While individuals’s emotions about their very own gear and what it does can usually have an effect on the best way they play psychologically, that doesn’t imply the gear is doing precisely what they assume it is doing. Lill jokes about a good friend—whose enjoying, for the document, Lill insists he loves and has realized a lot from—that makes use of a Two Rock amp setting on a digital amplifier to get a sound that he calls “that John Mayer thing.” The concern being that when Lill requested the good friend which Two-Rock amp mannequin John Mayer performs, and which amp is within the modeler, he didn’t know.
“It’s just funny,” he says. “It’s like saying ‘Oh man, I love Dale Earnhardt. That’s why I drive a Chevy, you know, just like Dale’s.’”
Perhaps the factor that strikes me most about Lill is that, in a world of influencers actively rising their social media following, he would not goal to show his movies into his full-time livelihood. Instead, he’s simply a musician, sharing what he learns with these of us who don’t have the time and assets to do the identical experiments.
When requested why he began making the movies to start with, he says, “I have noticed that knowing the answer without having any proof doesn’t always work the same as when you actually capture it on videos. So I try to make sure to capture stuff on video as much as I can.” They have a surprisingly nice manufacturing worth, for a man who admits that firstly he truly didn’t personal a digital camera.
Instead, Lill gave me a reward free of charge—the information that speaker cupboards and tone settings matter greater than the hunk of wooden and strings in my hand. This is efficacious info, given the period of time I’ve spent attempting to find guitars and not messing with tone knobs.
“I’ve seen a lot of different approaches to how people convey information on the internet, and the way that I’ve chosen to go is as unbiased and as kind as I can,” he says. “It doesn’t really matter whether someone believes me or not. It’s just a guitar.”
Jim Lill’s Current Signal Chain
Given his background and his historical past in testing, what does Jim Lill truly use? Here’s the audio tools that you will discover in his studio.
Guitars
Lill says, “The Anderson Tele has been my number one since high school.” The different guitars and bass are for particular sounds however aren’t used as usually.
Pickups
The Tom Anderson Telecaster options a 2018 Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack bridge pickup, 1980 Bill Lawrence Black Label S2 center pickup, and a 2009 Seymour Duncan Mini Humbucker neck pickup. Lill notes that he solely makes use of the bridge pickup within the telecaster. All different guitars characteristic inventory pickups.
Pedals
Lill makes use of a 2001 Boss CS-3 compressor pedal to even out the completely different volumes of various guitars. That goes into an Xotic RC Booster for solo quantity and a 2020 Nobles ODR-1 overdrive (painted black) and 2017 Paul Cochrane Timmy V2 (white tape added to learn “Jimmy”) for a little bit of grit on his tone. Then sign hits a Nineteen Nineties Ernie Ball volume pedal and 2018 Sonic Research ST-300 Turbo Tuner Mini for quantity and tuning management. For the ultimate steps in his chain, he provides a Boss TR-2 Tremolo (painted black) and makes use of a 2020 Line 6 HX Stomp, principally for its legacy delay algorithms. “The tuner, CS-3, and delay get the most use,” he says. “Tremolo is usually for the Bass6. Everything else is just in case.”
Amps
Lill owns a 1966 Fender Bassman head (inventory AB165 circuit), a closely modified 1965 Fender Bassman head, and a 2001 Carr Slant 6V 1×12 combo. “I’m working on figuring out my amp situation right now,” he says. “I imagine one of these three will end up being my main amp.”
Speaker Cabinets
Lill combines his personal 2022 selfmade 2×12 with a 2001 Celestion Vintage 30 (with the facet closed-back) and 1967 Fender Utah (with facet open-back). “I’ve mostly been using the one I made,” Lill says, “but I also have two cabs that J. T. Corenflos used on sessions and a cab Tom Bukovac used on sessions.” Impulse responses of Jim’s cupboards can be found for sale on his web site.
Mics
Lill makes use of a Shure SM57 (one for every speaker). Of placement, he says, “I was taught at my favorite studio to put the mic two fingers from the grill cloth, straight on axis, pointed at the line between the dust cap and the cone. That’s where I start.”
