LEE RANALDO

GUITARS

  • View all of Lee's guitars

    AMPS

    Below is the information I can confirm for sure -- where there are gaps in years and the same set-up appears on either side of the gap, you can infer that it was continuously used thru that period.

    I will get around to adding amplifier info for the early-mid 80s in the future....

    1989

  • Peavey Roadmaster w/ 6x10 cab
  • Blackface Fender Super Reverb

    1991

  • Fender 4x10 Super Reverb souped up by Harry Kolbe
    w/ 2 stock speakers in top, 2 heavy duty Electro-Voice speakers below
  • Stock Fender Concert (both are pre-CBS Blackfaces)

    1992

  • MESA/Boogie MARK III w/ Marshall 4X12 extension cab
    (miked onboard 12-inch Electro-Voice speaker for Dirty rec.)
  • Vintage Orange head for "grungier" tones

    1994

  • Fender Tone Master

    1995

  • 100-watt Fender Tonemaster head w/ Fender Custom Shop 4x12 & 2x12 cabs & separate Fender Reverb unit (copy of the original late 50s unit). At this point Lee claimed it was "too loud" -- and was considering putting a switch in to step it down to 50 watts.

    1998

  • 100-watt Fender Tonemaster head w/ Fender Custom Shop 4x12 & 2x12 cabs & separate Fender Reverb unit (copy of the original late 50s unit)  

    Thanks to the now defunct original SY supersite evol.org, I can provide you with some photographs of SY's amp setups from the '98 "A Thousand Leaves" tour, specifically the 5/21/98 Portland, OR gig. Many thanks to Michael McCullough for taking these.

  • Tonemaster head
  • Close-up of Tonemaster settings  

    1999

  • 100-watt Fender Tonemaster head w/ Fender Custom Shop 4x12 & 2x12 cabs & separate Fender Reverb unit (copy of the original late 50s unit)
  • Fender Concert amp
  • Blackface Fender Super Reverb (for nyc ghosts)

    2000

  • Bassman head
  • Custom HiWatt 50 head
  • Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cab

    2001

  • Bassman head
  • Custom HiWatt 50 head
  • Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cab

    2002

  • Bassman head
  • Custom HiWatt 50 Head
  • Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cab
  • WITH: Toneworks DTR-1 Digital Tuner & ETA Systems PD8L Rack Illuminator
  • Fender Twin Reverb (for ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES -- band didn't want to bring full amp rigs across the country for one gig)  

     

    Here are photographs of Lee's entire amp rig I took before soundcheck at the August 30th, 2002 Murray Street tour show in Portland, Oregon at the Crystal Ballroom (some are fairly large so you may want to open them in a new window):

  • Bassman head, HiWatt head, Mesa/Boogie cab, w/ Toneworks Digital Tuner & ETA Systems Rack Illuminator on top  

    Here are 2 photos I took of Lee's Twin Reverb from his solo gig in Seattle on March 20th:

  • Picture 1
  • Picture 2

    2006

    Photographs taken by me July 14th, 2006 @ the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA.

  • Fender Super Reverb head w/ Fender 4x10" cab
  • Toneworks DTR-1 Digital Tuner& ETA Systems PD8L Rack Illuminator
  • Spare Fender Super Reverb

  • Lee's amp
  • Fender head w/ Tuner/Illuminator
  • Spare Super Reverb
  • Lee's devices
  • Lee's devices
  • Lee's devices

    2007

    Here's a picture of Lee's amp from the July 21st, 2007 Santa Monica show.

    EFFECTS

    In the early-mid 80s, Sonic Youth rarely used effects pedals. They relied on sheer volume for their distortion, and preferred to let their sound remain pure and free of too much processing. Towards the end of the decade they began to experiment w/ fuzzboxes, volume pedals, and of course, Lee discovered delay. Thurston typically relied solely on several distortion pedals before branching out to wahs & phasers & octave dividers in the mid 90s, while Lee had more freedom to roam about with modulation effects.

    Below is the information I can confirm for sure -- where there are gaps in years and the same set-up appears on either side of the gap, you can infer that it was continuously used thru that period.

    1989

  • Pro-Co Rat
  • Boss Compression Sustainer
  • Morley Volume Pedal
  • Fender DGC1 for noise while changing guitars

    1991

  • MXR Phase Shifter
  • DOD Digital Delay
  • Fender Delay (broke)
  • Tube Works Distortion Pedal
  • Boss CS-2 Compressor

    1992

  • Cry Baby Wah
  • MXR Phase Shifter
  • DOD Analog Delay
  • DOD Digital Delay

    1994

  • Maestro Ring Modulator
  • Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay

    1995

  • Tubeworks Realtube Distortion
  • DOD 2-second Sampling Delay
  • Maestro Ring Modulator
  • tc electronics Phase Shifter
  • Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay
  • Ludwig Phase II Guitar Synthesizer

    1998

  • Mutron Bi-Phase (w/ separate expression pedal)
  • Maestro Ring Modulator
  • Overdrive Electronics Valve Grinder
  • Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer
  • DOD Compressor (70s)
  • Ibanez Tube King
  • Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay
  • Digitech PDS-1002 2-Second Sampling Delay  

    Thanks to the now defunct original SY supersite evol.org, I can provide you with some photographs of SY's effects gear from the '98 "A Thousand Leaves" tour, specifically the 5/21/98 Portland, OR gig. Many thanks to Michael McCullough for taking these.

  • Digitech PDS-1002 2-second delay
  • Boss CS-3 Compression Sustainer
  • Digitech 2-second Delay
  • Boss Compressor, Ibanez Tube King, Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay
  • Mu-Tron BiPhase
  • Overdrive Electronics Valve Grinder, Boss Compressor, Ibanez Tube King, Ibanez Analog Delay  

    1999

  • MOOG Moogerfooger ring modulator
  • DOD PDS 1002 2-second delay
  • Maestro Ring Modulator
  • Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor
  • Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere
  • Ibanez AD80 Analog delay
  • Mu-tron bi-phase w/ expression pedal
  • Korg EXP2 expression pedal (for keyboard)

    2000

  • Ibanez Delay
  • Big Briar Moogerfooger Ring Modulator

    2002

    MARCH 2002:

  • Moogerfooger Ring Modulator (w/ expression pedal)
  • Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler
  • MXR Blue Box
  • Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay
  • Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor
  • Digitech PDS 1002 2-second delay  

    Here are some pictures I took of Lee's effects/performance area at his solo gig in Seattle on March 20th: (you may want to right click/open these in a new window, they're pretty big)

  • Back of Moogerfooger, expression pedal, Line 6 Delay
  • Line 6 Delay, Ring Mod expression pedal, Moogerfooger ring mod
  • Digitech 2-second delay, Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor (w/ Dunlop metal slide on top), Ibanez AD80 Analog Delay, MXR Blue Box (also depicted: violin bow)
  • Delay, Blue Box, Line 6, Moogerfooger
  • Digitech Delay, Tube Factor, Ibanez Delay, Blue Box, Line 6... plus discman & some bells.
  • Digitech Delay, Tube Factor, Ibanez Delay, Blue Box
  • Wide shot of all Lee's effects
  • Wider shot of Lee's performance space (see screwdriver, bells, violin bow, reverb/vibrato footswitch for Twin Reverb, etc)
  • Power bar w/ effects AC adaptors plugged in (hey, why not...).
  • Close-up of Line 6 Delay.
  • Weird close-up of Digitech delay, Tube Factor, Ibanez delay
  • Close-up of AD80 + Blue Box.
  • Another weird close-up of Digitech delay etc,..,.
  • Back of Blue Box, AD80, Tube Factor, Digitech Delay.
  • Close-up of Line 6 & Moogerfooger.
  • Another shot of the power bar...  

    MURRAY STREET SUMMER TOUR:

  • Electro-Harmonix Big Muff
  • Voodoo Labs Sparkle Drive
  • Digitech PDS 1002 2-second Delay
  • Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor
  • Ibanez AD-80 Analog Delay
  • MXR Blue Box
  • Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler
  • Moogerfooger Ring Modulator w/ expression pedal
  • WITH: GTR/KORG A/B box (for organ) & a VOODOO LAB Pedal Power device  

    Here are photographs of Lee's entire effects rig I took before soundcheck at the August 30th, 2002 Murray Street tour show in Portland, Oregon at the Crystal Ballroom (some are fairly large so you may want to open them in a new window):

  • Big Muff & Sparkle Drive
  • Digitech Delay, Tube Factor, Ibanez Delay, MXR Blue Box, Voodoo Lab Pedal Power
  • Line 6 Delay, Moogerfooger expression pedal & Ring Modulator

    2006

    Photographs taken by me July 14th, 2006 @ the Fillmore in San Francisco, CA.

  • DOD 2-Second Delay
  • Klon Centaur
  • Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor
  • Ibanez AD-80 Analog Delay
  • MXR Blue Box
  • Danelectro Wasabi
  • BJF Honey Bee
  • Electro-Harmonix Microsynth
  • Ernie Ball Expression Pedal (for Moogerfooger)
  • Moogerfooger Ring Modulator

  • 2-second Delay, Klon, Tube Factor, Analog Delay, Blue Box, Wasabi, Honey Bee
  • Blue Box, Wasabi, Honeybee, Microsynth, Expression Pedal, Moogerfooger
  • 2-Second Delay, Klon
  • Tube Factor, Analog Delay, Blue Box, Wasabi
  • Wasabi, Honey Bee
  • Honey Bee, Microsynth, Exp Pedal
  • Microsynth, Exp Pedal, Moogerfooger
  • 2-Second Delay
  • Klon Centaur
  • Tube Factor (w/ slide)
  • AD-80, Blue Box
  • Pedal Power w/ E-Bow
  • Wasabi, Honey Bee
  • Micro-Synth
  • Expression Pedal
  • Moogerfooger

    2007

    Here are two pictures I took of Lee's effects on July 21st, 2007: DOD 2-Second Delay, Klon Centaur, Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor, Ibanez AD-80 Analog Delay, and BJF Honey Bee and Moogerfooger Ring Modulator w/ Expression Pedal, Electro-Harmonix Microsynth, and MXR Blue Box -- Looks like only the Danelectro Wasabi is missing.

    2009

    Full update coming soon, but here's a preview of his ANTENNA BOX, built for him by Matt Zivich. It's the delay that he uses for the intro of 'Antenna'.

    OTHER

    Miscellaneous instruments/tools.

  • Synth -- Sequential Graphics Pro-One Synthesizer used on various improvisations as well as "Lightnin".

  • Organ -- Korg Organ used on "Sympathy for the Strawberry". Lee runs this thru a Boss GE-7 Equalizer pedal. Here's a picture of the organ from Portland.

  • Zither -- Lee used a modified zither for portions of "Inhuman". This is now displayed at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland!

  • Screwdriver -- placed under the strings behind a specific fret, a screwdriver helps construct Lee's guitar parts on "Confusion is Next" "The World Looks Red" "Early American" "I Love Her All The Time" and "Flower".

  • Drumstick -- the classic Sonic tool, utilized on all sorts of songs, including "Burning Spear" "Making the Nature Scene" "I'm Insane" "100%" & "Youth Against Fascism".

  • Dunlop Metal Slide -- a handful of Lee's parts on SY songs revolve around use of a slide, including "Marilyn Moore" "Expressway" "Sunday" & "Stil".

  • Capo -- used on "Theresa's Sound-World" "Female Mechanic Now On Duty" "Hoarfrost" & "She Is Not Alone" ('99 version).

  • Bad Moon metal #1 -- I'm actually not sure what this is, Lee holds up a large gong-like device and bangs it at the end of "Ghost Bitch".

  • Bad Moon metal #2 -- on the Gila Monster Jamboree performance of "I'm Insane", Lee bangs a metal object during the intro.

     

    Return to main Sonic Gear page.