Making a new guitar pickup is always an exciting experience. We try, we experiment, sometimes starting from a fairly vague idea, a simple desire to use this or that component and other times we start with a very precise idea in mind. When DoomFred told me about a microphone that would connect it well, he immediately mentioned a double Blade Humbucker type model, with 2 rails in place of the traditional screws and studs. In our discussions on legendary microphones, the Super Distortion from Dimarzio emerged, the first hi gain microphone, with ceramic magnet in the history of the electric guitar in 1972: the beginning of the modern era. We also talked about Black Sabbath, Jimmy Page and Dave Murray. The bet was therefore on.
A short presentation is a must
For many of you Fredéric Patte-Brasseur, alias DoomFred is far from being unknown: Actor in the Metal scene for 20 years and the birth of Ataraxie and guitarist for 27 years, Fred plays in 5 groups: Ataraxie (Doom -Death), Funeralium (Doom Extreme, next album on October 29), Stabwound (Trash-Death), Mourning Dawn (Doom-Black, as a live guitarist) and Conviction (Doom Metal) who released an excellent first album in beginning of the year.
That's not all... Fred set up as a luthier in Mantes-la-Ville – DFGuitars – in 2020 after 25 years of repairing and customizing electric guitars. As such, he is a black belt in guitar electronics, he can absolutely do everything that is possible in terms of electronics, with his eyes closed please.
To finish this little presentation, Fred is endorsed by the Two Notes (the revolutionary professional Loadbox and speaker simulation system for guitar and bass), Skull Strings (high-end strings handmade in France), Rikki le Plectrier (picks Handmade), Musical Enthropy and Blue Cat Audio (plugins).
The icing on the cake is that DoomFred does mixing, for others and sometimes for his groups, notably the latest “Conviction”.
Something else ? No, just that Fred, the electric guitar, he knows ????.
Interview with Frédéric Patte-Brasseur, aka DoomFred
Q: Fred, as we saw above, you've dabbled in a lot of things in terms of electric guitar, microphones, sound experimentation. What did you expect from a new set of mics? Was it to play particular music? Were you looking for a specific sound?
DoomFred : More than a specific sound, the idea was to bring together a certain number of qualities that I look for in a microphone set, while evoking references that have largely proven themselves, particularly in a style of music Metal or Hard Rock. My main criteria were: – a bridge pickup that allows the guitar to settle naturally in the medium register, in order to emerge effortlessly in the middle of a mix
- an articulated bridge pickup, which offers a frank and distinct attack
- a bridge pickup that can offer a synthesis between the characteristics of pickups that have rightly become great classics in Metal, namely the DP100 Super Distortion by Di Marzio, as well as the SH4 JB by Seymour Duncan as main references
- a neck pickup that can complement it, offering the fluidity specific to sounds like that of Dave Murray in Iron Maiden, and which can also offer the characteristic roundness of a Jimmy Page, coupled in an intermediate position with the microphone easel
- Strong resistance to uncontrolled feedback and parasites
- A microphone set with rails, both for aesthetic reasons and also for the advantages provided by this technique
All this to be comfortable in the different aspects of the music that I play with my different groups, whether on stage or in the studio, regardless of the pitch of the guitar, its tuning, etc.
Photo: DFGuitars
Photo: DFGuitars
Q: You set up your violin workshop in Mantes-la-Ville last year where you do repairs, customization but also guitar manufacturing. What are your projects in this area? What model(s) of guitar do you have, would you like to make? And what is your signature in terms of design, configuration, style?
DoomFred : My priority, my main project is above all to sustain the workshop, which involves listening to the needs of the musicians who come to see me and offering them the best possible solutions. Being a musician before being a luthier, this is a real credo for me.
As for my own projects, I have several guitar models currently prototyping, which I haven't found much time to work on recently. There is my own reinterpretation of “sharp” models (Explorer, Flying V), which has been in my head for around ten years, but also an offset type model (mustang / jaguar) and a model inspired by the golden age of the Japanese electric guitar on my drawing table.
In terms of design, what obsesses me is the ergonomics of the guitar. Will the hands fall naturally in playing position? Is the guitar balanced when carried upright? Is it easy to play while seated? I also have a lot of questions about the electronics, the necessary controls, their placement. Especially since the needs are not the same depending on whether you intend to play live rather than in the studio, and the balance must be found between simplicity of use and a certain versatility that you can want to search.
Q: You are one of the guitarists very involved in sound (studio mixing, violin making, studio/stage recording) and you were able to participate in the Two Notes adventure from the start. Your equipment is impressive to say the least. What advice would you give to a young guitarist who is not very fortunate to equip themselves correctly to face all situations, stage, recording, modeling at home? The legendary 30 kilo tube amp has taken a hit or is it still a match?
DoomFred : The legendary tube amp is still a joke, it's not for nothing that the majority of products try to reproduce its sounds inexpensively! For my part, this is in any case what I use in the vast majority of cases on stage, I build my sound around the grain of an amp and I add my “spices” around it.
To a beginner looking for versatility, I would recommend one of these machines that were designed this way from the start, a Line 6 Helix Stomp, or a quality second-hand multi-effects device for example. They're not the most user-friendly machines, but for once they're real Swiss army knives! In addition, if you search carefully, you can find some inexpensive gems, especially on racks, because the format has gone out of fashion. A Rocktron Voodu Valve for example still remains very relevant today for example.
Q: We recently heard you in a Podcast series on Doom Metal produced by “In the Secret of the Gods”. You have been a Doom guitarist in all its forms for 20 years, a fervent defender of this underground-leaning style. When will the book “The History of Doom” by Frederic Patte-Brasseur & Co be released? More seriously, can you tell us a few words about Doom, this little-known branch of Metal, present since the birth of the latter on February 13, 1970?
DoomFred : It's funny, there were discussions with a French publisher about this about ten years ago, but no time to devote to writing a book at that time. There is, however, some very good English literature on this subject, notably the Doom-Metal Lexicanum which will take at least three volumes to complete.
Doom-Metal is a style whose foundations can be found in the very first song written by Black Sabbath, “Black Sabbath”, which evokes a disastrous destiny (the meaning of the word “Doom”), slow and lugubrious. I sometimes say that if metal were to be compared to rock, doom would probably be Blues. It's a bit like the music of the end of the world, but in a crushing and sad way!
On the guitar, this generally translates into the need to play at slow, very slow tempos, and to have a microphone that translates the vibration of the strings well without preventing it. It is often also a musical style where the bass is well highlighted, it is also important to be able to have a base in the mids, where the guitar comes out naturally, which allows the guitar to stand out in the mix.
Q: The year 2021 got off to a good start with the release of Conviction's first album (which is excellent, I repeat) and I think there is something new from Funeralium for the fall. Can you give us an exclusive ???? your next musical news, concerts, album release?
DoomFred : There is indeed the next Funeralium , “Decrepit”, which comes out on October 29. An album quite haunted by current events, since it was recorded in 2020 between two confinements, and the atmosphere is felt on the album by an additional layer of aggression and seriousness.
Then, I will be performing abroad for the first time since the start of the Covid crisis, namely at the Dutch Doom Days in Rotterdam, on November 6 (with Conviction and Ataraxie).
As for what's next, a few not-yet-confirmed dates are being prepared, and work around the Ataraxie albums (released in mid-2019, for which we weren't able to tour much), Funeralium and Conviction should keep us busy. groups for a while.
