Huh, apparently Rex Brown has never held a clinic before. I suppose it makes sense. His playing with Pantera and Down has always been solid as hell but never flashy, so you won’t find too many players nerding out about the guy.
But anyway, Sam Ash in NYC held a clinic featuring Mr. Rocker himself, sponsored by Hartke. I was skeptical, and it’s hard to pass any serious judgment without the context of a full band, but the tone he wrings out of a Hartke Kilo head does sound pretty similar to what he used to get out of Ampeg SVTs.
I’m also assuming that Rex is sponsored by Dunlop/MXR as well as Hartke, because most of his pedals bear one of those logos. His chain is a Spector bass into a Korg Pitchblack tuner, Hartke Bass Attack (most likely responsible for the crunchy tone that Rex has, besides his picking technique of course), Morley Volume Pedal, MXR Phase 90, MXR Carbon Copy, Boss Chorus, and an MXR Blow Torche, all powered by a Dunlop DC Brick.
The clinic footage itself is more career-oriented. Brown doesn’t discuss technique or gear much, but he does wax about his origins as a musician, how he joined Pantera, the likelihood of a reunion (don’t get your hopes up), and how he’s currently just focused on his new band Kill Devil Hill (whose album dropped this past Tuesday on Century Media). I could be reading into things, because maybe his demeanor is just that low key, but he doesn’t seem to muster a lot of enthusiasm while promoting his latest musical endeavor.
But judge it for yourself in the footage below. And by the way, Rex Brown is one of the many performers at Metal Masters 5 this January, which Gear Gods will be livestreaming from NAMM.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bX4QmDO80o
