Robert Fripp Gear Photos from This Weekend's Solo shows in Athens and Atlanta, GA.

[Craise]

All I can say is WOW I got to see Robert twice this weekend. I've seen Crimson over 14 times, so I'm a big fan. Got to see Robert in 97-8? on the G3 tour too. Man It was like Church! Very deep...mostly just closed my eyes and let him take me away. I thought the Atlanta show as almost perfect..everyone in the aud was very respectful and quiet. Anyway, John his roadie/soundguy (used to do sound at the bottom line) was the coolest and let me take photos of Roberts gear. I even got to ask Robert during his Q and A session (in the middle of the show) about his gear and he gave us a 10min overview of what he was using and how he did the loops. Very cool. If you're a Crimson fan, check him out for sure. No he doesn't do any Crimson songs..just soundscapes. But does a cool Q and A and is VERY funny. So...here's some rig photos for us gearheads. Enjoy!

 

[Baby Evil]

Wow, the Lunar Module has changed drastically. And where's the VG? On top of the rack?
Thanks for the pics.

Jan

 

[michael patrick]

Wow, his rig has grown since I saw him in '79 doing Frippertronics (on his anti-tour for the Exposure record). He did a Q&A session then, too.

Thanks for the pics!

 

[todd richman]

I saw Fripp with KC in Philly in 1996-the double trio and it was incredible. I see Robert is using 2 of the new H8000's. A guy named Simeon Harris who is an ambient textural guitarist from the U.K. posted a thread on www.hugeracksinc.com the other day with sound samples of some stock factory presets from the Eventide Eclipse and they are incredible. As a classic rock player I wouldn't use these units but they sound amazing and it would be fun to play through a rig like Fripps. That looks like a Boris Domenget les Paul that Fripp plays-I saw one at the Philly Fall Guitar Show in 2004. They are pretty beautiful!

 

[Craise]

Wow, the Lunar Module has changed drastically. And where's the VG? On top of the rack?
Thanks for the pics.

Jan

Nope that's it...nothing on top of the rack...

 

[LouRossi]

Hmm, 4 eventides... is that a tad excessive?

 

[dividedsky]

Nice! Where did he play in Athens...40 Watt? Georgia Theatre?

 

[drolling]

Hey, thanks Craise! Great shots!!

When I saw Fripp a looong time ago he was using a couple of reel-to-reel tape decks, but the format of the show was the same, w/Q & A period in the middle. He was playing a black Les Paul at that time.

So, how does he create his loops? No EPD, or Repeater, or JamMan visible.. What am I missing, here?

Are those Eventides modified for looping?

 

[Craise]

Nice! Where did he play in Athens...40 Watt? Georgia Theatre?

He played a new place called "The Melting Point" In Athens. Very cool small venue. And at "The Varitey Playhouse" in Atlanta.

 

[Craise]

Hey, thanks Craise! Great shots!!

When I saw Fripp a looong time ago he was using a couple of reel-to-reel tape decks, but the format of the show was the same, w/Q & A period in the middle. He was playing a black Les Paul at that time.

So, how does he create his loops? No EPD, or Repeater, or JamMan visible.. What am I missing, here?

Are those Eventides modified for looping?

Honestly, he didn't really go over it that well...but from what I understood, It's really not on off looping but more of 4 super long Eventide delay times...in a quad mix that he controls the 4 different levels with his boss volume pedals.

 

[drolling]

Honestly, he didn't really go over it that well...but from what I understood, It's really not on off looping but more of 4 super long Eventide delay times...in a quad mix that he controls the 4 different levels with his boss volume pedals.

Ahh.. And that's exactly how I use my Boomerang and Lexicon JamMan. I get best results w/the old style 'delay' based loopers, as the contents of the loop is constantly evolving in overdub mode. Using the new Boss & DigiTech 'sample/phrase' based loop stations, I usually end tangled up in a big, messy train wreck after about 4 passes - and at that point the DigiTech unit starts to skip & stutter (CFC buffer issue that the folks at DigiTech are being very coy about)- I had high hopes for this new generation of loopers, but I'm pretty much ready to throw in the towel and go back to the old stuff that works for me..

thanks for the info, Craise.

 

[sinner]

Talk about tone suckers--just kidding, but all those wires are making me nervous, hats off to his tech for keeping all so tidy! I'm sure Robert would be please with those nice photos you took--when I saw him last at the Hollywood House of Blues, before the show he was out front of the stage walking around taking his own photos with his digital camera of his set-up, so I believe Robert is a gear junking at heart!

 

[Unburst]

Hmm, 4 eventides... is that a tad excessive?

Not if you know how to use them effectively.....

 

[LouRossi]

Not if you know how to use them effectively.....

I sure Mr. Fripp would be fine with half that gear but then again it's Eventide so you'll always need some spares:angel

 

[moodog]

He's still using the Roland GP-100. He used to have two in there. Maybe this is his "light" setup?
I used to own one. I got rid of it when the POD 2.0 came out. I found the POD's amps to be more convincing but I think Fripp is using this for the Roland JC-120 amp simulation, and for some of the built in effects.

 

[LouRossi]

He's still using the Roland GP-100. He used to have two in there. Maybe this is his "light" setup?
I used to own one. I got rid of it when the POD 2.0 came out. I found the POD's amps to be more convincing but I think Fripp is using this for the Roland JC-120 amp simulation, and for some of the built in effects.

So your POD has better dirty tones then the gp100?

 

[moodog]

So your POD has better dirty tones then the gp100?

That's tough to say. What I found that was better with the POD was the direct recording tone. For instance when you record say a Marshall with both the POD (2.0) sounded more like a real Marshall. But what was cool about the GP-100 was it had many more stack combos and a lot of effects (I don't remember it having a very convincing spring reverb). The GP-100 sounded more like a simulator or even a totally different amp on tape (DAW) than the real thing.

If I had the money I would have kept it. There are a bunch of cool things on it. For one the harmonizer is really cool on it. Fripp claims to use it, I don't know why with that kind of rack setup but maybe it does some things that the Eventides don't who knows.

I started to see the prices go down on them and wanted to get out before I got caught holding the 'bag'. I bought mine brand new (I think it was over a $1000). If I came across one used cheap I might get one again.

 

[D.G.]

I'd love to see a Frippertronics show! Though from a tone standpoint, his tone has been overly processed sounding since he stopped using marshalls/hiwatts way back.

 

[Craise]

Really, I thought his tone was great. Not over processed at all. Perfect for him and what he was doing. Don't get me wrong...I love the 74 Crimson guitar sounds, better. But this didn't sound bad in any way. He did say that he had worked on the sounds for a while, so you know they aren't presets! If you haven't seen him, what tones are you referring to?

 

[pacomc79]

He played a new place called "The Melting Point" In Athens. Very cool small venue. And at "The Varitey Playhouse" in Atlanta.

Really, where is that in Athens? sounds intriguing, no crappy PA like 40 watt, no nearly condemned status and leathal unclean beer taps at GA Theatre (even though it is kind of nostalgic)

whats the Melting Point like? How did Fripp sound in there?