Whitechapel's Rig Rundown Guitar Gear Tour with Zach Householder, Ben Savage, Alex Wade & Gabe Crisp

Full Rig Details: bit.ly/WhitechapelRR
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With extended-range, low-tuned, riff riders from Aristides, ESP, and PRS, these deathcore-dealing Tennesseans ain’t playing country.
Tennessee has a rich tradition that has helped shape American music. Memphis was a big contributor to blues, soul, and early rock ’n’ roll thanks to Sun, Stax, and the influx of Delta musicians. Nashville has been the long-standing capital of country music, and more recently, has developed as a hotbed of Americana storytellers. The Smokies and the surrounding Appalachian areas have given us bluegrass and undeniable icon Dolly Parton. However, while metal has eluded the Volunteer State’s thumbprint, Whitechapel’s six roughriders from Knoxville are looking to change that by showing off something a little harder than peepaw’s moonshine.
Since 2006, the three-guitar stampede has dished out eight devastating albums that combine death metal, hardcore, and melodic black metal, proving the Smokies can slay. This spring, Whitechapel took to the road, playing their seventh album The Valley in its entirety, along with favorites from their earlier work. Originally, their final stop was slated to be Nashville’s Basement East, but after it quickly sold out, their promoters elevated them to Marathon Music Works (which, once again, sold out). And that’s where the Rig Rundown crew caught up with them to talk gear.
Whitechapel’s guitarists Zach Householder, Ben Savage, and Alex Wade and bassist Gabe Crisp invited PG’s Chris Kies sidestage to cover their signature guitars, the inner workings of their unusual Kemper profiles, and how flip-flopping DiMarzio humbuckers made all the difference.
Shop the Rig:
ESP E-II M-II 7B BARITONE EVERTUNE: sweetwater.sjv.io/5g7Ma9
DiMarzio D Activator Pickups: sweetwater.sjv.io/eKArvD
ESP LTD Alex Wade AW7B - Open Grain Black: sweetwater.sjv.io/Py6rjX
PRS SE Kestrel: sweetwater.sjv.io/q42EDj
Kemper Profiler Power Rack: sweetwater.sjv.io/rQ2z45
Kemper Profiler Remote: sweetwater.sjv.io/DKkb0o
Full Rig Details: bit.ly/WhitechapelRR
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© Copyright Gearhead Communications LLC, 2023
[Brought to you by D’Addario String Finder: www.daddario.com/StringFinderRR]
00:00 - D’Addario String Finder
00:15 - Whitechapel Playing Intro
01:04 - Zach Householder & Chris Kies Intro
01:22 - Aristides 070s
03:42 - Lundgren Black Heaven Humbuckers
05:54 - Playing a Multi-Scale Guitar
07:07 - The Valley Tour Tunings & Strings
08:18 - Finding Aristides
09:52 - ESP ZH EC-7B QM Baritone Zach Householder Signature
11:12 - DiMarzio D-Activator 7 Flip-Flop
13:32 - Whitechapel's Kemper Profiles
16:00 - Working with Mark Lewis
19:21 - Ben Savage's PRS SVN Guitars
28:04 - Alex Wade's ESP E-II M-II 7B Baritone EverTune
29:06 - Adjustments to Using EverTune Bridge
30:43 - Finding a Home at ESP Guitars
32:24 - ESP LTD AW-7 Alex Wade Signature
37:41 - Gabe Crisp's PRS Kestrel Basses
#guitar #rigrundown #whitechapel

[@666warschau666]

Man, i love Zach. He is such an underrated player.. he knows his tools, he digs deep into the material and is such a sweetheart.

[@xprettylightsx]

How long have you been spending time in the occult?

[@666warschau666]

@@xprettylightsx since the dawn of time

[@xprettylightsx]

@@666warschau666 with that ancient knowledge, I’m surprised you spend any amount of time creating grammatically inefficient and incorrect KZbin comments.

[@William_Earl]

IMO, The Valley to now has been Whitechapel's best tones and mixes.

[@Bendalf]

For those wondering, Aristides 070s scale length is 27 to 25.7

[@irnhed13]

Bridge cables on that bass and it was just an afterthought? Please more bass love or a bass rundown series! &

[@JohnHenryJr]

bass rundowns would be awesome!!

[@GearGasms]

Glenn Fricker has entered the chat

[@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875]

Explorer Baritone 7 string? Make it happen I'll buy like 5

[@judemisura4323]

Same

[@lucasgrain]

Doesn't ESP have the LTD EX Black metal in 7-string baritone?

[@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875]

@lucasgrain yes but I like having a neck pickup.

[@definitelynotgore]

Solar Guitars

[@evenzeroescanbeheroes6875]

@@definitelynotgore definitely an option. Not sure if I'd like the offset body,though

[@DeathMetalDuelist666]

I’ve been waiting for this for YEARS

[@diegodoesmusic]

I had the great pleasure of seeing these guys on The Valley tour. Got to talk to Ben for a while after the show, such a great guy and great band.

[@imperium7]

38:45 a wild Dean Lamb appears

[@louiscarrollmusic-lcm5331]

Been desperate to track down their fear after seeing them last year at the roundhouse in Sydney.

[@CreationNeverSleeps]

Finally , the one we re waiting to see!

[@BazonBlades]

I used to own one of Zach's Mesa Boogie 4x12 cabs. One of his stage cabs from a Rockstar Mayhem tour. I think it was defective because it didn't make me sound any better.

[@Left_Hand_Path]

Since more bands are going digital/modeling rack rigs, could you guys dig into their racks in future rundowns? I’d like to nerd out over rack layouts and what they got in the racks and switching/midi if they use em. Great rundown otherwise though!

[@CrzyWzrd4L]

The unfortunate downside to digital rigs is that there’s not much to deep dive into unless you’re incredibly interested in how the patches were modeled and what cables they’re using; especially since WhiteChapel make their own Kemper profiles.

[@Left_Hand_Path]

@@CrzyWzrd4L yeah I’d like to see what the cable management looks like, what brand wireless are they using, what power supplies, patch bays etc. I’m in the middle of building a rack so that probably why that’s what I’m trying to see lol

[@JohnHenryJr]

more bass players! please!

[@MikeFrey95]

I was at that show! 4th time seeing them and they did not disappoint!

[@devinmartin2843]

I believe this is a true gear rundown on everybody’s gear from this band

[@tSxO44]

Seen these guys like 15 years ago in Orlando Florida open 4 Trivium really heavy i couldnt understand a word the vocalist was saying but they did rock hard awesome show

[@HimothyOHooligan]

Tone wood doesn't matter

[@ethanaubrey858]

Thank you. It simply doesn’t exist in solid body electric guitars

[@allstopblue5717]

@@ethanaubrey858so play a plywood guitar and be happy buddy. Hell just play a little kid plastic guitar and stfu even. If it doesn’t matter

[@vincentharless1952]

Just got the fortin whitehcapel pedal, 🔥 best boost pedal ever, paired with 6505 and noise suppresor, nasty cut.

[@metalfather8139]

when you understand how evertune works with tention and your neck movemnt with humidity the stability is great and the intonation and tunning up and down the neck has caused me to not like other bridges any more ......evertune is excellent inovation thanks guys

[@brandonproctor3639]

I got an ESP 7 string with an Evertune on a whim and my god did i make the right choice! It WILL NOT go out of tune and perfect intonation straight from the factory. Little to no setup at all! I had to set the high E string hight bc of a little buzz but that was it. It seems like a complicated thing at first but there’s really nothing to it. Just a few turns of the allen key and you’re there. I want more guitars with Evertune!

[@JacobNates]

I was at this show! Was so killer

[@diegom.1510]

Tonewood is only a thing in acoustic guitars because the top is what amplifies the vibrations from the strings. Pickups, Electronics (the amount of pots and their resistance, caps) strings(guage and age), scale length, bridge type and setup. are all that affect tone.How in the world would a pickup which only sends vibrations from their magnetic field through the pots, caps and into the jack out into the amp be affected by non magnetic tonewood. And fretboard wood is even less of a factor . but that is all about looks and feel.

[@czdot]

Preach, brother!!!

[@ethanaubrey858]

EXACTLY!!!!!! Well said 🤘

[@peeweesermon2231]

Guitarist: of course tonewood matters, anyone who doesn't think so just can't listen Also guitarist: this plastic guitar sounds amazing!

[@kilianruvalcaba6904]

more videos like this, thanks and greetings mexico to all

[@samizdat113]

Tone wood is a placebo when it comes to electric guitar

[@ethanaubrey858]

Yes it is

[@professored7169]

I wanted to see them talk about the acoustics they used in the new song Without You but maybe they just got them so hopfully next time

[@withinthrall1445]

Do disrespect to Zach, but I somehow doubt while they were in the studio, they actually made any tone decisions based on “tonewood.” I may be wrong, but I doubt they ever went, “let’s use this guitar, the ebony neck sounded darker than the rosewood.” It would have been cool for him to try to explain changes to actually listen to, instead of just say, “people who don’t hear a difference just aren’t listening.” That’s not an argument at all lmao. That’s like a Christian saying you don’t believe in god because you aren’t listening to god properly.

[@czdot]

I'm sure it went like this. They made sure the guitar was set up perfectly. If the guitar didn't sound up to standards, they grabbed a different one with different pickups. Other than that they compared amps and mainly speakers. The tone wood debate is absolutely pointless here. It could be about the feel. I do like when the guitar resonated in my hands, but when a track is recorded, it doesn't matter. Recording/mixing engineers would probably laugh at the idea of swapping guitars just because a difference between mahagony and swamp ash. 🙂

[@TexAgsArmyVet]

I honestly don't understand how "tone woods" would effect guitar tone in regards to a heavy distortion sound. If you know better please explain!!

[@gsauce132able]

It's almost hilarious talking about tone woods on a manmade plastic guitar with ultra high gain amps, not even real amps but modeling amps. I'm trying to wrap that around my thick head. lol.

[@GuitarGuy4647]

It doesn’t.

[@matthrsy]

Chapel boy are the best🤘🏻

[@christophermichaels4144]

Glen fricker enters the chat 😂

[@JaxJordan35]

Just a reminder that tonewood isn’t actually a thing

[@ethanaubrey858]

No it isn’t

[@JohannesParra]

No one is gonna comment on Brandon's crisp fucking snare tone?

[@Naughtforeye]

My dude with the white PRS is just like yeah its an awesome, incredibly stable, highly playable most importantly MODERN and as a bonus beautifully carved and perfectly weighted gitfiddle. I have no possible clue what people have against PRS, I just cant accept that. I've extensively played all shapes and sizes, and keep coming back to PRS. I love em, they are the best BIG NAME on the block, and keep pushing the whole the industry forward and advancing overseas production. I have two new 2021 and 2022 SE's, a Zach Meyers semi-hollow which is so good for the cash its stupid. I've obviously made tasteful upgrades to good locking tuners with brass posts, composite nylon/brass nut with brass string guide inserts and pups/pots. The bridge system is the same as off their core line and its amazing PRS proprietary zinc and brass stopbar/bridge with slotted rolled brass saddles. I can do this work myself though and I realize it's not for everyone. And honestly you can jam for a long time on just how it comes with better tuners ofc, they gotta save money somewhere ya know. The QC is next level, the CNC routes are SO clean and long neck tenon that fits to the body so flush its like milled metal. Oh yeah and I have a 2009 custom 24 core lol. Yes it's beautiful and the most voluptuously carved lol, but just as good play wise as the new SE's so I cant justify the cost anymore to myself and gonna sell it. Use the money left to refresh my Jazzmasters bridge.

[@blakethomas3366]

3:10 *Glen Fricker has entered the chat

[@ethanaubrey858]

Yup😂😂😂😂😂😂 But Glenn is right though

[@zerohavokfeind]

Archspire dudes in the background making low key cameos

[@joeywilson5998]

I respect these players, but Jim Lills tests dont require you to "trust him" regarding tonewood, he proves stuff with science and eq graphs

[@ethanaubrey858]

EXACTLY!!!!!!

[@TexAgsArmyVet]

If I ever got the opportunity to receive an endorsement from ESP I would never leave! They make absolutely amazing guitars. Even their LTD models are fantastic! I'm currently going through the specs for a build by the USA Custom Shop. The paint department is legit! 🤘🤘🤘

[@GuitarGuy4647]

Save your money, pick one up used for almost half off. The ESP USA models aren’t true customs, the options are limited, they don’t hold their resale value, and there have been a lot of complaints about the quality of wood they’re using considering what they charge. The USA line is meant to be a stop gap for the actual Japanese custom shop.

[@TexAgsArmyVet]

@alexandersell4647 I wouldn't sell it so I don't care about the resale value. The used market is a joke. Guitars are going for almost what they go for new. I'm also looking into the Japanese Custom shop.

[@GuitarGuy4647]

@@TexAgsArmyVet the used market is currently taking a shit, so hold out a bit longer. Prices are already dropping as can be seen on Reverb.

[@diabeticmonkey]

@@GuitarGuy4647You can say that again. The market is absolute garbage for average players

[@acidpancakes420]

Aristides is better

[@czdot]

Tone wood is absolute nonsense. Seriously. It's not an acoustic guitar. I'm sure the guitar FEELS different, but it makes no sense to bother thinking it will make your recorded song sound better. Especially when you're in a deathcore band with THREE heavily distorted guitars in the mix, and a distorted bass. If anything, those Aristedes quitars won't go out of tune that easily due to the fact it's not wood.

[@vav413]

What was the name of the track in the intro? That was great

[@andrewpedersen9633]

Its Third Depth from their album the Valley

[@trevorgill3560]

Fuck YES!!!

[@ambientblow7571]

🤘

[@scotthornsey]

I'm amazed dimarzio have never given these guys signature pickups

[@miverick86]

Pascal of Aristides is the best!

[@castdaemon4153]

Aren’t aristides made out of resin , i found it funny when he was talking about wood tone whilst holding a plastic guitar😂😂

[@GuitarGuy4647]

Tonewood is a myth.

[@blkmarinewolf]

Song in the beginning?

[@definitelynotgore]

Does Ben have any idea of what’s going on? Lol

[@steveceo8447]

Would have loved to know if Gabe is just running straight to front of house or if he's using other gear.

[@cerrinhendricks241]

He used to run a B7K as his main tone but I think it's now an Alpha Omega.

[@badguitar80]

dude ben looks a lot like dimebag or is it just me hahahaha?

[@GearStuffandThings]

The tone wood discussion almost lost me. Glad we were able to be “educated” 😂

[@William_Earl]

Different woods have different densities and resonate differently. For me, I always noticed mahogany guitars resonate low mids more so than alder and especially swamp ash. Maple tops ( caps, not veneers) seems to sustain more so than versions of the same guitar without. Just things I've noticed over the years. Plus, we've all heard the difference in rosewood vs maple fingerboard.

[@GearStuffandThings]

@@William_Earl thanks

[@MarshallSetUps]

Mesa Revv G? I need yahoo.

[@jasoncrump1886]

I just got my first 7 string and went with the esp ltd ewb7 baritone and it's a killer guitar. Starting to get use to the extra string now. I do play some lead on it too and it does great.

[@eldiablo3794]

Why do they have 3 guitarists?

[@dhonnar]

What's the song used in the intro?

[@JacobNates]

Third Depth

[@6oundStudio]

so, the tonewood thing, as far as I understand it, is not only a theory that difference in wood changes the sound of the instrument in some way, but also a theory that you can define the sound of the instrument by choosing the "right" wood for the job. Honestly, I'm ready to believe in the first part, although I think that if material of the guitar mattered a lot, aluminum or plastic guitars would be DRASTICALLY different from wooden ones in terms of their sound. But the second part is total psychoacoustics, sorry. Anyone who has ever worked with wood knows that there are drastic differences in wood density even in planks from one tree. Furthermore, there are dozens upon dozens of different kinds of mahogany, ash and other woods, so to say that mahogany in general sounds darker would be a very deceiving thing. Overall I'm not against people who choose to believe in tonewood, but when a dude says: "you're crazy to neglect tonewood", I think it's a wrong thing to say, sorry

[@sythe77]

Tonewood doesn't matter, except for acoustics.

[@sullimd]

This has basically been proven not true, that wood does not matter on an electric. Multiple ways to prove this, but there's a guy doing crazy testing on KZbin that shows this isn't true, among others. Tonewood is a sale/marketing tactic by guitar companies. Pickups make up 99% of the sound on a solid body.

[@6oundStudio]

@@sullimd well, even 1 percent can be important to someone. and I can imagine vibration of wood making strings vibrate. the question is does this matter with materials of very similar density

[@diegom.1510]

@@6oundStudioBridge affects tone way more this dudes other guitars had different bridges scale lengths and pickups tighter string tension also produces a brighter sound

[@THETHIRDYEAROFNINES]

I agree, pickups, strings, and the bridge, nut and tuners ALL matter more than the material of the body.

[@philpieters8221]

fell asleep watching this 🤭

[@xwilliammeex]

“Tone wood DOES matter.” *plays a composite guitar* “Hey, this sounds good. See, tone wood matters!” *fails to see irony*

[@loydthabartender5794]

There is no contradiction there

[@JaxJordan35]

@@loydthabartender5794yes there is, the guitar he’s playing is not made of wood

[@GuitarGuy4647]

Some woods are more resonant than others and the material Aristedes uses is allegedly very resonant. That being said, that’s only relevant to how it feels and sounds acoustically. None of that translates to the amplified sound, let alone when you’re running it through hot pickups into a boost, then into a high gain amp or modeler.

[@Hell_Inc]

every explanation for tonewood always comes with “like, you know, like, hard to explain, feel, like, you know, like”. Learn how to speak before trying to explain woo woo bs, my guy. Hopefully Aristides pays you well

[@frankperricone2065]

Im a pretty big gear guy but ZZZzzzzzz

[@christophermichaels4144]

Quintessential bc rich hold my beer

[@5tnblnkt]

Im sorry but tonewood doesn't matter and that explanation of why it does doesn't make sense at all.

[@William_Earl]

Different woods have different densities and resonate differently. For me, I always noticed mahogany guitars resonate low mids more so than alder and especially swamp ash. Maple tops ( caps, not veneers) seems to sustain more so than versions of the same guitar without. Just things I've noticed over the years. Plus, we've all heard the difference in rosewood vs maple fingerboards.

[@GuitarGuy4647]

@@William_Earlwhile it may resonate more or less, none of that translates to nor influences the amplified sound.

[@William_Earl]

@@GuitarGuy4647 Can't say that's been my experience. Even with EMG 81's that make everything sound similar, I've noticed a real difference between a mahogany and ash bodies with those pickups.

[@secularspectator]

Tone wood doesnt matter...

[@ethanaubrey858]

Thank you!!!!

[@secularspectator]

​@ethanaubrey858 you are welcome 👌

[@LagunaPadre361]

Raves about tone wood while that guitar isn't even wood 🤣

[@gsauce132able]

Trying to figure that one out myself.🙃

[@MarceloDurham]

That guys with the table needs some help.

[@TypicalKid100]

second guy didn’t give the slightest shit

[@diabeticmonkey]

Goddamn people, let the dude be. Belief in tonewood doesn’t effect how good/bad the music is at the end of the day. As a matter of fact, this entire comment section is a shitshow.

[@leftymike5625]

Not watching another rig rundown till you do Big Wreck. JK

[@ryanschindler923]

sorry, but tonewood doesn't matter when you have 3 detuned 7 strings plus a detuned bass in a band lol. In a mix you will never never never hear the difference, ever. Maybe when listening to isolated guitar tracks, but in a mix, it's gone. Same with tubes in your head.

[@Evy-1988]

commenting on yt matters a lot less, my friend

[@ryanschindler923]

@@Evy-1988 ugh, very true. Yet here we both are. We've both succumb to screaming into the void

[@Evy-1988]

@@ryanschindler923 I was very aware of that whilst writing my comment. Enjoy your day!

[@ryanschindler923]

@@Evy-1988 hey you too!

[@CrzyWzrd4L]

It 100% makes a difference lol. The slight frequency bumps/dips are what determines how easy/challenging a guitar is to get to sit in the mix.

[@dmgd509]

Listening to metal dudes talk about tonewood never fails to make me laugh 😂😂..sure bruh..

[@rumy6871]

Drop out tuning lol

[@fpsknifer9906]

DAE get bummed out when they watch one of these videos and see a Kemper?

[@CheapSushi]

Great band but I gotta say, personality wise quite dull/boring and honestly most of the guitar info is just reaching & fluff

[@Indigamesforlife]

a metal guy saying tonewood is a thing is so funny to me. just say yeah buy my guitar, its awesome.

[@EclipseAtDusk]

It is a thing- for the player I’ve been playing for 15 years, and yeah there Can Be a difference in how the guitar responds with different woods. Your average listener’s never gonna fuckin notice tho, and you gotta be Connected with your instrument & play a variety of shit to even begin to notice Anything tho

[@sqlb3rn]

That's because you're a novice still, don't be worried about tone wood.

[@Indigamesforlife]

been playing for since 2008, you all some morons edit: you need to find your pickups, wood doesn't matter. also think before you talk

[@William_Earl]

Different woods have different densities and resonate differently. For me, I always noticed mahogany guitars resonate low mids more so than alder and especially swamp ash. Maple tops ( caps, not veneers) seems to sustain more so than versions of the same guitar without. Just things I've noticed over the years. Plus, we've all heard the difference in rosewood vs maple fingerboards.

[@jeremymcclure3372]

@@EclipseAtDuskyou should watch specter sound studios tone wood test.. he used 9 different guitar all of different woods and price ranges and played the exact same riff with same amp and pedal and with distortion you don’t notice a difference. Clean sounds and single coil there is a definantly a difference but with distortion you notice nothing.

[@psychotogether5114]

Boooooring.

[@Andyanddiana467]

Another boring rig rundown with guys using Kemper profiles. No wonder all modern metal sounds the same. ZZZZzzzzzzzz

[@ileutur6863]

Ah yes, the thing that can literally sound like every amp sounds the same. Internet guitar people logic

[@Andyanddiana467]

@@ileutur6863 Hey, it's a nice tool. But everyone uses it to get the same damn sounds. And besides, the best tones in rock/metal came from guys experimenting with weird pedal chains, amps, etc. Now everyone shares profiles. I know - I'm a cranky Gen Xer who sounds like an Old Man Yelling At Clouds. But look at the rigs from the pre-modeler era and tell me they weren't more interesting in terms of sounds and usage. Anyway, flame away.

[@ileutur6863]

​@@Andyanddiana467 If you're interested in hearing creative use of a modelling rig, check out rig rundowns for Failure or Guthrie Govan. Those guys really use the tech to its full potential instead of just generic metal chug

[@CrzyWzrd4L]

@@Andyanddiana467Pay attention to what Zach is ACTUALLY doing when making the profiles. They’re still experimenting with weird pedal and amp chains (dudes ripping speakers out of one cab and re-wiring another to make the ohmage match, and 2 of the guitarists are using 1 amps preamp and another amps power amp). It’s all clearly stated- you just wrote it off because you formed an opinion in your own head before actually receiving all of the information.

[@Andyanddiana467]

@@CrzyWzrd4L I paid attention. The tones still suck, and that they need what is basically a computer to do it is uninspiring. So, meh.

[@4vinylsound]

I play my Whitechapel record on slow speed sounds bad ass.

[@robjoyner1167]

lol a buncha metalheads using 1000 tons of gain, gates, EQs, boosters, the same old DrOP G TunINg, and, worst of all, KEMPERS, talking about the difference tonewood makes is hialrious.

[@DavySolaris]

What is your desired alternative to "the same old drop G tuning" exactly, why would you have an issue with this

[@robjoyner1167]

@@DavySolaris shut. leave, fanboy.