Opeth FAQ Redux

[vhou812]

I suppose the muso questions come up quite a bit, so here's a couple of Q/A's that I think are correct:

What pickups does Mike use? - Seymour Duncan Full Shreds in his older PRS's, stock pickups in the new ones

What amps for his live sound? - All his live sounds are generated by a Boss GT-6(could be a GT 10 now) including the distortion. He uses Laney amps purely as power amps for live use. In the studio, it's a variety of Laney, Mesa Boogie and Marshall

What strings/gauges: D'Addario 0.10-0.52

Tunings: The vast majority of Opeth songs are in Standard tuning, some tracks use "Dropped D" tuning (Blackwater Park for example) and (I think) most of Ghost Reveries is DADFAD, apart from Harlequin Forest which is DADFAE, and Hours of Wealth which is in Standard.

Is that the kind of thing you're after?

 

[DarkGift]

^I think beneath the mire is in standard as well

 

[Mr Samsara]

Is that the kind of thing you're after?

Yes, and thank you. You have a question and an answer, and below your post is someone trying to get it accurate. That's what I'm looking for. Believe me, I can get the answers confirmed as long as Mike and the band want the answers released (for example: Watershed lyrics? That may not be something that Mike is ready to let out as he's clearly stated in the past) But rumors, common questions, etc. Review the FAQ and see what needs an update or seems to be missing now that it's been a couple of years since it's been updated.

Thanks, guys!

 

[vhou812]

Cool, I think DarkGift is correct about "beneath the mire" being in standard tuning as well..haven't tried to play it for a while, so I'll double check unless someone posts that they're sure about it.

Fred's gear? - PRS SC250 with the Mark Tremonti pickup at the bridge, Marshall JVM amp.

What were Mike's main influences during the writing/recording of Watershed? - Scott Walkers "The Drift" and The Zombies, also The Scorpions "living and dying" was an influence for "Burden"

Who is the "other voice" on Blackwater Park, Damnation and Deliverance - Steve Wilson

I'm trying to think of things I wanted to know and had to dig around to find....

 

[Nasty-Fire]

Yes, and thank you. You have a question and an answer, and below your post is someone trying to get it accurate. That's what I'm looking for. Believe me, I can get the answers confirmed as long as Mike and the band want the answers released (for example: Watershed lyrics? That may not be something that Mike is ready to let out as he's clearly stated in the past) But rumors, common questions, etc. Review the FAQ and see what needs an update or seems to be missing now that it's been a couple of years since it's been updated.

Thanks, guys!

Well at least put the question in the F.A.Q. and add what you just answered to me.

 

[Luann]

and what about a list of the collaborations of mikael and the other guys?

 

[ever dying]

Let me refrase my post..

Who/what is Sörskogen?

Mike said on the opeth site on 25:04:2002:

This is my own thing, again, nothing really serious, I just enjoy doing this progressive stuff! Sörskogen, which is the place where I grew up, has really made its special impact on me. Every time I visit the place, I am overwhelmed with nostalgy! All the tracks are about Sörskogen, lyrics in Swedish, quite hazy to be honest! I´ve only recorded one track "for real", at Dan´s new studio with him on drums, keyboards and bass, and myself on lead vocals and guitars. I reckon that we will record more in the future. The tracks I´ve done are called "Mordet i grottan" (The murder in the cave), "Stupet" (The steep slope), "Den första Maj" (The first of May) and "Byan"! I´ve even done a video for "Mordet" filmed with a old super-8 camera, which also turned out pretty cool! The video is dircted by Fredrik Odefjärd. The sounds is somewhere between Camel, Solarplexus and Genesis or something like that!

Linkie: http://web.archive.org/web/20020425002640/www.opeth.com/discography/sorskogen.html



How 'bout that?

 

[Lord Byron]

I think it would be interesting to find out the individual album sales and add that to the faq.

Also a list of all the different versions of the albums would be very useful for some people. E.g, MAYH Pic Disc lp, MAYH Original 2 lp Black Vinyl Released on Displeased Records etc. The discography list on the main page is incomplete/not up to date.

 

[Mr Samsara]

and what about a list of the collaborations of mikael and the other guys?

Sounds great. Do your best to make it, post it here and we'll add to it as necessary.

 

[Mr Samsara]

I think it would be interesting to find out the individual album sales and add that to the faq.

Also a list of all the different versions of the albums would be very useful for some people. E.g, MAYH Pic Disc lp, MAYH Original 2 lp Black Vinyl Released on Displeased Records etc. The discography list on the main page is incomplete/not up to date.

Sounds good. You could solicit the collectors in the collection thread to run down everything... I'll have more on this later. We'll probably have to post a link to a .txt file as this info could be extensive.

Perhaps you'll stumble over record sales in the process.

 

[Mr Samsara]

Little note to self regarding this thread: