We take a look at the gear guitarist Adrian Belew has gravitated toward during his almost fifty-year career.
There are few musicians who can claim to have played with some of the most influential bands and artists of all time. With a career spanning almost fifty years, Adrian Belew has played guitar for Frank Zappa, David Bowie, King Crimson, Talking Heads…the list goes on. Throughout his career, Adrian has gravitated towards effect units and pedals to create signature sounds. On the cusp of a tour in April to celebrate Talking Heads’ album Remain in Light alongside Jerry Harrison, let’s have a look at some of the key components that have made up his guitar rig throughout the years.
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Parker Fly
Made from 2007 to 2011, the Parker Adrian Belew Signature Fly is packed with features such as a custom vibrato system along with locking tuners, a Di Marzio pickup in the bridge and a Sustainiac pickup in the neck position, MIDI-capable RMC piezo hex pickup with a 13-pin output as well as Line 6’s Variax modeller, allowing him to access any type of guitar, pickup configuration or stringed instrument.
Fender Mustang
Affectionately known as the “Twang Bar King,” Belew’s Mustang has been heavily modified since acquisition. Initially set up as a controller for his Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesiser, over the years Belew has added Lace Sensor noiseless pickups, a Kahler Tremolo system and Spurzel locking tuners for better tuning stability, as well as a custom paint job from artist Mike Getz.
Roland GR-300 Guitar Synthesiser
Belew acquired a Roland GR-300 whilst in King Crimson. He has used the GR-300 for orchestration and to create textures rather than replacing key aspects of his guitar playing. Belew has stated that he’d rather modify a guitar he feels comfortable with to be set up with the synth pickup and controls than use the guitar that came with the units. This allows him to address certain problems such as intonations and individual string volume.
Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120
Since touring with David Bowie in 1977, Belew has used a Jazz Chorus, JC-120, to amplify his sounds. Taking full advantage of the chorus/vibrato side to create insane sounds, Belew would overload the channel with a Big Muff and 10-band eq with the mids pushed and manipulate the chorus parameters to create oscillations. This can be heard on Elephant Talk.
Electro-Harmonix pedals
Like many experimental guitarists from the 70s and 80s, Belew has relied on Electro-Harmonix pedals to create some of his weird sounds. He is best known for using a V4 Op-amp Big Muff with the tone bypassed, Echo-Flanger, Poly-Chorus and 16-second Digital Delay for looping and reverse sounds.
Digitech HM2 HarmonyMan
The HarmonyMan is one of Belew’s modern mainstays. Setting the pedal with the effect level all the way up where only the affected signal can be heard, Belew sets multiple intervals and rhythmically taps on the pedal, allowing him to create the illusion of playing more notes than what he is playing.
Fractal Axe-Fx Ultra
Despite being an older model of Axe-Fx, this Axe-Fx is an integral part of Belew’s rig, giving him the possibility to create, design and store patches for the numerous projects he is a part of without the need to carry around a large pedalboard. Adrian Belew has cited that the reason he hasn’t upgraded from the Ultra is that he has written hundreds of patches with the Ultra that can’t be replicated or loaded onto newer versions.
