GEAR
In 2024, LaSalle Gabriel will maintain his status as a forerunner of multimedia entertainment in the U.S. However, before the maverick deals with IBM, Warner/Elektra/Atlantic and the acquisition of Flyte Tyme Studios, LG ascended to become one of the Top 25 highest grossing session players in music history with a lifetime career gross of $22 million.
With 40 tours, 46 appearances on Late Night TV and 7 #1 songs on his resume, the Grammy and Stellar Award-Winning Guitarist, Songwriter and Producer has been a product endorsee of Gibson, Carvin, Peavey, Akai, Mesa Boogie, and Marshall amps for over 25 years!
What follows is the equipment arsenal LG has deployed to achieve his impeccable sound over the past 3 decades.
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Although, LG has owned 52 guitars during his career, these are “The Guitars” that made him famous: 1958 Gibson Les Paul, code name “Mack Daddy”, 1974 Gibson L6, code name “Paperboy”, 2005 Gibson Les Paul Custom, code name “JPR”, 2006 Les Paul Deluxe, 1997 Gibson Explorer w/EMG & DiMarzio pickups, 1983 Fender Strat Elite, code name “Delilah” w/EMG pickups, fat control preamp, Kahler Tremolo, and a 7 position pickup selector. An all stock 1987 Fender Stratocaster Squire code name “Faye”, a 2014 American Stratocaster code name “Blackbyrd” w/Dave Seymour EMG pickups w/preamp, a 2017 American Stratocaster w/Seymore Duncans in positions 1 and 2, a super distortion humbucker in the bridge position, 5 position pickup selector w/phase controls and preamp. A pink 1985 Jackson Soloist, code name “Tina” with Seymour Duncans, Kahler Tremolo (1 of the 1st 400 made) serial # 411.
Amplication: Mesa Boogie Studio Preamp, Carvin 1000-watt power amp, (2) Mesa Boogie vertical 2X12 cabinets with 30-watt Celestion speakers, a modified Marshall JCM 800, a 2014 Marshall JCM 900 and a Marshall JVM head as a master, w/a pair of Marshall 4X12 slant cabs. Eric Clapton once told LG that a guitarist’ sound is merely a relationship between the hands and the ears. So no matter what you use for equipment, eventually your brain is striving to achieve the same sound. Thus, 90% of the time, unlike most guitarists, LG deploys no Efx pedals of any type live or in the studio (Anita Baker, TLC, Jamie Foxx, DJ-Quik, Lo-Key) relying instead on a pair of Marshall half stacks (one for clean, one for dirty). At the client’s request however, LG will deploy the following: Vox SE pedal board, Boss 6 pack with Super Distortion, Compressor, Stereo Chorus, Overdrive, MXR Phaser, 6 band EQ, Avalon 737, Avalon 747, Lexicon PCM, Yamaha Rev-7, Aural Exciter Type C, and a pair of Dbx 163X compressors and a vintage 1970 Thomas Organ Cry Baby.
In the “pre-capitalist” years of his career Gibson offered LG a signature series guitar based on an updated design of the Gibson Marauder, LG declined the offer for obvious reasons. Akai would later make and distribute a LaSalle Gabriel signature series version of the 1997 guitar w/EMG SA pickups, fat control preamp, gold hardware, Kahler Tremolo, phase controls. The guitar featured a neck thru body design with 24 pickups made from KOA wood. The Akai LaSalle Gabriel Signature Guitar was distributed in Europe and Japan.
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