The "sound" of Keller Williams

[MOE.PHISH]

I just wanted to know what kind of effects/pedals keller uses to get that distinct keller acoustic sound? ( ex.riff in the intro to freeker)

Im not too music literate but it almost sounds like its taking the sound and slightly fading in and out.

[i am sam2]

i dont know...but i just got the moe cd no doy. i really like it. especially the song Moth

[GrateDMB21]

From Keller's site...

GEAR QUESTIONS
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Can you go through your setup a little bit and explain some of the effects that you use.
I USE A LEXICON MPX G 2 GUITAR EFFECTS PROCESSOR AND I USE A JAM MAN BY LEXICON FOR THE LOOPS. I ALSO USE A ELECTRO HARMONIX ENVELOPE FILTER PEDAL, A WHAMMIE PEDAL BY DIGITECH AND AN ERNIE BALL VOLUME PEDAL.

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How come your big Guild twelve strings get no feedback? I asked Billy Nershi a similar question and he had no idea.
I USE A FEEDBACK BUSTER, WHICH IS JUST A RUBBER PLUG FOR THE SOUND HOLE

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I'm a guitar player, and for loops i use a line 6 delay modeler...What kind of loop sampler do you use?
JAM MAN

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When you tap the guitar to get some percussion sounds, where do you hit it?
I HAVE A PICK UP CALLED A JOHN PIERCE, ITS A PIEZO, WHICH REALLY IS JUST LIKE A CIRCLE WITH SOME WIRES COMING OFF OF IT AND IT IS STUCK TO THE INSIDE OF MY GUITAR, WHEN I TAP DIRECTLY ON IT, IT CAN SOUND LIKE A KICK DRUM

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What’s the deal with the ten string?
IT’S A REGULAR 12 WITH 2 STINGS MISSING (THE OCTAVE LOW E AND ONE OF THE HIGH E'S)

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What’s the deal with your new (relatively) eight string Charlie Hunter thing?
THE MAKER (GORDON ANDERSON ) APPROACHED ME WITH IT (SEVERAL TIMES) AND IT LOOKED DIFFERENT AND COOL. IT’S A COMPLETE MONSTER TO PLAY, THATS WHY I NAMED IT "ZILLA". I HAVE HAD IT FOR ALMOST A YEAR AND I AM JUST STARTING TO GET THE HANG OF IT. CHARLIE TUNES HIS 3 BASS STRINGS AND 5 GUITAR STRINGS, I TUNE MINE 2 BASS STRINGS AND 6 GUITAR STRINGS, SO MINE WOULD BE E THROUGH E, LIKE A REGULAR GUITAR AND THEN A LOW B AND A LOW E. ITS GREAT FOR BAR CHORDS.

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How many loops can u set up to go at one time?
A MILLION. MY UNIT IS SET UP AS A LAYERING DEVICE, SO I CAN JUST KEEP ADDING AND LAYERING. THE LOOPS MOST RECENTLY PLAYED WILL BE THE LOUDEST AND THE FIRST ONES WILL EVENTUALLY DISAPPEAR. HOWEVER, I USUALLY DON'T GO MUCH PAST SIX LAYERS AT ONCE.

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I only saw your shows at Rockingham Dragway, NC and at Guildford college in Greensborro,NC opening for Acoustic Syndicate, is the boomerang loop pedal being used in more crazy ways, or are you moving in another direction with a more "natural" sound?
I AM USING A JAM MAN BY LEXICON WHICH IN MY OPINION IS CLEANER THAN THE BOOMERANG, BUT LESS ACCESSIBLE THAN THE BOOMERANG. I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM GOING UNTIL I GET THERE

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Saw you at the vineyard near Santa Barbara last year, looking forward to the gig at SOHO. I should have paid more attention to your rig. Saw the JamMan and the Guild FX12. What effects are you running that through? I hear what sounds like a flanger, but never saw you messing around too much with any pedals except the JamMan controller. Have you seen/tried/heard the Gibson Digital Echoplex? Seems to have plenty of features over and above the famed Jam Man.
THE FLANGE IS COMING FROM A PEAVY DELTA - FEX RACK MOUNT UNIT, WHICH IS GOING INTO AN AUX SEND ON MY SOUNDBOARD. I DON'T TAP ANY FOOT PEDALS TO GET THAT SOUND, BUT I FIDGET WITH SOME FADERS. YES, I THINK THE GIBSON DIGITAL ECHOPLEX USED TO BE MADE BY OBERHEIM AND GOT BOUGHT OUT, IF THATS TRUE, THEN I'VE HEARD ITS THE DEAL......

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What kind of Guitars do you use?
GUILD, ALVAREZ, GORDON ANDERSON, RICK TURNER, FENDER, TACOMA

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What's your live setup like (gear-wise)?
I JUST RUN DIRECT INTO A ALLEN AND HEATH 16 CHANNEL SOUNDBOARD, I USE A JAM MAN FOR THE LOOPS, A LEXICON GUITAR EFFECTS PROCESSOR, AND AUDIX MICROPHONES

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What kind of amplification system do you use?
I PLUG DIRECTLY INTO MY SOUNDBOARD AND THEN MY SOUNDBOARD GOES DIRECTLY INTO WHATEVER CLUB'S SOUNDBOARD. I NEVER REALLY LIKED ACOUSTIC GUITARS RUNNING THROUGH AMPS, THATS THE BEAUTY OF ACOUSTIC GUITARS, YOU DON'T NEED AMPS.

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What different effects do you use?
I USE AN ENVELOPE FILTER PEDAL, A WHAMMY PEDAL ( WHICH ALSO DOES PITCH SHIFTING), A LEXICON GUITAR PROCESSOR, WHICH HAS ALOT OF DIFFERENT EFFECTS. I JUST RECENTLY BOUGHT A ROLAND GUITAR SYNTH, SO PREPARE FOR SOME DIFFERENT SOUNDS.

[MOE.PHISH]

thanks for the info. so pretty much its nothing specfic, but more or less a combination of his processors and pedals together?

[MOE.PHISH]

i dont know...but i just got the moe cd no doy. i really like it. especially the song Moth

check out moeradio.com for some great live stuff!

[GrateDMB21]

Completely unrelated, but can someone name some popular Grateful Dead tunes. Theres a GD song in my head, but I cant seem to find it. Honestly dont remember the words, but I'll know it when I hear it.

Its not on Skeletons from the Closet or In the Dark cds. Thanks!

[Kahn]

Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia, Terrapin Station, Estimated Prophet, Brokedown Palace, Box of Rain, Morning Dew, Friend of the Devil, Dark Star, I know You Rider, Cosmic Charlie, etc.....

[DT]

I just wanted to know what kind of effects/pedals keller uses to get that distinct keller acoustic sound? ( ex.riff in the intro to freeker)

Im not too music literate but it almost sounds like its taking the sound and slightly fading in and out.

He doesnt do any fading during the intro to freeker. He just plays. During the '04 tour he opened with that song backstage a lot of times and walked out while he was playing it. No pedal work there.

[GrateDMB21]

He doesnt do any fading during the intro to freeker. He just plays. During the '04 tour he opened with that song backstage a lot of times and walked out while he was playing it. No pedal work there.

I've yet to see him live. He came to Chicago New Years Eve, but I'm like the only kid who likes KW. I highly suggest picking up 'Sight', his official DVD release; I also have a couple live bootleg DVDs of KW if you want to setup a B&P. If theres no special effects used during the intro, then its just him on his 12 string with DGCFAD tuning. Later in the song though, hes starts looping alot. Heres the most accurate tab of the song I could find http://www.k-dub.org/tabchord/Freeker.txt

[GrateDMB21]

Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia, Terrapin Station, Estimated Prophet, Brokedown Palace, Box of Rain, Morning Dew, Friend of the Devil, Dark Star, I know You Rider, Cosmic Charlie, etc.....

Thanks!

Did you get that PM about 'Inlaw Josie Wales'?

[Kahn]

Scarlet Begonias, Fire on the Mountain, Casey Jones, Sugar Magnolia, Terrapin Station, Estimated Prophet, Brokedown Palace, Box of Rain, Morning Dew, Friend of the Devil, Dark Star, I know You Rider, Cosmic Charlie, etc.....

Thanks!

Did you get that PM about 'Inlaw Josie Wales'?

ya man, I got the song down, thanks a lot, Ill post a recording if I get the chance

[GrateDMB21]

ya man, I got the song down, thanks a lot, Ill post a recording if I get the chance

Not a problem, once you mentioned it again I picked it back up and it isnt as hard as it sounds. Glad to hear ya got it!

[a1075dd63aa12]

Completely unrelated, but can someone name some popular Grateful Dead tunes. Theres a GD song in my head, but I cant seem to find it. Honestly dont remember the words, but I'll know it when I hear it.

Its not on Skeletons from the Closet or In the Dark cds. Thanks!

any lyrics?

[GrateDMB21]

Completely unrelated, but can someone name some popular Grateful Dead tunes. Theres a GD song in my head, but I cant seem to find it. Honestly dont remember the words, but I'll know it when I hear it.

Its not on Skeletons from the Closet or In the Dark cds. Thanks!

any lyrics?

Nope. I just remember the song, like the rhythm, really didnt pay attention to the words. It was kind of upbeat.

[Kahn]

It was kind of upbeat.

oh that one