No. 0921988·funk-metal·4 blocks
Cult of Personality
Living Colour's 1988 breakout — a hyperactive funk-metal riff built on staccato pull-offs and a wild, improvised solo. Vernon Reid cut it on his multi-colored ESP Mirage (EMG 81 bridge humbucker plus two EMG SA single-coils) through a Pro-Co RAT into a wall of Marshalls blended with a Dean Markley DR150; the solo adds a Fender Showman to the amp stack. Standard tuning. The famous A/DA MP-1 rack rig came later, on Time's Up — on Vivid the bite is the RAT and the EMGs, recorded by Ed Stasium at Skyline.
VividSignal path · input → output · 5 blocksLive values · Pedalboard
Guitar
ESP Mirage (Custom Shop, 'Gobstopper' finish)
Pickups
HSS
Tuning
bridge
Strings
standard
Pro-Co RAT
Marshall + Dean Markley DR150 (blended)
Marshall 4x12
Multi-mic room (close + far + reflection)
Pro-Co RAT
distortion
Distortion
7
Filter
4
Volume
6
Marshall + Dean Markley DR150 (blended)
preamp
Gain
6
Bass
5
Middle
6
Treble
7
Presence
6
Master
6
Engineer's note
File 092
Living Colour's 1988 breakout — a hyperactive funk-metal riff built on staccato pull-offs and a wild, improvised solo. Vernon Reid cut it on his multi-colored ESP Mirage (EMG 81 bridge humbucker plus two EMG SA single-coils) through a Pro-Co RAT into a wall of Marshalls blended with a Dean Markley DR150; the solo adds a Fender Showman to the amp stack. Standard tuning. The famous A/DA MP-1 rack rig came later, on Time's Up — on Vivid the bite is the RAT and the EMGs, recorded by Ed Stasium at Skyline.
— Vernon Reid
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