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Bono and The Edge onstage on U2's current 360° Tour (© A3464 Rainer Jensen/dpa/Corbis)

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Twenty-three years later, Schoo is now not only Edge's guitar tech and full-time employee, but a trusted confidante, staying by the guitarist's side at every single concert and recording session. "That's the most amazing thing about Edge and the band," he says, "the amount of faith they'll have in you if you prove your worth. I still pinch myself when Edge or Bono ask me for ideas in the studio. I think to myself, Hey, you're the geniuses. You wrote the song, you play it - I'm just the hired hand here."

Schoo talks into his two-way that he's going to need "an hour or so," and after receiving confirmation from a production staffer that the time is clear, he takes me on a guided tour of the mind-boggling array of amps, effects and guitars that make up The Edge's sound.

I'm still finding it strange to be standing under an enormous claw, Dallas.

[laughs] "It does take a couple of minutes to get acclimated. But you forget pretty fast. It does look pretty awesome at night with all the lights and the video screen."

How is it different for The Edge to work on this kind of stage? There's a lot more room for him to move; everything's a lot cleaner.

"That's true. There's more real estate for him to deal with. He isn't as tied to one little area and he doesn't stand next to his pedalboard as much as he used to. That's great in one way because it gives the crowd a very lively show, but it presents sound issues he and I had to figure out.

"During our production rehearsals in Barcelona, when we saw the stage for the first time and the band started getting familiar with it, Edge asked me if I could handle most of the show - meaning, could I man the switching of effects but keep up with the guitars?

"Edge is very guitar-specific. Last night he used 21 different guitars for 24 songs. He's more tuned into the sound of each guitar than he ever was on any other tour. So I've got to stay focused every second. I have to always be ready with a new guitar, and I have to be ready for all of the effects cues."

[Pointing to the large Skrydstrup switching system] But he does have his own pedalboard. He is working his own effects some of the time, right?

"Yes, he is, but every time he walks away from the pedalboard, which is often, it's all on me. And let me tell you, this tour has been a challenge in that respect. During a show, when I'm down there [he points to the stairs that lead underneath the stage], all I have is a six-inch window to look up at him through."

A six-inch window? How can you see him all the time?

[laughs] "I can't. Not all the time. It isn't easy. And what makes it even more difficult is, for the first time ever, Edge has a wireless headset mic so he can sing and work the stage. In the past, he could back off the mic and give me cues. Now he has to try to put his hand over his mic and give me directions, or he tries to do it with certain facial expressions."

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