Takumi was on a PP panel last week and he said Prince was really east to set up for, as he had one preferred set up. He also said that, on occasion, Prince would ask to achieve sound beyond the current technology, but 9 times out of 10, he was right that it could be acheived, and everyone that worked for him found skills they never knew they had.

Thanks for the pics!
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Might be interesting to note that on these photos he's got the MM4 set to the phaser effect, as opposed to the tri chorus mode he's been using on it previously. (But of course he could switch this during shows too, if he wanted to.)
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Also: some of the pedals have been replaced with slightly different models. The Whammy is now the 5th gen. (current) version, which is indeed much better than previous models.

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The Boss OC-2 pictured here is an earlier (Japanese) edition than what he was pictured with on previous tours. The name on this is 'Octaver' as opposed to 'Octave' on later models.
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The BF-2 here is also an earlier version (with black knobs) than the BF-2 (with white knobs) he was using previously.
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The DD-6 is a more recent pedal than the DD-3 he was using previously.
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Another thing worth noting is that most knobs on the pedals are left in the position Prince has often set them to. To me that's a reassuring sign that perhaps the museum staff really treats Prince's gear with respect and they are not playing around twisting knobs and banging on instruments.
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[Edited 4/29/17 4:24am]

What are the silver boxes on the top left?

JudasLChrist said:

What are the silver boxes on the top left?

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They look like signal splitters to me, but not 100% sure.

MiceElfAgin said:

tab32792 said:

Must order that book as soon as PP sort out international shipping.

What I'd really love to see is photos of his setup throughout his career, for each tour etc. I bet you could almost guess the album from the stomp boxes lined up.

What's sticking up in the back of the pedal power with the symbol on it? An extra pick?

purplepoppy said:

What's sticking up in the back of the pedal power with the symbol on it? An extra pick?

Guitarhero said:

purplepoppy said:

What's sticking up in the back of the pedal power with the symbol on it? An extra pick?

Alert the Lovejunky and lemoncrush19 for the symbol thread.

purplepoppy said:

Guitarhero said:

Alert the Lovejunky and lemoncrush19 for the symbol thread.

AH HAAAAAAAAAA

Got it...

T.U

SquirrelMeat said:

Takumi was on a PP panel last week and he said Prince was really east to set up for, as he had one preferred set up. He also said that, on occasion, Prince would ask to achieve sound beyond the current technology, but 9 times out of 10, he was right that it could be acheived, and everyone that worked for him found skills they never knew they had.

Another example of P OutofWordly! haha

any of the books get into the keyboard gear?

COOL! Thanks!

I always wondered if he used the Blues Driver to boost the Turbo Distortion or if he used them in different wayd. Does anybody know?

[Edited 4/30/17 16:51pm]

GaryMF said:

any of the books get into the keyboard gear?

That would be the book. I want thorough break downs of that PR drumkit, too.

GustavoRibas said:

COOL! Thanks!

I always wondered if he used the Blues Driver to boost the Turbo Distortion or if he used them in different wayd. Does anybody know?

[Edited 4/30/17 16:51pm]

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Most probably he's always used BD as a boost when using the DS-2.
The DS is too dry on its own.

MiceElfAgin said:

Most probably he's always used BD as a boost when using the DS-2.
The DS is too dry on its own.

Agree. That was my first guess.

JudasLChrist said:

GaryMF said:

any of the books get into the keyboard gear?

That would be the book. I want thorough break downs of that PR drumkit, too.

Drum and drum machine kit!

GaryMF said:

JudasLChrist said:

That would be the book. I want thorough break downs of that PR drumkit, too.

Drum and drum machine kit!

Exactly... and drum synthesizer. Please tells us all about the mysteries of SYNCUSSION, especially settings.

JudasLChrist said:

GaryMF said:

Drum and drum machine kit!

Exactly... and drum synthesizer. Please tells us all about the mysteries of SYNCUSSION, especially settings.

I thought I knew all about the drum achnes (I own a Linndrumm LM2) but I have no idea what yuo're talking about here!!! Is this a 90s thing?

GaryMF said:

JudasLChrist said:

Exactly... and drum synthesizer. Please tells us all about the mysteries of SYNCUSSION, especially settings.

I thought I knew all about the drum achnes (I own a Linndrumm LM2) but I have no idea what yuo're talking about here!!! Is this a 90s thing?

No, not at all! It was purely a Revolution/Bobby thing... Going back to at least the Controversy tour. You'll notice there are some drum sounds that are not Simmons Drums or LM-1. Big wooshes or trippy toms. It's on the Albums, too.

tab32792 said:

I'm a gear freak so I'm loving this photo. His board has been the same for most of his career. For somebody who could do so much with the guitar he didn't use boutique amps or pedals. Used affordable stuff. You could easily copy his sound if you play with the settings but you'd never REALLY sound like Prince lol they hate his gear in guitar forums cause it's so simple.

Because he actually knew how to play the damn thing, he didn't need a fancy setup. Sorry, kids, that's what 8 hours of practice every day for 50 years will do for you. Try learning your instrument, fools! lol

Also, that thing looks plenty complicated to me, but then I don't play guitar in any form, so... yanno.

[Edited 5/2/17 5:07am]

tab32792 said:

Exactly. I read that somebody built him a huge rack setup with a midi controller in the mid-late 80's and he hated it. But at the same time he used drum machines and a Fairlight synthesizer lol. He liked technology but when it came to a lot of things he was simple...shockingly.

This.