Paul Landers Guitar Gear and Electronics

I only acknowledge information from primary and secondary sources. No others allowed. If I cannot find where the fandom made it up from, I won't use it.

• Tier 1: Paul saying it verbally in audio/text.
• Tier 1.5: The brand itself mentioning him in official sources.
• Tier 2: Official Rammstein booklets and liner notes.
• Tier 3: Visual confirmations from photographs and concert screenshots.
• Tier 4: Guitarist publications and magazines with a healthy dose of skepticism if it contradicts tier 1-3.

My research is not trying to prove that Paul never touched any piece of equipment or has never heard of a specific brand. I'm not trying to say he doesn't have a room filled with stuff he purchased and sits at home. All guitarists buy electronic clutter. I'm defining whether there is sufficient evidence to present that equipment publicly as "Paul Landers' gear he uses regularly for a career".

Your question is the answer: they're outdated and not maintained. From all evidence surviving, they stopped being maintained by any fansite since late 2009 or early 2010. Nobody has checked, edited, corrected, or done anything about it. That's the harsh truth. Even though Paul has finalized his Gibson Signature LP over a decade ago, many fansites do not list the guitar. Despite there being a huge focus on Tech 21 in 2018, fansites don't mention the GT2. Literally nobody mentions the Fractal Axe units. Why? They stopped being maintained; just update their news feed and do nothing else. The Rammstein fandom is stagnant online and languishing from past misinformation uncorrected.

As for why they're inaccurate: this is caused by copies between people on forums who don't know anything about guitars, treating liner notes as applicable to anyone, and forum speculation being trusted blindly. I would say most errors are caused by people who do not play guitars editing guitar info.

Because musicians generally do not radically equipment hop every album to reset their entire sound. But usually have gradual changes across their careers that mark eras of tone preferences. This Tech 21 base is his principle that refuses to change. If you are genuinely seeking to understand him, this is what a real guitarist wants to grasp. They do not want to see a list of random crap Paul mentioned in passing.

They want to know the base tone principle and core the player gravitated to career long. Then ask if this changed, when, and how. Guitarists know why I did it and thank me. It's what they wanted from an equipment page. Paul doesn't have any deviation other than pre/post DDR. His jump from Marshall to Tech 21's California isn't insane - it's pretty logical. And it's why I included the DDR context side by side to show his genuine shift and his roots for non-DDR guitarists who have never heard of Vermona or hadn't seen the Marshall before.

There are no Mutter era rack images known to me. However, based on his behaviors before/after in 90s and 2004-2005, there's no reason to suspect the PSA-1 similar setup wasn't used. The MIDI controller suggests it's still the PSA-1. The usage of a 2001 Gibson LP test run (see: the guitar list) further indicates he is using the PSA-1 and is trying to integrate Gibson to match the established Music Man setup.

As for the LIFAD tour, yes this is a troublesome transition moment with him - I agree. I haven't seen any backstage images. Even the official LIFAD tour photobook doesn't reveal anything in his photos. He has the GT2 by 2008 and he did not have the Axe-Fx II until 2011. (That's when the device released.) Tech 21 is inside the In Amerika liner notes but I don't know if it's PSA-1 still or the first GT2 usage. I have listened to his 5.1 audio channel, and it just sounds like "Tech 21 California noise" to me. I do feel it's bass-ier and slightly different. This may just be the new Gibson Signature LP debut instead of anything to do with the preamp. There's simply too many variable factors right at LIFAD to determine anything without a photo or insinuation in an interview.

This is unknown information. The Völkerball booklet's company credits list has Engl present and doesn't appear to be associated to Richard in the past or future. Tech 21 is still listed as always and was not replaced. Engl doesn't get mentioned in future releases. I personally suspect it is related to speaker cabs, but we do not really know.

I would love to know if this forum poster licked the cables to get these percentages. His assertions are two different concepts.

1) Paul visibly appeared with Engl Powerball in the Keine Lust video. That's it. We have no proof he used it live. It appeared in a music video. Not a studio photo.

2) In 2001 (!!!) Richard proclaimed he personally (NOT PAUL) used an 80% Mesa/Boogie and 20% SansAmp blend. Some dude conflated Paul with this and then made up something about the Engl. So, yeah... don't trust everything you see online, kids.

This is equipment accredited officially to Richard Kruspe.

So the claim of "Dual Rectifiers" or "Dual Rectifiers Pre 500" is misattributed. Richard's claim in a 2007 Metal Hammer article is the origin of this confusion. All he said was: "Paul und ich spielen sehr ähnlich, zumal auch der Sound bei uns fast deckungsgleich ist, weil wir beide im Studio mit Mesa Boogie-Rectifier arbeiten."

Based solely on current credible documentation:

• Paul doesn't appear to use Mesa/Boogie Rectifiers live or in his rack.
• He has used it in the STUDIO according solely to Richard and this was stated regarding pre-2007 era. It is unclear if it only applies to Reise, Reise / Rosenrot.
• Richard said "working with" and NOT "Paul recorded everything and every part with it ever" by the way. Much in the same way he dabbled with the PSA-1 for frequencies he cannot get - Paul can do a similar technique borrowing small amounts of frequencies.
• Has never been directly associated with "Dual Rectifiers" or the "Pre 500" serial numbers. Those are not the words Richard used.
• No interviews I currently have possession or digital copies of had Paul mention this.

Richard said in that quote (most likely referring to 2003/05 sessions) that he couldn't tell the full difference between his and Paul's tracks being layered in the mixes because they were using Mesa Rectifiers in the studio. Studio =/= live rigs and the quicker the fandom learns the difference, the better. No guitarist will lug their entire studio logic to a concert and a studio affords a ton of luxury choices. In fact, in 2001 Paul states their live show guitar sounds are very complicated for the mixer. If you pay attention to R+ proshot audio, you can tell they don't really sound perfectly matching to the CDs. There's very good reasons why!

No, I cannot. I have found no evidence or source for this in any capacity. If someone knows the origin, get in touch with me immediately please. Logically speaking, the confirmed usage Mesa Strategy 500 does everything this piece of equipment does. They're both poweramps and that makes both of them inside one rig weird/redundant. But... if he used it separately or to replace the 500? Now we're talking! The earliest trace I found was 2002 with no source.

It originates from the album Sehnsucht's liner notes. It does not say Paul used this specifically, nor what this brand or company provided from their products to anyone. Richard exists and brand listings sometimes are related to studio audio equipment.

In 1999, he answered that he used them on the official Rammstein website Q&A session. He did not specify the gauge. It was said in late 1999 and would have applied to the old Music Man Axis guitars. The future afterward is not known. If you have any further info, please contact me.

Because they're not the same person with the same personality and outlook on the instrument. There is no obligated method to use the guitar or create tones a certain way. Paul's method and philosophy is as valid as any other player ever and doesn't need to be compared to everyone else. Hope this helps.

If I'm completely honest, it's not Paul's belief in music philosophy to encourage people to imitate everything. Part of this is because, you should learn for yourself instead of copying him because he's the Rammstein guy. He speaks strongly about individuality, uniqueness, reason for music to exist, and he has this stubborn "if everyone does that, I do the opposite" streak.

He has revealed the minimums of his career if you want to imitate him by saying Tech 21. All you need to grasp is PSA-1 and GT2. The GT2 reveal narrowed him down to three choices. If you use logic, you'll know British and California are the only real options. By understanding he's a metal guitarist, logically selecting Hi Gain on the pedal would be correct to gravitate to by gut instinct. Why don't you try experimenting from there and finding yourself instead? I'm sure it's what he'd say.

I think he wants you to figure it out for yourself to experiment or find something that was like him, but imperfect and your own creation. And if you really feel so strongly - he gave you the PL1 Fly Rig.

Now you're asking the real questions! Congratulations. Paul is very interested in EQ shaping equipment that either is before/after the Tech 21 device. During Ahoi tour, he utilized TC Electronics G-Force. What he uses in modern times, is anyone's guess. Surely it's something, but that electronic box of something isn't known by name.

During live shows, he likely has other shaping/EQ at play that is helping the Tech 21 or Fractal product along for a huge live production show's sound quality outside of a controlled studio. This exact equipment is unknown and are the real questions we should be after. Paul put all of his deep cut, well informed opinions on what good EQ is and should be into the PL1 Fly Rig collaboration with Tech 21 for every knob and press-able button. He specifically wanted to improve on EQ controls available that suits his tastes as his main addition and was the immediate flaw he felt the GT2 held. So... if it matters to you that much - go find the effects pedal.

Many times in the 90s the band were asked what they liked and Paul always supplied answers: Metallica, Pantera, Ministry, and Prodigy. He is the band member, along with Schneider, who repeatedly said Pantera and said it was "what he liked". In May 2012, Metal Hammer made the editorial addition of saying "Metallica, Pantera, Slipknot" when mentioning his favorite guitar sounds.

The comparison you're thinking of is simply the Mesa/Boogie amp family emulated by the PSA-1 and GT2 having a recognizable character. (Trust me, anyone who knows that amp family can hear it immediately.) Paul has repeatedly emphasized originality and stressed that all six have variable tastes. And that such eclectic differences between them is a strength and probably shouldn't work, but it does. As for himself, he doesn't stick to any genre and likes anything that appeals or is what he deems unique. He repeatedly insists that influences are too broad and each member is too different. My fave moment over this was: "everything influences you, or nothing does."

This can be understood from the official Gibson Signature Les Paul product page. Bridge pickup EMG 81. Neck pickup EMG 60. His strings are Gibson and labeled .010-.046.

Roland Jazz Chorus 120. The giant black box atop the silver rack to the left is his JC-120.

Sure.

I've basically put what I know here. Anything I say would be me repeating it a second time, but longer. If you have extremely specific niche questions, I might be able to help. Or have some other fansite claim you want me to fact check or help with.

But vague questions? Or me telling you exact knob positions? No. Please take the Paul philosophy and learn for yourself to be your own unique player. I've already handed you the keys. It's up to you to use them.

The words tonal shaping, poweramp, and signal-chain are permanent parts of my vocabulary now. My targeted advertisements online are filled with guitar electronics. My YouTube recommendations are chaos. I unironically know what tremolo picking glissando is. (Deep 1996 Fleisch related lore.) I haven't closed 10 tabs to European musician forums in six months. I've legitimately studied the PSA-1 manual. I plugged my PL1 into my Axis and turned the knobs for several hours. I'm fine.