Lari Basilio has to ensure every time she plays, she has the exact tone and feeling that is required.
So, let’s have a look at what she has both on her pedalboard, in her hands and what she stands in front of to get that Lari sound.
Looking at the signal path from the hands to the speakers we start with the plectrums, Lari uses custom made Jim Dunlop Tortex 1mm picks with her own design on them:
“They have just the right amount of flexibility that I need when playing, but also the rigidity to make sure I know where it is when doing hybrid picking and holding it in my hand too”
Moving from the plectrum to the first point of contact on the instrument, the strings. Lari uses D’Addario Regular Light, XL Nickel Electric Strings with a gauge of 10-46.
“10-46 D’Addario provide me comfort, great tone, and quality I can definitely rely on. I tried 9’s on my guitar but I much preferred the way the 10’s give a bit but not too much resistance, plus I’ve always played 10’s so changing now would probably change more than just the string gauge in my playing.”
On to the guitar, of course Lari is an Ibanez signature artist, she uses her custom-built Ibanez LB1. A guitar based on the Ibanez AZS guitar, but with some specific changes to suit her exact needs, including her signature Seymour Duncan Lari Basilio single coil pickup in the neck and middle position and her Seymour Duncan Lari Basilio humbucker in the bridge position. A 5-way switching system for the electronics with an ‘Alter Swicth’ engages 9 different sounds when selected from all three pickups (depending on selection). The guitar also features a roasted maple neck, stainless steel frets, bone nut and a luscious violet body colour. One aesthetic note that is sometimes overseen when looking at the Ibanez LB1 is the varnished headstock. A subtle addition but when in person, it really sets it apart from the AZS range.
The removal of the pickguard to expose the pickups is another select decision that really adds to the whole look of the instrument, again, making it stand out that extra step.
Down to Lari’s pedalboard, a small board but with exactly what is needed for a clinic. Starting with a TC Electronic Polytune tuner into a JHS Morning Glory Overdrive which has been modified aesthetically into Lari’s favourite colour purple. From there into a new special pedal that is super top secret, from there into a Black Country Customs Secret Path Reverb Pedal, then to a GNI Delay, a Black Country Customs Spiral Array and a Seymour Duncan Vise Grip compressor pedal.
Lari said she doesn’t use the Vise Grip but it is there as a backup for clinics where there might be a poor ground signal.
Just to the side of the built pedal board, Lari is using the Black Country Customs The Difference Engine Delay pedal, a new edition to her board since its launch in July, a pedal that she helped develop with us through the past few years of R&D. The pedal also comes with some presets that Lari built as standard along with all the other artist presets.
Now to the amplifier that sits behind Lari whenever she plays, it is, of course, a Laney, however the choice of amplifier can sometimes change. Starting with her ‘main rig’ though, it is a Lionheart L20T-212, a Class A 20w amplifier loaded with two differing twelve inch speakers from Celestion. One is a G12H ‘Greenback’ and the other is a Vintage 30.
Lari has quite a simple platform when tone is considered. Something that the Lionheart expertly delivers. Lari uses Channel 1, Bright Switch off, rolls the bass off slightly (4), pushes the mids and treble (6.5), adds a small amount of amp reverb (3) and then pushes the overall tone control up to 7.
The use of channel 1 on the Lionheart is a great way to show the amplifiers pure tonal characteristic, it allows the player to get a sound with a lot of headroom, but headroom that is crystal clear and sharp, a very classic ‘British’ sound, and of course, a sound synonymous with the Laney Lionheart.
Lari also uses other Laney products, including the Cub-Super (12, SuperTop) and the Ironheart (SLS, IRT60H). These have been useful for her where a different tonal flavour has been required, including the Ironheart for more ‘out the box’ high gain, something the Ironheart is famous for.