I played Nels Cline’s rig last week and got caught by Nels.

who's_pearljam?

A really good friend of mine has been Wilco’s production manager for the last few years.
I went to see him backstage at the Grand Opera House last week before the Wilco show, down the street from me in Wilmington DE when the stage crew was finishing up getting ready for sound check. Band wasn't there yet.
I helped tune up a couple of Nels’ Jazzmasters then ran them through his rig which is a sight to behold.
There I am BLASTING something or other on stage through his Schroeder handmade 40 watt amp and his pedalboard into the PA system.. Glorious sounding amp!
So I turn around and there’s Jeff Tweedy standing behind me! He was kind of cracking up, and said it sounded good!

Then I turned the other way and it was Nels Cline! Haha! There I am standing there with his guitar, his pedal board, his amp, “Oh, Hi, uhhh, Nels, nice rig.”
He saw my Sun Ra tee shirt on and said “Great shirt” and I told him, well, “You of all people here must love Sun Ra!” We talked about jazz for a while and he gave me a tour of his rig. He is a really good dude, laid back and funny guy and one of my current favorite guitarists.

My camera is iffy and erratic and wouldn’t work when I tried to take pics and I really don’t take pics in those situations but here’s his board's on his site and he describes everything:

http://www.nelscline.com/tech.html

He has the same board now as those 2005 pics on his site, except that he also now has a little robot thingy that has a stalk coming out of its head that has an LED light that shines on a photosensor to make wobbly noises and he uses that while playing his lapsteel.

He definitely is a fuzz hound but also not just HAS them, but if you watch him play live, he uses them and he uses them well.
The Jazzmasters are stock, and when I played them, they play like, Jazzmasters! Nothing out of the ordinary.

He also is a living testament to the fact that, ok, when I played his rig through Fuzz Factories, Fulltone 69, Centaurs, Hot Cake overdrives, , I sounded like Who’s_pearljam? playing my guitar. When HE plays his guitar, it sounds like Nels Cline. It’s all in the hands and as a matter of fact, he was playing Tweedy’s SG for part of sound check and it sounded like his Jazzmaster.

Also of note, Jeff Tweedy’s become a really good guitarist with amazing tone and he has a great rig. Vox amp with two cabinets and a Carr combo that sounds great, 3 volume pedals for his 3 different rigs. Of note on his board were a Custard and Cheese, a Schroeder Blister Agent, Moog Delay, Total Sonic Annihilation , Lovetone Big Cheese, Crowther Prunes and Custard, Mofaux Vibe, Xotic RC Booster, and an RX overdriver which he says was his “Girlfriend Eliminator”.

Very complicated setup, and to sing while switching through all that is quite a feat!

I can’t even begin to describe the main keyboard player’s rig but it was a helluva a lot of wires.
I did get a couple of pics after. Of course my camera worked AFTER I was standing looking at the boards:

Sound Check


Nels' board in front and Tweedy's center stage:


I got a good one of Nels Cline at work at the beginning of the show when we went to take our seats:



The show? Sonic Bliss in a small place with great acoustics.

ezyrydr

Incredible story! Thank you!
That Klon Centaur pedal Nels has is something that I would really like to get my hands on. I talked with Neil Casal from Ryan Adams and the Cardinals and he said he and Ryan both use a Klon Centaur for their drive and it sound awesome. Too bad you can't find one for any less than $700!
I've got the Fulltone 69' Fuzz and that's a great pedal.

Get_Right

that is fucking funny

I was at that show an am a huge wilco fan
nels is the man

xtremehardy388

AWESOME story. It's cool to hear he wasn't a dick

ianvomsaal

I notice a few different pedals on his current board (different from the 2005 pic of his board),
but the biggest change I see is his switch to the BOSS FV500 Volume Pedal instead of the
Ernie Ball Volume (those damn strings break to easy, and as he said, he's gone through a few).

xtremehardy388

Ian-

how do I know if my string will break or is broken? It's probably a dumb question but still. Also, if it happens before a show, is there a "quick fix" to the problem?

MonsterOfTheMidway

This is great. Wilco is one of my favorite bands.


I met Nels back in June for a Nels Cline Singers gig. He is incredibly nice and one of my favorite guitar players around right now.

ianvomsaal

xtremehardy388 wrote:

Ian-

how do I know if my string will break or is broken? It's probably a dumb question but still. Also, if it happens before a show, is there a "quick fix" to the problem?

If the string is broken . . . uhmmm, the volume pedal doesn't work anymore.
Will it break??? YES eventually - look over the string, see if it's starting to fray.
However, most of the time it just plain breaks with no real warning - just snaps.
No, no quick fix that I know of - They actually sell a replacement kit (which
tells me that it must happen enough), but it can be difficult to get the tension
correct, and I've found that most of the time the volume pedal is never quite
the same as it was - Not that it can't be fixed, but you really need to take
your time (and cross your fingers) - getting the swell right can be a real chore.
Their instructions actually make it seem really easy (but it's not really as easy
as it looks): http://www.ernieball.com/graphics/cord_spring_kit_directions_03-17-04.pdf
You can always send it to Ernie Ball, and they'll do it for $25 (plus shipping).
Also remember that potentiometers do get scratchy, & then need replacing.
String Kit and Pots: https://www.shopatron.com/index/574.0.23625.24626.0.0.0
Cheers . . .

- Ian

xtremehardy388

rats...haha

thanks, Ian

Pacomc79

ha, sounds like fun. Way to go Bob. I bet they were watching for a while.

I LOVE the Blister Agent. One of my favorite ones I've been able to try recently.

Anon

haha what an awesome story. cool pics too!

who's_pearljam?

Yup, those guys are good guys, and their stage gear is as high tech as there is right now. My friend is a whiz at gear, and has traveled with most of the greats, and Wilco is his favorite gig.

Also of note on stage was the other keyboard's Leslie speaker. My friend and the keyboard player rigged it with louder speakers and powered it with a Crown PA amp, and the wood enclosure vibrated apart, because it was so powerful! It's got all kinds of bracing and glues holding it together now.

Get_right! You were there? Was that not the greatest place to see Wilco! THat show was like a gift to anyone who could get there. 1200 people in an opera house! I live like a mile up the hill, too.


Regarding the volume pedal. Yes those strings break sometimes and they never break when you're not using them! They're kevlar which is strong, but nothing lasts forever.
I've replaced mine a few times and it's not that hard after you do it the first time. It works a little differently after you replace it because the old string had been stretching for a while so when you put a new one on, it's more like when it was new.
Probably the best thing to do is to put a new string and spring on when you have some time and aren't under pressure right before a gig. They're only 4 bucks:
https://www.shopatron.com/product/part_number=P06157/574.0.23625.24626.0.0.0

The string drive goes suddenly, the pot will go gradually, so that won't be as much a surprise.

I think Nels just started using the Boss pedal. There are few Morleys in the back up case. Haha, the backup case of pedals and gear for those guys is pretty amazing too!