[Summary] Larry Carlton's equipment [Amplifiers, guitars, effects]

Born in Torrance, California on March 1948, 3, he started his musical career when his parents gave him an acoustic guitar on his sixth birthday. As a teenager, he became fascinated with jazz standards, and while gaining experience in sessions at clubs near his home, he quickly began his professional career.

After releasing his first album as a leader, "With a Little Help From My Friends" in 1968, he became a sought-after figure in Los Angeles' top studios. After joining The Crusaders (72), he established his funk-fusion style, and during that time he recorded over 3000 albums for Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, and others. His solo on "Kid Charlemagne" in 76 became legendary as "one of the most memorable improvisations in rock history."

He built his own studio, "Room 335," and began his career as a solo guitarist with his self-titled album, "Larry Carlton" (78). With his warm overdrive and mellow phrases, he became a symbol of the golden age of AOR/fusion. The classic "Room 335" is his signature tune from this period.

In 1988, he was shot and seriously injured by a robber in front of his house, but he made a comeback through hard rehabilitation. He won Grammy Awards for his albums On Solid Ground in 1990 and The Gift in 97, proving his comeback to the world. In the same year, he joined the smooth jazz supergroup FOURPLAY, and produced a large number of new masterpieces.

Since the 2000s, he has toured with Steve Lukather and Robben Ford, and won another Grammy in 2010 for his collaborative work with Takahiro Matsumoto on "Take Your Pick." In addition to the famous ES-335, he has updated his "Mr. 335" sound with a Sire signature model that he designed himself. Even now in his 70s, he continues to tour the world energetically, captivating audiences with his sweet, singing phrases.

The Gibson ES-335 is Larry Carlton's signature guitar. His nickname "Mr. 335" comes from this model, and his affection for it is also reflected in the name of his private studio and his signature song "Room 335." Larry personally selected and purchased this sunburst ES-1960 at a music store in the late 70s to early 335s. At the time, he was using a full-body Gibson ES-175, but as his studio work increased, he felt that "he needed a guitar that was more flexible and could handle a wider range of music," so he switched to the thinner-bodied semi-hollow ES-335.

Larry's main instrument is a 1969 ES-335, which has been his partner for over 50 years since he first purchased it. Over the years, the tuning pegs have been replaced with reliable Schaller ones, the nut with graphite, and the bridge with titanium from KTS. The frets have been sanded and replaced many times, but the body, pickups, and other major parts remain original. He uses D'Addario XL Nickel Wound (light top/heavy bottom) .010-.052 strings, and is so thorough that he changes them twice a day (before each stage) during live performances because he hates even the slightest deviation in pitch. At one time, he replaced the tailpiece with a "TP-1" with a fine adjustment function, but has now returned to the original stop tailpiece.

When asked why he chose the ES-335, Larry said, "The higher-end ES-345 with the Varitone (tone switching switch) is also a great guitar, but I didn't think I needed that device. That's why I chose the more basic 335." As a result, he declares that the greatest attraction of the 335 is its "versatility," and he is in love with its versatility, which can handle a wide range of sounds from jazz to blues and rock. As he recalls, "When I was just starting out as a studio musician, I could handle any job with just this one guitar," the ES-1 became the spear that supported Larry's musical life. Its sweet, mature tone and solid sustain are expressive, from clean to moderate drive, and it can be said to be the instrument that plays his "voice." He himself says, "It always produces the sound that my ears desire, so I can play comfortably and express myself to the fullest," and you can feel his immense trust in the ES-335. Larry takes his beloved guitar with him on his world tours, and protects it with his own unique "karma" belief that "if you behave well, nothing bad will happen to your instrument."

In recent years, Larry Carlton has released a relatively affordable signature model bearing his name from the emerging brand Sire. It was reported that he used a Sire "Larry Carlton Model" semi-hollow guitar (H2022) as his main guitar during his June 6 Japan tour. The Sire Larry Carlton H7 is a traditional ES-7 type semi-hollow guitar with custom shop-level specifications to reproduce Larry's classic tone. It features a flame maple top body with a mahogany neck (ebony fingerboard) joined to a set neck, and features Larry's favorite specifications such as a 335-inch scale and nickel parts. The pickups are also equipped with two vintage humbuckers named after him, and the wiring layout (24.75 volumes/2 tones/2-way selector) is the same as the Gibson 2, so Larry will be able to pick it up without any discomfort.

In fact, Larry himself has been seen using the H7 on stage and at events, and its sound is close to that of the original ES-335. The white model in the photo is not a flame top, but the lineup also includes sunburst-like finishes that Larry loves, such as Vintage Sunburst. Larry has a diverse range of electric guitar signature series from Sire, including Stratocaster type (S7), Telecaster type (T7), and Les Paul type (L7), and he himself uses these depending on the song he plays at live shows. The H7 in particular is highly regarded for its quality that is unimaginable for its price range, making it an easy choice for guitarists who admire Larry's tone. Larry himself has given the Sire series his stamp of approval, saying that it is a guitar that has inherited the DNA of his tone, and he seems to be satisfied with its high cost performance.

• "It costs $700 but produces $5,000 quality sound."
  He highly praised the sound of the maple and the crisp contours of the ebony fingerboard. Even when distorted, the separation of chords is not lost, and the recorded sound is praised as having "the same richness of harmonics as a vintage 335."
• "The dark tiger grain is beautiful. The head logo is subtle and luxurious.'
• "I bought it second hand and was completely blown away."
• "Brighter and clearer than the rose-based 335, but with an exquisite high that doesn't pierce the ears."
• "It's unfair that they've managed to make it this far at this price point."
  

Larry Carlton has also used Fender solid guitars when necessary for his session work. His Fender Telecaster is a vintage 1954 model, featuring a beautiful blonde finish and black guard. This '54 Telecaster is preserved in its original condition, and Larry uses it mainly for country-style or crisp cuts. For example, when playing blues or R&B numbers live, it may be used when the hard, clear tone of a Telecaster equipped with a single coil pickup is required. Larry himself said, "In studio recordings, I sometimes use it in combination with a small Fender amp on a case-by-case basis," and he uses the Telecaster as a sub-machine to bring out a variety of expressions, from clean and delicate touches to distorted rock sounds. He also used the Telecaster when performing with fellow session musician Dean Parks, adding color to the work with his light cutting. Although the Telecaster is not Larry's main instrument, it can be said to be one of his "reliable companions that you can take out of the drawer when the time comes."

Along with the Telecaster, Larry also owns a 1962 Fender Stratocaster. This is also a highly original vintage model, a so-called "62 Strat" ​​with an alder body and rosewood fingerboard. The Stratocaster has a wide variety of tones thanks to its three single-coil pickups and a five-way switch, and Larry sometimes chooses the Strat when he needs funky cutting or clean backing for studio recordings. For example, the Strat is used when he wants a light clean sound for a fusion song, or when playing delicate arpeggios in an AOR sound like Steely Dan. However, since Larry basically prefers guitars with humbuckers, he doesn't often have the opportunity to use the single-coil sound of the Strat. However, he has told people around him that "when I want a sound that is truly Strat-like, the '3 Strat is the best choice," and he pulls it out when necessary to make the most of its rich vintage tone. The sound created by the Stratocaster's bell-like clean tone and his smooth legato playing is also exceptional.

In contrast to the ES-335, Larry also uses a Gibson Les Paul Special (made in 1955) when he needs a thick solid body tone. This model is a simple design guitar equipped with two P-90 pickups, and the one he owns has a stately look with a vintage TV yellow color. The Les Paul Special was released in 2 as a "student" model with a simple structure compared to the Les Paul Standard, but it has a thick and warm midrange that is unique to the P-1955. Larry sometimes uses this guitar when playing blues-oriented songs or slide guitar. For example, when performing open-tuned blues numbers at a live performance, he chooses the Les Paul Special if he wants the raw single coil tone of a P-90. The tone has a roughness and clarity that is different from a humbucker, expanding Larry's range of expression. This 90 Les Paul Special, which has been described as "producing an amazingly thick sound from a small body," is a hidden gem in his collection. Although he doesn't appear often on stage, he seems to be secretly active in the studio depending on the mood of the song.

From the late 1980s to the 90s, Larry Carlton is known for putting his main ES-335 aside for a time and trying out custom guitars made by Valley Arts. Valley Arts, a Los Angeles workshop, is famous for its high-quality custom-made guitars, and Larry ordered several Stratocaster-type and Telecaster-type solid guitars. These guitars had unique specifications, such as a set neck structure on a 7/8-size body that was smaller than a regular Fender, and a scale of 24.75 inches, the same as Gibson. The pickups were also equipped with EMG's active single coil and a stack P-90 that reduced the hum noise of the Gibson P-100, which seemed to be aimed at reducing noise at high gain and improving sustain.

What Larry wanted from Valley Arts was a smooth and easy-to-use guitar tone that would not get lost in the fusion sound and rack effect-heavy environment that was popular at the time. For example, around the time of the albums "Last Nite (1986)" and "On Solid Ground (1989)," the sophisticated sound created by these Valley Arts guitars and Dumble amps + rack effects was a characteristic. Later, Valley Arts also sold Larry Carlton's signature T-type model, which was released in two types, standard and custom. However, since the late 2s, Larry has returned to his roots, the ES-1990, and has returned to a simple equipment configuration. The Valley Arts guitars were symbolic of a certain period of his career, but that experience may have deepened his conviction that "the 335 is the best for me after all."

The Dumble Overdrive Special is a vacuum tube guitar amplifier that was the driving force behind Larry Carlton's legendary tone. The Dumble ODS head is pictured at the top of the photo, a rare amplifier also known as the "Holy Grail of guitar amplifiers." Larry used this 1980W handmade amplifier as his main amplifier from the late 90s to the 100s, and was fascinated by its superb clean sound and smooth overdrive. Dumble amplifiers were produced in very small numbers, and they command premium prices on the secondhand market, estimated at tens of millions to 1 million yen, but Larry was one of the lucky ones to get his hands on one.

Larry's ODS uses 6 tubes instead of the standard 6L5881GC power tubes, which Larry says gives it a "gentler, darker tone than the 6L6." The clean channel volume is set to the point where the clean just starts to break up, and that is the basic tone he uses all the time. Usually, he controls the "slightly distorted clean" with the strength of his picking, and only when he wants a thicker lead tone, he turns on the amp's built-in boost (overdrive) circuit with a foot switch. This setting allows him to freely express everything from clean to overdrive just by changing the guitar's volume and touch, making it possible to create a tone that truly follows Larry's fingertips.

The Dumble ODS head was used in combination with a dedicated closed 1x12 cabinet (equipped with an Electro-Voice EVM-12L speaker). The EVM-12L is a speaker with high input resistance and flat characteristics, which is an important element supporting the beauty of Larry's clean tone and the fatness of his lead tones. Larry said, "The combination of this amp and the 335 produces the sound I imagine in my head exactly as it comes out," and he always brought a Dumble with him to his live shows. The sound was truly one of a kind, and even his co-performer Steve Lukather (TOTO guitarist) praised it as "the best live tone of my life."

In recent years, Larry Carlton has been using Bludotone's clone amps as his main amp, while keeping his original Dumble amp. Bludotone is a boutique amp manufacturer in the United States that is well known for reproducing Dumble amps. The Bludo-Drive, which can be said to be a model exclusively for Larry, is a 100W/50W switchable head designed by Brandon Montgomery in accordance with his requests. The basic sound quality and operation system are almost the same as the Dumble ODS, and it faithfully reproduces the touch response and overdrive rich in harmonics that Larry desires. Larry himself trusts this amp as "an amp that produces a similar sound to Dumble," and he has started to use it actively, especially in recent years, as Dumble has become too valuable in the vintage market.

The Bludo-Drive is designed for tour convenience, and Larry has two identical amp heads and cabinets at his US headquarters, one each in Europe (Brussels and London), and one in Japan (Tokyo). This avoids long-distance air transport and allows him to always reproduce his own sound at each performance. On stage, he sets up a 2-channel wet/dry/wet system with a Bludo-Drive head and a 1x1 cabinet (equipped with an EV EVM-1L) in the center and full-range speakers on the left and right. Only the dry sound directly from the amp is output from the center cabinet, and the signal picked up by the microphone is stereo-processed by a rack effecter, and the effect sound is output from the left and right speakers in a 12% mix. This method reproduces the reverb and chorus spread on stage without compromising the pure tone of the amp. Even after introducing Bludotone, Larry is satisfied and says, "I haven't compromised on my sound at all," and he is able to fully demonstrate the sound that captivates the audience.

Larry sometimes uses small Fender amps for studio recordings. The most common ones are the 50's Fender Tweed Deluxe and Princeton. The Tweed Deluxe (5W combo with 3E15 circuit) was used for the solo recording of "Kid Charlemagne" and is famous for its warm and compressed sound. Larry believes that "the distortion you get from cranking a small amp is exceptional," and in the studio he sometimes uses the Tweed Deluxe to get the natural crunch that is unique to low-wattage amps that Dumble cannot produce. In fact, in "Kid Charlemagne," he connects the ES-335 straight to the Tweed Deluxe to produce that wonderful sound. However, after the solo in that song, he uses the Dumble + rack effect to create a similar tone when reproducing it live, and the Tweed amp is used exclusively for recording.

Although Larry does not make specific references to Princeton, there are testimonies that he used a blackface Princeton for clean tones during his session days in the 70s. The Princeton's clear clean sound and reverb are perfect for jazz backing, and it also works well with the ES-335. Larry said, "I also use vintage Fender amps on a case-by-case basis. They come in handy when you can't play loud." It seems that he used Princetons as an alternative for small venues with too much sound pressure or late-night recordings at Dumble. He also said, "I don't own a modified Fender Dumble amp. I keep my Fenders original," and that he doesn't make any special modifications to the Fender amps he owns. His sense of bringing out the raw Fender sound according to the situation is also a unique philosophy of Larry's equipment.

Larry Carlton was also an early user of the Mesa Boogie Mark I amplifier in the mid-1970s. The Mark I is famous as the world's first mass-produced high-gain combo amplifier, and Larry purchased an original Mark I 1x1974 combo in 1 and loved it so much that he used it for many years. At that time, before he met Dumble, he was fascinated by the strong sustain and drive sound of the Boogie, which was made by modifying a small Fender amplifier. However, one day, Larry's amp tech, Paul Rivera, accidentally dropped the Mark I and broke it. Although it was repaired, Larry felt that "the sound was a little different from the original," and even when he tried the next generation model of the Boogie that was released later, he said, "It just didn't feel right." In the end, Larry left the Mesa Boogie and instead found the aforementioned Dumble amplifier. "So, then you discovered Dumble amps and were fascinated by them?" "That's right," he said. The Dumble he got after the Boogie Mark I led to his ultimate tone making. The Mark I is hardly used these days, but there's no doubt that it was an important step in Larry's sound making history.

Larry likes the 100% true bypass design, which doesn't alter the signal path at all when the mic is through. With four meter modes and a high accuracy of ±0.1 cents, you can instantly check the pitch even on a dark stage. The 9V DC out can also be used to daisy-chain power to other pedals, helping to organize the power on the board. Larry places the mic before the volume pedal, and thoroughly follows the flow of turning down the volume while silently tuning, then returning the pedal and playing immediately. It is a valuable "safety device" that keeps pitch control from collapsing even during fast-paced stage performances.

This is a masterpiece that Howard Dumble "activated" and modified from a famous machine from the 60s and 70s. The input section has a built-in FET buffer and the impedance has been raised to several MΩ, so even when the volume is turned down, the high frequencies do not become thin, and you can play swells while maintaining the sweet overtones of the ES-335. The pedal curve has been readjusted to a smooth log curve that is close to the expression of a piano, and Larry operates it with his foot on it at all times to subtly increase the gain while keeping it clean, or to get a singing sustain with the amp lightly driven. "The right foot sings the dynamics, and the left hand draws harmony with chords" - the key to his elegant volume work in live performances is this modified Sho-Bud.

The switchless system automatically turns on when the pedal is pressed and returns to bypass in 0.2 seconds when released, making it ideal for Larry's "singing solos." The variable Q control adjusts the mid-peak and allows you to quickly narrow or widen the core depending on the song. It also has a built-in +15dB gain boost, which can be used to push the gain when you want to raise the lead part a notch. For funky cutting, you can fix the pedal and use it as a bandpass filter, making it versatile. The long sweep range and smooth operation of the optical sensor are essential for creating the nuance of "crying" when combined with choking.

The "Zen Drive" has three modes: MOSFET, Diode, and no clipping (BOOST), and is famous as a "mini Dumble" that can adjust the Q points of the high and low frequencies with the internal trimmer. When Larry is in an overseas rental environment and cannot bring the original Dumble or Bludo-Drive, he places this unit in front of a clean amp, sets the gain to 9-10 o'clock, the tone to 12 o'clock, and uses the mode fixed to MOSFET. This allows compression even with a light touch, and the midrange of the 335 comes forward smoothly. When playing with a slide, the standard setting is to gain gain in BOOST mode while fine-tuning the input level with a volume pedal to achieve both gloss and sustain.

The analog circuit uses BBD elements, and the V2 model supports 18V headroom, realizing natural fluctuations without saturation even when clean. The stereo output has completely independent phase, sending 100% of the wet component to the left and right speakers of Larry's "wet/dry/wet" system, creating a three-dimensional effect without interfering with the dry cabinet in the center. There are days when I turn the rate down to 11 o'clock and the depth down to about 9 o'clock and leave it on all the time as an extremely thin chorus that doesn't feel "fluctuations". There is little phase shift when connected in parallel, and the fact that it is less likely to muddy chord work is also why it is a favorite of professionals.

Based on a plate reverb, the MASH pressure sensor changes the decay in real time depending on how deep you step on the pedal, creating a reverberation that "extends" during solos. Using TonePrint, he transfers Lexicon-style halls at home and shorter rooms from his smartphone when on tour, optimizing for the venue. His policy is to "keep the reverb to a length that doesn't clash with the reverberation in the audience seats," and his standard settings are Decay 1.8 to 2.2 seconds / Mix 9 o'clock. He also switches between true bypass and buffered depending on the cable length of the venue, and spares no effort in preventing signal degradation while maintaining high-fidelity reverberation.

Equipped with a 1-digit LED display that can be set in 2700ms increments from 1 to 4ms, subdivision (dotted eighth notes/triplets) is also one-touch. The analog dry-through method means that the original sound does not pass through AD/DA, and a clear, high-fidelity delay sound is layered on top of it, so the delicate dynamics of the rally are not lost. The tap tempo is synchronized during a live performance with an external foot switch, and it is standard to mix a thin short delay of about 8ms for solos and about 3ms for backing. The "aesthetics of subtraction" is to keep the mix at around 350% and keep the reverberation to a level that fills the gaps in the chords.

A 1984U rack delay released in 1. It features a "warm digital" texture created by 12/16bit mixed AD/DA and 32kHz sampling, and can generate a chorus-like effect by adding modulation to a maximum delay of 1024ms. Larry sets a stereo micro delay of about 30ms with an SDE before a plate reverb, expanding the positioning and bringing the guitar forward in the ensemble. The low quantization noise and high delay accuracy of ±0.4% are the reasons why the contours of fast phrases are not blurred.

A stereo pitch modulation/chorus/flanger unit using BBD elements and LFO. Its unique Spatial function, which shifts the phase of the input signal left and right to "expand" the space, is outstanding, and the Rally applies a thin 100% wet sound to the left and right of the center cabinet's dry sound, achieving concert hall-level depth. The reason for adopting it is that the design makes it difficult for the low range to thin out, allowing you to obtain a sense of spaciousness while maintaining the warm midrange of the 335.

A 17-in/2-out dual processor with 2 Lexicon algorithms and dbx compressor/de-esser. Larry presets a dual reverb of 2.4 seconds for halls + 0.9 seconds for small rooms, which can be switched with a foot switch depending on the song. The MX-Edit software allows you to register EQ/pre-delay settings for each venue in advance, which helps shorten sound checks. The high sampling rate up to 96kHz and wide dynamic range create a beautiful decay without masking the rich harmonics of Dumble sounds.