| Artist: | Alexi Laiho |
| Associated act(s): | Children of Bodom |
| Date published: | 10 April 2016 |
Photo licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Alexi Laiho is the front man and lead guitar player for the metal group Children of Bodom. His setup works on the principle of “less is more”, and he has a relatively small amount of gear. His guitar contains only 1 pickup, and he only uses 1 channel on his Marshal JVM head. The “secret sauce” of his tone is extremely high output active pickups with a low gain amp setting, in other words letting the pickups do the work and not the amp. He uses few pedals, with a chorus (CH-1) pedal permanently engaged to give an 80’s edge.
Guitars
| Guitar | Model | Color | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| ESP Custom Shop | ALEXI-600 | Various | $1000 |
Amplifiers
| Amplifier | Qty. | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Marshall JVM 410H 100W Head | 1 | $4260 |
| Marshall 1960BV 4x12 Cabinet | 1 | $1250 |
Pedals & Effects
| FX Unit | Purpose | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Boss CH-1 Super Chorus | Chorus effect | $100 |
| Boss DD-7 Delay | Delay effect | $150 |
| Dunlop KH95 Kirk Hammet Wah | Wah effect | $160 |
Accessories
| Item | Purpose | Price |
|---|---|---|
| T-Rex Fueltank Junior | Power supply | $105 |
| Shure SM57 Microphone | Cabinet | $100 |
| Audiotech SS1X6 Selector | Wireless | N/A |
| Sennheiser EW 500-935 G3 Wireless | Guitar | $1000 |
| Korg DT-1 Pro Digital Tuner | Tuner | N/A |
| DR Strings Alexi Laiho Signature Medium Heavy | Guitar | $10 |
| Dunlop Jazz III Picks | Guitar | $3 |
The Marhsal JVM is the main component of Alexi’s tone in 2016. According to Alexi, this amp is ideal due to its adaptability to almost any setting.
Alexi takes his signature sound one step further with custom guitar strings.
He uses a passive pickup with an onboard preamp in his guitar. Signal goes EMG HZ F-H2 passive pickup into the onboard ESP MM-04 active preamp, then goes to Shure wireless. In the rig rundown they don’t show it, but signal the goes to Boss NS-2 supressor/gate, the rest of his pedals are in the loop of this.
Why is it that him and Roope have such an incredibly powerful sounding lead guitar tone. I went out and bought nearly everything in his set up and it still sounds nothing like theirs. Is there something they are using that nobody is talking about?
Keep in mind that the sound you are hearing is after their FOH engineer has put it through the PA and tweaked it.
You can try setting your amplifier settings to favor your pick attack. You may also want to place the delay in the loop of the amp (so that it comes after the drive and not before). This may be better achieved with a line level unit, however you can experiment with the Boss pedal.
You’re completely off Dean Hailstone. The Boss DD-7 delay is only used for a clean bridge and various wacky leads, but never in the traditional sense, where one would use it to broaden your sound.
Well, what is your guitar/rig like?
The main focus should be EMG HZ F-H2 with the ESP mm-04 preamp., then wireless, Boss NS-2, Dunlop Kirk Hammett signature CryBaby, Boss CH-1, then Marshall JVM on OD1 red, set to gain 1,5, bass 6, mids 6, treble 4, pres 5, res 2, channel vol. 5, master to taste. Reverb to 0, unless playing at home.