BACKSTAGE PASS DOUG REDLER/RICH ROBINSON

DOUG REDLER/RICH ROBINSON OF THE BLACK CROWES Matt Frost chats to Doug Redler, personal guitar technician for Rich Robinson of The Black Crowes

ince graduating from the University of Miami with a BA in music and S business back in the late ’80s, Doug Redler has built up a mouth-wateringly impressive CV as a touring technician and tour manager. Doug’s career began back in ’87 when an old friend, guitarist Jeff " all, asked him if he fancied being his guitar tech for a Bryan Ferry tour. Redler naturally jumped at the chance, and since that early invitation he’s gone on to ply his trade for a host of big names, including the B-52s, David Bowie, Counting Crows, Dixie Chicks, Echo and the Bunnymen, Peter Gabriel, Goo Goo Dolls, Katy Perry, Paul Simon, Steve Stevens/ Billy Idol and Tom Tom Club. Doug has also studied at Bryan Galloup’s School of Guitar Building and Repair (www. galloupguitars.com) in Michigan, an experience that he believes has Doug takes care of Rich’s favourite guitar – a Gibson ‘62 SG reissue with a custom reliced fi nish by NYC’s Cobra Guitars helped him immeasurably. For the last few years, Redler has I have to tune the acoustic guitars in the midst of celebrating this greatest hits,” he explains. “" en, spent much of his time alternating in another room sometimes! You’ll benchmark with an extensive after an intermission, they come his teching priorities between two see me hiding in hallways or in a jaunt across the States, billed as back and do an electric set, so acts – k.d. lang and " e Black production offi ce, trying to tune in the ‘Say Goodnight To " e Bad sometimes they’re playing about Crowes. “It’s funny how I go from between songs, hoping nothing Guys’ tour. Sadly, this tour could three and a half hours a night, the loudest band in the world to goes wrong onstage!” well be the southern rockers’ last which isn’t always easy for an old possibly the quietest band in the as they have announced an guy like me, but the fans stay ’til world!” Doug Redler laughs. “With “indefi nite hiatus” following the very end! It’s a long day for me k.d. I can’t even plug a guitar in Heavy Schedule December’s fi nal six dates at the and a long set, and that’s on top of while she’s singing because " is year marks the 20th Fillmore in San Francisco. In the a soundcheck and the load-ins and everything’s so quiet during the anniversary of " e Black Crowes’ meantime, Doug Redler certainly load-outs. We put in about 12- to show, but then the Crowes are so debut album Shake Your Money has his work cut out. 13-hour days.” loud… Even on their acoustic set Maker, and the band are currently “" e fi rst set is an acoustic set of When Doug fi rst hooked up with

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TONE THE CROWES

Although Rich Robinson doesn’t tend to OD on e! ects, he certainly takes quite a few on the road with him. His custom e! ects rack was built by Rack Systems in LA and contains the following pedals: • Way Huge Aqua-Puss MKII Rich also uses two Fulltone Tape analogue delay Echo units and a Fender Tube • Way Huge Fat Sandwhich fuzz Reverb, usually placed on top of the • Way Huge Pork Loin overdrive e! ects rack, as shown above. The • Way Huge Angry Troll boost following pedals sit onstage Rich Robinson takes a whole load of vintage guitars out on the road with him • ISP Decimator G String noise at his feet: suppressor • Voodoo Lab Micro Vibe rotary • Axess Electronics FX1 MIDI foot simulator controller “OUR RELATIONSHIP HAS GROWN A LOT • Tone Freak MelloTremo tremolo • CAE/Dunlop Wah • Mojo Lucky 13 • Roland FV-500L volume pedal OVER THE YEARS AND WE’RE BOTH REALLY • Moog Moogerfooger 12-Stage • Rocktron Celestial Delay Phaser • DigiTech Whammy COMFORTABLE WITH EACH OTHER.” • H&K Rotosphere • Line 6 Delay

the Crowes back in 2001, he was Fishman and they hooked me up initially employed as both the bass Altered Images with the Aura pedal. Treasured Relic tech and as guitar tech for ex-lead For the Black Crowes’ acoustic “We sent a few of our guitars to Doug Redler is packing around guitar man Audley Freed, but it sets on the current tour, Rich them and they put the Fishman 20 of Rich Robinson’s favourite wasn’t long before he moved over Robinson’s main guitars are a Matrix pickup in the guitars, electric axes into three mobile to work with Rich Robinson as his Guild D-55 6-string, a Guild F-512 recorded them and then modelled Black Crowes guitar vaults for the personal technician. 12-string and a Martin D-18 from the guitars for the Aura pedal so ‘Say Goodnight…’ tour. " ey “Rich is pretty much an entire 1961. Discovering Fishman’s Aura we had them in the library. It really include a Trussart SteelPhonic, band in himself,” says Redler. “We ‘Acoustic Imaging Technology’ has fattens the guitar up and it makes a Zemaitis Disc, a Zemaitis Metal have about 30 guitars on the road! been a revelation for Doug Redler. it feel more alive, rather than just Front, a ’69 Gibson Les Paul But he’s great and really lets me do “We were having a lot of trouble having an acoustic guitar with Goldtop, a ’67 Fender Telecaster what I want to do, you know. He with the band’s acoustic sets,” a pickup under the saddle and Custom, a Fender Mary Kaye trusts me enough to pick which explains Doug. “It’s acoustic, but a feedback buster in it. Stratocaster, a Fender B-Bender guitar he’s going to use for what the only person playing acoustic “Rich is also using in-ear Telecaster, a Danelectro 12-string, song. Our relationship has grown guitar is Rich! We were having monitors on the acoustic set, so he an Ampeg Dan Armstrong Plexi, a lot over the years and we’re both a lot of issues with getting his hears everything a lot better. We a ’63 Gibson ES-335 and four really comfortable with each other. guitar loud enough onstage to blend the guitar sounds with the Gretschs – a ’67 Country Rich is just really a nice, quiet, shy compete with the bass and Luther modelled guitar and keep it a little Gentleman, a ’63 White Falcon, guy. He prefers that I kind of take [Dickinson’s] electric guitar and heavier on the modelled side. It’s a a 2010 Black Falcon and a ’58 charge and do what I want to do so the drums and the keyboards and pretty interesting and deep process Streamliner. he doesn’t have to worry about it. percussion and everything like and it’s making my life a lot easier Robinson’s main guitar, however, His line is basically, ‘Whatever you that. It’s been a tough road, but out here, so thank you everybody is a Gibson ’62 SG reissue and it’s want to do, Doug – just do it!’” fi nally I spoke to the people at at Fishman!” had something of a makeover.

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Rich uses a Vox AC30, a Reason SM50 and an active subwoofer on stage Doug has studied at Bryan Galloup’s School of Guitar Building and Repair

“It was just one of those guitars a tad for the current tour, where the guys from Gibson necessitating a change in Effects & Cables The Dream Gig brought it down for us and Rich amplification. Although there are quite a few It’s clear that Doug Redler is really said immediately, ‘I love this guitar, “"e band made a conscious pedals on Rich Robinson’s effects going to miss working with "e I wish every guitar felt this right!’” effort this year to bring down their rack, he uses them pretty Black Crowes when they embark says Redler. “But the guitar’s a ’62 stage volume and we started with conservatively. “Most of Rich’s on their “indefinite hiatus” reissue and it still looked very new a Vox AC30 head and a 2x12 sound is really the amplifiers,” following their upcoming San and Rich said, ‘Is there any way to cabinet, and then we had a 65 Redler confirms. “He’ll take in an Francico gigs midway through age this guitar to make it look old?’ Amps Royal Albert, which was a overdrive or a distortion just for a December, but he certainly won’t “A very good friend of mine who 45-watt head and a 2x12 cabinet,” little more volume or for slide. He be betting against them returning I grew up with has opened up Doug explains. “But I was in a likes to use the [Way Huge Effects] to the live stage at some point in a guitar shop in the East Village of music store in St Louis and the guy Pork Loin and the Fat Sandwich the future, no matter how far away New York City called Cobra working in the store said, ‘You’ve together a lot for volume and slide, that might eventually occur. Guitars and they make relic-ed got to hear this amp, you’ve got to and he uses the Angry Troll pedal “"is is a dream gig for me and guitars there. He’s pretty secret hear this amp!’ And I said, ‘Yeah, for leads, but most of his rhythm I’m really going to be sad when it’s about how he does it. I know everyone wants to play an amp for sound is just him through the amps. over,” he explains. “It’s really going there’s belt sanders and coffee me, I’m sure it’s a great amp but…’ "en he lowers his volume using to be tough to top this one grounds involved and a bit of And he said, ‘Just listen to it!’ I said, the volume control on his guitar musically, and we also all have shellac, but he just hides out in his ‘I don’t want to hear it…’ and I’m when he wants a cleaner tone. He a lot of fun out on the road. "e shop and does it. So while we were walking out the store and he has a lot of effects but he’s not a big band’s playing better than ever, in New York I brought Rich’s played it… And I said, ‘Wow, bring ‘effects guy’. He does use the tape they’re having fun out there, and favourite guitar down to those it over to the gig!’ and I put it up echoes [a pair of Fulltone Tube Tape it’s really musically fulfilling. To guys and let them beat it up. It on Rich’s rig. Echo units] a lot, though, so there’s top this? I don’t know how I’m looks like the guitar got its ass “It’s a Reason SM50 head, which a lot of Pink Floyd-y things going on going to do it. k.d. lang is amazing kicked! But we took it out of the is 50 watts, with a Reason 2x12 with those during the jams.” musically and personally, but to go case and Rich loved it right away.” cabinet. We took away the Royal For Rich Robinson and "e Black out and rock every single night Albert and it’s been his favourite Crowes, using wireless is a definite like "e Black Crowes do… "e amp ever since. We use that and ‘no-no’. “It’s a very purist band,” only other band like that would be Good Reasons the AC30 both on together at all explains Doug. “Using in-ear Led Zeppelin! But I figure, in a Rich Robinson has long favoured times, and since he doesn’t have monitors in the acoustic set is a couple of years time, I’ll get a call Harry Joyce amps and on previous the two 4x12s behind him, we’ve pretty giant step for these guys, for again. I’ll probably be in a rocking tours could often be spotted got an ISP Vector SL Active them to do something like that. I chair somewhere and Rich is plugging into two 50-watt Harry Subwoofer to give Rich the feel make Rich’s guitar cables. We don’t going to call me and he’s going to Joyce heads with two 4x12s. under his feet that the big rig used use anything store-bought. I make go, ‘Hey, you old f***, do you think However, the volume’s come down to provide for him.” them out of Belden 8412 cable.” you can do it again?’” GB TUNING TIME Robinson plays in a variety of “I string about six to eight guitars tunings, though open G (DGDGBD) a day,” says Doug, “and lately, if I get is a favourite. All his electrics are a break during the show, I’ll string a set up with GHS Sub-Zero Boomer guitar. I "nd I can usually string one 10–46 gauge strings, while a guitar per song and I have a DeWalt variety of GHS strings are used drill with a guitar-stringing bit on it. for the acoustics. Doug Redler It really cuts the time in half. A lot of favours Peterson tuners and has an guys don’t like it but I couldn’t live AutoStrobe 590, a StroboRack and without it. It’s really cool. With the a StroboFlip. He also packs a secret amount of guitars I do, it saves time restringing weapon in his workbox. and it also saves wear on my arms!”

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