RON “BUMBLEFOOT” THAL
BEYOND HIS HIGH-PROFILE stint with Guns N’ Roses from 2006 to 2014, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal has distinguished himself in the hard-rock supergroups Art of Anarchy and Sons of Apollo, and in his lengthy and diverse solo career. In addition, he writes TV jingles, theme songs and background music. Needless to say, this mad professor’s home lab gets regular use.
What’s your home rig’s main purpose?
Mostly songwriting and recording, but also plenty of mixing and mastering, teaching — all things music. It’s a second house I got about 20 years ago for the purpose of having a studio where artists could stay while they work, and I’ve made great use of it over the years. It’s an unusual studio. It has a Swiss Cheese room (to match my old Swiss Cheese guitar) with 3-D holes in the walls, and a big yard that grows berries every summer.
What’s in the studio?
I have some nice outboard gear but have slowly become in-the-box, which allows me to work from other locations. At the studio, it’s a PC with Steinberg Cubase and WaveLab. I have a lot of audio interfaces — Prism Orpheus, IK Multimedia Axe I/O — but I mainly use a Focusrite 18i8 linked to a Focusrite 18i20 (both 3rd-gen) when doing live drums. On the road, I bring a Focusrite 2i2 and a PC laptop with Cubase and WaveLab. I have lots of Shure and Sennheiser dynamic mics, AudioTechnica and AKG condenser mics, Cascade ribbon mics, lots of Line 6 Vetta heads and Engl heads, an old Marshall head, Engl and Marshall cabinets, TC Electronic stompboxes and lots of custom effects, a Morley switchless wah, a G7th capo, glass and metal slides, thimbles... and a kazoo, ha ha! Plus Vigier electric guitars and Cort acoustic guitars all over the place.
How did you come to choose this gear?
The equipment built up over decades of recording and touring. There are many memories and events connected to every piece of gear.
Do you have a favorite piece?
That would have to be the Vigier signature series DoubleBfoot fretted/ fretless double-neck guitar. That’s my main piece of gear. Next in line is the Line 6 Helix Native plug-in. I get every possible guitar tone I could imagine, and it adds so much to the writing and
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Focusrite interfaces with a Focusrite Octopre, Prism Sound Orphus and Amtec EQs; the drum room; the monitor shares space with a capo, slide, Aeon sustainer and kazoo; the heart of the system
production. The song “Planetary Lockdown” that I released last year wouldn’t have happened if not for the features in the Helix.
What’s the latest addition to your rig?
TC Electronic makes a hand-held string sustainer called Aeon. I’ve been using that a ton with the fretless, and I love it!
What’s the best thing about your setup?
The drum room. It’s 11-by-22, with nine-foot walls and a ceiling that slopes up to 15 feet. It’s a loud room and gets great reflections that bring the drums to life. Lots of tone and energy. You can’t fake that with artificial reverb on close mics. You need the full reflections.
What would you like to change or add?
I’d like to remove gear that I no longer use and find a home for them where they’ll be used and not collect dust. GUITARPLAYER.COM