It’s undeniable. Opeth have purveyed some of the greatest guitar tones to ever reverberate around a venue.
You may argue over the band’s technical virtuosity, or dispute the exact level of Mikael Akerfeldt’s (god-tier) songwriting skills, but the tastiness of Opeth’s guitar tone is not up for debate. It’s mega-ultimate nacho-cheese tasty.
So, it’s pretty cool that Music Radar recently caught up with Mikael and Fredrik, from the band, to find out exactly what they’ve been doing lately to achieve their superb sounds.
Mikael’s current pedal board. Left-to-right, top-to-bottom: Strymon ‘blueSky’ reverb, MXR CAE Buffer, EarthQuaker Devices ‘Grand Orbiter’ phaser, Electro Harmonix ‘Small Stone’ phaser, MXR ‘Carbon Copy’ delay
If you’ve ever seen him with a guitar in his hand, you’ll know that Mikael plays PRS P24’s pretty much exclusively. But beyond the obvious “no duh” stuff like that, there are a few really cool gear tidbits covered in the article.
For example, here’s what Mikael says about his reverb pedal, the Strymon blueSky, and his thought process behind its settings:
…I have it set on spring and it’s pretty much on all the time. You could say I am very generous when it comes to reverb! I want lots, unlike Fredrik, who wants more of the dry tone so every note pops out. I’m the opposite – I want the notes to disappear into the reverb.
This reverb is reportedly the very pedal where Akerfeldt gets all of his Akerfeels from.
Opeth are on tour right now with these rigs, supporting the release of their latest album Sorceress. For dates and deets go here.
And head on over to the article at Music Radar for Opeth’s complete guitar rig breakdown.
Also, if you like that kinda thing, check out our Rigged series for more artists geeking out with us about their setups.
