Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Suited and booted, wearing wraparound shades and a wide-brimmed hat, Steve Vai performs with King Crimson supergroup BEAT, playing his signature Ibanez PIA.
Artists Steve Vai shows us just what's needed to play '80s King Crimson in tour of his custom-built BEAT rig
Floating Points The Sunflower
Artists "I need to build a sound of my own": Floating Points hates festival sound systems so much he’s invented his own
GigRig Pedalboards
Guitars GigRig is now making pedalboards to create the ultimate integrated 'board and switching system
Bob Dylan
Artists “I was frightened, but I was like, ‘ok, big boy pants time'”: Bob Dylan's live sound engineer Jason Frankhouser
Claudio Sanchez
Artists “There’s a tape delay on one song - Van Halen used it on Eruption”: The weird gear in Coheed And Cambria's new album
A bare-chested Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin performs at Earl's Court, London, in 1975. Guitarist Jimmy Page plays his Gibson Les Paul Standard in the background.
Artists Robert Plant is selling gear for charity, including totally unique John Birch-modded ‘62 Stratocaster
Lee Ranaldo plays his Thinline Telecaster Deluxe as Sonic Youth perform at the Forum, London, in 1996. Steve Shelley, Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore are is pictured in the background.
Artists Sonic Youth Reverb store lists Lee Ranaldo’s first guitar and the synth behind his Diamond Sea tone
  1. Guitars
  2. Guitar Rigs

Rig tour: Robert Fripp

News
By Matt Parker ( Guitarist ) published 11 November 2014

The King Crimson man's mind-boggling setup

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

Robert Fripp is the mind-blowing guitarist and only constant member of King Crimson. He is the axis around which the rest of the ever-evolving band spins.

Fripp's renowned for his pioneering, demanding approach to guitar playing and his rig reflects that, too - offering near complete control. Now, with King Crimson returning to the live arena in the US, it seemed like the perfect time for us to catchup on a rig that's as complex and idiosyncratic as the player himself.

Strap in and pay attention as Mr Fripp’s guitar tech Trev Wilkins walks us through the Crimson king’s weird and wonderful gear...

Page 1 of 12
Page 1 of 12
Fernandes Custom Gold

Fernandes Custom Gold

"Robert seems to favour this Fernandes Goldtop Custom, which was built for him in Japan in about 1995.

"Most of his guitars have generally got the same system: a built-in MIDI pickup, a humbucker and a Sustainer. The toggle switches mean they're totally flexible, so he can switch everything in and out."

Page 2 of 12
Page 2 of 12
Roland GR-1 Guitar Synth/US20 splitter

Roland GR-1 Guitar Synth/US20 splitter

"A 13-pin cable comes out of the guitar and goes into this [AB/Y] splitter, which goes to the Roland GR-1 Guitar Synth and to the Axon AX100 [rack-mounted guitar-to-MIDI controller].

"A standard jack then runs out the back of the GR-1 to the Axe-FX II XLs at the top of the rack."

Roland US20 splitter

Roland us20 splitter

Roland us20 splitter
Page 3 of 12
Page 3 of 12
Axe FX II XL

Axe FX II XL

"Generally we're setting it up with a Hi-Watt style 'Hi-Power' head, through a 4x12 cab setting and a Master Fuzz [based on the Maestro FZ-1 Fuzztone].

"That seems to be one of the favourites as a basic signal chain. The top one is the back-up."

Page 4 of 12
Page 4 of 12
Sound Sculpture Switchblade

Sound Sculpture Switchblade

"All of the outputs from the Axe-FX, the Axon and the GR-1 go into this Switchblade, which is like a patch bay.

"You've got two stereo signals running from here into the Eventide H8000 and H3500 effects units and a third stereo signal going to the Eventide Eclipse, all of which is then sent back into the Switchblade [and out to the final mix]."

Page 5 of 12
Page 5 of 12
Eventide H8000 and H3000/3500

Eventide H8000 and H3000/3500

"The 8000s [only one pictured, due to repairs] are generally what Robert uses to create those massive loops that go on for days.

"He'll play things and forty seconds later they'll appear in the surround speakers. The 3000s are used for other effects, like the tap delay."

Page 6 of 12
Page 6 of 12
Eventide Eclipse

Eventide Eclipse

"The Eclipse is used mainly for additional effects on his standard guitar sounds –for things that are not going through the other Eventides."

Page 7 of 12
Page 7 of 12
Boss Expression pedal #1 & #2 - Final output levels

Boss Expression pedal #1 & #2 - Final output levels

"These control the [final] output levels [sent from the Switchblade] and this can be used in stereo or quad -or even a six channel mix - so Robert's got total control over where he sends everything."

Page 8 of 12
Page 8 of 12
Rocktron MIDI Raider

Rocktron MIDI Raider

"This is the heart of the whole system. Everything's got a MIDI address, so Robert can tell the MIDI Raider all the parameters that he wants -which units in, which units out, which presets on the Axe-FX -and program it so that when he clicks on that patch, the whole system will go into the mode required.

"The bottom ten switches on the right [numbers 1-10] are all assigned to certain songs. On the top row, 11 is what we call the 'lead' channel or Scene 2 on the Axe-FX and 12 has got Scene 3. Number 13 switches the Eclipse in and out and 14 and 15, labelled bottom and top, are the Eventide H8000 and 3000s."

Page 9 of 12
Page 9 of 12
Boss Expression pedal #3-6 (left to right)

Boss Expression pedal #3-6 (left to right)

Boss Expression pedal #3 - Switchblade input level

"The Switchblade sends a stereo mix [from the Axe-FX, the Axon and the GR-1] to this volume pedal and, depending what's switched in and out, this pedal controls the signal within the system [before it's sent to the Eventide units]."

Boss Expression pedal #4 - Eclipse parameter control

Boss Expression pedal #5 & 6 - Axe-FX parameter controls

"We're using the two pedal outputs from the Axe-FX, so we've got two continuous control pedals and we can assign those to anything, mainly the dry/wet mix for the effects within the unit."

Page 10 of 12
Page 10 of 12
Korg Taktile and iPad

Korg Taktile and iPad

"It's just a keyboard controller. The sound is from an iPad app called ThumbJam, which reacts to MIDI messages.

"I've got an IK Multimedia iRig MIDI connecting it, so that Robert can call up Mellotron strings, brass, choir and flute on the Taktile pads and play them live on the keyboard.

"The iPad signal goes then to the effects return on the Axe-FX, so you can call it up on the MIDI Raider and use the effects in the Axe-FX and Eventides."

Page 11 of 12
Page 11 of 12
Monitor mixer and laptop

Monitor mixer and laptop

Monitor mixer

"Each member of the band has a monitor mixer so that they can set what they're hearing on the headphones. A lot of the songs also have clicks going on, so they can access them through the mixer, too."

Laptop

"The Laptop is also Robert's and that's connected to the Axe-FX over USB, so that we can tweak things. Robert doesn't get somebody else to handle effects for him, he's very hands-on. It's a complete holistic approach."

Signal path

Robert fripp's rig signal path

Robert fripp's rig signal path
Page 12 of 12
Page 12 of 12
Matt Parker
Matt Parker

Matt is a freelance journalist who has spent the last decade interviewing musicians for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.

The magazine for serious players image
The magazine for serious players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Suited and booted, wearing wraparound shades and a wide-brimmed hat, Steve Vai performs with King Crimson supergroup BEAT, playing his signature Ibanez PIA.
Steve Vai shows us just what's needed to play '80s King Crimson in tour of his custom-built BEAT rig
Floating Points The Sunflower
"I need to build a sound of my own": Floating Points hates festival sound systems so much he’s invented his own
GigRig Pedalboards
GigRig is now making pedalboards to create the ultimate integrated 'board and switching system
Bob Dylan
“I was frightened, but I was like, ‘ok, big boy pants time'”: Bob Dylan's live sound engineer Jason Frankhouser
Claudio Sanchez
“There’s a tape delay on one song - Van Halen used it on Eruption”: The weird gear in Coheed And Cambria's new album
A bare-chested Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin performs at Earl's Court, London, in 1975. Guitarist Jimmy Page plays his Gibson Les Paul Standard in the background.
Robert Plant is selling gear for charity, including totally unique John Birch-modded ‘62 Stratocaster
Latest in Guitar Rigs
Neural DSP Nano Cortex
Neural DSP gives the Nano Cortex an almighty power-up with free NanOS 2.0.0 system update
Tone King Imperial Preamp: this high-end all-tube preamp pedal offers two channels, includes reverb, tremolo and attenuation, and has onboard CabSims/IR tech.
Tone King offers up boutique tube amp tones for your pedalboard with the Imperial Preamp pedal
Two Notes Audio Engineering Reload II: the new reactive load box is described as a fully featured unit that
Two Notes promises a “watershed” in tube amp control with the Torpedo Reload II reactive load box
Harley Benton PowerPlants ISO-Li05 and ISO-Li09: these high-powered, budget-friendly pedalboard power supplies have an integrated lithium-ion battery
Pedal power to go? Harley Benton unveils two high-powered budget power bricks with onboard batteries
IK Multimedia Tonex Editor
IK Multimedia has just made its digital guitar tone ecosystem easier to manage with the Tonex Editor
Synergy Syn-20IR: the new modular tube head from Steve Vai's favourite amp brand features onboard IRs, 20-watts and lots of scope for customisation.
Steve Vai’s favourite amp brand Synergy unveils a 20W “preamp module platform” with onboard IRs
Latest in News
Polygon Live
Can immersive audio work at a festival? We went to Polygon Live to find out
orchid
Tame Impala's ultra-hyped chord-generating synth is back for a second drop - and this time it's international
Calvin Harris Blessings guitar
Calvin Harris reveals the unconventional method he used to record the guitar riff on new single, Blessings
Guitar Center Memorial day
Guitar Center's epic Memorial Day sale offers unbeatable deals, including $419 off a Gibson Les Paul Standard!
Roger Daltrey performs on stage during 'Roger Daltrey: A Night Of The Who Classics' at Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood on February 20, 2023 in Hollywood, Florida
“The weight of this responsibility is enormous”: The Who’s new drummer announces himself to fans
Spin Doctors singer Chris Barron
“It means everything to me. It’s the song that gave us our first big break”: The ’90s hit that pretty much wrote itself

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...