff McKagan took his share and purchased a Fender Jazz Bass Special. ?I liked how it sounded through my Gallien-Krueger,? he says. ?It was kinda funky, but it still worked with rock and roll.? He?s been using Specials ever since. After the model went out of production in the early Nineties, the Fender Custom Shop built McKagan several copies, each with Dunlop straps and strap locks.
Duff?s combination of Rotosound RS66 Swing Bass strings and Dunlop Tortex .73mm picks lets him cut through the mix at will. As for amps, he?s been a Gallien-Krueger man from day one and uses G-K 2001RB amps with G-K RBH 4x10 cabs. In the studio, Duff goes direct but sometimes mikes his 4x10 cabinets, a G-K 15-inch and a Marshall 12-inch for extra crunch. He has also recorded some tracks with a G-K head and an Acoustic 2x15.
Duff stomped through a few Ibanez and Boss chorus pedals before switching to a rackmounted Yamaha SPX90 multi-effects. His only other effect is an MXR ?80 D.I.+, which provides powerful gain and distortion tones. Onstage, Duff uses a Bradshaw Custom Audio Switcher and a Samson UHF Synth 32 wireless. His tech, Mike ?McBob? Mayhue, keeps everything ready to rock.
-E.E.B. (E.E. Bradman)
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