By Jim Dalrymple
Jim Dalrymple is Editor-at-Large for Macworld, writing about the music industry and the increasingly complex relationship between the analog and
digital worlds. A guitar player for 20 years, Jim focuses much of his time reviewing music hardware and software to see how they can fit into the recording of
his first album project, which is being documented on Macworld. Jim also acts as a liaison between Macworld and the global Macintosh industry
including Apple, Microsoft and many others. Jim resides in Nova Scotia, Canada.
I've known Bruce for several years and can honestly say he is one of the most down-to-earth guitar players I've ever had the pleasure to meet. There is
no doubt about Bruce's skills in writing and playing music, but from my experience someone of his caliber is usually not that nice to chat with.
I caught up with Bruce recently while he was in Germany on tour and asked him about his rig setup from his days with KISS. He said that in the early days he
used modified Marshall amps, but then switched to the stock Marshall JCM900 series.
He also said that he didn't use many effects, instead getting his tone from the amp and his fingers. During the Alive III tour Kulick said he had an old Hendrix Univibe pedal that he used during the Star Spangled Banner.
For guitars, he used custom and stock ESP and Gibsons. On the Gibson side, Bruce said he used an old Les Paul Jr. and a modern reissue, as well as a '56 Les Paul Custom and a 57 Reissue with humbuckers. He also had some Les Paul Specials.
I'm using AmpliTube X-Gear, Guitar Rig and Pod Farm to make Bruce's tone on my computer. Pod Farm has a JCM900 amp model built-in, so I'll be using that to match what he used live.
In Guitar Rig I used the Ultrasonic model since it has more built-in gain that the JCM800 model included with the app. For AmpliTube I used the 800 model, but made lots of changes to the EQ, cabinet and mic to get the sound I wanted. I also included the Univibe from the Jimi Hendrix package in the preset.
I'm using a guitar with active pick-ups; if you're not, you may have to adjust the gain a little bit to get the desired sound from the presets.
Here's a tip of the hat Bruce. Thanks for the years of rockin' tunes and many more to come
How to Capture Bruce Kulick's KISS Tone
Geoff

