04 JOHN MCLAUGHLIN

Back in 2016, the fusion pioneer talked gear with Guitarist. Here’s the lowdown on the tone

“I’m using three kinds of tube preamp, depending on what sort of mood I’m in. The old one is a Mesa/boogie V Twin, which I really like because I used to play Mesa/boogie amps back in the 70s and 80s. Then I have a [Hermida Audio] Zendrive2; this has one valve in it. The last one is a Seymour Duncan Twin Tube Classic and this album [2015’s Black Light] has been recorded with the

Seymour Duncan from start to finish. I use a Line 6 wireless system [Relay G30], which is the best one I know. I go straight into the tuner and from the tuner into the preamp, whichever one I’m using, and from there it goes into an MXR [Carbon Copy] Delay – I really like MXR for quality – and from that into an MXR Stereo Chorus, and that’s it. Then the output goes to the monitors and to the front of house.”