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<\/h1>\n<\/h1>\nWhen it comes to crafting the perfect sound, the amplifier is every bit as important as the guitar itself. And with the countless variations available\u2014from monster stacks to boutique boxes\u2014there are seemingly endless choices when it comes to selecting the right amp.<\/p>\n
We turned to five-time Grammy-winning guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer Steve Lukather to discuss his amplifier insights. For a guy who\u2019s appeared on more than 1,500 albums as a session player since he was a teen, Lukather is an expert\u2019s expert. Paul McCartney, Elton John, Miles Davis and Michael Jackson are among the many artists who\u2019ve sought his talents. Yet the 57-year-old ace is best known for his work with Toto, the band he founded with high school friends in the late 1970s. Toto went on to sell more than 35 million albums powered by hits like \u201cRosanna,\u201d \u201cHold the Line\u201d and \u201cAfrica.\u201d Lukather, who plays Music Man, Yamaha and Ovation guitars, started his solo career in the late \u201980s and has released seven solo albums. Meanwhile, Toto is releasing a new album later this year.<\/p>\n
Whose amp tones influenced you?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
When I heard George Harrison play on \u201cI Saw Her Standing There,\u201d I said, \u201cWhat in God\u2019s name made that beautiful noise?\u201d That twangy, reverby solo just got inside my soul. And I said, \u201cI wanna be that<\/i> guy.\u201d I got to tell him that, too, which was really wonderful. We became friendly around 1992 and I played with him a little bit. The \u201con switch\u201d to my life in music was the Beatles\u2014and now I\u2019m in Ringo\u2019s band, plus I\u2019ve worked with Paul on a bunch of different projects.<\/p>\n
Recall your first amp?<\/b><\/p>\n
It was called an Alamo\u2014real cheapo stuff when I was a kid. My parents were not having this, \u201cI\u2019m going to be a musician\u201d thing at first. They thought it was kind of cute but that I\u2019d grow out of it. So they didn\u2019t put any big investment into my gear. There was a guy who would teach me songs and show me stuff on his Fender Jaguar and his Blackface Reverb amp\u2014the first great amp I ever played through. I just turned up the reverb and cranked up\u2014and it had this big sound. I was always playing with older guys because I wanted to learn all I could. Plus, I\u2019d borrow their gear. I\u2019d bring this stuff into the house, playing so loud my parents had no idea what was going on.<\/p>\n
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What came next?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n
My dad realized I was getting kind of good at this guitar thing, and was actually making money at it. He got me my first really good amp\u2014an Ampeg VT-22, which I still have. It\u2019s what Keith Richards played on Exile on Main St.<\/i>\u2014and it\u2019s what I played through my teens, into Toto and my first sessions with Boz Scaggs. I had to get a master volume installed because it was face-meltingly loud. And that thing was heavy. When I was in Toto, I bought a little Marshall combo amp. Soon I was constantly trying different amps. I actually found a modded Blackface Deluxe that I ended up using for a lot of years. [Noted amp builder] Paul Rivera had done a mod on it\u2014gave it a midrange boost so it would have more heft. It just recorded great\u2014I used it on all the Toto stuff, including \u201cRosanna.\u201d<\/p>\n
Why use smaller amps in
\nthe studio?<\/b><\/p>\n
Keep in mind, on [the Who\u2019s] \u201cWon\u2019t Get Fooled Again,\u201d that\u2019s a little Fender Champ amp with a Shure 57 mic on it. That\u2019s a pretty big sound, right? When you\u2019re recording, you don\u2019t have to move much air if the amp is miked properly to get a big sound. Brian May had a little homemade amp that he did all that Queen stuff on. These days, a lot of players have home studios or they live in an apartment. Small amps are perfect for them. They want to record and not have the police arrive 10 minutes into it. And there\u2019s so much information on the internet about recording. If you have the time and patience, you can learn how to move mics around and get some brilliant sounds with a small amp.<\/p>\n
How about modeling amps?<\/b><\/p>\n
The best modeling amp I have is the Kemper. If anyone has a home recording setup, that\u2019s an amp they should look at. You can go direct with it or plug it into a system and use it live. You can model your own amp sounds, and then you won\u2019t have to carry a big amp wherever you go. If I\u2019m guesting on somebody\u2019s record, I\u2019ll often bring the Kemper amp. I like to have a couple of options\u2014something I can throw in the back of a car for a session, or that can go in the truck for a gig. It\u2019s good to have both.<\/p>\n
Onstage amp preferences?<\/b><\/p>\n
Right now, I\u2019m using two Bogner Ecstasy heads\u2014which I love. I\u2019m using them in stereo, but only for a bit of stereo delay. I don\u2019t have my amps directly behind me\u2014they\u2019re behind and to my right, and my vocal monitors are in front of me. This way I can hear the drums and the house and a little of the kick drum in the side-fill speakers. I can pretty much hear everybody from across the stage. I\u2019ve never liked having the amp sound through a monitor\u2014I like hearing it from the amp.<\/p>\n
Thoughts on effects?<\/b><\/p>\n
When you use effects, especially reverb and delay, put them through the amp\u2019s effects loop. You can mix in the amount of effect behind the signal. That lets you keep your tone and presence and not bury it with effects.<\/p>\n
Advice you would offer
\na novice?<\/b><\/p>\n
We live in a world where you can look up online how to get Eric Clapton\u2019s sound. I mean, you can\u2019t sound like him because you can\u2019t play like him\u2014but you can find out what his amp settings are. Find a tone that you dig on a record and do some research on how to get that tone. And perhaps you just might end up with something you can tweak into your own unique sound. Also, find out what your favorite players use, and try it out. The key thing is trial and error. There\u2019s no wrong way to do it. It\u2019s just what you feel\u2014and that\u2019s different for us all. Tone comes from you. It comes from your hands and from your heart.<\/p>\n
Advice you\u2019d give your younger self?<\/b><\/p>\n
I\u2019d say keep everything\u2014and keep it clean, in a closet somewhere. Don\u2019t lose sight of it. I\u2019ve acquired so much gear, and it would get moved into storage areas without my knowledge. And things were stolen\u2014really valuable, great stuff. Take care of your gear. That\u2019s my advice. Take care of yourself first, but then take care of the gear.<\/p>\n
\u2014Mark Hutchins<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
AMPED UP Find the right amplifier with sound advice\u00a0from guitar master Steve Lukather\u00a0 When it comes to crafting the perfect sound, the amplifier is every bit as important as the guitar itself. And with the countless variations available\u2014from monster stacks to boutique boxes\u2014there are seemingly endless choices when it comes to selecting the right amp. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14330"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14330"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14330\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14333,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14330\/revisions\/14333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}