Geared Up: From Ashes to New Guitarist Branden Kreider and Bassist Garrett Russell Tell Us About Their Gear!

Lancaster, PA-based rap rock/alternative metal sextet, From Ashes to New, released their 4-track Downfall EP on March 10, 2015 via Better Noise Records and are now gearing up to drop their debut full-length, Day One, this winter! With tons of hard work and super-catchy tunes, things are progressing both quickly and well for this blooming band. Recently we chatted with Branden Kreider (guitar, vox) and Garrett Russell (bass) about some of the key gear that helps them hone in on their unique sound.

What one piece of gear do you use to obtain your signature sound?
Russell: My signature sound is obtained through a mixture of a Tech 21 SansAmp Bass Driver DI, my Ampeg PF-500 Bass head, and ESP E-II AP4 bass.

Kreider: My signature sound is obtained from many pieces of gear my Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier, Mesa Boogie 4×12 Cab,Line 6 POD HD Pro, Ibanez TS-9 Tubescreamer, BBE Sonic maximizer, ISP Decimator, and my ESP guitars.

What are the major pros and cons?
Russell: Pros: my whole setup is extremely light-weight and quick. Cons: In being light-weight, i’m sacrificing the ability to get enough rumble to ruin all the panties in the room… for now.

Kreider: Pros: The rig sounds amazing! And it’s very easily controlled via MIDI. Cons: The whole setup is insanely heavy, and if something goes wrong it’s not fun to trouble shoot because there are lots of cables!

Do you have a backup for this gear, if so, what?
Russell: If anything goes wrong with the amp head or cab I can just go direct in from the Sans Amp, so there’s that.

Kreider: If anything goes wrong with the tube amp set up, I can switch the rig to run off the Line 6 POD HD Pro. I can then just run direct to FOH.

How long have you had it, how do you use it, would you ever change it?
Russell: It’s pretty new, I didn’t even own a bass amp anymore when we first started this band so I was just using the Sans Amp and going direct in. I would be down to upgrade my GK cab to a more ballsy GK cab eventually.

Kreider: I have had the whole setup for a couple of years now. And change is always an option if I like it!

Give us your best “gear goes wrong” story.
Russell: We had a throw & go show at the Castle Theater in IL, everything was working fine then right before we went on stage my cab stopped working and we didn’t get a monitor mix but the bass was still coming through FOH, I couldn’t hear myself the entire show, it was pretty frustrating.

Kreider: Just had one recently at Dirtfest in MI. I was setting up my rig (which we just practiced the day before and everything worked fine!) and powered it on and I had no MIDI switching abilities so I started trouble shooting. Right before we were about to hit the stage I discovered one of my MIDI patch cables went bad. I ran to our trailer, grabbed a spare, and got everything up and running like seconds before we took the stage!

Check out the song “Downfall” here.