“I think it’s unrealistic to expect any one amp to be able to ‘do it all’“: Guthrie Govan on how Hans Zimmer forced him to embrace digital modeling – and why he’s not going back
Guthrie Govan has opened up about his decade-long deep dive into the world of digital modeling, revealing it first began when he was recruited to join Hans Zimmer’s ensemble.
Over the past few years, The Aristocrats electric guitar virtuoso has had a balanced relationship with amp modelers, having tread the line between using fully fledged digital rigs on stage and conventional tube amp-and-pedalboard ones in the studio.
As Govan explains in an interview with Guitar.com, his digital revolution all began when he joined Zimmer’s live band around 10 years ago – and now he’s become so convinced by the benefits of using an amp-less rig, he doesn’t see himself going back any time soon.
“My modelling ‘journey’ began about a decade ago when Hans’ live band came into being,” notes Govan. “In that situation, everyone with an electric instrument had to cope with not having a real amp on the stage because we were sharing the space with a choir and an orchestra.”
Sharing a stage with an expanded musical setup while playing Zimmer’s music wasn’t the only reason behind his switch, though. Playing a digital rig also meant he could utilize the same consistent tones everywhere he went – and continually expand his sound where necessary.
In that regard, he says, digital amp modelers are vastly superior to regular tube amps.
He continues, “I had an Aristocratic epiphany several tours ago, when I realised that an all-digital approach would enable me to dial in a more genre-appropriate tone for each song, rather than relying on a single amp to cover all of the sonic ground.
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“I think it’s unrealistic to expect any one amp to be able to ‘do it all’ – that approach will always lead to compromises, at least in a wilfully eclectic band like this one.
“As a bonus, using a Fractal rig also means that I can have the same sound anywhere in the world – no more one-off exotic festival gigs where I have to use a broken-down rental Marshall!”
To Govan, the Fractal now feels like his “digital ‘home’”, and has given him scope to program some epic, Zimmer-appropriate sounds, such as “a pseudo-12-string, an approximation of a violin, a 16th note step sequenced filter” and “a variety of ultra-long reverbs”.
But while the modeling setup works well for Zimmer, Govan is still keen on recreating “the ‘real amp’ experience on stage with the Aristocrats” with the help of strategically positioned FRFR speakers, namely Laney’s LFR series.
“[They] come closer than anything else I’ve encountered in terms of replicating the feel of a traditional cabinet whilst retaining the ability to switch between different speaker models on a song-by-song basis,” he explains. ”Hopefully the audience also benefits from those Laney cabs.”
It’s not the first time Govan has sung the praises of digital guitar gear. Speaking to Total Guitar last year in the midst of his setup switch, the Charvel signature artist revealed digital modelers had forced him “to think in new ways”.
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