Rig Rundown - J.D. Simo
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- Опубликовано: 3 окт 2024
- Article & photos: www.premierguit...
(www.premierguit...) Premier Guitar hung with J.D. Simo in his studio in Nashville where he explains the secrets to keeping a vintage Marshall sounding its best and also how to keep it from never breaking down. But he warns that once you go down this rewarding path of obsession, there's no turning back.
![Rig Rundown: JD Simo [2022]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WO_f-FVakI0/mqdefault.jpg)
This is awesome, no huge pedalboards or racks. Just good gear, and a great player.
FINALLY one guitar player who PLAYS GUITAR and makes sense when he speaks. GREAT stuff!!!
I discovered this guy yesterday and I already think he might be one of my favourite guitarists.
Same here honestly. It's gotta be Nashville guitarists, Jason Isbell and Dave Cobb are two of my other favorites
Seen this for the fifth time now. Love it even more every time. JD is just awesome. And John Bollinger does a fantastic job by letting the artist talk.
This is a man who cares about what he does.
What a likeable chap J.D. Simo is. I loved how he’s always apologising for his levels of eccentricity when it comes to sound etc. Watched this ‘till the very end.
this guy has the best friends ever
One of my friends bought me a cupcake today. Shows what you know.
ThomasWilliamsMusic well that all depends...does that cupcake have built-in reverb?
With a lil help from his friends...
Really dig this approach to a Rig Rundown, where there's more talk about the "why/how" and not just about the "what". Something like this with some notable producers/engineers on how they approach guitar tone would be stellar.
Premier Guitar needs to make this a focus as the "why/how" makes the biggest difference imho.
I believe most of my "sickness" was derived from this very video. Thanks for being a crazy person too, JD ;)
No clue who this guy is, but the tapping of the slide next to his ear was pure spinal tap!
Wow, this is electrifying soul shaking goodness. Man those old Marshall’s really sound amazing. Just getting to know JD simo. I’m guessing he might have moved away from these old Marshall’s in recent times. But I’m jumping down this rabbit hole of simos music. Really digging this cat.👍✌️
One of the best guitarists around! He knows so much. Served his apprenticeship well & applied himself as a result! Expert Guitarist & understands guitars & amps so well. He has worked so hard!
I just saw this fella last night and got the incomparable opportunity to sit and chat and really learn from him. The first thing we really hit on was his tone. He was simply playing straight through a blackface deluxe, and is tone was absolutely massive. The philosophy he holds towards tone is the most organic I've ever heard, and he backs it up so well. You don't need a giant computer generated rig to have a quality tone. The sole purpose is that you're making music, and music needs to serve its purpose, so letting the music breathe as opposed to just designing and shaping and taking the natural material presented to you kinda takes the soul away. He really let that shine in in his show as well. It was a truly magnificent experience.
If Dr Who was a blues rocker!...great vid..one of the best rig rundowns...
Mike Brookfield Holy Shit that's the hardest I've laughed at a comment in weeks. It's so uncanny, that I can't even focus on the interview. Just keep thinking, Bolinger would be a weird companion.
That scarf has harmonics.
it has! when it accidently touches the strings
It needs a bright cap.
You win the internet 4 years later.
And a wammy bar
As one who gigs with old guitars & amps I can totally relate to this, I guess that means I'm crazy too. Anybody who loves & runs vintage gear live on a regular basis will agree that what this guy is saying is totally accurate. There's magic in that stuff no doubt.
The magic is a little thing we like to call 'mojo'
his skills are mind blowing, yet he is incredibly humble and transparent, i have never seen slide skills like that
I just learned more about tube amps in the first 10 min of this videos than from all previous RRs combined.
I kind of agree about the background music being a distraction.. Otherwise great. ;)
J.D. seems like a very nice guy.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
I love coming back to these older videos, really shows the evolution of John's hair lmao
He seems so much more real than a lot of others. Great sense of humour. Very candid.
Not all pro guitarist are willing to share their hard earned gear tips and settings. That says a lot about JD's character.
This is a detailed instruction manual for 4-hole Marshalls.
Best Rig Rundown of 2014 and this early in the year. Congrats!
I've seen JD in Nashville with the Don Kelley Band in 2012 and he blew me away like I couldn't believe (and I've been around for quite some time).
JD, Stop saying there is something wrong with you my brotha. I'm with you! I'm an OCD tone geek that analyzes every aspect of gear and tone. Its fun man! Everything effects tone, including the pick you use. I was waiting for you to tell us about your cables and picks too...lol, but I guess that would have been another hour. You and I could burn some serious time talking details of gear. God bless you man! You Rock! Excellent RRD PG!
This is one of the best "episodes" of rig rundown yet...fantastic...and for me a little validation....he laughs it off (a number of times), but I have stumbled across the same idiosyncrasies in old Marshalls and have ended up doing a lot of the same things with mine...super cool interview, thanks!
Never knew Jim Morrison returned as a helluva good blues guitarist!
LOL, that is what I said!
These are some of the best tips for running a tube amp I've ever heard! I've been using a solid state as a backup between tube changes, but hopefully these tips will extend the life of my Marshall.
Very informative and correct. Thanks PG!
This guy seriously knows his shit! Very interesting.
We heard J.D. play with Don Kelly at Robert's a couple years ago. They totally blew the roof off the place, and J.D. absolutely amazed. It was basically everything you could want as a tourist in Nashville.
We're proud to have JD Simo as a TrueFire Educator! Learn how to his songs and more in his guitar course, Psych Blues, which includes video lessons, tab, notation, jam tracks, and more: truefire.com/c1345
This guy knows amps. Awesome sounds! Still diming a 100W plexi is suicide..... and cool.
I love how JD says he actually likes a slight microphonic V1 tube in the old Marshall’s. I thought I was the only one!
Absolutely fascinating. Would love to see him and Bonamassa chatting vintage marshalls. Good work JB!
Thank you J.D. for sharing. What a great player.
Lol he doesn't wanna rat on his "tube dealers" lmao
Wow, How interesting was this, he really loves his sound
He is one of the best player ever... He is also , strangely at that time, a incredible Jim Morrison lookalike !!..?
Never thought I'd learn so much about tube amps in a 15 or so minute period.
J.D. is the man. I met him when he played at Roberts downtown. Really really nice guy. I was a nerd and took a picture of his pedal board and amp and he let me get up there and take good pictures. Thanks for posting this!
Just discovering JD from videos with Daniel Donato. Man, the guy's simply incredible. This was really fun watching his take on gear and the obsessive nature he has when it comes to tone. The first clip playing through the Marshall with the ES335 was ridiculous! That tone is so fat and huge, just wow!
Gotta love a guy that can talk about the super lead for over 18 minutes! ;)
This guy speaks the truth about the first preamp tube. I've been told that by more than 1 person. One of which was in a band that used to tour back in the early 2000. He's letting you know some secrets that only professional bands know and usually don't talk about. I've had a vintage Vox wah and yes the new one sounds nothing like them.
This bloke gets it. No garnish. No racks of doom and gadgets.
Good wood + cord + good amp & speakers/cab.
And that's ALL ya need.
EXACTLY.
Good call on the NOS RCA tubes, especially in the preamp! That’s all I use with an occasional telephunken first pre tube. Wether it be my Boogie DC5 which I bought from a guy who had just put in NOS RCA tubes and didn’t charge extra because he worked at a jukebox restoration and repair company so he could get his hands on virtually anything through his vast network, and that was what got me into tubes/tube amps. I’d always loved tube amps but with that one I got bit by the bug! I’m thinking wow a tube amp can sound like that also!!! So that was my first and then I did caps and tubes on my childhood amp, a 67 Fender Bandmaster, then my duel rec., than my VHT special6 ultra. Then my Jet City half stack, than my Ampeg Reverbarocket (original). Finally the my end all be all amp my Marshall Blues Breaker!!! That thing I call the stack killer. I love stacks but the blues breaker cranked....nothing like it. Oh almost forgot my Blankenship customized bassman style tweed with three 10’s. 36watt ClassA with built in 6 way knob rangemaster type device. That came with NOS rca preamp and JJ’s Power tubes all as per my request. So yeah I dig this rig rundown very much because it’s someone else who knows the majesty that I do called NOS tubes and cranked Marshalls!!
So I couldn't sleep tonight and decided to just check some stuff out on RUclips and I stumbled upon this Simon. I've never heard of him, never heard his playing any of it. But I was super impressed with this dude man! I mean I'm a bit older, late 50s and to me, it was so cool to see a younger guy that's so deep into some of the stuff that I've been into for a long time! Not that I'm not being snobby or one upping Simon or anything like that. It just tripped me out. But when he started talking about his amplifiers particularly the Marshall, I was so impressed man. Particularly when he was talking about tubes because I've been preaching about NOS tubes forever and a day! You can put NOS tubes in any current Vox ac30 s and they sound unreal! I'm talking about NOS mullard, Bugle Boy, Brimar, you name it. Oh yeah and the granddaddy of American tubes RCA. I mean I have a bunch of cool amps ( Dr Z MAZ18JR, Vox AC15HWX and my fav Tone King Imperial) but it's kind of funny I've got this Blues Junior that I had modded by a guy here in Seattle named John Fromel. It makes the amp sound more like a blackface Deluxe Reverb which is very very cool. But anyway I threw some NOS RCA tubes in that amp and holyshit! The harmonic content is just beautiful and the cleans are very much Fender blackface and when you turn it up to the point where it breaks up it's just really sweet. So yeah for anybody out there maybe some of you younger guys, definitely check out NOS tubes or even slightly used tubes. Like military or hospital pulls. Those are a great bargain and they haven't been abused in a hot guitar amp. Like he's saying in the video here it is a bit of a witch hunt and it really helps if you have a tube tester and know how to use it. Because there's all kinds of people on eBay Etc that sell marginal tubes for big $$. Anyway that's my two cents worth. I'll be checking out Simon More on RUclips! PS: There's an excellent source for tubes on eBay called GTFBS ( Great Tubes For Better Sound ) I'm not affiliated in any way, just scored some fantastic tubes at a fair price. Happy tube hunting!
I learned a ton here, and I've been playing for over 40years...but tube amp are like that. Its almost like an artists canvas. Every player has his own thing going on, but its always great to see what others are doing. Inspirational really. I honestly never thought JD would be so deep into the tech. I love it. I went through that stage for decades with my Hiwatts...really great stuff...
Great lecture on super leads.
Fascinating interview and gear rundown. Hell of a player too! Wow!
RIP Brian Farmer, And Ed King
Late to this interview. Thoroughly enjoyed!!
vintage 100w marshall head turned up to 10?? with no attenuation?? this guy is nuts.
No, this guy must be deaf !
They make great in ear noise canceling plugs you can hear whispers through but mechanically close at a given pressure to prevent damage. J.masics plays 4 full 100w stacks - he may have hearing damage... especially in small clubs .
So what
What?
No, he simply knows how to play these amps. Live he always turned them to the side so they wouldn’t pummel the audience. Marshall 4x12s are incredibly directional.
My favorite guitarist. Period
These small preferences like the glass slide seem ridiculous to the uninitiated, and it's not lost on the artists themselves, but it is an honest phenomenon and not just pretentious grandstanding. These micro-preferences have been documented by musicians for centuries. Having things just right helps the music to flow.
The thing is that glass slides sound different than metal ones. And that might be the only thing were there is difference.
Thank you
CrimSun There's a difference in glass. I can hear it.
Used to see hum in Arizona went to the rythym room for his going away party one of the nicest guys you could meet and one hell of a guitarist
Ufortunately, the Pigtail bridge mfr, passed away a while back. He made the BEST stuff, and sadly he passed. A really nice guy
Really great rundown. What a fascinating dude, who's really taken the time to delve into his tone in a way that few of us are able to. Hadn't heard of him before but will definitely check out his music. Agree with others that the background music is too much though.
That Marshall Supafuzz wasnt made by Marshall; it was just badged as Marshall. It's a sola sound Tonebender circuit. And as for the Peter Townsend superfuzz he cites, wasnt that a Shin-ei Super Fuzz? (i.e,. compoletely different pedal?)
Boy this guy sure likes his late era Cream...Obviously he can do a lot more, but he really nails the late Cream Clapton licks...
"A wise workman knows his tools!" J. D. Simo seems to know his amps!
Thanks Premier Guitar for this discovery! How had I never heard of this dude! DAMN!
Good interview, love the old Marshall amps.
@ 70S we loaded all the bars with cigerettes and those old poker machines making runs from each club and keeping them filled from cincy to Memphis to Atlanta, we were on the road all the time before we all took on to the service. It ll be a good day to stop in and see some of these guys...I know JD wasn't born back then but, it s ok, he s solid with the old cats of Nashville, the bunch I used to sneak in and sit to see what there was to see. up stairs and down....So good to hear Nashville talkin back.
ive been watching this video for more then 6 years by now, i just miss marshall, no pedals, skinny jd hahaha
I agree lol
Simo is easily one of my favourite bands around at the moment, check out the album. It kicks arse!!!!!
Its really a good thing to hear folks talkin bout the hometown boys from the burb s of Nashville. He mention a few of the guys that I wax aware of back in the day. Jack and the brothers made my old butt feel good. born rainsed round Nashville, my mother did time in nasville while we all parked abour the Boro from the 50s through the 70s then the service and on to Tx very long time since. JD is a real a great judge of music character. I m gonna see him one of these days when I get back around Nashville to bury the rest of the family. Got 4 generations still doing hometown there. Thanks for leading the herd JD...and for being a really good R and B player.......
I like these voiceover intro bios over artist's footage! I didn't even remember this video having that, but now I wish all your videos had it! :D
saw this dude playing in Nashville a few years ago on vacation with my family. At first I was like no way it cant be that kid. until he pulled out the fuzz pedal and i recalled it. this dude kills it. look up j.d simo ghost rider. youll enjoy it.
I wish I was an amp genius like this guy
He is just REAL!! He knows his thing!!
come on back to us JD, the substances are taking their toll!!
I miss this guy!
I thought I was the only one who did the tube thing I'm as neurotic as they get great Video JD
Knows his Marshall's and did I learn something?
Yep and that's always a bonus. Good CD BTW JD!
Beautiful ‘Burst in your profile photo!
@@Dagger_323 Thanx Still have that one!
Great Rig Rundown, but please please please, stop with the background music, it's so annoying! =)
i concur
You should watch this every few years. Just to check yourself.
I do that.
JD is good but a little goofy but in a good way.And talking about tubes.V2,V3 does make a big difference but not as much as V1 which is the main gain tube.And"meatball"RCA,s are great but what i can see thats a Philips miniwatt(Holland)in the V1 position not an RCA.
i could talk to this guy all day nite about amps tubes
Educational stuff, especially about that particular amp somewhat. A '62 335 would normally have early Patent pickups in them, but I've found that many many times, the pickups in a Gibson guitar made in those years, had pickups made a year or two or three BEFORE the guitars were made. His sound like PAF's as real '62 Patents can be extremely bright sometimes. Clapton's was even later, a '64 but his had PAF's in it also. Early Patents weren't too different than PAF's, still had plain enamel wire, but some of the design elements inside the pickup were starting to slip out the classic engineering specs and they could be really bright, to even being shrill sounding by '64. 1965 they changed to TTop buckers because changes in materials technologies made the pickups too bright, the TTop design was to combat that.
What an introduction to J. D. Simo! He knows his tools, works very hard to get them to do what he wants. I haven't heard a lot of his playing but I would guess he plays very well too. I'm going to check that out, should be fun.
Bunch of musicians complaining about background music seems odd to me
+epiphonemarshall Its like an ancient sound check going on in the background that you didn't choose..What's so fricking strange about that bro..
Thanks JD, now when I have people over at my house, I'll steal your line: "I have generous friends... almost none of this is actually mine." :) Great gear taste dude.
Great to see and hear a relativ young man, who is a maniac soundresearcher.
I always accepted that the demos weren't great (Princeton anyone ?), but subscribed for the rig run-downs. Now we have backing music that's as loud as the talking, I'm off until PG can focus on what's important again.
"as loud as the talking" You mean a quarter volume of the talking? Maybe it was a little distracting, but there is no need for hyperbole.
Who would you rather have do the demos? That guy who butchered the Lolar El Rayos, or the Soccer Dad with the glasses and spiky hair? Come on, son. This guy is doing a killer job.
Can you guys reupload this without the music?
Woah! Best Rig Rundown in age. Yay, Nashville!
Hey PG, do another one of these with JD please! He has been doing livestreams from his basement lately and would be a piece of cake for a zoom style rig rundown right now. He’s got a newish album out as well.
“This guys full of shit”
*plays through rig*
“I gotta go check my tubes...”
Love his insight! His obsession benefits all of us.
Uhh this makes me miss my JCM800 so much. Love those cranked Marshall harmonics so much
I would love to see him playing live someday, just to see how loud he plays the amp
Jim Morrison what are you doing here?
or mick taylor lol
+GamingMemesFTW he s too chubby to look like young Jim
He s not chubby enough to look like old jim
He looks like Mick Taylor as Doctor Who from the mid 80s.
actually leslie wests son
This dude is a phenomenal player!
The Ten Commandments of JD Simo's Sound ... Sweet Melissa this Boy Plays a mean Pinball - He's the Rebirth of Cool for all you Riders In The Storm ...
This guys the stuff! Playing and sound is the way I like! I use a fan also because I like to cook the power tubes. John B does an excellent interview as always! And the back ground music is just fine. When I hang and rap the rap we always have tunes going.
Thanks for posting. Shame about the soundtrack running in the background throughout, but JD is for real.
I think he's trying tondo some subliminal messages. ;) It's his cd Symo playing in the back.
Love that he is such a tone and gear nerd. A lot of the guys on these vids don't really know what they are talking about. Mr. Simo def knows his stuff.
King of digression! This guy's really cool. :)
The Fender Deluxe was stolen in Italy while they were on tour . I know this is far fetched but if anyone gets word of his amp please contact JD . He is on fb .
Guy knows what he's talking about. Thanks for the vid.
TOOOOONE MOOOOONSTER
Why did they insist on leaving the soundtrack playing underneath. It was completely irritating.
yep unwatchable.